Page 12

Rylan

Someone was talking in a low voice nearby, and I tried to open my eyes to see who it was. My eyes felt as if they’d been glued shut, so I raised a hand to rub them, but another, stronger hand grabbed mine and pulled it away.

“Don’t…” someone said softly from beside me. “The doctor just put some drops in your eyes. Go back to sleep now, and you’ll feel better when you wake up.”

I opened my mouth to answer, and a finger was laid across my lips. “Hush now,” someone said to me. “You need to rest.”

I was too tired to argue about it, so I sighed and snuggled my cheek into the warm hand beside it. I could still hear low voices discussing me, but I didn’t know the language they were speaking. It was like a soothing hum, though, and lulled me back to sleep again.

The next time I woke up, my head didn’t hurt quite as much as before, though I still had a dull ache on one side of it, near one of my temples.

I could see a little better, and I blinked until I could focus my vision more clearly.

I was in a hospital—no, a sick bay on a ship, because I could hear the hum of the engines.

There were beds on either side of me, and a soft light coming from overhead.

It was no place I’d ever seen before, and I began trembling a little and trying to sit up.

Was I on a pirate ship? In the hands of those horrible men?

“Drink this. It’s only water mixed with some medicine but it will help your throat.”

A blond man held out a glass to me, and I tried to grab for it but missed.

I hurt my side again when I moved and closed my eyes and whimpered.

Instantly, he stepped closer to put an arm around my shoulders and hold the glass up to my lips.

I drank and drank, until he pulled it away, saying, “Enough for now. You can have more later.”

“W-where am I?”

“You’re on a ship heading toward Horvath. Are you familiar with Horvath?”

“No.”

“That’s all right. It’s one of the moons of Lycanus 3. We were attacked by pirates, but they can’t hurt you now. You’re safe, so please try to rest.”

I started to shake my head, but it hurt too much, so I quickly stopped. “But,” I managed to get out. “Where’s my crew? Let me see them.”

“None of your crew were ever on this ship. They’re all safely on their way back home now. Do you know where you are? Do you know your name?”

“Of course,” I said, confidently, feeling arrogant about it. Why was he wasting my time with these silly questions?

“Can you tell me?”

I opened my mouth to do just that, but nothing came to me. My mind went blank and that scared me for real . Why wouldn’t it come? I began to feel agitated and felt tears spring to my eyes.

“I can’t remember it. Why can’t I?”

“Nothing to worry about. You’re just tired. Try to go back to sleep.”

“But where am I?” I asked, clutching the blond man’s hand.

“In a ship on the way to Horvath.”

“Why does my head hurt so much and my side?” I clutched at it again and moaned as a pain knifed through me. “Oh gods, was I stabbed?”

“Don’t worry about it for now. Your head was injured and some of your ribs were broken. We’re fixing it.”

“Somebody broke my ribs? Why ?”

“The doctor has just given you something for the pain, and it will help you go back to sleep. The rest of what happened will come to you soon, I’m sure. Once you’ve had some rest.”

I reached a hand to him blindly, and he took it in his and held on tightly. He had a deep, take-charge kind of voice, and it made me feel better somehow. Like someone was in charge, and I needed someone to be in charge.

“But where am I?”

The tall man leaned closer to me. “You’re safe now, and everything’s going to be fine.

I nodded, almost afraid not to. He sounded familiar, like someone I knew.

“Where did you say I was?”

“You’re on a ship, heading to Horvath.”

“Can’t I just go home?”

“Where is home? Do you remember?”

“No. Don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. It’s on Horvath, and we’re on the way there now,” he said, his voice firm.

“Oh, good.” I fell back on the pillow in abject relief and frankly unable to sit up another second with my side hurting the way it was.

The man turned to the doctor and told him something in a soft voice, and another man came in holding something in his hand.

“What’s that?”

“Something for pain.”

I didn’t let go of his hand. I felt a pinch in my arm and a feeling of drowsiness slowly overcame me. I closed my eyes, but just before I sank down into sleep, I popped my eyes back open again and glared at him accusingly.

“But why won’t you tell me where I am?”

He smiled down at me, and I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep.

****

Quinn Fortina

“What’s wrong with him? Why does he keep asking me the same thing over and over? Is it part of his injury?”

The boy had finally fallen asleep as the sedatives took hold, but he’d refused to let go of my hand. Not that I’d tried very hard to remove it. I’d sit there all day if it helped him. I felt deeply protective over him. Unusually so, and it bothered me more than I wanted to let on

“The scans show he has a slight concussion and that’s probably causing his confusion and the short-term memory loss,” the doctor told me.

“He had blunt trauma to his head, but luckily, there were no skull fractures, and I really expect the confusion to clear up soon. It’s not uncommon in these types of injuries and usually doesn’t cause any lasting problems.”

“I think the plan was to kidnap him, but that idiot nearly killed him when we closed in on him.”

“He’ll be fine. We’ll just need to watch him carefully and be patient with him. He’s pretty young, so he should bounce back.”

“How young?”

“Early twenties, I’d say. Hard to tell with his species. He’s small.”

“I think he’s part human. Maybe with some Tygerian in the mix.”

“That would explain it. He resembles the Tygerians in some ways. It’s the hair, I think, but he doesn’t have the skin markings. And he’s definitely got a little human blood in him—obviously he’s a hybrid species, possibly from one of the Tygerians’ so-called love slaves.”

“Maybe he’s one of the Moravian king’s bastards. He said he was a prince, but probably not legitimate. I hope not, anyway. It would make my negotiations harder.”

“Good thing you got to him when you did.”

I sighed. Of course, it was, but I was still furious about the casualties we’d suffered.

The Thalian mercenaries had been insane to attack our ship when it was so much larger than theirs.

