The Air Witch's Dragon

by Severine Wolfe

  Ryluth conjured a stool and sat down watching the Faerie struggle and scream, causing the two Faerie in cells directly across from him shout and scream in fear. The Faerie were a notoriously cowardly race.

  The male finally fell to the floor, his wings now showing, meaning he was considerably weakened.

  “Here’s the way the net works,” Ryluth said in a bored tone of voice. “The moment you decide to lie, your body has a biochemical reaction that you can’t control, can’t change. The net reacts to that and burns you. Since it is a net, you cannot avoid the burning, and the more you struggle, the more it burns. However, if you tell the truth, nothing happens, and you are not burned.” He finally looked up at the Faerie, staring him in the eye. “Negative reinforcement does work after all.”

  The man struggled to try to get the net off of his body, which only got him further entangled.

  “Tangles are an interesting thing,” Ryluth spoke again. “Don’t you think so, Lennalth?” He looked back at his Captain of the Guard.

  Lennalth appeared to think about it a moment. “Lord Rory had several interesting things to say about them, in our last discussion,” his friend played along. “It’s said the more strands one has, the more they want to tangle up with each other.”

  Ryluth nodded. “How many strands do you supposed are in that net there?”

  He saw the Faerie stop and listen.

  “I don’t know,” Lennalth drawled. “But, it’s an awful lot.”

  “How long do you supposed he’s hopelessly trapped in it?” Ryluth almost chuckled at the Faerie began thrashing about on the floor, trying to get out of the net.

  Lennalth took a step forward and pretended to squint and peer at the male writhing on the ground.

  “I don’t know, but soon, based on the amount of wiggling he’s doing now.”

  “I despise the smell of roasted Faerie,” Ryluth said, staring at the now still Faerie. “How long did it take to get the smell out last time?”

  “I think it was still here,” Lennalth turned and walked back to his place behind Ryluth. Both men were satisfied to hear all three Faerie sniffing and now all they would smell was their one compatriot, but attribute it other Faerie who had been sent here and had never returned.

  Ryluth appeared to come back to himself. “I forgot, where was I?”

  This tactic worked so well on so many levels without the prisoner even being aware of it. When you are being tortured you presume the information you have is of the utmost importance, and therefore you are. If the captor treats the prisoner as if they can barely remember them, it puts a crack in that belief and causes the prisoner to question everything that happens thereafter.

  “I think you were asking the idiot who allowed them to enter Wushin, Majesty,” Lennalth whispered like he was prompting a young boy in the memorization of a verse.

  Torture is pure theatre.

  “Ah, yes,” Ryluth ground out, looking at the male on the floor, trying not to move. “I remember. Now, Faerie, who allowed you to come to Wushin. And, remember, that net is already touching every part of your body and wings, so be honest.”

  The man hadn’t even opened his mouth to answer and the net lit up like a bonfire. Ryluth and Lennalth just sat there listening to the screams.

  *****

  Sofia took her midday meal in her room and watched out the windows at the flying Dragons and wondered where Ryluth was. She was about to get up and begin exploring the palace at her leisure when a knock came on the door. She found Ryluth on the other side, his head hanging.

  “I am sorry I frightened you earlier, Sofia. That was never my intention.”

  She stared at him a moment, then blinked and stepped back, indicating that he could enter her chamber. She never stopped to think that it was off that she was inviting a male into the room where she slept.

  “As I understand it, you were speaking for a god, were you not?” She said as she quietly closed the door.

  “Yes,” he nodded and his face turned red. “But, I frightened you and that has never been my intention.” He stood, stoic, ready for his punishment.

  Sofia smiled up at him. “And, what, exactly, are your intentions?”

  His eyes widened and he stared at her.

  “I am not sure what you’re asking.”

  Sofia had had time to think about it during her time in her room in her blessed solitude. He had extended a personal invitation to her, and had spent all of his free time with her yesterday and today until pulled away by duty. That was not the natural act of a world ruler, that was the act of a suitor.

