Draka Chapter 308: Mates (Patreon)

The fact that I was planning to give some of my humans a chance to choose freedom didn’t mean that I could sit back and feel sorry for myself, nor that I wouldn’t use them for their strengths. Specifically, I needed to bind Presence and Grace closer to myself—or build a stronger relationship with them, to put it less cynically—and I intended to use Kira to do it. No disrespect intended to Mak or her healing, but I’d never seen her do what Kira could.

No matter how important this was to me, though, I was very careful to frame the suggestion as a question that she could, hopefully, refuse if she so chose. “I want to be very clear,” I told her. “If you feel any hesitation at all, I want you to say no. Would you be willing to do for The Sun Need Not Rise In His Presence what you did for me, with the constant cycle of draining and refilling your magic?”

“Without a doubt,” she answered. Not just without hesitation, but eagerly. “I can imagine nothing that would make me happier, until you tell us that we can return to the city.”

“You understand that I intend to use your healing as a bargaining tool? Again, if you’re uncomfortable with that, I want you to tell me. I would feel far worse about abusing your calling than I would about possibly losing them as allies.”

“If that is what it takes for me to be allowed to continue healing The Sun Need Not Rise In His Presence, then so be it,” she replied. “But, if I may… Mistress, if they should refuse, may I at least continue to manage his pain? I would not need to go often. The knowledge that he is in such a terrible state, and that I could do so much more for him, it… it haunts me sometimes.”

“Sure,” I said automatically, my heart warming at her earnest request. “I’ll see how I can spin it. But before we do anything I need to make sure that they’ll agree to see you again at all, and that Mother won’t try to stop me from flying around with you looking for Rifts.”

“Of course,” she said. “Though, if I may make a suggestion? If she is not comfortable with you flying around, perhaps Sandstorm could take me? She seemed to enjoy it before, and The Winds Weep To See His Grace tolerates her.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I agreed fondly. She was looking for ways to be able to help Presence even if Mother interfered, and it drove home the fact that I truly didn’t deserve her. I didn’t know how many times I’d thought that very thing, but it never became less true. She was just too good. I dearly hoped that she’d choose to stay with us once I freed her, because my world would be colder without her in it.

Mother, thankfully, had no issue with me taking Kira to visit the two males. She approved heartily, in fact, when I told her what I had planned. She did insist on going to speak with Presence and Grace first, but that didn’t take much more than an hour. Once she returned to tell me that they’d be amenable to a visit, I took Kira, left Sandstorm to watch the others, and headed down.

I wasn’t actually sure of the way to the males’ lair once I’d landed, but Kira was. It was impressive, really; she’d visited a grand total of once more than I had, but there was no hesitation when she told me where to turn to end up at the huge building under which Grace had dug their home away from home.

Grace met me outside. He didn’t say a word about my injury and recovery; he may well not even have heard. I couldn’t see anyone who knew me broadcasting my weakness, unless Sandstorm let it slip by accident. He did, however, comment on my size. He still had a good two or three feet on me, and that at the shoulder, but he took one look at me, narrowed his eyes in suspicious curiosity, and declared, “You have grown, and no small amount. You must have added considerably to your hoard.”

“I have,” I replied easily, refusing to be shaken by his interest. Nor did I elaborate. My hoard and how I grew it was my own business, and if he wanted to know he could damn well ask me outright, and politely at that.

He didn’t. And either he lacked the confidence that he could bully me into saying more—which I doubted—or he didn’t think it was worth it. Or, just perhaps, he didn’t want to. That was also possible. Whatever his motivation he let the subject drop and moved on, saying, “Congratulations. Come, then. Your mother declared that you had something you wished to discuss, and I would include my Sun.”

He then, to my utter bafflement, took a moment to incline his head to Kira before heading in, clearly expecting me to follow. It took me a moment to snap out of my surprise; not because Kira didn’t damn well deserve his recognition, but because he gave it, entirely unprompted.

