by Zoe Chant
Darius bowed his head. The gargoyle siblings remained quiet, clutching each other's hand.
At last Darius caught his breath, raised his head, and said firmly and clearly, "You're right. Let this feud end here and now. I don't claim I will ever like your kind, but I bear you no ill will. Go your own way in peace."
The two gargoyles started to scramble to their feet, then hastily subsided into their submissive position when the dragon guard mantled his wings. Heikon looked up at the guard—Loretta was pretty sure it was Reive—and gave a small nod. Reive stepped back, folding his wings, and the gargoyles rose to their feet and offered the dragons a pair of courtly bows before hugging each other.
"My people will escort you to the edge of our land," Heikon said. He tilted his head. "For what it's worth, I admire your courage, coming here. It is a rare being, dragon or otherwise, who has the nerve to travel to the heart of their enemy's lands to present their case. I do not think my clan is willing to offer friendship so soon, with the scars of battle still fresh on our land, but perhaps at some point in the future, we might talk."
"Wait!" Darius declared as the gargoyle siblings began to turn away. "What of my fortune? Your uncle stole it from me."
The siblings looked at each other nervously. "We're not sure," the male one said.
"Uncle Rodan's assets are still being disputed," his sister explained. "The way he died ... it's going to be hard to prove in the human world that he's really dead, when all we have is the broken pieces of a statue to show them. And he didn't leave a will. I promise you, though, the clan intends to return everything that was rightfully yours as soon as it's out of litigation." She glanced anxiously around at the hostile dragons. "We're just not sure when that's going to be."
Loretta held her breath, waiting for an outburst, but Darius merely nodded. "Contact me when there's news," he said, and turned away.
***
Loretta found him later in the garden by the waterfall. He'd gone off alone and she had decided not to disturb him. Instead she helped with the cleanup until the dragons declared a break for lunch. Ruefully she examined her scraped hands and scuffed fingernails.
Darius, she couldn't help noticing, looked like he'd been working too. He was as scuffed and dusty as she was. When he noticed her, he smiled and moved over on the bench. She sat down next to him and leaned on him. Seeing her looking at her hands, Darius took one of them and began massaging it.
"You're being careful, I hope," she said. "The last thing you need is to rebreak or strain something."
"I'm fine. Exercise is good for me right now. As fast as we heal, I need a little stretching during the healing process or everything will tighten up and it'll take me weeks to stretch out again."
"Just don't push it too far, because if you collapse out here, you'll find out how loud I can scream for help."
Darius smiled. "I wouldn't do that to you, my mate."
They sat in the shade of a gazebo that had somehow managed to escape the destruction. This part of the garden hadn't been cleaned yet, and there were fragmented bits of stoneskins everywhere; it looked like the place had been saturation bombed with statues. Loretta had to poke one of them with her toe to reassure herself that it really was just a statue and wasn't going to come to life and try to attack them.
"I'm sorry about your money and treasures," she said gently. "I really am. We can go look through the ruins of the mansion and see what we can find, and maybe a lawyer can help with the other part of it."
Darius shook his head. "You know, I don't even really care that much? Oh sure, I want it back rather than letting the gargoyles have it. But not having it is ..." He raised
"You say that until you have to live on ramen and peanut butter 'til the next payday so you can pay the rent on your lousy apartment where half the appliances don't work."
Darius grimaced. "Point taken. It's true that being poor is not something I've experienced."
"I doubt if you're going to experience it now, since just one or two jeweled necklaces or undamaged pieces of art from the mansion can be sold for enough money to live on for a year." She raised her head off his shoulder, curiosity nagging at her. "Why aren't you more upset about this? You've lost your hoard. From everything you've told me, that should be the worst thing that can happen to a dragon."
"I thought so too." He was looking down at her hands as he gently massaged them, smoothing out the aches, rather than at her. "But I was wrong ... about a lot of things. My money is not my hoard, and the Heart of my hoard lies somewhere very different from where I thought it was."
