The Dragon's Rogue

Chapter 15

It wasn't easy to convince Cillumn, of my need to explore the forest outside of the aerie. However, ingredients did not simply grow within the pale stone walls. Especially not the type of ingredients I was after. He had first convinced another Lord and three shifter warriors to join us, and insisted we stay within sight of the aerie walls. I couldn't decide if he was always so protective, or the new developments in the forest just worried him that much.

"Tell me again what exactly we are doing wondering the forest?" the blond lord Cillumn had enlisted asked. He had one foot propped up against a boulder and rested an elbow upon the bent knee. The position was striking and highlighted his muscular back and waist. Which, I assumed, was why he struck the pose to begin with. I couldn't tell who he was trying to impress, but the brilliant jade cuffs and collar that lined his black shirt indicated he was looking for attention. Like one of the brightly colored male birds hopping around and flashing their feathers.

"Frog hunting," I answered when no one else spoke. Then I realized it was more of a complaint than a question.

"Yes, but why?" he hopped down from his perch, a section of forest floor that rose above the rest and nudged something toward me with his very shiny boots. I looked down.

"I need them alive if I am going to scrape the poison," I grouched. The thing laying dead at my feet was not going to help anyone. A pointless death too. It wasn't the frog's fault it had protection against predation.

The blond lord frowned at me, and then the limp creature at his feet.

"How am I supposed to secure it? These are poisonous you know," he raised a brow my direction, his eyes flashed with something...an attempt at charm? Was he showing off for me?

"The poison is inert once it has been exposed to oxygen for more than five minutes. So long as you don't suck on them gathering the frogs with your hands should be fine."

He studied me with a critical eye. "But what if you're wrong? What if the poison lasts six minutes and I ingest some? The world wouldn't be the same without all of this magnificence."

His eyebrows rose and fell, some sort of cue for me. He struck his pose once more and tilted his head, as if to prove a point.

"Strale, if I knew you were going to waste time and try to entice Lis, I wouldn't have asked for your help," Cillum strode over to us, a handful of green wriggling frogs with bright red spots in his hands. I opened the old leather sack we were using for collecting so that he could dump them in.

"Sure you would, I know you have missed my presence as much as I missed yours," Strale leapt sideways and reached down, holding up a fist with two gangly legs protruding from it when he straightened. "A month is a long time to go without a good spar...or a good fuc..."

"I think we have enough frogs, don't we Lis?" Cillumn interrupted, glowering at his friend.

"Great," Strale grinned and then frowned down at his hands. "There is a painting lesson beginning in an hour and I have finagled my way into modeling. It's hard to ignore a Lord you are trying to paint. Especially a magnificent lord...a naked magnificent Lord," he looked at me from where he stood. "Do you paint?"

Cillumn groaned a little, and his fingers flexed. It looked as though he might be considering punching his friend. I shook my head.

"No? That's unfortunate, I could use a student to point out all of my finer features to the other painters...one in particular."

"You need someone to point out your finer features?" Cillumn snorted in disbelief, "you rarely talk about anything else.

Strale sniffed. "Any Lord worth his balls will take any help he can get. Besides, this particular student is adept at avoiding conversation with me, which leaves me with no time to point out my magnificence. Having a second opinion, a female opinion might help her open her eyes."