by Sariah Skye
"Holy cow, Braeden! You scared the shit out of me!" I darted across the room and slapped him on the shoulder. "Asshole!"
Braeden laughed hysterically. "Oh Leo you should have seen the look on your face!"
I shoved him out of his lounged position on the couch so I could plop down next to him. "You suck."
"Ha ha, I know." he laughed, nudging me in the shoulder. "Wait—holy cow?"
I smirked and shook my head. "A human expression."
He stared blankly for a moment. "Why would a cow be holy? Is it blessed? Or did someone tear pieces out of it? I didn't know humans could do that…"
I rolled my eyes. "I don't think they can; I heard it on TV. In a movie or…show. One or the other."
He scoffed. "Humans are really weird."
I raised a brow expectantly. "To you, maybe."
He just shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "I don’t know how you live with them like you do." I shot him daggers from my eyes, because he of all people should know.
He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah…I guess it’s better than where you were. I’m sorry, Leo."
"Eh, whatever. I’m over it." It wasn’t true, but I was trying. I heard of these things people used called therapists to help them get through tough times. I sometimes wondered if one would work for me. Hmm, probably not…it was probably my one-way ticket to the crazy house the second I said: "Hi, my name is Leorah and I'm a non-magical dragon…" Yeah, not so much. Don't think there is a twelve-step program for that one.
"So why are you here?" I asked. My brother didn’t come visit very often, and never unannounced. Something had to be up. I cocked my brow suspiciously.
"What?" he asked, pressing a hand to his heart in mock offense. "I have to have a reason for visiting my favorite sister?"
I rolled my eyes. "I’m your only sister."
"Well, still makes you my favorite."
I pretended to slap my forehead with my palm. "Come on Brae, I know how you hate coming down here so there must be a reason you just decided to show up."
"Okay, okay… you are right," he relented with a laugh. He smiled. "I met someone."
My eyes widened. "What? What do you mean ‘met someone’?" I asked, making quotation notes with my fingers.
His green eyes sparkled with happiness. "Like, someone special. Her name is Kiarra. She is a Baroness currently serving under Countess Nyzare, but there is talk that she might be nominated for the throne one day. She's very smart, and very progressive. Some say that's just what the Kingdom needs."
I fought a groan: dragon politics. I didn’t want to think about it. Really, our government was arranged much like a human democracy, but with medieval titles just to make it interesting. Well not really, there was a point. The King and Queen ruled equally over everyone, with their own sets of advisors; usually referred to as Dukes or Duchesses. These advisors are either former monarchs no longer wishing to serve or someone serving the Court for many years, but still not quite an Elder. They don’t make decisions themselves, but can influence the King and Queen.
Under them you have the two branches: the conservative House of Lords (and Ladies) and the more liberal Coterie of Earls (and Countesses). Those who work for the Lords and Earls are Barons and Baronesses.
Then you have the Guard which is made up of another slew of titles and hierarchy and that’s where I lost my interest completely. The sort of acted as the military, or police force. Anarach hadn’t had a war in many years, so most of them relented to guarding portals and the palace, training newcomers, and standing around looking pretty. But if we were to enter a war, either with ourselves or a neighboring land, they’d be the first line of defense.
I sighed, daring to ask, further engaging in politics. "What in the world is she doing playing around then doing favors for Nyzare?" Nyzare was a gray dragon and, from my few meetings with her, she was entirely and utterly the most boring, dingbat twit of a dragon I'd ever encountered. And, not that smart either. How she held a place on the Court, I would never know. Generally, someone who had the potential for the throne wouldn't waste time serving under a dragon like that.
"I think she pities Nyzare. Everyone else appreciates Kiarra for working with Nyzare, because that means they don’t have to," he said with a chuckle.
Braeden scratched at his short blonde hair. Aside from the blonde hair and height, we appeared very similar just as human siblings often did. We had the same bright green eyes as our father and impish grins. He was tall and trim with defined musculature from his shoulders down to his calves. Dragons in human form were never, ever small or qualify as demure. Guess I can’t really imagine why…
I was baffled. Shocked. I sat in silence and just stared at him.
