Light Dragons 03 - Sparks Fly

dignity.
    “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before, and you know full well that I’m madly in love with Baltic and have no lustful thoughts whatsoever regarding you, in case you were worried, which I suspect you are, because I know what men who look like you think, and that’s that every woman on the planet wants you. Well, we don’t.”
    “I’m well aware you are harboring no desires for me, but that confidence doesn’t extend to her.” He pointed to Maura. “I’m not getting naked in front of her. It was traumatic enough having her hanging out the door of the loo while I used it, but I’m not letting her get another eyeful.”
    “Oh, for the love of the Virgin and all the little saints-Maura, turn around, please.”
    “And close your eyes!” Savian demanded when, with a muttered oath, she spun around, her arm stuck out awkwardly behind her. It didn’t take me long to get Savian out of his filthy pants, and into fresh clothing. The wounds across his torso and legs were somewhat better, but I knew they must hurt like the dickens.
    “No shirt until your key comes, unfortunately,” I told him as I tucked the blankets around him. “Unless we tie one on you.”
    Murmuring something that didn’t make much sense, he immediately fell asleep. I looked up to where Maura stood, leaning slightly to one side in order to accommodate him.
    “Let me know if he gets worse during the night,” I told her. “I’ll leave your door cracked open a little bit so someone will hear you if you yell.”
    She looked down on him, her expression unreadable.
    “Aggravating man,” she said at last, and with my help, got out of her shirt (leaving her tank top since we didn’t want to cut that off), and slipping into a pair of lounging pajamas.
    “He can be, but he’s also very brave, and quite nice once you get to know him.” I paused, my matchmaking instincts suddenly coming to the fore. “May-that’s the silver wyvern’s mate-she and Gabriel think the world of him. He helped them quite a bit, you know. Some of it was locating Baltic, but really, that served to help me, too, so I don’t hold that against him. Just let me know if he starts getting feverish, all right?”
    “I will.” She got into the bed, turning on a small lamp I’d placed next to her for reading. “Oh, and Ysolde, I feel obligated to say once more how sorry I am about what happened in Ziema a few months ago ... .I really had no idea that Thala had plans to try to destroy you. I just thought she wanted to hold you for ransom.”
    “That, I think, is a subject we’ll leave for another day.” I bade her good night and headed for the room Brom had claimed for his own. He was happily ensconced in bed, making notes in a blank journal Pavel had bought for him in town. I double-checked that his window was locked, glanced in on Holland, and bumped into Pavel on his way downstairs.
    “You’re taking the first watch?” I asked him.
    “Yes. Nico wished to take one, as well, but Baltic told him to recover from his wounds, first.”
    “That’s a long shift for each of you. I could help by taking one of the watches.”
    He laughed. “Do you really think your mate would allow that?”
    “No, I suppose not.” I smiled wryly. “He’d just sit up with me to make sure nothing happened.”
    “Exactly.” Pavel made a little gesture of annoyance. “The watch itself is probably not necessary, since the oracle or Thala could not find us this quickly, but Baltic does not wish to take chances that Brom may be taken again.”
    I shivered at that thought and promised to send Baltic down in a few hours to relieve him. “I hope you won’t be bored sitting here all by yourself.”
    He sat with his back to the wall at the end of the hallway, his feet propped up on the banister as he toasted me with a glass of dragon’s blood. “I will entertain myself with thoughts of those toys you said you bought me.”
    I laughed and wished him a good night before returning to my own room.
    Right into a scene of madness.
    At first I thought it was a bonfire that lit up the area, sparks of amber and gold wafting upward like fireflies into the velvety indigo of the night sky. But as I stepped forward into the pool of light cast by the fire, I realized what it really was.
    A funeral pyre.
    “Oh, my love,” I said, tears pricking behind my eyes as I found Baltic in the crowd of silent dragons paying homage to the dead. “This is for your mother, isn’t