Page 37 of Greed of Giants

And there she was again, almost standing on her tiptoes, studying my face as though I’d gone far, far away from her. Her full lips were right there, her heat so close I could swallow her, consume her. In that half-pause, I recognized the hunger that twisted through me, the ache when she spoke, the connection between us.

It wasn’t the blood oath.

It was desire.

Years of pent-up want. The first woman I’d laid eyes on when I woke, and she was standing right in front of me. This was about her. She’d picked up the scroll and read the old words. A language she had no business understanding. She had started all this, and I would help her finish it.

Her lips parted again, drawing me in. I’d gladly sink under her spell.

I mustered my restraint. “Lead on.”

We passed through throngs of more people who held their distance, and then we were on a platform, and the train glistened in front of us, its long body weaving away like a snake. Ilaris marched up, had the tickets punched, and then we were inside.

It smelled of leather, of bodies, and a deep liquid. Whiskey? How long since I’d had a drink? The thirst for alcohol lingered as Ilaris slid back a door, which opened into a smaller compartment. Light came in from a glass window, and she moved into the corner, sitting down. “It was cheaper to get just one compartment, this is ours for the duration of the journey.”

I set the bags down, then took a seat on the opposite side, by the door. I touched the latch, and it slid shut, but not before I glimpsed blue. Was it the woman? Again?

“This is a train,” I confirmed.

“It’s loading. When it starts, it makes a noise and blows a horn.”

“We had designs for trains. The building had begun.”

“Trains?” She gasped. “Back then?”

“We never built them, at least not in my kingdom, perhaps in others. There was no need because of magic.”

I watched her go for her sketchbook, the familiarity of it was predictable. She settled back, tapping her pencil against her nose. “Tell me about travel. What did you use? What beasts did you have? Actually, I have a question: were dragons real?”

Dragons.

Jasper’s snort sounded in my mind. Dragons were the bane of his existence.

“Yes, there were dragons. But we had something even more magnificent.”

Ilaris leaned forward, eyes shining with the curiosity that drove her forward.

I held out my hands for her paper and pencil. “May I?”

In turn, she moved beside me, leaving just enough space between us so that we wouldn’t touch, yet angled herself to see what I was drawing. I chose a blank piece of paper, the lines and swirls of the creature taking shape under my instructions. It was a dragon, fire-breathing, a lizard with wings, and then, next to it, I drew Jasper, how he would appear in his full glory, with horns, wings, great claws and fur.

“Firebirds ruled the sky,” I explained. “They were red-gold, birds the color of blooming fire, and dwelled in the Sky Kingdom. They had an odd cycle of life. Death only made them stronger, and they came back again and again, bigger, brighter, stronger. A firebird went through seven cycles of renewal until it crumbled into ash, and finally, out of those ashes was born an egg. A new generation. They couldn’t be tamed, but we could bargain with them. They’d carry messengers from peak to peak if needed, but there was always the perilousness of going up in flames.”

“Not for you, though,” Ilaris quipped.

“No, but I was going to ride one, finally. Or at least bargain with it during the wedding tour. Which is . . .wastradition. After marrying, a Prince and Princess would tour the five kingdoms, staying for months at each place, celebrating. It was also to secure alliances. Now, dragons were our rivals. They hoarded secrets and kept pricelesstreasures stored in their mountainous caverns. We conducted many expeditions to steal from them.”

The amusement that rose inside shocked my grief. Memories of my exploits, the highs and lows, weren’t painful. In fact, it felt good to talk about them. To share. Especially with Ilaris leaning forward like that, looking at me as though I were the treasure she’d been seeking her entire life.

“Will you tell me a story?” she asked eagerly.

“If you plan to write it down, you must know, officially, the expeditions to secure treasure from the dragons were diplomatic missions to follow up on trade inquiries and conduct cultural exchanges.”

Ilaris snorted. “With dragons?”

“Unofficially, it was theft. Organized and well-funded theft with ceremonial justification.”

“So your government was corrupt too.”