Page 44 of Ale Storm

“Yes.” Jildarin adopted a similar position beside her, his shoulder brushing hers.

Emotion welled in her throat at the unspoken intimacy. Emotion and more feeling than she’d expected to have again for a man—a male of any species—after the passing of Captain Maverick.

For a few moments, they sat facing the lake without speaking. Rylana could sense the weariness emanating from Jildarin.

The clouds were breaking, and a ray of sun gleamed on the water. On the far side of the lake, numerous ships came and went while others were loaded and unloaded, so the docks were bustling. But on this side, with a lot of reeds, trees, grasses, and land left natural between the estates, it was quiet and peaceful. A few frogs croaked, and finches, marsh wrens, and red-winged blackbirds chattered as they flew between fluffy cattails. Out of the corner of her eye, Rylana thought she caught the sparkle of a fairy.

Jildarin yawned, and his eyes closed, as if he might doze off at any moment.

“You’ve been a good sport about my father’s requests, and you’ve done enough for him, all right?” Rylana said quietly.

Jildarin opened his eyes and looked at her. “He has not yet given his blessing.”

“That’s because he’s being manipulative and opportunistic.”

“Yes. Few others could do what I have done, and he is taking advantage of my abilities as a dragon.” Jildarin said the words without indignation or annoyance.

Rylana didn’t know how. She felt those emotions on his behalf. “Yes, he is. It doesn’t matter that he’s my father. Next time he wants something from you, tell him to stuff it.”

“Stuff… it? Like a bell pepper with rice, tomatoes, sausage, and cheese?”

“Exactly like that, yes.” Rylana laughed softly and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Would that offend him?”

“Probably not as much as what I was fantasizing about—shooting him in the butt with an arrow.”

“Is it paradoxical that someone who enjoys and excels at mathematics desires to solve so many problems with violence?”

“No, it’s the whimsical contradiction that is a human female. And, to be fair, there’s math in archery, especially if you’re firing at a distant target. You have to calculate the parabolic trajectory of the arrow.”

“Parabolic trajectory?”

“Yeah.” She made an arcing motion with her hand. “The arrow’s horizontal velocity is relatively steady once it leaves your bow, but gravity pulls it downward with an accelerating force.”

“I see. Perhaps, then, archery is an ideal pastime for you.”

“I think so.”

“I do not believe, however, that your father’s buttocks cheeks are in danger.”

Rylana sighed. “Probably not.”

“I also believe you would like it if he gave his blessing for us to pursue a relationship.”

Sensing his eyes toward her, Rylana lifted her head to look at him. “I’m about to turn thirty-six. Trust me, I don’t need his blessing.”

“But you would like it.”

She scowled and wanted to refute him, but… was he wrong?

Mostly, Rylana wanted her father to stay out of her life and not worry about her marital or maternal status. But hadn’t she returned to Tranquility, at least in part, because she’d wanted to have a relationship again with her family? Maybe a better one than she’d had in her youth? Thus far, she’d only been disappointed by her family, from brother to cousin to father, but… did some part of her hope that, in time, they might build a new relationship? One she hadn’t felt with them since her childhood—since before Mom had passed?

“I would like it,” Jildarin said when she hesitated to answer. He looked toward the lake as a low-flying duck landed with a soft splash and paddled toward the reeds. “The tome I am referencing is like a cookbook with a recipe to follow. When I am confident in making a dish and in how the flavors will combine and come together, I have no need for a guide, but when I am making something new, perhaps for a species whose palate I am less familiar with, I… like a recipe.”

“Oh,” Rylana said with new understanding.

That was why he was steadfastly carrying that book around and studying it. It offered a step-by-step guide for him to follow to pursue a relationship with a human woman.