Page 11 of Ale Storm

“He burned a dragon into our chalkboard and insisted we host our unveiling of the special brews at his diner.”

“That was because he was scheming to get the elf queen to visit,” Rylana whispered, “not out of arrogance or pomposity. Other adjectives might have been involved.”

“Undoubtedly.”

Vilma walked back out, carrying drinks for another table.

During lulls when Brella wasn’t steaming milk or grinding beans, Rylana could hear conversations through the swinging door, and she crept closer. Normally, picking out a pair of voices among the susurrus of many other conversations wouldn’t be easy, but Zilek’s baritone carried, and she heard him clearly.

“Really, dear brother. Courting. You are not a peacock strutting about and showing off his tail plumage. Besides, humans call it courting when marriage is the ultimate desired goal. Surely, you do not intend to marry or, as our kind would call it, form a long-term pair-bond with your bookkeeper.”

“She is my business partner,” Jildarin said, his earnest voice quieter.

Rylana inched closer to the door, pressing her ear against the slats and hoping Vilma wouldn’t return and crack her in the head as she entered.

“Yes, a business partner so trusted and dear that you purchased an entire bedroom set to ensure she doesn’t dare think of sleeping anywhere but in your lair.” Zilek chuckled. “Yet you have not taken her.”

“Taken her where?”

“Oh, my brother. How have you spent so much time among humans yet know so little of them?”

“I spend most of my time in the kitchen, and I’ve learned a great deal about their tastes in food. But, as to your other statement, no, it would be illogical for a dragon to seek to marry a human.”

“Further, it is something Mother would forbid. By clawing your eyes out. And certainly clawing your bookkeeper’s eyes out, if not ripping her head off entirely. Aunt Lysilria would do that. With glee.”

“I am aware,” Jildarin said stiffly. “And you will not speak to them of this.”

“This what? You’ve done nothing with your business partner aside from let her kiss you at the back of the elven ballet. I admit, when I sent an alcoholic drink in your direction, I hoped it would lead to that, as you could use a sexual release to make you less tense and testy, but I believe the elves interrupted you before you could mate. How disappointing for you both. Why did you not carry on later? I understand that Mother forbids it, but we are not hatchlings who obey her every whim anymore. You, as she’s informed me, are being particularly recalcitrant.” Even though Zilek had tried multiple times to get Jildarin to mate with female dragons, he didn’t sound that peeved. Maybe he even sounded like he admired his brother’s defiance of their mother?

Of course, that could be Rylana’s imagination. It was possible that Zilek wanted his brother to get into trouble with their family. Or, in pursuing a relationship with Rylana, eventually realize the error of his ways and fly swiftly into the wings of one of the fertile female dragons who wanted him.

Rylana rubbed her face. How had she ended up interested in someone so… complicated?

“I am not a hatchling,” Jildarin agreed quietly.

“Certainly not. But at the moment, you are a human male. And you’ve admitted you’re now having urges that are in line with those of their kind.”

Rylana’s cheeks heated as she remembered the conversation she’d had with Jildarin in the park before the kiss. He’d admitted to some confusion over experiencing dawn trees, as ogres called them, in the mornings. Apparently, since he’d been spending more time in his human form, and around Rylana a great deal, such episodes were occurring frequently.

A part of her was delighted that she had that effect on Jildarin. A part of her worried she was inadvertently making his life more difficult. His mother and aunt would doubtless leave him alone if he satisfied the clan requirements to mate with fertile females and create offspring. Dragon females and dragon offspring.

“Listen, Zilek. Urges are not what I wish to discuss with you. This book does not mention them at all.”

“Then what is the point in reading it?”

“As I said, I am attempting to learn about pursuing intimacy with human mates and what they consider culturally normal and proper. It is not because I desire a marriage that I am reading about courting but because I do not wish to offend Rylana or act in what a human would consider an inappropriate manner. She has stood at my side several times, and I would be loath to lose such a valuable business partner. I also do not wish her family to have more reasons to sabotage the diner. I have worked very hard to build my business and establish a reputation as an excellent chef who is capable of creating exquisite food. I do not wish to move the diner or have anything else untoward befall it.”

“Why would her family care if you had sex with her?”

“They care very much. This book assures me of that. A father, in particular, is a gatekeeper when it comes to a daughter’s virginity and the selection of an appropriate mate. See, here? Chapter Two is all about this topic.”

“Dear brother, I assure you that your bookkeeper is not a virgin.”

“She has mentioned a former lover, so I believe that is correct. According to this text, however, it is common for the father to believe his daughter chaste and want to protect the status of her maidenhead. Even if that time has passed for Rylana, he may desire a say in her mating plans, to ensure a suitor is of a suitable lineage with laudable prospects in life. In short, her father will want to secure a proper choice for his daughter.”

“A dragon would without a doubt be a proper choice for any daughter. And our lineage and prospects are impeccable. We are of Clan Killcrusher, my brother. More distinguished than any other during the war. During wars going back for millennia. What better being could a parent dream might show interest in one’s offspring? Can you imagine the extreme honor a female of a lesser species would feel to be chosen?”

Rylana rolled her eyes and debated going out there, if only to put an end to Jildarin getting advice on this topic from Zilek.