*****
Sofia fell asleep after Cassie had left, drained from the emotional day, and evening. She fell into a deep sleep and into dreams. She dreamed of kissing Ryluth, how she imagined it would feel if he were to kiss her more than just a massaging of her lips, which was wonderful enough, but she had seen her friends kissing their mates. She knew that there were deeper kisses, more passionate kisses. She knew, for a fact, that sometimes just a kiss could get her friends to open their legs, immediately, for their males. In her sleep, she snorted and rolled her eyes.
But, in her dream, she was with Ryluth and he was caressing her lips with his own, and licking the seam of her lips as she had seen Bax do with Cassie, making her open her mouth to his and then doing whatever they did then, she had no idea. But it felt like when Ryluth had kissed her, she had no idea what more than that felt like. She had never kissed a male before or had him kiss her. Intellectually, she knew that kissing existed, but, like consensual sex, she had no idea what it entailed, despite Seth and Brigid’s attempts to have sex in front of everyone.
In the dream, the kiss progressed and Sofia could feel his hands, gently touching her body and instead of feeling repulsed, she felt warm and heavy. The word languida came to her, in her own language.
She felt like arching her back and stretching into Ryluth’s body, so in her dream, she did. Her hard nipples brushed against the fabric of her top as she pressed against her chest against his. She gasped and then moaned into his mouth. He moaned back into hers and rubbed his hands on her ribs, which made Sofia suddenly desperate to have them on her breasts, but she didn’t know how to direct him there and she felt her core dampen with real desire. She continued to rub her breasts on his chest and she was suddenly awake as her breath billowed in and out of her lungs. She sat up and pushed her hair out of her face, looking around her. She fell back on her pillows and closed her eyes. She never wanted to forget that dream. Ever.
*****
Ryluth had fallen asleep shortly after lying down on his bed and he quickly fell into a dream about kissing Sofia. She felt like heaven in his hands and her mouth was magic, entangling her tongue with his. She arched into him, rubbing her nipples against his chest, turning him on to such a degree that when she came apart in his arms, he found himself awake, cock in hand, shooting his seed all over his sheets and shouting her name for the second time that night.
He lay on his pillows, breathless and confused. The dream had been so powerful and he had spent himself in his sleep as if he was no more than an adolescent male scenting his first female. He closed his eyes as his breathing and his pulse slowed to normal. He wondered if she would feel and smell as she had in his dream. No, she would be better. He was sure of it.
Smiling, he fell back to sleep, hoping to catch up with that dream again.
*****
In the morning, Ryluth showed Sofia into his library after they broke their fast, to make her a copy of the exact wording of the curse. He watched her reading the paper, moving her lips as she translated the script into symbols she understood and could write in her own language.
“Your world will not heal this wound quickly, or even in your lifetimes. You will not know love, and you will not know legacy until you find one such as I have just lost, and she loves you more than you can ever deserve. And, then you will lose her as I have lost my Coalna. You cannot bring my mate back to me, so you shall not have that solace. As long as I don’t have my mate, you shall not have yours.”
She looked up from the parchment she wrote on, repeating the words, to sear them in her memory.
He walked up and down in front of the shelves of tomes he had gathered for himself. He had a library in his palace, for the public, but this, all of these books, were his own personal collection. Part of his treasure.
“We may need to head back to the Palace and ask the Librarian for other texts,” he said, looking at her over his shoulder. She was peering intently at the parchment, saying the words over and over. It was endearing. “He will have a better knowledge of what we need to look for.”
“But, I have promised to visit the fledglings,” she objected, not really wanting to stop her time with him. Once they were back at the Palace, he would be duty bound again.
Ryluth chuckled at the chagrined look on her face and hope sprang up within him that she liked being with him.
“There is a gate at the palace so you can go there whenever you like,” he told her. He smiled when she did, happy that she was eager to see them, but happier that she had seemed put out that he was cutting short their time together. He sent up a prayer to Threlzin that this could work, that somehow, they could find a way...
She sighed and stood up, folding the parchment and putting it in the back pocket of the blue trousers she wore. “I guess I will go pack up my things. The ride back will be fun.”
He had made sure it was fun. He flew out over the sea and showed her the water dragons at play in the water. They spit water up at him, and he heard her bellow with laughter when it hit her. After that he took a straightforward route home, making the trip a lot shorter since he was eager to get back and knowing that he could show her other wonders of his world later. They landed back on the roof of his personal wing at lunch time. Sofia had laughed walking down the stairs to their room, telling him about the water Dragons, as if he had not been there and experienced it along with her. It made him happy to see her so happy.
After they ate a quick lunch in the kitchens, Sofia was eager to get to the Library and speak with the Librarian. He walked her to the Library himself, and left her in the care of the ancient Dragon, who probably personally knew the entire history of the Dragons. He was called away by Lennalth as soon as he walked into the huge room, full of tomes, shelves and stacks of books. He was not pleased. So, he met his Captain of the Guard out in the hallway, not wanting to be too far from her.