"Leo?" he waved his hand in my face.
I realized my mouth was still open in an O of stupefaction. "So you have a good friend, right?"
He chuckled. "Uh…it’s a little more than that, Leo."
My mouth fell back open. "What? What?"
I was motionless. It couldn't be...could it? It hadn't been that long since I left.
Dragon relationships weren't generally discussed until they decided they wanted to be bonded—or as humans called it, married. Since we lived a long time—2,000 years if they are lucky—there was never any rush to hurry the relationship. But...no. It was too soon, wasn't it? I’d only been gone a couple of human Earth years. Sometimes dragons put off the actual bonding for dozens of years; but never less than five for sure.
"We want to be bonded, Leorah."
I let out a shriek of surprise. "Oh my god." I rubbed at my forehead with the tips of my fingers, closing my eyes and trying to take in all that had happened. Dragons didn't have traditional marriage ceremonies like humans; it generally involved what humans call a handfasting. In fact, the Pagan ceremony of handfasting had deep roots in dragon tradition which usually included some sort of officiant reciting a poem or stanza, wrapping a cord in the color of both dragons around their hands, then tying them together. While he or she did this, the two becoming bonded openly stated their intent, or vows. Most of them just used generic ones as it were but, sometimes they chose to recite ones of their choosing. Very similar to human weddings but a lot simpler.
As if sensing my stress, my calico cat with bright green eyes took that moment to pat in the room and leaped into my lap. "Meow?"
I put my arms around her and clutched her close to my chest. She purred and nuzzled my face.
I felt my brother shudder next to me. "Ugh, why do you still have that thing?"
My cat—Sona—scratched at the air in front of her and let out a warning hiss.
"She’s my baby!" I gave her a quick squeeze and released her to the floor. She darted quickly across the green and pink floral rug, slipped on the patch of hardwood floor that wasn’t covered by and disappeared down the short hallway into my bedroom. Cats and dragons—well, let’s say most animals and most dragons—didn’t get along. Again, I was the exception to that rule.
Braeden wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Geez Leo, you’re so weird."
I shot him a dirty look. "Where have you been my whole life? I am the epitome of weird. There isn’t a thing about me that’s normal, remember?"
Braeden held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. You got me."
I shook my head and let out a low growl that was characteristically dragon. "So…why are you telling me this? You don't want me to act as a witness to you or anything, do you?" I swallowed nervously. It wasn’t unusual for a sibling to ask another sibling to stand as witness to the bonding. It was the dragon equivalent of a best man or maid of honor.
"Well no. Not yet anyway," he replied. "She wants to meet you first."
"Me?" I squeaked in surprise. "Me? She knows who I am, right?" Surely everyone did, even dragons that lived nowhere near us knew of the crazy, pink dragon who couldn’t breathe fire and couldn't fly and had seemingly no magic. And was pink. It needs mentioning twice because that in itself was bad enough.
He grinned. "Yes she knows who you are. I talk about you quite often; you know?"
That surprised me. Taken aback, I asked, "And she still wants to know you?"
He laughed. "Yes silly! Not everyone thinks you are a freak, you know."
"Really?" I asked with genuine surprise.
"Yes! Some people are quite intrigued by you, you know. First pink dragon born in years…pretty interesting to some you know."
I snorted. "Yeah, those who don’t know me."
Now it was my brother’s turn to punch me. "Seriously, Leo...not everyone is like mom and dad. And most the Court and—"
"—most our entire society." I finished for him, with a grumble. Feeling a bit on edge, I decided a glass of wine was in order. Or, a bottle. I went to the kitchen area and produced a bottle of cabernet from the fridge. It had already been opened but I had jammed the cork back in to help keep it from getting too much air in it—or whatever. I wasn't a wine connoisseur by any stretch. Coffee? Yes. Wine? Just give it to me, I don't care what kind it is.
