Page 56 of Mountain of Dragons and Sacrifice

With my parents trailing behind me, I strode back the way I’d come, entering the sheltered shadows of the olive grove until we reached the tree where I’d left Evander.

In the darkness, the hood and veil were probably unnecessary. But Evander had been conscientious enough to ensure that my parents were as comfortable meeting him as possible.

We’d debated a long while on whether he should meet them in his more unassuming and unscary fae form or conform to their expectations of the dragon and shift into his half-dragon form.

In the end, we’d decided the half-dragon form would be best. They’d be more scared, as I had been at first. But they weren’t ready to believe their eyes when they met a dragon without his wings.

As we neared the tree, Evander stepped forward, his wings silhouetted against the deep blue of the sky.

Mama shrank into Bapi. Bapi froze where he was before staggering back half a step.

Evander bowed, his head completely hidden beneath the hood and veil. “Thank you for meeting me. I apologize for the fact that I did not ask for the customary blessing from you before marrying your daughter. But I have brought the bridal gift, as is traditional.”

He picked up a wooden case from where he’d set it on the ground. No need to scare my parents any more than they already were by pulling a case that was clearly too big from a magical pocket.

Evander held the case out to my bapi. “The vials in this case are filled with an extremely potent nectar from the Greater Realm. One vial of this nectar will heal you of any ailment, unless you are on the brink of death.”

No need to explain that the “nectar” was a fae potion or that it was terribly expensive, even by fae standards. Good thing I married a dragon with a gem mine.

It was the greatest gift we could give them. My parents would never leave the olive grove, and I’d never ask them to. All I could give them was a way to ensure that they enjoyed long, healthy lives. Perhaps someday one of my children would choose to live in the Human Realm and take over the olive grove. If not, my parents would have the chance to pass the land to someone worthy.

My bapi bowed to Evander as he accepted the box. After a moment, he cleared his throat, though he didn’t quite straighten all the way. “I give my blessing, Lord Dragon. I can see you have made our Nessa happy. But I’m afraid I have no dowry to offer in return.”

“Actually, you have a great gift to offer.” Evander bowed again, gesturing to the ripe olives hanging heavy on the surrounding trees. I couldn’t see it past the veil, but I could hear the smile in his voice. “The Greater Realm doesn’t have any olives. A basket of your olives would be more than sufficient.”

“You can have all the olives you wish.” Bapi bowed again, and Mama curtsied.

“Just a single basket is all I ask. If you wish to give more to Nessa, you are free to do so. But I ask for nothing more.” Evander started to bow, but I quickly held out an arm and stopped him before he did so. Someone had to stop this bowing fest. We all got it by now. There was lots of mutual respect to go around.

Evander straightened, then took my hand, squeezing my fingers.

I gripped his hand in return, though I couldn’t meet his gaze through the veil.

After a bit more stilted conversation, my parents bowed and curtsied one last time, then shuffled backwards out of the olive grove, leaving Evander and me alone in the darkness.

Evander flipped the hood over his head, then ripped the veil off and stuffed it into his pocket, dragging in a deep breath.

“A little warm?” I grinned at him.

“Yes.” He shared my grin, though there was still something tight about his smile. He flexed his fingers, rocking a bit on his heels.

“You’ve seen a rock you want, haven’t you?” I glanced around, but in the darkness I couldn’t see anything special about the gravel beneath our feet. “You already got a new stone statue for your hoard.”

“Yes, but this is a lovely agate.” His voice held a strained note. “But it’s all right. I don’t want to take anything from your family’s land. I’ll be fine without it.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. He didn’t sound fine. He sounded physically in pain from trying to resist his hoarding instincts. “It’s a rock. It’s fine. I’m giving you permission to have it.”

Evander snatched a rock from the ground, stuffing it in his pocket so fast I didn’t even catch a glimpse of it. Oh, well. I’d see it when he displayed it in his hoard.

This was my life now. A home in an eyrie in the wintry Court of Stone. A mountain full of gnomes and stone gremlins. A dragon for a husband.

I couldn’t have been happier.

Epilogue

“How was your visit home?” Evander set aside the rock he was polishing. Some kind of igneous stone for his hoard, by the look of it.

I flopped onto the nearest of the plush chairs in his study. Dorrian had been hard at work. There was actually a free chair for me to sag into. “My parents were lovely. But I sneaked into the village and…Evander, they’ve made a statue of me!”

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