Season’s Dragons: Winter, page 13
“You try being this drunk. Kiss me again, you dork.”
So we kissed, our lips meeting each other once more under the moonlit sky.
Chapter 11: Dragonheart
I don’t typically make myself known; a narrator has no place in such a personal tale. However, I am pinning this because my sister-in-law is currently arguing with a tiny dragon princess on how much explicit material ought to be included in this soon-to-be religious text.
This has been my life at least the last three hours. My sister-in-law is a very passionate individual. Aria is a dragon.
If I must write something, the two of them had a very lovely night together. Very cute and all that.
Now stop trying to get me to write my sister-in-law shagging you!
Myrtle “Mari” Innings
* * * *
I woke up to a slight pounding of the head and the soft, sweet smell of someone else very close to me. A beam of light cut across the room, revealing clothes tossed away haphazardly. Despite only faintly remembering how I returned, I remembered her kiss. Clear as moonlight. A gentle squeeze and the faint sound of snoring could be heard from underneath the sun-dyed bed sheets.
Wait. I knew that snoring.
I pulled back the blanket with my free arm, and I was greeted with Aria wrapped around me, like a cat on her favorite scratching post. Immediately memories of last night came flooding back, and I reminisced with a smile. I hope she remembered too.
Reaching out with my other hand, I gave her nose a soft poke. I watched her face contort as her gemstone eyes slowly opened to the morning light. The dazzling pattern was instead a mess of smaller diamonds, warping the light around them in a prismatic haze.
“Morning sleepyhead,” I whispered, trying not to startle her as she rubbed her face on my chest like a pillow.
There was a faint murmuring as her beautiful eyes closed again, content to laze and bask in our mutual warmth. She reminded me of a cat that the old mayor used to own. Big clingy ball of fur. She’d scratch you if you weren’t careful, but she was a delight to have around.
“Mmm…my head hurts…” she finally whimpered, turning to her side and trying to drag me along with her. She wasn’t trying very hard, but I had stuff to do rather than be her body pillow for the rest of the afternoon.
“H-Hey! I’m not your pillow!” I whispered, as she flopped onto her back. Our legs were still wrapped around each other, shifting about as she stirred awake.
“If you knew that you couldn’t hold your liquor, then why did you chug all that fancy booze?” I let myself have a free joke at her expense, but instead of laughing, she jumped out of bed, eyes wide in shock. I winced as her knee hit me in the shins by accident.
“Wait! So you…I…That wasn’t a dream, was it.” Her stutters turned even more frantic as I pointed to the garments flung carelessly across the room.
“I mean, unless you’ve gotten some new-fangled magical powers from being drunk, then no. That was most definitely real.” I let out a pained smirk. “Also, you’re naked.”
“Eep!” she screamed out, before throwing clothes onto herself as fast as her tiny arms could manage. It amazed me how fast and full of energy she could be when the situation called for it.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, but I wanted to try having a drink and,” she began, quickly buttoning up her dress as my cheeky grin turned into frown. She didn’t mean to…?
“What do you mean?”
A silence fell in the room as Aria stood still, halfway done buttoning up her dress. We exchanged glances. It wasn’t the singular determination, or the brilliant prismatic halo of love I had seen last night. It was the eyes of a girl trying to come to terms with her feelings.
“I…I wasn’t too forceful, was I?” she whispered back and I burst out into laughter. She eyed me, dumbfounded.
“You’re a dragon! You should act a little forceful sometimes, swing that weight around a bit more. Heck, I kind of liked it for a change, watching you open up more and take charge,” I pointed out as she resumed buttoning her dress before dusting her ceremonial robes off.
“I don’t do it much, because when I act cute, it makes people happy. You know that.” Aria spoke innocently. Now that knew her better, I realized what she just said made no sense.
