Page 41 of Consorting with Dragons

King Davos himself came striding down the ramp, jumping the last few feet to the ground, and then turning to hold out a hand to help Blake jump the last few feet as well. Though at the last moment, he took him by the waist and swung him down to the ground, laughing at him when he yelled and hit his shoulder.

“I can do it myself!” he fussed, and Davos smiled and winked at him—definitely a mannerism he’d picked up from Blake over the years, as that was not a Tygerian custom.

I shouted out my surprise and joy at seeing them both here on Horvath, and my grandfather came over to pull me into a big bear hug as Blake looked on with a grin. Then it was his turn to hug and kiss me, as nearby, Talon watched us all with jealousy and deep disapproval.

Blake saw him standing there and exclaimed over him. “This can’t be Talon, can it? I last saw you both only weeks ago, and this beautiful dragon is so much bigger than little Talon was!”

Talon looked a little mollified at Blake’s words, preening a little as Blake called him beautiful.

“This is indeed my Talon. And yes, he’s grown a lot since you saw him, though I don’t notice it as much seeing him every day like I do. He’s going to be much bigger before he’s done—as big as a two-story building Quinn thinks.”

“But that’s amazing,” my grandfather said. “I had no idea vetami got so big.”

“Quinn says the ones the Tygerian soldiers brought back home for sport years ago were bred to be much smaller. But this is how they look in the wild. Most of them are red or green, though, and not this gorgeous golden color.”

Blake had come closer and put out a hand to him, but Davos pulled it back very quickly.

“Oh, he would never hurt anyone,” I said.

“Unless they were hurting you,” Talon interrupted, in his high, thin voice. “I would fight them if they tried to do that.”

I smiled when the king reeled back in surprise. “He talks!”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Talon, be nice. My grandfather has never seen anyone like you before. We want to show him you have good manners, don’t we?”

“If you say so.”

“I do.”

“Then it’s very nice to meet you, sir. And to see you again too, Rylie’s omak-ahn.”

Blake turned to me in amazement. “He remembered me? And he calls you Rylie?”

I nodded, and he turned back to Talon. “How clever of you to know who I am,” he said. “You were only a little baby the last time I saw you.”

“Oh yes, I’m very smart. Rylie tells me so all the time.”

Blake laughed delightedly. “May I touch you?”

“Yes, if you like.”

He reached up to rub his nose and Talon actually made a purring sound, almost like a really big cat. It was like a soft rumble in his chest.

“Your scales are so warm.”

“From the sun,” Talon said.

“Won’t you come back to the house with me?” I asked them. “Quinn isn’t here, but I can contact him and let him know you’ve arrived. I know he’d love to meet you, Grandfather.”

“Our ship is in orbit around this moon for now, with the permission of the queen, so I suppose we can stay a while. We just came from Lycanus and a meeting with your uncle, Renard, about the fact we think the Thalians might try to come here to this moon to hide out. The attack you were involved in was all the encouragement I needed. Have you fully recovered, Rylan?”

“Oh yes, I’m much better. My ribs are fully healed, and I barely have any headaches anymore.”

“Surely, your new husband didn’t leave you here alone though, after you were so badly injured?”

“No, I have guards here—way too many if you ask me.”

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