by Crystal Dawn
“Yes, I am.”
“What part?”
“I was born and raised in Chicago. I was taking a little trip to Vegas and got side tracked in more than one way.” She admitted.
“Did you have to leave family behind?”
“No, I just didn’t want to leave Earth. Now I’m stuck here.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you. Thank you for the taste of home.” Dori smiled and waved as Garulto moved her along. That hadn’t gone like he’d expected.
“I guess some of the other human females aren’t happy?”’
“No, Tomi is not the only one.”
“That only makes sense. Not everyone reacts the same way and your first attempt at getting mates wasn’t likely to go well.”
“No, and it didn’t. Only one mating in the group and it’s questionably how happy they are.”
“I take it she wasn’t the one?”
“I don’t believe so. I did meet the mated couple once a few months ago.”
“Perhaps something could be done for them?” Dori asked.
“The king gives them a place to live and a stipend. He’s offered to help them find mates or get placed in jobs. They refuse to adapt.”
“Hm. I thought she adapted pretty well.”
“I hadn’t realized any of them were out among others. I’d been told they all stuck to their small group.”
“It may be that’s changing.”
“That would be a good thing.” Garulto admitted.
They moved on into the surging crowd that moved around the tables. At the far end of the field there was entertainment and a bucket to drop coins into if you liked it. He hoped to take her by there before they left. Meanwhile he took her hand and led to a table that had items for infants.
Dori seemed drawn to some fabric immediately. It was yellow with pretty birds of various types on it. She haggled with the male selling it and they reached an accord. His mate also found a pile of what she called remnants and haggled even harder for those and finally a pile of squares, probable just smaller remnants and those he agreed to let go for almost nothing.
Garulto paid for them and made Dori accompany him back to the minibus with her purchases. “I know you don’t understand. There are people here from other places, other worlds. They don’t all follow our laws and it’s not safe for you to be here alone.”
He’d hoped she would understand the concern, but now she looked around with more interest than ever. His mate might truly be the death of him. They returned to the field, but in a different direction. There was no point in seeing any of it twice since there was no way they’d see it all.
The next table had toys and Dori looked like a child as she picked them up and looked them over. The desire hit him to buy them all, but Dori wouldn’t appreciate him interfering. She’s been doing a spectacular job of picking only the best quality items and getting the best prices out of the vendors.
This wasn’t something new to her, she was too skilled at negotiating and he remembered what Niku had said about the great job she’d been doing with the worker program. That was the Dori he was seeing today. The woman was confident and in charge. His mate knew the worth of what she wanted and refused to pay a copper dragon extra.
So far she’d gotten the best prices out of these vendors he’d ever seen anyone get. She didn’t talk down the item, no. She praised the good qualities and then said what she could pay and that it would be a shame if she couldn’t have the best item and had to make do with trash because of too high a price.
By the time she was done, she’d bought a box of toys. It wasn’t like there wouldn’t be enough babies to need them all. Selia would probably get the big doll in the box. It was almost as big as she was. It was a pretty doll and she would like it.
Garulto knew the toy maker and they would pick up the box before they went home. They moved down to the next table. Now Dori was checking out spices and rare ingredients. There was no telling what she might find. The table had a sign proclaiming they had everything from the sweetest sweets, hottest spices, and most exotic flavors known to anyone. That was quite a claim.
Dori and the vendor got into an animated talk and it was clear they had a common interest. Dori bought several plastic bags full of spices. He would suggest Betty look them over before use. He put the packs in his back pack and they moved on. Some of the vendors were packing it up and calling it day. Those were the one that had sold out or had other places to be before dark. Before long, they would have to head back too.
Dori headed straight for a vendor that had furniture. It was the only one that did. She sat right down in a huge rocking chair. It was made of wood and well crafted. It was high, but probably worth it. The vendor attempted to approach Garulto, but Dori shook her head.
He looked at Garulto anyway, but didn’t move any closer. He shook his head and the vendor seemed to realize he would deal with Dori or there would be no deal. The vendor launched into any explanation about the rare wood and the excellent craftsmanship of the family that made these chairs. Both of those claims were already obvious.
Finally, he gave her a price. It was slightly lower than the one on the ticket. Dori just shook her head slowly and looked sad. He thought she said it’s out of my price range. Was this a game they were playing?
“It’s the best quality you will ever find. It’s a shame you’re not willing to pay for the best. Because I’m a good guy, I’ll come down one gold Dragon. It’s all I can do and still feed my mate and twelve small children.”
Dori looked at the vendor long and hard. “If you rounded the price down to even gold dragons too, I will skip a few meals and buy it anyway.”
A smile ghosted across the vendors lips and he hid it quickly. “We have a deal.” He said.
Garulto had thought he’d understood haggling, but clearly he was just a novice. Both Dori and the vendor had seemed to enjoy making the deal as much as the actual buying and selling involved. If he needed to buy anything here in the near future, he would let Dori deal for him. It was entertaining to watch and her deals were the best.
