by Jessica Ryan
Alek didn’t return until the next day. He was somber and did not speak to her for the first few hours that he was back. She busied herself with preparing for their trip, but the preparations were sparse at best. She didn’t have anything to pack except her magical dress and Alek didn’t have anything to pack either.
“I guess we’re traveling light,” she said with a giggle, trying to break the tension.
“You have to know what she said was not true,” Alek said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I know,” she said.
“I don’t know if you do,” Alek said, looking up at her with sadness in his eyes. “How could you automatically think something like that was a lie? Is there not some part of you that thinks she was telling the truth? Do you humans not stick together? It’s a fellow human’s word against a dragon’s, one you used to claim kidnapped you and used you as a slave.”
“Hey,” Mara said, then quickly crossed the room and fell to her knees in front of Alek. She laid her head on his lap and started caressing his powerful arms gently as she spoke. “Don’t assume that. That was a long time ago that I felt like that. Things have changed. I didn’t believe her because I know how Raylene is. I could see the jealousy in her eyes from the start.”
“Good,” Alek said. “She will no longer be a bother to us.”
“You didn’t kill her, did you?” Mara asked. He had said he wouldn’t, but who knew what he’d done when he got away from her pleading eyes and protests.
“No,” Alek said. “I am a dragon of my word. I do not lie and deceive like men. I told you I would take her home and I did just that. I did not want to cause a panic so I left her on a hill just outside the town. It was a short walk on a patrolled road from there.”
“Okay,” Mara said. “Hopefully she made it with no trouble.”
“All creatures that would seek to cause harm would have scattered at the sight of me, just as most men do.”
Alek was puffing out his chest again, looking strong and proud. Mara could see right through his act, though. Still, she liked how easily he rebounded and could shuffle bad tidings from his mind. He did it much easier than most men, who would sulk and brood for weeks on end when things didn’t go their way. He truly was one of a kind and the best kind of man to be in a relationship with.
“So when do we leave?” she asked.
“Today,” Alek said, standing up. “There is no need to delay any further. It is getting warm outside and it will do us no good to wait around. Besides, I had fun stretching my wings and flying last night. I must get out again.”
“Oh,” Mara said. She hadn’t considered how they would be traveling. “We’re going to fly?”
“Of course we are,” he said. “I am a dragon and people must see my great winged form before I arrive to bring death.”
“But you’re not bringing death,” Mara said, standing up and looking down at him now. “As a matter of fact, you’re bringing good news by bringing me back and presenting treasure to my father. We don’t want to panic the entire village.”
“A little fear never hurt anyone,” he protested.
“Yes, but what if the men in my village try to fight you off?”
“Then they will die a gruesome death.”
Mara rolled her eyes and reached up, ready to pull her hair out. For someone who could appear to be vulnerable when it came to matters of the heart, he turned into a rock-headed pig when it came to battle. “But we don’t want to kill anyone in my village. Can we at least land in the forest and walk the rest of the way?”
“You sure do ask a lot of me, woman.”
“Woman?”
Alek looked down, clearly realizing he had spoken out of turn. “You ask a lot of me, Mara.”
“I’m just trying to make you into the best husband possible. You’re rough around the edges, anyway. You need a little taming.”
“You cannot tame a creature as great as me. When do I get to make you the best wife possible?”
Mara cocked one eyebrow and crossed her arms. “And what exactly do you want to change about me?”
Alek looked up at her, a mischievous smile crossing his face. “Well, first of all, your insistence on always wearing clothes.”
Mara laughed and kicked Alek lightly on the shin. “We’ll see about that when we get back.”
“Very well,” he said, then stood and turned slightly. Mara could tell he was trying to hide his erection. The dragon’s sexual appetite was insatiable. “Grab your bag of treasure, and I will tell the maids where we are going.”
Mara had expected riding on the back of a dragon to be absolutely terrifying, but instead she found it to be exhilarating. She was high in the sky, above the world as Alek shot straight up out of the mountain, gaining altitude at a rapid speed. The wind whipped her hair around and beat her in the face, but she loved every minute of it. This was the freedom she had been seeking. This was what she had thought Val would give her. It had been right under her nose her entire life, a day’s hike through the forest and the mountain.
“This is great!’ she screamed as Alek leveled out and began to head for the village. His flight wasn’t straight; he looped and twisted, riding the currents in the air. He didn’t respond to her, and she decided that he was probably unable to hear.
She was positioned at the base of his long neck, holding on to his scales for dear life. They actually made surprisingly great hand- and footholds and he didn’t react at all when she grabbed hold of them with every ounce of strength she had. Alek had been offended when she had suggested a saddle and now she knew it was a silly request.
She looked down below him, watching the mountain and the trees rush by underneath. They were all so small from high above the world. The picture of who Alek was became clearer as they cut through the morning sky like a beautiful white knife. They were unstoppable and they could go anywhere and do anything they wanted. This kind of power would send a normal man over the edge and he would become drunk with madness and greed. She now understood why dragons thought they were above humans; they had the power to literally be above humans.
