Page 13 of Crown and Dragon

Marius chuckled darkly.

“Ragewing,” Tahlia said, “how do you think Lija is doing? I can’t hear her anymore.”

The dragon looked to his rider. Marius nodded, rubbing his chin in thought.

“Ragewing says she is strong in spirit, though the challenge is one of the most difficult a dragon can face.”

Tahlia said a silent prayer to the gods. Lija had to survive this. They had to heal her.

The massive scarlet dragon spread his wings slightly and bowed his head. Grateful to him, Tahlia smiled and curtseyed back, some of the knot in her stomach untangling.

Marius put a hand on Ragewing’s neck. “Thank you for carrying my mate again.” He tilted his head, listening to Ragewing in his mind. A laugh crept from his lips and he turned to Tahlia. “He says if you’d sit still in the saddle, the job would be far less anxiety-inducing.”

Tahlia stuck her tongue out at both of them. She slipped her potion free of its leather holder, then she uncorked it at the same time as Marius opened his bottle. “Well, we need to move forward with our plans, right? I think we should human ourselves before the contact arrives with our horse. So he is less frightened of us.”

“Agreed.”

“Time to human.” She lifted the concoction into the lines of sun that broke through the trees. “Bottoms up!”

Marius nodded, raising his potion, then he downed the stuff. She did likewise.

The potion tasted like regret and maybe deer piss? Super delightful. Ugh. She turned away from Ragewing and Marius, stomach rolling.

A warm hand found her shoulder.

“Are you all right?” Marius’s breath tickled the hairs at the side of her face.

She realized she was on her knees in the dirt and grass. When had she dropped?

“I’ve been better, but I’ll live,” she said.

The world tilted and she swallowed, willing her body to accept the magic.

“Lady Tahlia, talk to me. Tell me you’re all right. Or expunge it from your body and we will figure out another way to do this. I will go on my own.”

Holding up a hand, she bit out her words. “No. Can’t ruin mission.” She did her best to grin up at him.

Nodding, he helped her to her feet. “Ach, you’re fine. I see that salty little smirk.”

His ears shimmered and morphed, edges rounding into a human-like shape. His skin dulled ever so slightly and as he blinked, his slitted irises became circles.

“So strange,” she whispered, touching the cheekbone on the left side of his face as it lost its Fae sharpness and became less pronounced.

He was studying her like she was examining him. His gaze peppered her here and there, as if he was cataloguing the changes. “Fascinating.”

“Do I pass as fully human now?”Gods above, have mercy on me, she prayed silently. Nausea swirled inside her. It was all she could do to keep from losing the contents of her belly. Dots swam in front of her eyes.

“You don’t look well. And I’m not just talking about the human features,” he said.

“It’ll pass.”

“We’re not going anywhere until it does,” he said in a tone that didn’t brook any arguments.

“Yes, we are. I’m doing this for Lija, and I am not letting an upset stomach get in my way.”

Ragewing snorted, then took off into the air. He flew toward the darker side of the forest.

Marius watched him go. “He says our rider approaches. Ragewing will hide himself to avoid startling the horses. He told me to bid you best wishes.”

---