by T. J. Quinn
“It’s a lovely name.” she nodded, taking deep breaths, trying to keep her feelings under control. “Is it as big as it looks, or it’s just closer to the planet?”
“It’s big,” his hands slid up and down her arms a few times, as he stepped even closer to her. It was both a pleasure and torture to have her this close to him, but he couldn’t find strength in himself to stay away.
He knew he had to go slow, to conquer her heart and not only her body, but he was having trouble fighting his instincts, keeping his Drogon appeased, when all he wanted was to make her his.
“Perhaps, I should go back to bed,” she said after a few moments, stepping away from his touch. The last thing she wanted was to make a fool of herself.
“The sun will be up in a short while. A new day is coming,” he informed, turning to look at her, already heading to her bedroom, almost as if she was running away from something.
“I have no place to go, so no hurry to leave the bed. Have a good day, Prince Haakon,” she said closing the window.
But she didn’t go back to sleep, she was too aroused, too anxious to even consider the possibility. She had to get a grip on herself. Falling for someone like Haakon would only bring her problems, especially if she was going to be forced to accept another man as her soul mate. She rubbed her eyes, keeping some silly tears away from her eyes and decided to take a bath. The warm water would calm her down, and by the time she was done, she would go to find something to eat. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a bite.
When she came out of the bathroom, there were clean clothes on her bed, and she looked around, waiting to see Haakon there, but she was alone.
They had brought her one of the suits she had seen them using, but this one was a lot smaller, probably for a kid. She doubted they’d had time to make clothes for her and Erin and she guessed they would need a few pieces of advice on that. These suits were warm and comfortable, but a total pain if you needed to use the toilet.
They had even brought her some kind slippers for her to cover her feet and soon she was ready to go find some food.
She decided to go see if Erin was already up. Perhaps she would like to join her on her quest for breakfast.
Chapter Two
She left her room and reached her friend’s room, knocking gently at her door. “Erin, are you up?” she asked, not sure, she would be able to hear through the door. Things were very different in this new world.
The door opened up, and her friend came out, already dressed up, just like her. “Hi, Rosalind, I was about to go call you. Will you join me for breakfast?” she asked, with a broad smile.
“Yes, of course, I’m famished.”
“Of course you are, you missed dinner last night. I considered calling you, but Haakon said it was better to let you sleep, that you looked too tired,” she said as she slid her hand on Rosalind’s arm, guiding her through the hallways.
“Yes, I was. I woke up a couple of hours ago.”
“It’s understandable. I was feeling tired too, but I was too excited to sleep. Fritjof showed me the palace and its gardens, and we have so much in common, I couldn’t make myself go to sleep and waste a moment in his company. How silly is that?” the other woman chuckled, and Rosalind did too, but hers wasn’t as happy as her friends was.
“What do you think about the soul mate’s story?” she asked Erin. “Do you think they were telling us the truth?”
Erin tilted her head to look at Rosalind, her expression suddenly serious. “Yes, I do believe they were telling us the truth,” she had taken a deep breath before she went on. “In fact, I’m almost sure Fritjof is my soul mate, my other half.”
Rosalind stopped her and made her look at her. “What if he isn’t? You could be falling for someone you’ll have to say goodbye to,” she had no intention of being cruel or ruining her happiness, but she didn’t want to see her friend getting hurt.
“The King said it was like an instinct, a certainty deep inside you, right?” she asked, smiling.
Rosalind nodded.
“Well, that’s what I feel. What I felt since the first moment I saw him. A voice inside my head just yelled at me: it’s him, the man you have been looking for your whole life, is just in front of you.”
“Well, I hope you’re right. I would hate to see you hurt.”
“You won’t. I’m sure you’ll feel the same way when your soulmate shows up.”
They resumed their way to the meals room, as they called it, according to Erin and when they finally got there, the king and Fritjof were already there.
“Good day, ladies, how are you this morning?” the king greeted them, with a wide smile.
“Fine, thank you,” Rosalind answered watching as Fritjof and Erin greeted each other.
Even her skeptical mind had to admit there seemed to be something going on between those two.
“You must be hungry, Víf Rosalind,” The King said. “Allow me to order you some breakfast.”
“Thank you, I would appreciate that, but please, call me just Rosalind,” she asked him, taking a seat on the table and looking at the king manipulating a thin screen he had just pulled up from the table.
He showed her some plates of food on the screen. “This is meat, and this is what you might call bread?” he signaled some of it.
“That would be fine, thank you.” she accepted, and he placed the order.
“You have to try their coffee, Rosalind, it’s fantastic,” Erin said from across the table.
“Coffee? They have coffee here?” she was surprised.
“Not exactly coffee, they call it mungát, but I’m sure you’ll love it,” Erin smiled pouring a cup of the dark beverage and handing it to her friend. “It will make you feel full of energy in just a few seconds.”
Rosalind took a look at the cup her friend had given her, not sure she wanted to try. It sounded like some kind of addictive drug.