Mara almost cried as Alek began to descend, bringing himself to rest in a large clearing just outside her town. Surely the people in the village had seen the dragon landing and were talking about it now. He hadn’t been subtle about it and he had flown very close before landing. If she could fly like that she wouldn’t want to walk anywhere either.
“That was amazing!’ she said, hopping off Alek as he quickly shifted to his human form. “How can you not do that all the time? I would never be in human form if I could do that!”
“For a lot of my life I did not leave my dragon form,” Alek said, stretching and cracking his muscles as he confined himself to his human body. “But as I became more and more aware of humans and my interactions with them I began to perfect my human form.”
“Why?” Mara asked.
“So that I could interact with them on my adventures. It is easier to crawl through a tomb as a human than it is as a dragon.”
Mara looked Alek over and realized he was not wearing his usual white robes. Instead, he was wearing the bare-chested armor he had worn when they first met.
“Why are you wearing your armor?” she asked.
“I always wear my armor when I leave the lair.”
“What good is your armor, anyway? It doesn’t protect your chest.”
“Even in human form my skin is as hard as my scales.”
“So why wear armor at all?” Mara asked. Alek was looking at her like she was stupid, but she knew she was making a good point.
“The mental aspect of battle is just as important as the physical,” he said, moving past her to lead the way to the village.
Mara stood behind him for a moment, realizing she had never been in battle and wouldn’t know. But Alek had certainly seen his fair share of combat. She would just have to take his word for it.
“You don’t need to intimidate my father,” she said, chasin
g after him.
“I am not going to intimidate him,” Alek said. “When he sees what a strong warrior I am, he will be forced to give in to my demand to marry you.”
“And if he doesn’t?” she asked.
“Then I will marry you anyway,” he said flatly.
“But I thought we agreed we were going to do this as part of tradition.”
“Exactly,” Alek said. “It is a mere formality. If your father says no, then we will return to my lair and marry in front of Abigail and Priya.”
“But what if I want to return to visit my father? He will never allow me back into his household if I defy his wishes.”
“Then he is not much of a father if he doesn’t want to see his only daughter because she was naughty.”
“It goes beyond that,” Mara said, struggling to keep up with his long stride. “This is sacred. Girls have been executed in the city for defying their father’s wishes when it comes to marriage.”
“And I’m the one who’s a monster?” Alek asked, stopping and turning to her. “I’m the one who’s barbaric?”
“Okay,” she said, nodding her head. “You have a point, I’ll give you that.”
“You’ll give me more than my point,” he said. “You will give me the respect to stand with me united.”
“Yes,” Mara admitted. “I do not want to return to the village without you as my husband. My father will agree with us.”
“Good,” Alek said. “Now let’s hurry along so we’re not too late.”
Mara ran up and grabbed Alek’s hand, forcing him to slow down to walk with her as they made their way down the forest path. She could already feel the knots in her stomach and the beat of her heart against her chest. Hopefully her father would approve of their marriage. He really didn’t have a choice.
Chapter 21
The path to her village was muddy and rough from the number of hunters entering and leaving the forest with their kills. In the winter the sustenance from elk was the only thing the villagers could rely on aside from what they stored from the harvest. Still, the road seemed especially well traveled for this time of year.
Mud continually splashed onto Mara’s beautiful dress, but the magical properties of the dress caused it to just slide right off, leaving no stains or damage. It was quite wondrous and Mara was still thankful Aleksander had opened her up to experiences like this. Unfortunately her shoes were not magical and by the time they reached the village gates her feet, ankles and shoes were caked.
“You could’ve been a gentleman and carried me,” she said to Alek with a smile.
“It’s just mud,” he muttered. “I think you’ll live.”
“I know I will,” she pouted. “I’ll just live dirty.”
Mara couldn’t help but laugh and playfully slap Alek on the chest when he turned to look at her with bewilderment. One thing the dragon lacked was the ability to detect sarcasm. Something told her there weren’t too many trickster dragons out there.
“Is this your village?” Alek asked, crinkling his nose as his eyes scanned the place.
Mara turned and for the first time she took in the sight of her village, and she nearly collapsed into the mud with surprise and grief. This wasn’t the village she had left. Things were dirty and dilapidated. The harvest silos that normally stood vigilant over the rest of the village were nowhere to be found and the people all looked skinny and haggard as they wandered the streets like the legions of undead she had read about during her childhood.
Mara and Alek took the streets slowly, making their way towards her father’s house. The people of the city either paid her no mind or looked upon Alek’s armor and her dress with contempt. Nobody was clean and nobody looked like they’d had an easy go of things since the last time she had seen them.
“There used to be a house there,” Mara said, looking at a pile of rubble that sat where the baker’s house used to stand.
“Looks like it was burned down,” Alek said, pointing out charred pieces of wood.
“Did the silos suffer the same fate?” she asked.
