Divided

Jacob insisted that I stay in his room. His desires were backed up by Icefire. She spent all her time with me now. I felt guilty; she was Jacob’s dragon, after all.

“She is ours,” he said when I told him. “We will let her decide who she wants to spend her time with.”

Icefire purred and licked his cheek.

Queen Lillian was in the room quite often. While Jacob read from a book – he refused to say what it was – she worked on healing my wounds.

She sighed. “I haven’t had to treat wounds these severe in many, many years,” she said. “The last time Jacob had been experimenting with swords and juggling.”

I giggled as he groaned.

“That would have been a sight to see,” I said and he tossed a crumpled piece of paper at me.

I laughed and stuck my tongue out at him. He winked at me and went back to his book. Lillian sighed.

“What are you reading?” she asked for the hundredth time.

“It’s not important,” he said. “How are the wounds?” he asked, putting it to the side and walking over.

“Not as inflamed as they were,” Lillian said and lifted the blanket, helping me sit up a little so I could see. “Now they’re just healing over. You’ll have to be careful, Tetra. If you move the wrong way it could open the wounds again. If you keep healing at this rate, you should be back to normal in about a week.”

I groaned. “A week!?”

“I’m afraid so. Just take it easy.”

“Easy for you to say,” I grumbled.

Lillian laughed and left, shutting the door quietly. Jacob got into bed next to me and kissed me. I smiled and kissed him back. He ran his hand down my side and I moaned quietly. We heard Icefire fly out the window and he pressed harder on my lips, pulling on the string of my silk robe.

I shut my eyes as he kissed my neck. I sighed in pleasure. He kissed down my body, being careful around my wounds. I pulled on his shirt but he stopped me.

“We can’t,” he said, kissing my neck some more. “Not with your wounds like this.”

“Then why keep teasing me?” I complained as his hand ran down my side again.

“I’m not,” he whispered as his hand disappeared between my thighs.

I gasped, my eyes shooting open. He kissed my lips tenderly and I moaned, struggling with his trousers. I stopped him from pulling from the kiss and lid my hand down to return the pleasure he was giving me.

When we were both satisfied, he lay on his side, retying my robe and panting slightly. He rested his arm on my waist and kissed my lips tenderly.

“I love you,” I yawned, turning my head to face him.

He smiled, closing his eyes and putting his forehead on mine.

“Say it again,” he whispered.

“I love you,” I repeated.

“Again.”

I kissed his lips. “I love you,” I said in between kisses.

“I never thought I’d hear someone say that to me,” he breathed.

I nuzzled his nose. “Get used to it.”

He chuckled. “You should get some rest.”

I hummed and shut my eyes again, letting the cool breeze and the sound of Jacob whispering loving words in my ear drift me to sleep.

-

“They’re conducting interrogations tomorrow,” Jacob told me as we ate breakfast the next morning.

I blinked. “Interrogations?”

He nodded sadly, letting Icefire eat his strawberry.

“To find out if what Ezekiel spoke of is true,” he clarified and Icefire hung her head.

“Come here,” I said to the dragon and she flew to my chest. “Stop feeling guilty, Icefire.”

I cannot help it. I should have told you from the beginning.

I ran my finger down her spine. “I have a story for you,” I said and she looked at me. Jacob lay down, turning on his side and propping himself up to listen.

“About six months ago, a young woman was walking in the woods. She wasn’t looking for anything in particular. You see, she liked watching the werewolves hunt. It was grimly fascinating. Then she was attacked. The wolf that attacked her was pure black, including his eyes, which is why she didn’t see him.

“But something strange happened to her, Icefire. You see, when she had her first transformation – observed closely by the elder of the werewolves – she turned pure white. No wolf had ever been white before. It is unheard of. She started to feel things. Things she never had before. She craved meat even though she avoided it as a human. She wanted to run, to roll in the dirt. And let me tell you, she did not like getting dirty!”

Icefire laughed. Why not?

I wrinkled my nose. “Because she’d have to bathe! It was a tedious process for a human.” I sighed. “She was very scared, Icefire. Was what she was experiencing normal for someone like her? Did she have to do all these things? Perhaps she could avoid killing animals. But she couldn’t. It was then she realized that, yes, she was different. But there were still things she had to do; things she had to say to others. She was lucky, though, to have good friends help her.

