Page 92 of The Dragon With A Girl Tattoo
“I don’t know anything specific,” Baltic said with an abrupt shake of his head.“But I am uneasy, and I don’t like the fact that Bael and Xavier have been removed as a threat, and yet the feeling remains.”
“And speaking of that ...”Gabriel gave a little nod to Yrian.“The honor is yours.”
Yrian rose, met the gaze of each of the wyverns and tribe masters present, and pulled out the crystal container chased in silver.He held it up for all to see before presenting it to Bastian.
“The weyr wishes me to offer this to you, as it contains, in part, the remains of your sept’s shard.”
“Former sept,” Bastian said with a somewhat tepid smile.
Yrian continued.“With it in your possession, the weyr is prepared to accept the blue dragons back.You will have to send it to the Thirteenth Hour after you rejoin, but the shard is acknowledged to belong to the blue dragons.”
Bastian, who had reluctantly taken the crystal, studied it for a few minutes before casting a glance at one of his guards, a woman with piercing blue eyes and hair the color of a raven’s wing.“It would be our greatest joy to rejoin our kin, but much though we appreciate the gesture, I believe we can do more good if we continue as the Song Tribe.We have yet to deal with Deus, and the Chaos and Blood Tribes, even if Xavier is no more.So, we thank you, but we will be content to remain as a tribe who works outside the weyr to aid it.”
Bastian gave the crystal case back to Yrian.
Silence fell over the room, allowing everyone to hear clearly the females laughing.Yrian caught the ripple of Becket’s laughter, and something inside him lightened and made him feel almost giddy with joy.One part of his mind was both shocked and mildly disturbed that he could feel giddy about anything, but the other part, the sane part, reminded him that he’d sworn to Becket that he would cherish her to the end of their days, and by the sun and moon above, he would hold to that.He would delight in her laughter, and if it made him giddy, then so be it.
“Your shard lies within,” he said, holding the crystal up again.“Broken, and now tainted with the essence of Kashi, but one day, it will be restored.At that time, I will have the ability to modify the weyr so that tribes might be counted as its members.”
To say pandemonium broke out at that point was an understatement.The wyverns—all but his youngest brother—demanded to know what he meant.
“You said you couldn’t change the weyr when we asked you earlier,” Archer pointed out.
“That was before I knew the blood moon was no longer being held by Desislav,” he answered, feeling enough time had been spent with his kin.He rose, tucking the crystal into his pocket.He wished to make sure his surprise for Becket was set properly, since the mates’ meeting was sure to end soon.
“Are you saying that if you had the blood moon, you could change the weyr?”Gabriel asked, looking a bit stunned about the eyes.
“With the help of the dragonkin, yes,” he answered.“As well as separate the blue shard from Kashi.Becket and I will travel to the Thirteenth Hour this evening.The Sovereign will meet us there.We will place the shard and Kashi’s essence into her keeping.You are all so agreed?”
Everyone stated their approval of this plan.Yrian escaped even as more questions were thrown his way.
Becket emerged from a bathroom, her lovely eyes crinkling with happiness at seeing him.He couldn’t think of a specific deity upon whom he could heap thanks that she had come into his life, but just as soon as he could, he’d offer up many prayers of gratitude.
“Done with yoursárkány?”she asked, her hair gleaming almost copper in the sunshine.“We’re almost finished, as well, mostly because Aisling got annoyed with Jim lipping off to everyone, and banished it to the Akasha for a bit, before feeling guilty and sending it to a friend’s house.”
“Then we can retire to our room, so that I might pleasure you with energetic bedsport,” he said, one hand on her back as he climbed the stairs.
“Are you cleared to do that?”she asked, a shadow of concern on her face.“Gabriel said you might have some residual soreness on your front side, since it took the brunt of your mom’s fire.Maybe we should wait another day or so—”
“It has been two days and I will wait no longer.”He hesitated.“Is it that you no longer desire me?Do the scars on my chest and arms repulse you?”
“Are you kidding?”She slid him a look so warm he felt it to the tips of his toes.“It’s been all I could do to keep my hands off you for these two days that Gabriel said you needed to heal fully.And your scars don’t bother me.They’re a reminder of just why you are the Firstborn.”
“Because my mother is a fury?”he asked, opening the door to their room.
She stopped just inside, turning to him with a seductive smile that had him hard in mere seconds.“Because you are the bravest of all your dragon family.I will admit to being glad your lovely back tat wasn’t touched—what the hell?”
A noise from the attached bathroom had her spinning around.Yrian strode into the small room, picked up a plastic crate, and returned to Becket, placing it at her feet.“This is a pug.The former owner died.She had named him Galahad, but the people at the shelter said you are free to rename him.”
Becket stared open-mouthed at him for a few seconds, then whooped and knelt when he set down the crate, opening it so that she might see his gift to her.
“Goddess above, Yrian!A pug?Oh my lord, you are the cutest thing ever!”
He watched with much pleasure as she sat on the ground, accepting kisses and many licks by the small, very round dog.“Ysolde has arranged for us to use a fenced off section of the garden as his latrine, although it would appear he has used his domicile for that purpose, as well.”
She stood with the squirming, licking pug in her arms, her eyes glittering with tears, but with an expression that once again made him feel as if he could accomplish any task she asked of him.“You are the sweetest, most thoughtful, sexiest dragon who ever lived.Thank you for Galahad.And thank you for leaving your griefscape so you could save me from Bael.”
“You saved me, as well,” he told her, relishing the kisses she pressed to his lips after setting down the dog when he protested being caught between them.“If it wasn’t for you, I would even now be confined to the Thirteenth Hour.Would you prefer to find a home in the Beyond first, or in the mortal world?”
