Read Dragonvein - Book Three for Free Online

Lylinora and Ethan had once been intimate. “I think I’ll be fine on my own,” she sniffed.
    “I’m sure you would be. But just being fine should not be what you aim to achieve.” She caught Kat’s arm and halted her. At the same time, her features softened and her tone took on a sisterly quality. “Don’t you want your love expressed to its fullest potential?”
    Kat thought on this for a moment. It had crossed her mind that she was still a virgin. What little she knew about sex was from listening to the other kids on the farm. And they didn’t know very much. Would Ethan be disappointed? Would she ?
    “Just how can you help?” she asked.
    Lylinora took her hand. “My mother was quite insistent that I be prepared for the day I took a husband.”
    “You mean you talked with your mother about how to have sex?” Kat asked, her voice a combination of deep shock and disgust.
    Lylinora shook her head and flashed an amused smile. “Spirits, no! She had someone else do that for her. Someone quite experienced. I was taught that love making is more than just a physical act. There is a side to both men and women that only true love can reveal. I want to pass on what I was taught. Hopefully then, your first time will be everything you have ever dreamed of.”
    The last of Kat's hostility gradually faded away. “In that case, I accept your offer,” she said after a short pause.
    Lylinora gave her hand a light squeeze. “Good.”
    As they continued on toward the shore, Kat noticed that Lylinora’s smile hadn’t completely faded. It was as if she was recalling some fond memory. “Did you love your first?” she asked.
    It took a long moment before Lylinora replied. “I didn’t in the beginning. But later, I did.”
    “What happened to him?”
    Lylinora lowered her eyes. “I imagine that he’s getting ready for tonight.”
    It took a moment for Kat to understand what she was saying. Then, in a rush, it came to her. “You mean that Ethan…”
    Lylinora held up her hand. “Don’t think about it. It wasn’t meant to be. Besides, I have found in Markus what I was looking for all along.”
    “But I...I thought…” Kat stammered. “I mean the way you acted, I just assumed…”
    “Assumed that I’ve had many lovers? No. Ethan was the first.”
    “But why?”
    “That is a subject for another time,” Lylinora replied, clearly not wanting to go further. “Right now, we will concentrate on your needs.”

Chapter Three
     
    King Halvar stared across the stone table at the tall muscular elf seated directly opposite him. Only with great effort was he able to mask his contempt, which at that moment was bordering on outright hatred. He was forced to remind himself that this particular elf had done nothing wrong. More than that, he and the others with him had in fact cared for all the dwarf wounded, and, as they'd promised King Ganix, delivered them safely to Elyfoss.
    He wasn't sure how much time had passed since the elf had taken his seat. But the silence Halvar had maintained was certainly long enough to be looked upon as unwelcoming. Even hearing that a truce had been reached with the elves, and the fact that they had saved the lives of thousands of dwarves, had not prepared him for this moment. He should say something. But the right words eluded him. Lotheri - that was this elf’s name. A king. He didn’t even know elves had kings.
    “I feel much the same, Your Highness,” Lotheri said suddenly. His strong, even voice was startling as it broke through the air and reverberated off the stone walls. “To be inside Elyfoss and to sit with its ruler is equally unsettling for me.”
    Halvar took a long breath and nodded slowly. “Then we agree that this situation is…unusual.”
    In stark contrast to Halvar’s grim demeanor, Lotheri displayed a friendly smile. “Unusual indeed. But life under the shadow of Shinzan is coming to an end. So perhaps the unusual will soon become commonplace.”
    “I assume you