I took a large swig from the bottle and brought it with me to the blue plush reclining chair I had across the room, looking across from the sofa.
"You gonna offer me some?" Braeden prompted.
In response I took another large gulp and narrowed my eyes at him. "Nope."
He frowned. "Is what I told you really so bad?"
I sighed. "Not bad, Brae just…very, very surprising. And also her wanting to meet me—a little unsettling." No one wants to know me.
He considered this. "I suppose. I guess it is a little shocking. I just figured you’d be happy for me."
I lowered the bottle mid swig. "Ack, I’m sorry, Brae. It’s just… a huge surprise. And very unorthodox, you know? Usually this happens—if this happens—after like, ten years of ‘dating’," I said, using the human term for it. "I didn't even know you were seeing anyone."
He just shrugged. "I know. I guess it just didn’t make much sense you know. Waiting, waiting, waiting when…what’s going to change? I love her so…not that."
Still feeling uneasy I tried to force a smile. "Well…I suppose that means I have to go home for a while, huh?" My attempt at smiling was quickly replaced by a disgusted groan. "Uggh…I don’t want to."
"You don’t have to. She said she has no problem coming here."
"Really?"
"Yeah…she thinks dragon customs are just too stuffy, and it’s time to lighten up a bit."
"Can’t argue with that reasoning." I groaned lightly. "Can I have some time to process this stuff first? I mean…I know what happens when you bond." I pouted. Usually when dragons became bonded, they spent a long time being apart from the rest of their families as they were attempting to build their own life together, without outside influence. I was afraid I wouldn’t see him now until he had two baby drakes of his own in about twenty years.
"Aw, you’ll miss me?" he joked.
"I always miss you!" I insisted.
His face softened. "Aw. I know it’s gotta be hard for you, no matter how much you said you wanted to be by yourself."
I nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. I mean…I want to be here. It was too hard being there but here? I don’t quite know how to act. I don’t really even know what I’m feeling, sometimes."
"Oh, Leo…" My brother draped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close so I rested my cheek on his strong chest. Despite how I felt, I found myself smiling contentedly. He often held me like this when we were little, after dragon school or another run in with our parents…or I shamed someone yet again by just being me. "Don’t you have anyone here you like?"
I considered this. "Well…there’s Kit."
"The owner of the coffee shop?"
I nodded. "Yeah. She’s a bit older—well, older than my human self—but that’s okay. We went to some bookstores once; she thought about expanding and adding a small bookstore with the coffee house. And we’ve been out for coffee a few times."
"Well, that’s…something. Boring, but something. Anything…romantic?" He wiggled his eyebrows pointedly.
I snorted. "I really don’t think so. I wouldn’t even know how it would feel." I looked up at him expectantly. "What did it feel like when you started seeing Kiarra?"
My brother grinned from ear to ear. "Oh…the first time I saw her I started feeling nervous for no apparent reason. I didn’t understand it at first. When I would talk to her I would get all tingly inside."
"Nervous? Tingly?" I thought back, thinking of Cute Coffee Guy. I recalled every time he came in and made small talk suddenly I found myself twirling my hair, watching his brown eyes light up as he spoke.
My brother gasped. "Oh! There is someone!"
I could feel my cheeks grow warm. "Well, no not really, but— "
"—you wish there was!"
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "See, I don’t know. There is this guy coming into the shop—been doing so for a couple weeks now. The girls say he only comes in when I’m there and he tried drumming up a conversation today. Madison thinks he was trying to ask me out but I didn’t hear what she heard, I guess."
"So? Ask him out."
"What?" I squeaked. "Are you kidding? I mean, he’s human and I—"
"—you are posing as a human. It’s natural to you to want to spend time with one," he insisted.
"Yeah but...what about…that." I raised my eyebrows pointedly.
"Sex?"
I gasped. I don’t think I ever heard my brother utter that word before. Dragon society dictated it wasn’t openly talked about. Yeah, we did it—a lot—but we didn’t feel the need to talk about it. Then I shuddered in repulsion. Human or dragon you still didn't want to hear your brother mention that word, or even know they were thinking about it. Bleccch!
