Dragon Thief Read Free Page B

point out, but for the purposes of purely aesthetic appreciation. I like what you’ve done with the place.” Switching deftly to Dragonish, he added, A spectacular Dragon hoard.
    Aye, little Human.
    Kal was just about to shout, ‘Proof!’ when her lips quirked into a ravishing, genuine smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes. Flying ralti sheep! She already knew. Of course, he had whispered in Dragonish when he first spied her. Fool. Trust a Dragoness to sniff out his secrets. He glanced about surreptitiously. So, where was the beast? Where did it lie in wait, while playing the tease in a pretty Human likeness? This semblance of a girl was an extraordinary feat of magic–tactile, motile and altogether compelling. But Kallion was not fooled, oh no. Never fooled.
    Tazi smiled, “So, Kal of allegedly intelligent conversation, meagre linguistic prowess and imperfect theft of hearts–tell me, what did you first notice when you stole into this cavern?”
    He affected a casual shrug. “Gold. Gems. Great heaps of heartless bullion which can never fire a man’s heart as powerfully as kissing a Dragoness.”
    “Ooh. You’re so smooth,” she hissed, clenching her fists at her sides. Mercy, her conversational shifts made him feel as if he was walking a tightrope, blindfolded, over a chasm filled with raging battalions of Dragons locked in mortal combat. “And then, Kal? When did you decide to despoil a defenceless maiden?”
    “Actually, I didn’t.” He was probably more surprised by this admission than Tazithiel. He must be suffering a fever–no. Nor were his suppurating remains pushing up fireflowers in a graveyard. Aye! He had not plotted the slightest whisper of despoliation, at least, not until the incident with the flower-shaped emerald had plunged his thoughts into the proverbial mire. He pursed his lips against an incipient confession.
    A growl throbbed deep in her throat, discharging a cold trickle of sweat down his neck.
    Kal said, “I could add a swift despoliation to my list of urgent–no? Despoiling’s a nasty business anyways. So last-century.” He was babbling; they both knew it. “Of course I noticed your state of undress. After all, that’s what you wished me to notice, so aye, you win on that count, by an Island, by ten thousand leagues, by any measure that exists under the twin suns, you win. But Tazithiel, the first detail that struck me was your eyelashes. You have truly wondrous eyelashes.”
    Her expression seemed frozen between disbelief and stupefaction. “My eyelashes? ”
    A touch mournfully, given as he was about to have his head garnished and served up on a golden platter, Kal added, “Unquestionably, your eyelashes frame the greatest treasure in this cavern.”
    The rubies and the emerald wobbled precipitously, but Kal did not shirk from meeting her effulgent gaze with all the honesty he could muster. It was the truth–the naked truth, pun intended. Perhaps it was the first unadorned truth he had offered Tazi in their entire conversation.
    “Now, that’s a heart-stealer,” she whispered.
    “Soo …”
    “I fear you leave me no choice,” the girl cut in. Without warning, every button of his loose-weave linen shirt popped open. The fabric began to wind its way, snakelike, off his shoulders.
    “Freaking fireballs!” Kal exclaimed, failing to capture the errant garment. It flapped away across the cavern, ghostlike.
    “I find myself in the mood for a little despoliation of my own.”
    Somehow, the word ‘despoil’ had instantly mutated into his new favourite expletive. Kal made a despairing grab for his belt, complete with sword, daggers, and a few other implements unruly rummagers rather enjoy having about their persons, but her magic hindered him. The belt landed several feet away, neatly looped over the pommel of a magnificent blade. His weapons scattered upon unseen winds. Next, his bootlaces began to writhe with, in his opinion, completely unnecessary urgency. No