Page 81 of Galadon
Rayna laughed. “Not if we wish to live.”
They found a red-faced guard outside, ready to escort them to Aidan and Bailey’s chambers. He must have been out there the entire time and heard everything. The door was thick and solid, but shifter hearing was very good. Rayna was mortified, but Galadon put a hand to the small of her back and walked stoically as they made their way through the corridor to a set of stairs that took them to the third floor.
Two seconds after they knocked, the door flung wide open, and Orion grinned up at them. “Finally, you’re here! I’m hungry.”
Rayna patted his thick, dark hair. “Me, too, kid.”
The fragrant aroma of a feast filled the air and made her stomach growl. They entered the room and found Bailey had already begun nibbling on a roll. It relieved Rayna to see she hadn’t deprived herself while waiting.
“My apologies for the delay,” Galadon said, moving to clasp arms with Aidan in a shifter greeting.
The pendragon lifted a brow. “Something tells me you aren’t that sorry.”
“I’m impressed you two got here this quickly,” Bailey said, taking another bite of her bread.
Rayna cleared her throat, figuring it was best to change the topic with a five-year-old present. “The food looks amazing.”
“Please, sit,” Aidan said, gesturing toward the table.
Orion had already plopped himself into a chair next to his mother. She’d set the remains of her roll down to begin filling his plate. Galadon chose seats opposite them, pulling out Rayna’s for her. She smiled at him and sat.
“I take it your hunt went well,” Aidan said as he piled food onto his dish.
Rayna nodded, following his example. There was so much variety, including a roast that was her favorite since childhood. She wished she could take the whole cut, but realistically knew that wasn’t possible. All the walking she’d done the last couple ofdays made her ravenous—just not quite that much. She’d gotten too spoiled by using her horse or dragons for travel.
“It took nearly two days, but it was easy once I spotted him,” she finally replied as she forked meat onto her plate in reasonable quantities.
Bailey sighed. “It must be nice to down them with a bit of lightning, so there’s no struggle to finish them.”
“You have tools to help in that regard now,” Aidan pointed out.
“Arrows and firearms aren’t nearly as fun or always as accurate.”
Rayna finished chewing her first bite of food. “My aim was unreliable for the first year after I gained magic. Sometimes, it hit right where I wanted, but most of the time, I was off. Just like with other weapons, I had to train to get good at it.”
Aidan glanced toward the balcony doors. “Interestingly, there was a brief storm while you two were…getting ready to come here. It ended shortly before you arrived.”
“Oh, yeah.” Orion’s face lit up. “There were no clouds, and then they just came out of nowhere. The lightning was flashing all over the place.”
“It didn’t hit anything,” Bailey quickly clarified.
I shot Galadon a horrified look.
He appeared amused. “That is strange, but I’ve heard the weather in Oklahoma is known to be erratic.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Bailey said with a sage nod, almost pulling off a serious expression if not for the twinkle in her brown eyes.
Rayna dug into her meal, trying not to think about the implications of them brewing a storm while they’d been together. Every time before the bond, some of her electrical charges ran between them, but even in the woods after Galadon had told her he loved her, she hadn’t noticed a storm. That would have been hard to miss outdoors. Maybe because of their two-day separation, it had built up? She supposed it was one of those things they’d learn as they went.
Their conversation moved to less embarrassing topics for the rest of the meal. Orion was going to a class in the fortress now with shifters and human children, learning to read. Bailey already had a crib set up in the corner of their bed chambers for when she gave birth that she had Aidan build from scratch. He’d set aside two hours a day, foregoing pendragon duties, to complete it. The details carved into the wood with flying dragons were especially impressive.
Orion was excited to become a big brother and bounced in his seat as he told them about all the things he planned to do with his sister. It was clear he didn’t quite understand a baby’s limits just yet, but he’d learn soon enough.
Aidan was also proud to announce they’d completed most of the repairs on the fortress and village. Both suffered some damage from the war. Now, he was allocating shifters to assist the nearby town of Norman with repairs. There’d been some fire damage during the dragon fighting. Also, a large tornado—created by one of their sorcerers to take out Kandoran dragons—tore up many homes on the outskirts of the city. There was a lot of debris to sort out that they’d put off due to more pressing issues and a harsh winter keeping most people inside.
A knock sounded at the door as they were finishing the meal. Aidan moved to answer this time, pulling it open to seeone of his guards. “Excuse me, milord. I hate to interrupt, but we thought you’d want to know your sister has given birth to a healthy baby boy.”
Rayna couldn’t resist listening in on the exchange, especially with the good news.
