His gaze lowered to her, his eyelids drooping, and a little zing swept through her.Bedroom eyes, she thought, even though she knew he didn’tmeanfor his look to be sultry. He was doubtless imagining coffee-rubbed mushrooms simmering in butter, not her naked in his bed—in his storeroom lair.
“Excellent,” he said. “I will explore the mushroom idea as soon as there’s time. Were I to employ rare and high-quality mushrooms, such a dish might even be suitable for the elven queen, should she deign to visit my fine establishment.”
“She would be a fool not to.”
“Indeed.” Jildarin inclined his head toward her, then turned toward the hallway.
“I don’t suppose you’d like to show your gratitude for my assistance by turning into a dragon and flying me to a bunch of ruins around the area?” Rylana didn’t expect him to sayyes, but it was worth a try. If she had to go on horseback, it would take two days at least. Further, the time she’d ridden on his back to meet with those two sisters… the short journey had been glorious and exhilarating. If she had the ability to fly, she would never want to change into a species with only legs.
“You seek to solve the curse?” Jildarin asked, though they had no proof that therewasa curse. Only a few strange things that they’d observed in the vicinity.
Rylana nodded. “I’m hoping to find Vormalt. I think he’s behind the trouble.”
She waved in the direction of the lake—and also that stormwater drain. On the way back to the diner the night before, Rylana had told Jildarin about the incident under the castle. He’d agreed that doing anything to upset the old gods was unwise and that it could have a negative impact on people in the area.
“And, actually,” she added, glancing at the map, “we mightonly need to visit three sites. The ones where trolls lived. The others on the map belonged to ogre and goblin civilizations.”
“In the time before humans moved north, their kind proliferated in this area. The dwarves and elves stuck to the mountains.”
“The troll sites are here, here, and here,” Rylana said, showing him the spots on the map. If dragons reallycouldfly a thousand miles in a day, it wouldn’t take long to check them if he took her.
“Visitors to the diner have been fewer today, I believe due to rumors of a curse now filling the city.”
“That could be. This morning’s newspaper mentioned the inexplicable darkness of the lake, and Mya came over earlier to borrow spices that supposedly help ward off curses. Her clientele has grown superstitious, it seems.”
Jildarin had been in the kitchen when Rylana had taken the dwarf baker back to the pantry, but he’d been whisking eggs while stirring a balsamic reduction on a burner, and he hadn’t seemed to notice either of them.
“Yes, cumin and cloves are believed, by some of the intelligent—semi-intelligent—species, to provide protection, repel negativity, and cleanse the souls of the affected.”
“She’s putting them in muffins and has a line of customers out the door.”
Jildarin gazed toward the dining room window. “PerhapsIshould have thought to adjust a few dishes.”
“Your coffee bacon repels negativity just fine. Trust me.” Rylana ate another piece. It would, after all, be a shame to let it get cold. “The biscuits aren’t bad either.” She slid a buttery jam-slathered morsel into her mouth and sighed with contentment.
“I am pleased when you enjoy and compliment my food.”
“Pleased enough to want to fly me to three troll ruin sites?”
“Since the patronage is, as I said, diminished, perhaps I could leave the kitchen for long enough to do so. It would behoove us all to resolve this issue as soon as possible.”
The issue of a curse or of diminished patronage? Rylana supposed they were related.
“Excellent.” Taking the last biscuit and piece of bacon with her, Rylana headed for the storeroom. “I’ll get my weapons in case we run into trouble while we’re out of the city.”
“What trouble do you think we will encounter that will disturb a dragon?”
“Didn’t your brother say that your mother could show up at any time?”
“Bring extra arrows.”
9
For Rylana’sfirst daylight dragon ride, the sun came out from behind the clouds. It gleamed on Jildarin's silver scales and allowed her to see the powerful muscles rippling beneath them, the incredible span of his wings, and the two sharp horns on the top of his head. She’d never witnessed a dragon ram into an enemy with those horns—nobody would liken his kind to rhinoceroses—but even they appeared quite dangerous.
As she’d promised, she’d slung her bow and quiver across her back and belted her sword to her waist, but she couldn’t imagine needing either while in Jildarin's company. Of course, if another dragon showed up—if hismothershowed up—an armory might not be enough to save Rylana.
They’d checked one ruins site and found it far enough from a main road that it hadn’t been visited often. Creeping ogrethwart vines overgrowing the crumbling structures had almost obscured them from the sky. If not for the map, they might have missed it through the trees. Regardless, Vormalt hadn’t been there.
