Blood of Dragons (2 page)

Isla raises her voice above theirs.  “Gentlemen, can we please focus on the topic at hand?  Preferably before Xandra throws someone through a wall.  I am not in the mood for redecorating.” 

I take a couple of deep breaths and try to push the magic that I pulled out of pure reflex back to the ground.  Glowering at Dagda, I say, “Fine, you made your point.  But human sacrifices have been out of style in our realm for a long time.”

He crosses his arms over his chest and leans back against the wall.  “Semantics.”

I’m going to ignore him.  Kallen’s hand on my shoulder helps convince me.  Yup, it’s a crap shoot whether the hand on the shoulder thing works for him.  “Moving on,” I say with more than a little snark in my voice. 

“Grandmother?” Kallen says bringing her back to the question he asked before.  “The negotiations?”

“We simply tell them that we will not be available to negotiate until two days from now.”

How is that the logical choice?  “If I was a Goblin soon to be Dragon food, I don’t think I’d like that response.”  Kegan, who has been quiet until now, coughs into his hand to cover a snicker.  Isla gives him a sharp look.

To Kallen, she says, “Do you honestly believe that the Goblins are capable of doing harm to Tabitha?  At the very most they have her restrained.  It is not in their nature to cause harm.”

She did not seriously just say that.  “Um, they feed each other to Dragons so it seems like it
is
in their nature to cause harm.  And apparently it’s also in their nature to kidnap people.  Do they do this regularly as well?”

Those tight lines around her eyes have spread to her mouth now.  “It has never happened before.”

Glad to hear they’re amping things up a bit.  “So, you really don’t know how far the Goblins have evolved, right?”

“Yes, Isla,” Dagda says haughtily, “they may have evolved to the point of humans.  That would make them capable of anything in regards to violence.”

Mom is physically restraining Dad’s ghostly form.  I shake my head and turn to Dagda.  “Do we really have to do this?”  He raises a brow in a ‘do what?’ challenge.  I sigh.  “Since I want to go after Tabitha as soon as possible and Isla has already expressed a disinterest in remodeling, I’m not going to throw you through a wall this time.  But, if you antagonize my
father
any more, I will.”  I admit it – I do get a selfish satisfaction from watching his face turn red when I refer to Dad as my father and not him.  I have no idea why he thinks he’s earned the title.  I’m a strong believer in nurture vs. nature and Dad’s the one who nurtured me.  Dagda’s nature might be improving but I don’t think he’s even capable of nurturing.  He’s more 'do it my way and we won’t have a problem.'  Damn it.  I hate it when I think things about him that prove I’m his biological offspring.

“Perhaps we can get back on topic now?” Isla says.  I give Dagda a last sour look and then nod at Isla.  She continues again.  “I do not believe the Goblins have become violent.  I believe they are simply desperate for help.  A couple of days will not make a difference.”

“You don’t think they’re going to hurt Tabitha if we make them wait?  I don’t know if I’m willing to take that chance.  Starting a marriage with part of the family being held hostage by Goblins seems like a bad omen.”

Kallen leans over and whispers in my ear, “The entire Fae realm could be held ransom and our hand-fasting will still be perfect.”  I feel my cheeks color as he kisses my neck in a promise of something I am very much excited about.  If he does that again, I think I’ll forget about everything else.

“If you two are done, we can start making plans,” Kegan says sourly.  He’s just jealous because Alita went home last night so he can’t be doing the same thing.  He is right, though.  Probably not the best time to focus on our libidos.

“How shall we communicate our response to the Goblins?” Kallen asks Isla. 

“I believe Garren would be willing to serve as a go-between.  He has spent many years amongst the Goblins and Dragons.”  Is she blushing?  Seriously?  Yup, she’s blushing.  The red skin from the neckline of her dark blue sundress which she can still wear to perfection at her age (I have no idea how old she is) all the way up to her still black hairline is a dead giveaway. 

“Who’s Garren?” I ask which makes her lips turn into a thin line.

Isla doesn’t say anything.  I look at Kallen but he shakes his head slightly.  I’d be mad about him keeping a secret from me but I get the impression this time it truly is about self-preservation.  Isla has a dangerous look in her eyes and he might end up toast if he tells me at the moment.  This of course makes me even more curious.  Is he an old boyfriend of Isla’s or something?

Okay, the quicker we get this settled the sooner I can corner Kallen in another room and make him tell me the story.  “Does he live in the Dragon realm?  I could just open a passage to there to give him the message.”

“No,” Dagda says shaking his head.  “We want to keep you as a secret weapon for the time being.  The Dragons would be far too interested in you if you showed too much power up front.”

