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Aaron frowned. “I must’ve missed that day at school. What, exactly, is this mythical dragon egg?”
Teagan answered, “Only the treasured necklace from the supposed first dragon-shifter to ever set foot in Britain.”
“But we’re in Ireland,” Aaron drawled.
“As much as I hate to admit it, Irish dragon-shifters and British ones are descended from the same first settlers,” Teagan stated.
Colm spoke up. “The legend goes that the first female dragon-shifter who set foot in what is modern England produced three dozen dragon eggs all whilst wearing the legendary necklace. In a way, it represents the beginning of all of our clans.”
Aaron sighed. “But it’s all rubbish. Dragons don’t lay eggs, for one. And even if we did, a female still requires a male to help spawn the babies.”
Teagan rolled her eyes. “Leave it to you to take the miracle of childbirth and lower it down to ‘spawning.’”
Aaron smiled. “Technically, it would be dropping eggs.”
Teagan forced her gaze to Colm. “Ignore him. Tell me about this leader and the overview of the quest.”
“I bet it involved knights, swords, and sorcery,” Aaron drawled.
Teagan shot him a look, her eyes full of warning, and he focused on his food. It was easy to forget he and Teagan weren’t alone.
His beast snorted. Be glad, or she wouldn’t be so polite. You’re being a tad irritating.
She’s the one talking about bloody myths and dragon eggs.
Just listen to what the other male has to say. We can’t help Teagan if we don’t know what she might be planning.
Agreeing with his dragon, Aaron took a bite of pie and motioned for Colm to continue.
Colm tapped the paper in front of him. “Her name was Orlaith.”
All Aaron heard was “Orla.” But he didn’t think they’d be talking about Teagan’s grandmother.
“As in the first unifier of Ireland and my gran’s namesake?” Teagan asked breathlessly.
“Aye,” Colm said. “Which is all the more reason to use her ideas against your challengers. The other leaders may have forgotten that one of the bravest leaders in Irish dragon-shifter history was female, but they’ll soon remember.”
Aaron couldn’t help but say, “I know a fair bit of Irish history, but I’ve never heard of Orlaith.”
Teagan shrugged. “She’s a bit of a poorly kept secret. Most of the texts that mentioned her were burned a few hundred years ago, when males were trying to eradicate any knowledge of female leaders. Glenlough didn’t agree, and whoever was in charge must’ve preserved the records.”
Aaron waved toward Colm’s documents. “So what’s involved in this quest-like challenge?”
“Quite a bit. But I think if we modify the rules and a group of us plan a new quest, it may work.” Colm looked to Teagan. “Let’s go over the old version and then you can either give your approval or not. However, you can’t be part of the planning, Teagan. In this, you need to remain oblivious.”
She bobbed her head. “I know. But I’m anxious to hear about this old quest first.”
As Colm went over the full account, Aaron tried his best to keep his expression neutral. Some of the challenges, such as standing in the middle of a circle of burning logs to warm up a metal object to see a certain inscription, was bloody dangerous.
His dragon grunted. Teagan is clever. She won’t have a problem.
I agree, but what do you think will happen if one of the other leaders gets himself killed in the process?
It won’t be our problem.
I’m not so sure, dragon.
His beast fell silent and Aaron focused on Colm’s words. If Teagan agreed to an old-fashioned quest and series of puzzles to solve, then Aaron might need to adjust his tactics for her training sessions. Beating the crap out of someone wouldn’t be enough. No, he would need to think of ways to stretch her mind, too.
