by Simon Archer
The remaining dragons, those participants in the conversation and those who remained passive, shared a glance. I couldn’t tell what passed between the six of them, but they seemed to come to some sort of agreement.
“Not if we can help it, my lord,” Maximus answered with a closed-mouthed smile. “Now, if I may, I wish to give you something.”
“You don’t have to do that, Maximus,” I assured him. “We all just went through something really emotional, and I think taking some time to recover might be best…”
My efforts to stall were thwarted when the red dragon lowered himself to me and opened his mouth. It was massive and filled with two rows of glittering pearly white teeth. His tongue was thick, pink, and forked, like a snake. I gazed back into the dark abyss that was his throat and gulped.
“Uh, Maximus?” I asked as I leaned back, nearly breaking my back to do so. “What are you doing?”
He tried to speak with an open mouth, and it came out as a garbled mess. Spittle misted onto my face, and his hot breath steamed my skin.
“Sorry, didn’t catch that,” I said, wiping my face off with the back of my hand.
Maximus closed his mouth before speaking again. “Find the silver tooth.”
“Then what?” I asked before he could resume the position of displaying his intimidating jaws. “Am I checking for cavities or something?”
“Maximus, do you think now is really the time?” Johan asked with caution. “Martin is right in that we might need some time to think about everything.”
“I need to reestablish trust with him,” Maximus said to Johan as if I wasn’t standing right in front of him. “This is the only way I know how.”
“If you are sure,” Johan checked in the same hesitant tone.
“I am not,” Maximus answered. Then, his yellow eyes focused on me with one of the most powerful stares I’d ever connected with. “That is why I am doing it. A leap of faith, right, Martin?”
It was the same verbiage he used when I was deciding whether or not to jump down a well and into another world. The words struck a chord in my heart, awakening a dusty desire to change. I used to have confidence in my ability to face the unknown. It was a skill that developed after the death of my parents, the largest unknown ever to enter my life.
I didn’t know if now was the time to bond with Maximus. Maybe we were rushing things, especially after I basically admitted I wasn’t sure about being their king. I called their choice a mistake. Was it?
I still didn’t know, but I knew my bonds with Ffamran, Ninji, Johan, and Sayles grew stronger by the day. While for all intents and purposes, Ffamran was the first creature I bonded with, the connection I had with Maximus came first. Because he was the one who brought me here. He was the one who helped unlock my gifts. He was the one who granted my wish.
Until now, the red dragon had not steered me wrong. He was cryptic as all hell, yes, and I didn’t always understand, or like, his methods. But he came through for me. In all actuality, I had no reason to doubt that he would continue to do so.
“Open your mouth,” I commanded, never wavering from Maximus’s fierce gaze.
The red dragon complied and widened his jaws once more. I leaned my head forward a little to get a better look at the rows of teeth, both top and bottom. Realistically, his mouth was so big that I could stick my whole head in there comfortably. Well, as comfortably as anyone could be with their head in a dragon’s mouth.
My eyes gazed over his rows of teeth until I noticed the glint on one of them. It was slightly discolored from the others, and the one out of line. There was a gap between it and its brethren. The spaces were large enough for me to get my hand around.
The whole tooth fit surprisingly well in the palm of my hand. It was drier than I expected, thinking the thing would be covered in dragon saliva. Instead, the tooth felt leathery and rough. However, it wasn’t the texture of the tooth that surprised me the most.
The tooth was loose.
A weird impulse tickled my stomach, surged through my arm, and into my hand. I tightened my grip on the tooth and pulled.
The canine slipped out of Maximus’s gums, but that wasn’t the only thing that came out. Along with the tooth came a shining silver blade. A yellow light, something more golden than my white radiance, crackled in the air. The sound intensified with each centimeter that I pulled. I had to walk backward and out of Maximus’s mouth in order to get the rest of it out. By the time I was done, I stood before the dragon clan holding the most beautiful sword I had ever seen.
