Sevarin looked at my hand and then met my stare as he shook it. “You're welcome, King's Mate. Now, if you'll take this man away and send me my next subject, I'll get on with it.”
The Dragon King chuckled and slapped a hand on Sevarin's shoulder. “I am astounded, Master Sevarin. Well done. Word of your work is going to spread. I'll make sure of it.”
“I don't want notoriety. I just want to work in peace. Please.” He waved at Levru.
“Thank you again, sir.” Levru bowed to Sevarin and picked up a pile of clothes on a nearby chair. He didn't put them on, just sauntered out of the room naked and humming, his wings lifted high.
Sevarin sighed. “I preferred him when he was infected. At least he was quiet then.”
I shared an amused look with the Dragon King as we left the alchemist to finish his work. “You're going to tell everyone, aren't you?”
“Oh, yes.” The Dragon King grinned. “He'll have so many job offers, he won't have the time for them all.”
“You're a wicked man, my Raven.”
“He shouldn't have made that comment about you.”
I shook my head. Oh, well, Sevarin could always turn people down. He certainly had the personality for it.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
A week later, all the Okon were healed, and I was headed back to Ahanu with my mate. Raven had invited Sevarin to come with us, and the alchemist had surprised us by accepting. The Okon were staying behind as guards in the King's new stronghold. All of them had pledged themselves to the King's service. Raven would be the first Dragon King with an army of Okon in addition to his Horns.
We were flying home, Sevarin riding in Vanoak's talon with a hefty purse full of silver in his satchel. The Dragon knight had been trying to seduce the Volper since they'd met, but Sevarin wanted nothing to do with him, despite Vanoak fulfilling his requirements of being large and muscular in addition to being attractive.
Vanoak wasn't taking the rejection well. He kept trying to sway Sevarin. And the alchemist kept rebuffing him, sometimes publicly. It shocked me when Sevarin accepted Vanoak's offer of a ride to Ahanu, but I don't think it was a softening on Sevarin's part. More that he simply didn't care who carried him. Going by the way Vanoak kept dipping his dragon head to speak with the Volper, I was betting that he saw it differently.
Oh, how lovely my life was that I could concern myself with the relationships of others. I would return to Ahanu and help Raven find the rest of Bara's customers. Soon, all traces of Bara would be eliminated from Serai.
Feeling as joyous as those freed moths, I started to sing. It was a Lelurra song of survival, sung only around those we trust. Looking down the lines of dragons, I knew they were my people. Worthy of my trust. Even Sevarin had proved himself.
I dipped and spun beneath my mate to circle him before settling back at his side. Raven grinned at me, the pleasure looking wicked on his dragon face. But I could see the delight in his eyes and feel his love through our bond. So I sang louder.
“When my breath failed,
I thought the wind would leave.
I feared the sky would turn on me.
But when I stood alone,
the air filled me.
The wind was still there.”
The dragons added a drumbeat of wings to my song, and massive heads swung my way to listen. Even Sevarin stared up at me through the cage of Vanoak's claws, his expression rapt.
“It did not ask where I had gone.
It did not ask what I had lost.
It did not weigh my scars.
The wind held me,
as it always has.”
The notes lifted me along with the magic in my wings, and I closed my eyes to bask in the warmth of the sun and my mate's love. My mother had warned me of singing too loudly of your gains. There were those who would pull you down rather than find joy in your flight. But these people flew beside me. My joy was their joy. They were safe to give my song to.
