Dragon Kiss (3 page)

Millie’s mother sighed. “I wouldn’t go that far, Mother. No one has complained about my dragon side. However, Millie, we can’t let you marry a dragon just because you’re attracted to him. I’m sure you think you love him,” she said, holding up her hand when Millie started to speak, “but you hardly know him. You can’t truly love someone you don’t really know.”

“That’s not true, Mother. Audun and I have been through so much together! I know him enough to know that I do love him!”

At Millie’s words, Audun felt a warmth growing inside him like he’d never experienced before. While he’d known that he loved Millie, he hadn’t been sure that she felt the same way about him. Now that he was sure of her feelings, he knew that nothing in the world could keep them apart.

“I’m sure you think you love him, darling, but there’s only one way to know for certain. Give it time and see if you both still feel the same way.”

“Oh, we will,” Millie said.

“Did I forget to mention that the test works better when you aren’t together?” her mother asked. Dust began to swirl around Millie’s legs, tugging at the hem of her gown.

“No, Mother, don’t do this!” Millie exclaimed, looking at her mother in horror.

“It’s for your own good,” her mother’s voice said over the rising wind. She was standing only a few yards away, yet she sounded as if she were a long way off. “You’ll appreciate what I’ve done someday.”

“Millie!” Audun shouted, as he felt her being pulled away. And then both she and her mother were gone, leaving Audun with Grassina and Millie’s grandmother.

“Don’t look at me that way,” the older woman told Audun. “It’s for the best. You never should have come here. Now go back to wherever it is you’re from and leave my granddaughter alone.” Turning abruptly, she strode back to the castle door. “I’ll see you inside, Grassina,” she added, then firmly closed the door behind her.

Audun felt as if a giant had swatted him out of the sky into the side of a mountain. He turned toward Millie’s great-aunt, certain that she was waiting to tell him how his love for her niece was hopeless and that he should leave and never come back. She was wrestling with her magic carpet, however, and was more intent on shaking off the dust that had covered it when the wind had carried Millie away than she was in telling Audun anything.

“Let me help,” said Audun.

Grassina stepped aside as the dragon picked up the edge of the carpet with his talons and flapped it until the dust puffed free and drifted across the courtyard. “Thanks,” she said, nodding her approval. “You know, you don’t have to listen to everything Millie’s grandmother says. My sister, Chartreuse, is a very negative person and can never see the good in anything. My husband is a wonderful man. He was an otter for many years, although I fell in love with him when he was human,” she said, half to herself. “Chartreuse still doesn’t like him and is always making unnecessary comments about smelly otters and how she expects him to lick his fur. He hasn’t done that in years—at least, not in public. All I wanted to say was that if you really love each other, you shouldn’t let anything stand between you. If you want to be with Millie, I’m sure you’ll find a way.”

Three

I
t took Audun three days to reach the part of the Icy Sea where King’s Isle was located. On the final day he’d flown above frigid, choppy waters where jagged glaciers provided the only places to land. A storm chased him for the last few hours, catching up with him shortly before he reached the island. Fighting against the buffeting wind and freezing rain, he saw little of his goal in the stormy darkness and would have flown past it if a flash of lightning hadn’t reflected off the island’s icy crags. He didn’t notice the dragon sentries who flew out to meet him until their wings actually touched his. Flying wing tip to wing tip, they guided him to the only opening into the home of the ice-dragon king, leaving Audun at the highest spire.

With ice-coated wings and aching muscles, Audun was so tired that he staggered as his claws finally touched the ground. When the door opened and another dragon appeared to escort him to a place where he could rest, Audun could only nod his thanks and stumble after him to an empty chamber where a ledge along the wall served as a bed. Curling up on the ledge, he slept the rest of that day and well into the next, too tired to open his eyes when dragons came to check on him. He dreamed of Millie and of what their lives would be like once they were together. When he finally woke, it was to the sound of the door creaking open and talons clicking across the floor.

Raising his head, Audun blinked in surprise at the pair of young dragons who stood by the door, watching him. They were both females, one was probably nine or ten years old and the other’s age was closer to his own.

“He’s awake!” the younger dragoness whispered to the other.

The older dragoness had been staring at Audun in a way that made him want to squirm. “Welcome to King’s Isle,” she said, giving him a radiant smile.

Although Audun had never visited King’s Isle before, he knew quite a bit about it. It was the stronghold of the king of the ice dragons from the day he was chosen to rule until the day he died. Dragons lived for a very long time, so the selection of a new king happened once every few hundred years. The current king had been selected nineteen years before, after the death of the previous ruler, who had been so old that his scales were dull and brittle and his teeth worn down to nubs. The stronghold was also the home of the king’s councillors, as well as of the dragons and dragonesses who made up his court.

