“You won’t fall.”
Her smirk curved as she hummed. Her joy buzzed through the wind, contagious. I shook my head, easing into her mirth. I wanted to draw her close, pull her to my side, let the world see what she meant to me. But not yet.
Later. After our vows.
“Your father said you’re my tsunami.” Sunlight broke on the waves, a blinding flare. “Does that make you my doom?”
She laughed, head thrown skyward. Golden locks brushed the back of my hand. I fought the urge to catch a strand.
“The dragon.” She pointed toward a blue-green figure tumbling high above. “Tsunami’s a menace. It’s how we say,‘Now it’s your problem.’”
“I’d take you either way.”
She peeked at me, lip caught between teeth. “You have her to thank. She’s the reason you were able to land. Father said she claimed the northern sky the day you arrived.”
“And he listens to her?” I chuckled. Nereus didn’t seem the type to take cues from beasts.
“Tsunami is…” She scrunched her face, tracking a bluish-green dragon banking above. “Well, the beast’s more trouble than she’s worth. Grown, clever, always stirring up fights and tipping ships.”
“Ships?”
“Fishing vessels. A rider’s usually stationed nearby to keep her away. She’ll dump a ship to grab an easy meal.”
“She doesn’t hunt on her own?”
“Dragons are opportunistic feeders at heart. When they bond with a rider, many of their wild tendencies are tempered. Tsunami never bonded—she’s sharp but untamed.”
“Sounds like a scaled babe.”
“That would be an accurate description.” Nienna hummed, fingers inching closer to my thigh. “A very large one with teeth the size of your arm.”
“I saw her when I arrived.”
She blinked, confused.
“She landed in the courtyard.” My lips formed a line. “Your dragons are larger than I anticipated. Radaan will need time to get used to them.”
“What did you expect?” She laughed, relaxing again. “You saw Gyrak.”
“I figured he was one of the biggest. With the island’s limited resources, I assumed most would be smaller.”
“They don’t need land—only sky.” She smiled, knuckles pressing against my leg. “And they have all the fish they could eat—if they hunt. Argos is the largest. Kalepsi, the queen, second. Their clutch hatches soon.”
“And the dragonlings?”
“As large as horses.”
“Truly?” I imagined smaller eggs, but Argos’ size made that laughable.
“They won’t bond with a rider for quite some time. On the Wild Shores, they’d have more experienced parents. They’d grow stronger, bigger. Less chance of them falling to a predator.”
“What could possibly prey upon a dragon?” I asked, genuinely curious. Anything out there that viewed the massive, fire-breathing creatures as food… I never wanted to meet it.
“Nothing I’ve seen. But bonded dragons refuse to sleep overnight on the Wild Shores.”
“Hence the reason Nereus only claims lordship.”
“We’re the only ones whocouldclaim it. Our beasts would defend us against their untamed kin—no other island has that. But we can’t settle there.”
