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2024-10-29 19:42:56“Well,” Crystin said, “we’ll be staying here at least the night so I hope you’ll have time for dinner and a little chat about old . . .”
Crystin’s words faded away as three male dragons in human form walked out of the Main Hall doors. Addolgar didn’t recognize them, but Caron ran up the stairs and threw herself into one of the dragons’ arms.
“Daddy!”
Crystin crossed her arms over her chest and gawked up the stairs at her mate. “What the hells are you lot doing here?”
“Oh,” Shalin said, smiling, “when I heard from Addolgar that all of you were safe and coming back to the Southlands together, I sent out messengers to retrieve your mates since I knew they were part of the troops camped not too far from here. Isn’t that fortuitous?”
“Aye,” Crystin muttered. “So very fortuitous.”
The three males glowered down the sta
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Unsure what to do, Braith did what she always did. She sort of folded in on herself. It was how she’d always handled her father when . . . well, whenever he was around. Pretending nothing bothered her was something Braith had always been good at, and she put those years of practice to excellent use now. But as she looked around the table of amiably chatting dragons, she noticed that Addolgar’s mother was staring at her.When she saw that Braith was looking her way, the She-dragon raised her brows. Braith frowned, confused. Shalin raised her brows again and then gestured to Addolgar with a tilt of her head. Still unclear what she was trying to tell her, Braith gave a small shake of her head.That’s when Shalin the Innocent, Tamer of Ailean the Slag, slammed her hands down on the table and b
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“I did, too,” Éibhear continued to complain. “But apparently my father had other ideas.”“It was either that,” Addolgar shot back at the boy, “or let Bercelak cut off your head like he planned!”Éibhear, human and dressed in chain mail and the surcoat of some long-dead army, put his hands on his hips. “Why? Because I didn’t agree with the old bastard?”“You’re a soldier!” Addolgar yelled. “You don’t agree. You don’t disagree. You follow orders!”The boy raised his hands in th
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“Oy! Addolgar!” they yelled into his human face. “Oyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! You awake?”Idiots. Every one of his brothers and sisters were utter idiots. Even these two—Ghleanna, his older sister; and Bercelak, his younger brother—who he believed to be the smartest of his kin, were still . . . Idiots.“Maybe he’s dead then,” Bercelak suggested.“Nah. I think he’s breathing. He just sleeps like the dead, is all.”An elbow, probably Ghleanna’s, rammed across his jaw. “Addolgar!” she screamed. “You awake?”His jaw throbbing, Addolgar knew he couldn’t keep ignoring his siblings or he risked losing part of his face.He slowly opened his eyes. “What?”“See?” Ghleanna said to Bercelak. “He’s not dead.”“Such a relief. Mum would have had a fit if he’d turned up dead.”“Your concern overwhelms me, brother.” Addolgar cracked his neck. “So what do you want?”His brother and sister, also in their human forms, stood tall, hands on hips, staring down at him. The two of them looked the most alike of their si
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The seat of power for the Dragon Queen of the Southlands, Devenallt Mountain was the one place Braith loathed going. As a royal, there were certain times of the year she was expected to come and spend time among other royals, but she hated it. She had nothing in common with . . . well . . . anyone. She had nothing to say. At least nothing that would interest anyone. So she mostly just stood around, holding a chalice of wine she never drank, and waited until she could sneak out without being noticed.Unfortunately, she wasn’t here for a specific royal event but because she’d been sent for by her father. Something that frightened her more than she’d ever admit out loud. She wasn’t close to her father. Never had been. Her father had always made it clear that, to him, she was nothing more than “your mother’s daughter,” which was fine with Braith. She didn’t need her father and didn’t want to be around him, and he had always seemed to feel the same. So why he was summoning her to Devenallt
