Sea Dragon (Dragon Knights Book 9) by Bianca D'Arc

sense. I saw a sea dragon once, you know, when I was a wee lad. Smaller than him yonder.” The man nodded toward Sir Hrardorr. “But colored near the same. Maybe a bit more blue and green, but very close. ‘Course, that sea dragon had no flame. This one, you can see smoke rise from his nose now and again, so I take that to mean he’s got fire in his belly.”
    “You’re probably right about that, aye,” Gowan agreed good-naturedly. “But I’ve never seen a fighting dragon swim like him.”
    “Seen a lot of dragons, have ye?” The fisherman looked at Gowan speculatively, but with a friendly grin.
    The fisherman was fishing for information, but Gowan didn’t mind. It was natural to want to know about a newcomer.
    “I came here from Castleton. There are scores of dragons there,” Gowan hedged. “I’ve seen a few fishing in the river, but none ever swam that I saw.”
    “Rivers be different than sea,” the fisherman observed.
    “Fishing’s different too,” Gowan said, trying to redirect the conversation. “I’ve done all my fishing to this point on rivers.”
    “Oh, aye,” the fisherman agreed, going on at some length about all the different kinds of fish that could be had from the sea. “And there are worse predators,” he said, gesturing broadly as he frowned. “Shark, giant squid and the like. The dragon lord, though, he’s made things safer and more profitable for us of late. The warm weather this year has brought more predators closer to shore than usual, but ol’ dragon there has been evening the odds for us. Quite a sight it is to see him chewing on a four-yard shark, too. Better than a tavern show!” The old fisherman grinned, chuckling a bit as they both looked at the dragon, still sitting docilely on top of the light waves, apparently chatting with the girl on the boat next to him.
    “He brought up a giant squid yesterday,” the fisherman went on. “Never saw the like. It was still wriggling. That dragon must be able to dive deep. Such creatures live in the darkest fathoms. The only time we ever see them is if one shows up in a net, already dead. Usually in pieces, with teeth marks on ‘em. Ain’t never seen one still alive before. But it weren’t for long.” The fisherman cackled with something like glee.
    Gowan was impressed at what he was learning about the dragon known as Hrardorr. Genlitha had been surprisingly tight-lipped about the male dragon, though she had admitted to having a crush on the brute when they were still youngsters. Gowan wondered privately if there was more to it. Maybe Gen still held feelings for Hrardorr. Maybe, if the stars aligned and the Mother of All blessed them, Hrardorr might turn out to be Genlitha’s mate.
    Of course, that would mean Gowan had to find one first before Gen could consummate a union with whatever dragon turned out to be her match. And whoever that unknown dragon’s knight was would be the man with whom Gowan was supposed to share his mate.
    Gowan scratched the back of his neck, still uncertain as to how that was supposed to work. He’d never really been exposed to the three-way relationships that were the norm in dragon Lairs. Knights and their problems were about as far removed from Gowan’s old life as a simple soldier as the stars were from the ocean he found himself fishing that day.
    Feeling a telltale tug on his line, Gowan set to work reeling in the fish who had taken his bait. The fisherman wandered off to check his own gear, and only the lap of the waves against the hull of the wooden boat and the occasional splash could be heard for a long time.
    When they’d caught enough fish for the day, the fisherman turned his boat toward the shore, and Gowan helped the man clean up and prepare the small vessel for the next day. It was only polite. And Gowan liked the guy, rough as he was.
    The sea-colored dragon and the girl were still out fishing, so Gowan calculated that he could make it to the Lair—to drop off his catch and