Page 547 of Flirting with Darkness

Kyllen winced at that word. Fae generally disliked the obligation it implied.

“Not so fast, sweet pea. I’ve done something for King Galan that makes us even.”

The dragon shifted his head our way. “What have you done? Other than to enrage the sky king by taking from him what he stole?”

Kyllen’s arm around me tightened. “I took back what’s mine. But I managed to get a few other things accomplished in the process.”

The dragon drew some air in, his nostrils flaring. “I smell smoke. Something is burning. My guess would be you’ve used my fire.”

“The sky king’s palace is gone,” Kyllen announced.

The dragon jerked with surprise. “What? Did you really burn his palace?”

“To the ground.”

“Your wife is right, you’re clearly insane. Why would you poke the Sky Kingdom like that? It’s unwise.”

Kyllen scoffed. “I wasn’t the one who’d angered the sky king by conspiring against him then being careless enough for him to find out about it.”

The dragon hung his head, not saying a word in reply. Grim silence drifted from him.

“Tell me you killed Aigel,” the king finally said.

“No. Had I killed him, we’d have the entire Sky Kingdom on our tail right now.”

The dragon’s long tail twitched uncomfortably.

“Why aren’t they after us?” he asked. “Dead or alive, King Aigel and his court have enough reasons to be in a pursuit of us right now.”

Kyllen grinned mischievously. “I made him promise not to.”

“You did? And he promised? Why?”

“I’d love to say ‘out of the goodness of his heart,’ but I’d be lying. In reality, King Aigel had his wings clipped and his eyes closed when he made the promise in exchange for his life.”

The great body of the dragon convulsed, shaking with laughter.

“Is that so? You managed to knock some snot off that arrogant king?” The dragon’s voice boomed with mirth. “Now, I wish I were there to see that!”

“It was a sight to see!” Kyllen agreed, pride ringing in his words. “Though, if you were there, you’d have to keep your eyes closed, too, since I had my hood off. My eyes andsentieswere exposed.”

“I’ll keep the mental image of that instead then. And what an image that is! The insufferable sky king pleading for his life, his wings clipped by my fire.” The dragon shook his head, his back vibrating with a chuckle.

“For as long as King Aigel lives, all our kingdoms below the clouds are safe,” Kyllen concluded.

“Good.” King Galan nodded. “Then, I say, long live the sky king.”

They fell silent, and I contemplated what had happened.

A fae could not break a promise given. King Aigel was young, with centuries of life lying ahead of him, provided he took care not to get killed before his time.

For a few centuries at least, our kingdoms were free from the threat from above.

9

AMIRA

As we approached Ufaris, King Galan closed his eyes again, and Kyllen directed him to the patio just outside of our bedroom windows.

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