Paths among Dreams

Love Hate Bonds

After a night of failing to find rest, King Mikel rose with the sun and began to prepare himself for the day. He climbed out of his enormous bed and made his way to his shower. The same thoughts of this beautiful stranger that kept him up all night plagued him while he showered and even the heat and powerful spray were not enough to relax his body or clear his mind. Deciding a good meal and time with the yearling dragons would help to set him right, he made his way to the kitchen galley in the dragon wing. Pulling fresh fruits and dried meats from the shelves in cold storage, he set to making breakfast for himself and his guests. Contrary to popular belief, young dragons loved citric fruit and melon and could devour their weight in a single meal. Thankfully, they always had plenty on hand and as he prepared the morning meal, he fed the small dragons that surrounded him playfully climbing all over him and every other surface of the kitchen.

Slowly but surely the king began to lose himself to the task and enjoyed the simplicity of his routine. That was until Kira ran through the kitchen frantically searching the galley and corridors of the kitchen.

“ Hey slow down! I’m making breakfast. Have some patience, it will be done in a moment.” King Mikel told his sister unsure why she was such a wreck.

“I’m not searching for food you fool, I can’t find Rina.” She responded somewhat out of breath. “I went to wake her and show her around before breakfast and she wasn’t in her room.”

“Well where else could she be, she doesn’t know where anything else is.” The king said.

“I know that, which is why I’m so worried.”

“Here, finish slicing this fruit and I’ll see if I can find her. Maybe she got lost looking for the stable.” Consoling his sister, he left through the door of the kitchen. Outside the kitchen and galley was a large garden with several different fruit trees. Oranges and pears, peaches and cherries all hung from the branches and shadowed paths that drifted between the trees. At the end of the garden was a low stone wall and on the other side laid a narrow stone path that zig zagged down to a shallow beach at the base of the cliffs. King Mikel thought it would be faster to search for her along the grounds with his dragon, Shamus. He was slightly annoyed at the prospect as he had just showered and dressed for the day. Stripping out of his clothes, he climbed onto the low wall and jumped into the air, his body morphing to the body of his dragon. Before his feet could touch the path below, he spread his wings and took flight.

It had been many years since the king had morphed and allowed his dragon to fly and venture during the day; he had forgotten how beautiful and relaxing an early morning flight could be. King Mikel loved the view of the palace and grounds from the sky and he loved being able to see to the furthest reaches of Illora’s kingdom. He was enjoying this freedom so much, he almost forgot why he was out there to begin with. After circling the grounds a few more times, Shamus’ eyes fell on the small, beautiful woman he was searching for. From his place in the sky the King could see the small shape of the woman and she appeared to have a small green dragon draped across her.

Slowly Shamus began to glide towards the beach. As one they landed silently a few yards from the lady and the green dragon who had seemed to take a liking to her. Once again Shamus returned to the king's mind and King Mikel took his own form. On his own two feet, King Mikel approached the lady and the green dragon quietly hoping not to disturb them, but he must not have been as quiet as he thought because when he was just a few feet away, the green dragon stood and faced him. A deep growl emerged from him and his emerald eyes began to glow, pulling the lady from her thoughts and causing her to turn and face the king.

“My King!” the lady exclaimed with a look of what he only imagined was shock painted across her face. Quickly the lady covered her face and turned to face the water.

“My lady, are you alright? I’m sorry I frightened you, truly. Please don’t turn away.” King Mikel said, stepping forward.

Without turning around, the lady giggled and said, “Highness, you did surprise me but you didn’t frighten me. Where I come from it isn’t decent to approach a person while in the nude.”

The King cast his eyes to the ground and immediately morphed allowing Shamus to take shape. With a series of grunts and purrs, Shamus tried to apologise on behalf of the king, but the lady couldn’t possibly understand, so she faced the king again only to find an enormous black dragon. Forgetting she didn’t come to the beach alone she tried to step back only to trip over her new companion landing squarely on her butt. It became the dragons turn to giggle and they did, both of them, sounding more like snorts and snarfs. The lady stood wiping the sand from her dress and glared at both of the dragons in front of her as if they were misbehaved children.Both the green dragon named Moss because of his color and affinity for earth based gifts and Shamus, the king's counterpart and blood bonded dragon, quickly straightened themselves not wanting to incur any more of the lady’s ire.

“Highness, you don’t frighten me at all.” The lady said with a smirk on her face, retreating to the stone path. “ I was simply caught off guard by your display of… confidence. I imagine I will see less of you at breakfast.” She called back, continuing on her path back to the kitchen garden.

Shamus and Moss exchanged somewhat confused looks and then took flight to watch over the lady from above. When the lady finally reached the top and walked into the miniature citrus forest, she came nose to nose with a half naked king. Had she not been replaying the sight of him walking up to her, naked and glowing on the beach in her mind, she might have caught herself from walking right into him, be that as it may, here she was pressed right up against his bare torso golden in the sun and warm to the touch. She was so close that she had to look up to apologise and when she did she became trapped in his glowing gold eyes. Everything around them fell away, and for a moment, neither one of them was willing to move away from the other.

“My apologies, lady, you were faster than I thought.” The king said in a husky voice, slowly backing away from her. The movement pulled her from the trance she found herself in.

“ No my apologies, Highness, I should have been paying attention to where I was going.” The lady responded awkwardly as she moved to walk around him.King Mikel let the lady take her leave needing a moment to collect himself. He didn’t know what had just happened and he still needed to redress before heading in to have breakfast with his sister Kira and her strange, beautiful, fiery companion. Something inside him craved her attention, while another part of him was scared of her. Afraid he could give her everything and more afraid she could destroy him with it. Slowly , the king made his way back to the kitchen and arrived just in time to sit with his guests.

“So my brother, how are you, what has kept you so busy you haven’t been out on the land or visiting your people?’ Kira cut to the chase. Though she would never be his equal, she would always be his big sister. Kira never liked the idea of warming up to address an issue, she always preferred to cut right to the point and today was no exception.

“ Kira, I’m destined to become a living part of this palace, in the grand scheme of things I think I allocate my remaining time well. As for the people, they have you and eleven other dragon born to guide and care for them, they look to me for peace and I more than accommodate that. I am their shield and sword and will remain so. The land my dear sister has no need of me, the people of Illora care for it, tend it and nourish their lives with it.” King Mikel spoke plainly as if he had had this conversation before.

“Its different now Mikel, I can feel it. It's why I dropped everything to make my final journey.” Kira insisted.

“Wait, Lady Sapphire, what do you mean your final journey? Are you not returning to the forest with me?” Rina interrupted. Worried, she reached for Kira’s hand.

“ I can't, my dear girl. When we arrived I was already dying, Mikel shared the Goddess breath with me and that is why I’m sitting before you now. If I leave the palace’s sacred grounds, the Goddess will take her breath back and I will cease to exist.” Rina’s eyes grew wide and tearful as she kept looking between brother and sister.

“My lady…” The king began.

“Stop calling me that.” Rina said in a clipped voice. “My name is Rina and with the things I’ve seen since I walked through those front doors, I believe first names are just fine, if you don't mind.” She continued.