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And what was she? Her lip almost curled. She was nothing but Braith of the Darkness. Destroyer of a single city that no dragon had ever heard of.How was that impressive to someone like Addolgar? Revered Dragonwarrior. Loved by his army comrades—dragon and human—and considered one of the “nice” Cadwaladrs of their Clan. The only other nice Cadwaladr was Addolgar’s father, Ailean the Wicked.Truth be told, it was Addolgar’s good nature that warmed Braith’s hard heart more than anything else. Not only because he was kind to her when even her own father was not, but also because he was kind to all he was not against in war.Glancing over at his battling siblings, Addolgar said low, “Sorry about my brother, Braith. He can be a bit of a prat.”“Yeah,” she said into her chest. “I know.”“What did he come over here for anyway?” Since, apparently, they both knew he’d never walk this way to see Braith.“Rhiannon, I believe.”“Ahhhh. I see.” Addolgar laughed. “His obsession with her is so ridic
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“I didn’t know I was,” Addolgar replied.“Well, you were.”The brothers were silent for nearly a minute until Addolgar noted, “You’re awfully tense.”“Shut up.”“Braith, I don’t think you’ve met Lady Katarina. Lord Berg’s daughter.”Braith nodded at the fellow royal.“Now,” the Queen went on, “I thought you would be perfect to travel with Lady Katarina on her way back to the Western Mountains.”Braith and Katarina locked gazes, and Braith knew in that moment that she was not alone in not wanting to go on this trip.... Katarina didn’t want her to go either. Braith had no idea why Katarina felt that, nor did she care to know since, in the end, they both had the same desire.The problem was Addiena. How to handle her?“Your Majesty,” Braith tried, “I truly appreciate this honor, but I’m not sure I’m the best one for such a role.”“And I’m sure you are. Your father suggested you himself.”Braith tried not to frown, but it was hard. “My father suggested me for this? Really? My father.”The
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“I am sorry about this, Lady Braith.”Braith looked down at the diminutive She-dragon, forced a smile. “It’s all right, Lady Katarina. I know this isn’t your fault.”“Just Katarina.” She stepped aside as one of their escorts hustled by. “I’ll be glad to return home so I have to worry less about all these titles.”“Well, you need not worry about mine at all.”Braith studied the soldiers that had been chosen for this trip. She recognized a few. They were soldiers loyal to her father. She didn’t know why that bothered her, but it did. She didn’t like this.“Something wrong, Braith?” Katarina asked.“Uh . . .” She focused back on the royal. “No. Nothing. Just thinking. Wasn’t really planning on a trip.”“And I wasn’t really planning to come here.” She raised, then lowered her front claws. “Yet here I am.”Braith felt bad for her. This was just a few days out of Braith’s life. Yet Katarina had spent a year as nothing more than a well-treated hostage.Placing one claw on the royal’s shoulde
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Addolgar’s head tipped to the side. “But your father’s loyal to the Queen, is he not?”“My father is loyal to my father. I have always made sure never to forget that.”From the camp they could hear Lady Katarina calling out to Addolgar. Something about tea. Braith hated tea.“We’ll be eating soon,” Addolgar said.“I’ll be there in a bit,” Braith replied, turning her body back around to face the lake.Addolgar stood and began to head back to camp. But he stopped just before stepping into the trees.“Want me to save you some ox?” he asked kindly. Why did he have to be so bloody nice? Braith didn’t even bother to turn around. “No, thank you.”She heard him walk off, which wasn’t really hard since he stomped like a moose. Once she knew she was alone, she let out a long sigh.Briefly, she entertained the thought of breaking her oath to the Queen and just flying off. It would be easy enough; no one really cared that she was here. No one cared about her at all. But she knew she couldn’t do
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“I did, too,” Éibhear continued to complain. “But apparently my father had other ideas.”“It was either that,” Addolgar shot back at the boy, “or let Bercelak cut off your head like he planned!”Éibhear, human and dressed in chain mail and the surcoat of some long-dead army, put his hands on his hips. “Why? Because I didn’t agree with the old bastard?”“You’re a soldier!” Addolgar yelled. “You don’t agree. You don’t disagree. You follow orders!”The boy raised his hands in th
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Chapter 31