The yellow light zipped around the sword like a dozen fireflies, putting the finishing touches on the weapon. They conjoined into one large ball of light that completed its magical transformation by exploding into a blast of little specks that floated down and dissolved. They left a trail of smoke shaped like a weeping willow.
Instantly, I recognized the sword.
“This was King Garham’s!” I exclaimed. “I saw it on the ceiling of the castle. Holy shit, it’s real!”
“It is very real,” Maximus confirmed.
“I thought it was something an artist had created to give the painting more drama,” I admitted.
The sword exactly replicated its painted counterpart. From the pointed tip of the end all the way to the pommel shaped like Garham’s symbol. The weight was light enough for me to hold easily, but heavy enough to pack a punch when needed. I could grip it with one hand or two, but right now, I laid it flat between both palms, nervous and intimidated by the sheer beauty of it.
“I gift you, Martin Mark Anthony, son of James and Nina Anthony, King of Dragons, with the sword of Rainwright,” Maximus announced. “Should you choose to accept it, that is.”
The words were on the tip of my tongue, but something gave me pause. I didn’t know why, but I knew I needed a minute to consider the power of this gift. Magic flowed through this sword. I mean, I had just pulled it from the mouth of a dragon, and it formed from his tooth! It was incredible and an honor… but was it one that I wanted?
“Martin,” Ffamran spoke into my mind. “Maximus would not give this to you if he didn’t think you could handle it. None of us would have gifted you without that knowledge.”
“Jin doesn’t think I can,” I argued senselessly.
“Well, you kind of pissed her off,” Ffamran reasoned. “But her opinion is not the only one that matters. Ours do as well. But it is your opinion of yourself that matters the most. So, what do you say?”
I say… I say… what could I possibly say? What does someone say in response to a gift of this magnitude? I chose the only words that made any sense at that moment.
“Thank you, Maximus,” I said.
“Wield it well, my lord.”
34
I stashed the sword under my bed. I barely remember getting the thing back to my room. I felt like a thief in the night, sneaking around the court and trying to act as natural as possible.
Paranoia told me everyone would see this crazy gorgeous sword hanging from my belt and kill me for it. Or accuse me of stealing it. Or worse, bow down and call me their next ruler.
Once I made it to my chambers, I had no idea where to store it. There weren’t many good hiding places for a great sword in my rather simple room. The bed was the only place large enough for it. So there it went. Even completely hidden from view, I still believed someone would find it. That thought caused me to pull it back out and wrap it in a spare blanket before returning it back beneath the bed.
I was only marginally satisfied, but I didn’t have a better plan. Man, what I wouldn’t have given for a guitar case about now.
I stood in my room, hands on my hips, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do next. I didn’t want to go back to the library… perhaps not ever, considering Haylie now thought I was a book thief. Plus, my brain was too scrambled to think straight, anyway.
My first instinct was to paint, but for some reason, I didn’t want to do that. It was rare for me to feel that. I could coun
t the instances on one hand. Usually, it was when I was ill or emotionally exhausted. Painting for me was such a purging process that when my tank was running on empty, it was often one of the last things I wanted to do.
What did someone do to relax in Insomier? Thinking back on it, I couldn’t remember a time when I had just chilled since I arrived. It wasn’t like there was a TV show to binge-watch or movie marathons to complete. I thought about reading a book, seeing if there was some Insomier fiction about, but that brought me back to the dilemma with the library, so I struck that idea.
My mind wandered to the Marked Woods and wondered if there was a nature trail I could hike. Something calming and serene. It was getting colder by the day, being the middle of fall, but the trees were changing colors, and I would have bet some of them looked downright gorgeous.
When I reached my door with a resolve to go out for a walk, I gripped the door handle and stopped. I realized then that I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts. I wanted a distracting conversation, one that didn’t have to do with dragons, kings, bonding, the corruption, the court, or anything dinner related.
