Lachlan appears beside me and murmurs to him, “We saw another one this close on the way to Scota. It looked at Lena and then disappeared back under the water.”
Dragut turns to look at me while trying to keep one eye on the sea dragon. “It must have told the others she was here.”
“Are they sentient?” I ask, gazing up at the dragon. Although frighteningly large, there is a tame-like quality that shines from them. As if they’d once been pets long ago, or more likely, used as weapons.
“They tend to keep to themselves,” Dragut replies. His eyesstill widened at the creature’s vast size, or possibly its proximity to his ship.
I take a small step towards the creature and Lachlan grabs my arm, halting me.
“Let’s nae push our luck.”
I shake off his grip and take another step toward the dragon with my hand outstretched in front of me. Deep within my bones, I know that there is no danger here. That they have been waiting—for me.
“You’re not a beastie, are you, girl?”
A deluge of salt water soaks my leathers and hair.
I look down in shock at my soaked clothes and giggle. “I’m so sorry. You’re a boy, aren’t you?”
“Key,” Lachlan whispers, fear wavering his voice. “Ye canna be serious right now?”
I glance back at Lachlan, hoping my steady calm will soothe his nerves. “He seems friendly enough. Aren’t you sweet boy?”
I swear to the gods the dragon nods at me. Taking another step closer, I gently rub my palm over his snout. The scales are hard yet smooth, like stones that have been eroded away into glass. The dragon closes its eyes, leaning into my touch. Holy gods.
My thoughts are echoed as a gasp escapes Dragut.
“This is unprecedented. Not even the Valkyrie queens, before you have ever achieved such respect from the creatures of this land.”
Lachlan rolls his eyes, clearly relieved my hand and fingers are still attached to my body. “It’s nae just this land. Ye should ha’ seen how the animals of the human realm were attached to her.”
I give the sea dragon another stroke before he slips back under the water. His body disappears underneath the depths of the sea. Not a glimmer of a scale to be seen. My heart longs to follow him.
“Bye friend…” I whisper. But Lachlan’s words register.
“What do you mean, the animals in the human realm were attached to me?”
Lachlan cocks his head, an eyebrow arching. “Ye dinna remember? Ye said you remembered everything that involved me.” He crosses his arms over his chest, and I roll my eyes.
“I said almost everything. What’re you talking about?”
“When ye were about eleven, we took the horses out, just the two of us at night—down to the southern creek. Something spooked your horse and ye took a nasty tumble. Your horse panicked and ran, but dinna leave. It ran around ye in circles, trying to keep the predator from ye. Even my horse was in a panic. A shadow slipped from the edge of the woods, a black leopard approached ye and laid down. Like it was bowing. Before taking off back into the forest.”
Memories from that night flood my mind. I had forgotten all about it. I remember the fall, the lasting impact of that I had just overcome before coming here, but I couldn’t remember why it had happened, or that we saw one of Scotland’s most seldom-seen predators.
Dragut looks between us, his brows arching, creates more lines across his forehead. “It sounds like your horses were trying to protect her. Strange. Those are skittish beasts and usually take off at the first sign of trouble.”
Lachlan nods and stares at me, concern shining in his eyes.
“You got into so much trouble with Torin that night,” I whisper, rubbing the ghost of the memory from my chest. “He didn’t believe that we had seen a leopard.”
He shakes his head and chuckles. “Aye, but it was well worth it looking back.”
Now I’m confused. What could make that punishment worth it? I look at him expectantly, awaiting his explanation.
“I had to carry ye back on my horse because ye refused to get on yours,” he says quietly.
Dragut slinks off back to the crew and Lachlan takes a step closer to me. He tucks a strand of loose hair behind my ear and gazes down at me.
