“Are you sure?”
“Graylan said it was fine. I’ll get myself a few fish while I’m out.” Varis limbered up a little before striding out of the dining room with purpose, muttering something about a lacemaker beast that had nipped at him that he was looking forward to snacking on.
Ghreid tapped his fork a few times in nervous thought before glancing off the way his mate went. “Want to skip dessert and watch him swim?”
“I was thinking the same thing, Brother. I don’t see many water dragons, and I have no fondness for the toothy bastards, either.”
“Do they taste good?” Lurin perked up curiously.
“They need to be skinned first, and their organs are disgusting, but their meat is as fine as pinkfin.” Falustus stood and daubed at his mouth with a napkin before wandering off toward the wyvern roost where they often took flight.
Lurin followed, his gait a complicated mix of stooping and standing tall, wavering back and forth as he seemed to remindhimself he wasn’t to caper. And whatever Baltheir’s best had done to him? It would be there in part for the rest of his life. Just like the scar Varis had given him.
As Ghreid stood with his brother, his thoughts drifted to those claw marks. “Lurin, I must ask. Why did you ask Varis do that?”
The male’s face darkened as he glanced off. “A way for me to control my own fate.”
“I could find a way to heal it for you, but it’s very distinguished,” Lapryda said, reaching over as Lurin dodged his touch.
“No. As told in the book of voices, chapter eleven, the beauty of Baltheir is inward, and reflects outward. Ugliness is punishment for ugliness of the soul.” Lurin stared out at the ocean as the small figure of Ghreid’s mate in his greater form swooped down over the water and disappeared into a wave.
“I dislike that. How can dragons be the antithesis of sin to Baltheir, regarded only for their abilities if they’re so beautiful?” Ghreid huffed and crossed his arms.
Lurin waited a long few minutes before speaking, eyes tracing the sea before them, likely following the dark mass of Varis beneath the turbulent surface.
“Because I needed to show them that I was marked for aiding them. Whoever is really pulling the strings knows I’dneverallow my face to be marked as a devout Baltheirian.” Lurin huffed. “So, what I was ordered to do needed to be sin. This was me showing them, and simultaneously ensuring they never asked anything of me again. I want to prove to you that I haven’t taken their side.”
“So that’s why you won’t let your scars be healed?” Ghreid raised a brow.
Lurin nodded. “As long as my face is marked, you know I am unfit for their ranks. I am in service to the Saurians alone.
“And what of your family?” Ghreid stared as Varis rose to the surface of the water and treaded before diving again. Watching him swim truly was a glorious thing.
“They moved on years ago when the war ramped up. Too many mouths to feed and left me with the church. Haven’t gotten a letter back in five years. So, I assume they’ve grown beyond me or forgotten me.” Lurin shrugged.
“What was your family name? Perhaps we could hunt them down?” Ghreid raised a brow.
Lurin shrugged. “We were Au’Kossak, no family name.”
“So you were originally from Kossak?” Ghreid gave Lust a curious gaze. The small country had been absorbed into Rammolia some decades ago and were home to many enemies of dragons.
“I’m not like that,” Lurin said, gesturing to his face. “And anything I can do to prove you otherwise, I will.”
Lust gave Ghreid a halfhearted gesture, a wave that told him to drop the issue. He’d have to trust Lust knew what he was doing.
In the moment it took Ghreid to have the discussion, his mate exploded from the water’s surface with a twirl and roar; within his talons gripped a handsome specimen of lacemaker beast with its beady eyes and sharp fins.
“May have to send him back for another,” Lust said, rubbing his hands together. And if Ghreid wasn’t mistaken, Lurin licked his lips, a wet sheen of drool narrowly missing leaking.
Lust never missed an opportunity to disrobe, and he did so with speed and grace before shifting and running out to meet Varis, eyes blazing with red-hot hunger.
Ghreid turned his head politely as he prepared for the two to rip into the beast, but Lurin had other plans. He unsheathed a gleaming hunting knife and strode up with casual ease, carefullyskinning the beast for them as they nuzzled in and nipped at discarded fins.
Varis, as if certain the one wouldn’t be enough, backed up and took off once more.
Lurin? He skinned the beast and openly fed Lust with an unexpected grace. Maybe there would be hope for the boy as a bedservant after all.
Time would tell, but Ghreid had other things on his mind.
