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“No, I’m not.” He returned to pondering his spreadsheet. “I’m too young.”
“Your eyes are turning gold.”
“Yeah, I’m getting a few gray hairs, too, though those are premature, like my father.”
“The eye change is not a factor of age, Mathonwy. It’s a sign of mating.”
“But I’m not mated.”
The king looked him over. “Not yet, but soon. Is your dragon growing?”
“It’s going to getbigger?”
“They always do, with mating. Just the dragon, though. Surely you’ve reached your mature height.” The king nodded at a tray of food Math had decimated during the meeting. “You’re eating like you’re growing.”
Math shook his head. This whole conversation was ridiculous. “I flew here. Flying requires calories. I would certainly know if I was on the cusp of mating with a woman.”
“But you’re seeing a girl?”
“Yeah.”
“And do you like this girl?”
“Her name is Bethany, Bethany Aura. She’s a witch.”
“A witch, interesting. So, do you like this ‘Bethany’ girl?”
“Yeah, I like her. She’s great.”
He leaned forward with his elbows on the wide, mahogany desk. “Tell me how great.”
“I don’t know. She’s great, just great. And she’s cute. And she’s helping me out with the casino. I needed someone to step up, and she has. She’s the only thing that’s working out in that damned casino. And she’s so sweet with her little birds and hamsters and other apparitions that clean the construction debris out of the casino. And she’s nice to people, you know?”
“And she’s nice to you,” the king said.
“Yeah, she’s nice to me. It’s great to talk with her, and she’s got a funny little sense of humor. And she’s cool. She gets me. And she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”
“And you like hanging around her,” the king said, leaning back and folding his hands on his stomach.
“Well, of course. She’s great.”
“To the point where you’re having problems making it to meetings with the accounting department.”
“I only skipped one meeting. Maybe two. And she’s a contractor. Someone has to oversee her. And it certainly wasn’t more than three meetings. Probably.”
Math could think of at least five meetings he hadn’t shown up for, and maybe one more.
“Been buying jewelry for her?” the king asked.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Dragons like sparkly rocks and shiny metals, and they like to heap them on their mates.”
“We—you know—made the dragon with two backs. Jewelry is customary.”
“How much jewelry?”
Just the bracelet. Maybe he’d opened a tab on his laptop when Llywelyn wasn’t looking and added a little something more to the virtual shopping cart. “Just what’s customary.”
