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“I mean, wearedragons,” Ronan said with a shrug. “Barbarism is sort of our nature.” He slipped his arm around Piper’s shoulders. “Like when a male finds his heart mate for example, we mark her with our teeth.” He clacked themtogether playfully, and Piper stared up at him both looking simultaneously curious and nervous.

“Like you bite her and leave… scars?” Katana blinked.

“Not scars. There’s a venom produced when a male dragon is… aroused. And if he bites her it goes into her blood and that scent will stay with her and let other males know. It doesn’t hurt. From everything I’ve heard, she likes it.”

Thane knew this about dragons, but Piper certainly hadn’t by the expression on her face. Fennan cleared his throat loudly from the banquet table. “Elves don’t bite our females. We treat them with kindness and respect.”

“There is no higher sign of respect than a dragon who bites his heart mate. He will never be with another again as long as he lives. He would die for her, kill for her, do anything.”

“In a way it sounds romantic,” Katana added with a smile.

“Oh, and as far as the wyverns go, we don’tmakethem fight. They see another wyvern, they attack, unless it’s a male and female during mating season. We only put a pair of wyverns in close proximity to each other and let nature take its course.” He brushed his straight, silvery-blond hair over his shoulder. “Katana, I know Thane thinks I’m an idiot, but I’m not, so what are you the goddess of? Piper never mentioned you in her letters.”

It was unnerving how perceptive Ronan was. He guessed that he andLayalawere gods before they even knew. Thane always suspected he had the blood of the gods in his veins, but he never would have considered thinking more before his memories returned. The memories that changedeverything. Sometimes he caught himself wishing that he could have lived the rest of his days blissfully unaware of his past life as War, but then the guilt came. That meant forgetting Hel. That meant him staying asleep in that tower forever, and even if his return took Valeen away, he wouldn’t change it.

Katana combed her hair behind her ear. “How did you know?”

“I can smell it in your blood.”

“Truly?” She smiled even brighter. “Well, I am the goddess of day.”

“Good gods, are you really?”

“Yes,” she said proudly. “I was born in a flash of bright light, lying in a bed of blossomed clovers. I first noticed my hands and brought them in front of my face,” she curled them at her waist now, “and then I heard sound, wind moving in the trees and birds singing.” She caught a lock of her hair and toyed with the end of it. “Then I saw Valeen next to me. She sat back on her knees, staring at me with such deep blue eyes. I didn’t know what she was, what anything was then but I knew I was the same thing as her. She smiled and said, ‘Hello’ in the primordial language. I could never forget her voice. It was the first I ever heard. Our creators made us knowing the language, you see, and we were fully grown just as we are now, never children.” She trailed off and looked back out over the arena as if she’d spoken too much.

Everyone stared. Leif even stopped eating. Fennan had set down his fork, enraptured.

It was the first time he’d ever heard this creation story. Valeen had never told him what it was like in those first moments. The way Katana spoke about it, made it feel… almost sacred.

Shewas sacred.

“Fascinating,” Ronan said reverently. “We only have a vague history of the gods, but I always assumed if there was a goddess of night, there was also a goddess of day.”

“Your assumption was correct.”

“So are you eager to get back to your homeworld? Piper mentioned the portals going off-world being open.”

“Not really. I like it here well enough.”

“Wait.” He blinked several times. “So if Layala is the goddess of night then is she the goddess you woke up next to?”

“I know Layala as Valeen, but yes, she is my sister. We are two sides of the same coin.”

“Oh.” His crystalline blue eyes widened then darted to Thane then back to her. “Interesting that you should both be connected with Thane.”

She faced him, lavender eyes falling on him as if she was looking for an answer to a question. “It is curious. Though I suppose I am connected to Thane because of her.”

Ronan put a hand in his pocket. “I heard about the engagement being called off, Thane. I was sorry to learn that.”

“Are the King and Queen coming?” Thane got up from the seat he’d taken. He didnotfeel like talking about it. He wandered over to the table and pretended to be interested in the food.

“They should be here sooner or later. Mother’s always fashionably late. She doesn’t know you’re coming, by the way.” Ronan came up beside him and ripped off a leg from the massive raw bird in the center. It looked to be seasoned but not cooked.

“By the way?” Thane ground his teeth. “You know why we’ve come, and you couldn’t at least tell them we’d be here?”

“Well, now that the Black Mage is back, it’s going to be nearly impossible for them to agree to an alliance. They wouldn’t when he was gone.”

“The Black Mage is the god of mischief and magic and is with us now. The gods will come here and destroy Adalon. If you think hiding behind these walls will spare you, you’re wrong.”