Without Mak to let her see in the dark, Kira had brought a lightstone with her. The light couldn’t penetrate far into the great ruin, and when she lit it I tried to see everything the way she must. I tried to imagine what it looked like to someone as small as her; the tall ceilings and wide hallways, the massive hole in the floor that led below into the cellars that the two males had dug out, and the way Grace’s scaly tail vanished into the darkness. It must have been bloody terrifying, and yet she didn’t complain at all. Was that because of her faith in me, some effect of my power over her, or had she just gotten used to dragons and the dark? I couldn’t say.

Even in the limited light of the lightstone it was clear that the lair had improved somewhat since I was last there. The walls were smoother, the floor more even, and the drop into the underground section had something suspiciously like a set of stairs, sized for a human, carved into the wall facing the entrance.

“Sandstorm was… she could have been gentler when she dropped down here,” Kira commented as I stared. “She meant well, I’m sure. She’s just not used to carrying fragile little humans.”

“So Grace carved stairs for you?”

“I suppose he did,” she said, her tone warm and soft. “I know he won’t say it outright, but I think he truly appreciates what Mak and I have done for his mate.”

“I think that’s a safe bet, yeah! He carved you stairs! Human sized stairs!” I replied, still looking. “You should… I mean, would you like to try them?”

“I certainly wouldn’t mind!” she said brightly, approaching the first step. “I don’t expect it was a lot of work for someone like him, but it’s still terribly sweet. I wouldn’t want to appear ungrateful.”

I watched her carefully walk down the steps; they were a bit rough, and it wasn’t far, so there weren’t many of them, but the fact that they existed at all clearly delighted her. And though I didn’t watch him directly, I could see Grace below, watching her descend with feigned impatience and poorly disguised interest. When Kira flashed him a grateful smile, he turned away without comment.

In my imagination he was blushing. Dragons didn’t blush, but that didn’t stop me imagining it.

Presence wasn’t far. He lay in the same place as I’d last seen him, though his chamber had been cleaned up a fair bit. And so had he. That wasn’t to say that he looked good. He looked awful; he was gaunt, missing huge patches of scales, and his eyes were still just lids sunken over empty sockets. But the weeping sores were gone, and while his wing was as skeletal as mine had been, there was no longer any actual bone visible anywhere on his body. Compared to last, he was hugely improved.

“Is that little Draka I smell?” he asked, scenting the air in my direction. “And Kira. It is a pleasure to have you both here again.”

“Thank you, Great One,” Kira replied, not bothering to wait for me to speak. “Is your pain manageable this day?”

“I confess it has been slowly returning, though it is nothing like before your last visit.” He sniffed the air again, and while he was hard to read with no eyes, I thought I detected some disappointment. “Is your friend Makanna not with you?”

“Not today, Great One,” Kira replied apologetically.

“Ah, well. Some other time, perhaps. Draka, I thank you for allowing your healer to return. Her previous visits have brought me indescribable relief.”

“I am glad to hear that you appreciate her efforts,” I replied. I probably should have been miffed at being pushed to the back the way I had, but I was just too damn pleased about the recognition and appreciation they were showing Kira. Presence had even been disappointed that Mak wasn’t here! “That is actually what I am here to discuss.”

“Ah,” Presence sighed. “Is the cost of her aid about to increase?”

“Not as such. No, I am here to make you an offer; one that involves Kira. I ask that you listen at first, and hold your questions, comments, and objections until I have finished.”

“Very well,” Presence agreed. “My Wind, what do you say?”

“We have much time, and precious little else,” Grace replied. “Speak, little one. Make your offer.”

And so I did. “You, The Winds Weep To See His Grace, desire a territory in the mountains of my island. You both desire to see The Sun Need Not Rise In His Presence fully restored and free of pain. I can offer the first. Kira can, we believe, accomplish the second through great effort, and I offer her services in this. But this time there will be a cost.”

