Read Online Love in the Time of Dragons by MacAlister Katie - Free Book Online Page B

but with no weapons, no armor. Just your fists against mine.”
    Pavel gave a short bark of laughter. Kostya’s frown relaxed into a smug smile. Baltic’s face remained expressionless, nothing but his eyes giving away any indication of what he was thinking.
    “Very well,” he said after a minute’s silence. “But you must make it worth the ridicule I will suffer for such an indignity.”
    “Indignity!” He actually had the nerve to smile when I hit him on the chest. “Because I am a woman, you mean?”
    “Because I am the wyvern, and you are merely a young female who has not yet learned her place.” He handed Kostya his sword. “I will be happy to teach it to you, but I must have payment.”
    I eyed him as Pavel came down the stairs to help divest him of his mail and armor. Both guards were smiling. “What form of payment do you seek?”
    “When I win the challenge, you will disavow your fealty to the traitorous bastard who rules your sept.”
    “I don’t know any bastards other than Jack, the carter’s brother, and he is simpleminded and hardly could be called traitorous.”
    “I refer to Constantine of Norka,” Baltic said, all but spitting the words out.
    “Well, I don’t know him either, and I certainly haven’t sworn fealty to him.”
    “Your parents must have, else you would not bear the brand of the silver dragons on your back.” Baltic peeled off his leather armor and stood before me wearing nothing but boots, braies, and jerkin.
    It struck me for the first time that he was quite comely for a man. The high, sharp cheekbones gave his face a measure of strength. His nose was thin and sharp, sitting below a broad forehead from which dark hair swept back. Twin slashes of straight black eyebrows drew attention to his deep, dark eyes beneath. His jaw was angular, but blunted at the chin, as if God had decided that he had too many angles in his face and wanted to soften the sharpness a little. But it was his mouth that seemed to hold an unholy attraction for me. His lips were full, the lower creating a down-turned crescent, while the upper had a gentle curve that belied the anger held within him.
    “Do you agree to the terms?” he asked, and I realized I’d been staring at his mouth.
    I cleared my throat. “You have neglected to state the full terms. I must have a boon if I defeat you.”
    All three men laughed loud enough that the remaining guard came in from where he had been tending to the horses.
    “Lady Ysolde has accepted Baltic’s challenge,” Kostya told him when he entered casting curious glances around the now-destroyed common room.
    “What challenge?” the guard asked. His name was Matheo, I remembered from the brief introduction Baltic had made when he took me from my home. Kostya leaned over and whispered to him. Matheo smiled broadly.
    “You will not defeat me,” Baltic said, and once again, I was possessed with the desire to slap him. “But let us live in the world of the impossible, and say that you do. What boon would you like of me?”
    “I wish to go home,” I said, my gaze steadfast.
    He was silent for a moment, then made me a bow. “I accept the terms of the challenge. When would you like to begin?”
    I looked around the room. It was only four warrior dragons and myself, the innkeeper wisely keeping himself out of sight.
    “Is there anything wrong with now?” I asked, pinning my cloak so my hands were free.
    “No.” He waved a hand around the room. “Would you like to fight here, or would you prefer we go out—”
    I moved swiftly. He dropped like a sack full of bulls, his body curling into a circle as he clutched at his privates, unable to speak except to gasp for air.
    “You should never have taken off your codpiece,” I said, gesturing toward that piece of armor that lay half hidden by the leather cuirass that had been discarded a few minutes before. “And I believe this qualifies as a win.”
    His guards, all three of them, stared with open-mouthed