[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-saya-and-the-dragon":3,"chapter-saya-and-the-dragon-saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-69":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Saya and the Dragon",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1705056,2177,"Chapter 66: Bollo","saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-69",69,"\u003Cp>Bollo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ok, Taurean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In case you were wondering what makes this girl so giddy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My regular down in Toemacha. Big fella. Shoulders like ox yokes. Chest like a beer barrel. Voice like gravel being poured over silk. Dumb as a cartwheel, but stars above—he knewexactlywhat to do with all that meat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We hadfun. Real fun. The kind that makes your toes curl and yourliver ache. I’m not even exaggerating. I’d limp for days after a visit. Madam used to tease me, said I looked like I got hit by a blessed cart. I said, “No, just Bollo.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brute, in the best possible way. No finesse, no nonsense. Just raw, honest-to-godsusage. Picked me up like a rag doll, pinned me to the wall, plowed me through a feather mattress once. Still miss that mattress. It never recovered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Met him again, years later. Wasn't expecting it. I was passing through this sleepy hill town, pine trees everywhere, and there he was—hauling timber, shirtless, sweating like sin. My knees just about gave out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We didn’t talk much. We both knew why I followed him behind that grove.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Quickie. Pine needles on my back. That same old growl in his throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it wasn’t the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Afterward, he smiled all crooked, pulled his breeches back up, and said he had to get home. Turns out he’s got awifenow. And ason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t blame him. Life moves on. Some people grow roots. Some of us just keep flying from fire to fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every now and then, when the campfire’s low and the dragon’s snoring like a thunderstorm, I think about Bollo. About the way he used to slam into me like a man trying to knock sense into the gods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yeah. I smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And walk a little funny, just from the memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was lunch. Which meant fire, grease, and unsolicited lectures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sat cross-legged, barefoot, picking at a piece of smoked rabbit and glaring at the cracked femur resting across my lap like a personal insult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bone marrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I took one look at the glistening tube of horror and announced, “I hate this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Across the fire, the Dragon made an absolutely obscene slurping sound. He was three knuckles deep into a femur the size of a fencepost, tongue doing ungodly things to what remained of some poor beast’s insides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t look up. “Bone marrow is good for you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So is not dying. I’m still not eating it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It makes your tendons supple.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I like my tendons just the way they are—useless and decorative.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cracked the bone a little louder, like punctuation. “Wings flap better when the joints are nourished.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t have wings.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I threw a twig at him. It bounced off his snout. He didn’t blink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is disgusting,” I muttered, nudging the bone like it might scuttle off if I stared long enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s a delicacy,” he corrected, licking his lips. “Savages eat meat. Connoisseurs eat marrow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re a savage with opinions.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And you’re a courtesan with crumbs in her cleavage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn it. He was right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’d rather starve,” I said, tossing the bone onto the pile with exaggerated revulsion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He snorted. “You said the same about beetle paste. And then you ate three helpings and licked the bowl.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That was different. I was drunk. And horny.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re always drunk and horny.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly. So I know what I’m talking about. Bone marrow isnotsexy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised a brow ridge. “Strong joints are sexy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re insane.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re malnourished.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I picked up a piece of flatbread and jammed it in my mouth, defiant. “This is all I need. Bread. Fire. Freedom. And maybe a pickle.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your bones will snap like twigs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So will yours if you keep flapping those wings while I’m napping.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gave me a long look. Then, with all the theatricality of a cathedral bell, let out a dramatic sigh and said, “Fine. More marrow for me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enjoy your goo tube, lizard.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slurped again, louder this time, just to spite me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gods, I hated how smug he looked when he ate like a troll.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stole one of the roasted carrots from his pile while he was distracted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s called abalanced diet.\u003C\u002Fp>",705,"2026-06-06T14:39:25.620Z",1,"novelbin.me","821869feb7f6b29ba06a95e3208398c88130f9eab8b1646bbadde7d4cddb084a","saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-70","saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-68",228,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsaya-and-the-dragon-cover.jpg"]