[
@DragonSong ]
[ Continued From (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=27120.0) ]
It was a nice cool day when Kit touched down in front of the Caviin home. The house wasn't exactly a manor, but it was large for a commoner in that part of Serendipity. The location, however, was a dream; the view of the modest port that stretched out below the cliff was every bit as breathtaking as Grav had said it was.
Grav breathed deep the salty air and sighed happily, "Gods... I missed that smell."
"Oh, wow." Kiara laughed quietly as she slid down from Kit's back and immediately ran as close to the edge as she could before Kit grabbed the back of her shirt delicately in his teeth.
"You undersold it, Grav," she chuckled, glancing back over her shoulder at him. "You grew up here?"
Grav climbed down more carefully. He stepped up beside her and gave her a sidelong smile. "I never doubted that I was lucky to get to be part of a family like the Caviins and to grow up surrounded by the freedom this view represents. I can't even imagine living as some pampered noble, as these clothes suggest I would have."
A door creaked open and a Serenian woman stepped out. She had green hair, yellow eyes, a slight figure, and appeared to be in her fifties, laugh lines crinkling as she began to smile. "Grav? Is that you?"
He spun around, grinning. "Surprise!"
"It's so like you to literally drop in from the sky without warning," she laughed. "Now get over here and hug your mother."
The swordsman ran over and did what he was told.
She released him, finally taking in his clothes, the dragon, and... the girl. "Okay, kid, I have questions. What are you wearing? Why is there a dragon in my yard? And who is this girl you brought home?"
"It's... err, a long story." Grav was hesitant to get into details, as if he were a child afraid of getting in trouble.
Both Kit and Kiara seemed to shrink slightly as Grav's mother came out to greet her son. The dragon tucked his wings and tail in close to his body and lowered his head, trying to make himself as unobtrusive as possible for a creature who was easily nine feet tall at the shoulder.
"Um...hello." Kiara tried for a little wave and a small smile, hovering anxiously back at Kit's side. "I'm, ah—that is we're friends of Grav..."
"Mom, these are my very good friends Kiara and Kit," he said in introduction. "I owe both of them my life many times over. Which I'll explain later, along with the clothes."
"You'd better." Mrs. Caviin frowned. Much less seriously, she said with a playful wrinkle of her nose, "You need a bath first. Because yikes."
"And I'm sure you're all hungry." She smirked. "Though even I can't feed a dragon in a pinch."
Kit dipped his head with a rumble that Kiara translated as, "Oh, that's alright, ma'am. Dragons have very slow metabolisms—Kit ate a big meal yesterday, he should be fine with some snacks for today. And he can hunt for himself." She glanced at the water and added with a small smile. "Or fish."
Smile turning a little sheepish, she risked moving a few steps closer and added, "I certainly wouldn't say no to some food though—er, maybe I can help you?"
"Can you cook?" she asked probingly.
Grav rolled his eyes. Who is this mousy girl, and what did she do with Kiara?
"I...learned to, when I was little," Kiara admitted. "These days it's mostly campfire fare for me. But I, ahm, I used to help my mother cook."
She tried for another smile. "I can at least hold and fetch things, if you like."
Kit seemed to be more interested in the ocean than in watching this awkward little dance, though he did give Grav a knowing sort of look before settling himself in to enjoy the view.
"Mom. You can't just--" Grav pleaded, only to be cut off with a look.
"That sounds most helpful. Thank you, dearie." She smiled before waving them inside. "Come, come."
Upon entering the rustic but well-furnished house, she looked to Grav. "Grav, sweetie, be a dear and fetch some water for a bath. If your friend is going to help, she needs to be rid of travel grime."
Grav sighed; he had been home for five minutes, and he'd already been put to work. "Yes, Mom."
Kiara couldn't help chuckling a bit as Grav's mother swiftly put him to work. It was...sweet. And it made her chest ache.
I miss Mum.
She shook the thought away and gave Mrs. Caviin another small smile. "Um, thank you. For welcoming us. I know it must have been..quite a shock, for Grav to show up on dragonback and all."
"Think nothing of it, dearie." She smiled softly. "Any friend of my boy is a friend of mine."
She eyed her appraisingly, as if sensing something. "So... just friends, eh? Nothing else?"
The woman smirked. "I ask because I know my boy, and he's incorrigible when it comes to the fairer sex."
Elsewhere, Grav felt someone walk over his grave.
"Ah—well, it's—" Kiara stumbled, not entirely sure how to answer that. It wasn't like they were hiding anything, but she'd rather thought when this particular topic came up Grav would be the one fielding questions.
Puffing put a quick breath, she responded, "It's...new. We'd actually been traveling together for the better part of the last two months before, ah...that part changed."
"Wore you down, did he?" she asked with a familiar, self-amused smirk. "But I suppose that if you can put up with his nonsense for that long, he's found quite the match."
"Well," Kiara chuckled a little awkwardly, "actually, as it happens...I said something first. I don't think the idea had even occurred to him until I did. Not that either of us was particularly, er, adept at connecting to our own sincerity."
She paused, then said in a rush, "But I care about him a lot, and he's—he's a good man, Mistress Caviin. You'd be proud of him."
The woman seemed surprised for a moment before smiling broadly. "I always have been."
"It's always the ones that are sweet on him that he misses signals from." She chuckled. "Poor boy needs it spelled out to him."
The side door opened and shut as Grav brought in the first buckets of water for the bath. After pouring them in the tub in another room, he stepped into the sitting room to check on them. "I hope she's not filling your head with anything embarrassing."
"Oh, nothing that I hadn't figured out for myself already," Kiara teased with a quick laugh. Cocking her head at him, she offered, "Need help heating the water? I can ask Kit--he might be an ass about it, but he'll do it."
"Oh! Great idea!" Grav grinned.
Mrs. Caviin's eyes widened. "Oh no, you are not going to have a dragon ruin my water buckets!"
"Oh, he won't!" Kiara hurried to assure her. "Kit can be very precise with his flame when he needs to be--and I can help shape it too."
That much magic should be fine, right? It wasn't like she was creating flame from nothing or raising walls of fire, just...nudging whatever fire Kit breathed into the proper place.
She sighed, giving in. "Fine. But be careful. I don't want to catch you two setting anything on fire."
"We won't, I promise," Grav assured.
Once outside, he gave her a questioning look. "Well? You two hitting it off so far?"
"I think so?" She gave him a hopeful if slightly embarrassed smile. "I've, ah, never actually done this before. Meeting the family, I mean. I don't usually stick around anyone long enough for it to matter."
She glanced back over her shoulder and her smile softened a bit. "She seems like...it would have been really nice to grow up here with her."
Grav smiled with a loving warmth. "Oh, yeah, she's the best. I couldn't ask for a better Mom. I mean, Dad's great too, but she did most of the actual parenting. I don't resent him for not being here more, but he just wasn't that big a part of my childhood."
He smiled at her. "I'm... glad you stuck around."
Kiara returned the smile with the tiniest hint of color in her cheeks. "Me too," she murmured, reaching over to take his hand and give it a light squeeze.
Kit really didn't take much convincing to help them heat the water--and true to her word, Kiara only used the barest thread of her power to help shape the flame. It still left her panting, which was mildly concerning, but she hid it quickly.
"Well, at least I didn't ruin your mum's water buckets," she chuckled lightly, rolling her neck to work out the kinks that seemed to pop up from the new tension she got from using her magic.
Grav watched her carefully, measuring how the magic affected her. He didn't seem to notice her panting, or he knew she would downplay it even if he asked.
"Well, let's get this water to the tub so you can wash up and help Mom cook." He grinned. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."
"Yes, gods," Kiara agreed with a laugh. "And I can't tell you how inviting the idea of non-camp-ration food sounds right now."
She washed up quickly and returned to the kitchen to assist Grav's mother; she really wasn't much of a cook herself, but she could follow directions and hold things, so she was at least better than nothing.
Grav's mother cooked up a small feast for her guests, probably more than the three of them could eat. He hadn't been kidding about his mother's tendency to stuff her guests till they burst. As such, she kept Kiara busy until Grav returned from his bath.
Finding the table almost set, he grinned. He looked much more himself without the armor and cape. "Oh my gods, that smells amazing."
Kiara was laughing at something his mother had said when he returned, and she glanced over at him with that smile still on her face as she said, "Doesn't it? Gods, i am so ready for any kind of food that hasn't spent half its life at the bottom of my pack."
She put a gently steaming dish on the table, then glanced up at his mother. "Um, can I do anything else?"
"No, dearie, you two can go ahead and get seated while I sit the pie on the sill to cool," she said as she pulled the pastry from the oven.
"Ooo... you're going to love mom's blueberry pie." Grav beamed at Kiara. His brow furrowed as he counted four place settings. "Wait... is Dad supposed to come home today?"
His mother smiled. "He could return today, yes. Though more than likely he'll be a couple of days longer."
He looked at Kiara. "Nice. We won't have to wait too long."
"Right. That's great." Kiara smiled, but her voice was a little less...present than usual.
It was striking her just how nice this home was, how much Grav had here. How much he stood to lose by gallivanting the countryside with her and Kit, getting dragged into alchemical plots and fae politics and who the hells knew what else.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "Is this... making you think of your mother?"
He could only imagine what it must be like for her to be reminded of what she had lost and of what she could have had. But he hoped a taste of normalcy would be more uplifting than sad.
Kiara gave him a quick, slightly sad smile. "A little," she admitted quietly. With a quiet laugh, she added with a bit more humor, "Guess I'm just wishing I could've introduced you to some family who wasn't...y'know. Fae. And like that."
She rolled her eyes, screwing her face up dramatically. Hopefully that would be enough to answer his questions, and he wouldn't keep probing. Though he had a habit of being annoyingly perceptive when she least expected it.
"Yeah, well, we can't choose who we're related to, so I can't hold that against you, " he chuckled lightly.
He slid a chair out for her like a good boy. "M'lady." He smirked playfully.
Giggling, Kiara dipped into a half curtsy. "Thank you, kind serrah," she said with a roll of her eyes, but she was smiling. Damnit, the man was charming, even when he was being a goof.
Glancing at the fourth place setting, she cocked her head and asked, "Do you always do that, then? Leave out a place for him when it's getting close to him being due back?"
"Yeah. Though we don't always have extra food cooked for him," he answered as he moved to sit by her. "That would just be wasteful."
"He's almost never home by his earliest estimate. His magic can only help him predict storms so much," he explained.
His mother returned and took a seat. "My Verran is many things, but a master mage isn't one of them."
"Still, the fact that he can predict storms at all is pretty impressive," Kiara noted, adding with a wry chuckle, "My own magic never seems to be very practical--more trouble than it's worth, really."
Outside, Kit had moved a little closer to the house so he could curl up beside it and peek in the open window every so often. Kiara grinned and quickly tossed him one of the fish Grav's mother had given her for just such a purpose. Kit snapped it out of the air with an appreciative rumble.
"That's too bad. Though," she chuckled, "mine's nothing to shake a stick at either. I can only seem to heal scrapes and shallow cuts."
She smirked at her son. "Which, I admit, was incredibly useful with this little danger seeker. I swear, the number of times he came home all scraped up... Not crying though, not this one; he was always grinning like an idiot."
Kiara chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. Not exactly a habit you grew out of, is it?" she asked with a small smirk in Grav's direction, eyebrow quirked.
Outside, Kit chuckled lightly and put in, "A habit that seems contagious, mmm?"
Kiara rolled her eyes at him, but he was talking, which was a good sign. The dragon tended not to speak aloud to people he didn't know--though she supposed this was something of a unique case.
Grav chuckled, a little embarrassed. "Well, no... I guess I didn't."
His mother smiled. "I came to terms with that a long time ago. Not that I don't worry, but I wouldn't change his brave heart for the world."
He blushed crimson, at which she cackled. "Okay, okay, enough mushiness. Eat, eat."
Remaining mushy for just a moment longer, Kiara caught Grav's eye for a moment and agreed, "Neither would I."
She laughed and tucked into her food with gusto, thanking his mother effusively between bites. Gods it had been so long since she'd had a home-cooked meal--she seriously doubted that anything made in her father's Autumn palace counted as such.
"I can't believe you grew up eating this," she chuckled to Grav when she was nearly done with her plate. "If I had regular access to this kind of food, I don't think Kit would be able to get me off the ground."
Grav, too, ate with a fervor, enjoying every bite with a sound of pleasure. It had only been a few months since his last meal at home, but it felt like so much longer.
He laughed at the image her comment left in his head. "I told you she was an amazing cook, didn't I?"
His mother beamed, her heart warmed by the praise. "You're free to have seconds, but do save room for pie."
"As much as I want seconds, I feel like I should hold out for that pie, thank you," Kiara said with a smile. Standing to clear her plate--and toss Kit another fish--she asked, "Can I, ah, help with the dishes or anything?"
It really had been so long since she in just...just a normal, domestic setting, she found herself a bit adrift, not sure what to do.
Grav's mother shook her head vehemently. "You've worked hard enough for one day, dearie. You two just enjoy the comforts of home, okay?"
She rose to her feet and practically snatched the empty plate away before stacking up the others. "I'll be right back with that pie."
Grav chuckled as his mother left the room. "Honestly, I'm surprised she let you help her that much."
Kiara released her plate reluctantly, thanking Grav's mother even as she did what she was told and took her seat back at the table.
"She's wonderful," she murmured, sounding both wistful and bemused. "Grav, your home is wonderful."
Grav sighed happily and leaned back in his chair. "Thanks."
"I guess I have taken this for granted. Honestly, I don't know why I was in such a hurry to leave. I just... needed to know who I was without all this, I guess." He shrugged. "Or maybe I just wasn't meant to stay in one place."
Her expression softened and she reached over to touch his hand lightly. "I get that," she murmured. "Even when I was a kid--when I still had Mum--I wanted to be moving. I didn't mean that you shouldn't want to leave, it's just..." She glanced around, smile quirking up on one side. "This is a really nice place to come back to, is all."
"It really is." Grav smiled, taking her hand in his. "I know I'm lucky to have it."
"Even knowing that I might have had a more privileged upbringing if things happened differently. I'd rather have this than all the baggage that comes with that. I probably wouldn't have met you either."
She snorted a bit and nodded. "Can you imagine? I tend to steer clear of Connlaoth as a rule--y'know, fire magic and all. Plus the dragon." She nodded out the window at Kit. "You certainly wouldn't have been slumming it in middle-of-nowhere bars in Serendipity."
"If we did... do you think we'd have gotten along? I mean, if I was a bit cluelessly full of myself, imagine how bad Noble Grav would be." Grav shuddered at the thought.
He cleared his throat and, in his best impression of a nobleman, said, "Unhand me, knave, or my father will have your eyes!"
Kiara made a noise that was something between a laugh and a groan and leaned over to shove his shoulder. "You do remember I kidnapped a nobleman's son, right? What makes you think you wouldn't get the same treatment?"
Granted, that had been to save that particular lordling's life. But...she couldn't help thinking, musing on...what might have been different. She had spent so long just surviving, just making sure that she and Kit stayed safe. Would she be different, if she'd never met Grav in that tavern?
Grav chuckled, smirking. "What? You don't think I could take you in this hypothetical life? I'd still be me, and with actual formal training."
"Oh, Puppy." Kiara smirked and propped her chin on her hand. "You can't take me now." Her tone was light, teasing, and there was a particular glint in her eye that was straddling the line between flirtatious and challenging.
"Well, someone's asking for a sparring match." He grinned flirtatiously. Catching the possible metaphorical meaning of the statement just as his mother returned, he turned beet red. "N-no, I mean..."
"I feel like I walked in on something," she commented with a small grin.
"You still owe me one," Kiara shot back without thinking, and then promptly went as red as he had when his mother returned. "I, ahhh, I mean, after the lich and all—"
She cut herself off quickly, eyes widening. She...hadn't meant to bring that up so casually. Or at all. Wincing, she mouthed, Sorry.
His mother nearly dropped both plates of pie. "Excuse me, the what?" she asked, eyes wide.
Grav chuckled nervously. "We--well, we--ah... sorta... fought a lich. Well, okay, in our defense, it wasn't quite there yet!"
