Chapter 6 #2
Even though she’d had most of the information already, a chill went through Rylana at the term vanquished.
Perhaps it had been naive, but she’d believed the elves might intend to drive Sylin out of the area, not kill her.
Nobody was after Rylana, after all, and she’d killed enemies during the war as well.
Maybe not general-harper-painters, but she’d sniped some of their military officers when the opportunity had arisen.
It wasn’t that Rylana wanted the elves to hunt her down, but it hardly seemed fair that they were targeting Sylin.
Besides, during the southern battles, their people had killed just as many important humans, orcs, and dwarves as the joint kingdoms had elves and dragons.
Two hells, their enemies had killed far more of the joint kingdoms’ commanders.
“You think the queen might eat here?” Jildarin asked his brother. “Has word of my victory in the Golden Whisk reached beyond the enclave and traveled to elven encampments in the south?”
“I’m certain I don’t know, but if you fly out to greet the queen, perhaps you can mention this place to her.” Zilek flicked indifferent fingers around the kitchen.
“Do you have any more information about the elves hunting for Sylin?” Rylana asked after Gniknik left, and she was plucking dishes out of the tub to wash.
Under other circumstances, she would be delighted if Jildarin could serve a queen, but with her friend in danger, she couldn’t bring herself to care about that at the moment.
If anything, having the elven monarch here would only increase the patrols hunting for Sylin in the area.
“I do not. Oh, but speaking of courting, Jildarin, I almost forgot to tell you.”
“What?” Jildarin eyed his brother warily.
“Mother is irked with you.”
“That’s not news.”
“She isn’t pleased that you’re refusing to mate with the fertile females in our ally clans.”
Rylana grimaced, tempted to leave. But the stack of clean plates had dwindled, and she remembered the line to get into the diner. With many more customers to serve, she needed to keep washing dishes.
“Is she irked with you for chasing after an elf instead of one of our own kind?” Jildarin asked.
“No. I’m perfectly capable of satisfying all fertile females who’ve an interest in me. I don’t know why you can’t bestir yourself to make the effort. You’re in the prime of your life, my brother. Bestirring shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I won’t be coerced into mating by overly aggressive females. Or by anyone else.”
“So it’s a matter of pride.”
“Principle, pride, and a lack of interest in those sisters or any other females who presume I should be available for their needs on a whim.”
“Oh, they’re not being whimsical. Those sisters were quite premeditated and calculating.”
Jildarin growled.
Rylana scrubbed and kept her back to them.
“Regardless,” Zilek continued, “Mother may come to visit you.”
Jildarin set his knife down with a thunk. “She’s coming to Tranquility? Where she’ll be forced to give up her dragon form and obey the rules of gnomes?”
“I don’t know if she’ll deign to enter the city and take a non-dragon form or not. She may simply light a few buildings on fire and tear the golems to pieces. As I said, she’s irked.” Zilek turned for the door.
Rylana let out a sigh of relief, but he paused and looked over at her. She grabbed a towel to dry dishes.
“Your business partner may want to disappear from the area when Mother comes,” Zilek said.
Rylana started to bristle at the way he said business partner, but it was better than being called a servant. Marginally.
“What does she have to do with anything?” Jildarin asked.
“Loxvonla suggested to Mother that you’ve been mating with her and that’s the reason you’ve turned your back on your own kind.”
“That’s preposterous,” Jildarin said.
Rylana shouldn’t have been disappointed by his swift dismissal of her as a possible romantic partner. If there were families she didn’t want to get involved with, a clan of dragons was at the top of the list.
“I haven’t turned my back on my own kind,” Jildarin added, “just the ones who are trying to force me to serve them, as if I were the runt of our brood, not one of the strongest warriors who led elves and dragons to drive the kingdoms from our mountains.”
“That’s the problem. You made yourself too desirable with your competence. You should have been more… what is the human term?” Zilek looked at Rylana. “Half-butted?”
“Something like that,” she murmured, focusing on the dishes since she did not want to be included in the conversation.
“Whatever humans say, my exploits weren’t enough to make all the females horny and long to create offspring with me.
” Zilek sounded more bitter than smug. “Consider yourself warned. More than golem heads may be bitten off if Mother comes in her irked state.” Zilek looked at Rylana again as well as Jildarin before walking out.
She shook her head. Maybe she would join Sylin in sleeping across the lake in the boathouse. Though if someone came looking for her, her family’s estate wouldn’t be the smartest place to hide.
“Dragon families are complicated,” Jildarin stated.
“I think all families are complicated.”
A shelf holding mugs fell off the wall, landing with a crash of shattering ceramic. Rylana jumped in surprise. Neither she nor Jildarin nor anyone else had been near the shelf.
“That was startling,” she said.
Frowning, Jildarin eyed the mess.
“You don’t think that heralds your mother’s arrival, do you?” Rylana set her towel aside and grabbed the empty tub so she could toss the broken ceramic shards into it.
“I do not know what that heralds, but it can’t be anything good.”