"Firstly, I wish to apologise for this great injustice, on behalf of the Kingdom of Haut. Secondly, I wish to offer you the use of two bodyguards for the Ambassador's use, should she desire to venture outside of the palace walls again."
Ria could still feel Xagrun's eyes on her while he answered the aide, "I accept. I will expect to inspect them in the morning. You are dismissed."
"Very well, your majesty," the aide turned and left them alone, with a silence hanging between them like the thick drapes on the king's bed at home.
"Excuse me, please," Ria said, still not making eye contact, and pushing her chair backwards, indicating that she wished to leave.
"No. Stay here." King Xagrun's voice was not harsh, but it commanded her obedience. As he rose and went to his bedroom, Ria buried her face in her hands. Now of all times, she was least mentally prepared for another carnal banging session.
Instead of calling her to follow him, however, he emerged again, holding a small box in his hands. "I was at the market yesterday. Disguised, of course. I found this for you." He placed the box before her on the table and walked to the balcony, watching the triune suns beginning to set.
"Oh, I didn't expect..." Ria began, but he waved her to silence.
"Just open it," his voice was gruff, his back still to her.
Ria removed the wrapping and lifted the lid. Inside was a little round globe that seemed to be made of smooth marble like the walls of the palace. She lifted it out and tapped on it.
The strains of a lullaby began to play, one that her culture memory chip recognised because she knew she had never heard it before.
Softly sleep
Long and deep
Dream your dreams of woolly sheep
Close your eyes
Lavender skies
Will greet you when the suns arise
The strange, haunting melody filled the room and seemed to soften the atmosphere.
"You like gadgets, don't you?" the Dragon King asked, in response to Ria's silence.
"Oh! Yes, thank you, your Highness!"
"Good." He turned back to face her, seeming to have regained the confidence she only now realised he had lost for the briefest of moments. The surreptitious humanity of this alien being she was held captive by awakened something in Ria that she had not expected to feel. The faintest flutter of affection.
"Only, I think this gadget is one I won’t be taking apart. I'll just enjoy it as it is."
"That is the best way to enjoy some things in life. Including persons we are acquainted with."
Ria wondered what he meant by that but decided not to ask him.
"I would like you to tell me more about your world, Ria Gallagher," the king said, motioning her to join him on the balcony. She stood up and moved toward his outstretched hand, wondering what would be wise to share, and what was better left unsaid, and then suddenly, she didn't care. She would tell him whatever he needed to know.
Stockholm syndrome... The word flitted through her mind again, but she swatted it away like a pesky fly. "Of course," she said, easing herself into one of the recliners opposite the Dragon King.
"Earth is a lot like Dragona in the sense that it has many races and cultures living on one planet. Although, I have to admit, we don't get along as easily as you guys do."
"Oh? Why not?"
"I don't really know, to be honest. I think we too easily look at the packaging and fear our differences instead of trying to understand them and celebrate them."
"That's an interesting thought." He was listening intently, Ria realised with a small shock. Even the gift proved that he was paying attention to her in the most subtle of ways.
"I'm curious that you don't seem to be very familiar with the idea of arranged marriages, as you call them, but that is really all we know here. A wife is seen as a gift, that is given by her parents to a man they think is deserving and genetically suitable."
"Yeah, it doesn't work quite like that where I come from," Ria said, stifling a giggle. Then she became serious again. "But there are some cultures that still do that on Earth, although it is mostly frowned upon and even ignored. People would rather pretend it isn't happening that to do something about it."
"That would not happen on my planet. Everyone is far too greatly involved in everyone else's lives, and they are not averse to voicing their opinions!" King Xagrun laughed for the second time since Ria had met him.
"Oh, don't worry, opinions are freely shared on what we call 'social media'!" Ria joined in the laughter, feeling herself letting go, allowing this strange camaraderie budding inside her heart to grow to full bloom.
"'Social media'? What is that?"