Bailey-Sue’s beautiful emerald hair and her heart-shaped face crossed my mind, and I smiled. It had been a while since I saw the sassy goth-like girl and thought she would be the perfect one to distract me from myself. I opened the door and walked out, intent on inviting her on a random but much-needed outing.
However, when I got to the Zoo, Bailey-Sue was nowhere to be found.
“Bailey-Sue?” I called, letting my voice carry into the surrounding landscapes. “Bailey-Sue? Hello? Are you here?”
I rounded the corner, intent on heading for the caves, which caused me to pass by one of the many lakes in the expansive habitat. There, standing a little way into the water, was Alona. A shirtless Alona. With her trousers rolled up to her knees, a long pole in her hand so she could clean the bottom of the lake. But my eyes could not get over the fact that she was half-naked and surprisingly… attractive?
Her broad shoulders seemed more balanced with no shift hanging off them. She always had a lean frame, but now that it was bare, I could see the impressive definition in her arms and stomach. When Alona bent over, her back muscles flexed beautifully. To top it off, her tanned skin was flawless. Not a blemish or birthmark tainted the smooth outer layer of her body. Parts of it trickled with dots of water, where the lake splashed back upon her, which made the whole sight all the more enticing. I couldn’t see the front of her yet, but I had no doubt that her breasts would be perky and firm as befitting the woman who had them.
At the sound of my hollering, Alona looked up. Her long hair, always tied back with a loose piece of string, swung around her shoulder, and a few strands fell loose. She swept them out of her eyes, which brightened when they landed on me.
My gaze was drawn down to the exposed chest which bore breasts that were, like I imagined, perky and firm with pink areolas and nipples that were causing me to salivate at the thought of taking them into my mouth.
“Martin,” Alona said with a killer smile, “I thought I heard you calling.”
“Uh-huh,” I babbled. Seeing Alona in this new light broke the link between my brain and my mouth. I couldn’t phrase anything correctly, so I continued to stare, rather blatantly.
“You were looking for Bailey-Sue?” Alona checked, cocking her head to one side, seemingly not embarrassed or concerned about her bare chest and my gaze. Several beads of lake water and sweat trailed down the side of her chin and down her neck. I watched it travel, sliding between her breasts and down her navel, and all I could think about was how easy it would be to lick it right off her.
“Uh-huh,” I repeated, with the same monotonous, distracted tone of a dazed student.
“Unfortunately, she’s not here right now,” Alona informed me, seemingly unphased by my lack of brain function and continuous staring. “She’s in the greenhouses today.”
By some sheer luck, the word “greenhouses” slipped through my mental fog and clicked. It made me think of Maria and then reminded me that I was at an odd impasse with her, her gorgeous face framed by those blonde curls flashed through my head, but I couldn’t focus on how cute she was, and eventually, that frustration interceded my admiration of Alona’s body.
“Huh?” I managed to ask. Though still not eloquent, it was progress. “What is she doing there?”
“She helps out there every so often,” Alona said nonchalantly.
“But I thought Bailey-Sue was all about the animals,” I said, utterly confused. “They are her passion. I didn’t think she cared about the plants unless the animals were eating them.”
“It’s not so much about what’s in the greenhouses, but who,” Alona said with a smirk. While it was not directed at me, that smirk was borderline a smolder, and my knees nearly buckled right then and there.
I had to refocus on Alona’s words, instead of my own dirty thoughts. But just standing there, with the fading sunlight shining off her, still wet and gleaming and toned, it was rather difficult.
“Who?” I asked, returning to the conversation. “She goes over there for the people?”
“One person in particular,” Alona said, her smirk remaining in place. “She is friends with one of the gardeners.”
“Maria,” I said without thinking about it.
“How did you know?” Alona asked, her smile now replaced by a small frown and raised eyebrows.
“A guess,” I said instead. “She’s the only gardener I know about, but Maria mentioned her being the youngest one. Not that Bailey-Sue couldn’t be friends with someone older, but it was a logical leap.”
