Prince of Spies - By Bianca D'Arc Page 0,23
on our journey.”
“But what about you? What will you eat?”
The dragon beneath her chuckled smokily. “Leave that to me, sweetheart. Dragons are hunters, you know. I’ll find game and supply you with fresh meat at the same time. And I can cook it as well.”
Again came the smoky chuckle and she had to laugh too. “You certainly are handy to have around, Nico.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
They chatted as she munched on the apple and then a lovely, ripe pear.
“Do you know how far we are from the border?”
“A day more, at least. I’m trying to cut a little northwest,” Nico told her as he banked on a gust of wind. She absolutely loved the feeling of flying, being buffeted by the air currents and swimming among the stars. “We have a good chance of connecting with some of the dragons and knights from the Border Lair if we can get close enough. Still, I’m concerned Lucan may have already sent word to the border region and we might find it hard to get across.”
“Hard, in what way?”
“The armies that have attacked Draconia from both the north and east over the past months have been armed with dragon-killing weapons. Giant crossbows designed to fling diamond-bladed bolts up into the air. Diamond blades are about the only things that can slice through our scales with ease. We lost a few dragons during the fighting, and my brother Roland almost died when three bolts hit him. Those weapons are nothing to fool with and they have a lot of them. I’d prefer not to fly anywhere near them if we can help it.”
Riki thought back on the many things she’d heard Lucan rant about and some of it began to make sense. “Lucan was supplying Salomar with diamond blades from the diamond mines along the eastern border region of Skithdron. I remember him saying that more than once.”
“Thankfully, Salomar’s dead. But you’re right about the diamond blades. Salomar used them against our forces when he tried to invade from the north. Your sister was instrumental in foiling his plans. She’s quite a woman.”
“Lana?” Riki felt a pang for the girl who had been her other half—torn from her brutally when they’d been stolen from their mother. “Will you tell me about her? What is she doing now?”
“Right about now, she’s learning how to be Queen of Draconia. She married my brother Roland a few months back.”
“Lana is the queen?”
“Yes, sweetheart. And she mother-bonded with a wild Ice Dragon named Tor when he was just hatched from the shell. They’ve been together ever since. They helped each other escape Salomar and survive in the frozen north until Roland stumbled across their path. He fell in love with Lana almost at first sight, and asked her to be his queen. He adopted Tor and they are raising him together. Tor is an incredibly bright dragonet and can fly amazingly fast and complex patterns.”
“My sister, the queen.” Riki could hardly believe it. “And she lived with a baby dragon?”
“You’ll love Tor. Kelzy has him calling her Grandma.”
“My mother really is reunited with Kelzy? That’s amazing.”
“Even better, your mother recently remarried. One of her new husbands is Kelzy’s knight partner.”
“One of her husbands? She has more than one?” Riki was a little scandalized by the idea.
“It’s customary for the knights of fighting dragons to share their mate, since there are so few women who can hear and live with dragons. Plus, the bond between dragon and knight goes so deep, when the dragons come together in passion, so too must the knights with their mate. The knights of mated dragons marry the same woman. Somehow it always seems to work out. The dragons claim the Mother of All guides them in choosing their partners and mates and I have no reason to doubt it. Every marriage I have witnessed among knights is passionate and happy.”
“I still can’t quite believe my mother has two husbands.”
Nico chuckled, sending smoke out behind them as they coasted on the air currents. “So does your little sister, Belora. She was the first to marry. One of her knights, Gareth, is partner to Kelzy and Sandor’s son, Kelvan.”
“So then, Sandor is Kelzy’s mate? And if I’m understanding you, Sandor’s knight is my mother’s other husband?”
“I think you’ve got it, sweetheart.”
“Then who is Sandor’s knight? What are my stepfathers like?”
“Sandor’s knight is Darian—formerly Lord Darian Vordekrais of Skithdron. He forsook his lands and title to come over to our side and warn us