Light Dragons 01 - Love in the Time of Dragons

Jim said, drooling on the mage’s leg. “Ysolde let me taste-test the smoked salmon rolls, too. Speaking of which, I’d better get back to the kitchen. Brom is in there with Pavel, helping him with the cucumber-crab munchies, and the kid has a hollow leg. I bet he’s getting to lick out the dish.”
    “I insist that you free me!” Dr. Kostich demanded. “I will not be able to eat canapés if my ribs are crushed into my lungs!”
    “You’re catering the sárkány ?” Aisling asked, looking almost as if she didn’t believe it.
    “There, you see? Even the green mate agrees it’s ridiculous to serve food at such a time,” Baltic told me with infuriating self-righteousness.
    “I am not catering anything,” I said with a frown at both of them. “I’m just making a few little nibblies to enjoy while we’re discussing this issue of whether or not they’re going to execute me.”
    “What?” Baltic asked, his head whipping around to me.
    “I’ll tell you about it later,” I said, nodding toward the others.
    “You’ll tell me about it now!” he ordered, tapping his claws in an annoyed fashion.
    “Argh!” Dr. Kostich yelled.
    Baltic shifted his forefoot so his claws weren’t directly on Kostich’s face. “What do you mean, whether or not they will execute you? What reason does the weyr have for wishing you dead?”
    “That’s it! I have reached the end of my patience. I will destroy you myself if no one is going to save me from this fat dragon!”
    “He is not fat,” I snapped, and thought seriously about kicking the archimage. “All dragons look like that!”
    “You wouldn’t say that if you were lying here in my place,” Kostich grumbled.
    Jim opened its mouth to say something, but stopped when both Aisling and I glared at it.
    “Er . . . why is Baltic lying on Dr. Kostich?” Aisling asked.
    “Well, you know, I’ve heard a rumor that Ysolde kind of likes a little mano a mano action—” Jim started to say. I threw the chair leg at it, followed by a small ball of arcane magic. Midway to the demon, it turned into another banana. “Ooh, more snacks. Thanks.”
    “Mate, you will answer me!”
    “I can’t see. Everything is going black. If you kill me, I swear I will haunt you all!”
    “Did you just conjure a banana at Jim?” Aisling asked, taking a step to the side to watch Jim eat the banana.
    “Yes.” I sighed, gesturing toward my former employer. “He put an interdict on me. None of my magic works right.”
    “You shouldn’t have magic, period, and you won’t by the time I’m through with you and this obese behemoth—”
    “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” I said, tugging on Baltic’s tail. “Let him up. If we’re going to have explanations, we’d do better having them in a civilized manner.”
    “With lemon sorbet and bacon-wrapped mushroom caps,” Jim agreed.
    Baltic glared down at Kostich, who was moving feebly beneath him, but shifted back into human form, dusting himself off as he got to his feet.
    The two green dragon bodyguards helped Dr. Kostich up, half carrying him over to a chair where he collapsed, breathing heavily and spreading fulminating glares amongst everyone present.
    Silence fell. Baltic and Drake stared at each other for a few seconds.
    “Baltic,” Drake said at last when Aisling nudged him with her elbow.
    “Drake Vireo,” Baltic said, acknowledging the greeting.
    They stared some more, not outright growling at each other, but I could tell their hackles were up.
    “Drake,” Aisling said, the word full of unspoken meaning as she nodded toward us.
    He sighed. I tried not to giggle at the martyred look on his face. “You look well, Ysolde. As does your mate.”
    “Thank you,” I said, glancing at Baltic. He stared moodily at Drake. I pinched his arm. He continued to stare. I dug my nails into his wrist until he snapped, “For god’s sake, woman! I am the dread wyvern Baltic! I do not make polite conversation!”
    “You do now. Go ahead. It won’t hurt you.”
    He took Drake’s martyred look to a whole new level of pain. “My mate has decreed that you are welcome in our home.”
    “You can do better than that,” I said, pinning him back with one of my most effective mom looks.
    “One day, mate, you will push me too far!” he informed me with narrowed eyes and flared nostrils.
    I kissed the tip of his nose. He just looked even more outraged.
    “Go on. You can do this.”
    A small wisp of smoke escaped one nostril. I smiled at it;