To my shock, Shamino rushed across the room and yanked on the dragon’s snout. The big topaz eye shifted and I began to shake as human and dragon scowled at each other. Could a dragon scowl? Raul’s eyebrows—eye ridges?—furrowed.
“That’s not an excuse,” Shamino said. His frown deepened, then he snorted. “Raul apologizes for frightening you. And—oh, please. He says he’s honored to meet a maiden so fair.”
“He said that?” Good. I managed not to squeak. Much.
“If it’s flowery or poetic, it came from him.”
“How?” I asked. The trembling lessened as my curiosity grew. “I didn’t hear anything.”
“No one told you?” Shamino asked, losing the glare. “Dragons are telepathic. Usually I use telepathy with him as well, but I try to speak aloud with newcomers.”
“Oh.” The tapestries of dragons no longer looked just amused. They unquestionably smirked. “He can hear my thoughts. Both of you.”
Raul shook his head as best he could inside a doorway, and the thumping sent me quivering again.
Shamino gave him a halfhearted bop. “Oh, no. Humans aren’t telepathic at all. But dragons are, and it’s the bond that allows me to speak with my mind.” Shamino fell silent again, and his dreamy eyes unfocused. “Raul says he would never enter your thoughts without your permission.”
“Thank you.” I gave the dragon a weak smile.
“Dragons rarely form a connection without a bond, and a dragon only bonds with one human.” Shamino stroked the ridge of Raul’s snout, and the dragon slitted his eyes like a content cat. “All dragons keep a surface touch with the Dragonmaster, and the unbonded with me, but mostly they keep to dragonkind. So don’t worry.”
Raul’s nostrils flared and Shamino suddenly blushed. “Um. What’s your name?”
I almost laughed. Almost. “Adara.”
Shamino smiled. Which made me promptly forget how to breathe. And the smile promptly vanished.
“Um…” I turned my gaze to Raul. Fortunately, my wonder at the dragon was stronger than the fluffheaded idiocy that Shamino stirred in me. As I looked at the dragon, my heart began to beat quicker in a normal, excited way. “Can I touch you?”
Raul did his best at nodding within the doorframe, and I tensed again.
Shamino’s eyebrow raised. “You sure? I mean, Raul would be honored, but this is clearly your first dragon meeting. We usually go slow with trainees.”
I forced myself to stand. Giddiness bubbled in my chest. I was going to touch a dragon. Yet, my entire body screamed with the this-can-flame-and-eat-you-so-run-away instinct. I made it to the end of the sofa. Closer. An arm’s-length from Raul, my sheep-brained legs stopped working.
A soft smile ghosted Shamino’s lips. Slowly, he slid his hand behind my back and, ever so gently, brought me forward. Then his other hand took mine and placed it upon Raul’s snout.
First One, I’m touching a dragon, and the most handsome man in Drageria is touching me.
“There,” Shamino whispered. “Not so bad, eh?”
I laughed, emotions making me dizzy. The thrill of touching a dragon; disbelief that I, Adara, was even at the Kyer; hyperawareness of Shamino’s fingers on my back, of his breath stirring my hair. And wonder for Raul, the dragon’s heat washing over us both.
Timidly, I shifted my hand. Shamino stepped away but Raul continued to capture my amazement. The palm-sized scales on his snout interlocked, forming a sort of smooth skin. Heat made him almost unbearable to touch. He stayed absolutely still and watched me through his massive topaz eyes. Two horns curled from his forehead and ended somewhere behind the doorway, and his chin stopped near my knees.
“How big are you?” I whispered. “Can I see?”
Raul grinned, exposing teeth the length of my hand. My knees trembled, and I heard Shamino sigh. “Raul? Please? Get ready, Adara, he’s going to move.”
I braced myself. Raul’s head backed through the door. Shamino and I stepped inside Raul’s cave.
This. I want this.
Raul was glorious. So glorious, I blinked away tears so I could take him all in. He stood almost as tall as three men, making the massive cavern feel comfortably sized. A tail nearly the length of his body snaked on the floor. Spiky ridges lined his back down to his tail, ending in a barbed knot. Scales larger than plates covered his belly, and two enormous wings folded against his sides. He was a deep, deep green—the same shade as Shamino’s eyes.
“He’s beautiful,” I said. “I saw dragons flying sometimes as a child, and Mother used to tell me stories of Daranathon—you know, the constellation. But in person—Raul, you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Then, in case male dragons hated being called beautiful, I added, “And dangerous.”
Raul smiled again. This time I barely trembled.
“I’m impressed,” Shamino murmured. I felt him studying me anew. “I’ve seen men faint at their first encounter with a dragon.”
“Oh, part of me wants to do that,” I said with a shaky laugh. “But the rest of me… Well, I want to be a Dragon Mage.”
I’d never said it aloud. The words rang true in my heart: Dragon Mage. I’d gone with Orrik because I’d been scared, and I’d come to the Kyer because I wasn’t sheep-brained. Someone wanted to hand me a life? Sure. But looking at Raul, something changed deep in my heart.
Grinning like a fluffhead at the dragon, I added, “Besides, if I fainted, I couldn’t stare at you.”
Raul’s smile grew and this time his wicked teeth looked charming. He made a painfully slow gesture to the cluster of human-size cushions nearby. I sank into an orange one, while Shamino took a light red. There were more, spring green and lemon yellow, and a small table for each. Raul himself curled in the open area before us. There was still enough space for another curled dragon.
Both of them watched as I took in the cave. The massiveness itself boggled my mind; not only was there the visiting area, but a pile of rocks in the