Because far fewer female dragons than males were born, females were treasured and treated with great care. At the age of eight, dragonesses were brought to the court of the dragon king to be raised until they were old enough to start a family with their own mates. It was the responsibility of the king to select their mates as well as to see to the education of the dragonesses. Both Audun’s mother and his grandmother had spent their formative years living on the island. Audun was sorry he had ignored most of their stories. It would have helped if he’d learned what the dragons on the island did, especially those like the dragoness eyeing Audun.

“My name is Hildie,” she announced, letting her eyelids droop in an odd sort of way. “I’m glad you’re awake. Dragons our age rarely visit the island. Have you come to petition the king for a mate? Say you have. All the others who have come are so old. I’d hate to end up with one of them.”

Audun shook his head, saying, “I’m here to ask the king and his councillors for their help. I’m not looking for a mate.”

“That’s too bad,” she replied, turning so that her tail rubbed against his leg. Wetting her lips with her tongue, she looked him up and down, her gaze lingering on the muscles in his legs and the ridge along his back. “The king is very busy now,” she said. “One of the old councillors died and King Stormclaw has been meeting with her replacement. You probably won’t get an appointment for days.”

“Is there anywhere that I can—,” Audun began.

The door slammed open and a burly dragon, over twice Audun’s height, ducked his head and squeezed through the doorway. There was a silvery tinge to his scales, and he had a ridge as sharp as dagger blades and the longest talons Audun had ever seen. Audun stepped back from the anger flashing in the huge dragon’s eyes; Hildie just looked disgusted.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” the dragon growled at her. “I leave my post for two minutes to help Iceworthy and you sneak past.”

“We were waiting in line for our turn on the ice chute when we heard that
he
was here,” the younger dragoness announced, pointing at Audun. “Hildie wanted to come see him up close before any of the other dragonesses could. She thinks if she meets him first, she’ll have first claim on him. She shouldn’t be here, though, should she, Frosty-breath?”

Hildie turned on her companion and scowled. “Be quiet, Loolee. No one asked you.”

Loolee smiled sweetly at Audun and skipped out the door. Frostybreath growled at Hildie until she started to leave as well. “You’ll have to forgive Loolee,” she said, pausing in front of Audun so she could tilt her head, making her neck look long and slender. “She’s just a child and doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“Hildie!” snapped Frostybreath.

The dragoness made an exasperated face and smiled at Audun one last time before she, too, left the room. Frosty-breath squeezed through the doorway again, shaking his head and muttering to himself.

The door shut with a click. Audun sighed. He’d been about to ask if there was somewhere he could go to get something to drink, but he hadn’t had the chance. Thinking that he would look for a drink himself, he opened the door and was halfway out when a deep growl made the ridge along his spine rise.

“Get back in there, squirt,” said Frostybreath, baring his fangs.

“I was just—”

“I don’t care what you were doing,” said the dragon. “You’re not going anywhere until I say you can.”

Audun was puzzled. Although he hadn’t known what to expect when he’d arrived at the island, it had never occurred to him that he’d be treated like a prisoner. “I really just want—”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what they all say. Then the next thing I know you’ll be flying off with Hildie or another young dragoness and I’ll have to go out in the wind and rain to haul you both back. I don’t like the rain, boy, so don’t even think about it. Now go in that room and don’t come out until I say you can.”

Frostybreath took a menacing step toward Audun and the young dragon backed into his room and shut the door. He was studying one of the walls of ice, wondering what would happen if he licked it, when the door opened and an elderly, narrow-faced dragon official, wearing rings on every talon and a medallion in the shape of the king’s head, stepped inside. The dragon carried a stylus in one set of talons and a stiffened parchment in the other. Peering down his long, thin nose at Audun, he said, “My name is Iceworthy. I understand that you want to ask the king and his councillors for help. What, precisely, is the nature of your request?”

“It’s personal,” said Audun.

“I see,” murmured the dragon as he wrote. “P-e-r-so-n-a-l. And what exactly is this personal request?”

“I’d prefer to ask the king.”

The dragon raised a brow ridge and twitched his tail. “You would, would you? Apparently you don’t understand how things work here. King Stormclaw is a very important dragon and cannot talk to just anyone. My job is to make sure he isn’t bothered by minor nuisances like you. Nothing gets to King Stormclaw without my approval. You either tell me now, or I’ll have Frostybreath throw you off the island. Which shall it be, hmmm?”

It was obvious from his expression that the old dragon wasn’t going to give in. The young dragon sighed. “I want to ask how to become a human. I was told that I should go to the king and his council for help.”

