Page 25 of Consorting with Dragons

Deliberately ignoring whatever he was about to say, I turned my back on him and faced the General. I had asked myself what Blake, my omak-ahn would do in this situation. He was well known in our family for being outspoken and saying whatever was on his mind. If I channeled him, I’d know exactly what to say and do. I was being incredibly rude and probably overstepping my status, and I was definitely trading on my grandfather’s name, but just then, I didn’t care.

“I’ll say goodbye to him properly then, shall I? I certainly don’t want tointerferewith his training. But I do ask you to oversee the instruction this young animal receives, Marshal General Fortina. I don’t want him to be mistreated either, and I’ll make sure he isn’t.” I looked directly at the two men. “Not by anyone.”

“Your Highness,” the colonel said stiffly. “I assure you…”

I interrupted him. “I don’t need your assurances. I need to know he’s in good hands. Can you promise me that?”

“Most certainly,” he huffed.

I nodded and gave the dragon, who had by now nodded off in my arms, one last pat and hug and as he began to stir, I whispered softly in his ear. “You have to leave now, honey, but you go with these men and do as they say. I’ll come to see you soon.”

I picked the baby dragon up to hand him to the General, and he curled both forelegs around me and even wrapped his little wings around my arms. He was surprisingly strong. He nuzzled his hot, dry nose in my cheek. “I don’t want to go,” he cried. “Don’t make me.Please!”

I looked up helplessly at Quinn, who looked as surprised as I felt at the little dragon’s pleas to stay with me. He knelt beside him and began speaking softly to him in his own language, but I could see it wasn’t working. Quinn took him in his arms, pulling him gently away to give him to the older man. The dragon cried out loudly and reached back toward me.

And I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t just turn my back on him and walk away.

“Stop!” I said, jumping to my feet, forgetting in the heat of the moment that I was too injured to be getting so excited. I paid for it with a sharp pain in my side that almost doubled me over. “Don’t touch him. He’s coming home with me.”

Chapter Eight

Things went from bad to worse quickly after that. I went over to the window to look out while the Marshal General battled it out with the others behind me. Thankfully the rest of the entire conversation was conducted in Horvathian, so I was spared having to listen to what the training people were no doubt saying about me. The dragon was clinging to me with its legs wrapped around my waist, which felt very odd, I had to admit. His little body wasn’t all that heavy, and he was surprisingly warm, so it wasn’t uncomfortable, but I began to wonder if I hadn’t spoken too soon, and in a far too imperious manner.

Probably the only one who would understand at all would be my omak and Blake, both of whom were always in my corner—and who both loved all animals as much as I did. Blake always had baby animals around the palace, including the puppies he insisted on having. In my omak’s case, he especially loved the animals that he could ride. He was already familiar with the vetami from his Training Academy days, and he would help me, I felt sure, if I somehow managed to pull this off and keep the little dragon.

And that was a big “if” judging by the occasional dirty looks being aimed my way by the Horvathian trainers. Finally, they finished their argument and the two training people left, casting me dark looks. I stared back out the window again, but Quinn didn’t speak. In fact, a little silence fell over the room, so I turned to see if the general might have left along with the others, but no such luck. He was still in the room, leaning against the edge of my hospital bed. He had his arms folded and his head turned down slightly, seeming to be deep in thought. He was aware ofme turning though, because he lifted his head and gazed directly toward me.

“This won’t work, you know,” he said, in a conversational tone. “And all you’re accomplishing is to make this harder for him. When we signed our peace treaty with the Axis, a part of the deal was that we were to have full authority over our dragons. Davos won’t go back on that, and Prince Mikos wouldn’t agree to it either. They’re not going to go back on their promises to our queen in a signed treaty just to cater to your whims. And I’m sorry, Rylan, but I’m not going to stand for it either.”

I gave him the look I thought that statement deserved, as he stood up and began walking toward me. “This isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you, Rylan, but this is about the vetami and what’s best for him, too. This is what’s going to happen instead. You’re going to let me take him, and if you really care about him at all, you’ll try to help me make him see that it’s for the best that he remains among his own kind and gets the training he needs. You’ll ask him to accept a new Rider and do his best, knowing that he’ll soon forget all about you and all of this and move on.”

“That’s what I’m going to do, huh?”

“Yes, it is. Now please, baby. Say your goodbyes, and I’ll take him.”

I glared at him for a good ten seconds or so, while he gazed serenely back at me. I think it was the word ‘baby’ that did it, though I couldn’t believe I liked it. I never had before with anyone else, but somehow it was different with him.

“Take him then,” I said. “But I’ll hate you for this forever.”

He stared at me solemnly for a moment and then nodded. “I really hope not. But this has to be done for the dragon’s sake. Rylan, he’ll one day be as tall as a two-story building and weigh about 20,000 pounds. You have to be reasonable about this for his sake.”

I glared at him some more, and then finally, I gently pried the dragon’s little forelegs off my waist and bent over to whisper in his ear.

“I’m sorry. So very sorry, and I tried, but it’s for the best if you go with the men who came for you and go to meet the other dragons.”

He began to make little distressed noises, as the Marshal General pulled him away, and I didn’t watch as Quinn turned his back and walked quickly out of the room with him. I could hear the dragon’s loud wails drifting back down the corridor. I fell back down in my chair and let all that had happened mingle with what I was feeling about the dragon, and I’m not ashamed to admit that it took me a few moments to gather myself again after he left.

****

Quinn Fortina

It had been two very long days since I’d last seen Rylan, though I’d checked on him often. It had killed me to stay away from him, knowing that he was upset with me and upset about the dragon. Those two days I’d spent waiting on his family to come and dreading what would happen when they did.

I was hopeful that they would agree on an immediate marriage and agree to Rylan living here in my home in Horvath afterward. At least for the foreseeable future. I still didn’t like the idea of being parted from him for long, so that had to be a priority. Perhaps in the future, I wouldn’t feel as strongly about it, and he could go home for visits.

Probably not, though. With each day that passed, I felt more and more attached.

He hadn’t actually agreed to marry me, though he hadn’t said no. I clung to that and hoped he’d come around. I was givinghim a little time and distance to do that, and I hoped it would work.

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