Chapter 12
Vorik only slept a few hours, then rose before dawn to pack for his trip by the glowing orange embers of the campfires in the cave.
He picked his way between sleeping forms, not looking too long at a couple who’d woken early for amorous activities, and angled to where Lieutenant Wise camped with a few of the other younger riders.
But a lone figure standing in the mouth of the cave, his back to the wall, caught Vorik’s eye.
With stars still dotting the sky outside, he wouldn’t have known who it was, but Jhiton usually wore the cloak that indicated his military status.
Someone was approaching him. A woman?
More aloof than inviting, Jhiton rarely responded to invitations from the opposite sex.
Before his wife had left, he’d been monogamous with her, despite their difficulty in having children.
Only the loss of Jebrosh had driven them apart.
Since then, Vorik didn’t think his brother had taken a lover.
But, yes, that was a woman approaching him, long hair down, a blanket wrapped around her form. Maybe only a blanket.
Well, good luck to her. To both of them. Jhiton could use a release and happiness, though Vorik doubted sleeping with a woman could provide that for him. He was too wrapped up in his plans for the future.
Vorik reached Wise and shook him awake.
“Ready to go on a mission?” he whispered, trusting the general had told him about it and the scrolls the night before.
“Yes, sir. Let me pee and grab a few things. Did you know there are pears?” Wise spoke with the same longing that Vorik felt for sweet, delicious fruit.
“I heard Leonli is going to slice them and dehydrate them so we can have them in the winter,” Vorik said.
“That sounds wonderful. We’re not going with the squadrons to the island we’ve conquered, are we?”
“Harvest Island?” Vorik doubted Syla would appreciate hearing his people refer to it as conquered. “No. We’ve another quest.”
“To the mainland, the general said. The wyvern-, griffin-, gargoyle-, and rock vulture-filled mainland. There aren’t any pears there, sir.”
“Sorry, but this is part of Jhiton’s plot to get and keep some more islands for our people.”
“Brilliant.”
Agrevlari? Vorik spoke telepathically as Wise finished packing a bag. He sensed his dragon and a few others perched above the cave. Are you awake?
Certainly. A dragon never rests.
What do you call it when you lie in the grass with your limbs in the air and your tail twitching as you sigh contentedly?
Luring enemies into believing they can take advantage of me. It’s a battle tactic.
Vorik looked toward the front of the cave, thinking to tease Agrevlari further, but he happened to catch the woman speaking and recognized the voice. That was Captain Lesva, and was she leaning against Jhiton?
Vorik curled a lip. It wasn’t as if he could disapprove of them getting together since he’d gotten together with Lesva numerous times and enjoyed the athletic vigor of their pairing, but knowing her as well as he did, he couldn’t help but feel protective of Jhiton.
He had enough to deal with. He didn’t need her sharp tongue.
Not that his older brother and superior officer needed protecting, or even to be warned, but Vorik caught himself bristling anyway.
If he thought Lesva genuinely wanted the stoic Jhiton's company, he wouldn’t think anything of it, but she probably thought to use him to further her goals.
Vorik, who’d made captain before she and even—he winced to remember it—put in a good word for her when she’d been hoping to be promoted, was almost sure of it.
Vorik headed toward the cave entrance, though he had no idea what he would say. Nothing, he decided. It wasn’t his place to speak. But if he happened to decide to wait for Agrevlari, and Wise and his dragon, five feet away from Lesva and Jhiton, there wasn’t anything wrong with that.
His keen ears caught a few words as he approached, the sea breeze blowing them back into the cave.
“You can’t trust him the way you can me,” Lesva said softly, her chest against Jhiton's side as she looked toward the sea while keeping his face in her side view. Watching for his reaction?
Vorik hadn’t meant to sneak up on them, but he paused, a hand on the cave wall, to listen. Though he hadn’t heard his name, his instincts itched all the way up and down his spine, and he knew she was talking about him.
“He’s always had a soft spot for gardener women,” Lesva added.
“Or a hard cock for them, I suppose. Though I can’t understand why.
It’s a wonder they can even take care of themselves.
If any of them stepped their plump bodies outside of the shields, they’d be snatched up and devoured instantly.
Hardly any of them know how to use a sword, bow, or even a dagger.
Maybe Vorik likes that they’re helpless. ”
His jaw clenched, his fingers tightening on the cool rock of the cave wall. Didn’t Lesva have anything better to do than gossip about him?
