Liselle giggled as she watched her lover’s fun. The flowers in the small clearing were watching Vevin and enjoying the show as well. Nobody noticed the furious look that grew on Yebisu’s face. The bird didn’t like being mocked and felt that the dragon was deliberately trying to make her look like a fool. “Will you help or not?!” Yebisu shrieked.
Vevin stopped and everyone turned back to the yellow bird, including the flowers.
Yebisu settled her ruffled feathers, folding them behind her back. “I’m sorry I yelled. I’m just so worried about the princess. You are the only one who can save her, Child of Flowers. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you do so.”
“I will . . . try to save the princess . . . if we get the opportunity? . . .” she said hesitantly.
The bird stuck its head forward incredulously. Beady black eyes were open wide. “Try? . . . If you get the opportunity?” Yebisu began walking back and forth on the stone, talking to herself. “I might save the world if it’s not too inconvenient. I wouldn’t want to interrupt a bath or a nice meal to do so. I’m sure the princess doesn’t mind being locked up. They never do mind after all. Whatever dark cell she’s in is probably a nice break from the beautiful palace and all the attention she normally gets.” Yebisu turned to stare at Liselle. “I know things, Child of Flowers. I know that you are the only one who can save the princess.” Her voice became gradually louder, rising to a shrill pitch. “You must save her or the world will suffer terribly. Tell me you will save her!”
“Alright! Alright, I will . . . probably . . . save her . . . maybe,” Liselle mumbled. She didn’t like so much pressure and just couldn’t bring herself to commit fully.
“Probably?” Yebisu repeated in a choked voice. “Maybe?”
“Well . . . I honestly might try, but I just don’t feel like I can say that I will definitely save her.”
“I don’t want ‘Probably’. I want ‘Yes, I promise that I will save the princess’,” Yebisu demanded in a stern tone. “Promise me you will save the princess. Promise me now, Child of Flowers.” Yebisu was leaning forward. Her beak and crown feathers were on fire.
“I will not promise,” Liselle stated defiantly. “I can only tell you that I might try to save the princess.”
Vevin took a step forward. His posture showed that he was ready to attack the bird should it try anything stupid. The flowers were alarmed by two of their favorite creatures in the world being at odds with each other.
Yebisu looked at Vevin’s bared teeth and pulled back. Then, with a scream of outrage, she shot into the air. A brilliant burst of light brightened the clearing and surrounding forest. Then the Yellow Bird of Sunshine flew away to the south.
Chapter 5
Liselle put her hand on Vevin’s shoulder to prevent him from taking off after Yebisu. He was angry at the bird for upsetting his lover. Yebisu had left without Liselle promising anything and there was no sign she was going to come back, which made Liselle happy. She didn’t want to talk to Miss Sunshine anymore.
There was still the matter of the missing princess, but Liselle was going to wait until they reached Tathan to make decisions about that. Part of her was bothered by the need to discuss it with him first, but they were a team. Even if her cousin had a tendency to be paranoid, he was wise to the ways of the world.
“I don’t like the way that stupid ball of sunshine spoke to you,” Vevin said angrily. “You said you might rescue the princess. I think that’s nice of you, much better than what I would do to a princess.”
Liselle stepped back and held Vevin at arm’s length. “What would you do to a princess, darling?”
“Well . . .” he trailed off with a blush. His skin was a cream color with a hint of purple. When he blushed, the purple darkened, much as a human’s cheeks would redden.
“Yes?” she encouraged him to proceed.
“I am a dragon, you know . . .”
“Yes, I know that. What exactly would you do with a princess?”
Vevin dug his toe into the ground. “I would nom her.”
“Nom her?” Liselle asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.
“Oh yes. ‘Nom, nom’.” Vevin made a chewing motion with hands on either side of his face as though holding a drumstick. Liselle stared at him as though he had just lost his mind. He went into more detail. “Nom, nom is the sound you make when you’re eating something. You are ‘nomming’ something.” Liselle continued to stare at him. “Nom, nom,” he said weakly.