“It’s Groffur, Ryluth,” Lennalth said the moment he got close enough to hear.
“What about him?” Ryluth asked impatiently, looking back at the Library.
“He’s taken off with Lei Yep, sir,” Lennalth spoke quickly and took a step back.
“What?” Ryluth’s head whipped back toward his friend, glaring at being kept from Sofia.
“They left last night, at some point,” Lennalth admitted.
“Was there a struggle?” Ryluth demanded, his attention now fully Lennalth’s.
“No, every indication is that she went with him willingly.”
“Then why are you bothering me?”
“Some of the other Dragons are complaining that he’s hoarding her like a treasure and that she had not met a sufficient number of Dragons to make him her choice as he’s so old.” Lennalth then waited to be blasted by his King.
“Are they fledglings that envy those with better toys?” Ryluth could feel his temper rising. He looked back at the Library and then Lennalth. “Handle it, Lennalth. Do not bother me with these matters.” He then turned on his heel, back towards the Library, not seeing his friend pale, and shaking at the force of the anger that had just been vented, and the utter relief that Ryluth had not breathed his acid.
“There is more, Ryluth,” Lennalth said, standing firm.
Ryluth turned to his Captain and nodded to proceed.
“This morning, one of the Faerie one word, before he went unconscious.”
“What word was that?” Ryluth asked, his attention rapt.
“Priest.”
The King of the Drakkos stood completely still, a predator stalking its prey, considering what it could mean.
“I want the High Priest brought to me. I don’t care what ritual or rite it interrupts.”
Lennalth nodded and turned to briskly walk down the hall.
Ryluth stalked back into the Library to be met with the delightful sight of Sofia bent over a table, going through some books. He stopped in his tracks and just stared, his mouth watering at the urge to taste her. He nearly groaned, and he may have actually done i
t as she looked back over her shoulder and smiled at him.
“Is everything okay?” She asked and straightened, shaking her head at the pile of books then turned toward him, her smile lighting her up from within her.
He nodded his head. “Evidently your Lei Yep decided to go off with Groffur and it has upset a few of my males who decided they didn’t get to meet her and have her reject them.”
Sofia laughed and held out her hand to him.
“Your Librarian is bringing me back some books from the period in question and hopefully we will be able to find what we need.”
He nodded, unable to stop looking at her. She was so happy. She seemed to find joy with having a purpose. And he had given her that. Instead of filling him with pride, he was filled with humility, because he realized that she had never really asked for anything.
The Librarian walked back into the room with a box full of parchments, books and other paraphernalia. He dropped it on the table with a grumble.
“Have him translate it for you, he speaks and reads ancient Drakkos,” he said, jerking his chin towards Ryluth and walking back into the shelves.
“He’s a merry soul,” Sofia joked and began rooting around in the box, inspecting each item she removed and wiping off dust with her hand and wiping them on her pants.
Ryluth frowned and glared in the direction the Librarian had taken. He could have easily dusted the items off. He whispered a small housekeeping charm and the dust disappeared. Sofia laughed, stepping back from the ball of dust he collected and then dropped into a bin close to the large desk by the door.
“I keep forgetting that I can use magic here as well,” and then she dug back into the box.
He stepped over to her and began looking at the items himself, instead of her. He found the original text of the official account of the day Coalna had died. There were numerous other parchments and books about the event that had effected their world so dramatically. At the very bottom, she had found a small, leather bound book. He picked it up and small cylinder slipped out from the front cover. He picked it up and looked it over, there was nothing to describe what it was or why it was in the book. He looked up at Sofia.
“I wonder what this is?” He said out loud, holding up the cylinder to the light coming from the windows.
She chuckled. “You’re asking me? This is your world.”
He stuffed the cylinder back into the space between the back edge of the book and the cover and continued looking through what they had.
Everything in the box was very old, from ages before he’d been hatched. If this was all from the time that Threlzin had doomed their world, their race, why was it in a dusty old box hidden in whatever recesses only the Librarian ever entered? None of the things he’d looked at had been taught when he was a fledgling, learning Drakkos history and legend. The family of the traitor who had allowed the Faerie on to Wushin was never spoken about, hoping it would fade into obscurity in the fullness of time. Besides, it wasn’t like there were any of them left to complain about it.
When the Librarian re-entered the room Ryluth held up the leather-bound book with the cylinder in it.
“What is this?”
The Librarian walked over, peering at the slim book and frowned. “That was a journal left by the old priest who accompanied Threlzin in his search for Coalna.” He ground out and then disappeared very quickly, so he wouldn’t have to answer any further questions.
“Librarians on Earth want to talk your ear off about the knowledge they guard,” Sofia smiled, looking in the direction the Dragon had disappeared. “It’s hard to get them to shut up.”
Ryluth looked down at the journal, as the Librarian called it and back at the way he’d disappeared. The Librarian had been there as long as anyone on Wushin could remember, and no one knew his name, and were, in point of fact, too afraid to ask him what it was. The Old Dragon was very intimidating, to be sure.
