The Dragon Society (Obsidian Chronicles Book 2) (57 page)

"Eventually. When the war is won. Until then, I cannot afford it."

She smiled wryly. "Then I foresee a long war," she said.

Arlian stared at her humorlessly, and her own smile wavered, then vanished.

Her little joke was not funny, she realized. Winning this war was Arlian's vengeance, the vengeance he had devoted himself to since he was a boy, and more important to him than his own life—
-far
more important.

Further, the long life that most of the dragonhearts prized, that Lady Opal sought so avidly, Arlian saw as his corruption, his contamination with the dragons'

taint.

And the longer the war lasted, the more innocents would die in dragonfire, as Arlian's family had—as her own family had. Arlian knew that. She had, for a moment, forgotten.

Her joke was not funny at all.

"I hope you're wrong," he said. "I really do."

"So do I," she said.