Page 59 of Galadon
Still, she wouldn’t let her annoyance get in the way right before Galadon entered a duel where he could get hurt. It wasn’t unusual for some of the contestants to even die. She chose her words carefully so she didn’t insult him.Be careful, but make him hurt.
A spark of amusement flashed in his eyes, to her relief.Of course.
Rayna conveyed the details of the fight to Aidan and the others. While she spoke, Lorcan joined them in human form, strapped with all his weapons. His expression was jovial.
He dipped his chin at Aidan. “Thank you for coming, pendragon.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it, old friend.”
“How is Bailey doing?” he asked, lifting a brow.
Rayna had been so caught up in her own troubles that she’d forgotten to ask about the slayer, which was especially bad since she was pregnant. She really needed to get her head on straight and stop moping about things she couldn’t change.
Aidan sighed. “She wasn’t happy that she couldn’t come with me, but the last few months are the most uncomfortable. Traveling this far was unrealistic, and though most here accept her now, I’d rather not put my mate at risk.”
“Is Orion excited about the baby coming?” Rayna asked.
The pendragon laughed. “It’s all he talks about. He is helping prepare for his little sister and gets upset if we leave him out of anything.”
So it was a girl. No doubt the healers figured that out once Bailey was far enough along.
“I’m glad to hear the baby will have a faithful elder brother,” she said.
Titan snorted. “I imagine she’ll be the most protected hatchling ever between Orion, her parents, and other family and friends.”
“Bailey put her foot down and said our daughter will learn to fight as a warrior if she’s inclined.” Aidan ran a hand through his dark hair. “I find it difficult to go against my mate on anything since I’m with her for this pregnancy, and very grateful for that, but I don’t think her plan is wrong. Anyone who wishes to learn how to fight should do so, and everyone needs some basic skills at least.”
“It’s good you see it that way.” Rayna smiled at him. “I’m sure Bailey appreciates your support.”
“She does when our daughter isn’t making her too uncomfortable.”
Everyone laughed, and even Galadon snorted. She thought about mentioning she had no intention of finding that out for a long time to come, though it would be nice eventually, but she kept silent. Rayna had no idea how he felt about the matter. He couldn’t even commit to her, so maybe he wasn’t interested in that sort of thing at all.
Aidan turned to chat with the others. She stood quietly until they called Galadon to the dueling field. When he gave herone last look, she returned it with a confident nod. It was the best possible gesture under shifter etiquette and showed she had complete faith in his prowess.
They didn’t waste much time on formalities, so within a few minutes, the two contestants were attacking each other. The male Galadon fought was slightly larger. While her half-mate was huge for a shifter, he was a smidge smaller compared to most pure dragons. Size didn’t seem to matter as he brutally tore into his opponent.
At one point, Galadon got struck hard in the head with a tail, but he returned the favor by tearing into his foe’s stomach, ripping it wide open. Guts spewed out. The Faegud dragon had no choice except to concede defeat so he could get to a healer before blood loss took him.
Galadon held his head high as he stomped off the field. She gave him a pleased smile before he turned to crouch before their group, waiting to find out who he’d fight next. There would be five more duels before they’d draw names for which pairs faced each other in the second round.
In the meantime, he seemed to be in a different mental space. One where he barely acknowledged her or the others near them. Galadon focused entirely on the other contestants as he watched their every move. This was the warrior side of him.
The second duel was two male dragons fighting against each other. They were both excellent fighters, and it took about ten minutes of them ripping into each other before one of them won. The winner limped away with his head held high. For the third duel, a tough female pure dragon was set against Felienne. No one was surprised when the softer female lost, though it looked like she’d had some recent training, so she managed to last two minutes before a broken wing had her conceding.
With round four, Nayeli—a fierce female shifter—and Telarion fought in dragon form. She almost had him twice with her fangs at his neck, but he somehow managed to get free. All the while, he was taunting and insulting her just low enough that the audience could only catch words when the two came near their end of the field.
After fifteen minutes, they really went after each other in a blur of motion. When it stopped, Nayeli’s eyes were gouged out, and her throat was crushed. A healer rushed to save her, but it didn’t look promising when they carried her limp body away. Rayna felt terrible for her.
Lorcan fought the fifth duel against a pure dragon. He’d shifted right after Galadon’s duel, so he’d had a little time to prepare before the fight. His opponent was no slacker, and it would have been a challenge for Rayna to win even at full strength, but the shifter eventually tore at his opponent’s underbelly until he had his talons around the beast’s heart. That had been creative, impressing everyone. Lorcan let go when the pure dragon conceded, so there was no serious damage.
She paid special attention to the final duel of round one between a shifter who’d made a name for himself during the war and Boese—also a shifter—who Galadon told her was his personal nemesis in the toriq. He’d told lies about him behind his back and always had two brothers around to deter anyone from challenging him. All three were tough fighters who had no problem with underhanded tactics. Galadon faced them all once, but he’d said he barely survived the encounter. The only thing that had made him feel better about it was that the trio also spent days recovering.
Now, Boese would be fighting, Nicco, a shifter who was a talented warrior but also honorable. Rayna badly wanted thegood guy to win and inched forward until she was next to Galadon for a better view. He was just as intent on the duel as it began. The two males chose to battle in human form, and their swords clanged together so often that it was nearly a blur.
All they managed to do for the next ten minutes was exchange minor cuts and slices. Then their blades locked, and their faces were mere inches apart. Boese spit straight into the other shifter’s eyes.
“That disgusting asshole,” Rayna muttered.
