Page 66 of Lady Dragon
Samansa bent and closed her hands on a loose, head-sized stone. “Lords and ladies, I willnotdie a cream puff.”
She didn’t know she’d spoken the words aloud until the dragon froze and said,What is a cream puff?
“Something verynotdelicious,” Samansa lied, raising the stone as high as she could. She would have given almost anything for a cream puff.Almostas much as she would have given to have her mother’s sword in her grip instead of a rock.
Then you should have no worries of that, for you will indeed be delicious.With that, the dragon lunged for her.
The princess hurled the stone with all her might, sending it smashing into the dragon’s snout just as she charged headfirst into it. The resultingcrackwas loud. The dragon reeled back, stunned, blood dripping from her nostrils.
Samansa ran. The dragon regained what balance she had, head swiveling to track her prey, and then she scrambled forward once more, clawing her way onto the rock formation. The princess dodged and ducked, hoping to find cover. Knowing she wouldn’t.
But just as she felt the dragon’s reeking breath against her neck, the dragon shrieked. Samansa spun as a dark blur barreled right into the creature, throwing the heap of hide and bones tumbling across the sand—adragon-sizedblur that suddenly came into sharp focus as it came to a stop.
“Kirek,” the princess breathed.
Kirek was so vivid, soalive, next to the walking corpse of the other dragon. Out here in the blazing sun, her scales looked darker, like liquid, glittering shadow, especially as her tail lashed and her wings flexed wide. Her powerful body was an oasis, a shimmering, deep pool that Samansa wanted to dive into—albeit one with teeth and massive claws and skin-sanding edges. Maybe the princess was just really thirsty, but Kirek looked less like a shark and more like salvation.
One she likely didn’t deserve.
Samansa.But Kirek barely spared her a silver glance before turning back to the other dragon. She blew a stream of fire over her head—enough to warn, if not to singe.Go. I want to see your wings vanish into the horizon.
The other dragon scrabbled away on emaciated limbs that slipped in the sand. Her wings worked in awkward asymmetry as she managed—barely—to get herself aloft. But once she was airborne, they carried her swiftly away.
Kirek waited, her eyes as sharp and shining as blades, as the old dragon disappeared.
Samansa kept expecting Kirek to go after her, but she didn’t.
“That’s—that’s it?” the princess demanded.
Greetings to you, too, Kirek responded dryly.
“She was going to eat me!”
Kirek turned to her, and Samansa nearly flinched from her gaze.So you would have me kill her?
Samansa threw up her arms—which were very filthy and sunburned, so she dropped them. “I would rather she not be able to try again!”
She’s old and weak and, judging by her cut wings, has an illnessof the mind. She’s…Kirek looked away.She’s not worth killing, which is how my cousin just referred to me, so pardon my empathy.
“That’s horrible. All of it. Completely awful.” Samansa was including herself in that. At her admission, she burst into tears, as suddenly as a storm in the desert. A very singular downpour. “Kirek, I’m so sorry.”
Kirek’s eyes snapped back to her, and her tail lashed again.I don’t want your pity, too.
Samansa stumbled toward her, rather than away—which perhaps would have been wiser when facing a dragon’s ire. “No! I mean I’m sorry because it’s all my fault!”
Kirek leaned toward Samansa at the same time, and let the princess careen into her massive foreleg.How is that, little one?
It was the first time in a while that Kirek had called her that, and it felt so… tender, if only because the diminutive didn’t fit her anymore. A kindness, masking a harsher truth. Samansa wrapped her arms around her as best she could. “Because I was a ragingbeast. I feel so bad—for what I said, for leaving you, for what happened to your mother.”
Samansa felt a large snout nudge her head gently. Youdidn’t gut my mother.
The princess choked on something that was halfway between a laugh and a sob. “No, but she might have taken your aunt down with her if I hadn’t changed then. I was just so angry that you were going to lose her. My anger… took over.”
Or rather,someonetook over, at least for a moment.Raka.Samansa shuddered to even think her name.
So, what you’re actually sorry for is that my aunt isn’t dead as well?
Samansa pulled away to look up at Kirek. The dragon’s huge head was so close she should have wanted to leap back—but she didn’t. She hiccupped instead. “That sounds horrible, doesn’t it?”
