hands. She was explosive in his arms and he looked forward to feeling more of her fire. But first he had a job to do.
When she was out of sight, he turned back to the tavern and collected himself before entering. He could hear a lot of talk about the dragon now seated comfortably under one flap of the huge tent. People were throwing apples to Jenet as he entered, and she caught them in midair with a resounding chomp that seemed to delight the crowd made up mostly of newly arrived Jinn.
“Enjoying yourself, milady?” Drake couldn’t help but tease her. Like him, Jenet had always loved to be the center of attention wherever she went. Being such an odd, lustrous color had a lot to do with her notoriety of course, but her sweet, outgoing nature was just as important in her popularity with humans and dragons alike.
“These apples are tasty,” she agreed as she plucked another one out of midair.
Drake went to the bar and retrieved his lute from Devyn, taking a moment to unpack it from its traveling case and tune the strings. As usual, the crowd became aware of the imminent entertainment, and he heard whispers as his name made the rounds of the tables. The excitement level in the room rose a notch as he moved to the space cleared next to Jenet. It was clear these folk weren’t entirely comfortable with her in the room and had left her a wide area that was just perfect for his stage.
Shocking the assembly with his audacity, Drake seated himself on Jenet’s bent knee, close in near the sinuous column of her neck. No one but Devyn knew of their prior relationship, and Drake trusted the older man not to speak of it unless he was specifically told it was all right to do so.
He wanted to make the Jinn more aware of the gentle side of dragons. Introducing them to Jenet like this and showing them how friendly she could be would go a long way toward easing their minds about the non-human citizens of their newly chosen land. Having a good working relationship between dragonkind and Jinn would be important in the days to come. Especially if the Jinn decided to stay in Draconia permanently, which was looking more and more like their intent.
Drake started with a few runs on his lute, limbering up his fingers and teasing the audience to silence with the soft music. Jenet’s ears perked up and a toothy grin lit her dragonish face. It was an expression Drake knew well, though it was unlikely anyone else in the room was able to read the face of a dragon as well as he.
When the room fell silent, Drake began to sing. All his songs that night were for Jenet. He’d written many over the years with her in mind, and tonight she would hear them all. He’d stored up fifteen years’ worth of tunes that he wanted to share with her, some that had become famous throughout the Five Lands he’d called home for far too long.
The crowd recognized many of the tunes and clapped or tapped their feet along with his rhythm. A few other Jinn musicians even found enough courage to approach the cleared area around Jenet and set up their instruments to join in.
After twenty minutes, Drake had a regular little band formed, complete with drums, pipes, flute and another lute as well as a young girl with a bell-like voice who sang clear, pure harmony with him. The tavern was packed to capacity and all within were clearly enjoying the rare talent of the Jinn musicians as they performed songs Drake had written and made famous.
Drake sang for Jenet, and she seemed to love every moment of it. He could tell by her sparkling eyes and mobile facial features when a poignant line in one of his songs touched her tender heart, or when one of his little musical jokes struck her funny bone. The other musicians became more at ease with her presence as well, as did the inn’s patrons, though few dared go any nearer than just a few feet away from her scaled body.
“So what do you think?” Drake couldn’t help but ask after the first few songs. Jenet had been surprisingly quiet, listening intently, judging by the slight mobility of her ears.
“You were always gifted, Drake, but you are world-class now. I’ve heard some of these songs before. Traveling minstrels have played them