Kit, let Kia hear this: Absolutely do not mention that we almost died!
His mother glared at him, frowning deeply as she put down the plates. "You promised me that you wouldn't do anything bloody suicidal."
Meeting Grav's eyes through the window, Kit huffed and nodded to indicate he had connected their links.
"It wasn't!" Kiara cut in hurriedly, embarrassed that she'd inadvertently brought the topic up and anxious to smooth it over. "I mean, it was, ah, rough, but we were fine! The town even had this little festival thing and made us guests of honor, it was really nice."
"Yeah." He smiled fondly at the memory. "It was great."
More seriously, he said, "Besides, if we hadn't stepped up, a lot of people would have died. We couldn't let that happen."
His mother's expression softened a little. "Was there really no one else?"
"They had sent a rider to Arca for help, but the lich's undead had broken through the previous night, and it was only going to get worse. We really didn't have a choice," he answered.
She sighed. "You... did the right thing, sweetie. I don't what else I could have expected you to do in that situation. You aren't the type to abandon people when they need you, and I wouldn't have you be. I just... I worry, you know?"
"I know, mom." he smiled softly.
"To be entirely fair...he also, sorta, thought the ascendent had me," Kiara murmured, hoping to further clear Grav in his mother's eyes. "The stupid thing was really, really good at illusions. It pretended it had grabbed me, and..."
She trailed off with a shrug, glancing at him. She smiled softly. "Like you said, ma'am. Grav doesn't abandon people when they need him."
"Well then, it seems you have earned pie after all." His mother smiled softly. She placed the plates before them. It smelled amazing.
Grav took an eager bite and leaned back with a groan of pleasure. "Oh my gods..."
Kiara made similar noises of delight, nodding emphatically around her own bite. It was very good. "Thank you," she managed to say when she remembered to slow down and swallow. "This is amazing, Mistress Caviin."
She beamed happily. "I'm glad you like it."
"And please," she chuckled, smiling, "enough with this 'Mistress' talk. Call me Imira."
Grav, meanwhile, was too busy enjoying his pie to converse.
Kiara found herself suddenly blushing a bit; with a nod and a smile, she tried cautiously, "Okay, Imira. Ahm, thanks."
Kit huffed, and Kiara suddenly laughed, standing to cross to the window and hold out her plate so the dragon could flick his tongue out to lap up what was left of the pie on her plate. He rumbled contentedly, eyes narrowing to pleased slits like a sleepy cat.
"Oh!" Imira laughed, smiling over at the dragon. "I'm so sorry. Would you like a piece too, Ser Kit?"
Grav chuckled. "Careful, Mom, or he'll gobble up the whole thing."
"He'd take two, if you'd let him," Kiara agreed with a chuckle. Kit huffed again and brought his head closer to the window so he could exhale a puff of warm air that thoroughly tousled her hair.
"Kit!" She shoved his head away, laughing, while she tried to sort her curls out with her other hand. The dragon snorted, pleased with himself, and settled back again.
"A piece would be lovely, Miss Imira, thank you," he said politely, as though nothing had happened.
"My, my, such a polite young dragon." Imira smiled, going to cut a piece for Kit, and for herself.
"Suck-up," Grav teased with a smirk.
She returned to present his plate to Kiara. "Just be careful with that dish, okay? Enjoy."
Kit grumbled in Grav's general direction, but settled into a happy crooning when Kiara held the plate Imira had given her to the window ledge and let him lap up the piece of pie.
When he'd finished, he dipped his head to Grav's mother and settled himself into a comfortable position with his legs and tail tucked in comfortably, again much like a cat. Albeit one the size of two wagons strung together.
"Thank you," Kiara said again with a smile as she laid the plate safely on the table. "We don't get food like this often--if it's not whatever Kit's hunted for dinner, it's usually tavern fare."
"Well, so long as you're here, you'll eat well." Imira smiled warmly. "It's the least I can do to repay you for bringing my boy home in one piece. Even though something tells that wasn't the only close call, not with his talent for finding trouble."
Grav shot Kiara a nervous glance.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to grill you for more details," his mother assured. "Your father, on the other hand, will want to know everything. So be prepared."
He sighed, "Yeah, I figured as much."
"Ah...should I be worried?" Kiara asked with a nervous little smile, only half joking. "I promise, only about half the trouble we get into is my fault," she added with a quiet laugh.
"Nah. Don't worry. Dad may have been disappointed that I didn't want to follow in his footsteps, but he actually ended up encouraging me to take my own path," Grav answered. "He did at my age. Younger, in fact."
"You certainly didn't learn wanderlust from me," Imira chuckled.
"Well, I'm looking forward to meeting him," Kiara said with another quick smile in Grav's direction. "Ah—maybe Kit and I should clear off for a bit when he gets in though? In my experience, people don't usually react well to an unexpected dragon on their property."
"That might be a good idea. We should be able to see his ship in port before he makes it up here," Grav admitted.
Imira nodded. "Yes. I'll give you a shout when I see him in port. That should give you time to clear out.
"Either stay in range of Kit's link, or check in every so often so I can tell you when I've explained the situation."
"Link?" His mother raised one eyebrow.
"Oh. Ah, yeah." Kiara rubbed at the back of her neck. "See, Kit and I can talk mind-to-mind. I'm not actually a beast speaker, but we forged the connection when we were both really young. But Kit and Grav can, ahh...also talk that way? I mean, I'd read about dragons forming those bonds spontaneously, but I'd never actually seen it before—the Adelan military usually requires months of conditioning from their riders."
She glanced at Grav, not sure exactly how much she should say. "That's a good idea. We'll stick close, just don't wanna shock the poor guy too badly."
Imira nodded, understanding. "A very handy ability, I'm sure."
"Oh, definitely," Grav answered before yawning. "Yep, food coma on its way."
His mother laughed. "Okay, okay, you two are probably tired after so much traveling. Besides, I have dishes to clean. Go, relax for the rest of the evening."
Carefully and more than a little awkwardly, she asked, "Since you two are... a thing... do you want to share a room or are you... ah... not there yet?"
Oh no.
Kiara made a soft choking noise rather than an actual answer, snapping her head around to look at Grav with rather wide eyes. Sure, they tended to sleep close together, but that was because campsites were usually crowded with a dragon involved. They hadn't actually had occasion to share a room since...well.
There was a vague corner of her mind that admired how accepting Imira seemed to be of the idea--she highly doubted her father would have responded the same way. But then there was the fact that Grav's mother was asking so politely if they were sleeping together and--
"I-I'll help with the dishes!" she said abruptly, scrambling to her feet and moving to gather up plates, face red.
Outside, Kit was making a sustained chuffing sound that translated as hysterical dragon laughter.
Grav's face was even redder as he palmed his face. "Oh my gods... I can't believe you just asked that..."
Imira sighed apologetically, not meeting his eyes. "Sorry kiddo... it's just, well... no, never mind. I don't want to make this any more awkward. Sorry."
Grav chuckled uncomfortably. "No. I get it. I have a reputation. I just... she's different, okay?"
His mother smiled softly; her boy was growing up. "You must really like her."
"I do." He smiled.
Ferrying plate back to the sink to be washed, Kiara couldn't help overhearing snatches of Grav and his mother's conversation. She bit her lip against a small smile, that strangely giddy, fluttering feeling swooping through her stomach for a moment.
She cleared her throat quietly in the doorway to alert them to her presence. "Ah—if it's easier, I can bunk out with Kit," she offered with a little smile. "We're pretty used to it."
"Oh, no, no, no. No guest of mine is sleeping outside, not one that can fit inside," Imira said vehemently, in a tone that suggested refusal would be a grave insult to her honor as a host.
Grav nodded in agreement. "I can always sleep on the floor if I need to."
"But—" Kiara stopped herself with a little huff and a shake of her head. "Alright, alright," she chuckled, hands raised in surrender. "But no one needs to sleep on the floor—I'm perfectly content with a couch if that's what we've got."
"If you're really intent on not sharing a room, I'll take the couch. Guests get preferential treatment around here. You'll just have to accept it." His tone was teasing, but perhaps a little hurt by her insistence on being separate.
His mother just had to make it awkward, didn't she?
"Well, I mean, I don't mind sharing a room," Kiara muttered, just a bit awkwardly. "I just wasn't sure if that was...y'know. Proper, I guess?"
"It doesn't bother me." Imira shrugged. "And that's all I'm going to say."
She slipped out to let them discuss the subject privately.
Grav smiled. "See? Not an issue. She, ah, tries not to get involved in my love life."
Kiara huffed a small laugh--sounding rather reminiscent of Kit--and muttered, "Must be nice." She was fairly sure that the only reason her father tended to leave the subject of her love life alone was because she'd never...really had one, in all honesty.
"So. Um..." She scuffed a foot against the ground. "I mean, we've shared a bed before. It doesn't have to be weird."
Grav cleared his throat in an attempt to feel less awkward. "Right. Her question just got in our heads. We're perfectly capable of sharing a bed platonically."
"Just because we kissed is no reason to overthink things," he assured himself
"Exactly," Kiara replied with a firm nod. "We're adults. We can handle this reasonably."
Just make sure somebody warns me if I need to get out of hearing range, Kit put in dryly, very pointedly making the comment audible to them both.
Kiara glared out the window. "You're an ass."
The dragon flicked his tail contentedly, unbearably smug.
Grav groaned and led her to his room. Once inside, he turned to her with a smirk. "He's really milking this for all it's worth, isn't he? He'll never let us live it down if we can't keep our hands to ourselves."
"Oh, he'll never let us live this down at all," Kiara said with a small chuckle and a shake of her head. "Gods, now we'll have to go find him some nice drake or dragoness to settle down with just to get the teasing to stop."
She looked around his room curiously, mildly fascinated. She'd been living on the road with Kit since she was fourteen--the idea of a place to go back to, a space that was solely one's own, was almost foreign to her.
Grav's room was much the same as the rest of the cozy, rustic house, though his decor was decidedly less... nautical. Instead, it was sparsely decorated with items won from friendly duels. It had a dresser, a modest bed, a small desk, and an even smaller bookshelf with only three lonely volumes of adventure stories. Above his bed, a child's wooden sword has been hung on a plaque.
"Gods... it feels so weird being in my room. Or, maybe that's because it was literally never this, um, clean," he chuckled.
"Hey, I can't judge," Kiara said with a shrug and another little chuckle. "From what I remember of my room as a kid, there were always clothes on the floor. Used to drive Mum absolutely batty."
She drew her fingertips lightly over his bookshelf, smiling to herself as she recognized one of the few titles. "It's nice," she murmured, glancing back at him with a half smile.
"I'm glad you approve." He smiled. Turning to the bed, he asked thoughtfully, "Bigger issue is: is my bed big enough for two people? Now that I see it, I'm not so sure."
Kiara tilted her head as she eyed the space. "I mean...it might be a tight fit, but it's certainly better than camping on the ground," she said after a moment with a small shrug. "We'll just have to squeeze in close."
The implications of that didn't hit her until the words had already left her mouth. She flushed a bit and glanced away, clearing her throat. "Or, y'know, I-I really don't mind taking the couch, if you'd rather..."
Grav looked away as the cause of her embarrassment struck him. Chuckling nervously, he said, "Ahem. Yeah... my mother would never forgive me if I let you do that."
"Let's just try it first, okay?" he asked uncertainly.
"Okay." She nodded, hoping she seemed less awkward than she felt, and started stripping out of her outer layers. After washing up, she'd at least been able to put on a clean change of clothes, but they were still her typical travel attire--and as such she usually slept in her thin undershirt and soft breeches.
Actually, well, not usually the breeches, but they seemed like a good idea to leave on just then.
Back to Grav, she studiously folded up her clothes. "Well. I dunno about you, but I'm wiped," she said with a little chuckle.
Grav went to his dresser and hid behind its large door as he changed into something else. "Don't laugh, okay?"
He closed the door to reveal he had put on a set of striped, blue pajamas. He looked adorable in them.
Kiara grinned and pressed a hand over her mouth. "I'm not laughing," she said quickly. "I'm absolutely not laughing."
Without really thinking about what she was doing, she crossed the space between them and stretched up onto her toes to peck his cheek. "C'mon, let's go to bed."
Grav smiled and nodded. He climbed in first, getting as close to the side against the wall as he could and still be comfortable. Holding the covers open, he said, "It'll be a little cramped, but it should be doable."
"Right. Okay then." Rather cautiously, she climbed into the bed after him. It was a fairly tight squeeze, but certainly not the worst sleeping arrangements she'd ever had.
"Well..g'night," she mumbled once she was settled in under the covers, abruptly very aware of all the ways they were pressed together but trying her damnedest not to be.
Grav very deliberately thought of anything other than the way her body pressed against his. Pulling the covers over them, he yawned. "Goodnight."
As he drifted off, he couldn't help wondering again if they would have met at all if his life had been different...
Grav, though a different Grav, hated guard duty. Why was a dusty old mummified hand so important that the family guardsmen weren't enough to protect it? Why did he, Gravaudan Vannier the third, have to sit outside a gloomy tomb with the help when he could be wooing the ladies or even just training for the upcoming tourney?
He blew his long, golden lock out of his face, muttering to himself, "This is soo boooriiing."
Kit hadn't been happy about it, but then he was never happy about taking jobs in Connlaoth. Neither was Kiara, if she was perfectly honest about it. But she couldn't take on those manticores at that Arcan estate with just her and Kit; best to leave that to the professionals.
Well, technically she was a professional. But she was also one that worked alone, and tried not to take suicidal jobs out of principle. So, massive, hyper-intelligent manticores? No, the fancy mage-guard that Ponca nobleman had called as backup could handle those, thank you. But stealing an artifact for the mage underground in Connlaoth? That she could do.
As it was something of a stealth mission, she'd left Kit hidden in a grove by a bend in the river not too far from the estate—close enough that escape was in easy reach, should she need it.
She'd managed to get close to the mausoleum without drawing attention to herself, but there was an extra guard on the place. She needed to readjusted her plan.
Great.
The young noble glanced over at the House Vannier guardsman closest to him. "Renauld, right?"
The guardsman seemed surprised to be addressed so casually by his betters. "Y-yes, Master Gravaudan."
"No need to be quite so formal," Grav scoffed. "This task is dull enough without empty honorifics."
"I suppose it is, at that," the guard answered uncertainly.
Grav wondered if Renauld thought he was being tested, so the noble dropped the subject rather than torment the man with conversion that strained the bounds of his training.
So... boring.. .
Okay. Okay, two guards she could dispatch easily enough, but three was pushing her ability to keep things stealthy. She needed a distraction of some sort.
Well. When in doubt: set it on fire.
Ignoring the voice in the back of her head telling her to be mindful of her magic use—which sounded an awful lot like Kit—she called a small ball of flame to her palm, made sure she was angled out of sight behind some painstakingly sculpted topiaries, then through the fire as far as she could away from the mausoleum, a bright, burning streak across the sky.
There. That should get their attention, at least.
Grav followed it with his eyes, getting excited by something actually happening. He was just about to investigate when...
"You protect the young master; I'll check it out," the other guardsman said to Renauld before heading away.
Grav frowned; he had been so close. That is, unless that was a distraction.
Damnit. She was going the fireball would be interesting enough to get at least two of the guards' attention. Ah, well, that still left her with two at the gate, which had been her original plan.
Moving carefully, she crept around behind the sculpted hedges to get around to the edge of the mausoleum, still keeping to the shadows.
Alright. She needed them away from the gate—preferably unconscious, but away would do. Despite how winded her previous spell had left her, she summoned another flicker of flame to her hand, then flicked it away with a whispered command.
The tongue of flame caught on the grass just in front of the closest guard's boots and started spreading.
Renauld cried out and hopped away from the fire. "What sorcery is this?!"
"Stay alert! It seems we're under attack!" Grav sprang into action and rushed over to smother the flames with his cape before they became uncontrollable.
Renauld drew his sword and took position to defend his lord's second son.
Not perfect, but it would do.
