“What about them?”
“We should probably bring them in, too, or Addiena will just send us out again.”
“Don’t worry. Where my father goes, my brothers will go. They’ve never been able to think on their own.”
“That’s sad.”
“My mum tried to help them, but since hatching they’ve been loyal to my father. Plus they’re rather stupid.”
“And you’ve been loyal to your mum.”
“From the beginning to the end of time, I’ll be loyal to my mum.”
“I don’t blame you. She did a good job teaching you to fight.”
“She did?”
“Braith, you may not be ready to ride into battle”—yet—“but you’ve got basic hand-to-hand combat techniques down pretty well from what I’ve seen. You took out Bercelak.” He leaned down until their noses nearly touched. &ldquo
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“And you?” she asked, before Addolgar could list the reasons all of his kin would be involved in this.“Why are you doing this?”“That’s easy. Because I like you.” He grinned. “I like you a lot.”“Why?”“Because you make me smile.”“You’re Addolgar the Cheerful. Everything makes you smile.”“Not everything. And if I want to like you, Braith of the Darkness, I get to like you. Whether you want me to or not.”“Why wouldn’t I want you to?”“I don’t know. Maybe because I’m not a royal?”“Is there anything about me, Addolgar, that says I embrace being a royal? That I live my life as a royal? Anything?”Addolgar thought on that a moment before replying, “Not really.”“The Penardduns may be royals, but you don’t find any of them li
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 19
“You’ve been kind to me.”“I like you.”“Me? I thought royals like Lady Katarina were more to your taste, Addolgar.”They usually were. But there was just something about Braith. . . .Addolgar took a risk and reached his hand over again, gently pushing stray blue hairs out of her eyes.“The more time I spend with you, Braith, the more I like you.”“I’m not really likeable.”“Who told you that?”She shrugged. “Everyone. But I don’t need anyone to feel sorry for me about that.”“Braith, no one as strong as you gets anyone’s pity. And you certainly don’t have mine.”“Then what is it?”“I’m drawn to you, Braith of the Darkness. You make my scales itch.”Her eyes grew wide. She no longer had that hard-to-read expression; instead she just looked overwh
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 20
“You should smile.”“Why?”“It makes you look happy. I enjoy seeing you happy.”Braith could say in all honestly that no one had ever said that to her. Her father could not have cared less if she were happy and had told her as much. Which, coming soon after her mother’s death, had most likely been when she’d stopped smiling.“What are you missing, Braith?”She really had no idea where this conversation was going. “Miss
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 21
“I have to. I refuse to die with this stupid spear sticking out of my leg.”She nuzzled his cheek and stood, releasing his claws. He watched her walk off down a passage. And, a few seconds later, he watched several dragons covered in fur from head to claw silently follow right behind her.Addolgar opened his snout to warn her, but one of the dragons stopped, focused on him, and waved a single talon at him.At that point, all Addolgar could do was wait. As far as he was concerned, it was the strangers’ funeral pyre because he knew what they would be facing.Braith hadn’t gotten far from where she’d left Addolgar when she knew that someo
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 22
“But why?” Braith asked. “He has no use for me. No love. Why would he care if I was here with you or alone in my cave?”“The Penardduns are matriarchal, child. His first threat didn’t work with us because anything and everything your mother had, including title, was passed down to you. I honestly think that at first, he was just being his usual, vindictive self when he kept you from us.”“We used to openly mock his weak arms and that tiny little neck of his,” Aledwen said, grinning. “He hated that.”“But once he understood the true power of our line, he understood that without you, Emyr and his idiot sons risked losing all of their standing among those court royals who actually give an ox’s shit about all that as well as your mother’s fortune—and that he would not stand for.”“But he wouldn’t have lost his Elder status.”“Do you r
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 23
“Oh . . . fine!” Braith went around the other side of the bed they’d moved Addolgar to once Owena had used Magicks to force his body to shift to human, and got in next to him.“Aren’t you going to get naked?”“No, I am not going to get naked!”“Owena!” he called out. “Braith won’t get naked!”“Why are you making the poor lad work for it?” her aunt called back.“I am not getting naked!” Braith yelled so everyone would hear it. “So just leave off!”“S
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 24
“Or spend your time with that hunk of Cadwaladr meat.”“Oh. Uh . . . yeah, uh . . .”“Look!” Ffraid crowed. “She’s blushing!”“I am not!” Braith shot back.“You are! It’s so cute!”“I am not cute!”“Of course you’re not, luv,” Caron told her. “You’re a Penarddun. No one will call us beautiful or heart-stopping—”“Oh, no,” Ffraid cut in. “They do call Penardduns heart stoppers.”When her cousins said nothing, “Get it?”That’s when they started laughing at a confused Ffraid. “What?” she asked. “Wait. Are you laughing at me or at my joke? Because my joke is quite witty.”Fed up with sitting around, feeling miserable and still cranky, Addolgar threw his legs over the side of the bed.“What do you think yo
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 25
But Braith’s reply was a simple, “No.“What do you mean no?”“No,” she said again, her hand still stroking him.“Dammit, Braith, get these chains off me!”“No.”“I’ll tear this bed apart,” he threatened.“And then you’ll have to answer to my aunts. They’re very proud of this bed. Ripped some poor bloke’s castle apart, stone by stone, to get it, too. Do you want to tell them what happened to their bed when they get back?”