What had they been so desperate to take from us?

They’d tried to steal the egg as soon as they boarded us, so that was definitely part of it.

And maybe they’d come for Rylan too. A king might pay a high ransom for his son, bastard or not.

“How are his ribs?”

“All I can do for them is provide pain relief and try to reduce the swelling. Once he’s up and around, I can put a rib supporter on him.

It’s a treatment he can wear several times a day to help his ribs heal faster, but it will still take a little time.

Perhaps the doctors at his home would have more they can do. ”

“He’ll be at his home when we get to Horvath.” The doctor raised his eyebrows, but wisely didn’t reply.

I looked down at the boy again and felt the same strong pull as when I’d first seen him.

He looked so small in the bed that was made for the Horvathian men onboard this ship.

Horvathians averaged just under six five or so in height, and this boy would only come up to mid-chest on most of us.

We kept our hair cut short, too, and certainly not worn in a riot of long curls in gold and red, falling down their backs, like a female’s.

He wasn’t feminine—except for the hair, and that was a matter of style.

He was far too good looking, though, and despite myself, I was affected by those long eyelashes sweeping over his cheeks.

Not to mention the face with that almost perfect bone structure.

I forgot just how attractive he was until I was with him again—every time.

His body was toned and muscular, but still boyish.

He was probably too young for me. I was nearing the age of thirty, and he was only in his early twenties, according to the doctor.

I had developed the mating bond quickly, but I didn’t think he had it fully yet, though holding my hand seemed to comfort him.

I had absolutely no need of a mate—especially one like this boy.

I didn’t want a male who was far too young, far too beautiful and who had possibly tried to steal one of our dragon eggs.

No, it wouldn’t do, but if I had to deal with this—and it seemed I did—I’d just keep my distance as much as I could and not allow any greater attachment to form.

So far, this was mostly just lust. I’d still mate him—and that was non-negotiable.

I didn’t think I could do without him for long.

But love? No. That was out of the question.

I simply wouldn’t allow it to happen. It wouldn’t be good for either of us.

I had to try harder to keep him at an emotional distance.

Thate would be the best possible outcome.

“Let him sleep as long as he can and try to keep him as pain free as possible. Contact me when he shows signs of waking up again.”

“Of course, Marshal General.”

I turned to go back up to my quarters and tried to get my mind off him.

We were only a few hours away from Horvath now, and it was a good thing from the reports I’d been getting all morning about the egg.

It seemed that it was beginning to tremble from time to time.

I’d seen that before, and it was usually a sign that hatching was imminent, and the vetami would soon be here.

Nobody knew how “aware” the vetami truly were inside the egg.

From the moment they hatched, they were clear thinking and able to form a bond with their riders.

Or at least, right away they followed the commands of the one they chose, while still displaying a lot of personality that was all their own.

Each one seemed unique, just like each of us.

And all of them were stubborn and wanted their own way in all things.

And that was a problem, because the hatchling needed to find his rider very soon after it hatched so the two of them could bond.

We had a waiting list for new riders, but the Dragon Riders, could be almost as difficult as the vetamis themselves.

Most of them had been wary of this egg, because there was no way of knowing what might hatch.

Breed and lineage were important factors to any new rider, and we weren’t even sure what color this one would be—Red, Green or Golden.

Red breeds were wilder and harder to train, as a rule, but more highly prized because they were absolutely fearless in battle.

They were also prickly and difficult to handle, as a rule.

They were fire breathers, which was highly prized as well.

They tended to be hard to tame and would spit fire at their rider or anyone else who seriously annoyed them.

A good rider had to break him of that bad habit right away without being too harsh and then vigilantly teach them loyalty.

Green dragons, on the other hand, were more playful and weren’t fire breathers.

They were fast fliers and could be any shade of green from deep emerald to a pale, leafy color.

They tended to be easier going and not as hard to handle, but along with that came the fact that they weren’t especially known for their battle skills.

As a result, we kept them away from the fighting, if we could, and they were used most often as messengers because of their speed.

They weren’t as sought after as the Reds by the riders, of course, though they were still vital to the mission.

As for Goldens, they were an unknown. They had died out on Horvath years ago, and the only specimens we knew of were the ones on Thalia. Information from that source had been sparse, to say the least.

The first thing I needed to do was make a list of suitable candidates for a rider on this ship, just in case the egg hatched before I could get it back to our base and then talk to each of them about becoming the hatchling’s rider, if necessary.

I’d meant to do it earlier but had been distracted by the attack.

Or I should say I’d been distracted by beautiful young men who clung to me with fear in their blue eyes, needing my protection. A part of me knew that would lead to nothing but attachment and trouble, and it had to stop.

Oh, I’d give him the protection he sought.

Feelings of possessiveness, protection, and discipline for a mate were all fine, even to be desired.

But love? And not just any love but love to the point of distraction—that was what had been known to happen with the mate bond and what I had to avoid at all costs.

Love like that was for other people, but it couldn’t be for a Dragon Rider.

We had a prior claim to our loyalty and our love, and I didn’t think many of us had the capacity for two obsessions.

A love relationship with a mate would further be impossible to maintain as a rider, because we were only home with our mates perhaps ninety to a hundred days out of a year, and that almost always caused trouble.

Most mates weren’t willing to wait around and most Riders’ marriages lasted only a short time.

Some Riders still surrendered to the mating urge and left the service—which I now understood all too well.

But it was unthinkable to me to leave my dragon.

Feelings for a mate could be very strong, and though Riders did sometimes try to have both--establishing homes for their mates and being with them as their duty allowed, it was far from an ideal situation.

Part of a fated mate’s focus was always elsewhere.

It was one reason why Dragon Riders were so hard to recruit and even harder to keep.

The commitment it took could be a lifelong challenge.