That one thinks far too much of herself, Auren observed and I was grateful for the excuse to meet my dragon’s eyes across the floor, not the woman’s.She won’t find a queen to bond with. The poison inside her? No dragon would want to bind themselves to that. Her wings ruffled.I feel the need to take a dip in the sea after a brief look at her mind.
My dragon’s disgusted tone had me snorting in amusement and even though I tried to stifle my smile, Seraphina saw it. Those bright red lips thinned down into a straight line as her eyes narrowed.
“Fern?”
My head whipped around to see Lance looking at me expectantly.
“Sorry, did you say something?”
He smiled as he twisted his hand, drawing my attention to the bottle he was holding.
“Did you want some wine?”
“Please.”
I sighed that out, watching him pour the golden liquid into the flute, then took a sip before nodding gratefully. Lance’s smile faded as he watched the process with undue interest, and that had me setting the flute down abruptly.
“Is the wine to your taste, milady?” Did his voice deepen, developing a growly edge? “If not, I can talk to the kitchens and see if they can find a better vintage.”
Sparrow’s eyes widened, fairly sparkling as she looked over the rim of her glass at me, fighting back a grin.
“The wine is excellent.” Why did my cheeks flush bright red as I said that? Perhaps because Lance looked like he was hanging on my every word. “So I’ve never been to anything as grand as a feast at the royal keep. How does the night typically proceed?”
Before Lance could reply, Sparrow sat forward, wine glass dangling from her fingers as she placed her elbows on the table.
“That’s a question I can answer,” she said. “Worked in the kitchens every feast since I was twelve.” With a lean backwards, she intercepted a serving woman toting several silver trays of little morsels of food. “Maggie, are those Mum’s cheese puffs?” she asked.
“You know they are,” the woman replied, looking around, then sliding the platter onto the table. “Fresh from the oven too, so tuck in, but don’t fill up on them. Not when there’s whole lambs roasting on the spit.”
“And honey carrots…” Sparrow groaned, popping a cheese puff into her mouth and sighing. Having taste tested the food, she pushed the platter our way. “And crunchy roast potatoes. Milk rolls and cauliflower and cheese sauce…” More cheese puffs were tossed in the air and she caught each one in her mouth expertly. “Dinner will be heavenly.”
“I’ll be back to take your orders as soon as the general has given his speech,” Maggie said. “Gotta look after our own.”
She ruffled Sparrow’s hair, pulling away to carry her remaining platters around to other tables.
“Well, if they’re the best, we better give them a try.”
Lance looked at me, nodding the platter, obviously notwilling to partake until I had. With a shake of my head, I picked one up and then bit into it.
“Mm…!”
My eyes went wide at the explosion of taste in my mouth.
“See.” Sparrow looked triumphant, shifting a pile of cheese puffs onto her plate. “They use four different cheeses in the mix. The salty, the creamy and some created up in the hills where a lot of wild garlic grows. It flavours the milk and makes them so good.”
But Lance wasn’t listening to Sparrow discuss the various ingredients that went into the cheese puffs. Instead, he stared fixedly at my mouth, forcing me to grab my napkin and dab at my lips, lest I’d smeared grease across them.
That’s not what he’s focussed on,Auren informed me.His appetite cannot be satisfied by food alone. He’s imagining using his mouth in a way that seems very strange. Are human mating habits?—
That’s enough, Auren, I shot back, my cheeks now flaming red.
For just a second I got a blurry glimpse at what she had gleaned from the rider’s mind and it did not seem to fit with any of the information we girls were given about fulfilling our wifely duties. I wondered if Viridian was ferrying similar information to Lance because his lips parted, his brows twitching as he stared right into my eyes.
“Well, at that endorsement.” His voice was low and rumbly as I forced my focus down to the table, just in time to see those long, strong fingers pluck a puff from the platter. “I better try them myself,” Lance said.
Are all human women so coy about such things?my dragon asked.Viridian has made clear what he thinks he has to offer if I rise to mate, as has…
When her voice trailed away, I turned my head her way. So did the rest of the hall, it appeared. Three silver dragons landed one after the other, forcing the others around the perimeter of the courtyard to shuffle back and grant them space. There were some huffs, some disgruntled grumbles and flaps of wings, but soon they were settled. Staring across the flagstones, each beastwas focussed entirely on the gold dragon. Her neck arched imperiously, making Auren look every inch a queen. My own back followed the same motion instinctively.
