by Kendal Davis
“All right, yes, I knew from the moment you arrived through the portal that we were going to have to face this set of circumstances. I just didn’t know how to handle it. I thought that if you could be my honored guest for the first night, I would figure out a plan.” It sounded lame even to my ears.
“How is it that you don’t have a Countess?” She spoke abruptly, her nimble mind moving from one topic to another.
I laughed aloud at her shamelessness.
“Am I not supposed to ask that?” She hardly bothered to look abashed. “I never do manage to say the right thing. Mostly I just ask the questions that interest me, and it goes from there. So?”
“I never met a dragon that I wanted to make my mate.”
“Do your kind made for life?” She showed open curiosity. “If you are immortal, then there’s no room for things going wrong.”
“Yes. My parents have been mated for more years than you can even imagine.”
She let my filial pomposity pass without remark. “But where are the women in your castle? I saw only men the whole time we were up there. The town is full of families. Women and children mingle freely with the men here on the streets of the village. Where are the dragon women?”
I chuckled at her persistent attempts at detective work. “There’s nothing nefarious about it. They merely lead private lives, out of the world of work and industry. They spend their days together, in music, or handicrafts.”
“That sounds boring for them.”
“I’ve never considered that possibility.” I cocked my head. “It might be, actually.”
“The peasant women aren’t like that at all. Look at them.” As we’d been walking, the townspeople had returned to their daily lives around us. Olivia watched them keenly. Women in gauzy skirts and thick braids hauled water, arranged goods in shop windows, and swept pathways. They wiped their hands on their aprons and slapped at the bites of mosquitoes as they worked. They looked like...well...townspeople. She was interested in them, but I saw little of note. Why did she keep harping on them?
Olivia persisted. “What’s the point of all this work, though? You said that magic is what powers your society. That makes their labor irrelevant. Do the peasants know that?”
“Of course they do. They can see just as well as anybody when their food stores replenish themselves and their fires light when needed. They are aware that dragon magic keeps the sand snakes from entering the town. Nobody here ever wants for anything.” I pulled gently on Olivia’s hand, drawing her closer to me. I changed which of my hands was holding hers, so I could wind my arm around her back and rest my thumb on her hip. She gasped lightly at the new touch, but she did not move away.
Did she think she needed to buy her safety from me by allowing me to touch her?
Anything but that. The last thing I wanted to be was a threat to her, to coerce her into appearing to like me. This wasn’t that kind of date. Yet we both knew that the counting ceremony loomed, with the probable result that I would have to destroy her. This vibrant woman, so unlike anyone I had ever met before was indeed in danger, and I was the cause.
Olivia, as always, was too lost in thought to notice my self-absorbed concerns. She ventured into a new line of questioning. “Why can’t the peasants work their own magic?”
“I told you, that’s not a possibility. They are as devoid of magical ability as you are.”
“Thanks!” she answered wryly. “It is true, though, at least about me. I know that I’m too rooted in the literal world. I’ve always known that. Men I’ve met at home think of it as tedious, so it feels very different to hear you say you like it.” She met my eyes with a thoughtful look. “But really, how do you know for sure about the townspeople having no magic? Has there never been a mixed couple that produced a child that was half-dragon, half-peasant?”
I felt my face twist in disapproval. “Oh no. That would not be possible. It is true that there have been certain...ah, some dragon men have taken peasant women to bed.” At the sight of her inquiring smirk, I hurried to add, “I have not, so I can’t tell you much about it.” She hummed a little chuckle in response. How was it that she charmed me so, when she did not show me the proper respect? “However, I do know that a dragon cannot make a human pregnant. There can be no children. Your theory is moot. There are no half-breeds here.”
Olivia was still tucked into the curve of my arm, but her back had grown stiff while I spoke. I thought I could hear what was going on in her mind, no matter how hard she might be trying to mute it. I stopped at the edge of a small, decoratively sanded park, looking down at her with concern.
“What did I say?” I was trying for gentle, but ended up with brusque. “You were relaxed while I was holding you, and now you’re not. What happened?”
She tried for a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I didn’t mean to stop you. It was just that your words, that precise phrase, reminded me of something. ‘‘There can be no children,’ is exactly what my doctor once said to me. She used just the same, matter-of-fact tone that you just did. I don’t know why the memory hit me so hard.”
Olivia shrugged, clearly wishing she hadn’t spoken of something so private. This was the first sign I’d seen that she even knew what reticence was.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured. Even a bold woman like this had a soft spot. It was logical, but it still came as a surprise to me. “Look at this,” I encouraged her, wanting to help her move past the bad memory. “You were asking what the peasants are so busy doing, when they don’t need to work for their food or shelter. The town is full of these little parks, these focal areas for meditation. One of the primary jobs of every peasant is to keep the sand raked and cared for.” At some level, I wanted to impress her with the tidy organization of our town. Was it so wrong that I was proud of it?
Olivia’s pointed little face lit up. “Oh! It’s a meditation walk!”
Bemused, I let go of her hand to step back and yield the starting spot to her. “You’ve seen something like this before?”