"Where is it?" she asked, her voice hushed, catching his somber, reverent mood. "What is it?"
He raised his eyes to look into hers, steel-colored eyes catching sunlight in their depths. How, she wondered, had she ever thought him cold, when this eyes brimmed with all the emotional of his hidden heart.
"You," he whispered, and touched her cheek with infinite gentleness, brushing a curl away from the corner of her mouth.
"I ... I don't understand."
"My hoard isn't money." He stroked his fingers through her hair, gently combing out the leaves and bits of sand from the morning's work. "My hoard is people. It's you. It's my children and my grandchildren—the ones already born and those who have yet to be. It even includes the people who work for me and that damn cat ... I called Elvie earlier, by the way, to make sure they're fine, and they are."
"Good ... but ... how does that work, Darius? You aren't going to try to lock us away to keep us safe, I hope, and only take us out to look at every once in a while!"
He smiled. "If only I could. But no. You will go where you wish and do what you want. That's the risk of having a hoard like mine. I must learn to trust in all of you, to make the best decisions for yourselves and keep yourselves safe. And of course I will protect you when I can. You, my treasure, most of all."
He drew her in to nibble at her lips, and she kissed him back with abandon, throwing her arms around him until he grunted in pain. Then she drew back and they kissed more gently for awhile, nipping each other's lips and stroking with eager hands until, laughing, she had to pull away.
"Keep this up and you'll be taking me right here on this bench."
His eyes laughed at her. "I don't consider that a bad thing."
Loretta pointed up as the shadow of a dragon passed over the garden. "I do when there are a hundred witnesses flying over all the time! Including underage ones!"
"Later, then." He straightened the collar of her blouse and took the opportunity to stroke a finger over her collarbone. Loretta snuggled against him.
"This does make me think, though," she said after a little while, looking out at the hills rolling misty and green and purple to the horizon. "Where do we go next? We can't stay with Heikon and his family forever."
"You know, I have never once asked you this," Darius said quietly. "Where do you want to live? If you want me to rebuild the mansion, I will. But if you want me to live in a condo in the city, or a cottage by the sea, I'll do that too. My home is where you are, and I want you to be happy in it."
The naked sincerity in his voice took her breath away.
Where did she want to live? It wasn't something she really had that much choice about before. Oh, it wasn't that she'd never thought about it. Everybody thought about it. It was just that she had spent her life working at various low-wage jobs and staying in whatever apartments or trailers she could afford. She'd had a vague daydream about someday buying a trailer of her own and maybe getting some land out on the highway and having a farm there. But it wasn't like she even knew how to run a farm or would have known how to support herself by selling eggs and goats' milk.
And then, for a few glorious days, she'd lived in a mansion.
Now she looked down over the gardens, the arbors, the children playing and adults sweeping up broken statues in the soft golden light. The peace of this place seemed to soak into her bones. She couldn't remember feeling this way anywhere else
, not even in Darius's mansion. Perhaps the rose garden, she thought. She did miss the rose garden.
"You don't have to decide immediately, of course," Darius said. "It will take a while to get any construction project off the ground."
"No, it wasn't really indecision. I was just trying to think how to put it." She thought about it, and then said, "I like it here."
"We are not living here," Darius declared with finality.
Loretta laughed. "No, no—I didn't mean that. What I meant was ... could we build someplace like the Aerie? When you have your money back and can afford it. I don't want to live in a mansion, Darius. It was nice, for just a few days, to feel like a fairy tale princess, but I don't want to live like one. But somewhere like this, with lots of cozy little rooms and gardens and hidden doors ... with space for dragons to fly, and room for all your grandchildren ..." And our children, if we have any, she thought, but didn't say. She hadn't hit menopause yet, after all, and with everything going on lately, birth control had been the farthest thing from her mind. She really wouldn't mind if that happened; she wouldn't mind at all. "I'd like to live somewhere like that."
