Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

The passionate tremblings in my body faded after a while and I was left with the afterglow of wonderful sex. I turned my head to my partner and found him staring at me with his normal eyes. His wings, too, had vanished along with his scales. There was almost a look of regret on his face that squeezed my heart.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

He reached up and cupped one of my cheeks in his palm. “My sincerest apologies. I. . .I lost myself in the heat of the moment.”

I snorted and set my hand over his. “I don’t mind that kind of heat.”

A ghost of a smile touched the corners of his lips. “Do you? I will have to remember that. In the meantime-” He sat up and looked around, “-we should ensure you don’t get cold by fetching your pants.”

In a short while we were cleaned and dressed, but the harrowing adventure from before our heated encounter hadn’t been forgotten. I brushed off a few bits of sand from my sleeve and my eyes happened to look down at the spot where the harpy had vanished. Or dematerialized. Or whatever had happened to her.

“What did you do to the harpy?” I asked Thorn as I turned to him.

He had resumed his human form with horns and at my question he pursed his lips. “A magic unique to my species. We burn away the flesh of our foes and absorb their magical properties, if they have any.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Then you take on some of their magic?”

He shook his head. “Not exactly. The magic is stored within me should I need it to defend myself.”

“How often does that happen?”

“Very rarely. When such an instance does occur, I call upon the stored magic to craft a suitable ‘weapon’ with which I might vanquish my foes.”

I cocked my head to one side. “Like what?”

Thorn folded his arms over his chest and sighed. “The last time I was forced to use my store was some three centuries ago against the incursion of a small army into my land. They intended to take the populace and sell them into slavery. Instead, I wiped out most of their front line by crafting a giant glowing spear of light and swinging it at their cavalry. A thousand men were swept away in an instant and the rest fled.”

My mouth dropped open. “A thousand?”

Thorn turned his face away from me and his voice was low and tense. “It is not a skill I use lightly.”

I set a hand on his shoulder. “You did it to protect your land just like what you did today. If you didn’t do what you did then a lot of other people would’ve died or worse. Innocent people.”

Thorn had a long face, but he set his hand atop mine and nodded. “You are correct, though the burden is still heavy to bear.”

My face fell, as did my shoulder. “And all alone. . .”

He turned to me with a touch of a smile on his lips. “Not anymore.”

I blushed beneath his admiring gaze. “Yeah, well, don’t expect me to start stopping whole armies any time soon. If you’ll remember, I just had to run screaming away from a single harpy.”

Thorn chuckled. “You still made a beautiful sight, but we should return to the village and tell them they need not drive their animals so far.”

“Or wait a moment longer to wash their clothes,” I chimed in as we made our way toward the town.

We soon arrived at the village and the empty streets had been cautiously filled with the frightened faces of the inhabitants. Men, women, and children crowded about the short steps of the meeting house, many wearing the stench and stain of dirty clothes.

One of them noticed our coming and gave a shout. Everyone perked up and the mayor pushed his way to the front of the group. His anxious face displayed his emotion. “Well?”

Thorn smiled at them. “There’s no need to worry. The harpies are gone.”

A cheer rose out of the crowd. Men shook hands and women hugged each other until they inhaled one another’s scents, and then they scuttled back as quickly as politeness would allow. The children were less than amused as several shrugged and others looked forlornly at their muddied hands, now doomed to be rubbed raw with water and soap.

Mayor Helmsley grasped one of Thorn’s hands in both of his and tears pooled in his eyes as he looked up at his savior from filth. “How can we ever thank you?”

Thorn smiled and shook his head. “There’s no need for thanks beyond our ancient agreement. That is thanks enough.”

Helmsley bobbed his head. “Of course! Of course! The road is clear and I hope you return to us soon.”

“Three cheers for our dragon lord!” one of the townspeople shouted.

“Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!” came the call as many pumped their fists in the air.

“A feast!” someone yelled above the fray.

“A feast! A feast to celebrate!”

“Will you not stay and sup with us, My Lord?” Helmsley pleaded.

Thorn bowed his head. “We thank you for your offer, but we really must be going if we’re to reach Mirum before nightfall.”

The mayor nodded. “Then we wish you and your bride the best.”

We made our way through the crowd and to the awaiting carriage. Raines waited atop the box as we climbed in, but the moment the door shut the vehicle was off. The crowd waved goodbye to us and children ran alongside for as long as the road remained wide. We drove back into the trees, leaving the kids and the town behind us.

I leaned against the seat and smiled. “That turned out pretty well.”

“And with very little trouble on our part,” Thorn mused as he flexed one hand.

“You’ve had worse trouble?” I guessed.

He nodded. “The army I told you about, for one, but there are often other creatures that are less willing to leave, such as ogres and trolls. There was even an invasion of mice once on the eastern border where the grain fields stand. I had to do battle with their overgrown king and scorch half their company before they would leave.”

I winced. “None of that sounds fun, so why do you do it? I mean, why have a kingdom at all?”

A great sigh escaped him. “Permanence. When one lives as long as my kind one seeks out something that will, in hope, last just as long, even if the people and the lands themselves change.”

“How long have you had your kingdom?” I asked him.

“The better part of five centuries.” He cast his eyes to the window and the trees that we passed. “I left the home of my friends in Mirum and set out to build the territory you see now out of what was then a wilderness.”

I set a hand on his arm and he turned to face me. That’s when I offered him a smile. “You’ve created a very wonderful place. I don’t think I’ve seen more beautiful scenery or met more grateful people.”

A smile brightened Thorn’s face. “Thank you. Your words mean a great deal to me.”

“Because I’m your bride?” I guessed.

He set a hand over mine. “Because you’re words are sincere.”

A slight blush accented my cheeks and I shrugged. “I say it because it’s true.” I drew my hand out from under his. “Anyway, how much farther until we reach Mirum?”

“The better part of four hours, provided we find no other trouble on this side of the mountains,” he told me.

“And if we find some on the other side?”

“It would be best to contact the local city guards about the issue,” he revealed as he leaned back in his seat. “While they don’t mind a neighbor helping them, they do prefer to handle the responsibility themselves.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “So the city is just on the other side of the mountains?”

Thorn shook his head. “Not quite. The city merely controls a great deal of land around itself for its own protection, and it also acts as a protectorate over other neighboring towns and villages.”

“Sounds complicated,” I mused.

He chuckled. “Only for the scribe who must write down all the terms of the treaties, and those are enshrined in one of its many libraries. The city also boasts a great many theaters, restaurants, and some ancient ruins built by the kings of old before they overthrew them in favor of a representative government.”

I leaned out my window again and watched the world fly by. “With all that up ahead, I can’t wait until we get there.”