“It’s harmless, I assure you. It only contains extracts of some of our plants,” The King explained, noticing her suspicions.
“The most powerful drugs on earth come from plants, and still their effect is terrible,” she pointed out.
“These plants are even considered medicinal, and they don’t cause any kind of addiction.”
She wasn’t convinced, but she could use some energy. Though she had slept like a rock, she was still feeling a bit out of place, especially when she looked at Erin and saw just how easily she had adjusted to the whole situation.
She took a sip to the drink and let it linger in her mouth, to fully taste it. It was delicious, with that, same bittersweet characteristic coffee had, and, just like Erin said, you could feel the energy rushing through your body.
“Isn’t it good?” Erin asked smiling.
“Yes, you were right,” she admitted.
The food arrived, brought by a man and she was about to start eating when the hairs on her neck stood up. Footsteps behind her had announced him before he took a seat in front of her.
“Good morning all,” he greeted, and despite his words, his eyes were fixed on her.
“Good morning, brother,” The King replied his greeting. “Since I’ve forced you to stay away from your beloved mountains for a while, can I convince you to become Rosalind’s tutor?”
“What? I don’t need any tutor,” she protested immediately.
“I’m sure our culture is very different from yours, so if you want to visit our city and get to know our people a bit more, you will need a guide,” The King assured her. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want to accidentally insult someone, right?”
“Of course not… but…”
“Then you’ll accept my brother’s help,” he concluded.
“I’m sure he has more important things to do than to babysit me,” she tried once more.
“As a matter of fact, no, I don’t. My brother needs me to stay in town for a few weeks, but other than being here, I don’t have much to do,” Haakon assured her.
Rosalind had to make a massive effort not huff her displeasure.
“Of course.”
“Then, it’s settled. What would you like to do?” he asked, with a wicked smile on his face.
She was sure he knew she didn’t want to be around him.
“You could take her for a ride around the city and show her the sea,” The King suggested.
“Is your sea also orange?” she asked, curious.
“Yes, it is. Our rain is transparent, but the minute it enters in contact with our soil, it becomes orange,” Haakon explained. “Our snow is also white, at least the top layers.”
“That’s curious,” she admitted.
“Would you like me to take on a tour then?” he asked, smiling.
“Yes, I guess. It’s not like I have anything else to do,” she had sighed before she turned to look at Erin. “What about you? What are you going to do?”
“Fritjof is taking me to the genetic labs. He’s going to show me the studies they have been making to solve their problem.”
“I see.”
“I can’t wait to see their advances in that field in particular,” the other woman admitted, clearly excited.
“I'm sure,” Rosalind sighed, seeing her last hope to avoid being alone with Haakon, go down the drain.
They finished eating, and Haakon guided her to the main door, where one of those hovering vehicles waited for them.
He helped her hop in, and soon they were driving away.
Rosalind couldn’t help noticing how big the palace’s grounds were.
“Your brother sure has a huge garden,” she teased him.
He smiled and shook his head. “It’s not really a garden. Underneath all that, there are shelters for all of the people in town in case of an attack.”
“Attack? From whom?”
“Other planets. We are a very wealthy people, and some would like to put their hands on that wealth,” he explained. “But we’re warriors; we’re ready for most of the possible scenarios.”
“Are you a soldier too?” she asked with a frown.
“I’m trained as one, and I wouldn’t doubt to return the military forces if needed, but it’s not my work,” he replied, as his eyes fled to the mountains bordering the city. “I guess I’m too wild for the ruled life of a soldier.”
“What do you do then?” she asked him as they crossed the palace’s gates.
“I have what you would call a farm up in the mountains. We raise zubries, the primary source of protein of our people.”
She chuckled surprised. She had always fantasized about the cowboys she had read about in the history books. They had always seemed to be reckless, fearless men, even indomitable.
“It amuses you?” he asked, puzzled.
She shook her head. “No… sorry, it’s a private joke.”
He glanced at her for a few moments.
“You still drive your own vehicles,” she pointed out, changing the subject.
They were going through the streets of the city, and several other vehicles were circulating around them.
“Yes, we do. Artificial intelligence is excellent, and we use it in almost every aspect of our lives, but not driving vehicles nor piloting our ships,” he replied.
“How come?” on Earth, auto-piloted cars were very common. She didn’t like them, but she had grown used to them.
“A machine makes rational decisions, it will always choose the best option for the driver, and sometimes that decision isn't what the driver would take. I would rather die than kill a baby, for example. The machine wouldn’t see it that way.”
She nodded, and it was one of the reasons she didn’t like the cars. “I know what you mean.”
“But the vehicle will stop you from doing things that might jeopardize others, like use the brakes if you’ve lost control of the vehicle or something similar.”
“So you use a mix of both things – person and machine control.”
“Exactly. We’ve discovered it works better this way.”
