Lady Naravie Greyson

  I awoke to the sound of a chair scraping against stone and the smell of some very enticing stew. I sat up and found Alvina, Odessa and Tiran on their feet facing Mother as she stood in the doorway. She wasn’t looking up to meet their gaze and Heskari stood behind her. Heskari pushed into the room and fawned over Alvina and Ilgard. I saw Irand still sitting in his chair, he had regained some color from when he mended Ilgard’s arm but one look at his face told me that he wasn’t ready to stand yet. Didn’t stop him from giving Mother a Death Glare that would have made Dad squirm.

  Mother entered the room quietly, she approached Tiran and I heard her whisper something under her breath and he replied just as quietly. He relaxed and fell back into his chair. Odessa was sitting next to my cot and she gave Mother the sternest glare I had ever seen upon her face, and I had seen a few when I was building the Hot Spring back home. Mother approached her and stood at my bedside, paying her no mind.

  “I… I would like to talk to you privately if I may…?” She asked, her voice dry and raspy.

  I looked over at Odessa and saw the look on her face that said she didn’t trust my Mother right now. Irand and Tiran were both boring holes in the back of her head. I reached out to all three of them.

  ‘I’m going to go with her to hear what she has to say but I’ll stay connected to you three, okay?’ I asked.

  ‘I don’t like it.’ All three of them replied in unison.

  ‘If she is trying to apologize, I want to hear it.’

  None of them responded but I got three begrudging nods. I swung my legs off the cot and shakily got to my feet. None of my skin was pink now, all of it was pale white and in some places it was see through. The sight made my stomach turn and I was suddenly very glad I was not eating the wonderful smelling stew.

  “Lead on.” I said to Mother.

  She did, heading out of the room and down the hall to one of the open platforms within the center of the Castle. I saw the burns on the back of her neck and arms as she led me through the halls. I didn’t think Fire could harm her but I suppose a stronger dragon might be able too. She had to stop every so often as her body convulsed for a few seconds and I nearly bolted the first time it happened.

  “Heskari hit me with lightning. Thought I was immune but turns out even an Earth Dragon can get shocked.” She explained with a laugh as she leaned against the wall.

  When we reached the platform underneath the open sky she sat down and looked up at the evening clouds in purple and gold. I sat down next to her.

  “I made many mistakes today.”

  I remained quiet.

  “I nearly attacked you earlier. I lashed out at everyone. I interrupted the ritual and… I set you on fire.” She choked on those last words.

  I had seen her cry after the battle when she had told me about Father’s funeral or when she told me about her past. This was different.This was truly sad like she had been when she told me how much she missed her mother.

  “I’m sorry. You deserve better than me. I’m a broken Lady who should have figured her shit out centuries ago.”

  “You aren’t broken.”

  “Yes, I am. You have seen how much bigger Heskari is than me, I should be bigger than her. I should have better control of my magic. I should be stronger than I am. I am Broken. And I need time to fix myself. When we arrive at Xaranta’s home and you all get settled in with him, I’m going off on my own.”

  I began to protest but she held up a hand. I stopped and quietly fumed.

  “I need to work through the things in my mind. That isn’t something you can help me with and it isn’t something I want you to have to see. Stay with Odessa, she is a lovely young lady and I’m sure you can find something to entertain yourselves.” She said with a grin.

  “I’ll worry about you.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  I leaned against her, careful not to scratch her with my horns and watched the sunset.

  “You don't have to do everything alone you know. We can help you.”

  “You sound like Masai.”

  “Tell me about her.”

  She took in a breath like she was about to and then stopped.

  “I-I can't. That's part of what pushed me to do this. I need to work through this before I can talk about her or Callax.”

  We were silent for a moment, I was waiting for her to continue but she didn't.

  “Alright. But if you are gone too long I'm going to come looking for you.”

  “Oh? And what is a hatchling like you going to do?” She asked, playfully poking me.

  “Well I seem to recall that I've got quite a deep reserve of magic because of the Blight. I’d make do.”

  She let out a small laugh as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

  “I'm sure you will Child. I'm sure you will.”

  We watched the sun dip under the horizon before we headed back. I was giving everyone the general idea of what we had discussed and Irand seemed angry still but Odessa and Tiran both had relaxed by the time we arrived.

  Alvina was sitting next to Irand, watching us as we returned though Heskari and Ilgard had vanished.

  ‘She took Ilgard to her room and retired to her own chambers. Something about mending a gut wound.’ Alvina said, her mental voice laced with an icy hiss.

  Mother nodded, not shrinking away from the accusatory glare. Tiran and Odessa each held out a bowl of stew and I reclaimed my spot next to Odessa while mother found a chair nearby.

  There was an uncomfortable silence while we ate and when we had finished Mother glanced around the room, greeting all the stares that were boring holes into her.

  “So I'm sure she told all of you what I intend to do.”

  Nods all around.

