Ari’s Drake came to a stop and the two of them stared at each other for a long moment. I had a feeling they were having a silent conversation, though I couldn’t hear what they were saying.
Then the scarlet Drake spread his wings—scarlet with a brilliant gold lining like vast golden sails, lifted his head and breathed fire—a huge, burning jet of white-hot flame. It made the blow-torch display Ari had put on in the Nocturne Academy Dining Hall look as small as Mr. Seahorse’s little fire when he toasted an insect for lunch and it scared the crap out of me.
I put my hand to my mouth to stop a scream and ducked instinctively. Though the massive gout of flame was high over my head, I could feel its heat like the breath of wind from a blast furnace radiating against my skin. It made my hair feel dry as straw and all the scars on my body seemed to tighten and ache at once.
My Drake’s massive body tensed and he roared once—an ear-splitting sound that seemed to incorporate an alarm klaxon, the trumpeting of an enraged elephant, and the growl of an angry lion—somehow all at the same time. Was this Ari defying his father? And if so, were things going to end badly?
I clapped my hands over my ears and felt my stomach twist in knots. I had expected Ari’s family not to like me, but I hadn’t anticipated anything like this. If it came down to a battle between the two dragons, I was going to be caught right in the middle of it—collateral damage, so to speak. There would be no surviving such a conflict any more than I could survive if I was caught between two T-rexes. I would either be trampled and squished by the massive, taloned feet, or possibly bitten in half. Or…
I felt another burst of possessive protectiveness coming from my Drake. He would never let that happen to me, he assured me firmly. I must be strong—must be brave and patient. He simply had to explain the situation to his Sire—which was apparently the scarlet and gold Drake. This was the Drake way of explaining.
I really hoped the Drake way didn’t involve any more fire. But after a moment, the immense scarlet and gold dragon folded his wings and bobbed his head in a formal sort of motion.
My Drake bobbed back, in that same formal manner and then the scarlet dragon spoke a word I understood, “Robes.”
It was said in a low, growling voice and the human servants on the ground quickly rushed around to all the Drakes, each of them holding a pile of rich-looking, silky fabric in their arms.
A servant came over to my Drake as well and waited quietly. The Drake reached up with one taloned forehand and I understood that he wanted me to dismount. Though I was nervous about leaving the safety of his broad back, I knew I had no choice. Taking a deep breath, I stepped into his palm and waited as the talons closed like protective bars around me. Smoothly, as though he was used to lifting people, the Drake put me down, and I climbed out of his talons and stood on shaky legs on the black marble floor.
As soon as I was safely down, the Drake began to shrink. In the blink of an eye, it was Ari standing there—completely naked.
I turned my eyes away, feeling my cheeks heat in embarrassment, but a human servant was already rushing over with a long, silky robe for Ari to wear. He draped the golden fabric around Ari’s broad shoulders and I saw that all around the hall, the other servants were doing the same for the other Drakes who had now become men. There were no women, though, and I remembered that only the males of the Sky Lands had Drakes—none of the females had one.
“My son.” The man who had been the scarlet and gold Drake stepped forward. He had Ari’s same clear, amber eyes but his hair was darker, with hints of gray at the temples, though he seemed to be a strong man in his forties.
“Sire.” Ari stepped forward to meet him and then beckoned to me.
I came forward uncertainly, not sure what to expect. Ari took my hand firmly in his and looked into his father’s eyes.
“Sire,” he said again and pulled me forward. “May I present Kaitlyn Fellows, my L’lorna and the future Queen of the Sky Lands.”
74
Kaitlyn
The assembled men who had been Drakes looked me over and began muttering angrily among themselves.
“She’s not even a Drake!” I heard one of them say.
“He’s breaking the Edict!” another exclaimed. “Tossing it aside with impunity!”
“What’s wrong with her face? With her skin?” I heard a third mutter.
Others were talking in a mixture of Spanish and the Drake language I couldn’t understand at all—but I didn’t need to in order to know what they were saying about me was not good.