“Yes, it sounds like it would,” she looked around, at the tall buildings, all made of the same material, all of the same color, in an endless monotony. “Why aren’t there any trees in town?”
“All of our trees are too big to grow up around buildings.”
“But I saw some, in the palace’s gardens,” she said, with a frown.
“Those are bushes.”
“Alright, then let me rephrase my question: why don’t you have bushes in town? I haven't seen a park, a square, nothing with bushes in it.”
“Why would we? People go out of town to enjoy the parks and the trees.”
“You must be a very strange people. How come it doesn’t bother you to see the same thing all the time?” she asked, shaking her head. “You’ll have to forgive me, but this is the most boring place I have ever seen. There is no color, no trees, nothing that kills the monotony of your gray buildings.”
He glanced at her with a deep frown. “What do you mean?”
She took a deep breath. “Your buildings are all made of the same material. Why is that?”
“It’s a unique material that captures all the heat possible from the sun rays and turns it into energy that supplies the building itself.”
“That’s perfect. Would adding some color to it diminish its efficiency somehow?
“No, I don’t think so.”
“So, why are they all gray? I can’t believe that’s the only color you like because your vehicles and your clothing are colorful.”
His frown became deeper. “It’s just the way it has always been done.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s well done,” she insisted, “You should ask your people what they would think about adding some color to their lives. You might believe that it’s silly, but it can change the way you feel, it can increase your level of self-satisfaction, and that’s transmitted to every factor of your life.”
He didn’t comment. Instead, he parked the car and helped her out. They were on the top of some sort of a hill, and from there they could see the shining sea.
“That’s amazing,” she said, with a sigh. “Is your sea water like the one from the rivers and lakes?”
“What do you mean?”
“Back on Earth, most of the planet is covered with seas, but the water is salted, unfit to drink unless you remove the salt from it,” she explained.
“Why is that?”
“The seas and oceans were formed soon after the planet, and they absorbed all of the minerals on the ground, at least, according to the theories we have. The salt can’t be evaporated, and so, when it rains, the water is sweet.”
“I guess it’s the same process we see here, the mineral that gives the water its orange color, can’t be evaporated either and that’s why the rain and the snow aren’t orange,” he explained. “Would you like to go down to the beach?” he asked her.
“Yes, of course, but how would we get there? I see no access,” she asked, looking around.
They were on top of a steep ravine.
“I can take if you let me,” he said, in a soft tone.
“How…?” she started asking as the image of his arrival to the councils’ room came to her mind. “You mean flying?” she asked, a bit startled.
“Yes, flying,” he confirmed, locking his eyes on hers. “Does the idea scare you?” he asked.
“No, of course not…” but her tone didn’t show as much certainty as her words.
“Do I scare you?” he asked instead.
“No, of course not,” This time there was no doubt in her tone.
She could even admit that to herself, but he didn’t scare her, at all. She wasn’t a very good friend of heights, that was all, but she wasn’t going to admit that to him.
He smiled, and with a swift movement, he got rid of his cape and displayed his leathery wings and with them the claws in the back of his hands. Now, that she was standing so close to him, she even noticed some scales on the back of his neck.
She gasped, amazed. “So, this is your Drogon form?” she asked, looking at him.
“No, this is halfway between both my forms. We use it when we need to fly,” he explained.
“I see. When do you change into your full Drogon form?” she had to ask, curiosity was killing her.
“Whenever I want, but mostly when we’re fighting. It’s a vital part of us, and sometimes you just feel you need to transform and let it free for a while,” he tried to explain.
“Of course,” she nodded.
He stretched his hand out to her. “Shall we?”
She had taken a deep breath before she put her hand in his. He pulled her gently towards him and embraced her, sliding his arms under hers.
Before she could utter another word, he flapped his wings, and they were up in the air.
She let out a small cry and wrapped her arms around his powerful neck, feeling the coarseness of his scales. The effect on her was the same as each time she touched him, or he touched her: jolts of energy rushed through her body. His halfway form didn’t put out the fire of her attraction, and she had the feeling his full form, as Drogon wouldn’t either. She was in deep trouble.
He chuckled and headed to the beach down below them. It only took him a few seconds, during which, she closed her eyes and hid her face on his chest.
He landed smoothly on the sand and lowered his arms to her waist without releasing her completely.
“You can open your eyes now,” he whispered in her ear.
She tilted her head back to look at him for a few seconds before she realized they were at the beach. “Oh, yes, of course,” she let her arms fall from his neck and took a step back, looking at the sea as heat colored her cheeks. “This is beautiful,” she said as she walked a few steps towards the water, after getting rid of the slippers she was wearing. “Is it safe to put my feet in the water?” she asked him, glancing at him.
“Yes, of course, though the water is freezing,” he warned her.
She nodded and walked straight to the water.
Yes, it was cold, but not freezing. She enjoyed the feeling, and she stayed there, allowing the waves to gently kiss her feet.
“Does your Máni control the tides?” she asked him, curious.