It was Evan that followed up with another question that surprised the che’ther, “Can’t you use your magic to change your looks, if that is all that you want? At least, until you can get your amulet back anyway.”
Cheleya realized that she had never thought to try her alteration magic on her body. Summoning her power quietly, the girl took a lock of the reddish blond hair and slid her fingers along the length. The swipe removed all the red leaving a light blond color along the entire length.
“It appears than I can affect at least the color of my hair, and maybe with a mirror I can exact changes to my form in other ways. I’ve never actually looked at myself in a mirror long enough to truly even know what this body looks like,” Cheleya remarked realizing that for all her anger at being trapped as a human, she had been trapped for so short a time she had never really looked at it.
“You look beautiful,” Evantus commented quietly enough that only Colbie caught his words and shook her head.
Music began from the far side of the room as a pair of musicians began to play a guitar and sing. The crowd began pushing the center tables to the side as several dancers joined in following the lively tune. Cheleya was enrapt in their movements. She had never seen humans dancing and it was like nothing that the girl had ever witnessed before except perhaps the dance of combat. Where combat was for life and death, however, this dancing was all about life and joy.
“Do you want to dance?” Evan asked Cheleya noting the girl’s smiles as she watched the growing crowd moving to the music.
The girl nodded, but Colbie cut them off. “If you’re going to dance then you should put your pack in your room first so no one walks off with it.”
Frowning, the che’ther girl asked, “Why would someone walk away with it? It isn’t theirs.”
Her naiveté made Colbie shake her head, but she stood and directed Cheleya to follow as she replied, “Haven’t you learned from your dealings with the man who was stealing from your school, that sometimes people covet what others have? If you leave the pack lying there, it may be left alone or it may not. You have a room, so let’s use the key to put these away.”
Kel’lor joined the ladies leaving the other three to sit, but Orlerin was quick to ask Tilana to dance. While the wizard blushed at the attention in public, the dark haired woman offered her hand to the mage to be drawn into the crowd.
Evantus sat watching Colbie leading the beautiful che’ther and her escort up the stairs to their second floor room. Cheleya had spoken of grace to her human body and he could certainly see that as her lithe form ascended the stairs before disappearing into the hall beyond.
The three entered the inn room after Colbie used the key that they had been given by the inn keeper. Dinner had kept them from going upstairs right away, but the mage didn’t want to see their belongings stolen, especially knowing the small fortune inside of Cheleya’s pack.
Kel’lor did little more than dump his pack on a bed deciding the one on the left was his. Cheleya took more time examining the furniture. Two beds covered with inexpensive blankets and comforters with a pair of pillows on each, a pair of dressers on either side of the entry door with unlit lamps upon them, a wardrobe to their right and lastly an inn table between the beds filled the room with its plain wood floor. The dragoness stopped in front of the dresser to the right of the door and noted her reflection in the mirror.
“It isn’t quite what I thought that I looked like,” Cheleya remarked considering the image. She glanced at Colbie in her falcon uniform and her forehead furrowed slightly comparing her image to the young mage. “Is this body a nice looking form?”
Colbie struggled to understand the dragoness’s mind. To a human, the question would likely be an attempt to add to one’s vanity. Others’ perception of one’s dress and looks consumed many people rather than worrying about more important things in the mage’s opinion. “Most men would say that you are beautiful,” Colbie admitted thinking of Evan’s quiet remark. “For a human, you are born to look as you are and worrying over other’s concepts of beautiful and handsome really can’t be worried over, Cheleya.”
“Am I say, as beautiful as you, to a human, I mean?” the dragoness asked looking at her image critically. She noted her emerald green eyes and thought the shade of green to be stronger than any human’s she had seen during her walk in the town. Her hair color had been an experiment and she wasn’t sure that she liked the red in it as much as she had with just the blond coloring. Using her magic, the dragoness merely shook her head while watching the mirror and let the light yellow warmth wash the red away.
Colbie gasped at the magic thinking that most women would kill to have such a power. The ability to change one’s looks to fit a situation or attitude was an intriguing power indeed. Remembering Cheleya’s question, the mage started to blush as she replied, “You are probably more beautiful than me, Cheleya, though women try not to compare themselves against one another at least publicly. It is also best to just be happy with what you look like and avoid such comparisons, I think.”
“So you’ve never considered how pretty Tilana is and how Orlerin can barely take his eyes off of her. When she is near, he seems to only see the wizard.”
Wondering at how observant the dragoness truly was, Colbie moved to sit on the girl’s bed before trying to answer. “Tilana’s shy, but pretty and, yes, Orlerin is in love with her, though I am not sure either of them have admitted it to the other. As to whether I am or am not prettier, I really don’t think I should be trying to judge. I am a battle mage and I fight so most boys aren’t that interested in my looks anyway.”
Cheleya turned looking at her new friend in surprise, “I know that I am new to this, but I think that you are very beautiful for a human. Kel’lor might be able to back me up on this.”
