"Did you assume all dragons were male?" she asked, amused.
Kael opened his mouth. Closed it. "I assumed the ancient retainer of the Lightning Emperor would be... a bit more..."
"Masculine?" She raised an eyebrow. "I've been a dragon for five thousand years. Form doesn't mean much to us. Male, female—both are just shapes." She shrugged. "But yes. I'm female."
Kael blinked. Hhhh. He decided not to pursue the topic further.
"Come," she said. "You need to eat."
She led him through the palace corridors—massive hallways of black stone and golden lightning veins. The palace was enormous. Kael had realized this when he first entered, but walking through it reinforced the scale. Each corridor was wide enough for the dragon's true form to pass through comfortably. Doors were ten meters tall. Ceilings vanished into shadow.
