Page 35 of Consorting with Dragons

“What in the world is going on around here?” I heard Omak-ahn yelling, and my little dragon sat up on his hind legs and said, “Oh, look Rylan. Who is that? He’s little, like you.”

My omak stared, with his mouth falling open. “Did he just talk or am I going crazy?”

“No, he talks,” I said, and kissed Talon on his little snout. He curled his forelegs around me and nuzzled me.

“Those men told me you didn’t like dragons, Rylie,” he was telling me. “And that you wanted to go home and not be stuck taking care of me. They said you left me here, and I thought maybe it was so you could leave again, but I didn’t know how to find you.”

“Oh, darling, that was a wicked lie! I’m not unhappy at all. You don’t ever have to listen to those men again. You belong with me now, and this is your home. Here with Sulamon and Quinn and me.”

“But I don’t understand,” Blake was saying. “How can this animal talk like he does? My God, he was speaking English just then! How is that even possible?”

“Who is that, Rylie? He has gold hair the same color as my scales. And he’s pretty, just like you.”

Blake’s face lit up and he laughed out loud. “I think I’m going to like your dragon, Rylan. Where can I get one of my own?”

Chapter Eleven

Quinn

It was getting late, and I had already shown the Royal Consorts to their rooms.

I had been surprised when I met them earlier at how good-looking they both were. Davos’s consort could only be described as beautiful, even though I knew his age. His blond and platinum-streaked hair and his classic features made him so, however, though “beautiful” was a term I usually reserved for females. Obviously, Davos had altered his natural aging process, because he looked around the same age as his son, Vannos, who looked as if he’d barely hit his prime.

Vannos was all Tygerian, but a particularly fine specimen. His hair was Tygerian red-gold, like Rylan’s, but he and Blake both had those same oddly colored blue-green eyes like Rylan’s too. And though he resembled his brother Mikos, and though Mikos was considered to be a handsome man, there was something about Prince Vannos that was different. Despite what Rylan had told me about his “omak,” I thought that anyone who underestimated him probably did so at their own peril.

I was in the kitchen, making myself something to eat—we never did get around to having dinner—when I heard someone behind me clear his throat. Startled, I whirled around to find the Consort Blake standing in the doorway. He seemed still full of energy, despite the late hour.

“Good evening, Your Highness. Can’t you sleep? Is your bed not comfortable?” I asked him, worried that maybe I’d awakened him, banging things around. I was still furious aboutseeing Mythe threatening Rylan and his father. As far as I was concerned, both Mythe and Bentine were finished. I’d been far too lenient with them up to this point, and I had to admit that maybe I’d also been too absent, preferring to be in the field with my men rather than overseeing training. Now these men who rode only in training thought they ran everything and could even tell me what to do. That was a situation that would quickly change.

“The bed is fine, and your home is lovely. I’m just absorbing all that happened today. I should be used to things like talking dragons, I suppose, after all I’ve seen out here traveling with my husband to other worlds. But it’s good to know that sometimes I can still be surprised. In all these years, I don’t think I’ve ever been around non-humanoid creatures that spoke before.”

“Talon is the only one I’ve seen able to speak to such an extent too.” I told him, leaning my hip against the counter. “From what I can find out, anyway. Though I do believe that the rest of the vetami, including my own mount, Sulamon, may have at least some of the same capabilities, though they don’t use them. And I’m very interested in finding out about the vetami that are supposed to be on Thalios. There may be more like Talon. But they shouldn’t even be there, and I’d like to know more about them.”

“Maybe that was why your Colonel Bentine was so upset about you giving Talon away.” He leaned against the counter and gave me a long look. “Perhaps he knows more than he’s saying. Tell me. Will you take Talon back to the Training Center now?”

I looked up at him, a little surprised. “What? No, I couldn’t do that. I gave him to Rylan, and he loves him. I’d never go back on my word to him. He was so upset that they might have hurt Talon that he was beside himself earlier. He was angry about them telling Talon lies too.”

“Lies? Oh, about Rylan not wanting him?”

“Yes. It took us a long time to settle him down. I finally had to tell the servants to make up a cot for Rylan beside him tonight. For your son, Vannos, too. He insisted on staying with Rylan, too, though I told them both it wasn’t a good precedent to start.”

Blake smiled indulgently. “My son Vannos has a huge heart. And he loves animals. He’s as fascinated by Talon as Rylan is, I think. Rylan told Vannos that Talon was supposed to have been his, and he’d share him with my son. But Vannos said he could see Talon had bonded with Rylan.”

“The vetami are wonderful creatures. There are some planets in the galaxy where the air is too thin to use hover craft for special missions. As hovers ascend, the air gets even thinner, meaning, as you know, there are fewer air molecules to push against to generate lift and thrust. The vetamis have no such issues.The downstroke of a dragon’s wings pushes air downward, creating an upward reaction force—that’s the lift—and it propels them forward, which is the thrust.The weapons used against hovercraft such as heat seeking missiles won’t work against dragons, either, because they’re cold-blooded creatures. And if the atmosphere isn’t breathable, we can make masks for them and then tell them to use them. And they listen. They’re more agile and more intelligent than most animals, and they can work things out for themselves if the need arises, like an extension of the Rider. They’re also absolutely fearless as well. All of this makes them invaluable in an attack.”

“You’re very passionate about the vetami, General. Odd choice for you to call them dragons, though. It’s not very scientific.”

“No, you’re right. But it wasn’t started by us. Your own human soldiers began it during the war. I mean the Alliance soldiers from Earth. They took one look at them and started calling them dragons.”

“They do look amazingly similar to mythological dragons. Legends on Earth say the old kings had dragons hunted to extinction because they thought of them as being evil and from the devil.”

“I’ve always loved vetami and been fascinated by them. When I met Rylan, I was trying to apprehend the thief who had stolen one of our dragon eggs.” I smiled at the memory of him the first time I saw him. “And then this beautiful, infuriating boy showed up to claim the egg.”

“That would be Rylan, I presume.”

“Yes. I couldn’t walk away from him and leave him there.”

“Really? I wonder then if you think you love my grandson.”

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