“Maybe not quite like this one, but close. So the user walks the path to center the mind? How comforting.”
Without waiting for an answer, she began to step daintily through the medallion’s curvatures. Her bare legs slipped through the slits in her lightweight skirt as she moved, treating me to glimpses of the supple lines of her thighs. The sun burned hotter on my skin than it had before as I watched her swoop and glide through the maze, moving with a dancer’s grace. If we were alone, I would relish the chance to take her in my arms and run my hands down her body, cupping her full breasts and holding the swell of her hips against mine.
It was sweltering out here.
And I was a dragon, used to feeling all the heat of the sun without blinking.
As she completed the motions of the walk, she lifted her eyes to meet mine. Whatever tension had been between us was resolved. She had managed, through the meditative powers of the park, to put her sorrow about her past behind her. In this moment, we were almost two ordinary people, connected by something fiercely strong and yet of unknowable duration. We both felt it, I was sure of it. It was poignant and sweet.
Until I ruined it by answering her question.
“You asked why a human would walk the meditation path. The peasants walk the path to center not the mind, but the emotions. Our goal is to refine their human feelings, to distill them into their most concentrated, most exquisite form.”
Olivia looked amused. “You sound as if you’re talking about a drink.” Then the ramifications of what we had both said hit her and she actually stumbled, her feet landing awkwardly on the surface of the cobblestone road. “Oh. You are.”
Her eyes darted around the street in front of us. She was considering fleeing me. That was how appalled she was by what I had just said. I could tell that as surely as if she had spoken aloud. But there was nowhere for her to go. If she left my company, she would be even less safe than she was now. If that were even possible.
; Her life was in peril here, no matter where on Elter she stood. The only way I could guaranteed her safety was if I allowed her to pass through the portal and return home. I could not do that, because it meant compromising my rule of my House.
Instead of running from me, though, Olivia was now standing perfectly still. Her gaze was transfixed by something in the village scene ahead of us.
“Indigo,” she whispered. “Look at that woman.” She lifted her chin slightly to point out a young woman with long, straight brown hair. I had to take a second look to see what she wanted to show me. I was accustomed to ignoring the peasants when I was forced by my duties to be anywhere in the town. I did not mind having them as servants in the castle, but here in their own element, I pretended as hard as I could that I was somewhere else.
Not this time.
When I truly looked at the woman with the brown hair and the bright green eyes, I saw that there was indeed something unusual about her. She was the only one of the peasants who was glowing.
It was the slightest, most subtle shine possible in the air around her, but Olivia had been able to spot it. That gave me a new respect for her observational abilities. I stared at the young peasant woman, furrowing my brow as I watched her. She was carrying bags from her wagon to the door of a little shop, taking several trips to bring in all her wares. Every movement she made left a little burn of her aura on my retina. She was most definitely emitting light.
Olivia touched my arm softly. “You said the peasants had no magic? Are you so sure of that?”
I clenched my jaw in response. Was it possible that she was right?
“If they do, perhaps they are not as different from dragons as you believe. That may change how you perceive your ceremony. Indigo, they are not animals. They...we...are not cattle. These are real people. They are humans!”
She was right. It seemed that Olivia, this unwilling traveler between worlds, headstrong beyond belief in comparison to the decorous dragon women I knew, was always right. It was uncanny.
All I could think of to say in answer was something that sounded woefully inadequate when it reached my own ears. “Yes, they are humans. Perhaps they may have magic. It may be intriguing to see that. But they are not dragons. And that is that.”
Somehow, through some drifting bit of magic on the dry, hot wind, my words reached the peasant woman we had been watching. At the very moment that Olivia began to simmer with anger at how final my words sounded to her, this unknown, green-eyed woman lifted her head.
She had heard me. And to her ears, my admission that she might have magical powers similar those of a dragon mine was not an ending, but a beginning.
Chapter 9: Olivia
Indigo strode forward, newly energized at the idea that he might learn something new about his townspeople. He treated them like pets. Much as I loved gathering data, it hurt my heart beyond describing to realize that he was not jesting when he discounted the importance of humans in contrast to dragons. He truly meant that. It was a cornerstone of his being.
The entire idea of his existence was crazy. A world of dragons? It was so wild that it seemed small-minded to worry about whether he acted the way I wanted him to.
Being here was the most unexpected thing that had ever happened to me, to say the least. But on some level, I felt that I had been robbed of something I was beginning to cherish. Was there really no chance that something genuine could develop between us? Wasn’t he showing every sign that he was attracted to me? That he needed me?
Not that I was so very familiar with those signs. I had been legendarily unpopular with boys in my youth, and...well, ever since. But here and now, I was finally making a connection with somebody who wanted me. He’d whispered it in my mind. He did; I knew it. And it was becoming harder to suppress my own ache of desire for him. I didn’t need to hide that from myself. There was no need to keep secrets from my own mind, right?
Unless he was listening.
Not even then. That wasn’t me. It just wasn’t.
