Page 433 of Kingdoms of Night

Rowan told himself he agreed because he would give her anything to stay happy. She was his sister, after all, and he was her older brother. Those few minutes apart meant he should protect her.

But deep down, he wanted to know more about these dragons. He wanted to find out everything that had made his sister fall so deeply in love with this place. So he agreed to stay.

The first week of his time here was filled with Aster making him work until he thought his arms would fall off. She laughed every time he did something wrong, and then scolded him when he complained. But he learned rather quickly that the dragons were tolerant of his mistakes. They didn’t mind when he splashed them with water or forgot their favorite food, and they didn’t scold him like his sister did.

The second week, he spent most of his time with the other workers here. No one called themselves slaves or even acted like they wanted to go home. They called themselves dragon keepers. Most of them were happy for him to tag along and learn something from them. They all had a different color of dragon they seemed to prefer serving. Some of them were even bonded with a single dragon who they helped the most. Those were the people he was most interested in.

That bond between a magical creature and dragon... It perplexed him.

He couldn’t imagine bonding with anyone other than this sister. Any previous crushes or dalliances that he’d wasted his time with were easily cast from his mind once the romance ended. But these people talked like the dragons were part of them. Like the bond he had with his twin, but... deeper.

They worked closely with the dragons. They listened to their worries and their dreams. A few of the elves he spoke with most often laughed at his questions and claimed a connection with a dragon was the greatest honor that anyone could be given.

He didn’t understand it. But he found he wanted to.

On the third week of his stay, he bumped into the amethyst dragon, who had given him so much trouble his first night here.

Quite literally bumped into her. She wasn’t looking where she was going and walked right into him like she expected people to move out of her way while she muttered and strode through the meadow with an awkward gait.

“Sorry,” she muttered as she kept walking. “Not looking where I’m going.”

He stood in the fields with the bucket in his hands, a brush rattling against the worn wood. A thought burst to life in his head. A crazy thought, not one that he’d ever have assumed he might have. But...

“Tanis?” he called out.

She stopped, seemingly shocked that someone had said her name. The fog lifted from her eyes and she focused on him. “Oh! The elf who was looking for his sister. You’re still here, I see.”

“I am.” He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet on the ground. “Do you have one of us working directly with you?”

She seemed confused by his question. “I don’t have anyone working with me, no. Dragons are the only ones who can connect with the crystals. It requires magic to clean them and preserve the memories within.”

“Elves have natural magic.” He had never felt so awkward in his life. “If you need someone to help, I’d like to offer my assistance.”

Tanis grinned and bared her teeth. “Are you so certain I won’t eat you?”

“I am now.”

The low hum that echoed from her throat sounded like a growl, but somehow he managed not to flinch.

Tanis let the sound die and then snorted. “If you’re so sure you want to help, then come to my cave, elf. We’ll see if you can be of some use.”

Really? She meant that? Elation bubbled to life in his chest and he had to force himself not to let out a whoop of happiness.

Instead, he called after her, “My name is Rowan!”

“I don’t care!” she called back.

CHAPTERFOUR

CHAPTER 4

Her handsome elf showed up the next morning at the first light of the sun. And the morning after that. And again. He was so dedicated to showing up exactly at the sunrise that she wondered if he was sleeping less than her.

The damned creature seemed like he was sleeping just fine. He was spritely and awake with a cheerful lilt to his voice, no matter how many mornings passed.

He walked in as though he’d been born to help dragons. Every damned morning he came up to her cliffside cave, whistling so she knew he’d arrived, and then entered her cave with an armful of food and the same question.

“How can I help?”

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