“I… agree that’s not a good idea.” And Syla did, but would she do it anyway? For the sake of her people?
She planned to find a way to depart from Vorik’s company once she reached Harvest Island, but she would need her other allies when she arrived. She wanted Fel to protect her and Aunt Tibby to know what under the stars to do with the shielder once they found it. Besides, what were the odds that Syla could even manage to swim a mile to shore without losing her spectacles? Her aunt wore a strap around her head to keep hers in place. Maybe she could find something similar before they left.
“We’ll find a ship to take us,” Tibby said.
“All right.” Whispering, Syla added, “We’ll depart Vorik’s company here, but it might be better to avoid returning to the harbor if we want to retain our freedom and not be swept up by the military. There must be a ship in a cove somewhere and a captain willing to take us.”
“Yes.” Tibby patted her on the shoulder. “Thank you for not being…”
“Foolish and impulsive?” Syla poked into her bag for a map that she’d packed, thinking to look at the coastline for coves they could check, but her knuckles brushed the dragon figurine, and a new thought popped into her mind. Hm.
“I was going to say horny and smitten, but your words work too, I suppose.”
“I’m not a teenager who can’t control her libido, Aunt Tibby.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Tibby patted her again and headed for the ladder.
When Syla looked back at Vorik, she found him watching her with alarming intensity. Would heallowher to depart his company?
18
I don’t thinkI’m going to get a blackberry cobbler,Vorik said telepathically to Agrevlari as he watched Syla pace back and forth on the road while the engineer—Aunt Tibby, as she’d called the mid-fifties woman—examined the ambulatory machine that the bodyguard had destroyed. Vorik wasn’t that concerned about her. Though the woman was moon-marked, Vorik had gathered from what he’d overheard that she didn’t know where the shielders were. His focus remained on Syla—and the steam coming out of her ears.
Oh, not literal steam, but he imagined he could see it wafting up, her brain boiling from all the concentrating she was doing. Or was it… scheming? If she’d been Vorik’s poor deceased nephew, he would have been certain of it from that expression. The kid had been a thinker and a schemer.
A twinge of sadness and nostalgia swept over him at the memory of Jebrosh.
A cobbler…Agrevlari mused.Is that not a human occupation?
It’s also the name of the dessert Syla said she could make if she had access to an oven and, presumably, the proper ingredients.Vorikremembered the tangy taste of the tart berries he’d eaten and grew wistful for another reason.
Ah. Given what I know about you, it makes more sense to desire a dessert than the flesh of a human.
Yeah, I’m not interested in eating my own kind.
This interlude has been satiating—an image of a sheep accompanied the words—but is it not time to resume the pursuit of our orders? It is possible I could carry three, if that would sway the princess to ride with you on my back. The Island of Eliok is not far.
Elioks are animals, right?Vorik hadn’t previously heard what he assumed was the dragon name for Harvest Island.
Most delicious prey that have been hunted to extinction everywhere but on a handful of Garden Kingdom islands. They are known to be particularly populous in the wilderness near the volcano and away from the cultivated lands there. Our kind crave the opportunity to hunt them again and enjoy their sumptuous flesh.
Which was probably why Agrevlari was offering to carry the heavy burden of extra riders. He hoped the shield would be taken down so he could hunt. Dragons had singular ambitions.
Thanks for offering, but I don’twantyou to carry three, especially not if one is the tedious bodyguard. I need to get the princess away from her allies if I’m going to…Vorik remembered riding to the farm with his arms wrapped around Syla and her warm body between his thighs.
Seduce her?
Win her trust and locate the other shielders. The bodyguard and aunt are suspicious of me and want to get rid of me.
The princess isalsosuspicious of you and wants to get rid of you,the dragon said dryly.
Less so. Her mind and instincts warn her that I’m a dangerous enemy who is not to be trusted, but her body craves my touch.It hadn’t been Vorik’s imagination that Syla had melted back into him when they’d ridden together.
Right now, she’s touching the statuette of Wreylith.
Vorik frowned at Syla. When had she pulled out that figurine?
Even though Syla had survived her encounter with the red dragon, it wouldn’t be a good idea to intrude upon Wreylith again in the same day. Or the sameyear.