“Yes, I already know what nomming is, dear. You mean you would eat the princess?” she asked uneasily.
He pointed in acknowledgement. “Yes. That’s it. I would eat the princess. Nom, nom.” Vevin smiled, happy that she understood.
Liselle was horrified. “What do you mean you would eat the princess?! Dragons aren’t allowed to kill people. You said that dragons made an agreement. People aren’t allowed to kill dragons and dragons aren’t allowed to kill people.”
“Well that’s true except when it comes to princesses and thieves,” he explained with a shrug. Liselle stared at him with mouth wide open. “Don’t look at me like that! I haven’t eaten any princesses and I promise not to eat this one if we rescue her,” Vevin reassured her unreassuringly.
“Well that’s good to know . . . Have you eaten anyone at all?” Liselle asked.
“No! I’ve never eaten anyone. I promise I’ve never eaten a person.”
Liselle breathed a sigh of relief. Vevin was a carnivore, but eating people seemed wrong. A thought occurred to her. “You can’t lie can you? Dragons can’t lie, right?”
He tilted his head. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know. I just thought . . . I mean dragons are so noble and powerful. It seems to me they wouldn’t be able to lie,” Liselle stuttered.
“Dragons can lie. In fact, we’re superb at it.” Vevin put a hand to his chin in a thoughtful pose. “I’ve noticed we’re excellent at a lot of things that normal people aren’t.” He looked up with a grin. “I figured out recently that I’m awesome. I’m very happy about that you know. I wouldn’t want to be un-awesome like a lot of people.”
Liselle was getting frustrated. First, a bird yelled at her and now Vevin was a lying, princess-eating, more-awesome-than-a-lot-of-people, jerk of a boyfriend. “So how do I know you’re not lying when you say you love me?” she accused with her arms crossed. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.
Vevin didn’t see that coming even with his awesome eyesight. “What? No! No, Liselle,” he said, taking her by the shoulders. She didn’t respond except to duck her chin into her chest. Vevin put a hand on the back of her neck and leaned down to look into her eyes. “I love you, Liselle! You know that’s not a lie. You know it with your heart, your body, your mind and everything!” he said frantically.
It was true, he did love her and that knowledge was in her heart, body, mind . . . and everything as he so eloquently put. “But you just said you lie and eat princesses and that I’m not as awesome as you.”
***
“What? No!” The conversation was hard for Vevin to keep up with and he didn’t know which issue to address first. “You are more awesome than me and I’m not lying to you,” he said, hoping that would clear things up enough.
Liselle looked up, still standing with arms folded. “But you do eat princesses?”
“No. I’ve never eaten one. It’s just a craving and I’m going to resist it,” he said, determination swirling in his molten eyes.
“I don’t understand why you would even have a craving for princesses. It makes no sense,” Liselle replied with a puzzled frown. “You said you’re not supposed to harm humans. Why princesses?”
Vevin held his arms out helplessly to the side. “I wasn’t there of course, but when the treaty between dragons and humans was made, it was agreed that princesses would be excluded from protection.” He tried to calm Liselle when she set her jaw in anger. “Princesses have always been offered as sacri
fices to dragons in order to keep us from eating sheep and . . . well . . . other people. The kings who made the arrangement thought it would be sensible to keep the option open in case someone did something stupid and killed a dragon. It gave the kingdoms a means of peaceful resolution,” he finished as though it all made complete sense.
Liselle didn’t say anything, just stood there glaring at him. He sighed and ran a hand through his dark purple hair. This just didn’t seem like a conversation which was going to end well and there was nothing he could do about it. It seemed unfair, after all he had never actually eaten a princess.
“Why princesses? Why not a prince?” Liselle asked quietly.
Vevin shrugged. “Princesses are really tasty from what I understand. They taste better than anything else, especially princes,” he explained. “I don’t know why, but it’s just the way princesses are made or something.”
