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“Clive and Merwin?” Marli’s gaze swung to Stenlen. “Your goons? What do you mean ‘do with them’?”
“My wingmen. They’re in the dungeon until Jori decides their fate.”
“Execute them?” Marli offered.
Stenlen growled at her. The energy of the sentiment rippled over her body. Confusing her as it both aroused and alarmed her senses.
She stepped toward Stenlen, scowling up into his face. “Their crimes—and yours—are clear. They attacked and abducted Aeleftherians. As did you. Were they in our domain, we wouldn’t have wasted time before eliminating such a dire threat.”
“Marli, this isn’t Aeleftheria,” Elora reminded her.
Marli’s head jerked in her direction. Blood rushed through her system, her chest tightened. “I’m well aware, though I sense you’ve forgotten where your loyalties and concerns should be. They can still destroy us.” Marli jabbed a finger in Stenlen’s direction.
He bristled, eying the sharp purple fingertip less than an inch from his chest.
Kymri stepped in front of Marli, drawing her attention. She reached for Marli’s hands.
Best of friends, able to calm one another in a heartbeat when no one else could.
“Why don’t you stretch your wings? Get some air and we’ll talk.”
“You won’t come with me?”
“I can’t shift much right now, not with the little one complicating things.” She swept a hand over her lower belly.
“Right. I forgot.” Marli rubbed her hands over her face and through her hair, whispering. “Goddess, I’m so tired, I can’t think straight anymore.”
Kymri squeezed her hands before letting go. To Jori she said, “Will you show her the terrace?”
“Sure, it’s right through here.”
She followed him through a side room, nearly as austerely extravagant as the council room was, and only slightly smaller. The second difference was that the windows opened to a stone terrace. Glass panels slid aside, and he stepped out onto the stone. Turning, he nodded and held up a hand to someone behind Marli, signalling them to stop.
Glancing back, she saw that Stenlen stood in the doorway to the room, observing, his expression fierce.
“He’s just making sure you won’t try to assassinate me,” Jori winked.
Marli laughed, inhaling deeply of the fresh mountain air as she joined him. “Try? Kymri wouldn’t be very pleased with me if I eliminated her mate.”
Her heart pounded as she surveyed the panorama. It was even more breathtaking without the glass separating them from the landscape. Her gaze halted at swaths of scarred forest. “What happened there? It looks like meteors ripped through the valley. Or a fierce dragon wrestling match.”
Jori cleared his throat, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. “That’d be me.”
“Oh, that’s right! I forgot that before your visit to Aeleftheria, you didn’t know you were a dragon. I guess the flying lessons are a little rough?”
“Rough? That’s an understatement. I’m tiring of pulling pine needles and cones out of my scales. The sap from broken branches and trunks sticks to everything. Pulling that stuff off hurts more than waxing. I’m a little more careful about not letting my ass hit certain trees.”
Marli laughed all the harder. “Living on an island has its perks when teaching younglings how to fly. They learn how to swim at the same time. I can teach you a few tricks.”
Jori grinned. “I have some things to discuss with Odson now, but I appreciate all the help I can get. Why don’t you go for a tour around the mountains? I know Kymri is hoping you’ll stay awhile, and would like you to familiarize yourself with the area.”
Marli lifted a brow. “You’ll trust me not to fly off straight to Aeleftheria right away and report on your mountain’s location?”
Jori shrugged. “Kymri trusts you implicitly. I will too. Besides, the secrecy isn’t forever. We just need a breath to figure things out, which we’re hoping you’ll help us do.”
Guilt pricked her conscience. She’d been present for some of the discovery of his dragonhood and had seen how deeply affected he was by all of it. “Jori, what I don’t understand is why these males haven’t just thrown you in the dungeon and come for us.”
“When your queen gives up her seat to her heir, will Aeleftherians accept the process?”