Darius lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. "Then you shall have it," he said. His courtly manner fell away for something softer and more playful—and more honest. "I must have you swear never, ever to tell Heikon this ... but I like this place too."
"Your secret is safe with me," she promised, her lips twitching with amusement.
"This reminds me of the place I lived when I was a child," Darius said quietly, looking down the sloping mountainside. "Oh, it was not exactly like this, of course. But it was a similar kind of place. An estate and farms and a gristmill and smithy, basically its own little village, all far enough away from human settlement that we didn't have to worry too much about discovery. Of course, the world was more spread out then, and hiding was easier. And then the gargoyles ..."
Loretta took his hand in both of hers. "You don't have to talk about it."
"No. I want to." He took a shuddering breath and looked down the mountainside again. "I came home to find nothing but smoldering ruins. Everything was gone—the orchards where I used to play with my sisters, the pastures, the bakery and smithy. Everything and everyone I'd ever loved was gone."
"How old were you?" Loretta asked gently.
"Fifteen. Older in those days than it's considered now. I was almost a man."
"No, you weren't," she whispered. She reached up to brush the back of her fingers across his cheek. "You were a child. A hurt, orphaned child. No wonder you were so angry for so long."
Darius smiled thinly and caught her fingers. "I'm still angry," he said. "I don't know if I can ever forgive the gargoyles for what they did, even though the ones who did it are long dead. But you're right. I'm not going to hurt other people, people who had nothing to do with it, the way I was hurt."
"You don't have to forgive. Just don't let it poison you." She leaned into the warmth of his arms. "You're a good man, Darius."
"Keep telling me that and I might even believe it someday," he murmured, toying with one of her curls. For a little while they stayed like that in the sun, with their arms around each other, and then he said in a musing tone, "A place like this. An aerie in the mountains. I think I would like that. I'd like that very much."
Epilogue: Several Months Later
"Now hold still, Brittany, and let me get your other arm into your coat," Loretta chastised gently. "Colin, no, don't take yours off, your dad will be here to pick you up any minute—"
"Loretta, your fiancé is here!" Becky called from the door.
There was a chorus of "ooooh" from the other day care workers, and squeals from some of the kids.
Loretta twisted around from trying to get the kids into their winter gear to see Darius walk in, wearing a dark wool topcoat with a light dusting of snow on his shoulders and hair. He looked straight toward her as if his gaze was drawn by magnets, and she grinned helplessly at the warm affection glowing in his eyes.
Then he was mobbed by preschoolers, half of them with bits of winter clothing dangling off. Tiny hands grabbed at his coat and reached for his hands.
"Mr. Darius! Hi!"
"Mr. Darius, look, I made you a picture!"
"Oh, that's ... very nice, Abigail," Darius murmured, studying the crayon scribbles. "What is it?"
"It's Miss Loretta!"
"Oh," he said, turning it around and looking at it sideways, then upside down. "Yes, I can see the resemblance." A small, amused smile quirked the corner of his mouth.
Loretta left him to deal with his adoring pint-sized public and managed to get Brittany into her puffy pink coat, then turned to help the quiet little girl with the brace on her leg. "You can go say hi to Mr. Darius as soon as I get your coat on, Sephie."
Sephie sucked on the end of her braid until Loretta gently peeled her hand off to push it into the sleeve of her coat. "Miss Loretta?" the little girl whispered.
"Yes, dear?"
"Will you take me flying on your dragon?"
"I'm afraid I can't, Sephie. But when you're grown up," she added, struck by inspiration, "maybe you'll find your own dragon to fly on."
"I don't think I can," came the tiny whisper.
"Of course you can. I didn't even know I was looking," she said, smiling across the room at Darius, who was now crouched down to deal with the children on their level. He still looked a little uncomfortable with them, but in a way that was almost shy rather than annoyed. "And then I found my dragon anyway. You'll find what you're looking for, I promise."
"What if it doesn't want me?"
