The Lost Queen (Book 1 of The Lost Queen Series)

Chapter Forty-Five

Seraiah froze, and Lonan did the same next to her. In the back of her mind, she knew it would be no use to run. The dragon would catch them in seconds.

The lantern light glinted off its scales, revealing not a golden dragon—but a red one, a deep garnet, the color of summer wines.

It was gorgeous and terrifying all at once.

"Well, what do we have here?" it rumbled.

Light danced on the walls of the cave as Lonan's hand shook in fear.

Seraiah's mouth fell open. "You can talk?"

No one had told her dragons could speak. Even the stories she'd read to Sterling hadn't mentioned it.

The dragon either didn't hear her, or it chose to ignore her. "It's not often my dinner comes to me," it said.

Then it grinned. That was the only way Seraiah could explain it. The dragon's lips pulled back from its teeth, showing off their sharp points. A single tooth was as big around as her arm.

The dragon took a slow, lumbering step toward them, and its snout swung closer. Hot breath wafted over her, and Seraiah found herself staring straight into one of its large eyes, gleaming golden in the lantern light.

It sniffed at her.

"Hmm," it murmured, the sound reverberating through her bones. "A human—haven't had one of these in quite some time." Then it moved over to Lonan and sniffed again.

"Gnome—too small to even be worth eating."

Typical. Why do the monsters always want to eat me?

The lantern slipped from Lonan's shaking hand and rolled to the cave wall before coming to a stop. By some miracle, it didn't go out.

The dragon turned its attention back to her. Its eye came close enough she could've touched its glossy surface. The dragon blinked slowly and a filmy inner lid moved across the surface.

The heat coming off the dragon's body chased away the chill of the mountain.

"The seer is seeking something." It turned its head to look at her with its other eye. Another wave of heat washed over her with the movement, along with the scent of dragon. She finally figured out what the scent reminded her of—rotten eggs.

The dragon pulled back from her and retreated a step, throwing its features into shadow. It appeared even more fearsome than when it was sticking its snout in her face. "Well, human?"

Seraiah swore if a dragon had eyebrows, it would have raised one.

"Did you forget how to speak?"

With a jolt, she realized it had wanted an answer.

She remembered what Lonan said about not being able to ask a dragon for anything. "How do you know I am looking for something?" she hedged.

Seraiah shot a look at Lonan, but he appeared as if he were about to faint and not going to be any help.

"When you live as long as I do, you learn to read the signs," it said mildly, reminding Seraiah of what Kestrel had said about the Summer King. "Now, are you going to tell me what you are looking for, or shall I guess?"

Clearing her throat, Seraiah said in her politest voice possible, "I am seeking a golden dragon scale."

She raised her chin and stared directly into the dragon's eyes, waiting for a response.

It wasn't quite the one she expected to receive.

A great rumbling noise came from the beast, vibrating through her body. Seraiah wasn't sure what was happening. One glance at Lonan told her he was just as confused as she was. A few moments later, it finally dawned on her—the dragon was laughing.