“No. I don’t.” I crossed my arms as her eyebrows raised. “If you wanted to do things just because it made people happy, you wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t have kissed me. You wouldn’t be trying so hard to be where the church doesn’t want you to be. So excuse me if I don’t believe you anymore, girlfriend.” I blew a playful raspberry as I watched Aria’s slightly depressed expression turn into one of abashed embarrassment.
“I understand, but…” she stammered, trying to find her words through flushed cheeks before continuing. “Do you believe that people will accept that?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” I shrugged, wrapping myself in bedsheets. “That’s why you don’t trust the words of the random asshole on the streets who thinks you shouldn’t be dating a girl. That’s why you trust in your friends, right?” She slowly nodded, donning her shimmering robes once again before reaching over to open a window.
“Thanks Charlotte.” There was an embarrassed scratch of her head as she struggled to find her follow up, before she finally decided on an uncomplicated smile. “That was good advice.”
I gave an exasperated sputter as she giggled. “G-Good advice! Are you kidding me! I have three pieces of advice, ever! One, be yourself. Two, ignore lame-os. Three, shoot stuff and have fun. That’s it! That is not advice! That is ‘vice’ at best.”
Aria didn’t say anything, but instead tossed a bundle of clothing at my face. She was so cute.
Before we left, we suddenly realized it was probably a good idea to bath. After calming Aria down, the two of us were squeezed in a bathtub made for one. I was going to wash Aria first, since she was needed to be out there and speaking to all those churchgoers, and they weren’t going to wait forever.
“W-why did I get dressed in the first place…” Aria grumbled as I brushed against her skin with the washcloth, my legs wrapped around her waist. She kept her face away from me, no doubt hiding a blush.
“I don’t know? You got flustered?” I chuckled as I moved down to washing her arms. She let out an embarrassed squeak before she let run my hands against them. Her skin didn’t feel quite so cold anymore.
“Probably,” she said, raising her arms. “Hey Charlotte. Could I make a selfish request?”
I raised my eyebrows at first. “I mean you already made one last night…” I teased as her arm whipped away from me. She turned towards me, exasperated sputters across her flustered cheeks.
“Charlotte! Please! I’m trying to be serious!”
I recoiled for a moment before letting my girlfriend have her moment.
“I haven’t told anyone but Caen about this, but you know how dragons are supposed to be members of the royal family?”
I nodded, wrapping my arms around her for comfort.
“Right.” I saw her smile back, her fingers entwining with mine. “I’m only half. My mom had me out of wedlock.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say as she continued. She had to be half-royal right? Right?
“That’s why I’d prefer if you didn’t meet my family, or sought them out. I’ve caused my own enough grief, and they’ve caused me far too much back.”
“Of course.” I nuzzled her on the hair, before giving her ear a soft bite.
“Gah! Charlotte!”
“What?” I giggled. “I’m just reminding you that you’re loved.”
“I know.” Her hands were gripping my fingers tightly now. “Would it still be selfish to go for the throne? I wanted to go for it before because I thought it could give me the thing I wanted, but…” I gave her another nuzzle.
“Aria. You might not have been born to the right dad, but you’re still a dragon.
“Right.” I felt her grip loosen as her smile brightened. “I’m a dragon.”
* * * *
While I wanted to talk about the previous night some more, I recognized that I had a duty to perform, and so did Charlotte. That and she admitted she had little interest in the religious scriptures. So, it was decided that I would prepare the sermon and rally up the townsfolk for the trial ahead, while she rearmed herself for the last push to Mithil.
While it wasn’t guaranteed that the capital was safe, it was unlikely that the church would try to attack me. Peace enforced by dragons was absolute peace.
As Charlotte took up the small bath allotted to us, I trundled outside, hand on my forehead. I didn’t consider the consequences of downing an entire bottle of liquor, but perhaps that was the point. Didn’t make the pounding headache hurt any less though.
I was greeted outside by what looked like a panicking Bishop Buryan. The entire church staff looked relieved as they saw me emerge, seemingly as beautiful and prepared as a Pact Mage ought to be.
