Light Dragons 01 - Love in the Time of Dragons

special ,” I said, pouring out more hot chocolate. It was excellent, very hot, just as I liked it, and made with Belgian cocoa.
    She murmured something noncommittal.
    “I’ve decided after talking with your . . . er . . . what do you call Kaawa?” I asked May.
    “Call her?”
    “Yes. I mean, you’re not married to Gabriel, are you? Not that I’m judging! Lots of people shack up without getting married. I just wondered what you call his mother.”
    She blinked at me twice. “I call her Kaawa.”
    “I see.”
    She smiled, and I realized again that there was something about her that struck a familiar chord. “Marriage is a human convention. I’ve never been human, so I don’t feel the need to formalize the relationship I have with Gabriel in that way. The bond between a wyvern and a mate is much more binding than a mortal marriage ceremony, Ysolde. There is no such thing as divorce in the dragon world.”
    Brom’s eyes grew round as he watched her.
    “Dragons never make bad choices so far as their significant others go, then?” I couldn’t help but ask, trying hard to keep the acid tone from my voice.
    “I’m sure some do,” she said, glancing at Maata. “I’ve never met any, though. Have you?”
    “Yes, although it is rare,” Maata told me. “It is not common, but it can happen that two people are mated who should not be.”
    “So what do they do? Live out their lives in quiet misery, trying to make the best of what they have despite the fact that they have no hope, no hope whatsoever of any sort of a satisfying or happy connubial and romantic life?” I couldn’t help but ask.
    “What’s connubial?” Brom asked around another mouthful of eggs.
    “Married.”
    May hid her smile, but Maata openly laughed. “I would like to see the dragon that is content to live in quiet misery. No, if a mated pair is not compatible, they take the only solution.”
    I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. I had to know, though. My curiosity would not be satisfied until I asked. “And what’s that?”
    “One of them kills the other,” she said, shrugging slightly. “Death is the only way to break the bond. Of course, usually the one who remains does not survive long, but that is the way of dragons. They mate for life, and when one mate is gone, the other often chooses to end his or her suffering.”
    “Cool,” Brom said, looking far too fascinated for my ease of mind. “Do you know of a dragon who’s died? I wonder if I could mummify something that big. Do they die in dragon form or people form? What happens to them when they’re dead? Do you bury them like mortals, or do you burn them up or something else?”
    “Enough of the ‘like mortals’ comment, young man,” I told him. “You are a mortal. I don’t care what anyone tells you—you are a perfectly normal little boy, albeit one with a bizarre mummy fascination.”
    “Sullivan is all over denial,” he told Maata, who nodded her head in agreement.
    “We are going to move on, because if we don’t, someone will find himself confined to his room rather than going to a museum,” I said with a dark look at my child.
    “Are you going to kill Gareth?” he asked me, completely ignoring the look.
    “What?” I gawked at him.
    “Gabriel said you’re married to a dragon named Baltic, but you’re also married to Gareth. That means you have to get rid of one of them, and you don’t like Gareth, so you should get rid of him.” He frowned. “Although I don’t want you to if you’ll do what Maata said, and end your suffering.”
    “I assure you that I have no intentions to kill either myself or your father. Shall we move on? Excellent. I really need to see Dr. Kostich today. What time were you thinking of going to the museum?” I asked Maata.
    “We can leave right after breakfast, if you like. There’s enough to see there to keep us busy all day.”
    “I’d better take my field notebook and camera,” Brom said, starting to rise from his chair.
    “Sit,” I ordered. “Finish that food or you won’t go anywhere today.”
    He slumped back into his chair, grumbling under his breath about not wanting to waste valuable time.
    “Tipene called Dr. Kostich yesterday to tell him you were awake, in case you were worried he didn’t know,” May told me.
    “It’s not that. I’m his apprentice. I have no doubt there’s a huge mountain of work that’s been waiting for me.”
    “What sort of work does an apprentice do?” May