While the guards were busy trying to tamp down the fire, Kiara made a break for the mausoleum door—she didn't have to be so sneaky in her way out, she just had to be fast, so it didn't matter if they saw her leaving, just if they saw her going in.
Hopefully, they were too distracted to notice.
Grav saw the faintest reflection of movement in the shiny bracer on his right arm. He spun around, but nothing was there. Slowly, he moved towards the opening of the crypt for a better view.
Please, please be a thief.
Shit.
One of the guards was getting too close to the mausoleum door for her liking. She pressed herself back against the stone wall, not even daring to breathe as she hoped this particular guard wasn't an overly observant type.
...Hey, there was a chance.
"Whatever it is, Master Gravaudan, please allow me to investigate," Renauld said dutifully.
Grav turned to frown at his guardsman. "I'm hardly an invalid!" he hissed quietly. "I am more than capable of defending myself."
"But, sir, your father--"
"My father gave me this job. If he wanted me coddled, I'd be somewhere else," Grav argued.
Master, huh? So one of these guardsmen was some hoity-toit.
Just her luck.
Oh well, she wasn't exactly planning on sticking around to chat. The moment he turned, she hurried away into the shadows of the tomb, only risking the tiniest light of her own fire when she was sure she was far enough from the entrance that she wouldn't be spotted.
Creepy of hand, creepy old hand... Ah! There. Now she just had to get back out of here...
Grav stood at the entrance to the tomb, his face obscured by the lantern he was holding up. "I know you're in there," he said evenly, sword at the ready.
"Come out peacefully or join the dead." His tone suggested he had never killed anyone and was, hopefully, simply posturing. At the very least, he would hesitate.
"Fhhhhhhhhuck me," Kiara muttered, hesitating. Was the other guard still out there? She only heard the one voice, but she couldn't actually see what was going on.
Fuck it. She'd have to risk it. Kit, we're gonna be coming out hot.
She could practically feel him rolling his eyes through their link. When are we not?
Smartass.
Hands up, she crept slowly out into the torchlight. "I'm coming peacefully, see?" she muttered, eyes darting around to take stock of the situation.
Grav backed up slowly, sword prepared to thrust. "Nice and easy, you..."
When her face came into the light, his words failed him. She was, well, a she. Shaking himself, he said, "Thievery is hardly becoming of a lady. Hand over the... well, hand... and maybe I'll let you go unscathed."
"A lady, am I?" Kiara smirked and planted on hand on her hip--the one not holding a mummified hand--and cocked her head at him. "Well, aren't you sweet, darlin'."
Glancing at her prize, she pursed her lips and mused, "And I'm not sure this counts so much as thievery, really. Graverobing seems more apt, and I've never been overly fussed about my reputation with the dead."
Glancing around, she asked innocently, "Where's your friend? Could've sworn there was two of you strapping lads out here when I came in."
"He's close enough. And you know as well as I that you're attempting to abscond with a valuable religious relic. As a member of House Vannier, I cannot allow that." The noble's tone brooked no argument.
He smirked: "As fun as it might be, I'd rather not fight you."
"Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't." Kiara's smirk widened as she surreptitiously started to move away from the mausoleum's entrance, moving sideways to try to disguise it. "You know what they say about knights in shining armor and all." She winked. "There's a man who's never had his metal tested."
Grav sidestepped into what he thought was her path, smirking. "Ah, ah, ah, you're not going anywhere until you give back what you've taken."
His tone became far less playful. "I'm sure honor means nothing to you, but you would steal that from my family along with it. So I won't ask again before I let my steel do the talking."
Kiara's smirk hardened into something closer to a snarl. "You're right," she said easily, "honor means jack shit to me." At least, not in the sense that she assumed he meant it.
She had no idea what her employers were going to use the relic for, other than that they'd told her it could help them anchor a powerful protection charm to smuggle over a dozen mages over the border. So no, she didn't care much for honor--but she'd be damned if she let the thing go without a fight.
"I've always found steel to be a poor conversation partner," she said carelessly, before swooping down to grab a handful of stone dust off the ground and flinging it into his face, making a break in the opposite direction he'd moved at the same time.
Grav reared back and covered his eyes, but not before getting some dust in his eyes. He dropped the lantern and rubbed his eyes. "Get her!" he ordered.
Renauld ran to intercept her, pulling out a pistol to fire at her with his off hand. The bullet whizzed by her head and struck a headstone. "Halt!"
Shit!
Guns. Of course.
Kit!
On my way! How close do you need me?
Edge of the glade, Kitten, thanks.
Be careful.
Dodging between the headstones in a helter-skelter pattern, Kiara ducked her head and tossed another handful of fire over her shoulder. She didn't even bother to aim, just hoped it would be enough of a distraction to get her some distance.
The third guard from earlier stepped out from behind a statue ahead, blocking her path. With him ahead, a steep hill to the left, two closed mausoleums to the right, and the guard closing in behind her, her best option was the narrow gap between the two structures.
"Oh, fuck me sideways," Kiara hissed, and jackknifed quickly to the side so she could try to slip through the gap. With any luck, her pursuers would be too big with their armor to follow, at least not quickly.
All seemed clear on the other side. At least until the moment she exited the gap, when a certain prettyboy in half-plate slammed into her. "Aha! Now I've got you!"
Damnit!
"Do you now?" Kiara snarled, and promptly brought her knee up hard between the fork of his legs. She couldn't risk more magic—she was already flagging from the little she'd done.
So, vaguely dirty tactics it was.
His codpiece saved him from the worst of it, but it still hurt enough to buy her time to get away from his grasp. He quickly recovered enough to draw his sword and stumble after her. Luckily for him, he was still between her and the glade.
"Give up. You're not getting out of here. You were better off not revealing yourself as a magic user; I could have argued for lenience," he huffed. "Besides, you kicked me in the jewels. So, I don't like you."
"C'mon now." She leaned back into her hip, that same damn eyebrow quirked as she glanced around for any possible escape. "You didn't really think that the grass in front of you spontaneously combusted, did you? I was already outed as a mage—that, or you Connlaothians are even thicker than I thought."
Kit, how close?
I can smell you. Need me to eat the shiny one?
Let's hold off for the moment.
Spreading her hands, Kiara pouted at the nobleman theatrically. "Surely you wouldn't attack an unarmed woman," she wheedled, conveniently ignoring the dagger at the small of her back. And the one down her boot.
"If you're unarmed, then I'm the Grand Duke," he scoffed. He suddenly lunged for her, striking high with the flat of his blade.
Kiara ducked and drew the small knife from her boot in the same motion, snapping back upright under his guard and making a wide swipe toward his face.
"Yeah, alright, fair enough." Catching movement at the edge of the glade behind him, she grinned, sharp teeth glinting in the starlight. "I'm also not alone, if you were wondering."
Behind him, Kit gave a low, rumbling growl.
With a knife at his throat and something big and angry at his back, Grav dropped his sword and raised his hands in surrender. "You won't get away with this."
His eyes flicked to Renauld, leaning around the corner with a pistol aimed at--no, that can't be right, the gun was aimed at him. Then, Renauld pulled the trigger...
Grav snapped awake as the morning sun lit the room. He ran his hands over his chest in a panic before realizing it had all been a very vivid dream. With a relieved sigh, he relaxed.
Kiara saw the way his eyes flickered over her shoulder, remembered the other guard with the pistol. She started to turn, dropping her knife from the lordling's throat in favor of getting out of the way, but...
But he wasn't aiming at her.
She moved without thinking, grabbing her adversary's arm and trying to drag him to the ground with her as the pistol fired—
She woke with the sound of gunfire in her ears, heart racing with adrenaline. She actually started to bolt upright, but an arm around her middle kept her in place.
"Wha— Grav?" She swallowed, breathing a little shaky, she looked around at her bedmate. "Shit, sorry. Weird dream. Did I wake you?"
Grav chuckled sleepily. "No. I just woke up. Also because of a weird dream."
"I think our conversation about other versions of our lives got to me." He smiled playfully. "Not sure I like whatever it means that I had a dream where you kicked me in the jewels."
Kiara snorted, "Pff, yeah, that--"
She suddenly frowned. "Wait...kicked you where? That's...are you sure?"
Grav blinked, perplexed by her reaction. "Yeah. You stole something, and I was trying to catch you, so you kicked me square in the nuts. Luckily, I was wearing a codpiece. Why?"
Kiara sat up and twisted, bracing one hand on the bed beside Grav so she was leaning over over him. "The thing I stole," she said quickly, eyes suddenly intense, "was it some sort of like...weird, desiccated hand thing?"
Grav felt a cold shiver run down his spine. "... the hell? That's... not normal. Do you think the wish did it? I mean, what else could have?"
His eyes widened. "Do you think Kit...?"
"I—I don't know..."
She was frozen in shock for a moment longer, then suddenly scrambled out of bed and ran for the window.
"Kit! Kitten, wake up!"
"Mmrrrm?" The dragon blinked his eyes open and yawned widely. "Wassup? What's wrong?"
Grav peeked out next to her. "Nothing's wrong. Just, ah, did you dream of me getting shot at? 'Cause we... both did."
Kit came quite abruptly awake, craning his head up to get closer to their window. "That's...definitely weird," he muttered. "Yeah, I—I think I did. I mean, I was mostly just...dreaming of talking to Kia, and she was trying to get away from someone..."
Kiara leaned back on her heels, shaking her head. "Well...what the fuck?"
"Yeah... that would have been me. Well, a different me... I think." Grav scratched his chin. "Kia? Were you thinking of taking a job in Connloath when we met? If you were, then... maybe the fancy clothes weren't all that bled over from wherever the wish plucked my healthy body from?"
"Gods," he groaned, "it's way too early to think of this magical shit."
Kiara groaned and dropped her face into her hands. "I—yeah. Yeah, sort of. It was...sorta hush-hush, they didn't give me many details. Just told me to meet a contact in Connlaoth."
She shrugged. "I tend to avoid the place when I can, so when Kit and I heard about the manticores, we figured it was a better idea."
"I can't blame you."
Grav sighed. "I'll have to ask my parents if the name Gravaudan Vannier means anything to them. That'll be fun."
Despite herself, despite everything, Kiara found herself suddenly choking on a laugh. "Sorry," she half-gasped, "sorry, it's just—it really is a hells of a name, huh?"
She devolved into giggles, pressing one hand over her mouth to try to stem them. It was probably half a shock reaction, but she couldn't stop it.
Grav burst out laughing. "I know, right? If it just been my dream, I'd chalk it up my goofy brain. But no, that could actually be my birth name."
He smirked. "Why are noble names so ridiculous anyway? Does it make them feel special to use names that would embarrass commoners?"
His eyes widened as he watched her. "Holy shit, am I really highborn? I mean--I joked, but I never really thought..."
Managing to sober herself, Kiara blinked and shook her head—not in denial, but in bemusement. "I...I mean, if we can take those dreams as true, in some way, then...yeah. It sure seems like it, doesn't it?"
Grav sighed, looking at his room distantly. "Do you... think my parents have any idea? I mean--I don't think they ever lied to me about how I came to be with them, but I don't think they told me everything either."
He loved them too much to even think about abandoning them for a family he doesn't know. But maybe that was why they never told him the whole story.
Kiara sat carefully on the edge of the bed and gave him a soft, concerned look. "I don't know," she answered softly. Kit stretched his neck over a little further to rest his muzzle on the windowsill, tongue flicking out.
"You could ask them?" Kiara offered cautiously, head tilted. "I mean...it would make sense why they might not tell you everything when you were younger, but...I mean, you're grown, now. Whatever the gristly details are, surely you can handle them?" She shrugged. "It's your choice."
"As soon as dad's back, I will." Grav sat by her, giving her a hesitant, questioning look. "Will you stay with me when I do?"
"I..." he smiled, "I want you to know everything about me."
"I—" Kiara blinked at him. "Of course. If you want me to, I mean. That..."
She shrugged and laughed a little helplessly. "You already know the worst of my family drama, I guess. If you want me there for yours, of course I'll stay."
"Thanks. It means a lot," he smiled.
He hopped to his feet. "So! Until my dad's beck, what do you actually want to, y'know, do around here? I could show you around town, I guess. Maybe we'll even run into some of my old friends."
"Sure." Kiara's smiled and stood with him. "I'd love to see where you grew up."
Kit made a dramatic retching noise and withdrew his head from the window. "Uhg. Well, while the two of you are doing that, I'm going to see what the fishing's like for a dragon in these parts."
"After breakfast, obviously." He grinned eagerly.
After getting dressed and eating, Grav led her into town.
It was quaint for a trading port, likely due to larger ports like Cerenis taking the high-priced items. Griffonbeak was only a stop along the way for most ships. That wasn't to say it was poor; it had plenty of merchants hawking wares fresh off the boat and caravans arriving to trade.
Many locals and even a few traders recognized Grav and waved with welcoming smiles. He said hello to some of them and introduced Kiara, but they were all too busy to talk long. That is, until a stocky young man not much older than Grav jogged up to them with a grin.
"Back with a girl already, eh ladykiller?" The youth smirked.
The town really was lovely—when she wasn't roughing it in the wilds with Kit, Kiara usually found herself in larger cities. Grav's coastal town was as alien to her as the faerie realms had been to him when they first crossed the veil. She found herself awestruck every once in a while by the sight of the ocean so close. And then by the way everyone seemed to recognize Grav.
She quirked an eyebrow when someone around their age approached and started teasing Grav. "The girl has a name," she said dryly. "And ears."
Grav rolled his eyes. "Lay off, Jonn. It's not like that."
"Kiara, meet my oldest and least tactful friend, Jonn." Motioning to her, he said, "Jonn, meet the woman who may have tamed your so-called ladykiller, Kiara. And also taught him he isn't invincible by keeping his dumb ass alive."
"And she will punch you if you keep calling her girl." He smirked.
Kiara nodded to John, chuckling a bit at Grav's introduction. "Aw, I wouldn't punch him," she protested mildly. "I've got a knife on me. Much more satisfying."
She grinned at Grav's friend, flashing her fae-sharp canines. "Kidding. Nice to meet you."
Jonn grinned, chuckling. "Oh, I like her."
He bowed jauntily, his shoulder-length hair blowing in the light breeze as it hung down. "A pleasure."
"Oh, now you're polite." Grav chuckled.
"So, what brings you back home so soon? Adventuring not what it's cracked up to be?" Jonn asked curiously.
Grav grinned wide. "I rode back on a dragon, so you tell me."
His friend's eyes lit up. "Oh my gods... that was you that flew by yesterday?! That's. So. Awesome!"
"Oh, please don't say that in earshot of the dragon in question," Kiara laughed. "His head is big enough as it is." She glanced in the direction of the ocean and frowned slightly. "He said he was gonna try the fishing...I hope he's being careful. We don't spend a lot of time on the coast."
"Oh, I'm sure he's fine." Grav smirked. "We're the ones that take stupid risks, remember?"
"You? Nooo... I don't believe it," Jonn teased sarcastically.
"Excuse you, my risks are incredibly intelligent," Kiara laughed, nudging Grav with her elbow. She gave another quick look toward the ocean, then shook herself and returned her attention to the people around her.
"So. What's the first embarrassing story about Grav I need to know?"
Jonn grinned widely. "Well, when he was twelve--"
"Don't you dare," Grav warned with a glare.
His friend took a step back, but was only encouraged. "We were on the beach and, well, being boys we had just a fight over some dumb thing where he called me a wuss. So I dared him to prove he was so tough by swimming out to this scary rock juuust past where we were told not to go. Being, well, Grav, he accepted the challenge without a second thought. So, he's halfway out, yeah? Then this freak wave rolls right over him."
"Oh gods..." Grav groaned, turning red.
"It washes him clear back to shore right as this girl he likes walks onto the beach. The problem is..." Jonn paused for dramatic effect before bursting out laughing. "The sea stole his trousers!"
Kiara giggled and gave Grav another little nudge with her elbow. "Well? Whaddya do?" she smirked. "I have a hard time imagining losing your trousers is all it would take to stop you."
Glancing to Jonn, she added, "I obviously need more stories, but I don't wanna take up your whole day."
"Oh, it wouldn't have been, but then her mother showed up." Jonn smirked.
