“What kind of lodgings?”

A single draken voice cut through the others, pitched high in interest. The others perked their ears in interest, silent and at attention in order to hear my response. I would have laughed if the situation wasn’t serious.

“And how big?” another draken asked. They all began speaking over each other, their words tumbling forth like a dam that had sprung a leak.

“It will be whatever she wants! Tell us and we will build it!”

“We’ll prove to her she can trust us!”

I grinned in victory even as Benedict relaxed next to me.

“Conniving minx,” he muttered, and I preened under the praise. I kept my chin up, my expression harsh.

Out of the side of my mouth, I muttered to Benedict. “Why don’t you get them started, and I’ll procure the details? Nothing like a little project to focus the troops.”

Benedict rolled his eyes, but I knew he’d already agreed. I shifted to the meadow outside of the volcano as he began barking orders. Once I arrived, I called out to the female drakens.

“Hello! Is Xana available? It’s about her lodgings.” Hopefully they heard me. I wouldn’t breach their trust by entering their home unannounced or uninvited.

I waited patiently in the tall grass, enjoying the sun’s rays as they soaked into my skin. I had missed the warmth of the sun when I was trapped in the fortress. I wondered what Thad was doing. If he was ok. As if the mention of him was a buried trigger, a fresh wave of pain radiated down my spine. I gritted my teeth and opened my eyes, alarmed to find Xana standing in front of me. I jumped back, my hand to my chest.

“You scared me!”

Her eyes narrowed. “I thought you had training? I’m hardly silent.”

I was too tired to argue, so let it go. Hadn’t Benedict mentioned she was a warrior as well? Xana arched a dark eyebrow, the greens and pinks of her iridescent, white scales winking back at me under the sun.

“What is your question?” she asked succinctly.

I grinned. “I think you should come and see for yourself.”

I brought Xana to my treehouse, downwind and out of range of the draken males who were working on her house. The project was keeping them busy, even if they’d gone slightly overboard. In their enthusiasm to welcome back an unmated female, they tore several of their own houses down and had started building what looked to be less of a house and more of a manor towards the center of the valley.

“I hope you like palaces.”

Xana stared from the window, her claws lightly gripping the edges. “Shouldn’t Benedict reign them in a bit?”

I watched the progress next to her, laughing as a shift of drakens worked manically on digging out a pit for a bathing pool. Ronan chuckled from his desk across from us and went back to the pile of letters. Xana shot him a wary glance, then went back to watching the males work. A slight smirk curled at the corner of her lips, and I resisted the urge to chuckle myself. It would be a miracle if one of the males could finally win her over, but this at least was a start.