The Dragon's Queen (Dragon Lords) (10 page)

“
The town should be quiet. Come.” Llyr grabbed a pack that he must have dropped when he came to help her, and then navigated a path through the forest. He walked at a brisk pace but did not resume the run. When she would push ahead of him, he held out his arm and pointed. A small home came into view. Light glowed from within and she watched a shadow pass by the window. “Take it slow. We don’t want to alarm the local families.”

They came to a path cut into the forest floor by decades of foot traffic. Mining Village was nestled into a long valley
lined along the north by trees and jagged cliffs, just past a ravine to the south. The flowing water provided a backdrop of sound in the valley. She focused her hearing, detecting water cascading down stone.

The town seemed a strange combination of dusty tents and newly built
houses. It was evident that much care had been taken in the placement of the homes. They were clustered on a grid pattern, in a line of four houses separated by side streets. A few homes were still under construction, as if they’d started in the center of town and simply worked their way outward.

However, the surrounding tents
along the edge of the village were more haphazard, situated to optimize space, and most likely, block the wind coming down from the cliffs. Tent paths converged into a main roadway leading down to the houses. The streets were dirt but the walkways up to the house were lined with cut stones.

A small group of Draig men walked toward the tents. Their tired laughter came softly and they spared Mede and Llyr a passing glance and gesture
of greeting, but did not stop them. They were dressed in loose drawstring pants and tunic shirts, covered in dirt from the mines. Only their eyes and mouths were clean where they’d most likely worn goggles and respirators to work.

Llyr
turned from the town toward a cliff along the ravine. Thick bushes and trees filled the landscape below, making it too hard to see how deep it really was. The water she’d heard earlier was actually a waterfall. It pounded down upon stones and echoed around the cliffs like constant thunder.

Llyr
’s hand on her arm drew her eyes to his. He nodded to an outcrop before shifting to jump up and then disappear over the other side. She followed him, discovering the opening to a cave behind a veil of bright green vines. He pulled them aside like a curtain to let her pass. When the vines dropped behind them, it created an insulated wall that blocked the thundering water.

Able to talk without yelling, she shifted to human form and asked, “
These are our great ore mines?”

She looked along the walls o
f the large cavern, trying to see the Draig fortune in the thick patches of blue stone threaded with a silvery grey. Giant crystal formations blocked the path as they mimicked thick fallen trees. They glowed, the luminescence giving light to the cavern beyond. Mede ran her hand over the smooth surface, watching it turn her flesh red as it shone through her body.

Llyr hopped up and reached his hand down to her. She ignored it, her dragon not needing help to cross. They climbed over the crystal formation. Whe
n they were once again on the cave floor, Llyr shifted back and smiled. “Yes, these are the mines.”

“
And is that the fuel ore? The silver?” Mede pointed to the wall where glossy silver ran alongside them as if pointing the way deeper. When she leaned close, she could just make out her reflection in it. The crunch of loose rocks gave away his position, but she didn’t need to hear him to know he was behind her. She felt him. It was like an innate beacon inside her that just knew where he was in proximity to her.

“
No. The ore is deeper. Come with me. I want to show you something.” Llyr didn’t touch her, but he didn’t have to. Every brush of their bodies was burned into her flesh—his hand on her arm at the Dead Dragon campsite, his body to hers when she’d fainted into his arms, his fingers taking the food from her hand.

“
Llyr?” she whispered, unsure. “What are we doing here?”

“
Camping,” he answered simply.

“
You know that’s not what I mean.” She took a deep breath. He had to feel what she felt. How could he not? It was too powerful.

“
Just come with me. Please.” He backed away from her several steps before again turning around to lead the way deeper. The cavern narrowed and they walked until the natural cave became a manmade tunnel. At places water moved over them, detectable by the soft, echoing flow of an underground stream.

“
If you’re taking me to be some kind of strange sacrifice for Trolla, I’m going to be really angry,” she said, trying to make a joke.

“
There she is. Ask her yourself.” Llyr pointed to where a terrifying female dragon had been etched into the wall. She stood tall, surrounded by tiny worshipers. Llyr looked at the carving and then Mede. “Huh, you kind of look like her minus the wings. You have her essence, I think.”

Mede arched a brow. “
Did you just try to compliment me?”

“
You won’t let me call you a lady, so I will call you a goddess,” he answered, clearly teasing her.

“
Careful, or Trolla will hear you.”

“
We’re heading up there. We have to crawl, but it’s worth it. Trust me.” He tossed the pack up into a narrow hole before crawling in after it. Pushing it forward, he inched along.

Mede hesitated, glancing around the cave. Seeing
the Trolla carving staring at her, she whispered, “We humbly ask for your protection, great one.”

“
Are you coming?” Llyr yelled.

Mede held her breath as she went inside the narrow space. She didn
’t like feeling closed in and tried to hurry. She made a weak noise as a six-legged insect nearly as big as her hand darted away from her to crawl into a hole. The rock pressed all around her and she closed her eyes. Somehow she pushed forward and only opened her eyes when she heard Llyr’s pack hit the floor. He reached to pull her out of the hole to her feet.

Tiny lights danced around her like the stars on the o
ne night of planetary darkness. The bioluminescent creatures parted to let them pass, spreading away toward the rounded walls. Llyr kicked his pack toward the center of the cave room.

“
We’ll camp here,” he said.

“
It’s remarkable.” Mede turned in slow circles before walking toward the wall. She tried to touch one of the lights, but the tiny creatures scattered out of her way and she couldn’t even make out their true shape. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“
The miners call them stardust because they look like stars and live in the ground. They light up the mines and always travel in groups.”