He looked down the street and sighed. "Yeah... I really should move along. Neera always gets on me for being late."
Grav blinked. "Neera? When did this happen?"
His friend grinned. "Right after you left. We just sorta... clicked. Anyway, I'm off. You two should drop by The Mermaid later; the whole gang's gonna be there."
"The whole gang?" Kiara looked at Grav with her eyebrows raised. "There's a gang?"
It made sense, of course; she'd called him Puppy for a reason. Grav was an almost upsettingly likable human, of course he would have a close group of friends in his hometown. But, like the feel of the town itself, the simple idea of that was so foreign to her that it just took her a moment to adjust to it.
"I may have been picked on for being Connloathian when I was little, but by the time I was in my teens?" Grav smiled. "Yeah, I was kiiinda popular."
"'Kinda popular' he says," Jonn laughed as he walked away.
"It's not my fault I'm likable!" Grav called after him.
"C'mon, Ser Likable," Kiara laughed, linking her arm through his. "Show me what else you would get up to around here."
Absently, she reached out in the back of her mind to brush against her link with Kit; she caught a sense of contentment and a splash of sea spray, which was enough to assure her of the dragon's safety for the moment.
"Other than the aforementioned tavern? Well..." Grav scratched his chin as he thought about the places worth showing her. "Okay. C'mon."
He took her on a whirlwind tour, visiting all "the sights" Griffonbeak had to offer.
There was the bakery he worked at to save up for his foray into the world. He explained that he didn't help bake anything; he just carried stuff. Well, he tried, but only succeeded in starting an oven fire. It almost got him fired.
Then came the docks, where as teenagers, he and his friends used to watch the ships come in and talk about what they wanted to do with their lives. Most were content with the lives of sailors, merchants, and fishermen. But not Grav; he always had his head in the clouds about becoming a hero.
The tour ended at the beach just north of town, which happened to be right below Grav's cliffside home. It was, perhaps, much sandier than she would have expected. And, though relatively narrow, there was plenty of room for people to relax and children to play without bothering each other.
"It's not very busy at this time of year; the winds pick up right before winter, so the waves can get dangerous." He looked out at the water gently lapping the shore and nodded. "Today looks good though. And we practically have it all to ourselves."
"Gods." Kiara shook her head as she looked out over the water. "It's just... It's gorgeous. I can't believe you got to grow up here," she murmured, glancing up at Grav with a small, wondering smile.
Moving cautiously closer to the edge of the water, she gripped the light rope rail strung along the dock and leaned out, breathing in the salty air.
Grav grinned from the edge of the dock, where a few stairs led down to the beach. "C'mon, let's get some sand between those toes!"
He all but hopped down to the beach itself and sat on a rock to take off his shoes. "It'll be fun, I promise!"
"Ohhhhkay," Kiara said slowly, clearly leery of the idea. "If you say so..." Cautiously, she swung herself down onto the rock beside him and slipped off her boots, stuffing her socks into them.
Standing, she wiggled her toes in the sand, then gave Grav a quick, questioningly look. "Alright. Sand is definitely between the toes. Now what?"
Grav grabbed her hands and pulled her away from the rocks. "We do this," he smirked, letting go of one hand and pulling her into a run.
He dragged her towards the waterline, grinning like a kid.
"Grav, wait—!"
Laughing, Kiara stumbled after him for a few steps before she caught her stride and managed to catch up to him.
She squealed as they reached the waterline and the surf lapped at her bare toes. "Oh my gods, that's freezing!"
"Oh, shit, that is cold!" Grav agreed vehemently, leading her out of the surf.
He chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry. It shouldn't be that cold yet." He sighed. "So much for taking a dip."
"Hey, I'm no coward," Kiara laughed, tugging at his hand lightly to keep him from retreating them entirely. "C'mon, we'll get used to it after a minute."
She cautiously shuffled her feet forward into the water again, wincing and squeaking at the chill--but it really was more the shock of it than anything else. She did slowly begin to acclimate to the temperature.
"Besides, Kit's been out in this all day." She shot him a quick grin over her shoulder. "We'll never live it down if he finds out we didn't at least try to get in."
"The lady makes a good point," Grav smirked, "the smugness is strong in him."
The adventurer hesitated no further before taking off his shirt and throwing it onto the beach. The wish had even fixed the scar left by the sword wound on his side.
He waded out ahead of her and looked back over his shoulder. "Well? You coming?"
"Ahhhhh fuck I'm gonna regret this." Grinning, Kiara stripped out of her own shirt and tossed it beside his. She didn't really think about it--her breastband provided enough modesty, really, and she didn't want to deal with drying her shirt out later. She waded out a little further and squeaked again, bouncing from foot to foot.
"Oh my gods oh my gods oh my gods." Laughing, she looked up at Grav and demanded jokingly, "Who's idea was this again?"
Grav laughed, trying not to shiver. "Hey, I gave you an out."
A slight wave washed against them, and he gasped. "Y-you can still back out."
"Holy fuck!" Half laughing and half shrieking, Kiara jumped back against him as the wave surged around them, clinging instinctively to the warmth of another body. "N-not a ch-ch-chance," she gasped. "N-no way I'm calling b-before you do."
"F-fine. Have it your w-way." Grav smirked as he pulled away.
He dove in, coming up a few more feet out, with a "Woo!"
"Shit, that's energizing! M-most de-definitely n-not a t-te-terrible idea!" His chattering teeth made his refusal to admit defeat increasingly difficult.
Ah, fucking hells.
Shivering violently, Kiara muttered something in Sylvan under her breath before taking a gulp of air and ducking underwater. She didn't last as long, coming up again quickly and sucking in a breath so sharp it made her cough.
"O-okay, okay, you w-win," she gasped, though she was still laughing. "I am n-n-not built for this."
Grav laughed as he threw up his arms in triumph. "Victory is mine!"
"But, y-yeah, f-forget this," he declared.
Once back on dry land, he rubbed his arms to get some warmth back. "Fuuuck, that was a bad idea."
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck," Kiara chattered eloquently as she scrambled out of the water. Dancing from foot to foot in an effort to get her blood moving and warm herself up, she cast a longing look at their shirts. Then she glanced at Grav, huddled and shivering just as she was, and she found herself suddenly giggling and unable to stop.
"That was s-so stupid," she laughed, moving forward to start rubbing his arms--both to help warm him up, and to leech some body heat herself from the closeness. "I can't believe we just did that."
Grav laughed along with her, happy despite the chill. Any excuse to be close was good as far as he was concerned. He found himself slowly leaning closer.
"G-guess we really are made for each other, huh?" He gave a crooked grin as he pressed his forehead to her, eyes twinkling with affection. It wasn't hard to guess what he wanted.
"Made for each other, hm?" She smiled and looped her arms around his neck, drawing him just that little bit closer. She tipped her head up for a kiss that started soft and almost cautious, then slowly grew more intense.
She was panting lightly when she broke away, still grinning. "Well, if I can't warm us up with magic...guess this is a pretty good substitute."
"Well..." He smirked, giving her a quick second kiss. "There's this nice, secluded spot further up the beach, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking."
He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, grinning.
"I..."
Kiara's cheeks colored a bit--well, at least she was warm enough to blush now. "That sounds...nice," she admitted quietly. "I just, ahm..."
She puffed out a breath and glanced away, though she kept her arms around him. "What Jonn said earlier--I know he was kidding, but that whole ladykiller thing. I think, er, you've just...got more experience at this sort of thing than I do," she mumbled a little awkwardly, feeling like she was confessing something embarrassing, somehow.
"Oh..." Grav sighed; he hadn't pegged her for being shy about physical intimacy, but he figured it made sense if she was usually a loner aside from Kit being always around.
"If you're not ready, we can keep taking things slow." He had, literally, never said that before. Gods, he must really like her. Not too long ago he had never pursued a long term relationship of any kind other than friendship.
Cheeks still pink, Kiara smiled at him and leaned up for another kiss. "Thanks," she murmured. "It's not like I...don't want to. I just..."
She huffed and glanced away. "I've only ever actually, y'know...been with one other person."
"Must have been quite the guy to get past your protector," Grav teased.
"Or girl, I guess. No judgment if it was," he amended.
"Girl," Kiara confirmed with a little chuckle. "She was...well. She was something." Her expression fell slightly, just for a moment. Then she gave herself a little shake and smiled at him again. "Alright, I 'fessed up. I think you owe me a body count, Caviin."
"Oh, okay..." He paused to count. So, clearly, more than one.
He grew a little sheepish, as if worried about what she'd think. "Yeah, um... nine..." He coughed nervously.
Kiara's eyes widened slightly--not in judgement, just surprise. "Wow. Okay. Yeah, you definitely have more experience in this area than me," she chuckled, rubbing at the back of her neck.
Sensing some of his nervousness, she let her hands slide down his arms so she could lace their fingers together. "Well. I guess that just means in this one particular instance, I'll be the one following your lead," she joked quietly with a little half-smile.
Grav laughed, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, I see how it is." He smirked. "We're ignoring the dancing and the resistance to cold thing... well, okay, willingness to suffer for bragging rights is what that was."
"I'm sure we'll find other things I'm better at." He grinned with unearned smugness. At least Kit was smug for a reason.
"I'm looking forward to it," Kiara chuckled, squeezing his hands gently. Smiling turning teasing, she added, "Means we'll be stuck together for quite a while."
A breeze swept in off the water and she shivered, ducking in closer to him to leech some heat. "Fuck, I'm still cold. I never get this cold."
Grav shivered. "Yeah. We should head back anyway. It'll be getting late by the time we hike back up there."
He moved to pick up his shirt. Throwing her a smirk, he said, "Unless you think Kit would let us be lazy and hitch a ride. Because, fuck, his body heat would feel amazing right now."
She laughed and nodded as she bent to gather her own shirt. "I'll ask."
Her face took on that not-quite-there expression she got when she was focusing on her connection to her dragon, though she moved easily through the motions of getting dressed. Then she blinked and shook her head before giving Grav a quick nod and a smile.
"He's on his way, but he's definitely never letting us forget this."
"Yeah, yeah, add to the list," he scoffed, laughing as he slipped into his shirt.
He went to the base of the stairs to the dock to retrieve their shoes and came back. "Eventually, he'll do something dumb, and we'll see how he likes it.
"Good luck," Kiara chuckled. "I've been waiting for seventeen years."
Kit had been enjoying the buoying winds out over open water, so it didn't take him long to circle back and find them on the beach. He touched down with a sweep of his wings that sent sand scattering in all directions, and Kiara threw up an arm to protect her face.
"Must you?"
"If you'd rather walk back, I can leave," the dragon replied innocently as he settled himself down so they could mount.
Grav lowered the arm covering his eyes and sputtered. "Gods," he complained, "I'm going to find sand in crevices I didn't know I had. Thanks a lot, big guy."
He climbed up onto the dragon and enjoyed the warmth of his furnace of a body for a long, silent moment. "You're waaarm... All is forgiven if you just let us hug you for five minutes."
Kit grumbled and rolled his eyes, but acquiesced, "Fiiiine."
Kiara grinned as she climbed up and took her usual spot at the dip where his neck joined his shoulders, sprawling out over his neck and wrapping her arms as far around him as they would go. "Thanks, Kitten."
"Yes, yes." The dragon rose to his feet, craning his neck back in a habitual move to nudge them both lightly with his muzzle. "Learn Imira's pie recipe and we'll call it even."
"Deal." Chuckling, she reached back with one hand to find Grav's arm and pull it forward around her waist, taking advantage of his body heat as well as the dragon's.
"Oh, so you get all the heat. I see how it is," he teased with a smirk as he leaned over her to wrap her in his arms.
"And, yes, learn that pie recipe. Because, as we've established, I can't bake without causing property damage," he chuckled.
Kiara hummed contentedly and snuggled back into him a little more as he leaned forward. "Noted," she chuckled. "Not sure how easily it'll be to bake a pie out on the road, but I can give it a shot."
Kit snorted and banked gracefully to start bringing them in toward Grav's home.
By the time they had changed out of their wet and sandy clothes, washed off the sand, snuggled in front of the fireplace to warm up, and had dinner, it had gotten quite late.
Grav yawned tiredly. "Do you think we'll have another shared dream tonight?"
Sipping at the warm drink Imira had given her, Kiara made a considering noise in the back of her throat. "Maybe?" she glanced at him. "They were...incredibly vivid. Didn't feel like a normal dream, so...yeah, I don't think they're done with us just yet."
"Yeah, it was... more like a memory, I guess?" Grav's was uncertain, but that felt at least close to what was happening. "But I wonder if that's all, you know? Like, is some force trying to show us something, or is it just an unintended side effect of your wish?"
Kiara shook her head, brow fortowed in thought. "I don't know," she murmured. "When I spoke with the Tear, it seemed...it didn't seem malevolent, but it was also something so distinctly other. I get the feeling it might have...done something else, but we would have no way of knowing?"
Grav nodded slowly. "Yeah... probably not. Anything that can grant wishes is practically a god, and there's no knowing the mind of something like that."
He scratched his chin. "Somehow I doubt what we have is special enough for the point to be that we would have met no matter what. But maybe there's a reason for us to be together beyond just making each other happy."
"Maybe..." Kiara bit her lip, staring into the fire as she thought. Almost in a daze, she started to reach out to the flames, letting them lick over her fingertips. It wasn't her fire, her magic, but the warmth was comforting all the same. It was only a trickle of power to keep herself from burning, she'd been doing it since she was a child, it was second nature--
"Ah!" Pain lanced up her arm and she snatched her hand back, fingers bright red and throbbing. She stared at them in almost comical bemusement. "That...hurt..."
"Well you did just stick your hand in an open fire," Grav pointed out, not putting together that she was used to being fireproof. "What'd you think was going to happen?"
He blew on her fingers gently. "It's almost like you've never been burned before."
She stared at him, letting him take her hand and blow on her fingers almost absently; she was still sort of trying to process what had just happened.
"I...I haven't," she mumbled after a moment, staring vaguely at her hand. "I didn't realize it was...sharp."
"I take it your magic usually protects you. I don't like what it says that it failed you altogether," Grav chided worriedly. "I don't know why I thought you could just stop using it altogether. I couldn't, and you're at least as stubborn as I am."
"I...I somehow never even thought about how that was part of my magic," Kiara muttered, still staring at her hand. "I'll just...have to be more careful, I guess." She shook her head briskly and started to pull her hand back with a sheepish smile. "I'll just put some ice on it or something, it'll be fine," she said dismissively, starting to get to her feet. "C'mon, it's getting late. We should get to bed."
Classic Kiara: evade, evade, evade.
"Okay, but we're talking about this magic thing eventually." Grav frowned as he followed her to his feet. Going to bed sounded good.
The dream picked up right where it left off, with Kiara shoving Grav to the ground just before Renauld's bullet whizzed by overhead.
The young noble was surprised and confused. So much, in fact, that he was too stunned to react. He just laid there, wondering who would want to kill him. As far as he knew, he had never given anyone a reason to.
"Eventually," Kiara agreed, sounding not all that committed to the idea. She was quiet as they crawled into bed, and fell into sleep quickly.
"What the fuck?!" Scrambling to her feet, both trying to get some distance from the noble she'd just saved--she wasn't sure herself why--and to look around for the shooter, she demanded waspishly, "Either you're a traitor to your house, fucko, or you can't aim for shit!"
You okay? Kit was closer now, a massive shadow at the edge of the trees. He didn't want to move and draw more attention to them, but she knew it was taking all his willpower not to spring out and sweep her up.
Fine, for now. She started to back away slowly, eyes flicking around warily.
Both Renauld and the other guardsman stepped out, swords drawn. "Traitors? Oh, no, no. As far as anyone will know, Master Gravaudan aided a mage in stealing the holy relic, dying as he tried to escape." Renauld smirked.
"But... why?" Grav asked numbly as he rose to his feet.
"Your brother believes you to be a threat, it's that simple," the guard replied coldly.
Grav brought his sword up. "You were fools to come after me with just the two of you."
At that exact moment, Kit heard footsteps approaching from all sides.
