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Arianrhod schooled her features to neutrality.Supplicants,was it? Dragons were arrogant as hell. “The bond does make you immortal,” she reminded Kristel.
“Eh, we live for thousands of years anyway. Not much of a selling point, particularly when it’s balanced against our current spate of problems.”
Arianrhod opened her mouth to say something conciliatory, but Kristel didn’t give her a chance.
“I don’t care if the mages shit gold to add to our hoards. They’re not worth dragon turning against dragon. Danne is demanding Eletea’s death. Eletea wants us to do some sort of exorcism on him. Her mate, Cavet, is yelling from the sidelines for us to snip Eletea’s wings, so she doesn’t escape his control again…” She stopped long enough to blow a gout of flame skyward in exasperation.
Arianrhod jumped into the breach. “I dinna realize your culture was patriarchal.”
“What?” More flames. “It’s not.”
“Then what was that part about Eletea’s mate wanting to control her every move?”
“That’s just him. Hang onto the horns at the base of my neck. We’ll be landing in a moment.”
“Would ye put up with a male running things?” Arianrhod persisted. Her teeth clunked together when the dragon landed hard enough to rattle her spine. She called power and cushioned her journey to the ground. No reason to wait for further ire from a cranky dragon.
Kristel spun to face her. “Of course not. I plan to tell Eletea she should dump the bastard.” She lowered her voice, breathing steam into Arianrhod’s ear. “She’s not his first mate. The other two ran screaming for Fire Mountain when he pulled that machismo crap with them.”
Arianrhod cocked her head to one side. “What’s the attraction?”
“He’s gorgeous. Gold like me, but with golden eyes and quite a bit of, ahem, staying power.”
“Sounds like ye’ve had some personal experience.” Arianrhod smothered a knowing purr.
The dragon chuckled. “Yeah, he fucked bunches of us, but most had the good sense to leave it at that. Go through that opening in the mountainside. Another will guide you from there.”
“Thanks for the ride.” Arianrhod hefted her bow and quiver to a more stable position across her shoulders and strode forward.
“You’re welcome. If you have a spot of free time, call for me. I do love a good gossip about our men.” Her inflection was unmistakable. So the dragons did know about her and Keene. Not only knew, Kristel wanted to mine for details.
“Sure thing.” Arianrhod waved cheerfully. Hell would turn to ice chips before she volunteered for another cozy chat with the dragon.
She ducked into the indicated opening, and breath caught in her throat. A large cave was lined with various sized mineral chunks, reflecting light from an unknown source. Teal, violet, pinks, and greens flickered in a kaleidoscopic display. Beautiful. She’d never seen anything to rival it.
While she stared, footsteps sounded in the distance, drawing near. She turned and for the second time in as many minutes, forgot to breathe. The man who materialized from shadow held such an ethereal presence, she wasn’t certain he was real.
