Page 79 of Sky and the Grumpy Troll

“General area is all I need,” Oallian said.

Sky was staring at Oallian, and then a smile spread across his face. “Oallian, you cannot fuck every person who accidentally comes through the portal.”

“I only search for someone who can reach me. Who has your magic? Everyone else goes to the palace.”

“And if someone can reach you?” Aeldryc said.

Oallian beamed. “If someone can reach me, I keep him.”

“No. Everyone goes to the palace,” Aeldryc said firmly. “Every single one of them, or this is a non-starter. Dragons are only allowed to be in dragon form in the high mountains unless the Queen has issued a decree. You want that decree? You bring every goddamn twink that appears through the portal to the palace.”

“I do not know this word, twink,” I admitted.

“A title among Pip’s people,” Aeldryc said, with the gravity of a man citing law. “It denotes a young man of rare quality and consequence. He explained it to the entire court.”

Beside his husband, Pip beamed like a man whose life’s work was complete.

“Also, as a note, you can’t just keep people without their consent,” Pip added.

“Fine,” the dragon huffed, looking rather grumpy about it. “But if I find the person, I can woo them?”

Aeldryc narrowed his eyes.

“Oh, come on, honey, wooing? That’s so sweet!” Pip said, leaning in and rubbing his husband’s arm.

“Wooing is acceptable,” the Lord High Commander of the Grey Guard said with a nod. And the dragon sitting next to him broke out in a huge smile.

Oallian straightened. “I will be a very good portal guard. I am large, I am frightening.”

“So that’s our plan?” I asked. “The envoy? Can the envoy be Sky and I?”

Aeldryc frowned, then nodded. “Good idea. It’s a risk for it to be anyone under the Queen’s direct command. You will travel as tourists. The Queen will fund the voyage, though.”

“Can we also fund a voyage that includes my cat?” I asked. “Poppy is tired of waiting for us in inn rooms.”

“She could have come today,” Sky said.

I leaned in and whispered, “Not with dragons about.”

Oallian vibrated a little, then leaned forward for another piece of cheese, and it melted in his hand. Sky reached out and did his soothing magic thing again, as the singed sleeves of Oallian’s shirt continued to smoke.

“Perhaps you should try meditation or something,” Pip said cheerfully. “Sky knows tai chi!”

Sky looked at Oallian, whose sleeves were still leaking smoke, and got to his feet. “Actually, yeah. Up, buddy. Stand like me.”

Oallian rose and copied Sky’s stance the way he did everything in this body, with total commitment and slight confusion, his knees bent twice as deep as necessary.

“Softer. You’re not lifting a cow. Now follow my hands, and breathe when I breathe.” Sky turned his palm over with aching slowness, and the dragon followed, and by the third shape the smoke had thinned to nothing.

“It’s working,” Oallian said, delighted, and one of his sleeves promptly reignited.

“Nope. No talking, just breathe.” Sky pressed his lips together against a laugh. “We’ll work on it.”

“Show me the other one,” Oallian said. “The faster one. You did it in the field above the gorge, before I took you.”

Sky’s mouth fell open. “You were watching me?”

“You were the most interesting thing in the valley,” the dragon said, as though that were an ordinary thing to admit.