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

sweet. The yellow is primarily mustard seed with dill. The brown is beef gravy. Any of those would go well with what you ordered,” she offered.
    She noticed he picked two of the sauces and placed a cautious dollop of each on the edge of his plate. A discerning man, then. Not one to jump in blind with both feet. He was more cautious than that.
    When Livia took a seat at one of the wooden tables Liam kept for his customers in front of the stall, the man followed. He held his plate in his hand, waiting until she looked up at him.
    “I know this is very forward, but may I sit with you? I promise I am not some random stranger. I’m actually from the Lair and on my first day off in a strange town. I’m only recently arrived.” He managed to look harmless, which was quite a feat for someone of his size and build. He was clearly a soldier of some sort—probably a knight, if he truly was from the Lair. “My name is Gowan Hunter, youngest son of Lord Dariath Hunter of Hunt’s Keep along the River Arundelle.”
    “Impressive pedigree,” she nodded, having heard such things from suitors in the past. Suddenly, the man was a little less interesting. “If it’s true,” she muttered.
    He had the grace to look sheepish. “It’s true, though I rarely use any of that anymore. Forgive me, I made assumptions knowing you were a gentle lady.”
    “I may have been born to a life of ease, but I am not noble,” she protested.
    “Truthfully, none of that matters to me. I left home long ago and have lived the life of a simple soldier for many years.”
    He was still standing there, holding his plate as his pie cooled. She took pity and gestured toward the seat opposite her, across the wooden plank table. He sat, placing his plate in front of him.
    “I’m Livia,” she introduced herself as he sat down. “Something tells me that you are no longer such a simple soldier though,” she said, before biting into her pie.
    He smiled somewhat ruefully. “My life has taken some strange turns of late. One minute, I was training a company on the plain outside of Castleton. The next, a pretty blue dragon landed beside me and struck up a conversation. My life has not been the same since.”
    “There was talk of a light blue dragon arriving recently,” Livia offered, still unsure if this man was for real, or just a spinner of tales.
    “That would be Gen. Lady Genlitha, if you want to be formal. She trained here as a young dragon, and we were sent to take over for an injured knight while he recovers. We are learning our way as a new partnership, as well, before heading into battle. I hope.” He added that last little bit almost under his breath, but she heard it.
    “You wish to join the fighting in the north?”
    “We both want to do what we can to keep our land safe,” he replied carefully. “I do not revel in bloodshed. I have seen enough of it in my time.” His eyes took on a weary cast that made her heart go out to him. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to stray into such dark waters.”
    They ate in silence for a few moments.
    “The gravy is a nice complement to the flavor,” he said a short while later, clearly wanting to change the subject.
    She nodded, still unsure of him. Was he a fortune hunter, simply trying a new tack with her? She’d seen it all in recent years. Without her father here a lot of the time, she’d had to learn how to fend off unwanted attentions from scoundrels who thought to marry her and live off her father’s money.
    “If you’re a knight, where is your dragon?” she asked, speaking her mind bluntly. It may not be polite, but she’d learned how to come to the point since running her father’s businesses in his absence.
    Gowan chuckled. “She is teaching some of the younger fliers today while I went fishing.”
    “Fishing?”
    He nodded. “Yes, milady. I saw you out there with your dragon friend. I was duly impressed by him. Sir Hrardorr, wasn’t it?”
    “He doesn’t like people from the Lair to