My what?
Your flight. A group of dragons is a flight. Do humans know nothing?
Ah. Forgive my ignorance.
Unlikely. Do you have influence over her or the human female that she allows to ride her?
Trip’s first instinct was to say no, decidedly and vehemently, but he couldn’t help but pause. If Drysaleskar thought Shulina Arya would become his mate, or if she even did become his mate, would he stay in Iskandia? Would he live in the Steppes and perhaps visit Shulina Arya in the capital, and give other dragons a reason to avoid the country at all costs?
King Angulus would surely praise Trip if he could arrange for that. And maybe the silver dragon stalking Rysha’s family’s lands would be one of the first to flee. And his siblings could be raised in peace, knowing the only dragons that flew overhead while they were in their yards playing would be friendly ones. Or at least ones who’d promised not to harm humans. Could Trip extract such a promise from Drysaleskar?
It was tempting to try, or to ask Rysha to try. Trip had no delusions that Shulina Arya would listen to his mating advice, but she and Rysha had bonded almost from the beginning.
He gazed over at them even as the elder dragon gazed at him.
And he said nothing to Rysha. Trip knew she would be disappointed in him if he asked, and Shulina Arya might be too. She clearly wanted nothing to do with the boorish male. Even if it might help Iskandia, he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
I do not, he finally answered Drysaleskar. As a dragon, you must understand how little influence we males have over females.
He expected the dragon to issue some arrogant statement of denial, but the grunt-like noise that sounded in Trip’s mind seemed more like agreement.
Then you have nothing to offer me that I cannot get for myself.
The gold dragon banked and flew off to the west, away from Trip’s team and away from Iskandia.
For a long moment, nobody said anything. They merely watched the dragon fly away.
“Does this mean I’ve been carrying fish in my storage hold all day for no reason?” Ahn finally asked.
“Yes,” Trip said. “It also means I’m a poor negotiator.”
Grimacing, he turned his flier back to the northeast, toward home.
14
So you see, Rysha said, wrapping up her latest story, Dramon the Bold, who desired nothing more than to go down in history as the greatest warrior ever, is now remembered as the inventor of modern glue. All he wanted was to make it so the visor on his helmet stayed up when he was riding all day, but today’s bookbinders and artists seeking sealants for their canvases have him to thank for discovering that rabbit skin—essentially refined rabbit collagen—makes an excellent adhesive.
Hm, Shulina Arya responded.
Usually, the dragon asked questions when Rysha finished a story, and she’d previously proven intrigued by science-related tales, so Rysha was surprised by the subdued response.
Maybe she was tired. The Iskandian coast had come into view again, with the sun setting out over the sea, casting interesting shadows inland. Rysha found the mixture of sunny hilltops and shady valleys remarkable from above, but it had been a long day. Perhaps Shulina Arya needed a nap. And some tarts.
“You doing all right, my friend?” Rysha patted the dragon on the side.
Yes, Shulina Arya replied. But…
Yes? Rysha asked, surprised by the hesitation. Shulina Arya rarely hesitated to speak her mind.
Do you know any stories of dragons falling in love with humans?
Ah, I know of many fictional stories, and of course, there are many accountings of human women being compelled to have sex with male dragons. I don’t imagine love, in the human sense of the word, was involved though. Rysha glanced toward Trip, feeling a twinge of sadness for his birth mother, whoever the woman had been. Given what a blatant ass Trip’s sire had been, Rysha was positive the poor lady had been magically compelled to sleep with him. She at least hoped his mother hadn’t been physically forced. With a dragon, that probably wasn’t necessary. Rysha shuddered, remembering her own experience with the bronze in Lagresh.
No, being compelled is not being in love, Shulina Arya stated firmly. Neither is mating for biological needs, because one’s breeding cycle comes and one has urges.
I’ll agree with that. It dawned on Rysha what this was about.
Shulina Arya hadn’t said anything about the elder dragon’s unwelcome advances, but it had to have been on her mind during the flight home. Bhrava Saruth and that bronze dragon had been faithfully trailing her the whole time. She didn’t appear to appreciate their proximity.
You don’t believe you’ll find love among your own kind? Rysha asked.
What sounded in her mind reminded her of kids thrusting their tongues out and making rude noises. Loudly.
Male dragons are like male horses, Shulina Arya said. They just want to mount something young and robust to satisfy their urges. They don’t know about love. There isn’t even a dragon word for love, not like the human word. The romantic word. You and Captain Trip are romantic. He makes you things.
He’s a good man, Rysha said carefully, not wanting to circle back to the dragon offering to take him as a mate if Rysha grew tired of him. Perhaps you could come with us to the officers’ club one evening, and he could introduce you to some nice young pilots. A pilot seems like a good match for a dragon. You would have a love of flying in common.
That sounds fun. I could wear my new roller-skates!
Indeed. Rysha wondered if she should try to find a college student for Shulina Arya instead of an officer. Or even a pre-college student? No, even if she acted young when she shape-shifted, she was hundreds of years old as a dragon. It would take someone more mature than a teenager to handle a near-immortal lover.
“There’s smoke inland,” Trip said over the communication crystal, the first words anyone had spoken aloud in an hour. “A lot of smoke.”
“Let’s check it out,” Colonel Grady said.
Trip cursed. “I also sense another dragon over there.”
Storyteller, Shulina Arya blurted, as Rysha noted that the terrain under that smoke appeared familiar. It is that silver dragon I chased the other night!
“And that’s my family’s valley,” Rysha said grimly.
Shulina Arya pumped her wings and arrowed toward the smoke, pulling ahead of the fliers.
“It’s the silver dragon, Trip,” Rysha said. “We’re going to deal with him.”
“I’m coming right behind you.”
Fear churned in Rysha’s gut as they flew past the coast and over green farmlands, vineyards, and grassy grazing land on the way to the southern highway and her valley on the other side of it. What if those thick plumes of smoke were coming from the manor? Damn it, her family had already been targeted by dragons. This wasn’t fair.