"Oh, honey." Loretta hugged her. "Of course it will want you. Because you're unique and special and you." She tapped Sephie's nose and got a giggle. "Come on over here and let Mr. Darius give you a hug before we leave."
"Do I get to give you a hug first?" Darius asked, looming over her. Humor danced in his gray eyes.
"No," Loretta said pertly, and Darius put a cautious arm around Sephie, who threw her small arms around his leg. Then she spotted her parents at the door and was off with a happy squeak. Loretta put up a hand, and Darius pulled her to her feet and then drew her into a tight embrace.
"Mmmm. We just saw each other a few hours ago, you know," she murmured into his shoulder. He smelled great, like snow and the outdoors.
"Is that a complaint?"
"No, no, just an observation."
He pulled back and looked down at her, smiling. "I'd love to kiss the breath out of you, but not with this many nosy witnesses. Anyway, we should get going if we're going to make it to Ben and Tessa's while there's still enough daylight." Daylight to fly by. She heard it in her head as clearly as if he'd spoken.
"Yes, of course." She grabbed her coat. "Becky, have you got it from here?"
"Everything's fine," Becky said, and waved a hand before grabbing another wiggly preschooler to get her coat on. "You go on, you crazy kids, and have fun."
Hand in hand, they went out into the light snow. Darius's car was parked at the curb. No more limos and drivers these days; it was still a BMW, though. You could take the dragon out of the mansion, but not completely out.
"Here," Darius said as he slid behind the wheel, handing her the drawing. "For your collection."
"Oh, no. I don't know if there's any more room on the fridge." Since the children's other drawings and cards had been lost, they'd been happy to draw her new ones to make up for it. She smiled and reached back to put it carefully in the backseat. "Oh well, we'll make room. Are we going to the condo before we head out?"
"Just to park the car. Otherwise I wasn't planning on it. Do you have anything you need to pick up?"
"No, but I did want to see Toblerone."
"He's fine. I was just there." Darius brushed at orange cat hairs on his sleeve. "My phone's charging cord, however, is very much not fine, I regret to say."
"Oh no. He destroyed another one?" She sighed at Darius's nod. "Well, it's a good
thing you picked up two spares the last time, after the second one he chewed up. I guess that's what happens when cats get bored."
"He'll have plenty of room to run around in soon, once we start building our new home."
A deep thrill raced through her. She'd never been this excited about the future before.
And speaking of the future, at least the immediate future ... "If we're not going up to the condo before we leave, you've got it, right?"
"Of course I do." Darius patted his pocket. "Actually, maybe you should hold onto it." At a stoplight, he extracted a small silver-wrapped parcel and handed it to her.
"Why me?"
"Just in case it doesn't shift back with me."
"Oh, Darius," she sighed. "I'm not giving Ben his birthday present for you."
"I don't expect you to. Just hold it for me."
He put on his turn signal and pulled into the parking garage adjacent to their condo building. They were only a few minutes' drive from the day care; it had been one of the considerations when they'd picked the place out.
This wasn't their permanent home, Loretta knew. That was still to be built. But she still wasn't over the delight of waking up to Darius in bed with her every morning, the warm contentment of their quiet, domestic evenings together. She'd introduced him to Netflix, and he was teaching her how to play chess.
I never imagined my life could be like this. And it seems like it just keeps getting better.
Darius circled to the top level of the parking garage and parked by the open-air concrete barricade. He reached into the backseat and passed Loretta a fluffy bundle. "Here. I want you dressed warmly up there."
She smiled, putting on the mittens and extra-fluffy coat on top of her town coat, while Darius locked the car. "Are we taking off from here? Do you really think it's safe?"
"There's snow and low clouds. We could drive out into the country, but I'd rather get moving. Ready to go?"
Loretta nodded, and Darius looked around for witnesses, then shifted. "Mount up, my love," he rumbled, extending a leg for her to use as a stepping stool. She climbed swiftly to his back, by now well used to the process.