Waving off her question, the gargoyle in human form stated, “Leave me out of your talks of beauty. I can discuss a sunrise or sunset, but I don’t have any opinion on this race’s looks.”
Colbie couldn’t help chuckling and thinking that Kel’lor had probably been the smarter of the two of them ignoring Cheleya’s questions.
Moving to the far corner of the room, Cheleya placed her bag and cloak beside the wardrobe. Calling her magic to her, the girl placed her hand inside the bag and pulled free a small amount of gold from one of the bars. Her left hand then wiped over the air above the bag making it seem to disappear. Colbie could see the corner of the room and wall as if there was no pack at all.
The dragoness knelt on the bed Colbie was sitting upon and took the girl’s hair pulling it back in a tail. Being a medium brown, the mage had always considered her hair color uninteresting. A couple more strokes from the dragoness and a loose lock falling into her face revealed that Cheleya had put a red into her coloring and darkened it slightly as well. Like a glistening red wood stain, her hair had become warmer to the eye. The dragoness let a little of the mage’s hair play in locks along the sides of her face just in front of her ears while a newly formed gold hair clip kept the rest back in a ponytail.
“There. Very pretty. Now the boys will definitely notice you downstairs. I could make you a dress as well, if you would like,” Cheleya added as she directed the mage to look in the mirror.
Looking at her reflection, Colbie noted the darker, reddened tresses and the more feminine styling the che’ther had arranged for her hair. She could see the gold hair clip had a lot of detail for something created so quickly and her own thin, gold hoop earrings could be seen as well. They were often hidden by her hair since she had first gotten them as a cadet, since such accessories were frowned upon for those fighting with swords. It was one of the few pieces of vanity that the battle mage had allowed herself over the years.
The hair coloring seemed to increase the green of her eyes and warmed the look of her skin. She didn’t know how a che’ther, so seldom in human form and among human kind could achieve a look so pleasing.
“Is it all right? I can always return you to normal
,” the girl asked worriedly. She had simply wanted to do something for the mage’s kindness and hoped that she hadn’t overstepped her bounds.
Smiling at the dragoness from the mirror, Colbie replied, “No, it looks great, Cheleya. I don’t know how you did it, but I guess that’s why you are a magician.”
The little blond clapped happily and asked, “Do you want a dress? I can make you one?”
Starting for her invisible pack, Colbie waved her off quickly warning, “No, no, it would be more of a bother than I want to put you through, besides too much change at once might make Evan and the others confused. I don’t usually dress up for a party.”
Cheleya looked a little disappointed a moment before grabbing her friend’s arm and steering her for the door. “Then let’s go downstairs. I am very interested in this dancing you humans do. Che’ther have a different way of dancing and it is done with all four legs instead of two. I suppose mar’goyn’lya must dance on two legs as well?”
Grunting without truly answering, Kel’lor followed the two girls after locking the door with the key.
Their return to the table brought Evan’s eyes open in surprise. “Did she change your hair color?”
Sitting across from her long time friend, Colbie leaned onto her hands and shook her head. “I swear she’s more of a girl than I am.”
“Well, that’s not hard to believe,” Evan chuckled.
“Hey!” she protested his joke.
Shrugging, he explained, “Well, you’re usually so busy trying to be taken seriously as a battle mage, that I forget that you’re actually a pretty girl as well. When did you get those earrings anyway?”
His surprising compliment caused the woman to blush, but his usual lack of attentiveness led her to sigh, saying, “I got them while I was a cadet. You noticed them then too.”
He smiled and shrugged once more, “I forgot, but you look nice. How does a che’ther know how to do that?”
Pointing to Cheleya and Kel’lor who had fallen behind as Colbie retreated to the far side of the room, the mage said, “Ask her that for your self. I don’t understand how she can hate being human, know so very little of our customs and still be able to be such a girl.”
Evan smiled at the dragoness as she walked up and he quickly noticed the change to the girl’s hair as well. By the time they had arrived, Cheleya had pulled her hair back and he noted the lighter true blond color. “Can someone teach me how to dance?” the girl asked before anything else could be said.
She half bounced as the girl asked the question and again Evan thought how he had seen young human girls act similarly. It was like Cheleya had been born che’ther, but should have been human, since the girl had much of the mannerisms coming to her naturally.
Quickly standing to take the pretty dragoness by the hand, Evan volunteered happily, “I am not the greatest dancer, but I would gladly dance with you.”
Watching the two move onto the dance floor, Colbie shook her head with a slight frown.
“You disapprove of Cheleya learning to dance or of the two becoming friendly?” the deep voice of Kel’lor asked curiously.
Surprised at getting caught by the gargoyle, Colbie realized that, unlike the che’ther, mar’goyn’lya and humans probably had a lot of body language similarities being both humanoid. With a smile to offset her words, the girl stated, “Just worried that he’s going to get his heart broken.”
Quietly questioning her statement, Colbie sighed and continued, “She’s a che’ther, but very human as well. Cheleya can fool the eye and someone who didn’t know what she was might simply question if her people have different customs from ours.
