CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Ay! If anything’s cuter than dragon babies, I’m not sure I want to see it, because I doubt I could survive the experience. The tiny wings, the baby claws, the absolutely huge eyes in a rainbow of colors—they’re the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.

They surround us as Sheevora leads us into the next cavern, and Reevie demands to be carried, his little amber eyes studying my face every time I happen to glance at him.

This new cavern is even larger than the nursery, with sleeping nests carved into the rock walls big enough for an adult dragon .

Sunlight beams down, or at least I think it’s sunlight. I point. “What is that? Is the top of the cave open to the outside?” Even as I ask it, I doubt my own words. We’re inside a mountain, not at its top.

“No, silly,” Reevie laughs. “It’s a sun stone.”

“Sun stone?” Sturrm asks, and I don’t feel too ignorant if he also doesn’t know what one is.

Bella answers, “It’s a massive crystal imbued with the power of the light stone, the standing stone that makes your glow stones.”

Sturrm grunts. “I didn’t know it could make such strong sources of light.”

“It can’t for you,” Bella says. “But for dragons—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dash says. “You’re all so special.”

“We clearly are.” Bella waves a foot to take in the massive cavern. “You haven’t even seen our libraries and learning rooms.”

When Sheevora stops in front of a fire pit, the skin on Dash’s back twitches. “Get this off me. I want to become my normal size.”

Sturrm does as he asks, and magic shivers in the air as the small pony begins to flicker, expanding into Dash’s unicorn form. He shakes his head, sending his silky black mane flying, and says, “That’s better.” I get the feeling he didn’t like being so small in front of the huge dragon.

Several more adult dragons enter from another of the massive openings. One carries a large deer, while the other three are seemingly unencumbered. But when they get to the fire pit, they each reach into their hidden magical purse. One pulls out wooden logs for the fire, the next a sampling of mushrooms and greens, and the third deposits a large bale of fresh cut grass in front of Dash.

Sturrm arranges the wood in a conical pyramid, and Bella lights it. Then he prepares the deer off to one side, a ring of the older younglings around him, eager for the scraps. Soon, he’s got the meat spitted and extended over the fire, the smell heavenly.

The adults bring in more food of fresh game animals, arranging them on a wide flat stone beside the place where the river leaves the cavern, flowing under the rocky wall to disappear back into the mountain.

The younglings scurry over, hungry tummies pulling them away from the excitement of strangers. For all their cuteness, they clearly show their formidable nature when they eat. The meal disappears as they fall on it like a pack of wolves on a downed buck, like something out of a nature documentary. Soon, there’s nothing but piles of bones quickly turned to ash by dragon fire and washed away when a huge wing scoops water over the stone.

Sturrm hands me a plate with a juicy venison steak surrounded by sautéed pink mushrooms and green fiddleheads, all curled and crispy. I really can’t complain about dragon table manners, because hunger clenches my stomach, and I eat like it’s been days instead of hours since my last meal. Mierda! Using so much magic depleted me way more than I realized. I can’t remember ever being this hungry and don’t hesitate to dig in when Sturrm slides a second steak onto my now empty plate .

I didn’t even need to ask. He just did it, having watched me carefully to see what I need. Dios mio, I love this man and how he takes care of me.

As soon as we finish, the dragon babies rush back over to us, Reevie once again claiming my lap.

Bella looks on, and I could swear I see jealousy in her eyes. It reminds me that even though she’s a lot bigger than the babies, she’s still only a teenager.

“If you sat on my lap, my friend, you’d squash me like a bug.” I grin and pat the moss beside me. “Come here.”

Bella perks up and sits down beside me, and I reach over to scratch around her feathery crest and horns. “Oh, that’s nice,” she sighs, sagging against my shoulder with enough weight that I have to brace my stomach muscles to stay upright.

The adult dragons sit all around us, each with a few younglings cuddled into their sides. A golden dragon lies flat on the ground and opens their mouth just enough to send out little curls of smoke that dance in the air, the younglings jumping and flapping their wings and trying to catch them like little kids chasing bubbles.

When Sheevora calls again for Sturrm to sing, he takes out his guitar and plays a rousing song about soaring the skies of many worlds. It must be old, because it’s not just about dragons—it’s about dragons traveling all of Faerie. His voice is as beautiful as ever, his big hands strumming and plucking the strings with a dexterity and sureness that reminds me of how well they stroked me to pleasure. He finishes with a verse about flying through the night sky under the double moons of Avalon, the orc home realm, his intent eyes capturing mine.

“Selena.” A feather tickles my chin. “Do you sing, too?” Reevie looks up at me, amber eyes huge and impossible to deny.

“I do.”

Yet I don’t start singing. I’m not shy, but I’m also not used to singing in front of people, especially not a bunch of dragons! Yet it’s Sturrm I most wonder about. He’s such a gifted singer—what will he think of me?

“Selena,” Reevie prompts me again, the rest of the younglings around me joining in.