Kia, we're surrounded!
"Shit." Kiara froze in place. She narrowed her eyes at the traitor guards. "How many do you have?" she asked bluntly, lip slightly curled in the beginnings of a snarl.
"Enough for a soft fool, a piece of mage trash, and her pet lizard." Renauld sneered as a good dozen figures appeared from the shadows.
Grav frowned. "Have enough room on that dragon for two?" he whispered.
Kiara shot him a look that was first startled, then annoyed. "You have got to be shitting me."
A quick glance around confirmed that at least half of the men bore firearms.
Okay. Not shitting her.
"Fuck me," she growled. To the toff, she muttered, "One three, run for Ki--the dragon. One."
She took a breath, informing Kit of her plan--or her slapdash excuse for one. The dragon crouched lower behind them, growling quietly at the few guards eyeing him raised their weapons threateningly.
"Two."
She brought her hands up in a gesture of surrender, smiling at Renauld. Then she shouted, "Three!" and brought her hands down with a burst of magic that roared as a wall of fire away from them, rushing over the guards. "Go, go, go!"
Gravaudan sheathed his sword and ran for the dragon. He awkwardly scrambled onto Kit's back and held on. He'd have a lot of smooth talking to do to ensure that his impromptu rescuer didn't decide that he was more trouble than he was worth.
Kiara was only a beat behind him, and her trick with the fire wall bought them the precious few seconds they needed to get airborne before the guards started firing. Kit rose in a spiral, trying to keep his flight pattern erratic--but he was still climbing when a shot rang out and he suddenly roared in pain.
"Kit!"
I'm okay. She could hear the pain in his mental voice, but he stroked his wings harder, bringing them out of range of the guns. Bullet tore through my wing membrane. Think it was a clean hit, just hurts like a bitch.
"We need to land--"
No, we need more distance. I'm fine, Kia.
Teeth bared in a snarl, Kiara suddenly rounded on their unexpected passenger, frustration and fear now all directed on him. "What the hells happened back there?!"
Grav held his palms out placatingly. "I don't know! I've never done anything to threaten my brother's inheritance... as little as he deserves it."
He dropped his hands and looked down. "I'm starting to think I really should have tried to move against him."
"Uuuuhhhhhhg." Kiara rolled her eyes and slumped forward over Kit's neck, stroking along his scales soothingly. She wished she could do more, but there was no way she could safely examine his wings until they landed. "Fucking perfect. Stupid Connlaothian politics. Just my luck."
Even as she whined, one hand moved to the pouch at her hip, hopefully subtly enough that the young lord wouldn't notice. She felt the shape of the relic and her shoulders relaxed slightly. Thank gods. She could at least still deliver the thing and collect her pay--the whole evening wasn't a complete wash.
"I never thought I'd be glad to fail to protect the Hand of Saint Leoric. But if you hadn't been there, I'd be dead." It seemed like he wanted to thank her, but his pride wouldn't allow it. She was a peasant, a mage, and a thief. He could sympathize with all but the latter.
"Hm? What's that?" Kiara blinked wide eyes at him innocently. "That almost sounded like you admitting you're indebted to my good self, oh your most noble lordship ser."
Kit snorted; even through the pain of a bullet hole in his wing, he could always enjoy some good old fashioned snark.
"Perhaps if you didn't also steal what the Church has trusted my family to protect for generations. Consider us even, at best, thief." The lordling's voice dripped with disdain for her actions, even if they put her in a position to save his life.
"Your entire thrice-cursed Church can eat my ass," Kiara responded bluntly. "We'll be even when innocent people aren't thrown into work camps just for being born with magic."
The vehemence in her voice surprised even her, a bit. She'd always avoided Connlaoth, but mostly out of self-preservation, not some sense of denied justice. Of course she felt bad for mages stuck in the place, but...
Well. Apparently she was angrier about the whole situation than she'd realized.
Giving her head a quick shake, she scanned the darkness below them, eyes narrowed. "Kit?"
I'm following the river; we should be near that branching stream soon, I'll set down there.
"Good." She patted his neck. "Fly careful, yeah?"
The dragon huffed, breathing heavier with every passing moment. She couldn't imagine how much the wind through the bullet hole in his wing must hurt.
"I have done nothing of the sort!" Gravaudan snapped with similar vehemence. "You know nothing about me."
It wasn't his fault that he hadn't been born into a position to change anything. The best he could do was the bare minimum to punish mages caught using magic that harmed no one.
"Besides, only those caught using magic or evade the Church are sent there. I would change it if I could, but the law is the law," he said naively.
"Yeah, and when the law sucks, you break it," Kiara responded, as though this was the most obvious solution in the world. Though of course it was easy for her to say--she was never in one place long enough for it to really matter.
Glancing back at him over her shoulder, she added in a steely tone, "And you don't know jack shit about me either--other than the fact that I've just saved your ass twice, and my brother got hurt in the process. So if I were you, I would consider minding my tone. Milord."
It was difficult to sarcastically genuflect on dragonback, but she managed it.
He gritted his teeth, choking back something ugly. Then, befuddlement replaced anger, and he raised a brow. "Wait... brother? Is he cursed? Granted, I fail to see how being a dragon is a curse."
He scratched his clean-shaven chin in thought. "Or were you a dragon once? That would explain the temper..." he rambled.
"Temper?!" Kiara squawked indignantly, before realizing that she might in fact be proving his point. Scowling, she grumbled, "Nobody's cursed, and that's all you need to know about it."
Kit snorted, starting to lower their altitude; they were approaching the place where a stream branched off from the river. Kiara let out a quiet breath of relief. She was anxious to get a proper look at his wing.
"I'm..." Grav hesitated but decided to keep in check the sense of superiority that had been drilled into him since birth. "... sorry you got wounded on my behalf, Ser Kit."
He wasn't quite ready to thank the impudent, irritable thief. His pride wasn't so easily swallowed as that. Apologizing to the dragon who had done nothing but offer transportation seemed easier.
The dragon snorted, which was honestly more of a reply than Kiara really expected.
They touched down a few moments later, and Kiara practically vaulted off her partner's back and ran around to his side as he was already lowering his wing for her to examine.
"Get off him," she snapped in the noble's general direction. "And be careful about it."
The noble climbed down carefully, but more to keep his balance than to do what he was told. As soon as he stood on his own, he wobbled and almost fell. Luckily, practice dismounting his horse had lessened the disorientation just enough to keep him from embarrassing himself.
"How bad is it?" he inquired, genuinely concerned.
"Why? Interested in learning a dragon's weaknesses?" Kiara asked petulantly.
Kit rumbled and twisted his head around to nudge her shoulder. I'm okay, Kia, really.
She reached up to stroke along his jaw, frowning.
"You." She looked to the noble, mouth a hard line. "Make yourself useful—there's needle and thread in my pack." She gestured to the bags slung across Kit's shoulders. Reaching into the smaller pouch at her hip, she pulled out a small jar of a greenish paste and began dabbing the disinfectant around the bullet hole.
Grav bit his tongue so as not to make his position more tenuous than it already was. He retrieved the requested items and walked around to hand them over. "Will there be anything else, my lady?" he asked sarcastically.
Taking the needle and thread, she rolled her eyes at his snark—justified though it may have been—and started threading the bone needle so she could sew up Kit's wound.
"Unlike some people, I don't enjoy getting sucked off by my underlings at every opportunity, so you can drop the my lady thing," she told him sourly.
"I thought we agreed not to make unfounded assumptions about each other," he replied evenly. "And, for the record, I have never taken advantage of my servants in such a degenerate way."
"The very suggestion is an affront to my honor." Despite his formal speech, he seemed genuinely hurt by the suggestion.
Kiara snorted. "I did mean that metaphorically, but good to know."
She glanced at him, hearing the hurt in his tone, and sighed. Softening her tone just slightly, she asked, "...So. If you're such a benevolent lordling, why exactly did someone try to assassinate you?"
"Did the assassins themselves not answer that question? My brother sees me as a threat. The only thing I did to make him believe that was have the people actually like me, which people like him can only see as a scheme." Grav sulked, muttering, "Gods forbid anyone be kind for its own sake."
"And now I've lost everything." His tone was sad and defeated, as if he might as well have died. After all, what is an honorable man without his honor? "Allowing you to rescue me only supports his claim that I betrayed my house to help you. My guilt is already decided."
Kiara hummed quietly, looking over the edge of Kit's wing at him. "So what? We're not all that far from your estate—hike on back and tell them I dumped you off somewhere near the river and you followed it home. I could even push you in, if that would help sell it."
Kit snorted and she shot him a quick grin.
"Tell your family what happened—or don't you think they'd believe you?" she pressed, one eyebrow quirked.
He frowned. "Knowing my brother, he has doubtless sabotaged my credibility in other ways. I don't know if the local populace would speak against him or if it would matter if they did."
"He has more powerful allies than I, and it wouldn't be difficult for him to use this to have me branded a heretic," he explained. "I'm already on thin ice for being soft on magic users. But I had broken no laws, so they could do nothing."
"Well. Sounds like your fucked sideways."
Finishing up with her stitching, she leaned around Kit and smirked at him. "Sucks to be you! Anyway, nice meeting you and all—well, not really, but you know what I mean." She flicked two fingers at him. "Buh-bye now!"
Kit rumbled and gave her a stern look. She frowned. "What?"
He has nowhere to go.
Her frown deepened. "He's a toff. A Connlaothian toff."
He could have brought us down, used that to clear his name. I was injured. It wouldn't have been too hard.
"No." She folded her arms. "No, Kit. He's not a lost puppy, and we're not keeping him."
"At least let me travel with you until you leave Vythe. You won't get far on foot without Ser Kit drawing attention. It might not be illegal for beings of magic to enter Connloath, but I wouldn't call them welcome either, not in today's climate."
He started to remove everything that had a house crest on it: his shield, his breastplate, his cape, and his house ring. He flipped his cape around to show the other side and wrapped the other items in it. Then, he took out a knife and brought it hesitantly to his pretty hair.
Kit continued to stare at her as the noble started stripping off his armor, until Kiara swore, sighed, and snapped, "Fine. Out of Vythe. But that's it."
She glanced up, saw what he was doing, and rolled her eyes. "Oh, for—gimme that."
She held out a hand for the knife, pointing to a relatively flat rock by the stream with her other hand. "Sit. You're only going to hurt yourself if you try to get that done on your own."
Grav visibly hesitated for a long moment. Eventually, he decided he had no reason not to trust her at this point. "Fine."
Handing her his knife, he walked over to the rock and sat down. "I... ahem... Thank you for not leaving me to die. You had every reason not to risk helping me," he said begrudgingly.
"Mmmm." Kiara took the knife and set to work. Despite the sharpness of her tone—and general demeanor toward him—her hands were surprisingly gently as she combed his hair back one lock at a time and sheared it short with the ease of someone who was well-used to wielding knives. "You're right. I did."
She was quiet a moment longer, then added, "I know you don't exactly have a high opinion of me, your lordship, but I'm not a killer. Not for hire, and not by proxy."
Grav nodded; he believed her. "Likewise, I'm not a mage-hating zealot."
"And please," he sighed heavily, "My name is Gravaudan. I might as well get used to being just that."
She smirked a bit and tapped him lightly on the head with the hilt of the blade. "Alright then, Danny boy. You're set."
She held the knife out to him, taking her turn in an odd game of trust and nerve; they each had to accept that the other wasn't going to stab them in the back.
After a pause, she added, "Name's Kiara. And you already met Kittsareyn."
Grav nodded and tucked away the knife. "Well then, may our brief acquaintance be as amicable as possible, Kiara," he smiled thinly.
His face took on the look of confused dog. "Wait... Danny boy?"
She laughed; she couldn't help it. "Well, yeah. You can't honestly expect me to use that whole mouthful every time I need your attention." She crinkled her nose up. "Gravaudan. I'll take the last syllable, thanks."
Kit chuffed and stuck his head forward to nose her shoulder, and she reached back to pat his cheek, though her eyes were still on their--temporary--companion. "Alright, pup, grab some sleep while you can. We can only spare a few hours."
Dan frowned at being called 'pup,' but didn't comment on it. "Are you sure that we are far enough away to sleep safely? What if they find us?"
And did she expect him to sleep on the ground and in the open like a dog, too? That was one indignity too far. The nerve of this woman.
"What, you've never slept on guard before?" Kiara quirked an eyebrow at him, already making a place for herself in the curve of Kit's body as the dragon curled himself up. They couldn't risk the attention a fire would draw, so she was using the dragon's body heat for warmth. She didn't even bother with a sleeping roll--they wouldn't be here long enough.
"I'll take first shift, you can take second," she added with a shrug as she got herself snuggled against Kit's side. He rumbled at her and she shook her head. "You got shot today--that excuses you from watch duty."
"It was my first day..." he muttered, walking back to the others.
He scratched his chin thoughtfully as he looked for a place to lie down. "May I at least put my items in your packs so I can roll up my cape as a pillow?"
Kiara rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Fine, fine. But if you mess with anything in there, I will know, and I will burn you."
Kit snorted, and she amended, "I'll get Kit to burn you."
Dan gulped and nodded. "Your warning has been noted."
He stored his items away without touching anything else and stepped back from Kit quickly. "See. Everything is okay. No need to burn me."
He laid down in a patch of soft grass. Rolling up his cape, he stuffed it under his head and made himself as comfortable as possible. "Good night."
"Yeah. Night." Kiara watched him warily for a few moments until he was asleep, when she finally relaxed fractionally.
Kit rumbled low in his chest and she leaned back against his flank with a sigh.
"What have we got ourselves into?"
Kiara came awake much more gently than she had the day before, as though she really was waking from a simple dream. She blinked, stretched, and yawned before glancing around to check on Grav.
Grav had, once again, put an arm around her in his sleep. He woke with a groan, eyes half-open. "Nnn... morning," he yawned, kissing her neck.
She smiled and curved back into him, letting her eyes slide closed for a moment. "Morning," she murmured, twisting slightly to glance back at him. Lips quirking into a half smirk, she asked teasingly, "Sweet dreams?"
"I seem to remember a very cranky young woman cutting me zero slack." Grav smirked playfully. "At least Kit was nice to me"
He sat up and stretched with a grunt. "... nice-ish anyway."
"And Dan? Really? Gods, I'm glad I'm not that poor bastard." He chuckled.
"Awww, you didn't like "Danny boy"?" She grinned and followed him upright, wrapping her arms around his middle and kissing his shoulder gently. Trailing kisses up the side of his neck to his jaw, she crinkled her nose and added, "Honestly, maybe one of the weirdest parts of that was seeing you with a clean shave."
"I know, right?" He grinned, feeling his beard to make sure it was still there.
After giving her a quick peck on the lips, he grinned again. "And that hair. It was glorious... if a liability in a fight."
"But the weirdest part? With everything else so different, you still call me puppy."
She laughed. "Oh my gods, you're right. I did." She pecked his cheek before pulling away to get out of bed. "Maybe some things are just a constant?" she chuckled as she stretched her arms up over her hair. With her hair in a loose braid from the night before and having slept in her undershirt again, her tattoo was once more visible where it usually wasn't.
Calling out the window, she asked, "Kit? You up yet?"
A sleepy grumble was her only response.
"I like the way this you says it better." Grav smiled as he followed her out of bed.
He hugged her from behind as she called to Kit, and he kissed her collarbone. "I think he is now." He smirked.
Kiara felt a small shiver run down her spine as he kissed her collar. The casual affection was...new. Interesting. She liked it. "Do you now?" she murmured, turning in his arms to loop hers around his neck and bring her forehead to his, smiling crookedly. "I'll keep that in mind, Puppy."
Kit made a dramatic choking sound. "At least the other two versions of you aren't this sickening," he grumbled.
"Just for that..." Grav smirked and kissed Kiara on the lips. In case you aren't looking, I'm making out with your sister.
He pulled back with a grin on his face. "Dan doesn't know what he's missing."
You're an ass. Kit snorted and surged to his feet, a brief glimmer of jet scales outside the window before he took off.
Kiara chuckled as they broke apart, one eyebrow quirked. "Something tells me Dan is far too proper to slum it with his grave robber friend," she murmured.
