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“Don’t worry about it, General. My consort is not really flirting.

He’s letting you know he’s in on the joke, but really, he’s just a law unto himself.

I’m almost used to it by now.” He flicked a glance over at Blake and put a proprietorial arm around his waist as he settled him back beside him.

The way Davos watched his consort was a bit like a thief might stare at some priceless jewel he coveted.

Or like Blake was a bomb that might go off at any moment.

One or the other. It was an insatiable, greedy and yet wary glance, demanding the object of his attention’s total attention.

I wondered if that same look was on my face too whenever I looked at Rylan.

It was certainly the way I felt about him most of the time.

“I’m actually glad to see you taking my grandson’s part, even if what you said is not strictly true.

I don’t like being lied to, General. Though I would have covered for my mate as well.

” Davos gave me a little toast with his own glass, and I returned the gesture, still feeling the danger hadn’t quite passed.

Rylan tried to change the subject by asking about Sulamon, and the talk grudgingly turned to more general things, including the dragons of Horvath.

Davos seemed to be fascinated by them. “I only recently realized that they grew to be so large,” he said. “Or that they were able to speak. You may have heard about the small rebellion of the so-called Coalition of Planets.”

“Yes, we’ve been hearing reports of fighting.”

“Mostly over now. Or it will be as soon as we catch up to Travon of Thalios. He was the one who formed the group and set up their mission, which was to leave the Axis and form their own treasonous government.”

“I see.”

“I understand he has vetami with him wherever he is. Golden ones, like Rylan’s pet. I understand they have the ability to speak like he does as well.”

I was surprised by the information. Only one dragon we knew of had that ready ability to speak, and that was little Talon.

“Talon’s ability is more like telepathy, I think.

I’d like to get the chance to work more closely with him in the future to understand the process more completely.

We think he establishes a powerful telepathic link, you see, with those he speaks to, and if we could learn more about it, or actually teach the other dragons to use it, then it could be of major importance to us. ”

“I would think my grandson would be helpful with that. He seems to have a close relationship to Talon. Extraordinarily close. And the dragon takes orders from Rylan well. I’d be interested to see if Rylan and Talon could teach the other dragons how to communicate as well as they do.

I think it would be a great breakthrough. ”

“I’m afraid that wouldn’t be possible, sir.”

“Oh? And why not?”

“It would require frequent or daily instruction, at least at first, I would think. And Rylan can’t very well live in a camp full of common soldiers. It wouldn’t be appropriate for my mate, and neither Rylan nor Talon would want to be separated from each other. Talon feels strongly about Rylan.”

Davos glanced over at Rylan, who was keeping his head down and not looking at me or his grandfather, who was frowning at me.

“My grandsons all took training for soldiering, General Fortina. I can assure you they’ve all camped outside and lived with other soldiers in close proximity as well. Isn’t that right, Rylan?”

“Yes, Grandfather.” Rylan’s tone was soft, but very eager, and I felt a little frisson of unease. A little anger too—had they already been discussing this? Had Rylan tried to get his grandfather on his side in this?

“I went on several missions in Moravia,” Rylan continued. “For weeks at a time, and we all lived in tents,” Rylan continued.

“Well, there you are. Of course, I understand that you wouldn’t want him to sleep among the other soldiers.

I’d feel the same way about Blake. But he could share your quarters at night and work with the vetami during the day.

As for any resentment it might cause, rank has its privileges.

I see no reason why that plan wouldn’t work. ”

I could see plenty of reasons, and it made me angry to sit there and say nothing in reply. What about bathing or even going to the bathroom? I couldn’t be with him every moment and there was very little privacy in the camp.

It was rare that my orders were countermanded so quickly, leaving me with no real recourse.

Even the queen usually followed my recommendations, but this king was under no such obligation, nor did he have any such inclination.

It occurred to me that Rylan must have put the king up to this, and that knowledge was quickly followed by absolute rage on my part.

I had refused to allow him to come stay with me, so he must have deliberately gone behind my back to talk to his grandfather and get him to do his bidding.

Even the unexpectedness of this visit was suspicious.

Why else had the two of them simply shown up out of the blue in such a way?

No, Rylan had to have contacted Blake, this “omak-ahn” of his, and ask him for his help. The idea was infuriating.

“Why don’t you arrange that, General?” Davos said. “The training, I mean. I can provide any extra funding for it if need be. I think it would be really useful if it works. The dragons of Horvath could be a valuable asset to us.”

“Oh Grandfather, that would be wonderful,” Rylan exclaimed. “Talon is so bright and he’s very expressive. I think he could easily teach the others if I worked with him a little. I already showed him how to practice with Sulamon.”

“Who?”

Rylan laughed, happy, I supposed, now that he thought he’d gotten his way. “Sulamon is Quinn’s dragon, remember? He’s a Red, so he’s also a fire breather.”

“A fire breather? You mean he shoots out actual fire? I had no idea, but I’d like to see that.”

“Yes,” Rylan said eagerly. “That’s one reason the Alliance soldiers gave them the name of dragon. They can fly in close to targets if you want them to, and they’re impervious to heat-seeking missiles, because they have cold blood.”

“I think I should have become familiar with these animals a long time ago.” He turned back to me.

“After speaking with you, General, Mikos looked up your record with these Dragon Riders, and it’s most impressive.

I’d like to see some reports on what their full capabilities are.

Perhaps some demonstrations are in order too. ”

“Yes, of course. I’ll have some reports forwarded to you right away. And just let me know when you want to visit a camp for a demonstration.”

“Excellent. I will.”

“In the meantime, the cook has prepared us a meal,” Rylan said. “Perhaps we can continue our discussion over dinner, and I can tell you more about Talon.”