Page 79 of The Dragon With A Girl Tattoo
“I had hoped to keep Kashi away from the mortal world because he was weaker in the Duat,” Yrian said, fighting briefly with his fire.It threatened to explode out of him, but he wrestled it back under control at the same time the First Dragon gave his shoulder a squeeze before dropping his hand.“Now I must defeat him where others could be harmed.That is the weight of the failure I bear.”
Once again, the First Dragon took him by surprise.Instead of agreeing, or even heaping more scorn and chastisement upon his head, his father asked, “Why did you create the weyr?”
“The weyr?”Yrian frowned, momentarily distracted when Becket rubbed her thumb across his fingers, obviously trying to provide support in the face of the upcoming punishment.The First Dragon knew full well why he had felt driven to form the weyr.Was this yet some other form of torment, a way to drive home just how much he’d failed the septs?“To bring the kin together.”
“Why?”the First Dragon asked again.
Becket opened her mouth as if she was going to speak, shot Yrian a fast look, then closed it again, and scooted closer to him.
“The weyr has strength where smaller groups do not,” he answered, confused what his father wanted him to admit.He’d already stated he’d failed, and his willingness to bear the First Dragon’s punishment.
“This is so,” the First Dragon answered, blinking his eyes in a manner that had Yrian remembering a long-dead Persian king’s favorite pet tiger.
Yrian was at a loss for a few seconds until Becket said softly, “Bael isn’t wholly your problem, Yrian.I think your dad is saying that you should let the other dragons help you.”
The First Dragon gave her a brief nod before turning back to him.“Baltic was intended to bring balance to the weyr.He has finally seen fit to do so.But even with that, the weyr cannot destroy Bael by itself any more than you can do so alone.”
“Kashi will not hesitate to destroy as many dragons as he can,” Yrian said, feeling the full weight of his responsibility.“I hesitate to involve the others in the fight lest he obliterate them just as he did my sept and your mate.”
Silence fell over them, even the birdsong stilling for a half minute.“You created the septs.You drew them into the weyr,” the First Dragon told him.“Do you believe both are so insignificant that together you can’t face this threat?Look to your past, wyvern, for it is there you will find the answers you seek.There ...and in Paris,” the First Dragon said, then, without another word, and with his arm still around Charity, returned to the house.
“I know he’s your dad and a god and all—OK, yes, demigod—but there are times when I want to do something to him.Something ...I don’t know.Not truly cruel, but maybe just a little mean.Maybe pinch him hard on the arm,” Becket said, glaring at the glass doors to the house.“What did he mean, look to your past?What answers are you looking for?And why Paris?What does he know that we don’t?Why is he so very ...gah!”
Yrian was struck by a thought, one that clearly the First Dragon had intended for him to realize some time ago.
The answer lay with the kin.
“Look to my past,” he said meditatively.“He was talking about Kashi destroying my sept.”
Becket, who was busily creating a glamour that Yrian suspected would do something objectionable to the First Dragon, continued to mutter to herself but stopped at his words, glancing up at him.“You’re not to blame for that—”
“I am, but ...”He thought about what the First Dragon had said.“But I see now that I failed because I tried to protect my sept from Kashi, rather than relying on them to help defeat him.”He turned a stark face to Becket.“It’s my fault he is here now, posing such a threat to the weyr.If I had taken care of him in the past, he wouldn’t have survived to threaten the dragonkin now.”
“No!”
He jerked back at her bellow, taken aback by the fact that not only was she suddenly furious; she had manifested his fire around them both in a blazing ring.
“Just no, Yrian!”Becket grabbed his shirt in both her hands, shaking the material as her eyes blazed a brilliant blue at him.“Stop martyring yourself!I know times were hard back in the day, what with you trying to come to grips with your fire, and making the dragons behave so they could join the weyr you created for them, but you are not responsible for the actions of anyone else, including your dick of a brother.Do you see your dad blaming himself for Bael?No, you do not, and do you know why?”
Yrian opened his mouth to protest, but Becket’s ire was truly up and aimed directly at him.
“He knows he’s not responsible for Bael any more than you are.I mean, he’s Bael’s father, so really, if there is any blame to be spread, he should get the bulk of it, but I don’t hold with that idea.I believe people are responsible for their own fates, and that includes Bael.Yrian—” Her expression went from furious to something soft and filled with understanding and warmth.She leaned forward and feathered a few kisses along his lips.“You did what you could to save everyone in the past.Bael and your mom were just too much for you to handle on your own.So yes, look to the other dragons for help, but don’t do it with the mindset that you’re to blame for the situation with Bael in the first place.”
“I wish to kiss you,” he told Becket, his heart lighter than it had felt since his last child was born.
“Goody,” she answered, rubbing her hips against him in a way that instantly had him hard.
“I can’t do it here,” he told her, gently removing her from his person.
“What?Why—oh, your dad?You think he’d get his knickers in a twist if he saw us smooching?”She was clearly about to laugh, leaving him mildly scandalized.
“He is the First Dragon,” Yrian told her with much sternness, which she summarily ignored.“This is his domain.It would be disrespectful to indulge ourselves here.Since you desire bedsport, we will leave and find the closest bed.I do not wish you to be frustrated.”
She did laugh then, and took the hand he offered as he escorted her across the garden.“Thank you for such consideration.I’m not going to say no to lovemaking, but it probably can wait until after we talk to the other dragons and warn them about Bael’s trickery, and new threat.I assume we’re going to Paris?”
“Yes,” he said, sobering at the thought of the battle ahead of him.No, not just him ...the kin.
A sense of comfort settled onto his shoulders, leaving him feeling strangely euphoric.He needn’t fight alone anymore.Now he had Becket and the dragonkin.How could he fail with that help?
