no armor. Probably because they’d felt safe coming into Dark Plains territory at the behest of the princess.
Too bad Ailean had never been known for following the dictates of anyone but himself. Hence why his time in active duty in the Dragon Queen’s Army had been short-lived. He was too good a fighter for them to take his rank completely, but he was only called to battle when they needed him. Otherwise Ailean had been too much trouble to tolerate among the general rank and file.
The Lightning dragons screamed in agony as Arranz circled around them, his battle sword drawn. “Go, little brother. We’ll follow.”
“Are you sure?”
“Go!” Arranz ordered before unleashing another blast of flame.
Ailean turned and followed Shalin.
Not far from Kerezik, Shalin waited until the blue dragon passed beneath her. Ailean hadn’t told her everything, and waiting until he’d come up with a satisfactory excuse didn’t sit well with her. Besides, she was angry and felt the need to take it out on someone.
Eyes narrowing, she dived into Ailean, crash-landing on his back.
“What the—”
“What did you do?” she demanded, grabbing handfuls of his hair and yanking.
“Ow! Have you lost your mind?” Ailean bellowed, angering her more for some reason.
“What did you do? I know this is your fault!”
She yanked again, knowing how much Ailean the Wicked prided himself on his hair. True, it was shinier and more beautiful than most, but that only made Shalin want to rip every hair from his head!
Ailean headed toward the land below them but, tricky bastard dragon that he was, he waited until the last moment before flipping onto his back. Shalin slammed hard into the soft lakeside dirt, the weight and speed they’d been going pushing her until she slammed into ancient trees half-circling the lake.
Yet even after all that, Shalin still refused to release his hair.
Ailean scrambled off her, not wanting to crush her. She was small for a dragoness and he was bigger than many dragons. Add in his armor, and he could easily crush her.
But still…his hair!
Yet when he went to stand, he realized she still held on to his hair with both claws and kept yanking. Not only did it hurt, but he could feel hair ripping from his head.
Mad cow!
“Release me, Shalin!”
“Not until you tell me what you did! I’ll rip every hair from your enormous head if I have to!”
To prove it, she did just that, strands of hair tearing right from his scalp.
Snarling, Ailean slapped at her claws. When that didn’t work, he grabbed hold of her wrists and slammed her forearms to the ground, using his weight to pin her into place. Startled, she released him, but he knew she might go for his hair again if he didn’t calm her.
“Shalin, stop this. Now!”
“Tell me what you did, Ailean the Whore!” she spat into his face. “Tell me!”
Sitting back on his haunches, he released her, holding up his claws. A placating gesture. Seemed the little innocent had quite a temper. “Just…calm down.”
“I won’t calm down,” she promised, scrambling back to her feet and away from him. “Just tell me.”
“Someone told Adienna about the kiss I gave you outside the school. She seems to believe you’ve betrayed her.”
The rage went out of her, replaced with confusion.
“I don’t understand. What do the North dragons have to do with Adienna? Or with me for that matter?”
“We can talk about this later.” He wanted to get her back to his home, where he knew she’d be safe.
“No. You’ll tell me now.”
Gods, where was the mouse he was used to? The shadow who silently followed Adienna? The female calmly ordering him around was far from the Shalin the Innocent he’d heard about all these years.
“Fine. Adienna sold you to the Lightnings.”
“She…” Shalin sat back on her haunches and stared at him. “She sold me?”
“Aye. To old Tinig. I’ve fought him in battle. I took his eye. It just made him look crazier.”
Taking in a deep breath, Shalin nodded. “She sold me.”
“Shalin—”
Shalin held up a claw to silence him. “And you,” she looked directly at him. “You took me from the Northerners.”
Ailean nodded solemnly, completely comfortable with his role as hero and rescuer. “I couldn’t let this happen to you, now could I?”
Years later he’d admit—he never saw that tail coming.
Covering his jaw where the sharp tip of her tail had slashed him, Ailean glowered. “Is there a reason you did that?”
“You brought war to our people and you stand there looking smug?”
“I brought war?”
“Yes. You.” She shook her head, turning as she did. Ailean took a step back to avoid that tail. He wasn’t frightened, but he wasn’t stupid, either. “I have to go back,” she finally said and looked as if she were seconds from taking flight.
Ailean grabbed hold her arm. “What are you talking about?”
“I have to go back, Ailean. It hasn’t been that long.” She glanced up at the sky to confirm. “And if your brothers haven’t killed them yet, I can fix this.”
He knew from her words and her expression what she planned to do. Sacrifice herself for the greater good of her people.
“You’ll fix nothing, Shalin.”
She tried to walk away from him. “Ailean—”
Ailean yanked her back, harshly, making sure he had her attention. He did.
“You’ll. Fix. Nothing.”
“Get your claws—”
He gave her a hard shake. “Listen well, Shalin. I’ve created this, but I’ll fix it. But I’ll be damned if I let you sacrifice yourself because of that mad bitch.”
“She’s not mad, Ailean. She’s mean. Meaner than you or I.”
“I don’t care.”
“You have to know she won’t stop. She won’t stop until I’m gone or dead. I think gone is better.”
“So you’ll…run?” The word was foreign on his tongue. Male or female, young or old, his Clan never ran.
“Why not? I’m quite speedy. And I have this odd love of having my neck attached to my body.”
With a growl, Ailean turned, dragging her behind him.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re going to my home, if I have to drag your pretty ass there myself.”
“But won’t your family be there?”
Finally, his full anger snapped and he turned on her. “You think you’re not safe with my family?”
Now Shalin held her claws up in a placating gesture. “That’s not what I mean at all.”
“Then what do you mean?” he demanded.
He watched her gather her courage before saying, “You’ll be putting them at risk, too. Adienna will stop at noth—”
Amazed