Page 36 of Dragon Unbound (Dragon Kings 3)
He looked at her and smiled. “Verra much.”
“Does it hurt?”
“What?”
“When you shift from dragon to human and back?”
He shrugged. “The first time was excruciating. It’s a good thing none of us tried to run or fight right after because we were clumsy.” He laughed at the memory. “We had no idea how to use our arms or legs. Our wings and tails were suddenly gone. It was verra…strange.”
“I can imagine,” she said with a chuckle.
“The shift happens so quickly, that we doona feel anything. Or perhaps we doona allow ourselves to think about it.”
“Or maybe your bodies are used to it now.”
He grinned. “Maybe.”
Her smile faded as she stared at the approaching forest. “I can’t remember the last time I walked into the woods like this.”
“No one will be looking for you today.”
“What if there are soldiers?”
“Let me take care of it.”
She focused on the forest so hard that Cullen feared she would crack. He had to take her mind off it because if she was like this with the woods, she would be worse at Stonemore.
“Does everyone speak the same language here?” he asked.
Tamlyn glanced at him sharply as if she were annoyed to have her thoughts interrupted. “What?”
“Your dialect. We call it English. Does everyone speak it?”
She shook her head. “We call it Urtish.”
“Urtish,” he said, trying out the name.
“Other languages are spoken. There’s Surun and Istrati, that I know of. I’ve heard there are others, but I’ve not traveled that far to hear them.”
“Can you speak Surun or Istrati?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Not very well. The Surun language is that of the Amazons. Jenefer taught me some of it. I can understand it if spoken, but I can’t really make myself understood.”
“And the Istrati?”
“A little.” She said a phrase that sounded like a cross between those spoken in Asia and India.
He motioned for her to say more. She repeated the sentence. By the middle of it, he understood what she was saying and replied to her in the same language.
Tamlyn halted, her eyes wide. “You know Istrati?”
“I do now.”
“You can pick up languages like that?”
He nodded, smiling. “All Dragon Kings can.”
“Well, that should make things easy for you.”
They continued onward. Cullen wondered if she’d realized they had just entered the woods. He wasn’t going to tell her. She was relaxed, her mind on other things.
“How many languages does your realm have?” she asked.
Cullen made a face. “Over six thousand.”
“That many? How many people are there?”
“Over seven billion.”
Her gaze locked on the dirt road as she absorbed that. “I can’t fathom that number.”
“Do you know how many are on Zora?”
“Not a clue,” she said as she briefly met his gaze. Then she looked around, comprehending where she was. She swung her head back to him, but there was no censure on her face as she smiled. “Thank you for distracting me.”
“I willna let anything happen to you.”
She twisted her lips and looked farther down the winding road. “I’m not sure I can make that same promise.”
Cullen laughed softly. “I’ll be fine, lass.”
“You have a peculiar accent.”
“It’s called Scottish where I’m from.”
“Is Urtish, I mean…what did you call this language?”
“English,” he offered.
She nodded. “Is English your main language?”
“In this form.”
Her brows shot up in her forehead. “What language do dragons speak?”
“We communicate telepathically. Meaning, we doona use words with our mouths, but with our minds.”
“That’s amazing,” she replied softly.
Cullen was pleased at the astonishment that brightened her eyes. “What else do you want to know?”