“
They’re glowing,” Mede stated the obvious.

“
Bioluminescence. They produce light to communicate with each other. At least that’s what I’ve been told. It’s said if they land on you, it’s good luck.” Llyr busied himself with his pack, pulling out bedrolls and laying them on the ground. “Are you hungry?”

Mede crossed to where he
worked. She touched his shoulder. Llyr looked up in surprise. When she didn’t move or speak, he slowly stood.

“We’re not meant to be together.” Mede only stated a fact, yet it caused a wave of sorrow inside her. She buried the feeling and forced herself to touch his dormant stone.

“Then walk away from me. Leave.” His expression said he didn’t want her to go.

She tried. Her feet wouldn’t move. Her hand wouldn’t leave his shoulder. “I can’t.”

“Then stay with me and kiss me.”

“Llyr, you can see as well as I that we aren’t to be married. Whatever this is cannot last. I have worked so hard for my reputation. I can’t—”

“Mede, I have no wish to ruin your reputation. No one will know anything about this night that you don’t tell them. I give you my word as a prince, as a dragon, and as a man. From that first moment I have wanted to kiss you but I won’t force myself on you. Whatever happens will be what you want to happen.” He hesitated to touch her. When she didn’t pull away, his fingers glanced over her cheek. “Don’t think about marriage and gods and crystals.” He took off his necklace and dropped it into the open pack before resuming his caress of her face. Fingers slid down her throat to the pulse thumping in her neck. “Don’t think about fate or reputation or even that world outside this magical place. What do you want? What do you feel?”

Mede couldn’t hold back. She pressed her lips to his. All worry and doubt left with the touch of his mouth to hers.
From that first second she’d been fighting her feelings for him. They welled inside her now, burning their way out of her stomach to fill her with fire and need. Before she could rationalize what she was doing, her fingers had gripped his shirt and she was pulling at his tunic to take it off.

Llyr broke their kiss and obligingly
removed off his shirt. She dropped the material to the floor and stepped on it to return to the kiss. This time she met with naked flesh. The heat of him combined with the smooth texture of his skin mesmerized her as she explored the full length of his chest and back. Her finger met with his Dead Dragon scar and she pulled back.

“You didn’t stay to see me marked,” she said, her gaze dipping to his moist lips before moving back up to meet his eyes. “You left during my honor.”

“How can you fault me for that? As badly as I wanted you, do you really think I could stand by and see your beautiful skin injured? I left because it was your honor. You didn’t need me ruining your marking because I couldn’t bear to mar this pretty body of yours.”

“Then it had nothing to do with my being a female and you thinking me unworthy?”

“Unworthy? No, my lad—” Llyr quickly amended, “
Mede
. I left because if I had been forced to lift your shirt, I would have embarrassed you and greatly dishonored myself.”

H
e slid his hand around to touch the small of her back where her scar healed beneath the tunic shirt. A small, happy laugh escaped her.

“You earned your marking. I still don’t know how you managed to skin a member of the royal court.” He started to lean
toward her, only to pull back. “How did you manage it?”

Mede grimaced. “I don’t want to tell you.”

“I promise your secret will be safe with me. You didn’t cheat and bring it with you, did you?”

“Of course not
. I collected it that night. It’s just…” She made a weak noise and then rolled her eyes heavenward. “Fine. The catshifter gave it to me. I wanted to fight him for it, but he refused.”

“Gave it…?”

“Yes. He gave it to me. And there is no rule as to how you obtain your prize, only that you do. I was running in the forest and came across the drunken marsh farmer. I was about to take a piece of him like everyone else—which would not have been a challenge—when I heard a woman scream. Naturally, I went to help her, but then, I came across the Var. We talked. He seemed very interested in the fact that I was the female dragon. I told him I needed catshifter fur and he let me have his.” Almost defensively, she added, “Negotiation takes more skill than brute force.”

“Just like that?
You asked and he gave it to you freely?”

“Well, he…” Mede’s voice trailed off into a mumble.

“What?”

“
He kissed me, all right!” Mede took a few steps back. His hand slid from her body. “I swear I didn’t know it was coming, and it was over before I could even stick my knife in his gut. I think he was just curious about me because I’m the dragon female—just like all you men are curious about me. I’m just some prize to be had, a rare special gem to be owned.”

Llyr’s expression became hard. “He kissed you?”

“Why are you getting upset? It’s not like I’d even met you.” She crossed her hands over her chest. “It’s not like I run around the countryside looking for men to kiss.”

“This Var dared to touch you without your permission?
” Llyr breathed hard. With each passing second she could see his anger rising. “I’ll kill him. I’m going to hunt his stinking catshifting ass down and I’m going to string him up and kill him!”

When Mede realized his
anger was not directed at her, she relaxed. “It was nothing. Less than nothing. It’s certainly nothing to go to war over.”

“He took advantage of you.” Llyr balled
his hands into fists.

“And I can take care of myself.” Mede placed her hand on his chest and gave him a stern look. She felt his heart thudding wildly beneath her fingers. His fierceness excited her even as his protectiveness irritated her.

“I know you can take care of yourself, it’s just you’re—”

“A woman?” She pushe
d his chest. He swayed slightly but didn’t stumble.

“My woman.” The words were soft and he looked down at his hands. He nervously reached as if to stick them in his pocket.

Mede grabbed his hands and held them between hers. The arrogant possessiveness men normally carried when they said such things was not in his voice. She knew he was capable of both arrogance and possessiveness, but he didn’t look at her like an object to be had. His eyes held a stirring passion for her.