So I focus on Reevie and the dragon babies. Then I sing the lullaby Mami used to sing for me, passed down through my family for generations. The lyrics are nonsense words in no known language, but both Mami and Abuelita insisted I learn them correctly.

The dragons all around me fall quiet, the little ones pressing against me on all sides.

As the last notes die away, I finally look up to find Sturrm staring at me, a look of awe on his face that sends a wave of relief and pleasure rushing through me. Ay! A girl would do a lot to be looked at like that.

“Where did you learn that song?” Sheevora asks, her tone intense.

“It’s been passed down in my family for generations,” I say. “Why?”

“It is the language of the Moon Goddess. ”

Excitement zips through me. I could finally get some answers about this old family mystery! “Do you know what it means?”

“No. Even our greatest scholars have not been able to decipher the goddess’s language yet. Which is why I was so eager for any new information you might have.”

“I don’t know anything more.” I scratch around Reevie’s red feathery crest, and he leans into me, eyes half-closed in pleasure. “Sorry.”

“It’s no matter. Thank you for gifting us with your song.” She turns to Sturrm. “It seems your moon bound bride is a good match for you in every way, orc. She sings as sweetly as you.”

Shock ripples through me. I must have misheard. “His what?”

“His moon bound bride, the one matched and married to him by the goddess.”

Co?o, what ? I barely stop myself from swearing out loud in front of the little ones. But I can’t hold in the anger building in my chest as I spin to face Sturrm.

Reevie jumps from my lap as I shriek, “We’re married ?”

Bella leads us to a small, private cavern. Though since there’s no door, I’m not really sure it’s very private. When Sturrm grumbles as much, the dragon promises we won’t be disturbed .

It’s actually really nice for a cave. A glow stone the size of a grapefruit is mounted on the ceiling, casting soft golden light over everything. There’s a waterfall in the back that splashes down into a crystal-clear pool. Our things are already waiting, packs sitting against the wall, the furs spread over a soft bed of moss.

What a lovely place to have an argument. I huff in amusement.

Bella dips her head and disappears.

I make it to a count of ten before I can’t contain myself any longer. She’s probably still within hearing distance, but… “Carajo! What’s going on?”

“The dragon’s wrong.”

“Oh, really? Because she seemed really, really sure when she said we were married !” My voice hits a high note I didn’t know I could reach on that last word.

“It’s not that simple.” He scowls the scowl to end all scowls, no others need apply.

“Then make it simple. Tell it to me like I’m five.”

“A few nights before I found you, the Moon Goddess appeared to me and gave me the location where you’d arrive. She summoned me to come and find you.”

“So, the goddess does this a lot or something?”

“Rarely.” He shakes his head. “There haven’t been moon bound brides for almost three-hundred years, not since my ancestors were first brought to Alarria. That is, until a couple of months ago. Since that time, the goddess has brought several human women to Alarria. You’re the fifth.”

I stare at him, mouth hanging open. That is seriously romantic, and he didn’t think to tell me? “So your goddess tells you to come and find me , and you don’t think that means something?” I point back and forth between us.

“Normally it would, but this time, your standing stone was so far away from orc lands no one else could get to you in time. I was the only orc close enough, because I was already in these mountains for the quest.”

My eyes narrow as I parse over what he said. “Explain ‘normally.’”

“Usually, the goddess summons the groom to find his bride. This time is an exception.”

Anger vibrates through me. The big stubborn fool! “Do you hear yourself right now? The only one making exceptions around here is you . The goddess isn’t wrong. You are.”

He shakes his head. “No, you’re too young, too sweet, too full of life. You deserve someone like that, not a bitter older man like me.”

“Carajo, yes! Okay!” I throw up my hands. “I’m younger than you. So what? I probably have more relationship experience than you, which means I know what I like. I’ve at least tried to date people seriously. My longest relationship lasted over a year. How about you? Can you say that?”

He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t have to. I didn’t think it was possible for one of his scowls to be more , but his frown deepens past anything I’ve seen before, cutting lines into his face so sharp you’d think they were put there by his sword.

“Ha!” I point at his face. “I’m right! Have you had a single romantic relationship of any sort in the past twenty years?”

More glaring .

“Have you?” I’m not letting this go. His bullheadedness has gone on for too long as is, and there’s no way we’re leaving this cave without hashing out all of this.

“No.” He bites off the word. “You’ll understand when you’re older that I’m wrong for you. I’m—”

“Co?o, I don’t care if you’re older! In fact, I like it.” I throw up my hands. “And I’m an adult. I get to decide who I want, not you.”

“But another man will be younger, happier…”

“Oh, I’m sure there are plenty of people happier than you, you grumpy old goat.” I step close and poke a finger into his chest. “But trust me that younger does not equal better when it comes to men.”

He grunts his neutral grunt.

“Besides, you’re my grumpy old goat. I kind of love your scowls.”

He startles. “You what?”

“I know what your scowls really mean. They mean you care, because if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t feel anything at all, and apathy’s far worse than grumpy.” I tap his chest right over his heart. “Don’t you get it? You’re the one for me, Sturrm, and I’m going to prove it to you.”