He was learning a lot about his mate and he was amazed by her quirky interesting personality and her strong commanding abilities. He’d not been one of those males that thought females were inferior, not ever. But he’d never felt a female he knew would make a good general until now. She led with confidence and she inspired unbelievable loyalty. Dori was loyal to her workers too.
His fated mate was truly awesome and he couldn’t wait for their mating. Unfortunately it didn’t seem to be getting any closer. This wasn’t the way he’d expected his mating to work out. He’d heard stories since he was a youngster for the dashing dragons grabbing their mates and flying away with them. A week later, they would reappear mated and blissfully happy.
That was not how things had worked out for him. Granted, his mate was exceptional even for a fated mate. He’d still hoped she would give in by now and admit their love was too strong to resist. He’d pull her into his arms and ravage her sweet lips and take her off to bed to immediately mate and show her the depth of his live.
“Garulto? Are you alright?” Dori asked.
“Yes, I was just looking to see if I knew anyone that might help me load this beast of a chair you bought.”
“Hey! Frex, come here a second.” Dori yelled. Frex immediately came over. “Would you please help Garulto with my rocking chair?” Frex looked around and then looked back at her and nodded. “Thank you.”
Garulto grabbed one led and Frex grabbed the other and they hauled the chair to the mini bus. “Thank you, Frex. I can handle it now.” Frex nodded and took off. “He doesn’t say much.”
“No, but he’s a good boy.” Dori observed.
Garulto managed to load the rocking chair. He helped her in the minibus and they headed home. He backed up to the porch and was able to unload the chair directly onto the porch. That’s where it would stay until someone else was there to help him get it up the stairs.
Thank the goddess. He was too. “That’s okay. Maybe we’ll get to it during the week. We did get some things purchased.”
“That’s true. Let’s go inside and fix some supper.”
“You rest and I’ll throw us something together.” He felt guilty because he’d been so caught up in watching his mate haggle, he’d forgotten to feed her lunch.
They entered the house and he locked the door after them. They had leftover burgers and some picnic foods so he heated what needed heating and fixed them each a big plate. He set the cold foods out for them each to get what they wanted. Once he had a drink for each of them, he called out to Dori.
When she didn’t answer, he went looking in the living room. She was crashed out on the couch. Haggling must be hard work. He tried to wake her a couple times, but she was exhausted. He carried her to bed and undressed her before sliding her under the covers.
He went back into the kitchen and ate his food. Dori’s plate went into the fridge and he put the other food back up. Garulto went into the nursery and looked around. There was a couple gallons of paint and everything needed to get the job done. One coat went on easily and he quit and cleaned up. One more coat would do it.
Showering to get rid of all signs of the paint, he put on some shorts and went and woke Dori up. Helping her up, he got a T-shirt she could wear and got her seated in the kitchen. He heated her plate again and got out everything she needed. She needed to eat, but she didn’t seem very happy he’d woke her.
“Once you finish your food, you can go back to bed.” He assured.
Dori now ate quickly. It was concerning that she was this tired. Her two hour nap hadn’t seemed to help as much as he’d expected. Next time he was at the castle he would see Damos. This couldn’t be normal. The stress of carrying his baby while unmated must be the difference. Bree was handling things better and even Betty with two babies seemed less tired than Dori. He was finally able to get his mate to bed again and they both fell asleep instantly.
Garulto woke up at the right time from many years of doing so. Dori still slept so he got up and fixed a bite for breakfast for himself. Checking on her before he left, she still slept deeply. He kissed her on her forehead and left for work knowing he’d be back at lunch.
Once he got in his office, Janor filled him in. “Everything is on target, but the king wishes to see you for lunch.” Sometimes nothing worked out as expected. “Do you need me to fill in for you while you’re gone?”
“No, I want you rested and ready for your shift. Things should be fine if I’m not gone long.”
“True.” Janor observed with a yawn. “I’ll turn in then and take over at the end of your shift.” He left and Garulto was alone with a small stack of requests. Many of the small things were being taken care of in the barracks. It had cut the paperwork in half. These changes should have been made years ago.
By the time lunch was nearly there, he had the paper work done and several meetings concluded. He left early and drove by to check on Dori. She was awake and cooking lunch. “I won’t be able to stay. The king has summoned me, but I’ll be home when the day is done.”
“Okay. I hope it’s nothing bad.”
“It rarely is. He might have some small request.” He leaned and kissed her breathing her scent in before he let her go. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, I must have just needed rest.”
“It’s good that you were able to get it.”
“Yes. I’ll see you tonight.”
He left and he worried about her a little less. He would have a chance to see Damos after the meeting. He changed and flew from their home and made it to the castle quickly. He was easily recognized and waved in. Once inside, the king’s assistant led him in to see the king.
“I’m glad you could make it.”
“I live to serve.” It was true, although he served the emperor directly not the king. The proper thing to do was to accept the king’s summons unless the emperor told him not to.
