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“It’s not me you need to argue with, Thane.” Ronan bit into the meat. “I’m with you and so is Dax. We will fight with you.”

Two dragons would not be enough. And Thane had almost forgotten Dax was even there. The dark-haired, musculardragon stood silently in the corner with his arms crossed in front of him. “Daxy misses Layala. He was hoping to see her. They rode into battle together.”

“She’s not coming.”

Thankfully everyone else had gone back to chatting so no one was focused on them. He seemed to pick up on Thane’s emotion and plucked a strawberry and bit it in half. “Go ahead and eat while we wait for the festivities to begin. I made sure to have it stocked with food you elves like too. Rabbit food mostly.”

Piper wandered over. “The fruit looks great.”

He smiled and winked at her. “There’s dessert as well. That’s the chocolate cake we served last time. The same one you said you liked.”

“Oh,” Piper said, blushing as she picked up a white plate. “How did you remember?”

“I remember everything you say.” He tapped the side of his head. “Dragons rarely forget especially when the one saying it has captured his every thought.”

A flush spread under Piper’s freckled cheeks and for once she looked speechless. Maybe it was because Fennan was here, or she hadn’t ultimately made her decision yet. Months passed where their only interaction was communication through letters to each other. If Ronan was going to forget and move on from her, he would have already. Even if he thought she was his heart mate, which seemed implied based on what he saw earlier, he wouldn’t bite her until she gave him permission to.

Cutting a piece of the cake, Piper slid it onto her plate. “You’re very sweet for a barbaric dragon.”

“Only when I’m around you.”

Thane filled a plate with fruit, a couple slices of bread with butter and jam, and a few of the desserts, and made his way over to where Katana now sat. He skipped over the meat since she’d been offered it several times but had always politely declined.With her legs crossed, she bounced her foot watching the wyvern clack its talons on the wood platform it sat on.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, offering the plate.

“I am starved, actually. Thank you, Thane.” She set the plate on her lap and started with the greens. With the others distracted, she leaned over. “I feel like going out there and setting the poor thing free.”

“It would try to eat you. I don’t know if I’d call it a ‘poor thing’.”

“I have a way with animals. Even predators.”

“I’ll have to see that in action, just not today. You wanted to experience other cultures, right?”

“Yes, I suppose I did. The scenery and architecture are gorgeous and the nests with the eggs were a fun surprise. I suppose I should have expected something like this given they are dragon shifters. It is only that the ones back home in my former territory were much more… how do I say this without being offensive…”

“Less beastly?”

“Yes.” She bit into a crunchy, green stalk.

“In Ryvengaard there are different clans. Some of the dragons like to embrace their humane side more than others. They enjoy things like the arts and operas and have laws against murder. While others will kill another just for saying the wrong thing, without consequences. Here there is a bit of both.”

“A true survival of the strong and ruthless then. I fear I would not make it as a dragon. I do not know if I could take a life even to save my own.”

“You would survive if I was one too. I would be your darkness.” Thane winked.

She smiled. “I know you are a warrior, but it is difficult for me to imagine you killing. You are kind, Thane.”

“I’ve taken more life than anyone ever should. There is a reason I am the god of war, Katana.” He wanted her to know his true nature. Even if she said she could see his soul, she was mistaken. He was a killer.

“But you do it to protect others.”

“How do you know I haven’t murdered just to murder?”

Her lavender eyes stared straight into his. It was as if she rifled through his mind, pulling memories, and he had the urge to look away; it was too intimate, too invasive and yet, he didn’t. “Because I know.”

“How?”

“I can see your heart through your eyes. You have a lovely aura.”