“Yes, well, it’s been a little rocky for them since the tournament scandal. Congratulations on winning, by the way,” Alona told me, and I breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t question me more. “Bailey-Sue’s been trying to talk it out with her, but Maria’s not really responsive.”
“That’s sad,” I said sympathetically. Even if I was angry at Maria, I didn’t begrudge Bailey-Sue seeking happiness, though a small part of me hoped that someday I could be a part of what made her happy, “I hope they can work it out.”
“Maria is not a terrible person,” Alona reasoned. “She has her reasons for doing what she did.”
“Don’t tell me you agree with her,” I said with a warning in my voice.
“No, I do not,” Alona said definitively. “However, I still respect her as a person, and I respect her right to make that decision.”
“That’s rather diplomatic of you,” I commented.
“I like to think it is rather empathetic,” Alona countered, “but there you are. Did you need Bailey-Sue for something specific?”
“Not really,” I said, thinking back to why I came to the Zoo in the first place. “I didn’t really need her either. I just wanted to see her.”
“What for?” Alona asked.
She waded her way out of the pool and set the long pole against a nearby tree. That same tree held her shirt on a branch which she retrieved. Alona rolled down her trousers to their proper length and then stretched the shirt over her head to cover those perfect perky nipples. It should have been considered a crime. She proceeded to tie her apron around her body, and a pang of sadness hit my heart, knowing that lovely view had been so suddenly taken from me.
My reason suddenly sounded lame, now that I considered telling Alona about it. “It’s nothing,” I said as I waved the concern off, trying to come off as casual.
“That is not true,” Alona countered, as she crossed towards me. She sat on a nearby log and started lacing up her boots. “It is never nothing when it comes to you, Martin.”
“Well, it’s nothing important,” I argued. “I wanted to invite her on a walk is all.”
“You have time for a walk?” Alona chuckled. “I thought all the introduction training and chess lessons were keeping you rather booked.”
“They are, but my head’s going to explode if I don’t take a break,” I confessed
. “Everything feels too congested and tight. I need to relax.”
Alona’s eyes reached up and pulled mine to her. It was such a natural, noninvasive gesture that I willingly allowed myself to meet her eyes. We said nothing for a few moments and watched one another.
I saw her leaned forward, elbows on her knees, hands clasped together in front of her. Her hair swept to the left, dangling over her shoulders. Her jaw clenched slightly, and she sniffled, probably from the cold of the water. I thought of her back muscles again and her abs and the gorgeous sight of her chest.
Alona slapped her thighs and stood up, making a decision. She removed the apron she had just put on moments ago and hung it from a sturdy tree branch. Then she held out her elbow to me and turned sideways slightly.
“Shall we?” she invited.
“Shall we what?” I asked, unsure of what she was doing.
“Walk,” Alona said simply. “You wanted to go for a walk, and obviously not alone, or you would have left already. So, if you would like some company, I would be happy to walk with you.”
“But you have to work.” I gestured, arms outstretched, to the Zoo before us. “Don’t you?”
“Yes,” Alona replied, her arm still cocked, prompting me to take it. “But the animals are fed, and cleaning can wait an hour or so. I am currently the Head Caretaker, so I can do as I wish with my schedule.”
A drop of hope seared my heart, like oil flying from a simmering pan. “You would do that? Come with me?”
“Martin, you would be surprised at the things I would do for you,” Alona admitted with a clever smile. “For now, if you need someone to walk with you, we shall walk. Now, would you like to take my arm or walk independently as I know you often prefer?”
Alona was right that I hated having an escort. It often felt too intimate to do with a stranger, and it slowed me down. With my long legs, I often walked faster than the average person, and being escorted the way tradition dictated went against many of my natural instincts. However, at this moment, the desire to be close to someone hit me hard, and it wasn’t just anyone I wanted to be close to.
