Page 24

“Just say the word if you want me to get you out of here,” he said to me in English, which was his native tongue and a dialect from Earth that he’d taught to us when we’d go to visit.

Most humans used Earthan, which was a mixture of languages from Earth, so I wasn’t sure if Quinn could understand him or not in his English.

He was giving both of us an intense look.

“No, I’m happy, Omak-ahn,” I told him in the same language. “Just get to know him first before you judge.”

“I could say the same to you.”

I laughed, and threw an arm around his waist to pull him with me into the main living area, while Quinn walked beside my omak on the way in. Several guards filed in behind us and stationed themselves by the doors, looking around suspiciously.

As soon as we sat down, Blake started. “I understand, sir, that you told my son Mikos that you intend to marry my grandson. Is that right?”

“Yes, Your Highness, it is,” Quinn replied.

“Hm. That’s odd. I don’t remember seeing any offers for him yet. My son Vannos would have told me if there had been any. Or is that not how you do things here on Horvath?”

“As I explained to His Highness, Prince Mikos, our meeting was sudden and we’ve only just returned home to Horvath.

I’m drafting a marriage contract proposal now, but there have been…

distractions since we arrived. When I first met Rylan on Lycanus 3, I quickly discovered that he was my mate.

I knew it shortly after I first saw him.

Rylan told me that one of your other sons is mated to a Lycan, so you must know what that means. The Lycan mating bond…”

“Yes, yes, I know all about Lycans,” Blake said.

“I’d like to point out that although we are a related species, I am not a Lycan. I am Horvathian.”

“I see. That’s to your credit, I suppose, though so far, I’m not seeing a huge difference.”

“Omak,” Vannos said softly and shook his head.

“General Fortina, my husband and I are willing to entertain your offer for our son, but you need to know that it’s at least partly up to Rylan.

And he certainly seems to be all right with the situation, though he must speak up if he has any reservations.

” He turned to me. “Rylan, I hope you know you can speak freely. Or we can speak in private if you’d like.

But General Fortina should know that I’m willing to fight my way out of here if we have to, and be assured, General, that I would, if the need arises. ”

I don’t know who was most surprised by his words. Everyone looked a little shocked, even the guards. But the general leaned over and took my hand in his.

“Rylan knows my intentions,” he said, “and believe me, he’s not the least bit afraid of me.

Nor would I want him to be. I don’t know what I might have said to Prince Mikos to give him such a bad impression.

I simply told him my background and my intent, and they were stated clearly, but please understand that I am not coercing Rylan, or forcing him to stay here. ”

“And if he decided to leave and go home with us?” Blake said. “What would you do about it?”

“I’d try to strongly persuade him otherwise. Very strongly. But never with violence. I consider him my mate, and I could never hurt him or his family in any way.”

“Yes, but you haven’t answered the question. Would you let him leave?” Blake asked.

Quinn sighed but looked directly at Blake as he replied. “No, I’m afraid I couldn’t do that.”

I stood up then and moved over to sit beside Quinn.

“I don’t know where all this is coming from,” I said. “ All these hypotheticals. The fact is that I want to be here with Quinn. I’d like you both to be happy about it, and I don’t mean any disrespect, but please understand that I’m staying here with him, regardless of what either of you say.”

“Rylan,” Blake said in a slightly surprised tone.

I’m not sure what would have happened then if we hadn’t been interrupted by one of the servants, who came bursting in to speak to Quinn.

The guards all tensed and put their hands on their weapons, but the servant simply signaled for Quinn frantically to come speak to him, saying something in Horvathian that I didn’t understand.

Quinn did, of course, and he gripped my hand. “I’m so sorry, but I’m needed outside. The dragons…” When I heard that, I began to panic and jumped to my feet too.

My omak grabbed my hand. “What is it? Where’s he going?”

“I don’t know, but he said it was the dragons. I need to go check on them too!”

