Page 86 of Exquisite Monster
“Some of both?”
She nodded once more. “I have your measurements and some questions for your dragon.”
“How do you know he’s mine?” The words came out so fast I couldn’t think about whether they were a good idea.
“Other than that kiss?” Someny huffed a breath full of smoke and nodded to my arm. Her gaze dragged up to my shoulder. And while the clothes Gleym gave me didn’t show much skin, the edges of my mating marks from both Zovai and Endre could be seen. I’d forgotten they were visible, and I also forgot that others might know what they meant. A foolish assumption, but I also wasn’t sure how much mating lore was still known, since true mates had disappeared for centuries.
I opened my mouth to say something, and Someny’s hand made a sharp gesture low at her side. “Your business is your own, remember?” The words were pointed. Don’t reveal anything to anyone, even if they notice.
“I remember.”
She swept past me back into the main shop. I took a moment to breathe and retrieve my cloak before I followed her. Someny already spoke to Zovai. He held a bundle in his hands. “How many clothes am I making? And when do you need them?”
Zovai held out his arm, and I returned to him, enjoying the way he tucked me in like it was the only place I was meant to be.
“A full wardrobe,” he said. “With the addition of clothes suitable for travel and combat. Enough for a few weeks.”
I looked up at him, startled. Were we leaving? Going somewhere I didn’t think about? Why would I need combat clothes? He stroked comfort into our bond. “As soon as possible.”
The dragon lifted a brow as she looked between us. “Don’t ask for much, do you?”
Her mate, Iavoss, laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Once you see how much he offered, you’ll be more than pleased, mate.”
Money. I hadn’t thought about money. Then again, very few times in my life had I ever needed to worry about it. The first time I’d ever gone out of my way to find money was when I needed to pay Taia and Baris for ingredients. They’d told me they didn’t need payment, but I insisted. They risked so much to teach me everything they knew.
How did dragons pay for things? I doubted it was like human currency.
I felt Zovai’s amusement. “One of our mutual friends will come retrieve the clothes in a few days,” he said.
“Very well.”
“Oh,” I said. “If you have any scraps that could be used to make a small pouch, could you include them?” She frowned in confusion, so I continued. “A small dragon keeps my company. His hoard is a single coin, which he has taken to carrying in a pouch on his back. He only has one, and the previous he wore until it nearly failed.”
She chuckled. “If I do, I will. Or I might just make one.” Then Someny paused and looked at both of us once more before looking at the door. “Be careful, Your Highness.”
My mate didn’t stiffen or react with shock. It was the only thing that kept me calm. He wove our fingers together and nodded. “We will be.”
As soon as we were out of the store, I turned to him. “They know who you are?”
He bent down, pushing just inside my hood so his lips brushed my ear. I shivered, tingling chills reaching every part of me. “Idroal directed us to them. They may not have known when we walked in, but they won’t betray us.”
Tension seeped out of me, and I leaned into his mouth. “All right.” Then I whispered. “I’m not sure I need a whole wardrobe.”
“Here.” He handed me the bundle. “These are a few things to help for the next few days. Nightclothes that will fit, if not perfectly. And you will need a wardrobe. When we come back to Syrsi and stay there. You will need all of that and more.”
Emotion built up in my chest. I looked up at the glowing lanterns,strung over the beautiful space like stars, and tried to lose myself in them. “You say that like you have hope.”
Zovai made sure my hood kept my face in shadows before he kept walking us along the edges of the market. I felt his emotions and thoughts tumbling through him, like he was deciding what to say and how to say it.
“You do not have hope?”
A pang went through my stomach. Guilt at admitting that. Yet it was the truth. “I’m not sure how.” He began to say something, and I squeezed his hand. “I want you. The three of you. For as long as I am able. But it is hard to see a path through when I know what’s against us. Andaros won’t hesitate to kill me the next time he sees me, and the Elders won’t make the mistake of trying to burn me again.” I lowered my voice. “They’ll simply command someone to snap my neck to get it over with.”
Zovai spun me to him with a growl. In the deep shadows of his hood, the eyes of his beast glowed with wrath. “They will die where they stand if they try.”
I didn’t have to speak for him to hear me this time. We’d already been down this road. And they couldn’t stop it. They were torn away from me the first time, commanded not to fight back, and none of us could do a thing. They could be commanded to watch while I died, and this time there would be no question. If the command was given to them, and they defied it, they would die, and that was just as bad.
Lowering his forehead to mine, Ifelthis growl down to my toes. Followed by the rage and grief they hadn’t shown me, even when we were telling each other what had happened during our separation.