  “What are your intentions towards me, Sofia Sforza, air witch of Earth?” She asked quietly and calmly, hoping it would calm the sudden panic in his eyes. She almost laughed. He was afraid of her. This large male was afraid of little Sofia. It was a first.

  “I —uh —I, well, uh...” he looked everywhere but at her. “Ihadhopedtowooyouhereasmymate,” all came out in one inextricable rush.

  Sofia’s brows knit together in confusion as she tried to make out his words, then she gasped. It was her biggest fear and desire all at the same time, that this good-looking man would want her. She stared up into his violet eyes, as he looked down at her, his hair suddenly fell into his eyes. Without realizing what she was doing she reached up and brushed the hair up out of his face and he captured her hand and pressed his cheek into her palm, then turned his face to lay a warm kiss on her palm, and then her wrist, before letting go of her hand.

  “Again,” he practically choked out, again blushing. “Forgive me for being so forward.”

  Sofia giggled. Honest to God giggled. She quickly put her hand to her mouth to cover her mirth, and felt her face warm in embarrassment. Then she stepped forward and went up on her tip toes and kissed him. She knew, somewhere in her brain that he had had to lean down for it to happen, but to her she had stolen this kiss from him and damn, it felt good.

  “What does being a Dragon’s mate entail,” she sighed as she stepped back and gazed up at him.

  Ryluth swallowed and his eyes were unfocused for a moment. He cleared his throat and fidgeted a little. Was this beautiful, enticing male shy to discuss these matters with her?

  “Well,” he stammered and again, looked around for an escape. “It entails the usual thing, being together forever, children, that sort of thing...”

  “Uh huh,” Sofia urged.

  “What else is there to know?”

  “Well, Demons mark their mates with bites, and elves mark their mates with magical markings in places only a mate would see. So, what do dragons do to make their mate their own?” Sofia nearly burst out laughing at her own boldness. Had she somehow become Ava? That Persian minx just said whatever came into her mind and it was always in some sly, flirty way that drove her mate wild.

  “We, uh, we...” The look in his eyes was wild to escape the conversation. He swallowed convulsively then closed his eyes. “Webreatheouressenceintoourmatesoncetheygiveuspermission.” Again, this was said in a huge rush.

  “Your essence?” She toed further to the line that would have him running from her and she couldn’t help but delight in the feeling of power it gave her. She then realized that despite her unspoken invitation to enter her room, he still stood in the doorway.

  He sighed, flung his head back and did actually growl at that point, forcing Sofia to laugh in delight.

  “We breathe our Dragon essence into our mate at the pinnacle of lovemaking, sealing our mate bond. We will always be able to talk to our mates telepathically and always be able to locate them, no matter where they are on the world.”

  Sofia looked at him in all sincerity and nodded sagely. “That is different from the methods I’ve observed in other races,” she said, as if she was some scientist on one of the unending documentaries that Lucky had always had going on the television so the witches could learn modern Earth and all the history they’d missed.

  Ryluth’s head snapped up, where it had been hanging in embarrassmen
t at having to admit things to Sofia he knew would make her run from him and straight into the portal home. His eye’s squinted nearly closed.

  “Are you making fun of me, Sofia?”

  Her eyes widened and she suddenly knew the game she wanted to play with him.

  She caused a gust of air to open the door to her room and she yelled, “Yes!” as she ran past him and out the door before tearing down the hallway with Ryluth close on her heels.

  Ryluth was utterly thrilled at chasing her down the hallway, her laughter ringing in his ears. He, of course, let her lead him, could have easily caught up with her. Why catch her so quickly, the thrill was in the chase. She clutched her side, still laughing and leaned her body against the door to his own chamber. He put his arms up on the door behind her, boxing her in.

  “I’ve captured you, female. You are now my captive,” Ryluth grinned, and wanted to laugh at the sheer delight in Sofia’s face. He wondered how long it had been since the female had had fun in this manner, probably never. He was so happy to have been able to give this to her.