"Oh lighten up. I’m sure as long as you stay in your human form you’re fine. I think," he said with a shrug and then a convulsion. "Ugh, I guess I’m not as liberal as I thought. I can’t even think about you doing that."
I laughed and patted his hand. "It’s okay. I guess I never really thought of it as a possibility. How can I possibly keep this—" I pointed to the back of my neck, "—a secret from someone I care about, you know?"
"I don’t know, sister dear. I guess you’ll have to find all that out for yourself."
"Ugggh. Maybe I just don’t want to," I said dismissively, not convinced of that myself.
Braeden looked at my bottle of wine I paused in drinking, finally and nodded at it. "You gonna share now?"
I thrust the bottle toward my brother, not really even looking at him; I found myself once again dazed with the thoughts of the mysterious brunette nerd boy. "Something bothered me though when he was there. The guy in the shop."
"Oh?" He let out a loud burp after his third large swig. I just rolled my eyes. Nothing new there.
"He stared at my mark."
Braeden simply blinked, and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, leaving a red wine stain behind. "Aw damn," he muttered, handing the bottle back to me and rolling up the cuffs of his shirt. "Leo lots of people look at your mark, I’m sure."
"I know," I insisted. "But it was more than just a look. Almost like he…" I trailed off. I don’t really know why it bugged me as much as it did. "Bah, I don’t know."
"Just take it easy. If it happens, good if not well…you’ll find another." Braeden continued rolling up his sleeve over his own mark—identical to mine but in red. "It’s neat looking, something humans haven’t seen before, I’m sure. So he probably just liked it."
"Yeah…yeah you’re probably right," I agreed.
"You know, even if Kiarra and I become bonded and have twenty dragons, you’ll always be a part of my family, okay?" Must be the wine talking, a rare moment of seriousness for my brother. Since we metabolized alcohol fast, it wouldn't last long. His eyes were earnest, though and he reached over and placed a comforting hand on my knee. "That won’t change. You’ll always be my sister and as long as I’m around, you’ll always have a place
to call home."
My face softened at his tenderness. I felt my lower lip tremble and my eyes started to sting with—tears? "Really?"
"Yes." He punched me in the same knee playfully and made a squished up, stupid face at me to lighten the mood. "Good. Now while I’m here can we watch some trashy human TV?"
I giggled and wiped my palm over my eyes to quickly wipe away any moisture that had accumulated, relieved for the respite from the schmaltz. I pointed at the end table next to the sofa to the remote. "Have at it, bro."
He beamed and proceeded to turn on the TV and flip through the channels. We had a silly evening watching cheesy reality shows and making fun of people…much like we used to do when we were little but without the trashy shows and the people part. There was enough about dragon life we could ridicule; we didn’t need TV then.
Kit had me on dining room duty the next day, as she was manning the register and taking orders while we were slow in the afternoon. There wasn’t actually much to do and Kit probably could have handled the shop herself, but I knew she liked the company. I always could find something that needed doing and that’s probably why she liked to have me around.
She was a bit of a neat freak and had me armed with an upholstery cleaner to scour the chairs and tapestry that lay over the oak hardwood floor.
My heart nervously skipped a beat every time the bells over the door chimed, announcing the arrival of a customer. So far, Cute Coffee Guy hadn’t graced us but, he had yet to come in in the early afternoon like this before. I was starting to get worried that he wouldn’t show today when I was in the middle of sucking the upholstery shampoo off the microfiber sofa, I didn’t hear the overhead bells and was startled when I turned around to see him standing there behind me. I let out a little shriek and ended up dropping the vacuum hose, which was in mid-suck and ended up splattering dirty couch shampoo on his red sweatshirt, face and glasses.
"Oh my god! I’m so sorry!" I darted off for some napkins behind the counter. When I produced them to him he just laughed.
"It’s not a big deal," he said, taking a napkin and wiping of his face with a laugh.
