Page 4 of Crown and Dragon

“No,” Marius continued, “we must move onward immediately. We will need time to go over our information once more before the royals arrive at the vineyard.”

Titus bowed his head. “Aye, Commander.”

The order mounted up and flew below the canopy, enjoying the sights, scents, and sounds of the Gwerhune, the mightiest of all the Fae forests. Oaks as large as King Lysanael’s castle, Caer Du, reached thick arms to one another, pixies floating within their shadows. The pixies wouldn’t bother anyone until after dark. They were lovely but incredibly annoying little things. The indigo pines took over as they flew onward. Needles shook in thewind of the dragons’ wings, and the trees’ fresh green scent rose into the honey-sweet air. Tahlia inhaled deeply.

“You like it here, don’t you?” Marius said over his shoulder.

“I adore it. It’s gorgeous. And exciting.”

“Very true. Perhaps we can go on a holiday and explore the depths someday.”

“Really? Do we get any holiday time?”

His body rumbled with a low chuckle. “Not much, but a commander can bend the schedule sometimes.”

Tahlia slid her hand down his side and tickled his thigh. “I love sleeping with the boss.”

Marius’s laugh shook her slightly as she leaned over to peer down. A group of moss deer bounded over yellow and green mosses that matched their pelts and the growth that sprang from the buck’s wide antlers. A tangle of roots boasted a cluster of towering pink flowers that grew in a long braid.

“We could bed down right there,” Tahlia said, pointing.

Marius glanced down and growled approvingly.

Tahlia smiled and held him tightly. He didn’t care about the flowers—she knew that—but despite his grouchy exterior, he was always kind about what she found lovely and enjoyable. As long as it wasn’t something terribly reckless.

Would they be able to have some fun during this upcoming mission or would it be all risk and danger? In a perfect world, there would be a balance of both. After all, she didn’t join the order to sit around knitting and oohing over flowers.

Chapter 2

Marius

The vineyard extended from the manor house into the rolling hills like a deep green wave. The flickering light of the workers’ lanterns bobbed like fireflies and Marius felt silly for wishing he and Tahlia were only here for a holiday.

“Come on, slow poke!” Tahlia waved at him from the third row of grapevines, where she was dropping another cluster of wine grapes into the basket looped over her arm. “We have to beat Waith!”

It was tradition that every soul on the grounds during early fall join in on the harvesting. Marius didn’t mind it one bit. This was honest work—and a calming break from the stress of dragon rider business. He wished the rest of the order could have stayed with them, but they were needed for tasks in the mountains. Training and keeping the occasional troll out of the high altitude villages would keep them busy in this fine weather.

Marius stalked over to Tahlia and took the vine knife from her outstretched hand. Her shining eyes reflected the lanterns’ light and the glow of the moon. “First, you are so beautiful it hurts. Second, we don’t have a chance against Master Waith, seeing as he has been running a vineyard since before either of us was born.”

Tahlia had frozen, a grin lifting one edge of that pouty mouth he longed to devour like a decadent sweet. “I love it when you use so many words at once. It’s as rare as unicorns, my love.”

He growled at her and turned back to the vines.

She snickered and eased the basket into the leaves to catch the grapes he cut free. Master Waith, a male with fair skin, waved a hand at them, the two stripes of gray-white in his dark hair like the imprint of former horns.

“They will be here in the morning! Just heard.” Waith nodded toward a slim lad leaving the vineyards and heading toward the stables. A messenger, Marius guessed.

“So we have all night off,” Tahlia said, glancing at Marius from the corners of her painfully alluring eyes.

Marius’s body heated, and he shook his head at himself as he adjusted his trousers. His mate could have ordered him to do literally anything when she looked at him like that.

“Seems so,” he said, his voice rougher than he’d meant it to be. His tone didn’t appear to dampen her spirits, thankfully.

“I think we should visit this exact spot after everyone has gone to bed.”

He eyed the ground at their feet. Soft grasses had been pressed low during the harvest work, and blue-green moss laced a patch of earth here and there. Looking back at Tahlia, he nodded.

“Agreed.”

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