Page 45 of The Dragon With A Girl Tattoo
“And Iceni was ...?”I asked, the name familiar, but regardless, I wished I had a notepad of my own to take notes.
“The Life Mother,” Yrian answered.“She was the First Dragon’s mate.”
“She gave birth to three of the six Firstborn,” Constantine added.“After she perished, her ashes were bound to the ringsels.The First Dragon gave them into the protection of various lords of equally various underworlds.”
“But they’re precious to you guys, right?”I asked the table in general.
All the dragons nodded.
I turned to Yrian.“So, why didn’t your dad give them to you guys?If they are that valuable, it seems odd that he’d give them to someone who wasn’t a dragon.”
“That was the reason he did so,” Yrian answered.“They are powerless to anyone but dragonkin, but since Iceni’s murderer would have moved the stars in the sky to get ahold of them, the First Dragon put them out of his reach by working with the Sovereign to create the thirteen Hours, and secured the ringsels with the Hours’ lords.”
I mused over that while the dragons discussed finding the existing ringsels.
“If we can’t have new ones made, and we can’t break the articles of the weyr, then we’ll just have to find the relics being held in the Hours,” a dark-haired man said in a Slavic accent, his manner of speaking him leaving me feeling like he was almost biting off the ends of the words.
That’s Kostya,Charity wrote on her notepad.He’s very dramatic.He’s also Drake’s brother.The mates have a drinking game related to his drama-llama moods.
Drake looked suddenly much happier.“Naturally, the green dragons will make available our services in order to liberate the ringsels from their respective guardians.”
“We might try talking to the lords of the Hours first,” Bastian suggested with a little smile toward Drake.“They may be agreeable to return the relics, especially if Yrian is on hand to reassure them of the fittingness of our request.”
Drake made a face at that suggestion.
“Xavier and Deus tried that,” a man on the tablet said.He sounded Greek, but was also blond.“They tried to get the ringsels, but the Hours’ lords couldn’t be forced to give them up.That was part of the protections written into the creation of the Hours, themselves.We heard that Xavier was in a rage once he realized they were beyond his reach.Sadly, that means they are out of ours, as well.”
Charity nudged the notebook toward me.That’s Feo.He used to be with Xavier’s tribe, but left due to not being a monster.He leads the Fire Tribe now.
“Sounds like we need to talk to Finch and Christian,” Ysolde said, and the other ladies nodded.
Finch = Christian’s nephew.He runs one of the Hours with his wife, Tatiana,Charity wrote.
“What if the First Dragon were to ask the Hour people to give the ringsels back?”May asked.
The room fell silent, all eyes now on Charity.
She pulled out her phone and tapped on it while saying, “I’ll ask him, but I doubt if it’s that easy.If it was, he’d likely have gotten them back.Oh.He’s already answered.”She smiled at Yrian and me.“He says that’s why he ensured that Yrian was freed—he is the help the dragonkin need.”
“I had a feeling he would say something along those lines,” Ysolde said, her hand on Baltic’s leg.“He’s forever doing that sort of thing.I hope he doesn’t drop mysterious quests on you the way he did me, Becket, because it’s enough to drive you insane.”
I slid a glance toward Yrian’s thigh sitting right there next to me.I cherished the memory of him in the portal shop, standing in nothing but a pair of briefs and a shirt, his glorious legs right out there where I could best admire them.Heat flashed through me, and before I realized I was doing it, I tamped out the fire that blossomed at my feet.
I allowed myself to indulge in a little introspection while the dragons discussed their options, wondering if the connection growing stronger with each passing minute meant I really was Yrian’s mate, or if I just hadn’t had a roll in the sack recently.I counted back, realized it had been almost five years, and gave a mental sigh.
It was most likely libido and nothing more.
And what a depressing thought that was.
