The Dragon's Queen (Dragon Lords) (4 page)

The Syog made a strange noise.
The woman instantly turned her blade back toward him.

“
It is a game,” he said. “One she plays willingly.”

The dragon
didn’t look as if she believed him.

“
If no Var has knowingly laid eyes on you, I can assume you do not know the Var. We are not what your people make us out to be. I know there are centuries of discord, but we are not at war right now. You have no reason not to trust me. We have no reason to harm women.” He tilted his head, trying to listen to what was happening with the Syog. “Use your ears. Do you hear them?”

Slowly the woman nodded. “
What are they doing?”

Attor gri
nned. It was clear to him the Syog had just been caught and
Myrddin
was in the throes of wild sex. Ah, so the dragon was kept innocent. This pleased him. Perhaps he would not lock her in a cage as a pet.

Attor was glad he
hadn’t drunk the nef. The pleasure that welled inside him was fierce and strong. Already heightened by a chase, his cat begged him to play. His eyes roamed her human form with renewed interest as she concentrated on the noise. Hearing
Myrddin and the alien woman only aroused his ardor more.

“
They’re…” Attor let a smile curl his lips. A low, seductive laugh escaped him. “They are coupling.”

“
Oh,” she answered, followed by a more surprised, “Oh! So they are married.”

Yes,
innocent. It was so clear now.

“
No. She’s visiting the palace,” he said.

“
From space?” The woman frowned. “I heard your people like to invite aliens to the planet. Don’t you think it would be better if they just left us alone? Why make them so welcome as to run freely about the land?”

“
They do leave you alone. They stay in Var territory. Besides, your people meet with aliens.”

“
Only the Mining Ambassador for trade.”

“
Your marriage ships,” he pointed out.

“
Yeah, those, too.” She didn’t seem too enthused by the idea. “That part can’t be helped, but at least it’s only once a year. Though, I suppose you don’t have anything to do with the decision to allow aliens to land on Var territory. Everyone knows the king likes the company since his wife passed.”

“
Explain yourself,” Attor said, stiffening at the mention of his father.

“
Losing a mate can’t be easy. I’ve seen what happened to the elders who lost their wives. It’s sad.”

Attor relaxed by small degrees.
She clearly didn’t know who he was.

When she wasn
’t threatening his hide, the woman had a regal beauty worthy of royalty. She possessed those things that could not be taught—attitude, confidence, a noble bearing—all of which were evidence of a superior class. The fact that she was a shifter made her powerful. Her Draig heritage made her rare. No one on his planet, or in any of the known universes, possessed a dragonshifter wife. She was the only one of her kind alive. And, her innocence had yet to be claimed.

Why had he not considered her before? He
’d just assumed her dragon blood would have made her mannish and permanently covered in scales. Such was not the case.

“
And to only have one son?” she continued. “I am an only child because my mother is a descendent of a delicate people. I know how my parents wish it was different. They try to hide it, but I know. I imagine the Var prince must feel much the same. I am just glad I am not in line to rule a kingdom.”

Women didn
’t need to rule kingdoms. That was not their role.

“
The forest is no place for a maiden,” Attor said, feeling very protective of her. But it was more than that. He wanted her. And why should he not have her? He was heir to the Var throne. Someday he would rule half the planet—
all
of the planet if Myrddin had his way. He would need a queen worthy of being on his arm.

“
I can take care of myself,” she answered.

Fierce and innocent
and compassionate. It all made perfect sense. Fate surely had a hand in this night’s adventure. Their meeting was a sign of things to come. He would possess her. This woman would be his bride.

* * *

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Mede asked the catshifter. It’s not like she’d revealed any great secrets. Everything she’d said about her family was common knowledge amongst her own people.

Curiosity
got the better of her. She’d never spoken to a Var before, and this one seemed civilized in manners. The man was handsome, but so were most of the shifters she’d been around. His short blond hair had been recently trimmed, and he clearly had immaculate grooming habits. The stories she’d heard of the cats were of uneducated, dirty beasts with forked tongues and dark hearts roaming like feral beasts. There was a reason the Draig avoided coming into the southern marshlands that edged the borders. Geography lessons had taught her that not all Var territory was marsh, but she’d always had the impression that the good land belonged to the Draig.

“
You’re staring at me,” she said when he didn’t answer. The man’s pants were tight and his shirt fitted against the muscles in his chest. She’d noticed cross-lacing up the back of his spine. The strings held the material together, while still allowing a peek of flesh along the man’s back. The Draig tended to wear looser pants and pullover tunic shirts that better accommodated the dragon shift.

“
You are exquisite,” he answered simply. His eyes glowed. She recognized the fierceness in him. She carried it, too. “What is your name?”

That surprised
her. “You don’t already know?”

Whoever this man was, he didn
’t look at her like other men did. The Var didn’t have crystals, but relied on more primitive methods for finding a mate. It was a relief to meet a man who was not obsessed with her marriage. Normally, within two seconds they were checking their necklaces to see if they were the one, trying to not-so-sneakily get closer to her, as if that would help. A few had even tried to make her hold their stones as if her touch would activate them.

Several minutes had passed and not once
had the catshifter mentioned the will of the gods and fated mates. This fact alone made her inclined not to slice off a piece of him for the Dead Dragon challenge just yet. She sighed. The hour crept closer to dawn and she still needed to make the run back.