“What?” Blake said, getting to his feet, looking confused. “Dragons? For God’s sake, what’s going on around here?”

I rushed to the door after Quinn, with my family and the guards right behind me. Quinn was just ahead of me, and I could already hear his raised voice as we went around the corner of the house to the enclosure, and worst of all, I heard a sudden sharp cry from little Talon.

I started running even faster, because I was hearing other raised voices as well.

And I recognized them—it was Colonel Bentine, and his lieutenant, the one who had tried to name Talon, Mythe’s Golden .

The colonel was crouched beside Talon, holding his harness.

He had it halfway on and was struggling to put the rest of it on him.

Talon was trying to get loose so he could run to Quinn.

He had curled in on himself at Bentine’s feet and was lying on the ground, his claws dug deeply into the soil, like he was hanging on.

Quinn threw himself down beside him and began taking the harness off him, arguing loudly with the colonel.

“What’s going on here?” I shouted and charged over toward Talon to help him.

Mythe stood up and came toward me like he was going to interfere, so I hit him squarely on his jaw, making his head snap back.

He was a big man, like all of the Horvathians were, and his face got red and he held up his closed fists, ready to hit me.

That’s when my omak stepped up between us, and he was just as big as this Horvathian and twice as angry.

He shoved the man roughly away from me and pulled back his own fist to hit him.

But before he could do anything, Quinn was there, jerking Mythe up by his shirt front and yelling in his face.

The Imperial guards were already swarming between them to break up the fight.

“How dare you raise your hands to my mate and his father” Quinn was shouting. “Get out of here! Both of you! Get off my property before I do something I’ll regret later.”

I think he might have been fighting the men already if not for the Imperial guards, who had come to break up the tussle with my omak and Mythe. I bent over next to my dragon and began to pet him, stroking his sleek nose and making soft, crooning noises to him.

The Imperials surrounded Bentine and Mythe, and Bentine was yelling over them toward the General. “General Fortina, all this is unnecessary! We merely came by to look for the vetami, and we found him here in your enclosure.”

“Did you think he just wandered in, you fool? This is no longer any of your concern. I’m relieving you of your duties, Bentine and you too, Lieutenant.”

“B-but General Horvath, be reasonable! You can’t just give the vetami to this foreign boy! He belongs to Horvath and to the queen. He’s not yours to give!”

A cold and deadly silence fell between Quinn and the colonel as they exchanged glares.

The colonel’s gaze broke first. Mythe looked uncertain and uncomfortable, and as for me, I was so incensed I couldn’t even speak, so I bent back down to Talon, and finished taking off the hated harness that man had brought with him.

I realized my omak was again right beside me, having broken away from the guards.

He was leaning over Talon too, helping me to soothe him.

“Poor baby, it’s all right,” he said, petting Talon’s head. “We have you now, and no one is going to hurt you.”

“What in the world is going on around here?” I heard Omak-ahn yelling, and my little dragon sat up on his hind legs and said, “Oh, look Rylan. Who is that? He’s little, like you.”

My omak stared, with his mouth falling open. “Did he just talk or am I going crazy?”

“No, he talks,” I said, and kissed Talon on his little snout. He curled his forelegs around me and nuzzled me.

“Those men told me you didn’t like dragons, Rylie,” he was telling me. “And that you wanted to go home and not be stuck taking care of me. They said you left me here, and I thought maybe it was so you could leave again, but I didn’t know how to find you.”

“Oh, darling, that was a wicked lie! I’m not unhappy at all. You don’t ever have to listen to those men again. You belong with me now, and this is your home. Here with Sulamon and Quinn and me.”

“But I don’t understand,” Blake was saying. “How can this animal talk like he does? My God, he was speaking English just then! How is that even possible?”

“Who is that, Rylie? He has gold hair the same color as my scales. And he’s pretty, just like you.”

Blake’s face lit up and he laughed out loud. “I think I’m going to like your dragon, Rylan. Where can I get one of my own?”