He decided to keep Sofia away from the unpleasant male. She’d experienced enough of the breed in her lifetime.
“Let’s take this stuff into my office and we can work on it in there,” he picked up the box. She looked over at him, smiled and nodded and he felt as if he’d made the most important decision in the world.
*****
Sofia nearly ground her teeth as she put another book, with a place marked to show what she wanted translated. Why had she never bothered to learn any other languages? Even in her girlhood, learning other languages had been important, but she had not even given it much thought, and had resisted Seth’s encouragement to use his library when on the Demonworld. As she was out of any material to look through, she went back over the translation of the curse she had written down.
She would have to go back and forth between the original text and the modern text, and look at the nuances of languages. This was one of the tolls she had observed Baxter Clancy using when he was studying old historical texts. He had taught her that the worst thing any historian could do was to think that historical persons thought as modern persons do. You always had to put yourself in that person’s time and mind and forget what you now know to see how they saw things. Cassie said it was one of the things that made him a foremost scholar on the Roman Empire.
She heard Ryluth sigh and slam a book shut, so she looked up from her parchment with an eyebrow raised in question.
“It grows late and the fledglings are wondering if you’ve forgotten about them,” he said in answer to her silent question.
Sofia was horrified that she had, indeed, forgotten.
“Derno and Cenan will meet you at the gate next to the village,” he told her. “I’ll show you where the gate is here. Evidently, I am needed here or I would join you.”
“What is wrong? Is one of the women...” her hand flew to her throat. The Dragons would not put up with any shenanigans, in her opinion, and no matter how badly a Dragon wanted to mate, he would send the female back if she caused trouble.
Now that she knew of their import, she did not want one of them removed if they could be an eventual mate to a Drakkos.
Ryluth chuckled, getting up from his desk and walking towards her.
“No, some of my younger Dragons need a reminder of whose word counts around here,” he said. “I will set them straight while you are playing with the young and when you get back, we can eat some dinner with the others so I can gauge how things are coming along.”
He shrugged and led her outside his office into a large courtyard where a small gate stood. He gestured to it. “This goes to the village, and, as I said, the Twins will meet you there and you can come back when you are finished. I will be here knocking young males from their self-made pedestals.”
She laughed and he gave her a quick peck on the mouth, and Sofia wished she were brave enough to demand more. She waved and walked through the gate.
Derno, Cenan and their young awaited her eagerly on the other side. Both Glym and Kristo nearly threw themselves at her and she eagerly embraced them, then walked back to the village with her hands on their heads, following their fathers.
She was busy holding and cooing at them as their father’s stood watching. Sofia knew she was in real danger of falling in love with the little ones, and she didn’t mind. They were so precious to her. She said so, aloud and both males looked at her, astounded.
“What?” She said, distracting Kristo with a bit of string she’d stuffed in her pocket.
Cenan, the more diplomatic of the two cleared his throat. “We are not used to seeing females with our young, and that you would consider our young precious to you when they are not yours, it is... something we cannot explain to ourselves.”
Derno nodded as he suddenly squinted his eyes at his fledgling. “Kristo, don’t you dare nip at her fingers,” he warned sternly and Sofia turned her head to see the young Dragon lower his head and eyes, bashfully. She lowered her head and kissed the top of his head.
“We mustn’t hurt others, Kristo,” she said to him, laughing. She got an i
dea from lessons when she was a girl, learning her powers for the first time and realizing she could do so much on this world. “Is there a well or a body of water?” She asked Derno.
He led her to a stream nearby and she quickly created a half-bubble of air and scooped up water, then closed in the bubble, making a water ball. She held out her hand and moved the ball to hover above her hand.
“Now, you may play with this ball, but if you are too rough, it will burst and get you all wet,” she explained, delighted seeing the small Dragons raptly eyeing the ball. Trust males to be entranced by a ball.
She tossed the ball up lightly and easily bounced it in her hand and it stayed in form. She bounced it higher and held her hand out and smacked the ball and it burst, drenching the ground beneath it. The fledglings trumpeted in delight. She laughed herself and made two more balls, one for each of them and placed them on the ground.
“Practice moving them with your heads first, to see how hard you can push them before they break. I will be here to make you new ones.” She instructed and then watched, along with their fathers, as they nosed the balls, then quickly made a game out of it. Sofia was merely there to make a new ball if they needed it. The fledglings moved the balls with their heads, wings and feet. Each time one of the balls would burst, they would howl in pleasure and then beg for another ball.
“They like this game,” Cenan chuckled, watching Glym get soaked as he tried to head butt a ball. His son chortled for a few minutes before pleading with Sofia for another.
Sofia nodded her head. “This is one of the first real lessons Air mages have on Earth. Of course, there I could not make such big balls, but it was an excellent lesson in the durability or weakness of our magic.”
“You seem to do well with your magic here,” Derno said, eyeing his son, who seemed to want to try to roll his ball into his already soaking wet cousin. Kristo saw his father watching him and tried to nonchalantly move his ball into a different direction and wound up soaking himself. All of the adults laughed.
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