Glancing to the window, she arched her eyebrow a little higher and asked, "That have anything to do with you?" It was weird to know he and Kit could have conversations that she couldn't hear; although she supposed most people felt that way about her and Kit.
"I... may have gone too far in teasing him about me kissing you." Grav chuckled guiltily as he watched Kit fly off. "I'll have to apologize when he cools down."
He sighed, scratching his chin. "I think maybe he's having a harder time adjusting to the new dynamic than he lets on."
"Mmmm." Kiara frowned after him. "Maybe I should talk to him—how bad was the insult when he left? Were you a jackass, or a fires-cursed moron?"
"Oh, just a jackass," he answered with a relieved chuckle.
His expression sobered into something inquisitive but hopeful. "That's the better one... right? It sounds better."
"Oh, yeah, you're fine," Kiara laughed with a nod. "He's probably just being pissy. It...is an adjustment."
She glanced out with window agin thoughtfully. "For all of us."
Giving herself a little shake, she smiled at him and nodded to the door. "C'mon, I'm starving. He'll be back for breakfast, I'm sure."
"Oh gods, I could definitely eat right now." Grav grinned.
After breakfast, the duo trekked back into town. When they passed the tavern, he cursed. "Oh, shit! The meetup at the Mermaid! We completely forgot!"
"Ugh..." He groaned, annoyed with himself. "I hope everyone's still in town."
"Oh shit." Kiara winced. "How mad are your friends going to be at me?" she asked sheepishly, looking abruptly and deeply out of place.
"Nah. If they're mad at anyone, it'll be me." Grav sighed guiltily. "It wouldn't exactly be the first time I've flaked on them for a girl."
"Though usually for, uh... different reasons," he admitted with a nervous chuckle.
"Mmhm." Kiara smirked, raising her eyebrows at him. Well...maybe he deserved a little payback teasing. For Kit's sake. "And just what exactly would those reasons be?" she asked innocently, batting her eyes at him with a wicked glint to the dark green.
Grav's eyes widened a little as he realized he had trapped himself. After dismissing his first answer for sounding too much like he was engaging in conquest, he stammered, "I--uhh... y'know, date... stuff."
"Ahhhhh, date stuff." Kiara let him squirm a moment longer, then chuckled and took his arm. "I'm teasing," she told him with a quick peck to his cheek. Then she smirked. "I sort of assumed you were a dog--why do you think I call you Puppy?"
"Because I'm fluffy and adorable?" He smirked, giving her great, big puppy dog eyes.
The door to the tavern opened, and a young woman stepped out. It took her a second to notice them, but when she did, she put her hands on her hips. "So this is the one you bailed on us to be with?"
Grav turned towards her, chuckling sheepishly. "Hey, Neeta. Sorry..." He scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. "I lost track of time showing Kiara around town."
"Mmhmm." She pursed her lips in doubt. "Is that what we're calling it now?"
Kiara gave Neeta a sheepish smile of her own. "Ah--not sure how much my word counts for here, but he really was," she offered with a little chuckle. Without really thinking about what she was doing, she reached over and took his hand, squeezing his fingers gently in a silent, automatic gesture of support.
"Wait... really?" the copper-skinned woman asked, surprised.
"Did Grav Caviin actually grow up?" she chuckled.
Grav smirked. "Well, I wouldn't go that far. Would you, Kiara?"
"Oh, not a chance." Arching an eyebrow, she added with a little smirk, "Considering he thought it was a good idea to taunt a dragon this morning."
Looking back to Neeta, her smirk turned to more of a polite smile. "I guess I should properly introduce myself--I'm Kiara. It's nice to meet you."
"Please, Kit's my buddy. He'd never actually hurt me," Grav smirked.
Neeta gave her a warm, welcoming smile. "Neeta Arnari, pleased to meet you too."
"Why don't you both come in? Not all of Grav's friends are here, but most of us are." She turned to Grav. "Shan had to head back out already. He won't be back for at least a week."
Grav sighed. "It would have been good to see him. Sorry I'm so easily distracted."
"Don't beat yourself up too much. He was in a shit mood and, honestly, he's still mad at you for leaving town. I guess he thought you were all talk all these years. "
Kiara looked between the two of them, biting her lower lip for a moment. "Do you, um..."
She cleared her throat and rubbed at the back of her neck, then offered quietly, "Do you...want a minute? I mean, you haven't seen your friends in a while, it might--it might be nice to catch up without, y'know...worrying about me being there?"
"What would you do instead?" Grav asked curiously, not immediately dismissing the idea. He didn't want to make her feel like an extra wheel the whole time.
She shrugged. "I can find Kit—we're supposed to be keeping our distance in case your father gets in anyway, right? Don't want to surprise him with a dragon in the back garden."
"Don't be too scarce, okay?" Grav asked. "I definitely want them to meet you, especially Fen; she's a fire mage too, sort of. Not so much conjuring as making things go ka-boom."
"We're in no rush, right?" She smiled and leaned up to peck his cheek. "We'll stay in range—you can call Kit back if you need us."
Grav nodded. "Okay."
While taking Kit out of town, Kiara and the dragon spotted a ship entering port. It was a merchant frigate with a gryphon figurehead, just as Grav described his father's ship. They had gotten away from the house just in time.
"Hey." Kiara peered at the ship. "Is that it, you think?"
Kit huffed, banking away from the water. Maybe. I'll let Grav know.
The dragon connected to his link with Grav, telling him they'd spotted a ship and giving the description. Sound like your father?
It does! Thanks for telling me.
After a moment, he said, It should be a few hours before he heads home. So you still have time to meet my friends before we head back. Besides, we don't exactly have to be back by then; he won't be going anywhere else.
On our way. A pause, then: Your friends do know they're about to me let a dragon, right? I'm not about to give anyone a heart attack?
He joined the links he shared with both Grav and Kiara for the last, earning a small chuckle from his rider as he turned in a wide, lazy circle to head back to town.
Wait! We don't want to scare the whole town. Maybe meet us outside town? There's this clearing in the small forest next to the road west with this big rock that looks like a boat, where we used to play pirates. That should be perfect. We'll be right there. Okay?
Kit snorted, and Kiara replied through the joined links, We're heading there now. See you soon.
Feeling her shift and tense of his back as he disentangled the links, Kit asked with some amusement, "Are you nervous?"
"No." She frowned when he rumbled a laugh. "Shut up."
Soon, Grav came into the clearing with four people: Jonn, Neeta, a redheaded girl of maybe eighteen who had to be Fen, and a young man about her age who she didn't have a name for.
"Oh my gods, I love him already!" Fen squealed, staring at Kit with an extreme level of admiration.
"Down girl," Jonn laughed, "but yes, he's quite remarkable."
Oh no.
You'll be fine, Kiara assured him as she slid down from his back and leaned against his side. The dragon was good at hiding his discomfort, but she knew he didn't love meeting new people—especially people who might find him, gods forbid, interesting.
"Hey." She gave a little wave and a nod to the group. "I know two of you, but I don't think I've been properly introduced to the rest." She nodded politely. "I'm Kiara, nice to meet you."
"Hey." The unnamed guy said with a friendly smile on his square jaw. "I'm Pax, and the small, barely contained explosion of glee here next to me is--"
"I can introduce myself brother," Fen interrupted, "And I'm not small, you're just built like a Yoreiqi."
He jogged up the Kiara and stuck out a hand. "The name's Fen! Nice to meetcha!"
Kiara chuckled a bit and took the offered hand. "A pleasure." Patting her dragon's flank, she added to the group at large, "And this is Kittsareyn—but mostly he just goes by Kit."
Kit dipped his head politely with a low, chuffing sound deep in his chest.
"Hiya Kit!" Fen grinned.
"Hail, Ser Kit," Pax smiled.
Jonn rolled his eyes. "A pleasure to meet you, big guy."
"Any one who can tolerate Grav's relentless foolishness is a friend of mine," Neeta teased.
"Hey!" Grav protested, "True, but you're not supposed to say it!"
Kit gave another chuffing sort of sound that was more clearly a laugh and eyed Grav pointedly. You're lucky I don't tell them just how well I know your idiocy, he pointed out dryly.
Kiara laughed and without thinking reached forward to punch Grav's shoulder lightly. "Oh c'mon, you couldn't have introduced me to your friends without expecting this sorta thing."
That's foolishness, thank you very much. It's totally different, Grav protested.
"Well, yeah, I expected teasing. Just not from Feena." He looked over to the young woman in question and smirked. "I guess Jonn's rubbing off on you."
That seemed to set his friends to some light-hearted bickering and teasing about just who exactly was rubbing off on who. Kiara watched the easily familiarity between them all with a small smile, though she didn't move far from Kit's side. She liked to think she was a friendly enough person, but this was...different.
She'd never been in this sort of position before. It felt oddly adjacent to meeting Imira; these people were important to Grav, and she found herself suddenly anxious of what they might think of her.
Grav glanced at her and smiled. "You'll be fine. They're going to love you," he said quietly.
"Guys! Guys!" Fen insisted. "You're missing the point. There's a dragon right there."
Pax released a big laugh at his little sister's one-track mind. "I guess we are being rude to Kiara and Kit."
Neeta sighed and gave the pair an apologetic smile. "Sorry. We sometimes get wrapped up in ourselves. We don't mean anything by it."
Kiara gave him a small, still vaguely nervous smile and nodded at his encouragement, though she wasn't entirely sure she believed him.
At Fen's exclamation, she did chuckle a bit, and pointed out gently, "The dragon can hear you, y'know."
Kit snorted and lowered his head over her shoulder, eyeing the four humans curiously. He still didn't seem much inclined to speak, but he was at least showing interest.
Kiara shook her head in response to Neeta's apology with a small laugh. "Hey, no worries. Kit'n I can literally talk without speaking, so I'm afraid we tend to do the same thing."
"Yeah. Grav told us about that when he was contacting you. You're going to have to tell us how he got that ability too," Jonn said, "not having any magic and all."
Grav chuckled nervously, glancing at Kiara. "Well, you see..." He began to explain the whole situation with Volke and the Tear.
His friends took in the tale with worry and wonder. When he was done, Fen spoke first: "Oh my gods, you wished on a fallen star? That's so romantic I wanna die!"
"Well, it wasn't--" Kiara paused, eyebrows twitching up. "Huh." She looked at Grav with a half-smile. "I guess that is sorta what happened, isn't it?"
Kit snorted and rolled his eyes. Please refrain from kissing in public. It's bad enough that I have to deal with your nonsense.
"Nobody is kissing--" Kiara started to protest hotly, before realizing she'd spoken aloud and blushing. "Errr...whoops." She gave Grav's friends a shrug and an apologetic smile. "See what I mean? Sorry, it's just...habit."
"Sounds like Grav got his wish too. Because that's quite the adventure," Pax stated.
Grav chuckled. "Yeah... I guess you could say that. Though it was a good deal more terrifying than I had hoped."
"This Volke guy sounds like a total creep," Jonn asked, "Are you sure he's dead though?"
Kiara's expression fell and she shuddered slightly. "...No. We're not. It would have taken a lot to survive that, but..." She looked at Grav, eyes slightly haunted. "We saw him manage some pretty fucked up stuff."
Grav reached out and squeezed her hand. "If he isn't, we'll just have to stop him again. We beat him once; we can do it again."
"Yeah!" Fen agreed even though she wasn't part of the "we" in question. "And don't forget you have us to call on. Me and Pax are good in a fight."
Pax silently nodded his support.
Kiara chuckled a bit. "Well damn, you lot sure are eager so sign up for something dangerous," she noted with a quirked eyebrow. Looking sidelong at Grav, she elbowed him lightly and joked, "I thought it was just this one."
"Oh, no, he's got nothing on me," Fen cackled, throwing her hand skyward to make a colorful explosion of sparks.
Jonn smirked. "Yeah, Grav may seek trouble, but Fen is trouble. And Pax can't help himself but to try and keep her safe like a good big brother."
"It's so hard being the only sane members of this group," Neeta teased.
"I know the feeling," Kit rumbled. Kiara shot him a slightly surprised look, which quickly morphed into a playful frown.
"Uncalled for," she accused.
"Entirely called for," he snipped back, flicking her with his tail.
Grav laughed out loud. "Well, I'm definitely not the sane one."
Jonn chuckled, smiling. "Yeah, you'll never be able to claim that title without something seriously going wrong."
"But anyone would be crazy not to like him at least a little," he amended, "He's like a puppy that way."
"Aha!" Smirking, Kiara poked Grav lightly in the chest with a nod in Jonn's direction. "See? Universal constant, I'm convinced."
"Universal... constant?" Jonn asked, perplexed.
Grav laughed. "First, 'Puppy' has been her nickname for me from the moment we met. Second..." He went on to explain the weird shared dream they think the Tear caused.
"Aww... you two meet in any reality." Fen smiled dreamily. "It's like a fairy tale."
Jonn frowned in thought. Skeptically, he asked, "Are you really sure this shared dream is a window into something real? It could just as easily be a trick or some elaborate message."
"Have you thought about trying to find a dream mage?" Fen asked. "They're rare, but you might be able to get directed to one in Arca."
"That's a thought," Kiara mused. "I mean, yeah, I might have some contacts who could sniff around for us. That kinda research usually takes a while though, and--"
She paused, cleared her throat, then finished, "I've got, um, some...family obligations I'm on a bit of deadline for." Actually...her family obligations might have some insight on messages in dreams, now that she thought about it...
Grav reached out to take her hand again and gave her a squeeze. "And they don't exactly take not showing up as a hint to butt the hells out."
"Not a fan?" Neeta asked.
"Not in the least," he answered with a frown.
Kiara smiled and squeezed his hand back. "They've got...certain resources, though," she pointed out. She was speaking carefully--not because she didn't trust Grav's friends, necessarily, but mostly because...well, her heritage was just something she tended to keep close to her chest. "We can contact some people in Arca, but it might not hurt to see if my da's side of the family might be able to tell us anything about these dreams."
"If you're sure you want to do that," Grav said dubiously.
Fen cautiously approached Kit while everyone else was talking. "Hi." She grinned. "Do you mind if I touch you?"
"Errmmm..." Kit looked down at her, mildly befuddled. "That--sure?"
He lowered his head slightly to bring his face closer to her level, settling down into a position that Kiara often affectionately referred to as a "Kitten loaf".
Kiara sighed and shrugged in response to Grav's clear distaste for the idea. "I mean...we have a little time left before we have to make that decision. Oh, speaking of family..." She cocked her head at him. "When do we spring the whole, dragon in your backyard idea on your dad?"
"After he gets home and eats something might be best," Grav answered thoughtfully.
Fen carefully put her hand on Kit's snout, grinning like a child. "Oh, wow... I should've known you'd be warm. Dragons are amazing."
Grav continued, counting in his head. "If we're walking back from leaving Kit out of sight... we've got maybe another hour to kill before then."
Kit snorted and pressed his snou little more firmly into the girl's palm; he might a bit standoffish with strangers, but he did joy pets. Which of course Kiara never let him forget.
"Should you go back without us?" Kiara offered quietly with a small, thoughtful frown. "We could camp somewhere near town for the night, I mean...you haven't really had any time with your family since you've been back. And that gives your father some time to get used to the idea before you call us back?"
"Oh..." Grav sounded a little dejected. "Are you that nervous to meet him?"
Fen giggled and stroked Kit's snout. "What's breathing fire like? I've always wanted to know."
"It's not that," Kiara tried to assure him quickly, though there was a part of her that worried it was exactly that. "I just...I dunno, I feel weird, like--like I'm stealing you away from your family. It seems like you should get some time alone with your parents, y'know?"
Kit hummed in the back of his throat as he considered how to answer that. "I'm not sure I can give a good explanation--Kiara asked me when we were younger, and the best comparison I could give to a human is it's like...like there's a bubble of hot air in your chest, and you have to prod it just right to release the fire. And it tastes sort of spicy."
"You're not stealing anything, Kiara," Grav sighed. "You're family too."
"But... maybe it would be nice to give them a little time for just the three of us." Saying it felt wrong, but it was what she wanted.
