Page 29 of Consorting with Dragons (Bloodlines #4)

But, in point of fact, I was just bored, full stop.

And I was afraid that Talon would get that way soon too.

Back at home, I’d been in my father’s army and had trained and worked with the other soldiers a good deal of the time.

Now it seemed that Quinn just wanted me to sit around and be an ornamental fuck toy and that just wasn’t me.

Actually, the fuck toy part of that wasn’t totally wrong, as long as it was Quinn, but I still wanted a real job.

What I really wanted to do was train to be a Dragon Rider, but every time I brought it up, Quinn said it was “out of the question.” As if that were supposed to end the discussion. In truth, all it did was piss me off and make me want to do it even more.

I was lying on my back, half asleep that day, basking in the sun, when a big shadow came across me, and I sat up to see what it was.

I was shocked to see a black hovercraft above me, like the kind the Tygerians used.

I clambered to my feet, shading my eyes with my hand as I looked up at it.

It flew past me, then turned and came back, slowing down as if looking for a place to land.

Talon saw it too and came rushing to me from the water, getting out and shaking himself off.

He stood in front of me with his wings unfurling.

“What is it, Rylie? Is it another dragon like me? One I haven’t seen before?”

“No, Talon, it’s a hovercraft. A spaceship. Tygerian, I think. Maybe somebody I know.”

The hovercraft had landed not far from us, over on shore.

I grabbed my trousers and pulled them on and then held the rest of my clothes in my hand as Talon bent down for me to get on his leg, so he could toss me up to his back.

It was a fancy little maneuver that we’d practiced so many times we could practically do it in our sleep.

It was a little showy, and he tossed me probably unnecessarily high up in the air.

I landed with a little plop in my seat. Then when I was settled in my small saddle-like device across his shoulders, Talon took off with a big beat of his wings and soared over onto shore to land about fifty feet away from the hovercraft.

I jumped off, still barefoot and shirtless to see the hatch door swing upward and a set of automatic steps descend.

King Davos himself came striding down the ramp, jumping the last few feet to the ground, and then turning to hold out a hand to help Blake jump the last few feet as well.

Though at the last moment, he took him by the waist and swung him down to the ground, laughing at him when he yelled and hit his shoulder.

“I can do it myself!” he fussed, and Davos smiled and winked at him—definitely a mannerism he’d picked up from Blake over the years, as that was not a Tygerian custom.

I shouted out my surprise and joy at seeing them both here on Horvath, and my grandfather came over to pull me into a big bear hug as Blake looked on with a grin. Then it was his turn to hug and kiss me, as nearby, Talon watched us all with jealousy and deep disapproval.

Blake saw him standing there and exclaimed over him. “This can’t be Talon, can it? I last saw you both only weeks ago, and this beautiful dragon is so much bigger than little Talon was!”

Talon looked a little mollified at Blake’s words, preening a little as Blake called him beautiful.

“This is indeed my Talon. And yes, he’s grown a lot since you saw him, though I don’t notice it as much seeing him every day like I do. He’s going to be much bigger before he’s done—as big as a two-story building Quinn thinks.”

“But that’s amazing,” my grandfather said. “I had no idea vetami got so big.”

“Quinn says the ones the Tygerian soldiers brought back home for sport years ago were bred to be much smaller. But this is how they look in the wild. Most of them are red or green, though, and not this gorgeous golden color.”

Blake had come closer and put out a hand to him, but Davos pulled it back very quickly.

“Oh, he would never hurt anyone,” I said.

“Unless they were hurting you,” Talon interrupted, in his high, thin voice. “I would fight them if they tried to do that.”

I smiled when the king reeled back in surprise. “He talks!”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Talon, be nice. My grandfather has never seen anyone like you before. We want to show him you have good manners, don’t we?”

“If you say so.”

“I do.”

“Then it’s very nice to meet you, sir. And to see you again too, Rylie’s omak-ahn.”

Blake turned to me in amazement. “He remembered me? And he calls you Rylie?”

I nodded, and he turned back to Talon. “How clever of you to know who I am,” he said. “You were only a little baby the last time I saw you.”

