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Before Ari’s mother could answer, Mr. Seahorse rose from his place on my shoulder and charged at the angry woman’s face, chiming angrily. She gasped and jumped back, nearly tipping her chair over. Only the large snout of the green dragon behind her, who was doubtless her husband in Drake form, saved her from going ass-over-teakettle as my Mom used to say.
“What was that you were saying about my son’s L’lorna bringing bad luck, Sasha?” Ari’s mother raised one dark eyebrow delicately. “As you know, chimelings were thought to have all died out and yet one found Kaitlyn and claimed her for its own—just as my son’s Drake claimed her,” she said, raising her voice so that everyone could hear. “And everyone knows, the presence of a chimeling is powerful good luck. So I think you’d better reconsider your words.”
I was awed at the way she was sticking up for me! If Ari and I ever did get married, she would make an awesome mother-in-law. But though her words seemed to at least make the other women at the banquet look at me differently, Sasha Sanchez kept the nasty expression on her face.
As though she’s been sucking lemons all day, I thought and Ari’s Drake agreed with me.
As Mr. Seahorse flew back and landed pointedly on my shoulder, drawing murmurs of admiration from the women at the feast who hadn’t noticed him before Ari’s mother pointed him out, Sasha Sanchez straightened her gown and pulled her chair back up to the table. But she still wasn’t done. Leaning towards Ari’s mother, she hissed at her in a whisper that carried,
“Just because you come from peasant stock instead of nobility you think you can foist another peasant-born queen on us—and this one with scarred skin with not a drop of Drake blood in her veins. Well, you won’t get away with it, Maria! Those of us who come from the noble houses have been waiting for decades to have a proper queen in your position—we won’t be cheated out of it now!”
“What I think, Sasha, is that you’d better be careful what you say in the hearing of my husband’s Drake.” Ari’s mother gave her a level stare. “He does not take well to having his L’lorna criticized—nor does my son’s Drake appreciate your unkind words about the female he has chosen.”
As she spoke, both Ari’s Drake and his Sire’s Drake turned to glare at the angry woman and I noticed definite clouds of smoke drifting from the senior Drake’s nostrils. The green Drake behind Sasha’s chair bared his teeth but edged ever so slightly back when the other two huge beasts leaned towards him. Clearly he wouldn’t be able to fight either one of them alone—let alone both together.
“I believe you have offered insult, Sasha,” Ari’s mother said grimly. “I think you’d better make an apology to both me and my new daughter.”
She nodded at me as I sat there, trying to keep my chin high and my shoulders straight. The other woman’s nasty words had hurt me—though not as much as I might have expected. She was angry about her son and now I could tell where Pedro had gotten his nasty attitude from in the first place.
Sasha Sanchez gave us both angry looks but when Ari’s Drake and his father’s Drake both rumbled growls deep in their throats, the green Drake behind her nudged her chair rather forcefully, pushing her against the table until she exclaimed,
“All right! All right!” Looking at Ari’s mom she said in the nastiest tone possible, “If I have offended, I ask your pardon.”
“My pardon is freely given,” Ari’s mother said, a glint in her dark eyes. “But hadn’t you better ask pardon of my son’s L’lorna as well? I believe she is also waiting for an apology.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say, “No, no—it’s all right,” just to keep the peace, but I kept my mouth resolutely shut. If Ari and I stayed together and I wound up living in the Sky Lands, I would have to deal with this woman on a daily basis. I couldn’t start out by letting her think I was a pushover.
So instead of letting her out of the apology she owed me, I did my best to imitate Ari’s mom’s cool, level stare as I looked at her.
Sasha Sanchez looked like she would rather chew broken glass than apologize to me but her husband’s Drake nudged her again, so forcefully that her chair almost toppled over.
“All right!” she practically shrieked, reaching back to slap him on his broad green snout. The Drake reared his head back with a snort and shook it vigorously. Apparently she’d slapped a tender part of his nose and it hurt.
“Sasha? We’re waiting,” Ari’s mother said.
Sasha Sanchez looked at me in such a way that…well, I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “if looks could kill.” Anyway, she was staring at me like she was hoping to turn me to stone just with a nasty look. When that didn’t work, she finally had to apologize.