“That’s just ridiculous!” Liselle threw her hands up in frustration. She turned and walked toward the pool. The water was crystal clear. A few small fish swam about lazily. She leaned down and ran fingers along the top, watching the gentle ripples.
Vevin moved up behind her, saying nothing. It was probably wiser to let it go. He got the impression that the flowers were cranky with him too. It bothered him that he was concerned about how flowers felt. It didn’t seem a dragon-like sort of thing to be troubled by.
“This is a magical pool,” Liselle said. “I feel it in my fingertips. I can’t tell what sort of magic, but it is magic.”
Vevin changed his vision to one that would be able to determine for certain what the pool was made of. “You’re right, darling. It’s very subtle magic. I’m not certain which type it is either.” He changed his vision back.
***
When Liselle turned to him, she saw purple tendrils disappear from his liquid eyes as he changed his vision back. Vevin had shown her what his eyes looked like when he changed sight. It was very faint and most people would completely miss it. Each type of vision had tiny tendrils of color. Purple tendrils were the color of magical vision. Everything about him was magic, which must be why he was purple, Liselle decided.
Liselle stood up and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning against his chest. “I’m sorry I was angry with you, dearest” He was so warm, strong and wonderful.
“It’s alright,” he replied in confusion. Vevin liked hugging better than being yelled at though so he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her tight. They stayed in each other’s arms awhile, swaying gently from side to side. Swaying together had become one of their favorite activities.
Liselle went to the flowers in the clearing and spent some time touching them, listening to what they had to tell her. When done, she had a deeper understanding of herself as well as her relationship with flowers. The flowers growing here knew things most didn’t. They helped Liselle to grow within herself and become stronger spiritually and magically. She spent time enjoying their aroma, which made them very happy. They explained how much the bees and hummingbirds liked their scents and colors too.
She finally turned to Vevin who was leaning against the rock behind the pool. “Let’s go talk with Tathan about the princess.” Then she paused. “You promise not to eat the princess?”
Vevin held his hands up in surrender. “I promise I’m not going to eat the princess.”
Liselle nodded. “Let’s go then. He’s probably starting to get worried about us.” She linked her arm in his and they headed through the opening between the trees. They turned to watch as the trees closed back around the clearing.
The walk back to the trail was mostly silent. Liselle continued leaning down to touch the flowers, which were very needy all day. She didn’t mind though. They gave her as much attention and energy as she gave them.
Upon reaching the trail in the late afternoon, Vevin and Liselle turned toward the village. Shadows were growing deep and it would soon be getting dark. A light breeze was taking the worst of the heat away while the forest began to fill with the sounds of nocturnal animals poking their heads out to find food.
“There are Druids ahead,” Vevin said. Liselle couldn’t see them at all, but trusted his word. “They’re waiting in the forest on either side of the road, thinking to surprise us. They’ll feel very good if we let them.”
Liselle smiled at the idea. Her lover was so considerate of people and liked to make them happy. “Of course we can let them surprise us.”
When they reached the point where the Druids were hiding, Vevin gave Liselle’s arm a little squeeze to let her know. She tried to see them with peripheral vision, but they were too well hidden for her simple sight. The flowers knew they were there though and pointed them out to her. There were four, two on either side of the path.
The Druids stepped out behind them. “Hello, Liselle of the Flowers and Vevin Dragon,” a male voice said. Liselle let out a convincing yelp and jumped around to look at them. Two of the younger Druids exchanged grins at their success.
The speaker was a young man who was smiling more modestly at their success. He had blond hair with tan skin, blue eyes, a tattoo on the left side of his chin and a number of piercings in his ears. A woman about his age stood next to him. She had similar features indicating that she might be his sister. “Welcome to the Willden. I’m Bromin and this is my sister Alicia.” The speaker greeted them with a strong, deep voice and a smile aimed directly at Liselle.
Liselle felt Vevin tighten his grip on her arm and lean forward protectively. She saw that his sharp teeth were bared while his eyes whirled angrily at the Druid.