“My dear, Icefire, you have been learning how you’re different,” I said. “It’s part of realizing how different you are from the rest of us and the other pocket dragons nearby. One day you’ll come to trust your instincts without a second thought. Patience is a virtue.”

Icefire licked my cheek. Thank you, Mother.

“You are very welcome,” I smiled. “Now show us some of these new tricks you told us about.”

Oh! I almost forgot! She flew to the middle of the room and Jacob came over so he could put his arm around me. So, my friend Penelope said that I can set my whole body on fire! She demonstrated and we both gasped, jumping a little. It is for battle. If someone is coming, I merely fly into them!

“Useful,” Jacob said as she extinguished herself. “Thank goodness you didn’t do that the day you barreled into Tetra.”

I laughed. “Don’t listen to him, Icefire. What else?”

For the rest of the afternoon, Icefire showed us the different things she could do as a blue dragon. It turned out she not only had the gift of flames but of ice, too. She demonstrated by blowing cold air on Jacob’s pillow. It froze in seconds and we had to put it in the fire so it would thaw.

Sorry! she said as I laughed. I forgot to ask how to thaw it myself!

“First my bed, now my pillow,” he sighed but he was smiling.

This one is my favorite, she said and sat on the foot of the bed.

I watched but nothing happened. I looked at Jacob but he seemed as confused as I was.

“Er… Icefire, what are you-?”

We both gasped as multiple Icefires surrounded us. I tried to sit up but Jacob stopped me. Our jaws were dropped and we watched the dragons fly through the air. They all sang her favorite lullaby and I held Jacob’s hand. Then, just as suddenly as they appeared, they disappeared. It was just the one Icefire, still sitting on the foot of the bed.

“Oh that was fascinating,” I breathed. “Can all blue dragons do that?”

No, she answered with a hint of pride in her voice. Just me. Each blue dragon as a personal skill.

“That really was amazing, Ice,” Jacob said and she flew to him, nuzzling into his neck and he chuckled.

She yawned, squeaking.

That was very tiring.

“So sleep, silly,” I said.

She curled up on Jacob’s chest and fell asleep at once, little puffs of smoke coming out of her nose. Jacob smiled lovingly at her and I held his hand.

“I’m glad she came back with us,” he said. “I was worried she’d want to stay after seeing her kind.” I wasn’t sure what to say. “I’ve never been good at making friends, you see. My combined races have always been a problem. But one of the first things Icefire asked me was why I said I wasn’t normal. She didn’t see an elf and a vampire. She saw me.”

“She saw her father,” I whispered, scootching over to put my head on his chest.

He laughed a little. He cleared his throat a couple times.

“Perhaps… one day… someone else will call me father,” he whispered and I froze.

Was he-?

Before I could respond, King Roan walked in. He smiled at the two of us.

“Good to see you’re both still awake,” he said. “I just wanted to tell you two things: The first is that the interrogations begin tomorrow and they want me to be there. That means you need to start taking care of any villagers with complaints,” he added to Jacob.

“Of course, Father.”

“The second thing,” he sighed, “involves Tetra.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of thing involves me?”

He smiled, though. “You’re still part human,” he stated and smiled at Jacob. “And humans share something with elves and vampires.”

“Which is?” we both prompted.

“A marriage,” he said as if it were obvious.

I blinked. I had forgotten about marriages. With everything that happened, a wedding seemed like the last thing to be important.

“Is now the right time to plan one?” Jacob asked. “I mean, with the interrogations and Tetra’s injuries, it doesn't seem like there's time.”

King Roan sat on the end of the bed. “How many more days in bed do you have, my dear?” he asked me.

“Five,” I said with a wrinkled nose.

“There you go,” he said. “If you want to, while Jacob is in session, Lillian has offered to come help you plan. This is assuming the two of you wish to be married, that is.”

I looked at Jacob. He was looking at me already.

“What do you say?” he whispered, tucking hair behind my ear. “Would you like to become Mrs. Dragomir?”

I smiled. “I would like to very much.”

He beamed and kissed me.

“Well, there you have it,” King Roan said and stood. “I’ll let Lillian know. Jacob, be in the throne room at eight in the morning.”

“I will,” he said and the two of us cuddled down to sleep, our foreheads pressed together.