Dragon's Keep (33 page)

"A peace gift from the dragons,"
called Father Hugh.

"Ah, see how it clings to her
hand!" called Marn's son, Gerbert.
"As if she were
born so!"

I dropped my other glove and held my hands
high, feeling the wind rush through my fingers.

Ah, the freedom of this nakedness. That which
I'd hidden so long from all, transformed by a kiss and held in reverence. Mer
lin had said the twenty-first queen would
"end war with the wave
of her hand." But I'd not known till
now the mage spoke of the war between humans and dragons.

The talon had, all in a moment, become a sign
of peace between us.

Stars came out, showing the deep of Heaven,
as the dragons
all went down on their knees
and bowed to me, their scales shim
mering in the moonlight like
windblown water. And a sigh of pleasure rose from the crowd on Twister's Hill.

And there, with the dragon's bowing, the
bonfires crackling, and the sea churning far below, the people chanted:
Bright fire.

Dragons fire.

Broken sword.

One black talon ends
the war!

I raised my kissed claw
higher.

My curse—a blessing.

From that sweet night and
on.

Acknowledgments

My warmest thanks to
Kathy Dawson, whose inspired quill
graced many a dragon scale. And to the members of
Artemis:
Katherine
Grace Bond, Heidi Pettit, Margaret D. Smith,
Jill Trepp Sahlstrom, and Dawn Knight, for their un
abridged imaginations. Thanks also to my
encouraging hus
band, who says I
should say he's nothing like the dragon.