Page 18 of Connor and the Dragons

I stood and walked over to her, hugging her close, and she hugged me back. “When Liminia is finished, I will convince Oallian to help me find his brother. I swear it to you.”

“I believe Sky and Connor will be suitably motivated once the opportunity to return home is close at hand. And we hold the key to the portal location. Thyren is there with a detachment of the Grey Guard.”

I didn’t know how well Connor would respond to that kind of threat, but I just nodded.

“Just don’t get yourself killed, Kessrin.”

“I won’t. There will be very little danger.”

“Don’t underestimate the Liminian wizards,” she said, gripping my arm hard. “They are quite powerful.”

CHAPTER 8: CONNOR

The lower yard at first light looked even more surreal. A dozen guards hustled around two wicker baskets the size of hot tubs, checking straps and buckles and rigging lines thick as my wrist.

Pip found me by the wall and hugged me hard enough to move ribs.

“Okay. Don’t die, that’s the main thing.” He pushed a satchel into my hands. “I packed you books, water, snacks. The books are Liminian histories requisitioned by the Queen right when Sky and Moerrven were researching the portals, which they are still bitter about, so you can get up to speed before you land.” He paused, and something twitched at the corner of his mouth. “It’s an interesting culture.”

“Interesting how?”

“Very kinky. Read the books,” Pip said, and patted my chest twice.

I turned around, and both dragons had already transformed.

I’d seen Oallian’s dragon before, but even so, forty feet of red-orange fire dragon in the pink light of dawn made my stomach flip.

And Kessrin. I’d half convinced myself my memory had inflated him. It hadn’t. He was silver-blue, and he was beautiful. Long-necked and sleek, scaled in colors that shifted when he breathed, frost feathering the cobblestones under him in slow white blooms. His tail kept flicking across the stones, and his claws kept flexing against them.

After all, with those claws and those teeth, he could probably murder everyone in this courtyard without blinking an eye. Or freeze us all into popsicles to snack on later.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was freaking out. I walked over and ran a hand down the long curve of his neck, leaning in close, and murmuring, “You good?”

Aeldryc cleared his throat. “I would suggest not petting the dragon.”

Probably good advice. Except the huge, cool neck leaned into my palm, small and deliberate, not enough that anyone but me would notice. And a slight shudder rolled through him.

Then Oallian’s enormous head shoved in between us, ember eyes wide. And he pushed into my hand like a cat seeking chin scratches. Kessrin huffed and stepped out of the way as Oallian tilted his head, trying to show me the spot. I scratched under his jaw and he let out a rumble that rattled the buckets by the wall.

Across the yard, the Queen waved her guard off, and walked up to Kessrin, wrapped her arms as far around his long neck as they would go, and whispered something to him. His eyes closed, and he leaned towards her just a little and huffed out a breath. She stepped back and turned to me.

“This is a mission of the utmost importance to the crown. Should you be caught, the crown will not claim you. You are, from this point forward, a rogue entity operating outside of our control.”

“Understood.”

She lowered her voice. “And you will protect Lord Frost. Or I will see to it that your life comes to a very painful conclusion.”

“I’m not sure what I can do to protect a huge-ass dragon,” I said.

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at me.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Of course I will protect him.”

“Very well. Now go. May the gods be with you.”

With that, she turned and led her guard out of the courtyard, leaving just me, Pip, Aeldryc, and the dragons. I shot Oallian a nervous smile and climbed into my basket, waving to Pip who bounced and clapped.

“I guess we’re off!”