Grace’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “A cost, you say. When you have previously allowed your healer to aid with my Sun’s pain out of good will.”

“With respect, Great One,” Kira said, then paused for just a fraction of a second as she looked to me to see if I would be offended by her speaking out of turn. When I didn’t react she continued. “My mistress has graciously promised me that I may continue to treat your mate’s pain, regardless of what you may or may not agree on. It is the restoration, which would take days of constant labor if it is even possible, which would come at a cost.”

Grace rumbled unhappily, but settled at a few words in Draconic from Presence before saying, “Very well. Continue.”

The fact that he didn’t object to Kira describing Presence as his mate, which was impossible to misinterpret in Tekereteki, came as a small surprise. Though perhaps it shouldn’t have. No dragon had ever referred to the two as mates, but honestly, you’d have to be willfully blind not to see what their relationship was, and no one had made anything resembling a negative comment about it. It just seemed odd to me that no one had mentioned it, was all.

I resolved to ask someone about it. Sandstorm might be a good place to start.

With a look to Kira I said, “Thank you,” then turned back to Grace. “As Kira says, I would not hinder her from relieving your mate’s pain. But if I am to give away what is mine, and spend days of my time and hers to help you, I will need something in return. I do not, however, think that you will find my demands so odious as to be unacceptable.”

“Speak them, then,” Presence said pleasantly. Again, neither her nor Grace commented on my use of the term mate. If anything, by the gleam in his eye Grace looked quietly pleased.

I asked Kira to set about relieving the pain Presence had spoken of, then got into it. “Some weeks ago, Behold Her And Know That All Things Must End attacked you both, violating the peace of the conclave. Only a day later, she made an attempt on my own life. She has since been driven from the region but has taken refuge in the south, where she lays waste to the countryside of my city, Karakan. This is, you will agree, intolerable.”

Both of the older dragons rumbled their agreement.

“For her violations, I will see her dead. My elders, Sower of Embers, Reaper of Flames and Indomitable, have already committed to protecting me, and to killing her if given the opportunity. But the island is vast, and I would not be surprised if she were to flee across the sea, bide her time, and await an opportunity to strike again. Meanwhile, the humans of my city are in an existential conflict with the humans of the south of the island, who are supported by The City of Rains. This also threatens me, as Karakan cooperates with me and pays me tribute, while The City of Rains wishes me and all dragons dead. Therefore, I wish to see my humans as the undisputed masters of all human matters on this island. But to ensure this, and to help ensure that no one threatens the peace and prosperity of the residents of this island, dragon or human, I need allies.”

“You have them,” Presence commented. “As you just said, you have two elders, both powerful, who seem committed to your safety.”

“To my safety, yes. To my ambitions, perhaps not. Mother has already declared that she will not help my city win their war. And in any case, my mother and granduncle cannot stay forever. For this reason, I have struck an agreement with The Unquenchable Flame at the Heart of the Mountain and As He Moves, So Do the Trees Quake. In short, I have given them a territory to be theirs and theirs alone, in exchange for their solemn oath to help end my human’s war in my favor, and to defend me, my humans, and any other dragon who may settle here. There are other stipulations, but that is the gist of it. I would ask the same of you.”

“You have given part of your own territory to those two impetuous whelps?” Grace asked incredulously. “The same that they tried to take by force, then tried to bully you into relinquishing?”

“I did!” I drew myself up to my new, full height, and though I still had to look up to Grace while he slouched, I did so with pride and confidence. “They swore on their hoards to keep to our agreement, on pain of expulsion, and believe me: I intend to hold them to it. Every clause and sub-clause. And I would expect you to help me enforce that, just as I would expect them to hold you to your own oaths. If I cannot have the whole island to myself in peace, then I will have it be at peace, and may the gods-damned Sorrows be lenient with anyone who would betray me!”