Unsure what to do, Braith did what she always did. She sort of folded in on herself. It was how she’d always handled her father when . . . well, whenever he was around. Pretending nothing bothered her was something Braith had always been good at, and she put those years of practice to excellent use now. But as she looked around the table of amiably chatting dragons, she noticed that Addolgar’s mother was staring at her.When she saw that Braith was looking her way, the She-dragon raised her brows. Braith frowned, confused. Shalin raised her brows again and then gestured to Addolgar with a tilt of her head. Still unclear what she was trying to tell her, Braith gave a small shake of her head.That’s when Shalin the Innocent, Tamer of Ailean the Slag, slammed her hands down on the table and b
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“Well,” Crystin said, “we’ll be staying here at least the night so I hope you’ll have time for dinner and a little chat about old . . .”Crystin’s words faded away as three male dragons in human form walked out of the Main Hall doors. Addolgar didn’t recognize them, but Caron ran up the stairs and threw herself into one of the dragons’ arms.“Daddy!”Crystin crossed her arms over her chest and gawked up the stairs at her mate. “What the hells are you lot doing here?”“Oh,” Shalin said, smiling, “when I heard from Addolgar that all of you were safe and coming back to the Southlands together, I sent out messengers to retrieve your mates since I knew they were part of the troops camped not too far from here. Isn’t that fortuitous?”“Aye,” Crystin muttered. “So very fortuitous.”The three males glowered down the sta
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“You don’t think we’re coming with you?” Crystin snapped, suddenly appearing quite annoyed. “Do you really think we’d let you meet that Red bitch on your own?”“Auntie Crystin—”“Shut up. You ramble like your mother sometimes.”Braith looked up at him. “I ramble?”“Not compared to my people,” Addolgar admitted.Crystin faced her sisters. “We need to get these three idiots back to Devenallt Mountain without breaking our backs in the process. Any suggestions?”“Aye,” Owena said. “I’ve got one.” She held out her claw to Addolgar. “Give us your ax, yeah?”Addolgar took a step back. “Owena . . . no.”“Just give us your ax. We’ll take care of the rest.”Disgusted, but not seeing much option, he looked at Braith. “And are you all right with that?&
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“I was so worried,” she told him, “when Heledd told us we hadn’t gotten all of them. I realized they must have come in through another way.”“Lightnings like the sneak attack. Too bad for them, I love killing Lightnings, so it all worked in my favor.”“Good job, Mountain,” Crystin praised. “Your father would be proud of you, too, I think.”“And I thought you knew my father.”Braith leaned her head back and looked up at Addolgar. “Wait, why do I need your hammer?”“It’s your hammer now. At least until we have one made for you. And you’ll need it for when we go after your bastard father.”Braith broke out in another smile that warmed Addolgar’s heart. She was whole now, wasn’t she? Truly whole.Crystin stepped up to them, placed her claw on Braith’s shoulder. “We’ll clean up this gods-damn mess,
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“Oh, no you don’t,” a male said. He didn’t seem to care what she’d done to his comrade.Braith tried to grab something she could hold on to, but her talons tore through nothing but dirt and stone.She was yanked back to the Lightning and, desperate, she kicked out, hitting him in the chest. With an “oof!” he flew back several feet, and Braith tried again to get to her claws.“Get that one!” someone yelled, and Braith knew they were talking about her.Addolgar slid down the wall and landed on his ass. He could already hear his father telling him this was his fault because he wasn’t paying attention! And knowing the old bastard was right, yet again, did nothing but piss Addolgar off.
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Addolgar studied the weapon in his big hand, looked over at Braith, and threw it at her.She caught it, easily. Swung it once, twice, then lifted it with both hands. It felt right in her hands.Comfortable. The way, she assumed, a weapon was supposed to feel.Braith grinned at Addolgar. A grin he returned.Owena nodded. “He’s right. She’s a hammer dragon.”Disgusted, Delyth glowered at both Braith and Addolgar. “You know,” she finally said, “you two certainly are perfect together. You&r
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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?”
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“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
