Page 66 of A Forgery of Fate

“Something Lord Elang was going to tell you about tomorrow, rather than on this happy day.” Kunkoi served me another heap of noodles. “But since you’re asking, they’re tokens of King Nazayun’s…affection. He sent quite a few to Yonsar while Lord Elang was away.”

“Which is why the realm is so empty,” I murmured.

“Most of the merfolk left. The storms are harder on my kind than on the turtles, you see.” Kunkoi gestured at his fins. “No shells.”

I had witnessed the Dragon King turn his own forces into stone. I would flee too, if I were in Ai’long. “Kunkoi, are your friends and family—”

“They are safe,” said Elang. “They’ve left. Kunkoi ought to as well.”

“If I leave, who will cook for you? A good chef is a physician of sorts, and the turtles have deplorable taste in food, all bland and slimy. Don’t even get me started on your demon.”

Elang was unmoved. “If you stay, you might die.”

“Might, or might not. At least the wine here is good.” Merrily, Kunkoi raised the entire gourd. “A toast to living. Now that Lady Saigas is here, we’ll have a better shot at it.” He bowed. “I’ll leave you two to enjoy your first meal together as the lord and lady of Yonsar. Don’t bite into the noodles. I rolled them extra-long, for your life together.”

Kunkoi made his departure, and I was left alone with Elang, who still hadn’t touched his dinner. Instead he sipped his tea, using it as an excuse not to talk to me. I knew that game. Usually I played it well, but not tonight.

“It’s comforting to know you have a friend,” I said, breaking the silence. “Weshould at least try to get to know each other, for the sake of appearances. Dinner is a good time for that. Nomi used to say that the best friendships are made over food. She wanted to meet a dragon and charm him with crullers.”

He took another sip of tea. Even had the gall to refillmycup. “More likely she’d have gotten herself turned into a cruller.”

I twirled my noodles, silently grousing. “You’re the one who wanted us to eat alone. If every dinner is going to be this stimulating, I’d like to know so I can bring a book nexttime.”

He set down his tea. “I’ll have a selection curated for yourstudies.”

He really was going to make this difficult, wasn’t he? “Are you even going to touch your noodles?” I asked then. “As your wife, I should at least be aware of whether you eat as humans do. Or will you be hunting whales and sharks with your claws, and picking at their bones while the rest of us sleep at night?”

“I eat as you do,” he responded after a glacial beat. “And sleep. Is there anything else you wish to know?”

Finally, an actual answer. “Are you a thousand years old?” I pressed. I was curious, to be honest. “You don’t look a day over three hundred.”

He gave me a narrow look. “The tides of time in Ai’long are different than in Lor’yan,” he responded. “But I age wherever I am. I am twenty-one suns.”

He was only three years older than I was. Surprising. “You act older.”

“I’ve been wanted dead since I was born. Such a life does wonders for one’s maturity.”

I almost laughed. “So I didn’t marry an ancient elder. Just a heartless young man-dragon. That’s reassuring.”

“Is the interrogation finished?”

I tilted my head sideways. It was impossible reading someone with two faces, I decided. What I knew was he was stronger than a typical man. Much stronger, given how ready he’d been to take on the sharks earlier. He was fast too. And his scales were thick like armor. Not to mention, he had magic. “Can you get sick? Can you get hurt?”

“Yes. To both.” He didn’t like this topic. “I heal faster than full-blooded humans, but I bleed like you, and I hurt like you. Does that answer your questions?”

It did. I scraped the side of my bowl for the last of my noodles, while Elang had yet to begin eating his. “That was quite a welcome your grandfather gave us.”

“It’ll be the first of many,” said Elang tightly. “But you may rest easy for now. Since he has acknowledged our marriage, no harm will come to you today.”

“But tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is a new day.”

How cheering. I leaned back in my chair, taking a moment to let my food digest. “On the bright side, at least I methim.”

Elang eyed me, sidelong. “What is your meaning?”

“I know it was all just water, and that wasn’t hisphysicalbody, but still.” I was thoughtful. “I saw his face. I never forget a face. When will we get to meet him in person?”

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