"Oh, just newsfeeds where people share their private lives with anyone who happens to see their profile and then they also badmouth whoever they want to, and post all sorts of nonsense, just to get attention. Oh, and most of them use it to pretend their lives are perfect and give other people depression." Ria laughed.
King Xagrun's expression changed. "That's so very sad."
"Yes." Ria realised how her joke had revealed a very bitter part of her race's conduct. "We also tend to joke about what hurts us or makes us sad. It's almost like it will be easier to handle if we make it a joke and don't treat it seriously."
The Dragon King smiled at her, "I can see how that might work for some things."
Ria pressed on, "We also use social media to keep in touch with people far away that we don't see face to face any more. We post pictures and tell about major life events like getting married or starting a relationship."
"Oh, tell me about that," the king's interest was clearly piqued. Ria felt her heart warm towards him for his genuine interest.
"Well, we have what we call 'dating', so a guy asks a girl on a date and that kind of shows her that he has an interest in her."
"That he wishes to marry her? There's no courtship process like here?"
"Well, some Earth religions believe in that. You know, the parents being part of the whole thing and the guy getting to know the girl's parents and asking the father's permission and stuff like that."
"Ah, the father has to give permission?"
"Mostly, no. Just some people like things done that way."
"I see... And the rest of the people?"
"Oh, there are dating sites and chat rooms and you can meet someone at a bar or a club or doing a sport you like, and then just hook up and get to know each other."
"But when do they get married?"
Ria laughed, "Oh, marriage comes a long time after dating, mostly. I had like, I don't know, five or six boyfriends before I met Brian."
She stopped, suddenly becoming aware of how easily she was sharing with this dragon shapeshifter, her captor. He seemed not to notice her hesitation.
"Only six boyfriends? You must have been very lonely! How many girlfriends did you have?"
"Oh, no, I had plenty of friends-friends! Boyfriends are what we call guys we're in a romantic relationship with."
"Romantic? What's that?"
Ria blushed, not knowing why, it made no sense, maybe the intense way King Xagrun was looking at her. "You know, like lovers, more than friends. Intimate friends."
"But you didn't marry those six boyfriends?"
"No."
"Then you were like their concubine, correct?"
She felt her hackles rising, "No! I never slept with them! Brian was the first one! The only one! Until..."
She wanted to say, "Until you forced yourself on me," but the words didn't make it out of her mouth.
"Oh, I think I understand," his voice was soft, his eyes locked onto hers, full of understanding that surprised her less than she thought it would. "You would have married Brian if you had not ended up here."
"Yes, and no," Ria looked away, "We broke up before I left Earth. I was going to Mars to help start a new colony..."
"Yes, I have heard about the Earth to Mars Project. I am sorry for your breaking up, Ria."
Ria lay back in the reclin
er and stared up at the stars that were now peeking out of the dark turquoise sky. How had this conversation gone so deep so quickly? Her mind had been so strong before, so impregnable. What had changed? Stockholm syndrome? Her senses reeled.
"Ria," he was leaning over the side of his recliner towards her, his arm touching hers, his voice still soft, "Are you still willing to show me how to love a princess?"
Ria swallowed. She was, more than willing, and then again, she wanted to run away.
"Well, I..." she stammered looking back at the stars.
"Tell me how Brian loved you. When you spoke of him I could see that he made you feel good in a way that I have never been able to do."
Ria closed her eyes and took a deep breath. At least he had the guts to admit to that very true fact.
"Well, Brian was never rough, he never forced himself on me, and he never commanded me to sleep with him." The words sounded harsher than she intended them to, and she held her breath, waiting for the backlash.
"Oh," he said simply, not seeming in the least offended, but still leaning in and taking in the information. It emboldened Ria and she felt the knot in her stomach relax. She smiled softly, remembering.
"He used to bring me silly gifts," she began.
"Oh! Like the music stone?"
"Something like that, yes," Ria said, a little bemused.