"You mean like this?" Fen smirked, hitting her chest twice and belching. "But, yanno, with more fire."
"Nice, Fen. A lady as always," Feena said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
Kit snorted, amused. "Yeah. Pretty much like that," he chuffed, giving her shoulder a brief nudge with his muzzle.
Keeping her voice low in an effort not to draw too much attention--gods, feelings, why were they always such a thing to deal with?--Kiara reached out to place her hand lightly on his arm and murmured, "Grav, I don't..." She frowned, trying to figure out how to say it. "I...I actually kinda love that you consider me family." She smiled, vaguely sheepish. "It's just...I don't wanna be the reason you don't get to just be with the rest of your family, if...if that makes sense?"
"Yeah," Grav sighed, "I get it."
"It's going to be strange sleeping alone after so long," he chuckled. He had been sleeping close to either her or her and Kit for months. The thought of sleeping alone again, even for a night, felt wrong.
"Yeah," Kiara agreed with a small smile, "yeah, it is..."
Alone? Excuse you, what am I then?
She tossed a dry look over her shoulder at Kit, who seemed to be engaged in teaching Fen the appropriate process for belching flame. You know what we mean.
The dragon huffed at her, but she felt a flicker of wordless reassurance against the edge of their bond.
Grav back at her warmly. It was a nice moment...
... until Jonn cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt the adorable way you look at each other, but Feena and I have to go. She can't take any more time off from her job at The Mermaid, and I need to get to work at the cobbler's."
Grav nodded, smiling. "Alright. It was great seeing you both."
Pax sighed, "Yeah... we've gotta go too. Fen's got magic lessons and I'm working at the docks today."
Fen pouted, hugging Kit's neck. "Sorry big guy. It was wonderful to meet you." She turned to Kiara with a grin and rushed up to hug her too. "You too, Kiara."
"Oh!" Kiara's blinked, startled, with her arms thrown wide for a moment before she awkwardly returned the hug. "Yeah, umm...you too. See you all around, I guess?"
Kit rumbled a farewell of his own before dropping his head down between Kiara and Grav. "So? Did you decide where we're staying the night, or do you need to bicker like an old married couple about it some more?"
"We were not bickering."
"We were not bickering." Grav retorted at the same exact moment.
He looked at Kiara with surprise before bursting out laughing. "Well, I guess more than our dreams are in sync."
"Oh, gods." Kiara groaned and clapped a hand over her eyes, but she was smiling. Kit made a gagging noise and rolled his eyes as she reached out to take Grav's arm and pull him in for a quick kiss to his cheek. "If we become one of those couples I'm blaming you," she told him with a small laugh.
Kit huffed and gave her arm a brief nudge. "C'mon. We should find a good place to set up camp for the night."
"I'll see you two tomorrow then." Grav smiled and gave a quick kiss goodbye.
Dan tagged along as Kiara and Kit walked down a forest path. "You know, I'm not such a bad guy if you would just get to know me," he said with a friendly smile.
"Oh, I'm sure," Kiara replied with a bright smile. "And then we'll all be friends and make each other flower crowns! Won't that be nice?" She dropped the smile and rolled her eyes. "Look, just--don't make yourself a nuisance, and we'll get along fine."
Kit huffed and glanced down at her, but didn't say anything.
Only Dan's brother and his flunkies had ever treated him with such disdain. But at least his brother had actual reasons. This Kiara person was just presumptive, holding him responsible for every bad thing his people had done. It wasn't fair; he hasn't victimized anyone that he knew of.
"Who hurt you?" he asked with a hurt frown.
Kit snorted, snapping his head around to give the noble a wide-eyed look. Oh shit.
Kiara froze in place, back to their companion. "Who hurt me?" she repeated quietly, slowly turning to face him. Despite the dimness of the forest around them, the normally near-black of her eyes was suddenly blazing green. "What, you think I need to kiss your ass because of your accident of birth? Because I don't automatically like you, someone hurt me? I--!"
Kit huffed at her and she stopped herself mid-word. Drawing in a breath, she let it out again, and some of the fire bled from her eyes. "Look. Dan. I get that you're probably not all that familiar with how lowly thieves operate in the world, but as a general rule, I don't just trust people. I can't afford to. And maybe you personally aren't responsible for the way people with magic in the weird-ass country are treated, but your particular accident of birth doesn't exactly give you much reason to want a change to the status quo either, does it?"
She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Did you ever even think to ask yourself why I might be stealing that dusty old hand?"
No. People didn't--they actually liked him! He knew it. She was just being hurtful.
But even as he thought that, the old fear that people only pretended to like him fought back. What if she was right? What if he was just another spoiled lordling who thought the world revolved around him?
"The reason...? I just..." He caught himself before he made things worse. "Right, no assumptions... Okay, why?"
Something in his expression seemed to make Kiara realize that she...might have actually said something hurtful. She wasn't entirely sure what, but clearly she'd gotten to him—and not in the simply irritating way that she'd meant to.
"Okay, well, first off, whatever it was I said that made you look like a kicked puppy, I'm sorry," she grumbled, scuffing one foot awkwardly against the ground. The pointed tips of her ears had gone a little pink. "Second..." She glanced at the pack where she'd stashed the relic, then sighed and rubbed at the back of her neck.
"Second, I stole it for the mage underground," she admitted on a sharp exhale. "I mean—okay, yeah, I mostly stole it for the payout. But it's not going to the black market, alright? It's gonna help people. Help more than it ever would have just sitting in that tomb."
Her apology made the noble smile slightly, showing her she was forgiven. He didn't hold grudges and tried not to see the worst in anyone, which was probably why he didn't see his attempted assassination coming.
"The... underground?" Dan asked. He hadn't expected that. It seemed unusual, but she was right, and he wasn't so devout that he couldn't admit it. "I can't deny that it serves no one resting in a tomb. But... what could possibly be done with it? I highly doubt the underground has much faith in the miraculous power of Ansgarian saints."
"Search me." Kiara shrugged before turning around to keep following the trail through the trees. "I'm not actually all that educated in the mechanics of magic—I just point and burn. But these people believe in its power to help them enough to get word out to Serendipity." She shrugged again. "Guess we just hope they know what they're talking about."
Kit rumbled and slowed his pace slightly, swinging his head back and forth as he tasted the air. Kia, how many days did we have to get the hand back to our contact?
"Hm? Two, why?"
I think we're being followed.
"Shit." Kiara stopped. "Our people, or the ones after Danny boy?"
The dragon shook his head. Can't tell; the scent is faint.
Dan failed to fight the urge to glance back. "I knew we should have kept going through the night," he said worriedly.
He sighed heavily. He'd been a fool to ever think he'd get away. And now these two were caught in the middle of it. Maybe he should just go on alone.
We should fly.
"Your wing isn't strong enough," Kiara replied quietly, to which Kit snorted and rolled his eyes.
We don't need to go far, just a short burst to get us some distance.
"Carrying two people?" She frowned at him. "You'll be lucky if you don't rip your stitches."
It's that, or keep bickering here and get caught.
Dan felt a powerful, inexplicable urge to protect her and Kit from any further harm on his behalf. They certainly had no logical reason to help him any further.
"If it's me they're after... maybe you should just leave me." He answered guiltily. "You shouldn't risk yourselves for me any more."
"Oh, fuck off," Kiara responded automatically, "like hells we're leaving you on your own."
She may not have necessarily wanted him along, but damnit, here he was, and she wasn't about to let him get crucified for something he had no fault in.
"We'll double back," she suggested. "Cut through the stream back a way, hope that screws with any tracking they're doing."
Dan secretly smiled at her unwillingness to abandon him, even though she didn't seem to even like him. She wasn't as hard as she wanted him to think.
He nodded at her suggestion. "I'll follow your lead. Changing the way I look is as far as my knowledge of evading pursuit goes."
Following her lead, they doubled back to the stream. About halfway across, he stopped. "Did you hear that? A yellow-breasted dusk swallow! Wait... that's not right..."
"That's not a bird," he whispered, sure that a person made that noise.
"What?" Kiara had paused at his word, assuming he knew something she didn't—and it seemed he did, though she had no idea how. "How can you tell that?" she demanded in a quiet rush.
"My mother used to have one as a pet. I know well what one sounds like. That's a person doing a damn good imitation," he explained.
The noble looked at her. "Someone is close."
"Shit." Kiara started to reach for the dagger at the small of her back, and Kit pulled his lips back in the beginnings of a snarl. "Alright. Keep back; if they're after you they probably want you alive, so if you just keep out of the way—"
The sound of birds again. She looked at Dan questioningly, dagger bared now and held at the ready.
Dan smirked as he drew his sword, stepping back until he was by her side. "And let you have all the fun?"
His expression was playful, but there was steel in his eyes. And his fighting stance was flawless, ready to strike and defend with precision.
"We stand the best chance together," he said.
Kiara opened her kith to argue, then shut it again with a scowl. "Fine," she muttered, "be an idiot."
Noise to their left, then—
"Oh thank fucking gods." Kiara sighed and straightened out of her defensive crouch as a gangly individual emerged from the trees. "What the fuck, Floren?"
The figure—a man somewhere in his mid thirties—gave her a hard stare. "I should be asking you that." He nodded to Dan. "You were supposed to retrieve the relic. Nothing else."
Dan didn't relax as readily or completely as Kiara, but he did lower his sword. Her underground would be far less inclined to spare him.
"I assure you, I bear you no ill will," he declared, only realizing too late that his way of speaking gave much away.
"Is that so." Floren's expression didn't change. "You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it."
He drew a dagger of his own, and Kaira quickly brough hers back up before she seemed to think better of it and raised her hands. "Whoa, hold on--he's telling the truth. It's...well, it's sort of a long story."
Dan slowly sheathed his sword and put his palms forward placatingly. "See? Not here to fight."
"Smart." Another slender figure stepped out from the shadow of a large tree. He had a bow trained on Dan. "Just give me a reason Connloathian," he spat.
"Easy." Kiara frowned at her contacts--she didn't know the second man, but Floren had been her contact for this job when she'd taken it at the border. "I have the relic." She nodded toward the pouch at her hip, but didn't move to take the relic out--she didn't want to risk it, with how jumpy everyone seemed. "Look, the pup got...caught up in our escape. There may have been an assassination attempt. It's complicated."
Floren frowned at her slightly. "Why should we trust that?"
She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Well, why did you trust me with the job in the first place? Because I'm a fucking mage with a fucking dragon, maybe, so I'm not exactly likely to turn on you?"
"That doesn't mean the pretty boy isn't playing you," the stranger said suspiciously.
"Show us the relic. If it's real, maybe we won't kill him." He looked like he hoped it was a fake so he could kill a lordling.
"Okay, okay. Just promise not to shoot me while I get it," Kiara muttered.
"Wait." Floren held up a hand, eyes on Dan. "Tie him, first."
Kit huffed, looking mildly offended. Do they think I couldn't handle it if he tried something?
Dan nodded to her and put his wrists together. The only way out seemed to be through. "It's alright. Do what you must. I have no choice but to trust you."
The archer came forward to join Floren, his aim unwavering. "I think the lordling might have a crush on you, dragon rider."
Kiara tsked and gave the arched a sharp look even as she moved forward to bind Dan's hands together.
"The lordling doesn't have a death wish," she shot back. Once he was tied, she stepped back and reached for the pouch at her hip. "I can't believe the damned dragon wasn't enough insurance for you lot," she muttered as she rummaged for the relic.
"The dragon could be tricked as easily as you," Floren replied stoically.
Kit gave a warning growl.
"What would I have to gain by tricking her?" Dan risked asking.
The stranger sneered. "Your class thrives on deceit. For all we know, you plan to try and join us as a spy."
"Well, obviously that was never going to be something that would work. It would take a miracle for you to trust me," Dan pointed out.
"He's got a point," Kiara noted as she held up the relic to show Floren and his companion. "Here, see? I got the creepy hand."
Floren nodded, but the archer was still frowning. "So why did you bring the lordling?"
"I told you." Kiara rolled her eyes, leaning back against Kit's flank. "There was an assassination attempt."
"She was kind enough to not leave me to die," Dan answered. "That's all there is to it."
The archer sneered. "And why should she care if some lordling's scheming gets him killed?"
Dan sighed. "If I were a schemer, I'd probably have seen my brother's treachery coming."
"Look." Kiara held the relic out more pointedly. "Just pay me, take your damned hand, and let him go. Job done, transaction over, we all happily go our separate ways."
Floren sighed as he stepped up to take the relic from her. "I'm afraid we can't do that." He sounded genuinely sorry. "He's seen us now. He's a security risk."
Kiara took a step back, still holding the hand; Kit growled again. "...What are you saying?"
"Kiara, give me the relic."
Another step back. "What are you going to do?"
"Hey. You showed yourselves to me. That's on you." Dan smirked weakly, his heart not in it.
"Surely we can find a peaceful resolution," he said with a brave, if a little worried, face.
Floren ignored him and held Kiara's eyes, expression stony. The archer shifted his stance.
Fuck.
"Kit!"
The dragon surged forward, snapping his neck forward to curve around Dan as the archer loosed; the arrow tinked off jet black scales, and Kiara was already scrambling up onto his back.
"Deal's not done," she called to Floren even as he charged them. "I'll get your people the relic." As she said it, she was leaning down to grab her errant charge's arm, hauling him up onto Kit's back behind her.
Kit snarled at the two rebels and reared back on his hind legs, mouth cracked open and heat gathering in his jaws--but instead of flaming, he forced himself into the air. Kiara winced as he did it, as another arrow arced toward them but simply struck the scales of his flank, but they didn't have much choice.
Dan managed to pull himself into a seated position. "Why do people keep trying to kill me?!" he asked the heavens.
He'd done nothing to deserve this. Or was it because of his lack of faith? Was that it? Was God punishing him?
"I don't get what I did that was so wrong..." He sulked.
"Given your stunning personality, I've no idea," Kiara replied dryly--so dryly, in fact, that it wasn't entirely clear if that was meant to be a joke with or against him. She cursed under her breath as she glanced behind them.
"Fuck. This is going to make handing the relic off to their boss more complicated than I'd like..."
Dan assumed the best and completely missed the potential sarcasm of her comment about his personality. He was nice! Why would she still think he wasn't?
He sighed. "I... apologize. You and your dragon brother have saved my life twice, and I've done nothing but complicate yours."
"Yeah, well. Nobility tends to do that," Kiara replied flippantly. She laid her palm flat against Kit's shoulder, her concern for his injured wing near palpable even without their bond.
With a small sigh, she admitted, "...Wasn't your fault. What was I gonna do, leave you to get killed? Twice?"
"You aren't remotely the cutthroat I first mistook you to be. You've more than proven that," Dan said with a kind smile.
He observed the way she was touching Kit with empathy. "And, of course, thanks to you as well, brave Ser Kit."
Kit snorted in tired amusement at the idea of Kiara being any variety of "cutthroat". Kiara herself, on the other hand, managed to pout at Dan over her shoulder.
"Watch yourself. I can be plenty cutthroat if I like," she grumbled—which only earned another small snort from Kit.
"Methinks he begs to differ," Dan chuckled playfully.
This was what he thought family should be to each other. They certainly shouldn't be nothing but dysfunction and backstabbing like in the average noble house. He wished he had people who genuinely cared about him and not just how he affected the family's reputation. All they'd see from now on would be an embarrassment and a stain on the Vannier name.
"Methinks both of you should shut the hells up," Kiara grumbled, though she had a feeling she might have lost the upper hand in this particular interaction.
It didn't take them much longer to get enough distance that both she and Kit felt comfortable coming in for a landing. They were closer to the border, but landed in a mostly open field—it's one redeeming quality was apparent distance from any towns or villages.
The second the dragon touched down, Kiara's vaulted off his back and rushed to look at his injured wing, which he was already extending for her inspection. Despite his best efforts to keep himself stoic, Kit's neck and tail were booth droop with exhaustion.
Dan climbed down and, without thinking, gave the dragon's neck a pat. "You've more than earned a rest, Ser Kit. I wish I could repay you somehow."
"Both of you," he amended.