“The plains nomads to our west have no known cities and yet number in the thousands. It’s said they can tolerate the cold like a mar’goyn’lya and they revere horses and the strange, feral cattle roaming the land. They’re unlike anyone from Staron or Southwall. I’ve even heard stories of savages on another continent that live in tribes in something called a jungle. They wear clothing different from us and maybe their views are also something that would be considered naive if they were to walk among us here.
“That said, they are still human and, if they had feelings for each other, they would at least have a similar starting point for understanding that in each other. Cheleya is another creature entirely. She belongs with other che’ther, doesn’t she?”
Colbie had laid out her worries to the near stranger, but Kel’lor was like the quiet men she had fought with in the corps for years. They were men both of action and patience that solved problems and listened to worries without judging.
Kel’lor was also a gargoyle, even if he too hid in human form. The facade made it easier for Colbie to forget that he too was of a different race, though his sheer size as a human still lent itself towards him being different from the much smaller girl. Men and women were nearly different races it often seemed, so it wasn’t uncommon to feel comfortable enough to talk candidly.
The calm demeanor of the gargoyle barely changed as he asked, “Is it that you fear him loving Cheleya because she is a different creature changed by magic or that you fear your friend will like you less when she is around? If you truly worry that some forbidden romance will come from this, then I think that you may be safe enough since Cheleya is still very young in her way of thinking.
“If it is the latter then you need to consider if it is his feelings or yours that you truly worry about.”
“If you are trying to say that I am in love with Evan, I swear that I will have to stab you with this new sword!” Colbie warned half in jest and half in truth. “There is no way that I have those kinds of feelings for him. I think of him the way you think of Cheleya. He’s like a brother to me and I’ve known him for years.
“I am worried that he is getting the wrong signals from Cheleya and she doesn’t even know that he is receiving them.”
A strong nod and a grunt drowned out by the music preceded his words, “As I said earlier, in che’ther years, Cheleya is still just a child though she is seventeen. In human years, that would be mature enough to think of romance and love, but I am unsure where the little che’ther’s head is at now that she has been locked into her human form for this long.
“We don’t normally remain human for more than a few hours and she has been trapped for most of a week. Whether that means Cheleya will start acting more like a human girl of seventeen, I am unsure. Even so, she is very naive to things like love and relationships especially with humans.”
Colbie nodded and answered, “So in other words, we need to worry after all.”
Sighing, the gargoyle could only shrug. His eyes went to his little sister in worry after the mage’s words. If Evan and Cheleya did start having feelings or she found a different human male and felt that way, he feared that Colbie’s assessment of heartache could be true.
Cheleya took the hand Evantus offered and felt his other hand put her free hand on his shoulder. When his strong hand touched her waist, she felt an odd shiver like when the cold winds had blown on her bare skin in the night. The man set up the framework of the dance and tried to guide the dragoness with both his words and his grasp. It took a few turns for Cheleya to understand the movements, but the girl was a quick study and soon moving with ease.
“This is fun,” the little blond said looking up with her brilliant emerald eyes. “So this is human dancing?”
The mage laughed at her exuberance and replied, “It’s just one of the types of dances that we do in Staron. There are fancier cities that have schools to teach dancing to royals and the rich. Others maybe learn to perform for people with money. Then there are the rest of us and we do whatever we can learn or make up.”
Smiling, Cheleya replied, as she moved a little closer to speak through the noise, “Your people are very creative then. It is one of the reasons that I think that I had so much fun playing the role of a human girl while I trained. I see things like dresses and rings and think how beautiful the colors and workman
ship can be.”
“Don’t che’ther wear anything?” the man asked curiously trying to imagine what Cheleya looked like as a dragon and just couldn’t see it.
He twirled her receiving a little laugh at the move, which was part of the particular dance, but he hadn’t warned the girl this time.
“I have known wizards to wear rings and, of course, many wear amulets. Being able to change form to work spells with human fingers or being able to fly as a mar’goyn’lya can come in handy. Those without magic usually can’t work them, however, so many of them don’t understand.”
Seeing through her words to a point, he asked, “Your parents don’t like humans?”
Realizing the tune was about to end, Evan broke the hold and held up his finger to pause their conversation. People clapped for the musicians and they jumped straight into the next song. It was a little slower than the last. In theory, it was a dance for lovers, but there were probably many that weren’t that still held each other a little further apart while continuing to dance.
Nodding to Cheleya, Evan encouraged the pretty, little blond to continue their conversation.
“My mother doesn’t like magic actually. My father understands magic and uses it for farming. I am not sure why, but people seem to respect my father very highly despite just being a farmer. He has never said if he ever attended the academy, but to have any control over magic I would think that he must have long ago.
“Che’ther live so long and I am only seventeen, so mother and father could have done many things over a hundred years before I was hatched.”
The candid conversation about parents over a hundred years old and being hatched kept Evan remembering that this was a che’ther inside the beauty before him. He understood Colbie’s warnings, but there was also something very magnetic about the dragon’s personality. She was so human, even though she had quirks that reminded him otherwise at times.
Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 16