“Pact Mage Aria!” Buryan looked relieved. “I hate to ask, but do you often sleep until the late afternoon?”
I was already not an early riser, but it seemed like Charlotte had amplified my bad habits.
“Not particularly. I normally wake up at an reasonable time, but ever since I’ve arrived here it’s been more the exception rather than the rule,” I grumbled as their expressions turned to worry again.
“Well, I hope everything’s been all right.”
I looked around nervously. Did they hear the two of us last night? Despite the butterflies, it made me feel all soft and fuzzy. I wanted to declare it to the world. However, I knew that there was a time for such an announcement and a time to sequester it. Mother bless Charlotte, but discretion was not one department where my girlfriend excelled.
“We got a delivery basket of food addressed to you. I believe it’s still warm. The Text of the Trinity is behind the lectern.” Buryan pointed to the kitchen as I sniffed the air. I could smell last night’s food right here. I guessed there would be no alcohol, not after the mess I made last night.
“Make yourself at home. Is two hours enough time for you to prepare?”
Two hours! That was not enough time for a direct text referral. Though, having Buryan with me meant I wouldn’t have to refer directly to the text.
“It will have to do.” I sighed, recognizing this as a consequence of my reckless behaviour from last night. Not that I was complaining, of course. “I’ll have to work quickly. Mother and I have been thinking of a plan, and I intend to put it into motion.” I gave a glowing grin and the church lit up and relaxed.
I grabbed the heavy religious text from behind the lectern, thinking back to what Charlotte had spoken about earlier. How hypocritical my old dream now seemed.
Maybe making everyone happy was a dream I had once upon a time. Maybe I even had that dream when I left home all those months ago. No longer. I’d found better dreams right here in reality.
* * * *
“See you later, sweet cheeks!” Aria let out an embarrassing stutter as I waved goodbye for now.
While I’d stick around to support her, she had insisted that I didn’t need to waste my time. That, and I was pretty sure if I heard a sermon, I’d fall asleep.
Things had been going so fast, even for me, and I was the one who liked to take things fast, damn it! I wanted to introduce Aria to my folks. I knew it might not be possible until after this whole thing was over, but introducing her to my big brother and his wife might be good for her.
I paused for a moment, my steps suddenly coming to a standstill. The crunching of snow. Someone was following me.
I spun around, hand on my blade, to see a pair of inquisitors. Our eyes locked for a brief second. Aw crap. I turned my head back as they walked away, or so seemed.
I could’ve gone back into the church. In fact, I probably should’ve gone back to the church to tell Aria that there were patrols moving before nightfall.
However, we desperately needed to salvage whatever weapons we had left and get new ones.
The rest of the walk was filled with tension and darting eyes as I made sure I wasn’t getting snooped on or followed. It might’ve been a hunch, but I’ve learned to trust my hunches.
Finally, the town smithy.
I was greeted to a younger man who introduced himself as Karmen. Mostly casual chatter and remarks about how damaged much of the gear was. Luckily, we got one of the pistols working, and he quickly showed me how to clean the darn things. Sometimes, a human hand was infinitely more valuable than a book.
“Pretty surprised you guys have black powder, since there’s one musket here.” I chuckled as he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Ya. My dad mixes the stuff and we usually sell it off, but recently the town’s been closed. The church, not ours, has been trying to get the stuff, but Dad says they don’t pay enough.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“Why do they need black powder? They use crossbows in winter.”
Karmen shrugged. “I don’t know, but probably something important, because they kept asking. Had to turn them down a third time tonight.”
I felt a lump in my throat as I heard a knock on the door.
* * * *
I had never had so many people hanging onto my every word. Even friendly compliments were taken with the same religious fervor as a sermon. I learned that when I complimented a lady on her coat, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her that there wasn’t some grand meaning to it. Just a bemused sigh.
