Page 28 of Crown and Dragon

“Sure, Master Guard. Sure.”

She laughed harder as he cradled her, tossed her into the air a bit, then caught her, all to the happy cheers of the crowd.

“Now, dance him into submission!” the people cried out.

The woman clapped her hands over her head in a steady rhythm that the city folk took up quickly. It became a deafening drum of palms as Marius set her down. She pretended to lift a make-believe dress and danced about Marius with steps that matched the clapping. The rhythm sped up, faster and faster, until Tahlia was out of breath and nearly falling into Marius. He caught her, and if she hadn’t seen it herself, she would never have believed it, but Marius actually grinned. His eyes danced as surely as she had as he dipped her low and kissed her fully to the excited cries of the crowd.

Chapter 13

Marius

Tahlia kissed him back, then smiled as he helped her off the stage.

He shook his head as they made their way back to Eyebrows. “Torturous nonsense.”

“Interesting way to sayfun,” Tahlia whispered.

“Well done, you two,” the guard captain with the generous eyebrows said. “Now, fill in the gaps as the parade comes to a close.”

Perfect. Now they had the freedom to move about without eliciting too much unwanted attention.

“Watch for overly aggressive participants when the throwing begins,” the captain added.

“Aye,” Marius said, feigning obedience. It wasn’t a lie to simply agree, but his heart knew they wouldn’t be doing as ordered so the word still tasted like deceit—a sharp bitterness at the back of his tongue and a branching pain through his temples.

He led Tahlia through the crowd, past several docks. The sea beyond the bay was gray and it chewed at the rocky crescent that protected the docked boats and anchored ships. Following his mental map of the city, he hurried Tahlia along until they were back on the main south road, right in front of the fortress. Thecrowd was shoulder to shoulder, and their pace slowed to a near crawl.

The sky cracked, and it wasn’t lightning. Fireblooms, fireworks, some called them. Sparks like dragon fire bloomed over the city in an array of gold, black, blue, and red. The people crowed and howled like forest creatures and the madness began.

Tomatoes. Everywhere.

Tahlia snagged a tomato from the air and tossed the half-squished thing at a random human.

“Guard,” Marius growled at Tahlia, a fierce protectiveness crashing through his Fae blood. Humans could twist into monsters at a moment’s notice.

The human female Tahlia had hit with the tomato turned and laughed, lugging one back at Tahlia. Fine. She seemed so happy to be involved in the chaos, but truly, they didn’t have time for this. They needed to get into the fortress before the two humans who’d agreed to work with them were traded out for the new shift.

But Tahlia’s laugh and her dancing eyes made it impossible for him to pull her along or complain. Though she was covered in red juice and pieces of tomato, she was so damn beautiful. He did miss seeing her Fae fangs though since they were cloaked by the Witch’s potion.

With a yelp, she slipped. He shot his arm out without thinking, and he caught her, then pulled her close. Her damp uniform did little to hide her blessed curves.

“Careful, little salty. You might tempt me to ignore all of humankind just to drag you into an alcove and have my way with you.”

“I wish you were truly tempted!” She laughed into his chest, then looked up at him with those lovely eyes of hers.

Even though the glamour cloaked her eyes, their true beauty shone through nonetheless.

She continued. “But I know you’re dying for me to stop having fun and get back to the job.”

Normally, he would never be so tempted to take his time during a mission. “I’m torn, honestly. It’s the bond.”

She reached up and kissed him hard, and he stepped back, chuckling and surprised. A human male careened into them. Marius slid, grabbed at the corner of a building, but fell to his arse anyway. Tahlia reached for him and landed sideways on top of his chest. Both their stupid hats were gone, thank the gods. She laughed again, and her body moved against his, scattering his thoughts. The sun broke through the churning storm clouds for a moment. The light behind her head made her look like a goddess. He kissed her, allowing his wilder side to satiate itself somewhat. He ran his fingers through her sticky hair.

“You taste like dinner,” she whispered against his tomato-drenched mouth.

Another chuckle tripped from his lips as they helped one another up all while getting pummeled with yet more tomatoes. A man with a dramatic beard and mustache reached out his hands to aid them. Marius shook his head, but Tahlia took one hand and shook it.

She should have been more wary around humans.

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