The woman with the long brown hair was watching him, as a mouse might watch a cat. No, she was not as vulnerable as that. She did not show any fear, merely wariness. He, however, was indeed catlike as he advanced toward her. All the townspeople in the street stopped to watch, making me realize that conversational exchange between human and dragon was completely unheard of.
She curtsied politely, saying nothing and keeping her eyes down.
“You there,” Indigo addressed her, with both volume and dignity. “Are you in possession of dragon magic?”
“Of course not, sir,” she spoke softly. On his approach, she had paused in her work of arranging the small burlap bags in her wagon. Now she stood facing him, with her graceful hands on her hips. “May I ask a question of you in turn?” Those around her gasped at her boldness, but she went on. “Are your guests to be counted as peasants in the ceremony tonight?”
I flinched at the bluntness of her inquiry. Was it so obvious to everybody in the town that this was the stumbling block that my dragon Count had run up against? That he was agonizing over this small matter, which extended to his entire understanding of his world?
It was on my mind as well, certainly.
So it was something of a relief to know that every peasant around us, as they parted to make space as we walked, as they averted their eyes and grew deathly silent as Indigo drew near, that they were all as riveted by this question as I was.
Indigo, however, did not look relieved at the question. Instead, he bellowed at her, “You know that it is forbidden to speak to me of the counting ceremony!” His face was suffused with rage. Until now, I had not understood how the proud man I’d met could also be the vengeful dragon who destroyed the lives of peasants. Now I did.
Seeing him lash out at her caused my stomach to freeze in worry. Maybe I had been fantasizing about something that wasn’t at all real, projecting foolishly romantic ideas onto him
The green-eyed woman merely curtsied without speaking another word. She continued to meet his eyes, though, causing every other peasant on the street to retreat into buildings. We were now the only ones out in the dry heat of midday. Her audacity in pitting her wits against those of a dragon was admirable. At least, I liked her for it. The powerful blue dragon ruler at my side was not appreciative in the same way.
“You know you should not ask me this, but you do,” Indigo said, quieter this time. His stance was no longer casual as he searched her face. Something about his body had grown still, and yet full of coiled power at the same time. He was trying to learn more about her magical capabilities.
She smiled slowly. “You cannot reach my mind, sir. I may be a townswoman, but I am not an animal to be toyed with. You will learn that.” With an unutterable grace, she stepped forward, closing the distance between us. She extended her slender hand toward Indigo in a gesture of greeting that suggested she knew them to be peers, no matter what misinformation he might have brought to their meeting. “I am Laurel,” she said. She smiled at me, and nodded toward her shop. “Come in, please.”
I walked behind her without looking at Indigo. I was desperate to hear what she could tell us about her magic. Stiffly, as if placing the burden of his dragon pride on the street, divesting himself of it temporarily, he followed me.
Laurel indicated that we seat ourselves around her ornately carved, heavy wooden table. As we did, I reminded myself that there were no trees on this world, no plants at all in this desert. If she had a table, it must have been made by dragon magic. She would know all too well that her dragon lord’s powers came at the expense of peasant lives. Did that make her a hypocrite, to have such a luxury?
“I see that you admire my table,” she said to me. Her acute eyes missed nothing. “It is not of dragon origin. I made it myself, with my own powers.”
Indigo spoke softly. “That is not possible. And yet...I can feel from your aura that it is true.” He ran his hand over the wooden surface. “How were you able to do this?”
“I have always had magic,” she admitted. “It was a secret for many years, until very recently, when somebody came to me to inquire about it. I have resolved that I will hide it no longer. I am the only townsperson I know who can do something like this, but I try to teach the others what I can. My herbs help, I think.”
I surveyed the interior of the little shop, realizing that she was an herbalist. Not so far from being a hedge witch, at least in my world. There were little brown bags arrayed on the counter and on shelves, each one with a neat label denoting its contents. Behind the counter were bunches of bound greenery that hung upside down in rows from the ceiling. Smells were everywhere, coming at me from different directions. Some were pungent, or sweet, or grassy, but together they all made up a whole that was entirely its own scent. It was perhaps the most relaxing place I had ever been.
“Your herbs,” Indigo gestured to them. “We dragons encourage them for the same reason that we require the meditation gardens. There are many herbalists in the town; of course you know that. Your daily work is to promote the deveopment and elevation of feelings. That mission is central to the life’s purpose of humans.”
“Indigo, stop,” I hissed.
He turned to me, looking matter of fact. “She knows her role. All peasants do. It is not a shameful thing here.”
“Well, it ought to be,” I retorted.
He ignored my condemnation. “I will ask you this only once, Laurel. Did you use your magic to interfere with the workings of our portal between the dimensions? It is a vile crime to have done so.” Unexpectedly, his strong hand moved across the tabletop to softly cover mine. “Although I am beginning to realize that it may have been a good thing for Elter after all.”
Laurel, the woman who had been unafraid to stand up to a dragon, to the ruler of her House while standing in the street, gasped at his words. She observed the tender way he reached for my hand and she parted her lips in confusion. Seeing her surprise, I guessed that she was not the sort of plotter who could have expected an outcome in which Indigo fell in love with me.