A distant sound, of voices and whistles, brought Leida out of a pleasant daze. She glanced at Magnus who stood alert in her arms. He glanced at her, his smile fleeting but intimate. “It’s time to leave the water. Others have risen and started their day. I’ve no wish to provide some wandering group of drink-sick soldiers or field hands the diversion of seeing your lovely body.”
The scenario he described made her strike out immediately for the shore, the suddenly cold water spurring her to swim faster. By the time they made it back to the shelter of the willow, dried off and dressed, she was swaying on her feet with fatigue. Magnus strengthened the ward he had laid earlier around the tree and helped her spread out the blankets. Leida sighed her pleasure as he spooned around her, warming her back and legs under the blankets. This time it was he who pulled her from the edge of sleep with a question.
“Vala. She looks just like you, does she not? Except for her eyes.
They’re green, like mine.”
Leida rolled to face him, surprised. “Yes. That is amazing. How did you guess?”
Magnus smiled, that same superior expression that often drove her to distraction. “We dragons are astute, sagacious creatures, Leida.”
She rolled her eyes, turning back on her side to snuggle up against him. “She is also much like you in spirit. Considers herself the queen of all things.”
His soft laughter tickled her ear. “I look forward to meeting her.”
Leida saton a flat rock near the entrance of Magnus’s caverns, enjoying the late afternoon sun on her face. The whispering laughter of an autumn breeze ruffled her hair and sent a swirl of red and yellow leaves fluttering over her feet. The forest seemed hushed, somnolent as the day waned. She enjoyed the quiet, finding it a respite from the usual constant chatter to which her daughter subjected her.
At seven seasons, Vala was a talkative child, inquisitive and insistent that her parents have all the answers to her numerous questions. Leida often found herself hiding a smile behind her hand when the child would ask Magnus some question that would make his eyes widen before he scowled and demanded to know exactly where she’d heard such a thing. Still, he would always answer, patient with Vala’s ceaseless talking, even when Leida wanted to cover her ears and beg her to stay silent for at least three short breaths.
An echo of childish merriment, carried on the gentle breeze, drifted to her ears. Leida peered into the maze of maples and birch, catching sight of a flash of scarlet as Vala ran past her, her cloak and long black hair rippling behind her like banners. She was long-limbed and as fleet as any young doe, quickly disappearing once again into the leafy underbrush.
Leida didn’t have long to wait before Magnus appeared. He ran by as well, skidding to a halt and loping back to where she sat, watching.
He bent, wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her up against him. She welcomed his kiss, the brief teasing slide of his tongue across hers. “Wear the ruby girdle tonight,” he whispered into her ear. He released her as quickly as he’d embraced her, his teasing smile promising a long night of lovemaking. She resumed her seat, and he bowed once before following Vala’s path, hot on her heels in her favorite game of chase.
Some might say she was a poor mother, allowing Vala to run through the forest like a wild thing instead of studying deportment for that far off time when some important nobleman might court her. Such imagined admonishments didn’t concern Leida. Her daughter was a child, and should be allowed to follow the pursuits of a child. Besides, she suspected Magnus would have a difficult time accepting Vala’s maturity from child to woman. He was already grappling with the issue of her short-lived rebellions. Raising a human child was quite different than raising a dragon hatchling, and the dragon lord sometimes cast her baffled looks. Nothing in his centuries of living prepared him for the surprises Vala often tossed his way.
She smiled as Vala’s laughter floated to her once more, accompanied by Magnus’s deeper tones. Love swelled in her breast, a fierce welling of emotion that made her want to chase after them both and hug them close. “My blessings,” she whispered to herself. “My gifts from generous gods.”
~END~
About Grace
Grace Draven is a Louisiana native living in Texas with her husband, kids and a big, doofus dog. She has loved storytelling since forever and is a fan of the fictional bad boy.She is the winner of the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice for Best Fantasy Romance of 2014 and 2016 and a USA Today Bestselling author.
Meet Grace on Facebook!
Titles by Grace Draven
THE WRAITH KINGS
Radiance
Eidolon
The Ippos King (2018)
THE FALLEN EMPIRE TRILOGY (Penguin/Ace)
Phoenix Unbound (2018)
FROM THE MASTER OF CROWS WORLD
Master of Crows
The Brush of Black Wings
The Lightning God’s Wife
