Page 81 of The Dragon King

He lit the fire with his matches and brought heat to the campsite. The rest of the elves made camp, putting Queen Eldinar in the center with my uncle, in the safest position she could be in with her men around her.

I spotted Commander Luxe as he passed through the campsite, but he was careful not to look in my direction to avoid Talon’s ire.

Talon had hunted before sunset, so he prepared the meal over the fire then divided it onto two plates.

“No thank you.” I didn’t want to be rude, but my diet had changed during my stay with the elves. I saw food differently, saw the consequences of an omnivorous diet. Fish felt different for some reason, far more removed.

Talon didn’t show a hint of irritation before he tilted the plate and let my food join his pile, as if he’d expected me to say that but wanted to offer anyway. He sat in silence on the log, looking into the fire as his mind drifted to other matters.

We were close enough to the ocean that I could smell the salt in the air, but it wasn’t the same as it’d been on the island. The humidity was like a gentle blanket of warmth on a cool night. The waves didn’t crash against the shore in the same way. The ground was hard as stone, and there was no sand to slide between my toes.

Talon finished eating then cleaned his plate before he stowed it into his pack again. “I won’t tell you what to eat or how to live your life, but we’ll be on the move soon, and you won’t have the opportunity to be particular. Your survival is more important than your morals. You need to eat well to stay alive.”

My eyes shifted to his. “It feels different now.”

“You can continue that lifestyle when this is over. Next time I cook something, you’re going to eat it.” Like we were back in time, he’d become the authoritarian I’d first met, locked up in a castle made of stone. But I dismissed his bossiness because I knew his intentions were good.

“Okay.”

He stared at me for another moment, like he expected a fight rather than acceptance. When it didn’t come, he looked at the fire again. “The dragons will join us in the morning. We should get some sleep.”

“Does it feel weird being apart from Khazmuda?”

“I know it’s temporary.”

“But you’ve been side by side for so long.”

“Not entirely,” he said. “We were separated while I was in Riviana Star. And my time as a fisherman and a pirate was spent in separation. Our minds were always connected, but years would pass in which I didn’t see his scales.”

“It seems like your relationship has changed since then.”

“It has,” he admitted. “But like I said, it’s temporary. If I couldn’t speak to him whenever I wished, I would feel much differently. But no amount of distance can ever break the bond we share.”

A smile melted onto my face. “That’s so special.” I’d had it for a short while with Inferno, but our relationship would never compare to the one Talon shared with Khazmuda. We’d fused for a time because it was necessary, but to fuse permanently was unnecessary. “Because you’re fused with Khazmuda, you’ll live forever?”

His eyes had shifted to the fire, but they came back to me. “Theoretically.”

“So, what would happen if you unfused with him this moment?”

He stared at me for a while as he considered the question. “Time would catch up with me. I would age decades.”

“And that means your uncle would look exactly the same.”

“Yes.”

Which meant if I didn’t fuse with a dragon, I would age…and then die. While Talon remained frozen in time with centuries ahead of him. His attraction to me would die, and he would replace me with someone more youthful. It was a problem I didn’t know how to address.

He seemed to pick up on my change of mood because he said, “What is it, baby?”

My eyes remained on the fire. “Nothing.”

“I guess I know you well,” he said. “Because I know that’s a lie.”

I tried to focus on the fire. “I just had the realization that you’ll be young and handsome forever…and I’ll get old.” I would get old and useless. Once he’d squeezed every drop of youth from my body, he would replace me with someone else…and I would be alone.

He stared at the side of my face for a long time.

I should focus on the task immediately before us, but it was easier to get through it when I had something to look forward to. Like a quiet and full life with Talon. With children of our own. With peace and happiness that neither of us had gotten to enjoy.

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