  “I want to leave in two days. I need to be sure that I have stopped having fits from Heskari’s lightning and Naravie needs more time to rest and heal. Because of me.” She added the last bit with a bit of venom in her voice before anyone else could. She cast her gaze up to Alvina. “Can you be ready to leave in that time?”

  Alvina nodded, slowly and with a bit of surprise in her eyes. Tiran shifted in his seat and she turned to meet his gaze.

  “What's to stop you from attacking us again?”

  “That… was a perfect storm of things at the wrong time. We are roughly two weeks away from Xaranta’s home and I know I can keep myself in check for that long.”

  “Forgive me if I don't believe that.” Irand said quietly.

  “You all also have both of them.” Mother said as she pointed to Alvina and I.

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  I gave her a confused look.

  “Both of them are better at weaving Magic than I am. And if you are anything like your mother, I have no doubt that you can stop me, even more so with aid from Naravie.”

  That did surprise me. Both admitting that someone was better than her at something and that she said I was better with magic.

  ‘She taught me ways to deal with people like you, yes.’ Alvina replied, her tone leaving no question that she believed it.

  Silence fell over the infirmary after that thinly veiled threat. It dragged on for a few tense moments before Mother broke it.

  “Well, I suppose I should go and prepare.” She said as she backed out of the room.

  As soon as she had left I gave Tiran and Irand glares. They had the audacity to look appalled.

  “What? She literally set you on fire! I'm not going to forgive her for that just because she says she's going to try and be better.” Tiran growled.

  “We are out here to get you the body you want.” My growl drowned out his protests, I wasn't about to play the submissive little sister.

  He fell silent and I turned my gaze to Irand.

  “You know better than to hold a grudge.”

  “She's been slipping for a while. This could have happened when we didn't have someone to deal with her rage. Where would we be then?”

  “What do you mean slipping?”

  “I noticed it a few times when I was staying with her over the last few months, she would talk to herself when she thought no one was around. About Callax, Masai and her mother. She's been carrying around guilt and hate. She's a liability.” He replied with his calm cool tone, acting superior as he usually did when he noticed something others missed.

  Fury boiled inside me and I bared my teeth. He flinched.

  “And, dear brother, was this like the time you noticed I was struggling during our training and instead of offering aid, you simply watched and waited until things took a turn for the worst? When I had to lay in bed for weeks because you didn’t say anything when you saw I was pushing myself to hard? Mom gave you an earful back then, and I’ll give you one right now for her.”

  If he wasn't already pale I think he would have gone so. As it was, I watched him grip the armrest of his chair. There were few people who could shake Irand and Geneva Greyson had certainly been one of them.

  “You are smart Irand, smarter than me for certain. But you don't always think clearly when emotions are involved. You are observant, well beyond anyone else in our family. So when you see something, say it. Don’t hide it. Don’t wait for it to become a problem. Do not look away from me!” I growled and he snapped his gaze back to me. “You know better than to hide things. Especially important things like that.”

  I formed my tail and smacked the bladed tip into the armrest next to his hand. It might have been a bit more violent but Lady Greyson had done that when we were little to drive the point home. Though she had used a wooden spoon, not a spear sized tail… Regardless it got the message across.

  Everyone was silent for a moment before Tiran let out a small laugh.

  “You sounded like Mom.” He said simply, a dumb grin on his face.

  “Yeah well, I think now I get why she was always a little easier on me than you two. So I could see how to keep you two out of trouble.”

  “Out of trouble?! Of all people! You were the one who went Dragon Hunting on your own!” Irand cried.

  “I was trying to help.” I mumbled.

  “By getting yourself killed!?”

  “It worked out!”

  “By random chance!”

  I looked to Tiran and he shrugged. Odessa wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hummed as she leaned against me.

  “Well I for one am glad. I got to meet her because of it.” She said as she pressed her lips to my neck.

  Suddenly the room felt very warm and I felt my face flush. Everyone let out a laugh and I saw Alvina do the same to Irand and he turned the same shade of red that I probably was. We both glared at Tiran as he let out an actual laugh hard enough to make his voice crack. He paused for a moment and looked at both of us and started laughing again. He rose from his seat and then, with a flourish and a bow, he left. Still laughing hard enough that I could hear him for several minutes.

  Odessa and I looked to Alvina and Irand. Judging by how flustered Iraand looked, I was guessing Alvina was talking to him in his mind. He suddenly shot to his feet and then immediatley fell back into his chair as his legs gave out.

  Alvina gained a mischievous grin and scooped her arms under Irand and carried him in her arms. The look he was giving her was genuinely loving and it was so cute I had to let out a small laugh. He glared at me and looked even more ridiculous from where he was being carried like they were newly weds back home. Alvina’s tail manifested and curled around to gently turn Irand’s chin back to looking at her. The effect was immediate, he practically melted in her grasp and she gave him a very passionate kiss before glancing in our direction and carrying him out of the infirmary.

  Which left Odessa with her arms around me and a burning heat in my chest. I felt her nip at my ear and she let out a small laugh as I yelped. Though her laugh was stifled as she brought a rag up to my ear and I saw her bring it away red.