  “And what, exactly is the punishment for making fun of the king?” She asked her eyes widening and she blinked quickly, batting her thick, long eyelashes at him in a bewitching manner. He was trapped in her gaze.

  “I think at the very least it deserves a kiss,” he said, and lowered his mouth to hers and gently nibbled on her lips. He heard a shocked gasp from her and he licked the seam of her lips and her mouth fell open. He quickly invaded her mouth with his tongue and she froze. He gently rubbed his tongue along hers and she shyly returned the caress, her eyes squeezed shut, but her body relaxed. He deepened the kiss slowly and found that Sofia was a very quick study. He moaned into her mouth as he brought his body closer to hers, craving to feel the warmth of her body close to his.

  He knew he had to pull away from her before he triggered her fear, and a well-deserved fear it was for her. He pulled back slowly from the kiss and nibbled on her enticing lower lip before pulling his head away. Her eyes were still shut, and a rapturous look on her face. He couldn’t stop looking at her, his breath still in his chest. He was frozen before her beauty, never wanting to be free.

  “Please be my guest at dinner tonight,” he whispered. He had just then formulated the plan to keep her all to himself for at least a few more hours.

  Her eyes opened slowly and she smiled.

  “So, punishment is a kiss and dinner? However, do you keep from being ridiculed by all of the women in the universe?” Her mouth quirked up which told him she wanted to laugh, but was keeping to the act.

  “I am besieged by a lone Air Witch who ensnares me with her teasing,” he admitted.

  “Then I can do no less than accept my punishment and eat dinner with you, although, it is cruel and unusual.”

  His mouth curled into a wicked grin. “I can show you unusual,” he growled, wanting desperately to take her mouth again. She tasted so good to him.

  “It is nearly the dinner hour,” Sofia pointed out. “Is this formal or casual dress?”

  He wanted to say clothing was optional, but he knew his reticent mate was not yet ready for that, so he told her casual and then laughed as she ducked under his arm with a wave as she ran back to her room.

  *****

  Running into her room and having the air close the door behind her, Sofia fell into a chair and huffed the air in her body. She set up a cooling bubble of air around her as she realized her entire body was hot.

  That kiss. Ryluth’s kiss had shocked and thrilled her. She had seen the other couples kissing and never, ever wanted it, but now that she’d had one taste of Ryluth, she craved more, much like Cassie craved chocolate five days a month. She had to have more, and for Sofia, that was a first, wanting anything at all from a male.

  She thought to the morning’s happenings and she had not once felt subsumed by the awful memories of her years on the Demonworld. When Ryluth touched her, she didn’t flash to memories of being grabbed, groped and raped. The new moments were forever etched in her memory as pure Ryluth moments. They carried no taint of her earlier life. It was dizzying to her that she desired his touch on her body when she had never had that feeling for another being in her entire life.

  To be perfectly honest with herself, she thought it was freeing and she wanted to gift the half-elf twins with something phenomenal for the gift they had given her. They had been honest, they had not taken away the memory, but they had removed the immediacy, the complete horror of them so that she could live with them, live with herself, when she had survived so much when so many had not.

  She realized then that she could not and would not sully their memory by refusing to live her life to the fullest. She owed it to them to experience everything they never would, and live a happy, free life full of laughter and to love someone freely and openly.

  With that thought in mind, Sofia walked to her wardrobe and opened it, with an eye towards what she would wear to dinner. It wasn’t formal, but she could have fun with casual wear. The one thing that Sofia loved about modern Earth was the fashions. Cassie was always bringing her fashion magazines, and she would sew up clothes she saw in them. Ava always laughed that she would put her own stamp on them and she had thought about opening a shop in the village where Seth’s holding was located. However, she had decided she was not a shop keeper and she made up the clothes because it pleased her and to have it be her occupation wasn’t an attractive idea to her.