If Jhiton responded, Vorik couldn’t hear it. He would gather intelligence on enemies in a heartbeat, but he’d never been one to ask an officer to share gossip on another officer. Still, he didn’t push Lesva away. Vorik wished he would.
“No respectable stormer man should want a helpless woman,” Lesva added.
Syla was hardly that. She’d resisted Lesva’s attempt to interrogate her, and Lesva, thanks to her dragon bond, was much stronger than the average woman. Than just about any woman.
“With luck, she’ll disappear,” Lesva said. “But your brother isn’t what brought me over here.”
“What did bring you, Captain?”
Vorik nodded in approval at Jhiton using her rank, putting a wall of professionalism between them. Or so it sounded. Lesva wasn’t leaning professionally against him. Was she indeed naked under that blanket?
“Loneliness,” Lesva said.
Oh, please. Her ambition kept her company.
“Excuse my presumption, but I think I sense that in you too, General.” Lesva rested her hand on his chest. “Do you want company?”
“I do not.” Jhiton shifted to the side and stepped away from her.
Vorik silently cheered until Jhiton walked into the cave.
The shadows might have hidden Vorik, especially since he stood by the wall, but too many embers burned orange in fires.
Or maybe Jhiton simply sensed him with his magic, for he gave Vorik a long look as he walked past. He didn’t say anything, but he wouldn’t have appreciated being spied upon.
When Vorik looked toward the cave entrance, Lesva was also regarding him. Wonderful.
You can fly down here any time, Agrevlari. Wise is almost ready. And I’m… more than ready.
I will arrive shortly. There are semiloni eggs in nests up here.
Those can’t be a sufficient meal for a dragon.
They taste wondrous though. Far better than the fruits you spoke of with your lieutenant.
I’m sure. Shall I ask Syla to bake a cobbler using them?
Dragons do not crave sweets.
Maybe gardeners can make savory cobblers.
It’s possible I’m intrigued.
Though he didn’t want to speak with Lesva, Vorik resisted the urge to pretend he’d forgotten something and retreat into the cave. Instead, he continued to the entrance ledge. He was, after all, a grown-up and an officer in the Sixteen Talons.
“He’s a challenging one, isn’t he?” Lesva asked, as if they were still on friendly terms. “So aloof. Doesn’t he have any needs?”
Since Lesva was from another tribe, she might not know all the details of Jhiton's ex-mate and lost son, but Vorik had no interest in filling her in.
“He’s busy doing what’s best for our people.” Once on the ledge, Vorik faced outward instead of looking at Lesva.
“Is that still your primary concern?”
“Despite what you think of me and my cock, of course.” Vorik hadn’t intended to let her know he’d heard that, but irritation made his tongue unwise.
Lesva chuckled and adjusted the blanket draped around her body—her naked body.
Instead of more fully covering herself up, she let it shift aside, the starlight gleaming on the slight swell of her breasts and taut abdomen.
“It’s a shame it has little loyalty to our people. I quite enjoyed my time with it.”
“But not the rest of my body?” Vorik looked over his shoulder, hoping Wise was on the way.
“It has some appealing features, and you know I enjoyed your agility and athleticism under the furs. On that rock. In that tree. And, oh, halfway up a cliff. We’re lucky a wyvern didn’t come along and pluck us up that time since we didn’t appoint a sky watcher.”
Vorik eyed her, suspicious of what was, for her, good-natured ribbing. Considering the battle they’d engaged in before, he had a hard time believing she wasn’t holding a grudge.
“I do enjoy new partners,” Lesva said, “new experiences, if you will, but if you want me to remind you how much a stormer woman can make you holler, do let me know.”
“The last time we hollered, it was because we were in battle.”
“I found it stimulating.”
“Even when lightning struck the cliff, and you fell?”
“That was terrifying but exhilarating. And I survived. Few would have.”
“I agree. You’ve always been impressive, Lesva.”
She tilted her head as she regarded him. Looking for the insult in his compliment? Once, she’d baited him, drawing out snark from him, but he didn’t care to insult her anymore. He was done with that part of his life.
“Would you have killed me? If the lightning hadn’t struck? You weren’t that fully engaged at first, but then… Then you were determined.”
“You disobeyed your orders.”
Lesva chuckled. “And that’s why you came to the girl’s defense.”
“The defense of the woman, Princess Syla, yes.”
“Was she so grateful that she dropped to her knees and sucked your cock afterward?”
Agrevlari? I’ll help you gather dozens of eggs if you come now.
“There must be a reason you crave the company of gardener women,” Lesva said. “Do they fawn over you? Tell you how magnificent you are while making you come?”