"See? I am learning!" King Xagrun seemed almost proud of himself that he had got that first step of romancing right. Ria couldn't help herself, he was so comical and endearing, she laughed and instinctively patted his arm. He put his hand over hers and smiled back at her.
"And then," she continued quickly, staring back out at the stars, "he also used to take me to places he knew I loved to go. Like cosplay and tech conferences and Star Wars premiers. And he knew exactly what kind of ice-cream I loved."
Ria felt herself getting lost in the world that she and Brian had shared. It seemed like the memories belonged to another girl, in another galaxy. Well, maybe that was closer to the truth than she liked to admit.
"He would buy me my favourite take-out, with a tub of Tin Roof ice-cream in the ice-box. Then he would put a blanket out on his apartment's balcony and we would lie there and name the stars we knew and make up names for the others."
"All this before copulating?" The Dragon King's eyes were still intently on her, recording her words, imprinting them on his brain.
"Yes. Because copulating is about procreation. Love-making is about bonding with another being and becoming one with them."
King Xagrun simply nodded, his demeanour telling her that he wanted to hear more.
"Or sometimes he would rent my favourite movie on Netflix, and we would watch it together on the floor of his living room. But every time before we... uhm... you know?"
The king nodded, either ignorant of, or oblivious to her blushing cheeks.
"Well, every time, he would kiss me, ever so gently, all over my face, and on my lips." Tears glistened in her eyes as she spoke, missing his tender touch, his gentleness, his desire to make her feel treasured, never used.
They had both agreed to take the plunge into the physical side of their relationship before they married, but now she wished they hadn't. Ria had been so sure they would marry until life threw that super complex curve ball and now she had memories that she had no way of erasing. Memories that pierced her heart with saccharine agony every time they surfaced.
"He would tell me that he loved me and that there was no one who could fill the space in his life that I did. It was like we were already one being before he even unclasped my..."
Ria stopped, holding her face in her hands. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm sorry, your Highness..."
She raised her tear streaked face to her captor. His eyes were still fixed on her, taking in even her responses to her own words.
"That's okay, Ria," he said, awkwardly wiping a tear from her cheek, "I think I understand better, now." He hesitated as if straddling two impulses. Then something clicked in him. "You can call me Xagrun when we are in private."
She stared at him. This creature was growing more human by the day, and her heart was beginning to respond to him in ways that she had never imagined possible.
He stood, helping her up. She had no idea what he was thinking, but she had reached such a level of vulnerability that she mutely followed his lead.
They stood silently, hand in hand, the king staring deeply into Ria's eyes as if he desired to read her very thoughts. She stared back, puzzled at the conflicting perceptions of this being that had impressed themselves on her psyche.
He drew her close, embracing her with a warmth Ria had never thought possible and almost brought her to a fresh bout of tears.
"You should rest now," he said, gently, "you have had a long day."
Without another word, he steered her towards the door and escorted her to her quarters. He didn't enter her chambers with her, but bowed slightly and left, as the door closed behind him.
Ria was baffled. It was unheard of in Dragonesque culture for the king to bow to anyone. His had only been a very slight bow, but it was a bow nonetheless. Or had she been imagining things?
Ria fell asleep dreaming of Brian and Tin Roof ice-cream.
Chapter 9: Unrest
My heart resists arrest
When thoughts of you arise
There is commotion in my chest
That echoes in my eyes
"Oh, shucks, no! It rhymes!" Ria facepalmed herself. For a change, she was actually coming up with some kind of real poetry, thanks to her unwitting muse, and now she had to lose the rhyme. Life sucked. One freaking oxymoron after the other!
She crumpled up the paper and began again.
My heart resists arrest
When thoughts of you arise
In my chest there is commotion
That my eyes begin to mirror
"That's better," she tapped her pencil against the page, "Focus Ria, focus."