  She had brought a sun dress that Cassie had found in a thrift shop while looking at children’s clothes. She brought it out and held it up, considering it, and then she smiled and grabbed her sewing basket.

  She chuckled as she got out her scissors and needle and thread. She needed to hurry if she was to get it finished in time.

  If Sofia had had any doubts about her dress they were all put to rest when she opened the door to her chamber and Ryluth stopped in the act of saying something and just stared at her. She would give him no clues, so she had her bland face on and stared right back at him. Then she noticed he was not breathing, and then he began breathing very quickly, trying to hide it, and his body’s reaction to her.

  “I believe the word you are searching your vocabulary for is wow,” she finally smiled.

  “Wow!” Ryluth exhaled and continued to stare. “You look... Wow!”

  She chuckled and grabbed his elbow. Who knew the floral print sun dress with the miles of skirt would cause such a reaction. It had been tea length, as she usually preferred, but she had brought the skirt in, and hemmed it up just above her knees so that it hugged her thighs but still allowed her to walk normally. Then she had brought the neckline down just enough to show a hint of her cleavage. The dress showed off all her luscious curves and hinted at the treasure she usually chose to hide.

  “I hope you chose the dinner menu well. I’d hate to think I sewed this dress for a bland meal,” she teased and thanked all of the gods for her years with Ava, the flirty little witch.

  Ryluth never took his eyes off her as she led him down the hall to his own chamber, where she had assumed they would dine in privacy.

  He opened the door and she entered. When she turned her head, not having heard the door close, she saw him standing in the doorway staring at her backside. Feeling uncharacteristically sexy because of it, she walked over to the table that had been set for them. Then she heard the door close and his footsteps showed he was close on her heels.

  “It smells delicious,” she said, as he pulled out her chair. She sat down as he scooted her chair closer and then walked around the table and took his own seat.

  “You are beautiful, Sofia,” Ryluth finally spoke, his voice deep, and it rattled her inside.

  “Thank you, Ryluth,” she said and smiled at him. “You look quite magnificent yourself.”

  He had dressed in dark slacks and a white button up shirt with the top two buttons undone. He had such a fine physique. Dragons were not as... she tried to think of the term... muscle-bound, as
the Demons. Ryluth was thin, but filled out. She tried to think of the terms Bax and Glenn had used when they had watched some stupid movie where people just shot at people the entire time. He was ‘cut’ but he was not ‘shredded’ she believed they would say. His shoulders were broad and tapered into a thin waist and hips. Sofia wished he would unbutton a few more buttons so she could look at his chest.

  They both sat at the table staring at each other and Sofia found herself lost when she looked into his eyes. His look was so... hungry. He looked as if he would devour her and it scared her, but it didn’t make her flee, as it would have before. She finally swallowed and looked down at her plate.

  Ryluth cleared his throat and poured wine for both of them. Sofia grabbed her glass and took a huge gulp. She nearly coughed as the alcohol burned her throat, but then the sweetness eased itself down and she found herself relaxing enough to sip with restraint.

  Sofia watched as Ryluth served them both and sat back in his seat.

  “I think you will find the offering tonight to be more to your liking than last night. I’ve had my chef learning some Earth recipes and Cassie has supplied us with things she told us Human females would require.”

  Sofia raised an eyebrow. “Like?”

  “Chocolate,” he said. “She said that females would die without it. We gave her a substantial amount of gold to procure enough chocolate for five human females.” His eyes suddenly became panicked. “I forgot there would be six, I will have to have Cassie bring more.”

  Sofia threw her head back and almost shouted out a full-bodied laugh that stopped Ryluth’s terror at the thought of females perishing without chocolate to revive them.

  “I’m sure you have enough to get by, Ryluth,” she said, still chuckling. “Not all females even like chocolate.”

  Ryluth shook his head. “Cassie appeared very sure about this fact,” he told her. “We have two rooms full of it kept in stasis since storing it was never mentioned.”