Page 85 of In the Embrace of Dragons

Nissia is already at the smaller table with Ari sitting beside her, and Daina in her spot on the floor by the wall. The women are chatting amiably as we enter, but the moment Nissia spots us, she jumps to her feet. Boldly, she rises to her tiptoes and kisses Vizarios on the cheek, and then moves to do the same to me. I stand stock-still as she plants her lips as high as she can reach, and then scurries back to finish eating.

“Come, sit. Two more joining us!” Ari calls into the kitchen, as if she’s lived here her whole life.

When I remain standing at the doorway in my usual position, Nissia shoots me a dirty look.

“Come, sit, Captain,” she says. “Quillion is already doing your job. You can relax.”

Uneasily, I glance at the other guard, who simply nods in agreement. I wonder how much he knows already, given he spends all day with the queen and Ari.

It is strange to sit at the table instead of watching over it, but I soon get lost in the conversation. Nissia is asking about the next festival, which she’s heard rumor of. Vizarios explains that the two of them will be present, as king and queen, to oversee.

“Dancing, eating, drinking,” he says, tossing back some firewine, “all the things dragons like to do.”

Ari has taken to the firewine much better than Queen Nissia did. She also slugs it. “Sounds like fun!”

“And what is our responsibility?” Nissia asks. I notice she is abstaining from the wine, even when the tame sort is brought out.

“We are meant to sit and look pretty,” Vizarios says gamely. “I can handle the sitting, you can handle the looking pretty.”

Nissia covers her mouth, and Ari cackles.

“I like him,” she says.

I must admit that I like him very much, too, this version of my king, who reminds me far more of the one who existed before his mother’s death. It’s as if his affection for Nissia has rewound time, forcing him to reconnect with what he used to be.

I am happy when dinner is over and the queen invites me to spar. Afterward, we all visit the hot springs together to get clean, and Vizarios ensures that everyone else has left when we take over. Before we have even gotten our bodies soaped and rinsed, Nissia is bent over the edge of a pool, Vizarios sliding his cock in and out of her, while I kneel behind him and lick him under the tail. He emptieseverything he has to give inside her, and then we bathe some more.

It feels like living in a dream.

VIZARIOS

Time passes in an interesting way when you’re happy. I never considered it before, how time slowed to molasses after my mother died, how every moment felt longer and heavier than the one before it. Now it seems as if each second is as light as a feather, slipping by without me even seeing it.

My wife’s plan has begun. A number of dragon emissaries have traveled to the human lands with the intention of staying until spring, when they will report back—and perhaps bring new immigrants with them. Our hope is that when the wardens are greeted with these recruits, they will soften toward us.

And then, of course, an heir. That would go great lengths toward securing their loyalty for the future, but as the weeks go by, Nissia’s blood returns.

“I’m sorry,” she says to me when she emerges from our new shared bathroom—which is my bathroom, but now it’s also hers and Ragnakor’s, when he sleeps with us. Which isn’t always. I think that the bond between the three of us has not yet fully sealed.

“Why are you apologizing?” I ask over my wine. She holds up a reddened rag.

“I’m still not pregnant.”

It is odd that it’s taken so long, given how often I’ve filled her up with my seed, but I’m not worried yet. I’m content, I think, for the first time in many years.

I make haste to her side, kissing up along her throat andcheek. “There is no need to be sorry. It will happen when it happens.”

“But the wardens?—”

“They can choke on a hive of bees,” I say.

Ragnakor chuckles, and he does this far more often than he used to. It’s as if he has developed a sense of humor in the past few weeks.

“Do you need anything?” he asks Nissia. “Are you cramping?”

I didn’t think of that question. Interesting that he understands more about what a female experiences than I do.

Nissia lights up. “Maybe a warm compress?”