“
You’re not going to tell me?” the man laughed. “Fair enough. I won’t tell you who I am.”

The sounds of the distant love
-play lessened. The catshifter had been moving forward very slowly as they talked. He probably thought she hadn’t noticed when in fact she’d watched his every move without looking directly at him. There was liquid grace in his movements, something the tougher Draig warriors lacked. Every gesture was like an invitation to dance.

“
Will you at least tell me what you’re doing in our forest?” he inquired.

“
I already did. I have to skin a cat.” She lifted the knife and swayed it back and forth.

“
I am afraid I can’t allow that.”

“
I am afraid I am not asking for your permission.” She liked that he challenged her. In many ways his attitude was a relief. “All I need is a tuft of fur and then I can go back. Failing in my task is not an option.”

The cat smiled. He lifted up his arm and let
a partial shift overcome his flesh. Fur sprouted on skin. The light blond suited his coloring.

Mede didn
’t need further invitation. She shaved a strip of hair off his arm with the knife, holding her hand beneath his arm to catch the short fur. As she balled it into a fist she was about to thank him when the man surprised her by leaning forward to press his mouth to hers. She stiffened in shock at the bold move. He grabbed her head with one hand and pulled her tightly to his lips. She felt her knife meet flesh, though she hadn’t tried to cut him.

Men often
bragged they would be her chosen mate, but never had they been so bold as to kiss her. He parted his warm lips, but she didn’t move to return the gesture. The feel of him was more shocking than unpleasant, though there was no mad rush inside her to return the kiss. When finally he released her, he whispered, “You have your token and I have mine.”

Mede swallowed nervously. The cat looked at his cut arm unconcerned. A thin trail of blood trickled
over his forearm to his fingers. It might leave a scar, but it was not a serious injury.

“
I will be seeing you very soon, little dragon.” His eyes lit as he backed away from her. “But for now you had better hurry home.”

Mede stumbled away from him as if he
’d kicked her. The sensation of the kiss warmed her mouth, but she’d been too shocked by the suddenness of it to react. By all rights she should have done more than cut him. To her shame, even the small wound had been by accident. Instead, she’d frozen. A handsome man had kissed her and she’d frozen.

A small price to pay for getting what I came for.

The catshifter was right. It was late and she needed to run for the borders.

“
That way.” He pointed toward Draig territory. “Keep straight. Avoid the still farmers. They soak in so many fumes they’re always drunk and erratic.”

Mede
wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“
Who are you?” she wondered aloud, wanting to at least know the name of the man who’d first dared to kiss her.

“
I’m the man you’ll be thinking about until we meet again,” he said confidently.

Mede opened her mouth to retort but the man leap
ed into the air, shifting before his hands found the aid of a branch to swing out of the tiny clearing. She heard his steps taking him away from her. Closing her lips, she looked down at her fur-filled hand. It was a good thing he’d left. She wasn’t sure what her retort would have actually been.

* * *

“Where’s the Syog?” Attor asked, glancing around the forest. He caught up to
Myrddin next to the flaccid tree. Age and moss had taken its toll on the large limbs, pulling them down so they arced toward the ground rather than up to the heavens.

“
She had to catch a flight.”
Myrddin stretched his arms over his head. Dirt marred his clothes and he had a satisfied look on his face.

“
I didn’t think the Syog were leaving so soon.” Attor frowned. He’d been looking forward to releasing the tension in his loins. By the patterns on Myrddin’s knees the man had taken the Syog from behind like an animal. A shiver worked over Attor at the thought. He would have enjoyed seeing the rough ride.

Meeting the dragon woman had surged his already heated ardor and he wanted to sink himself into something soft and warm. As badly as he
wanted to fuck his future queen, he saw the wider scope. If she was worthy of marrying him, she was worthy of seduction. The kiss had been merely a way to mark her as his. The gesture had worked, for she’d been weak-kneed afterwards.

Myrddin scratched his waist. “
What happened to you? Please tell me you didn’t lose the trail.”

“
Another matter came up,” he said, not really wanting to share about his future queen just yet. Myrddin might not approve of his plan.

“
More important than a hunt?” His friend shook his head in disbelief. “If you wanted to find a still farmer we could have taken a drink together afterwards.” Myrddin lowered his gaze to look at Attor’s tunic and sniffed at him. “If you couldn’t wait for a drink…”

Attor knew there was a faint trace of liquor on his body from the woman who
’d clearly been next to a still. The smell had permeated her clothing.

Myrddin lifted his fist in warning. “
I will beat you before I let you become weak like your father.”

At
tor slapped the hand away. “I’m not my father. If you must know I was setting events into place that will help when I take over the throne.”

“
Oh?” Myrddin arched a brow. At least he was no longer looking at him in disappointment.

Against his better
judgment, he explained, “I’ve decided to take the Draig female as my queen.”

Myrddin physical
ly recoiled at the idea.

“
I just met her. She’s beautiful, and—”

“
You let a Draig escape?” Myrddin demanded. His eyes shifted and he tilted his head. “Where is she? Which way did she run?”

“
No. Let her go.” Attor didn’t want Myrddin near the woman. “I have plans for her.”

“
What plans could you possibly have for Lady Medellyn?” Myrddin demanded. “Unless it’s to torture her to start a war?” Suddenly, the man nodded. “We could kidnap her and make a very public show of her suffering. That will be an act the Draig cannot ignore.”