I wish that you could see
But then I'm glad that you are blind
Lonely thwarted passion
Is better left in solitude
"Gosh, no, I'll drive the girl to slitting her wrists," Ria sighed. Another crumpled bit of paper landed in the wastepaper basket she had procured. This room was beginning to look more like an Earth room than anything she had seen here yet.
Thankfully the words on the paper were growing at a steady a rate as the pile of crumpled rejects in the trash basket. Eventually, Ria leaned back and read through two pages of fairly decent rhyme-free poetry. She was ready for the third meeting with Princess Venna.
And surprised herself by actually looking forward to it.
* * *
"Welcome, Ambassador Ria," Venna's voice was as amicable as her greeting after the usual, irritating pleasantries were out of the way. "Do you have some more poetry from King Xagrun for me?"
"Thank you, Princess," Ria smiled, wishing she could at least see the smile in Venna's eyes that she could hear in her voice. "Yes, I do. Would you like me to read it before we commence with questions and answers?"
The king had informed her, and her culture chip had backed it up, that the third visit was where questions were begun to be asked in earnest regarding life vision, interests, tastes and dislikes. Not so much as a matter of finding out whether they would be a match, but rather how to make the match work when the couple eventually began seeing each other face to face.
"Yes, please," Venna concurred, "Let's have some poetry first."
Ria began to read, the lines flowing naturally, as she remembered reading them to the Dragon King the night before. She almost got lost in the moment, forgetting Venna and her aide, as she expressed the longing in her own heart as Xagrun's vicarious adoration for his bride-to-be.
When she was done, a moment of appreciative silence descended.
Then Venna spoke, her voice gentle, "I love to hear these before my father's negotiation board gets hold of them," she said
, a slight giggle in her voice. "They pore over them and dissect them and examine practically every syllable, deciding whether the poems are true art."
"Oh," Ria was surprised, she hadn't thought of her penmanship being so closely scrutinised. "And were they satisfied that it is?"
"Oh, yes," Venna said, encouragingly, "But not before they have totally ruined them for me. I want to ask his majesty, my father, if I may be excused from the meetings during that time. Then I can simply remember them for their intrinsic beauty."
"Ah, I see what you mean," Ria smiled, "Over analysing something really does seem to bleed the romance out of it, doesn't it?"
"Precisely! I may be royalty, but I'm still a woman," Venna said, stroking her arm, "Flesh and blood! Right there!"
Ria laughed, thinking how Venna reminded her of Natty, her dear airy-fairy younger sister with her romantic little head in the clouds. She was filled with a sudden urge to hug Venna, as longing for her sibling rose up to engulf her.
"You know," the princess continued, "I have to admit, I was pretty scared when they told me I was to wed the Dragon King."
"I'll bet," Ria commiserated, "A complete stranger, and you're expected to love him?"
"Not only that," Venna glanced at her aide who was standing a way off from the two women, staring out the window, and seeming not to be listening to their conversation. Perhaps the poetry bored her.
"I'll be very honest, the Dragonesque are known for their coarse manners and rough ways. We may look like a regular dragon shapeshifter race, but ours is a much softer complexion."
Venna reached out and took Ria's hand, placing it on her arm. Ria gasped. The bronze scales that looked as hard and flinty as the Dragon King's, were revealed to Ria's touch to be as soft as butterfly wings. At least, how Ria would have imagined butterfly wings to feel.
"But then I understand better why the mobs don't want you to marry him!" she exclaimed.
"There is another reason, which I cannot tell you now, but we are resigned to our fate." Venna's voice held no malice, nor fear, but simple acceptance and an underlying determination to graciously make the best of the situation.
Ria felt an awestruck admiration for this princess rising up in her spirit. She didn't know if she could face such a prospect... Oh, wait, strike that. She had already proven that she couldn't hold her pose in such circumstances. She remembered her harsh words to the king. It was a miracle her head was still on her shoulders if she had to be honest with herself.
Gifted To The Dragon King Page 9
