“Your scales are excellent,” Aurelia said kindly.
Cadence opened her eyes and looked down at her arms. Glittering white scales rimmed with blue appeared briefly, and her fingernails curved into blue talons. She stroked her arm, fascinated by the cool feel and the scales’ hardness.
Then they vanished.
“Well, that’s something,” she sighed. “Is it conceited for me to say my scales sure are pretty?”
“Not at all,” Aurelia said. “Oh, there’s your…er, mate?”
Cadence glanced across the meadow. Orion was approaching.
“I have nothing to say to you!” she shouted. “Family only welcome here, thanks!”
He scowled, turned around, and stalked off.
Chapter Nine
Dinner was served in the Great Hall, at an enormous table that was easily a hundred feet long. There was a tapestry runner that ran the entire length of the table, decorated with dragons and the family crest, and candelabras with waxy white candles.
At both ends of the room were large pink crystal sculptures that were known as Shift Blockers. They were traditionally used as a courtesy when dragons from warring clans met for any occasion.
At least a dozen servants padded around, attending to their needs. They were served platters of whole roast pigs with apples in their mouths, and racks of ribs, and giant bowls of roast vegetables, and pots and tureens of side dishes. Enough to feed a small village – or a couple of angry families of dragons.
Cadence sat next to Orion at the head of the table. Her family sat on the right side of the table, glaring at Orion’s family on the left.
Her family had insisted on cooking half of the meal. Apparently it was a matter of honor.
Both sides glared at each other, muttering furiously to each other.
“This roast is overdone,” Aurelia said coldly.
“The aspic wasn’t made right,” Cynthia countered nastily.
“The potatoes are practically raw,” Aurelia said, holding up a fork with a potato speared on the tines.
“You have gold and silver plates on the same table,” Maude retorted. “Nobody does that.”
Somebody coughed the word “Cheat-ham” into their hand on Orion’s side of the table.
“Say Cheat-ham one more time,” snarled Rory, one of Cadence’s cousins.
“Cheat-ham!” Draken snarled back.
“That does it!” Rory leaped to his feet and hurled himself across the table, scattering jewel-studded goblets of wine, and he grabbed Draken by the throat. Aurelia stabbed Rory in the hand with her fork.
Maude threw her plate at Nikolai’s head, and Alcott grabbed his cane and scrambled onto the table.
Orion jumped up. He grabbed Cadence by the arm and began pulling her towards the door.
“Shouldn’t we stop them?” she asked, ducking a plate that came hurtling past her head.
“No, better to let them get it of their systems,” he said. “Whatever happens, they’ll heal. Oh, good one.” Laetitia had come for dinner, and she’d grabbed Aurelia by the arm and bitten her. Alcott was whacking people with his cane left and right.
Cadence couldn’t help it; she started laughing as Orion led her out of the room. Orion joined her, and the two of them headed outdoors, laughing so hard that their sides hurt.
“Did you see your uncle bonk my servant on the head with his soup bowl? Oh, dear lord.”
“No, missed that. But I did see Maude throw a glass of wine in your mother’s face. I mean, can you imagine if we really were mated, what our holidays would be like?”
“Extremely entertaining,” Orion said with a grin. “How did your training go today?”
“I managed to get a little scaly.”
“Oh? Describe it to me. That sounds sexy.”
“No, you pervert!” She smacked him playfully, then remembered she was angry at him and scowled.
“Are you ready to tell me why you wouldn’t talk to me this afternoon?” he asked.
She gave him a sidelong glance. “Didn’t your family tell you?”
“No, my mother just said you stomped off for no reason, and they thought that your family was bad-mouthing me.”
“My family has been trying to visit me here for days, and you kept it from me. You had no right to make that decision for me.”
They were walking behind the castle now, with the soft, silky meadow grass caressing their ankles.
Orion’s brows knitted together in a scowl. “I didn’t know. This is the first I’ve heard of it. I will be having a talk with my family about this, I assure you.”
“Oh. I thought you knew.” She sighed. “No need to say anything to them. I mean, my family is here now so all’s well that ends well…”