“I’ve spoken with the emperor about your position. We originally thought to send you to Earth, but that no longer works. Ranger has agreed to stay a bit longer. The general filling this position is leaving and we want you to take it. There is no assurance that you’ll keep that position once Ranger comes back, but you’ll stay a general anyway. We need to know soon. Our leadership is stretched thin right now.”
“Where would I be sent if Ranger reclaimed his position?”
“You’d stay here in another capacity.”
“I need to speak to my mate and then I’ll let you know in the morning. Will that be soon enough?”
“Yes. Thank you for understanding.”
He stayed a little longer and they ate and talked about Dori’s family and that she had refused to mate him although she carried his baby. The king seemed as confused by these human females as the rest of them were. Garulto left an hour later and he headed out to find Damos.
When he found him he was alone and able to talk. “Dori worries me.”
“What are your concerns?”
“She is getting so tired. Last night we spent a couple hours at the fields shopping. Dori seemed to enjoy it. When we got home she sat in the chair and fell asleep and I couldn’t wake her.”
“Have you mated yet?”
“No., she isn’t ready.”
“Once we mate our females, our venom strengthens them to help them adjust to the rigors of pregnancy with a dragonlet. It may be she simply hasn’t the strength to hold up to the pregnancy. You can bring her to see me and I’ll check her out.”
“I will ask her, but I hold out no hope she will come.”
“Do what you can.” Damos said. He didn’t seem surprised that Dori might refuse.
Garulto changed on the roof and flew back to work. Two hours and he’d be free to head back home. He worried about how to deal with his mate the whole time and still had no idea how to approach her with his concerns.
It was time to leave and he still wasn’t sure what to say, but he knew he needed to see her as soon as possible. He changed to his dragon and flew home. Dori was sleeping in the same chair again. He tried to wake her, but she wouldn’t wake up. Damos lived at the castle so Garulto decided to carriy Dori out to the minibus and drive her to the castle.
Once he arrived, he carried her in and up the stairs. Someone must have seen him and called Damos. The healer was waiting on him. “What’s happened?”
“She won’t wake up.”
“Okay. Let me check her out.” Damos suggested. He took her pulse, pulled back her eyelid shining a light at her eyes, and checked her breathing. “As far as I can tell, she’s just exhausted. Either she’s not resting enough or eating enough, or she’s over doing things. Mating would help, but I understand she’s a stubborn one.”
“I’m what?” Dori asked softly.
“You’re stubborn. You are clearly exhausted and unwilling to admit it. You’ve found your perfect mate and you refuse to let him mate you. That would help give you added strength for this pregnancy. Dragonlets are not like other babies. They take more from their mothers than most.”
“And mating will magically fix everything?”
“I did not say that. Our mating venom makes changes that will make you more like the baby you carry. You will be able to handle the pregnancy better. Both your daughters do much better than you are.”
“Why can’t I just wait?”
“If you get much worse, mating may not help you. It may have the opposite effect.”
Dori’s eyes filled with moisture and Damos now looked at the floor. He’d hoped to shock her into agreeing, not make her cry. What a mess this was. Garulto thought she’d been so close, but apparently he’d once again been wrong about his mate.
“Is there no other way?” Garulto asked.
“Betty might know a human method. She should be here soon along with the rest of the family.”
“Everyone saw him carry you in. Word will spread. People are concerned. Goddess, please send me a mate from somewhere other than Earth.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You knew you didn’t walk in here.” Damos pointed out calmly. Garulto thought for a moment Dori might stick her tongue out at the healer.
“Fine. I’m not thinking clearly. I don’t feel good.” Dori looked so exhausted. He moved to her taking her into his arms.
“Just take my strength Sweetheart. I’ve got enough for both of us.” She relaxed into his arms just as a fated mate should, but regardless of all the signs that she was his, she refused him.
“Stubborn Earth female.” Damos said and Garulto looked down to see she was asleep again.
NIku and Betty arrived without Selia. “Where is Silly?” Garulto asked.
“We ran into Erak and he’s keeping her for a little while.” Betty admitted.
Romo, with Bree and Tomi in tow came next. “How is she?” Bree asked.
“Because she won’t mate me, she and the child are at risk. We are discovering carrying a dragonlet is too much for a human.”
“Do it anyway.” Tomi insisted. “We can’t lose them.”
“She’ll hate me forever.”
“If you don’t, she’ll be gone forever and the baby with her.” Bree observed.
“There’s another problem.” Damos mentioned.
“What?” They all asked.
“If she begins to change, she’ll have to eat. How will that happen if she’s not awake?” Damos asked.
“There are ways to force feed people, but she could choke. Don’t you have ways to feed fluids into her vein?” Betty wondered.
“I’ve not heard of this before.” Damos admitted.
“Let’s get food ready for her including some soup. If he mates her and she wakes, we’ll stuff her full. If she doesn’t wake, we’ll pour some soup into her. No chunks, okay?” Betty said.
“Okay. Niku and Tomi, go get the food. We’ll get her comfortable and as soon as I see you, I’ll bite her.” Garulto suggested.
“Isn’t sex required?” Tomi asked turning bright red.