  “Well I didn’t realize you were that delicate at the moment. I suppose what I want to do to you will have to wait until after you are recovered.” She whispered in my ear.

  “I have a habit for getting myself injured don’t I?” I joked.

  “You do. But I do like how protective you are. It means you have a good heart. Just promise you will worry about yourself as well. Ereneya is going through a situation of course but you need to make sure you don’t get hurt worse if you defend her like that.” Odessa said, leaning us both back down on the cot.

  She wrapped her legs around me and I could feel the warmth in her. Gods I wished I could give into her desires.

  “Rest now. Then let's see how you feel once you’ve slept a bit more.” She said.

  For once I wasn’t tired but I could hear the fatigue in her voice so I didn’t protest as she nestled up against me and she was asleep before I could get my arm around her.

  She awoke a few hours later and I was sitting up with her head laying on my lap. Heskari had come back and offered me a tome on Magic while I was waiting. I saw that she had finished stitching up the wound in her side and she applied some of the same Green Gel she had applied to my wounds to the stitched up wound.

  By the time Odessa woke up I was ready to get moving and stretch my legs. I hadn’t had much opportunity to roam the Floating Castle in my time here and now seemed like a reasonable time to do so. She led the way through the halls and soon we arrived in a kitchen. It was large, easily big enough to hold probably five people all moving about and making different things.

  She and I helped ourselves to ingredients and we set about making meals for the others. I got a good look at myself for the first time as well, seeing my face in the glass window that looked out over the countryside. I looked fairly fine at a glance, just much paler than normal and with much shorter hair that made me sad. But as I looked a bit closer I realized I could see through parts of my skin. Just in certain parts where it was particularly thin but I could see the base of my horns where they met my skull and it made me a little woozy to see that.

  I shook off the feeling and joined Odessa in cooking. It was well into the night but we started on making breakfast, given another hour or two and people would be waking themselves. We ended up making some cooked meats and hashbrowns and by the time we were well into our own plates Heskari and Ilgard wandered in. Tiran followed shortly after and a little later Mother came in and sat next to Heskari. I could absolutely tell they were talking telepathically but they made no moves against each other outwardly.

  The next day flew by. I asked Heskari for some help with my Magic and she was happy to oblige. Odessa sat nearby watching us as she read her own book and Heskari showed me a much simpler way to manipulate clouds than the way I had previously been doing. I wasn’t going to be weaving storms like she could but I could drag the clouds around behind me and heat them up into scalding steam which could deter almost anything that wasn’t a dragon.I could also make clouds rain if I gave them some extra magic but that took a lot out of me. I was honestly just grateful to be flying again and being in my Draconic body made me feel powerful in a way my injured human body could not.

  By the end of the day I was drenched in sweat but smiling and feeling refreshed from my flights all the same. Odessa joined me for a bath and while we tried to get some privacy we weren’t able to stay alone long enough to enjoy anything. Her leg was fully recovered, just a bit sore now, so we ended up staying in the same rooms that Tiran and Mother were in.

  And so the morning came when we were to leave. Mother woke us early as the sun rose and we had a quick breakfast. Heskari and Ilgard came to see us off as Irand and Alvina arrived at the platform. Alvina was wearing markedly different clothes than I had seen her use before. She had a leather cuirass that guarded much of her torso and belts to keep her sleeves in place. Leather bracers covered her arms and she had numerous pouches around her waist resting on belts. All of it glowed with runes and I could actually feel the magic coming off of her as she stood next to me. She was still wearing a green dress that went down to her ankles and heavy leather boots.

  ‘All ready.’ She said with a smile.

  “You came prepared.” I replied.

  ‘Well, I have to accommodate for my inability to see well. And many of these are to make traveling easier.’ She said as she gestured to the pouches hanging from her belts.

  I shrugged, she knew what she was doing. I trusted her to do what she needed to do.

  Ireland stood next to her, Odessa stood at my side and Tiran stood next to Mother. Heskari and Ilgard both walked up to Alvina and wrapped her in a hug. I heard both of them whisper several variations of “Stay Safe” before they parted, their eyes wet with tears. Mother gave a bow to Heskari and said her thanks before she transformed and Tiran leapt onto her back. She leapt into the sky and the force from her wing beats made us all stagger, except for Heskari.

  Alvina gave her Mother and Sister a tearful nod before she transformed as well and launched herself into the sky with Irand holding onto her back spikes. I looked to the two of them as Odessa and I were the last to leave.

  “Thank you for everything ma’am. I’ll make sure she gets home safe.” I said with a bow to Heskari.

  She said nothing but I could see the emotions swirling behind her eyes. After a moment she and Ilgard both nodded and I transformed and let Odessa climb onto my back. Once she was secure I took a running leap and Dived after the others, Odessa let out a cry of Joy as she held on.

  We were on the move again, with a new friend. Things were going to be interesting.