“Oh yes, I’m very smart. Rylie tells me so all the time.”

Blake laughed delightedly. “May I touch you?”

“Yes, if you like.”

He reached up to rub his nose and Talon actually made a purring sound, almost like a really big cat. It was like a soft rumble in his chest.

“Your scales are so warm.”

“From the sun,” Talon said.

“Won’t you come back to the house with me?” I asked them. “Quinn isn’t here, but I can contact him and let him know you’ve arrived. I know he’d love to meet you, Grandfather.”

“Our ship is in orbit around this moon for now, with the permission of the queen, so I suppose we can stay a while. We just came from Lycanus and a meeting with your uncle, Renard, about the fact we think the Thalians might try to come here to this moon to hide out. The attack you were involved in was all the encouragement I needed. Have you fully recovered, Rylan?”

“Oh yes, I’m much better. My ribs are fully healed, and I barely have any headaches anymore.”

“Surely, your new husband didn’t leave you here alone though, after you were so badly injured?”

“No, I have guards here—way too many if you ask me.”

“I don’t see any of them.”

My face got a little warm, because I had gone to great pains to slip away from the guards that morning. “I didn’t feel like I needed any today. Talon was with me, and we just wanted to go swimming for a while.”

“So, you left without letting them know? That’s dangerous, Rylan, and it needs to stop. You’d be an attractive target for kidnapping and hostage taking. I’ll speak to your mate about it.”

“No, please don’t do that, or I’d never hear the end of it. Please, Grandfather. I promise to do better. Look, just follow me to the house and I’ll ask the cook to fix you something to eat. Omak-ahn, you can ride Talon with me, if you like.”

“No, he can’t,” Davos answered, before Blake could say anything. He pulled Blake away. “He needs to come with me.”

Blake rolled his eyes and gave me an apologetic smile, but patted Talon again and followed my grandfather back onto their hovercraft.

That was exactly the kind of high-handed treatment I hated for myself when Quinn answered for me and made decisions about me.

I was a little surprised that Blake didn’t speak up, but maybe Blake had learned to pick his battles over the years.

Then too, I guess the idea of riding a dragon with no safety equipment didn’t really appeal to him like it did me.

“I’d be very careful, and if you do fall, I’m pretty sure I could catch you before you hit the ground,” Talon told him.

Blake threw back his head and laughed, while Grandfather’s eyes got wide. I kissed Talon on the snout. “Not really helping, honey, but thank you. They can just follow us home.”

I ran over and jumped on his leg that he held out to assist me, and Talon and I did our trick where I vaulted over his shoulders, twisted in the air and landed neatly in the saddle.

Blake shook his head admiringly, and my grandfather laughed.

Then the two of them went back up the hovercraft ramp so they could follow me home.

****

Quinn

I got the call from Rylan that his grandparents had unexpectedly come for a visit around lunchtime that day and immediately cleared my schedule for the entire afternoon.

A visit from King Davos was huge, and something I’d been dreading.

Sulamon and I flew out soon afterward, heading home, but since the flying distance was around sixty miles, it would take at least two or three hours for us to arrive.

Sulamon wasn’t as fast as some others, due to his large size, and I didn’t want to overtire him.

Our training was taking place in the high mountains, and it was a little too far to go home every night.

Instead, I tried to make it home once a week or so, and it really wasn’t enough.

I had a constant ache in my chest, which was surprising, because I hadn’t expected to miss Rylan quite so much.

I’d really thought that not seeing him around all the time would mean I wouldn’t be thinking of him so much.

I thought that going back to work, keeping busy with training would keep lonely feelings for him at bay.

I was wrong. It did help, but not nearly enough.

He was the first thing I thought about in the morning and the last thing at night.

And all during the day, little thoughts of him would steal over me.

If I had a good meal, I’d find myself wondering if I should tell the cook about it, because Rylan might really like it, and so far he hadn’t been a huge fan of Horvathian food.

If I saw a nice view, or came across a pretty stream, or even sat outside my tent in the evenings, watching a nice sunset, I’d wish he was there to see it with me.