Dragons Don't Love Read Online Free PDF

will invite Sarn and Tahr over for cards and they will
forgive you too.”
    Now I feel apprehension. “I don’t
trust Sarn.”
    “ And we shouldn’t. We both
know the anguish over a lost bride. I fear he loved Calista more
than his previous brides. Her death has not been easy on
him.”
    I shift and launch myself into the
sky. “Hurry and return my bride, Bastian. I would hate to rekindle
our feud on the day it’s settled.” I fly away and leave my new
bride behind. It’s killing me. Everything inside me pushes for me
to turn around and kill everything in my path. Bastian knows this.
He will return her quickly. I trust him.

Chapter Nine
     
    Roxanne
    “ And he fought my father,
and they fell from the sky, and they made the ground thunder, and
they…”
    “ That’s enough, Ashrac,”
Acasia ruffles his hair and gives his shoulder a squeeze. “Roxanne
doesn’t know our ways and you frighten her with talk of
fighting.”
    Frighten? Who me? The last thing I’m
afraid of is two warring dragons. If I’m lucky, neither will walk
away unscathed. Acasia and Ashrac glance my way and I’m not sure of
the response I should give. No response gets me past the
awkwardness of the moment. Acasia is now in human form and I have
so many questions.
    “ We must return her, Mother.
Uncle Laryn says he will not scare her again. She is his bride and
he is quite angry that she left him.”
    Wow. Dragon children are
very forgetful. “ May we keep her, Mother?
May we please? She is the finest treasure, ” were his exact words.
    “ I will not return to that
bully,” I utter with angry conviction.
    “ Ash, go find your father so
Roxanne and I may speak privately.” She pats his bottom and pushes
him slightly forward. “Go on now.”
    The child turns to me right before he
exits the room. “He says you’re beautiful and I think so too.”
Ashrac turns and runs out yelling at the top of his lungs, “Father,
Father. Mother says you must entertain me so she can talk bride
stuff to the bride.”
    I bite my lip to control a
smile.
    Acasia doesn’t bother. “He puts words
into my mouth all the time. He’s a complete rascal with no shame
whatsoever.”
    “ He’s precious.”
    “ And that too. Please have a
seat, Roxanne. There is much we must speak of.”
    I cross to two large chairs and take
the farthest one. Acasia takes the other. “I’m not going to like
what you say, am I?”
    Acasia’s smile disappears.
“It’s more of a story about dragons. Laryn should tell you, but I
fear he is quite stubborn and holds to the old ways.”
    My anger at the stupid dragon is at a
low simmer. “It won’t change my mind. If I return, I will kill him
or die trying.”
    It’s an hour later and I can’t stop
wiping tears from my eyes as Acasia finishes her story, “...again
and again they must find room in their heart to love once more
knowing it’s for but a blink of their existence.”  
    I can no longer stay seated. I pace
the confines of the room in my distress. “You mean they love their
brides even when the bride grows old? Then when she dies they mourn
until their turn to claim a new bride?” Acasia’s gaze stays on me,
red flashes of light shining in her eyes every time I look at
her.
    “ Yes. I am the first female
dragon in thousands of years. To this day Bastian and I do not know
what made our union special.”
    I stop and turn to face her. “Why must
they put such fright into the village and make the people go
through the entire claiming ceremony? It makes absolutely no
sense.”
    “ It’s Hera’s curse. It
instinctually guides the dragons. That’s how they know their true
bride and can separate her from the ones offered.”
    My anger gets the best of me and my
voice hardens. “Why have you not returned to the village and told
this story? You owe it to those women who live in fear their entire
lives.”
    Acasia immediately looks sad. “I do
owe it to them, but I can’t. Neither I nor Bastian can cross into
that