Guards Guards - Aware

She knew it as soon as she opened the door. Normally the arrival of food would be greeted with hoots and whistles and brief bursts of flame.

The dragons, each in its pen, were sitting up in attentive silence and staring up through the roof.

It was somehow scary. She clanged the buckets together.

“No need to be afraid, nasty big dragon all gone!” she said brightly. “Get stuck in to this, you people!”

One or two of them gave her a brief glance, and then went back to their-

What? They didn't seem to be frightened. Just very, very attentive. It was like a vigil. They were waiting for something to happen.

The thunder muttered again.

A couple of minutes later she was on her way down into the damp city.

***

Guards Guards - p190