Bromin saw the look and took a step back, as did the other Druids. One of the younger men clumsily pulled out his sword and aimed it at Vevin. It wouldn’t be much use considering how badly the blade was shaking in his hand.
“I recommend you put that sword away,” Liselle warned the man. “My lover is rather hungry right now and you would make a tasty snack.” She knew Vevin wouldn’t eat the man, at least she hoped he wouldn’t, but the feel of Vevin relaxing just a bit when she called him ‘lover’ was what she had been going for. It was fun to watch the Druid’s eyes grow wide at the statement too.
“Dragons don’t eat people,” Bromin declared in a hostile tone. “You can’t hurt us.” The Druid didn’t sound certain.
Vevin’s voice became deep and booming, laced with anger. It was his true dragon voice. “If you point a sword at me or try to steal my mate, you are fair game and I can chew your bones into pulp should it please me.” Purple lightning ran up his body and through his liquid silver eyes. A wave of power burst forth from the words, traveling through his voice into the surrounding forest. Liselle felt it, but was shielded from its effects at the same time. The Druids and other denizens of the forest were not shielded. Bromin and his companions turned and ran away as fast as they could. The one who had drawn his sword dropped it.
Every other living creature with legs or wings also escaped from the area. Birds flew into the air, squirrels scampered from branch to branch as fast as they could, and a porcupine they hadn’t seen ran through the underbrush in a desperate attempt to escape. Liselle watched as insects of every type vacated the area as well. She saw a snail atop a log moving desperately away from the dragon as fast as its little shell-encased body could go.
Even the flora reacted to Vevin’s power. Trees bent away from him, some dropping leaves or needles in fear. Bushes contracted into themselves as though to hide. Liselle swore she could see moss struggling to move to the other side of rocks and fallen trees. Worst of all, her flower friends closed their petals and wrapped leaves around themselves in fear.
A moment later, the forest was still except for the snail and a few tinier insects still trying to get away.
“It’s called dragon fear,” Vevin said with a huge grin on his face. His voice was back to normal. “I can’t use it very often because creatures can build a resistance to it. But it’s so much fun!” A new dance followed that Liselle absentmind
edly categorized the ‘fun dragon fear dance’.
She hadn’t realized how much noise a forest produced until everything was still. “May I tell the flowers to relax now?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh yes! I’m so sorry,” Vevin said. “The flowers are safe. I won’t hurt them at all.”
Liselle communicated to the flowers that they were safe. The leaves unfolded a tiny bit, but they did not yet open their petals. A few of them were even shaking. Having a dragon boyfriend was going to make life interesting. The snail was still trying desperately to get away. It might succeed in making the end of the log by midnight.
“How long does it last?” Liselle asked.
He looked embarrassed. “Well . . . it depends on the individual creature. Some get over it in an hour or so, others, like that snail, might be affected for days or weeks,” he said, pointing toward the desperate creature.
“That’s so sad,” Liselle said. She walked over to the snail and tried to figure out how to help it. After a moment, she came up with an idea. She hadn’t used much magic since the caverns, but decided it was time to try casting a spell. Being around so many flowers had filled her with energy that she could transform into magic.
Liselle stood straight, inhaling deeply to focus her mind. The smells of the forest were wonderful. Vevin’s dancing stopped and he frowned with worry as a magical wind brushed against Liselle’s face. She gathered the energy around her while moving her arms and fingers. Tathan had taught her about motions in magic and she found they helped focus power.
It didn’t take much before she had the energy needed. Liselle thought about how Vevin had released the dragon fear. She discharged her positive energy in a similar way. He had cast the spell when talking so she decided to do the same thing. “Peace!” she shouted with power in her voice. The command wasn’t deep and ominous like Vevin’s, but still reverberated throughout the area. Magical wind brushed her hair and robe forward as the ring of power spread out. It moved much more slowly than Vevin’s had, rolling gracefully past trees and plants.
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