Page 91 of The Dragon With A Girl Tattoo
EPILOGUE TWO
YRIAN
It took two days beforeYrian was able to attend thesárkányheld at his youngest brother’s house in England.
“I believe we should get started, especially since the mates are holding their union meeting, and we all know how inventive they are when they get together.”Gabriel was taking the lead for the meeting, his eyes dancing with amusement despite the seriousness of the last few days.“Hunter, fair warning—they feel that since they found Charity for the First Dragon, they are the ultimate in matchmakers, and have been making noises about finding mates for all the unattached tribe masters friendly to the weyr.”
Three dragons—Hunter of the Shadow Tribe, Feo of the Fire Tribe, and Anniki of the Moon Tribe—all flashed identical looks of horror.
“Since Yrian is back amongst the living, perhaps he will bring everyone up to date with what happened in the Duat and inside the Suffrage House vault,” Drake suggested.
Yrian considered the dragons around the long table.Outside, on a patio that overlooked a small lake, he could hear the females laughing as they held their own gathering.He wasn’t quite sure what they did at their meetings, but Becket assured him she was happy to spend time with the mates.He was equally pleased that she had so embraced the dragonkin.He smiled to himself at the surprise he had waiting for her in the bedroom his youngest brother had given over to them while they were searching for a home.
“I told you that Xavier was killed.I severed his remains into twelve pieces, each of which was buried as far apart as was possible, so that he cannot be resurrected.”
Bastian, the blue wyvern, gave a relieved smile.Hunter swore.Archer looked both annoyed, and as relieved as Bastian.
Yrian, no stranger to the idea of fratricide, told the twins, “It was not my intention to usurp your right to destroy your father.He was in the guise of Kashi, and it wasn’t until I saw Tenite’s lack of emotion in response to his death that I realized the truth.”
“It’s just frustrating as hell,” Hunter said, glowering.“Here we go through hundreds of years figuring out how to take him down, only to be finally given the means to do so—”
“When my mate broke the curse,” Archer interjected.
Hunter waved that away.“And for what?So our revenge is snatched away?It’s as if all our work was for nothing.”
“On the contrary,” Yrian said, annoyed that he had to explain the obvious, while also pinched with guilt that he had—inadvertently—snatched from the twins the revenge due them.“Xavier, with Kashi’s help, was far more powerful than he would have been on his own.You two stood between him and the havoc he would have wrought had he not been in fear of you.”
“He didn’t fear us,” Hunter said, disgust dripping from each word.“As he stated many times.”
“And yet, he did not attack once he knew you had regained your balance,” Yrian said, his attention caught again by laughter from the patio.
“Yrian has a point,” Drake agreed.“If Xavier was as powerful as we now know him to have been, then he must have had a healthy respect for you both.Otherwise, he would have simply cut you down before attacking the rest of the dragonkin.”
“In fact, I think it’s fair to say that you two were responsible for keeping him at bay,” Gabriel added.
The other wyverns nodded their agreement.
The twins exchanged glances, and Hunter finally allowed, “I suppose that’s true.That doesn’t eliminate the fact that we went through everything, including Thaisa almost killing us both when she broke the curse, for effectively nothing.”
“If you believe that is the only repercussion from Archer’s mate breaking the curse binding you, you should reevaluate the happenings in the Otherworld,” Yrian said, his lips thinning at the dragon.
“What do you mean?”Drake asked, his eyes narrowed.
By way of answer, Yrian turned to Gabriel.“You said your mother is a shaman.Do you not feel a disruption affecting the kin?”
Baltic leaned back in his chair with a flash of insight in his eyes.Gabriel was silent for a handful of seconds before he said slowly, “My mother says the songline touching the dragonkin has been changed somehow.Altered.She could not pinpoint the source, but the answer to your question is yes.I have felt ...something.”
“Do you know what this threat is?”Bastian asked, his fingers flexing as if he wished for a sword at hand.
Yrian knew just how he felt.“No,” he admitted.He glanced at his youngest brother.