There were a lot of words of endearment, and lots of young men. Seemed like word got around that I was as cute as a button. Once the whirlwind of meets and greets were done, I asked for Bishop Buryan to accompany me towards the back of the church, and into the kitchen.
Unlike the well-adorned church, the kitchen was exactly as Spartan as I imagined. A utilitarian room made for rapid creation of foodstuffs and best manned by a crew of five or more. Once we were alone, our eyes met. The two-hour estimate was generous at best. It was half an hour before people started pouring in.
“I presume you found evidence that the bridge is rigged?” I began as he sighed, dejected. It looked like he wanted to say yes without qualifiers, but couldn’t.
“No, not anything so forward. But they have far too many guards there for it to be a simple matter of keeping the people away from the bridge. There’s at least six of them, and a small camp there.” He scratched his head as I beckoned him to continue.
“I suppose if they were going to demolish the bridge…Our gunpowder stores are in the smithy.”
My heart dropped. “But if they don’t have their own gunpowder…I sent Charlotte there…” As the bishop realized what I was saying, his eyes went wide too.
No. There were people out there, expecting me. Needing me. I felt the world shrinking around me before a single thought crystalized. I am a dragon. I can save them all.
“It’s all right, go after her and I can send some people to accompany you,” he began, but I wasn’t listening to him anymore.
I looked down at the sacred text that my Mother had worked so hard to assemble, my eyes hardening into a single solid beam of light. With a heavy slam I thrust the holy text into his arms.
“Give them faith, bishop. I’ll give them hope.”
* * * *
“This is the inquisitors! We are seizing the black powder stores! Do not resist!” The sound of boots surrounded the forge as I rushed over to deadbolt the main door. Poor Karmen looked terrified. They had picked this exact time because they knew pretty much everyone was going to be at the sermon. The clever bastards.
“What do we have?” I shouted as he started counting, loading each gun and crossbow in turn.
“Four, no five crossbows! A musket too!”
The sound of the door being smashed apart rang across the forge as I knocked over tables to makeshift barricades. The metal-wood counter was going to be my best option for cover. Then a poleaxe blade broke through the door, ripping a gap.
No thinking, just doing. I pulled out my pistol from my coat holster and fired. A scream of pain, followed by black smoke billowing out into the foyer. I chucked the pistol back as the young man scrambled to pick it up.
“H-Hey! Careful! I just fixed that!” he sputtered as I heard glass shattering, the black smoke drifting to choke whichever poor fool decided to enter through the windows.
“Not the time for that!” I glanced back at him reloading my gun, going as fast as he could through his dusty goggles.
“Now, I’ll try to hold them off. You take an axe and break a door through the back wall. Got it?” When I looked down at the young man, he looked up at me with the same look as I gave Caen when this all started. A mix of fear and starry-eyed admiration.
“Y-Yes!”
This time the sound of breaking wood and the creaking of the deadlock were mixed. They were breaking in, two at a time.
I drew my remaining pistol and fired, catching one of them in the leg and toppling him with a scream. Then I rolled, feeling the harsh contours of the wood floorboards against my coat as crossbow bolts whizzed past my head. I had managed to make it behind the counter without getting shot.
Time to start shooting.
I tossed the pistol aside for one of the heavier crossbows. The kid was taking the hatchet to the back wall as the inquisitors emerged, rugged determination etched across their faces.
* * * *
I cleared my throat as the entire church stood with arms open.
“People of the Central Valley. My name is Aria, and I have been sent here not for the church, not for the priests, but for you. These are troubled times, and while the dragons watch over their frozen throne in Mithil, their wings do not protect us here. But I can change that.” There were murmurs of agreement from the crowd.
“I will change that. That is the reason why soldiers knock on your doors, why your every move is scrutinized by those bearing blades. They wish to protect you from me.” There were worried whispers from the crowd as I passionately placed a hand on my chest, a singer on the stage about to sing their solo.