Alek just shook his head in confusion and put his hand on the small of her back to guide her forward. “These people don’t look too happy with our presence. I suggest we move before there is an incident and I have to do something rash to protect you.’
Mara didn’t question Alek’s violent nature this time; she just nodded and hurried forward towards her father’s cabin. On the way she passed three more houses that had been razed. Someone had attacked her village and left it in shambles. Was it the goblins out for revenge after Val had annihilated many of them in bloody fashion?
Finally they arrived at the door to her father’s home. The house still stood, but it looked like someone had shot it full of arrows at some point. Wood was splintered all over the front of his home, making it look more like a shanty than the two-story home of the village elder. Mara didn’t even knock; instead, she rushed forward and threw the door open, charging in and leaving Alek standing in the street alone.
“Father!” she called. “Father, where are you?”
There was no answer and her heart began to grow heavy. Surely an elder as strong and robust as Erik had not been killed this easily.
“Father, please answer me!” she screamed, starting to head upstairs.
“By the fire, my sweetling,” a tired, rough voice called. “If that is my sweetling.”
Mara turned and jumped off the steps, hit the ground and ran through the front hallway to the open living space that dominated most of the first floor. As she turned the corner her shoes slid on the smooth wood and took her legs out from under her. She hit the ground hard and slid into the wall, but she ignored any pain that she felt. All she wanted to do was find her father. She half walked and half crawled her way across the room, collapsing on her knees in front of her father, who was sitting in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace.
He didn’t look like her father anymore. His once corn-yellow hair was now white and wispy as if it had been falling out. His eyes were sunken and his skin paler than Alek’s white scales.
“Father, you are not well,” she said, moving her hands all over his body as if she would find the source of his sickness somewhere.
“I am tired, my dear,” he said, his voice still sounding rough. He reached a hand out and cupped her cheek, rubbing it tenderly as he smiled at her. “It does me good to see that you are still alive. I had feared the worst.”
“I am here now, Father, and I am not going anywhere.”
“Is it true?” he asked, sitting back away from her in his chair.
Mara pulled herself onto the stool in front of him and sat, meeting his eyes, which were now cutting through her like steel. “Is what true?”
“Did you leave us for the dragon on the mountain?”
“Not exactly,” Mara said, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked away from her father’s intent glare.
“Val Woodshadow told us you betrayed him and helped the dragon in combat—forcing him to retreat. He took out his rage on the village.”
“Val did this,” she said, feeling the rage growing in her. “Val Woodshadow is a liar and a scoundrel, Father.”
“I suspect so.” Erik did not look surprised by her revelation. “Any man who would do this to a helpless village after he did not get his way does not have high moral character in my estimation.”
“He doesn’t, Father. He tried to rape me on the path, but some goblins attacked us and he had to fight them off rather than have his way with me. I was injured in the fight, see?” She pulled down her dress to show her father the scar across the top of her chest. His eyes flashed with fire now. “He did not heal me. Instead he forced me to march onto the mountain. Then he chained me to a rock and told me I was a sacrifice to the dragon.”
“That son of a bitch,” her father muttered. “I wish my bones were not so old or I would handle him myself.”
“There is no need for you to do that,” Alek said.
&
nbsp; Mara and her father both turned to see the dragon standing in the living space’s doorway. His normally pale skin was now red with anger as veins bulged all over his body like snakes hiding just below the surface of his skin.
“Who is…?” her father started to say.
“Father,” Mara said, then jumped up and moved to stand beside Alek. She put her hand on his back, trying to calm him, but it felt like she was hugging a boulder. Every muscle was tensed and flexed, ready to attack. “This is Alek, I mean Aleksander.”
“Aleksander is the name of the dragon that dwells in the mountain, Mara,” her father said.
“That is true. This is the dragon, Father. He is with me.”
“So you did betray us for the dragon?” he asked.
“No,” Mara said, shaking her head vigorously. “I did no such thing. Alek nursed me back to health after my injuries nearly claimed my life. I had a horrible fever from the wound and the cold. He took care of me and helped me regain my strength.”
“Then why did you not return when you were healthy?”
“That is my fault,” Alek said, stepping forward. “Mara is a treasure and I wanted to protect her. I did not want her to have to trek through the harsh winter cold to return to the village. She stayed with me and helped me through the winter.”
“Is that so?” her father asked, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “And now you have brought her back?”
“Not for good,” Alek said flatly.
Her father raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair, waiting for Alek to speak again.
“I have grown to love your daughter. She has captured my heart like no human woman ever could. I have come to ask for her hand in marriage.”
“I do not know you, dragon,” Erik said, finally rising from his chair. He grabbed a walking stick that was on the ground beside his chair and used it to bring himself across the room until he was standing face to face with Alek. Even in his haggard state he did not back down from the great dragon. “You have held my daughter from me for the last several months and you show up here on this day when the world is on the cusp of spring and ask for her hand in marriage? What gives you the right?”