Page 135 of Red Dragon
You’re a generous dragon,Syla told her.
I worked up hunger during my… during the adventure.
Agrevlari was that engaging, was he?
Certainly not.
I did notice that your joining lasted longer than mine, and Vorik tends to have… stamina.
Humans are puny. Dragons have far greater stamina.
That must be true. We were lucky that rock formation didn’t collapse on us.
Yes.Did Wreylith sound slightly smug? Maybe that encounter hadn’t been as unpleasant as she’d claimed.It was reinforced by the magic of the gods.
And that’s the only reason it didn’t collapse under your vigor?
Yes.
Syla patted the dragon, wishing they could keep flying and bantering all day. She didn’t want to deal with the mess at home.
The crew of the whaling ship had spotted the dragons and was rushing to the cannons and grabbing crossbows, but Captain Radmarik stepped out of the wheelhouse. He recognized them and ordered his men to stand down.
Syla had only intended to drop off Teyla, assuming it would be more dramatic if she herself arrived on the back of a dragon, but a second person walked out of the wheelhouse, and she blinked. It was Chieftess Atilya, her gray hair down and stirring in the sea breeze.
Will you land for a moment, please, Wreylith?
The red dragon did so, perching atop the wheelhouse, where a tarp covered the hole that the dragons had made earlier in the week. As she’d done before, Igliana alighted on the harpoon launcher in the back, letting Teyla climb off with her pack stuffed with items she’d gathered from the laboratory.
“Morning, Princess,” Radmarik drawled as Atilya came to stand beside him. “Or should we say Queen?”
He glanced at his mate.
“We’re betting on that.” Atilya nodded toward Syla and Wreylith, not appearing surprised by the new tattoo on Syla’s hand. “You’ve bonded with a great wild dragon, something few have ever done. After our sour clash with the Sixteen Talons, we’re ready to more drastically cut our ties with them. Should you need our assistance in getting your other island back or dealing with the stormers, you will have it.”
“I… thank you,” Syla said when she realized this wasn’t a negotiation, that Atilya wasn’t asking for anything in return.
Atilya had to hope that her people would be allowed access to the islands one day, but that was reasonable. From the beginning, Syla had been willing to negotiate with them. If only the stormers, the tribal leaders and their generals, were more reasonable.
“I trust you won’t help Captain Vorik sneak away from us again though,” Atilya added, her tone dry.
“He knew you were trying to drug him and was never unconscious. He would have sneaked away on his own.”
“Oh? He may be brighter than I suspected. His brother has always overshadowed him, and he tends to be irreverent and insouciant, so one doesn’t get a sense of a mastermind.”
Syla almost said that Vorik wasn’t a mastermind, but he’d just gotten the best ofher. Even if she blamed herself for that, he’d placed himself in a position where he could win the day.
“He’s not dull,” she decided on for an answer.
“No.”
“I suggest you make a grand appearance at your castle—and tell your people not to attack Radmarik again. He’s a simple whaler, nothing more.”
“That’s right,” Radmarik said with an agreeable wink.
“I will tell them.” Even if they hadn’t been aboard, Atilya promising an alliance, Syla would have done her best to protect the ship. Her cousin was on it, now, after all.
Wreylith bunched her powerful muscles and sprang into the air, turning for the harbor.