As I spoke I drew more and more on the pride and supreme self-confidence that was my draconic birthright. My voice rose in volume and became harder with every word, until Grace leaned back in surprise at my tone. Once I fell silent he took a step forward, hissing deep in his throat, but I didn’t back down. And before he could push it, Presence again reined him in with a few growled words in a language I could not understand. There was a short back and forth between them, which ended with Grace turning back and looking at me with new interest.

“I would be willing to discuss specifics,” he rumbled, and so we did. He didn’t apologize for his aggressive posturing, but I didn’t expect him to; that was just normal dragon rhetoric.

It didn’t take nearly as long as it had with the younger couple. I’d already been through my terms once, and neither Grace nor Presence were as prone to useless complaints or other interruptions as Unquenchable and Quake had been. When they commented or disagreed it was on actually relevant things, such as the size of the territory, how wide of a strip of land they would have to the sea, what rights we would have to cross or visit each other’s lands, and how disputes would be settled.

“We should have another conclave once the current threats have been dealt with,” Grace concluded. “We three and the two young fools.”

“And my cousin, Sandstorm,” I added. “She will be staying when Indomitable moves on, though I have not yet decided if I will give her a territory of her own, or if she will be my guest.”

“The whelp?” Grace asked with some surprise. I noted with some amusement that the way he said it seemed to place me as more mature than my much older cousin. “Hrrrm. She is inoffensive enough, I suppose.”

“She was a polite and amusing guest,” Presence added. “Very curious. I would be pleased to speak with her again.”

“She told me your mate threatened to tear her head from her body,” I pointed out.

“And she took my warning seriously, and kept a polite distance from my Sun afterward,” Grace replied, his eyes narrowed in amusement. “She has good self-control when necessary.”

“I will tell her you said so. Are we in agreement, then? At least on the major issues of the size of your territory, and our stance on trespassing by hostile dragons and humans?”

“I believe so,” Grace replied.

“Good. Some things we will have to handle case by case, but I agree with your suggestion that we should have another conclave in time to work out questions where I do not wish to dictate the answers.”

With that I carefully nudged Kira awake. Once the discussion began in earnest I’d agreed to her request to give Presence a proper round of healing. She’d been sleeping against my side ever since, entirely exhausted and apparently unbothered by the volume of our discussion. Once she was groggily on her feet I stood. “We will need to fly out together to determine the exact boundaries of your territory,” I told Grace. “I will do the same with The Unquenchable Flame At The Heart Of The Mountain and As He Moves, So Do The Trees Quake. But I expect you will wish to wait with that until your mate is recovered enough to fend for himself, or even accompany us.”

“You expect correctly,” Grace replied. And again there was that subtle, pleased gleam in his eye when I referred to Presence as his mate.

“And in the interest of clarity,” I added, since we had sort of danced around the subject during our discussion, “should The Sun Need Not Rise In His Presence wish to stay in your territory for any extended time, or even permanently, I would have no objection to that. Though any dragon on the island would need to abide by the rules we have agreed on.”

“Of course,” he agreed. No bristling comment about it being his territory, and he could have anyone there that he damn well pleased. Just a neutral acceptance.

“Great One,” Kira said, addressing Presence as we were leaving. “I focused the most powerful part of my healing on your eyes. It is my hope that they will slowly regenerate, but I cannot say what you may experience as they do. Please, if you would, keep track of anything out of the ordinary. Sudden colors, flashes of light, anything like that. It might help me help you, or anyone else with a similar injury I might treat in the future.”

“I will keep that in mind, little healer,” Presence rumbled, nodding in acknowledgement.

Then Kira turned to Grace. “I am sure that I have said this before, but your mate will require plenty of meat once we begin healing him in earnest. You will be hunting near constantly. If this is a problem I need to know now, as I believe it might be dangerous to attempt to heal him without enough food.”

“It will not be a problem,” Grace replied haughtily. “I am an excellent hunter.”

“As you say, Great One.” Kira bowed deeply, and with that we left to find a Rift for her to replenish her magic.