“Human, eh? Well, I’m sure you have your reasons, although no one in his right mind . . . Ah, well, that’s neither here nor there. What is your name, young dragon? I’ll have to write my report, then turn it in. You should hear back from the council in a few days. A week at most.”

Audun sighed. “I’m Audun, son of Moon Dancer and Speedwell, grandson of Song of the Glacier and High Flier and—”

The dragon grunted and gave Audun a peculiar look. “Enough!” he said, lowering his stylus.

The old dragon’s bones creaked as he turned around. Audun followed him to the door, saying, “Please, sir, before you go, if you could just tell me where—”

The door shut in Audun’s face, leaving him even more puzzled than before.

Although the young dragon tried to distract himself in the empty room by counting the number of his reflections he could see on the ice walls and finding cracks in the ice that looked like animal faces, it wasn’t long before all he could think about was how thirsty he was. Rather than lick the wall and risk getting his tongue frozen to it, Audun used his talons to gouge out a piece of ice. He was just about to place it in his mouth when the door opened and Frostybreath came in, carrying a platter of newly caught fish and a jug of fresh water.

Seeing the ice in Audun’s talons, the guard shook his massive head, saying, “I wouldn’t eat that if I were you. An old sorcerer used magic on it to keep it frozen for as long as there are dragon kings. Put it in a closed vessel and it will freeze any liquid around it. You wouldn’t want to see what it would do to your blood if you ate it.”

Audun dropped the chunk of ice. Frostybreath smiled and set the platter and jug on the floor. “Eat hearty, squirt. You’re meeting with the king and his councillors in the morning. I’d get a good night’s sleep, too, if I were you. You’ll need your wits about you tomorrow.”

After the guard had gone, Audun squatted on the floor beside the platter, drained the jug of water into his mouth, then picked up the chilled fish and dropped them onto his tongue, one at a time. He thought the whole thing was too confusing. First he was a prisoner, then he was about to be kicked off the island, now he was getting just what he wanted sooner than he’d thought possible.
If only I could get someone to tell me what’s going on,
he thought, yawning until his jaw made a cracking sound.
If only I’d listened more when Mother and Grandmother told me about living on the island.
He picked up the empty jug and shook it.
If only I still had some water left!

He was settling down on the ledge when he bumped the piece of ice he’d broken off the wall. It skittered a few inches, but Audun reached out and caught it before it could fall off the ledge.
Magical ice might come in handy,
he thought, and tucked it into the pouch that all ice dragons have under a flap of skin between the base of their wings and their back.

Although Audun didn’t think he’d be able to sleep that night after having slept most of the day, he lay down to rest and didn’t wake up until Frostybreath brought him more fish in the morning. The dragon guard grunted a greeting, and handed Audun a platter and another jug, saying, “Hurry up and eat. I’m supposed to take you to the council chambers right away, but I don’t want you fainting from hunger at the king’s feet.”

While Audun ate his breakfast, Frostybreath stood by, tapping his talons impatiently against the ice. Audun was licking the last fish scale from his lips when the dragon beckoned him to the door. “Come along. The sooner I have you delivered to the council, the sooner I can get back to my real job.”

“I thought guarding newcomers like me
was
your real job,” said Audun, as he trailed Frostybreath out the door.

The big dragon shook his massive head. “Not at all. I’m just filling in for a friend who had to get a broken fang fixed. My real job makes use of my talent. I can freeze things just by blowing on them. I’ll show you. Spit.”

“What?” said Audun. “Here, you mean . . . now?”

“Right here. Don’t worry. No one will mind.”

Audun shrugged. “If you say so.” Gathering moisture in his mouth, he spit at the wall in front of him. Just as the fluid left Audun’s mouth, Frostybreath exhaled. The air crackled and shimmered; a small chunk of ice hit the wall with a
thunk!
“Wow!” said Audun. “That’s some talent.”

Frostybreath looked pleased by the compliment, but he shrugged as he lumbered down the corridor. “That’s nothing compared to what the king and his councillors can do. King Stormclaw can call up storms—”

“I’ve heard that,” said Audun.

“Here we go. We’ll take this ramp down to the lower levels. See how much brighter it is now? The storm must have stopped.”

Audun had not seen any windows, but the ice was translucent and let in daylight when the sun was out. The walls that had seemed gray and dismal the day before now looked as bright as the ice on the mountains back home. The ramp was wide enough for two ordinary-sized dragons to walk side by side, but Frostybreath was far bigger than average. Audun had to follow him down the ramp, staying well back to avoid the other dragon’s swinging tail.

“And one of his councillors, Frostweaver, can make intricate patterns out of frost,” Frostybreath continued. “They say that the newest councillor . . . Hey, watch where you’re going!” the big dragon shouted, as a pack of giggling young dragonesses raced past in the opposite direction.