Page 4 of Dragon Fire

He’d realized, only after being summarily thrown out of her house, that somewhere along the line, he’d fallen for her. She was adventurous, intelligent beyond any other woman he’d ever known, and as gorgeous as a morning sunrise. She was perfect in every way, and he wanted to make her his wife.

Mate. That’s what the dragons called it.

Now that he was a knight, it wasn’t so simple. A mate would have to be shared between him and whoever the knight was that partnered Genlitha’s eventual mate. Genlitha had shown no preference for any particular male dragon, though Gowan secretly thought she had a thing for Hrardorr—impossible as that was.

Hrardorr would never choose another knight. Everyone knew that. He had vowed it publicly and adamantly. It was a shame because, despite his disability, Hrardorr had proven himself to still be a formidable dragon. He had skills and abilities that no other dragon Gowan knew of could beat, or even match.

Those traits should be passed on, but what did Gowan know? He was only a simple warrior, plucked out of obscurity by Genlitha not all that long ago. She had made him a knight, and while he wouldn’t change a thing about that, he also never forgot that he was just a soldier at heart.

Oh, he’d been born to a noble family, but as a younger son with no prospects and an older brother who wanted everything for himself, Gowan had had no expectations. He’d earned his own way since he was a young man, turned out on his ear by his older brother, with only the clothes on his back and his favorite horse, shortly after their father had died. Since then, Gowan had survived on his wits and brawn alone.

Until Genlitha. She’d changed everything in the blink of an eye. She was magic. And the best friend he’d ever had. He loved her as a sister, fighting partner and friend, but she’d changed what he could expect for the rest of his life. Because of her, everything had changed. Now, if he found a wife, he’d have to share her, and though Livia had been willing to be with Gowan and Seth at the same time on two incredibly memorable occasions, he didn’t know if she’d be willing to accept that for life.

Or that she would be a mate for whichever knight turned out to be partner to Genlitha’s ultimate mate. It was a chancy proposition, and Gowan had his doubts that so many variables would ever line up in his favor.

Frankly, just thinking about it all gave him a headache. And then, his thoughts turned back to Captain O’Dare, and Gowan wanted to growl in frustration. His thoughts went round and round in a vicious circle lately.

It was all he could do to keep his mind on his duties. Genlitha had laid into the leadership over their fear and near-inaction during the battle, which had earned him the far patrols for the past week. Suffice to say, he and Genlitha weren’t the most popular pair in the Lair at the moment, but that was all right by Gowan.

He didn’t need to be popular. He just needed all his people to be at their peak of performance, which, sadly, the leadership of the Southern Lair and many of its knights just weren’t. The youngsters, he’d found, were eager and followed his instruction faithfully. It was the old timers who balked.

They’d embraced the usual tranquility of theretirement Lair,and when they’d been called upon to defend the city below their mountain Lair, they’d nearly failed. If not for Hrardorr, Gowan hated to think what would have happened.

CHAPTER TWO

The far patrols weren’t that bad, really, Gowan decided after a while. He’d mostly gotten over the anger he’d felt at the way he and Genlitha were treated by the elders in the Lair after the battle. His respect level for those old men was at an all-time low, however. They would probably never regain his regard.

He wouldn’t go so far as to call them cowards—the way Genlitha had done, which had earned them this form of semi-exile—but they certainly weren’t what he expected of fighting men—especially knights of the realm. Gowan had fought beside and trained many warriors in his time. He knew the breed, and he had expected knights were a caliber higher than most soldiers.

However, if these men who ran the Southern Lair had ever been true warriors, they were far from it now. They’d spent too many years sitting on their backsides and letting others fight the battles in the country. They’d grown soft and scared.

Softness could be remedied with hard work. Fear, however, was another thing entirely.

“Heads up,”came Genlitha’s voice in his mind as they were flying yet another endless far patrol.“Something comes on wings from the south.”

Gowan thought through what he knew of this region’s geography. There was nothing to the south except ocean…and one island that had recently been rediscovered out of the mists of legend. Gryphon Isle.

“Is it a gryphon?”he asked his dragon partner. She had much keener eyesight than he did and would see anything approaching long before him.

“Can’t tell yet. Too far.”She veered southward to meet the potential threat. A few wingbeats later, she spoke again.“Those wings are not like mine. They are feathered. Itisa gryphon. I will try to bespeak it.”

Genlitha’s wingbeats picked up speed as she glided toward the gryphon. She approached from above, Gowan noted. The gryphons had wicked claws and sharp beaks, but their feathered wings and furred bodies were vulnerable to dragon fire. In the unlikely event that this one was unfriendly, Genlitha took the high ground, using her coloration and the sun to hide her location for as long as possible.

“He says he’s a messenger from Gryphon Isle sent to the Southern Lair with urgent information. His name sounds like…Flurrthith. I think that’s it. Gryphons have funny names,”Genlitha observed.“I will fly out to meet him, then, if he is what he claims, we can guide him to the Lair.”

More a passenger than participant in this sort of mission, Gowan was eager to get his first close look at a gryphon. He’d heard about them, of course. There were a few making a bit of a splash in the capital at the moment, that were the talk of the town. But he’d never seen one up close or talked to any. He wondered if this one would talk to him. They were rumored to be somewhat aloof creatures that must be approached with what seemed like exaggerated respect.

He’d been taught the protocols, though he hadn’t thought he’d ever have to use them. He remained silent, not trying to communicate with the spec in the distance that grew rapidly larger. If the gryphon wanted to talk to him, it would make first contact—or so he’d been told.

“Greetings, Sir Knight,”came an unfamiliar voice in Gowan’s mind.“I am Flurrthith, messenger from Gryphon Isle and the great wizard Gryffid.”

“Greetings to you as well, Sir Flurrthith. I am Gowan, partner to Lady Genlitha. My lady informs me we are to escort you to the Lair.”

“Thank you, Sir Gowan. I have never been away from home before, but I am fastest of my age group, and they knew I had the best chance of evading the arrows.”

“Arrows?”Both Gowan and Genlitha spoke at the same time, concerned.

“Oh, yes. The pirates came and have besieged the island. Gryffid is fighting them off with his magic for now. We tried first, but they have sharp arrows on giant catapults. Many of us were badly hurt before we realized.”The gryphon’s voice seemed awfully young to Gowan, though he was surely no judge of such things. Still, the tentativeness of the words and their delivery made Gowan think of a youngling.

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