Page 45 of The Alliance

“I know,” said Kingsley. His voice was as sharp as the edges of the steel. “It was made byridire.”

“Was it?” Lew sounded interested. “I don’t know where it came from but Dimpy will have our records of it. He can tell you where and when it came into our possession, even if he can’t tell you where or when it was forged.”

Kingsley nodded. “I’ll ask him.”

Darren interrupted. “Don’t ask in front of his mate. Anthony doesn’t like weapons.”

Kingsley and I must have shot him identical looks of disbelief, but my mate nodded and said, “Very well.”

He kept walking slowly around the room and I followed, scanning everything.

I could smell the metallic tang in the air from all the blades that were kept there, and I could smell the stone-scent of the gargoyle. Kingsley had a mixture of awe and fear in his scent, and I knew that being in a dragon’s armoury was making hisinstincts squirm. He’d spent so long believing that dragons were a threat to him – and while he’d been aridire, he’d been right – that seeing all the ways we could fight was making him feel threatened.

I moved closer to him, making sure he would feel my presence. My mate shouldn’t be afraid while I was near because there was nothing I wouldn’t do to keep him safe.

We walked around the whole room, taking in every item and asking questions about some of them.

“Is that a beheader?” I pointed at a huge weapon that looked far too unwieldly to actually use. Morgan and Alfie had had a nanny once who’d taken great delight in telling tales of a littleuasalprince who’d wandered into acuraidh’s territory and been beheaded, and it had frightened both little boys. Possibly that had been the point.

Lew nodded. “Yep. Useless thing.”

Kingsley moved on before I did. I wanted to look at the beheader for a moment longer. It was large enough to take off a dragon’s head in dragon form, easily. If someone could lift it. I eyed Lew up. He would be strong enough, probably.

I spun around at the sound of a low whistle coming from my mate.

“Phew, that’s a nice piece of craftsmanship.”

I was over there in a second, pressing up to Kingsley and peering round his broad shoulders.

He was looking at a sword in a harness. I could feel the magic radiating out from it but the magic was so different from mine that I couldn’t pinpoint what it did.

“What does it do?”

Lew actually stroked the sword, which was sheathed in a scabbard that was attached to a harness. He looked like he was petting it.

“This is my sword. The harness is magic.”

“Yes, what does it do though?”

“Oh, right. Well, the harness adapts to my form. It changes shape when I shift so I can wear it in my dragon form as well as my human form. That way, I can fly in somewhere with my sword on my back and when I shift to human form, I still have my weapon. It’s really handy. I can’t tell you the number of times a dragon flew into battle with their weapon clutched in their claws and dropped it. This makes it easier to draw, too. I can shift anddraw in the same movement, since the sword stays on my back. No fumbling with it as I land.”

He mimed how he’d draw it, and I admit, I was impressed. The Hoskins clan had some cool stuff.

Inside me, my dragon was satisfied. We’d seen what we needed to see. The Hoskins clan had enough weapons to choose from that I didn’t need to take weapons from the Somerville armoury to stock up their stores.

Darren had good protective magic. Lew obviously knew how to fight, and I’d be interested to train with him some time. Maybe I’d mention it to Dane.

And I knew Dane could fight. I knew he’d protect Seren with his life, and that soothed my dragon.

My clan were safe, while they were here.

Once I was satisfied, I didn’t need to stay in the armoury. I was basically going to leave and let them show the rest of my clan round if they wanted to see it.

Then I scented my mate. A sudden burst of nerves bloomed in his scent, and it made me want to press close to him, protect him from whatever he was afraidof.

He gestured at the sword. “The harness is magic but the sword is just steel.”

Lew sounded defensive as he said, “It’s a good sword. It’s never let me down.”

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