Yeah, I guess I don’t want a bunch of fire breathing Dragons interested in me.  In a bad way or a good way.  Who knows what happens if they burp or sneeze.  I’m pretty attached to my eyebrows and hair.  Hmm.  I wonder if they really do breathe fire.  I’ll ask Kallen that later.  I don’t want to give Dagda another opportunity to smirk at my ignorance.  “Then what do we do?”

Dagda pushes away from the wall again and walks to the counter.  “The Dragon realm is not closed off from us.  Fairies are able to enter as they please.  Though most of us find very little reason to enter that particular realm.  Not everyone aspires to be a Dragonologist.”

Is that really a word or is he just making it up to be able to make fun of me later?  I need one of those floating pens that the reporter in the Harry Potter books had so I can make running lists of questions as things come up.  Maybe there really is a spell for that.  If there is, I probably shouldn’t perform it.  I might end up with the universe’s largest writing implement following me around writing things on a never ending scroll.  It would surely get in the way.

“I take it this Garren guy is a Dragonologist?”  The new tightening of Isla’s jaw tells me I got it right.  “Okay, so who is going through to the realm to ask him to give the Goblins a message for us?”

“I will,” Kallen says. 

I’m about to tell him that he’s crazy if he thinks he’s going alone, but Isla cuts me off before a word can form on my lips.  “You have a hand-fasting to plan.  Kegan, you will bring the message.”

Kegan looks thrilled.  “When would you like me to leave?”  He might as well have said ‘when do you want me to stick a hot poker in my eye?  Twice. ’

“Still afraid of Dragons, cousin?” Kallen asks.  His face is lit up in amusement.

Kegan glares at him across the counter.  “Simply because I am cautious while around fire-breathing beings does not mean that I fear them.”  That answers that question.  They do breathe fire.  The giant pen in my mind can scratch that question from the list. 

Kegan’s eyes expose his lies.  He’s afraid of Dragons.  I start to laugh until I realize that I’ll probably be terrified of the things as well.  “Maybe you won’t run into any Dragons.”  The look he gives me tells me that he did not find comfort in my words.  Okay, I’m done feeling sorry for him.

“I will send two guards with you,” Dagda says with real concern in his voice.  Funny, I always assumed he didn’t care about Kegan like he does Kallen because of the Cowan blood thing.  That’s what I get for assuming, I guess.

“Thank you,” Kegan says. 

Dagda gives him a curt nod.  “Be ready to go in an hour.”

Isla turns her eyes to me.  “Good, now we can move on to the hand-fasting.  Assuming you have not made any more deals with Angels?”

Chapter 2

Hey, is she teasing me?  She kind of looks like she’s teasing but I don’t know.  She was pretty tense a moment ago.  I give her a sour look in case she’s not.  “No, I haven’t made any more deals.”  I give a quick peek in Kallen’s direction to make sure he believes me.  He doesn’t look bothered by Isla’s teasing.

Mom floats to my side and puts her bitter cold hand on my shoulder.  “What about the wed…hand-fasting.  What needs to be done?”  I think what she’s really asking is if it’s like a wedding back home.

“The hand-fasting will take place at the palace,” Dagda says in a voice that implies there is not another option.

“I will not have my daughter get married under your roof,” Dad growls.

“Xandra is a princess in this realm and needs to behave as such.  Whether you like it or not,” Dagda growls back.

“Does my opinion matter?” I ask in my best snarky tone.

“No!” both men growl.  Geez, I thought I was the one getting married. 

“Gentlemen, I am sure we can reach a compromise,” Isla says with her best diplomatic voice.

Kallen must be feeling like me.  “I believe where the hand-fasting takes place is between Xandra and me.”  There’s some steel in his voice with sharp edges.  Both Dad and Dagda look a little stunned.  I try not to look like I am as well.  Turning to me, Kallen asks, “Where would you like the hand-fasting to take place?”

I’ve never really thought much about my wedding plans.  I mean, my prospects were pretty slim back home of even meeting a guy to go on a date with let alone marrying one.  So, honestly, I don’t know what I want.  “Um, a quiet ceremony on the beach would be nice.”  That’s where we did our left hand-fasting.

“A princess does not have a ‘quiet ceremony,’” Dagda says.

I glower at him.  “This princess does.”

Isla gives Kallen and I a stern look.  “As much as the two of you have grown fond of flouting our customs, this is an instance where you may need to look beyond your own interests.  Xandra, you may rule as Queen here one day and your behavior now could affect how loyal your subjects are then.” 

Thanks, Isla, I needed more to freak out about today.  “Brr,” I exclaim, stepping off my stool and backing away from Mom.  I think she meant to squeeze my shoulder but since she can’t really do that her fingers went through me.  It’s like an icicle sprouting inside of me.  I think she may have frozen a couple hundred thousand of my red blood cells.

Instead of addressing me, Mom turns to Dad.  “Isla is right.  Xandra is a Princess and should act like it.”  Dad is fuming.  If ghosts could spontaneously combust, I think he would.