"I take my repayment in gold," Kiara replied flippantly, though she was frowning at the stitches she'd put in Kit's wing.
The dragon rumbled and flicked her shoulder lightly with the tip of his tail. She huffed and rolled her eyes. "At this point, Danny, if we can get out of this situation alive, I'll call that payment enough."
"Once we're at the border, I'll be out of your hair. Without me around, you should be able to hand over the relic without issue... right?" Dan wasn't sure if that was true or if the underground would be hostile to her now because of him.
"Surely they will be more reasonable without a noble around."
"Maybe." Kiara huffed and reached up to rake her fingers back through her hair. "They might not trust me at all, now..."
We could just go, Kit offered, though his tone implied he knew she wouldn't.
Sure enough, she shook her head. "No. They're being idiots, but that doesn't mean the mages their trying to help deserve to be stuck here. We've got to get the relic to them somehow..."
"Is there anyone you know of that they would trust?" Dan asked.
"Some kind of intermediary, perhaps," he clarified.
He sighed. "I am sorry I cannot be of more help. This is all very foreign to me."
Kiara sighed again and shrugged. "I mean, I could try to find the contact who originally recommended me for the job--but these people are hard to locate for a reason, y'know?" She huffed, leaning back against Kit's foreleg. "To be totally honest, this is as much new territory to me as it is to you. I've tried to avoid Connlaoth most of my life..."
"I can't exactly blame you. Even at our best, the way we treat mages is... heavy handed." He knew that was optimistic, but it was difficult for him to reconcile any patriotic notions he had with the true extent of the injustice of the Connloathian way. He wasn't devout, but what faith he had was being tested.
Kiara looked at him quietly for a moment. Then she shrugged, huffed, and pushed away from Kit's side.
"Well, regardless, we're being hunted on two fronts now. So we need to figure out a way to get to the border with our hides preferably intact."
"I suppose there isn't much point in disguises as long as we're traveling with a dragon. It might be best to lay low until Kit is well enough to fly us out; we won't get very far on foot without drawing attention." He was assuming the plan to get him to the Vythe border was now about getting out of Connloath altogether. She'd have a better chance with him around now that she had no allies to help get her out.
Kit snorted and nodded his reluctant acquiescence when Kiara agreed with his assessment. "That means we need to find a place to hide for a bit," she noted, looking around. "Don't suppose you know the topography of the area enough to point us in the direction of a cave?"
"Hmm..." Dan stroked his chin in thought. "Well, I have gone hunting around here before. There was this huge dire bear that had wandered into the forest, so we ended up sheltering in a cave. I might be able to find it again. It should be just big enough for Kit."
He turned in a circle to get his bearings and pointed to a treeline across the field to the southwest. "This way." He started walking.
"Okay then." Kiara and Kit exchanged a look, shrugged, then started to follow.
"What were you hunting out here?" Kiara asked after a moment, glancing around. "I can't imagine there was much big game--unless Connlaotian nobility considers hunting meadow rabbits a fun pass-time. Which would be news to me, but at this point I honestly wouldn't put it past 'em."
Kit cocked his head, but decided not to point out that she'd said "them". Not "you".
"Just wild boar. No point hunting something that doesn't fight back. Hunting the defenseless is no measure of valor." Dan chuckled, "Of course, a dire bear was a little beyond your standard hunting party's ability. I'm the best swordsman in the family, but I'm not so mighty a warrior as that."
"Uh-huh, and modest too," Kiara noted dryly, but there was no real venom in her voice. Either she was too tired for it, or she didn't feel the need to be quite so biting with him anymore.
Kit let his head hang a little lower as they walked so he could nudge his nose against her shoulder; she reached up absently to pat his cheek, the gesture habitual more than anything else.
Dan barely restrained himself from commenting on how cute the interaction was. "I wish I was as close with someone as you two are."
He hesitated out of pride before opening up further. "I've never exactly fit in with nobility, but because of my station, I can't really get close to anyone else either. I rather hate that."
Kit and Kiara exchanged a quick glance before the mage tipped her head at their companion and arched an eyebrow.
"So...I take it your family isn't exactly close," she muttered after a moment. "I mean—you seemed more surprised by the whole assassination thing than...y'know. Sad."
Dan sighed. "I believe my parents love me in their own way, but there's no warmth there. And I suppose I should be sadder about my brother's betrayal; it's just that I accepted that he hated me a long time ago. I just never realized how far he'd take it."
He frowned thoughtfully and scratched his chin. "I'm more concerned with what poison he'll speak into father's ear without me there as a voice of compassion."
Kiara glanced at him, then at Kit. She worried her lower lip for a moment, not sure if she should speak. Then:
"...I get that." She shrugged, looking away. "I mean, not exactly. I don't think any of my relatives actively want to kill me. But...in the abstract." Another shrug. "Family is rough."
"You won't hear me arguing against that," Dan answered with a sigh.
He chuckled lightly. "It seems we have something in common after all."
He didn't say much else until they were well into the forest. "There should be a streambed somewhere around her that will lead us to the cave."
Kiara huffed. "Don't think too hard on it," she muttered, and Kit snorted in amusement.
"A streambed?" Kiara had to focus not to stumble as she picked her way after her, Kit bringing up the rear. "Gods, I'm so fucking tired, I can't even—"
The amulet around her neck was suddenly warm against her skin. She drew up short, looking down at it through the neck of her shirt.
And Kit spoke aloud for the first time since Dan had joined them: "Oh...shit."
Dan reflexively stepped away from the glowing whatever in her shirt. "What is it?! What's wrong?!" he asked, very worried by a freaking dragon reacting that way.
Kiara looked up at him, eyes wide.
"...My Da's coming."
Kit actually woke first, and snorted in mildly surprised as he blinked and found himself in the small meadow where he and Kiara had set up camp the night before.
"Your... Da? I take it I'm not going to enjoy this," he commented, gulping.
Grav woke up in his room with a yawn. "Morning," he said sleepily before suddenly remembering he was alone. It felt even lonelier to wake by himself than it had to try and fall asleep.
Any chance you're in range, Kit?
I can hear you. The dragon yawned and stretched, flaring his wings. He felt Kiara stirring against his side and nudged her lightly with his forepaw. kia's up, too. Your parents ready to receive a dragon in the front lawn?
Grav started quickly changing out of his nightclothes as he spoke. Let me give them a heads up that you're on the way. Well, Dad, anyway.
He didn't wait for an answer before going to do just that.
Grav and his parents were out in the yard watching as Kit made his approach. His mother smiled broadly, while his father watched with a stoic kind of wonder, his blue beard blowing in the ocean breeze.
Kit tried to keep himself as, well...non-village-burning looking as possible as they approached, landing a few lengths away from Grav's family and shuffling his wings in before walking the remainder in an effort to make himself look a little smaller.
Kiara waved from his back, seining down off the dragon's back and moving in front of him as they got closer. "Hello, Master Caviin," she said with a polite little half-bow. "I'm Kiara. It's, ah, it's nice to meet you. Officially and all."
"Master, she says," Verran laughed boisterously. "No titles here, lass. None except Captain, anyhow, and I don't expect you to call me that. Especially considering you saved my foolhardy son's life. You can call me Verran."
He reached out for a vigorous handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet the both of you."
Kiara smiled, taking the offered hand. "Thanks, ah, Verran."
Kit dipped his head politely, shuffling his wings again in a vaguely anxious move.
Kiara glanced at Grav with a small smile; she wished she could tell him that she'd missed sleeping next to him, but that seemed like an odd thing to say in front of his parents.
"Well, let's head in; one of us is bound to catch a cold in this wind," Imira urged with a smile.
Verran nodded with a slight smirk. "The missus is anxious to show her love with food. I can't say I mind that habit."
Imira laughed, saying, "Your belly is testament to that, dear."
Grav walked over to join Kiara as they headed inside. "I think he likes you so farr. You have nothing to worry about," he said quietly.
"You sure?" Kiara glanced up at him, biting her lip. "Maybe he's just being nice..."
Kit huffed and gave them both a quick nudge in the back. "You worry too much. No go eat. And ask Imira about that pie recipe."
Grav laughed and patted Kit on the snout. "So that's why you're so anxious this morning. You're hoping for more pie."
He took Kiara's hand and squeezed. "And he's right; you worry too much. If my dad didn't like you, you'd know."
"Alright, alright." She chuckled and gave Kit's jaw a quick scratch before allowing herself to be steered into the house. "I'll take your word for it," she murmured to Grav as they followed his parents. She paused, then lowered her voice a bit more and added with a slight flush, "I know it was just a night, but...I missed you."
Grav lowered his voice in turn, smiling warmly. "I missed you too. It was so weird, right? I kept expecting you to be there."
He chuckled. "At least you were still there in the dream, even if that you doesn't seem to like that me yet."
Kiara chuckled a bit herself and nodded. "Guess we got used to having each other in arm's length, after so long," she murmured. With another little laugh, she added, "I think she's getting there--although I suppose it would be too much to ask that even some dream-version of me get to avoid the family issues." She rolled her eyes theatrically.
"Yeah... I think I have a new respect for people with complicated families. Dan's sounds pretty messed up. What with the attempted murder and all." Grav sighed, becoming a little distant. "Gods, I hope this dream isn't right about my birth family. I'm suddenly afraid to ask my dad if he knows anything about them."
Kiara looked up at him, brow furrowing, and squeezed his hand gently. "Hey." She paused, keeping them out of earshot of his parents for a moment. "Family is a hells of a lot more than blood, yeah? Maybe Dan's sucks, but his family doesn't have to be yours. Even if they are the people you were born to."
"I know that," Grav sighed sadly, "I just always liked to imagine that I was from a truly noble and valorous bloodline."
Shaking off his momentary melancholy, he smiled. "But I'm grateful to have the family that chose me, maybe even more so than before. I would even if my birth family was warm and loving and waiting for me."
"You are noble and valorous," Kiara told him, then added with a crooked smirk, "Annoyingly so, sometimes. Whatever your birth family is, that's not gonna change."
Glancing in the direction Imira and Varren had gone, she smiled a bit. "Yeah. The family you've got is...pretty nice."
Grav listened to his mother working in the kitchen for a moment and smiled. "I guess we shouldn't keep said family waiting."
As they entered the sitting room where Varren was waiting, the man smiled at them. "Come, sit. I'd love to hear what kind of mischief you two got up to for myself."
"Oh, well." Kiara chuckled a bit and smiled sheepishly as she took a seat with a quick glance at Grav. "I dunno about mischief. But we've...certainly been through a lot."
"That's putting it lightly," Grav chuckled as he sat. Together, they told Varren about their adventures. However, Grav didn't feel it necessary to shield his father from the whole truth about how much danger they had been in.
Varren took it all in quietly, nodding occasionally. When they were done, he smiled. "While I wish you were more hesitant about putting yourself at risk, I'm proud of you, son. You were brave, and you did what needed to be done even when you were suffering."
Kiara smiled crookedly at Grav and gave his shoulder a little bump with her own. "Yeah. Guess you're not so bad. Maybe I'll keep you around after all," she teased quietly, eyes glinting.
"Pfft," Grav scoffed with a smirk. "I'm damn likeable in any reality, and you know it."
Verran raised a bushy eyebrow.
Grav gave her a nervous glance before explaining. "... So, what I've been waiting to ask you is, does the name Vannier mean anything to you? That could tell us a lot about whether these dreams are real."
His father sighed. "Yes. I don't know them, of course, but that name was in the manifest we found. I'm sorry I lied about not knowing what your whole birth name was. We just... we love you so much, and we were... afraid you'd want to leave us and try to find the rest of your birth family."
Grav put a hand on his dad's. "It's okay. I love you too. And, well, judging by this dream thing, I wouldn't have been happy with what I would have found. As far as I'm concerned, you are the best family I could possibly want."
Kiara frowned, just for a moment. She couldn't help thinking that...well, she wouldn't have been so forgiving in Grav's place. Maybe his parents admitted that hiding what they'd known was a mistake, but they'd still done it for the better part of two decades.
She quickly schooled her expression back to neutrality; they were Grav's parents, it was his business how he wanted to handle it.
"So they do still exist?" she asked after a moment. "I mean, the Vanniers, that household really is a power in Connlaoth?"
"I wouldn't know how influential they are or even if the house survives, but the manifest listed a Count Gaspard Vannier and a Lady Elise Vannier," Varren answered.
"And two children, right?" Grav was only taking the lying so well because he believed he was better off as a result.
Varren blinked. "No, just one. Are you saying you have a sibling in these visions?"
"Yes. An older brother." Grav hesitated. "An older brother who wants that me dead. So, I'm not missing anything by not knowing him. Without family to suppress his darkest impulses, there's no telling what he's capable of in this reality."
Kiara drew her lip between her teeth, frowning. "Yeah...I mean, it's not like I was interacting with him in that dream, but he didn't seem...pleasant."
She paused, then her eyes widened a bit as a realization abruptly occurred to her. She looked to Grav. "Hang on—in those dreams, I'm me. I mean, I remember my life, Kit's life, just the way it was until about a week before we met you. That's when things start to get weird. But you...you have a while two decades of memories of a while other life." She blinked. "Can you remember any of that stuff now? While you're awake?"
Grav thought about the implication. Yes, maybe he could remember, at least a little. "Come to think of it, my birth parents' names are oddly familiar. Nothing else is jumping out at me, though. Maybe I just need the right trigger, or something?"
He raised a brow. "Wait. A week before? I thought the dream was just what things would be like if I grew up with my birth family."
Kiara blinked again. "Huh. Yeah. That is weird..."
She frowned, trying to remember—well. Remember a life she hadn't actually lived.
Gods this was going to give her a headache.
"I think..." Her frown deepened. "That message. About a job in Connlaoth. I didn't actually get that. She—the other me—she heard from a contact about a week before we would have met at that inn. But...I never did."
"Maybe my long-lost brother prevented the mage underground cell from getting the word out?" Grav theorized. "As a Count, he'd have the power to make his part of Vythe very inhospitable to them."
Varren nodded along. "What sort of job is this?"
"Well, it...I wouldn't have known until I accepted the job," Kiara sighed, before admitted, "They hired me—the other me—to steal a relic from the Vanniers."
She rubbed at the back of her neck a little sheepishly. "With me and Kit, we mostly take...pest control sort of jobs. But when Kit can't go with me, for whatever reason, I'm better at, ah...subtlety?"
It was the most professional way she could think of to phrase "I'm good at sneaking and stealing".
Varren raised a brow at his son, then laughed. "Well, so long as you didn't bring home a pirate."
"Hey, it's not like she robs travelers." Grav responded with a warning look. "The relic is supposed to help mages in Connloath. I'm just... not sure about the how just yet."
"The dreams aren't there yet, and I don't think tonight's will either, judging by where we left off," he added.
Varren asked, "And where is that?"
Kiara flushed a bit, but at least they weren't throwing her out of the house. She nodded along in agreement with Grav's assessment about the state of the dreams—then flushed again when his father asked where they had left off.
Great. What was she supposed to say? "So, you're son is courting a thieving dragonrider, who also happens to be a bastard half-fae princess"? No thank you.
"My, uhhhh..." She chewed at her bottom lip. "I have some, ah, complicated...family issues. Seemed like they might be making an appearance."
"Yeah..." Grav paused, choosing his words carefully. "Her family was pretty indifferent to me. They might not be so kind to the spoiled noble version. I mean, Dan isn't hostile to magic but he hasn't exactly used his position to do anything to improve the situation in Connloath either. I don't think he really understands the dark side of things."
Varren nodded. It was clear from his expression that the man knew they were holding something back, but he didn't say anything about it. "Could the purpose of these dreams be to show you this dark side as well? Some future atrocity you might prevent?"
"Mmmm..." Kiara turned the possibilities over in her mind. "Maybe...though I can't say I'm fond of that particular theory. It smells like trouble in the waking world."
She glanced at Grav with an apologetic sort of half smile. "For what it's worth, my family doesn't...really care much about Connlaothian politics. I've no idea why they'd risk turning up there though." For his parents' benefit, she added a little awkwardly, "Magic, er, runs in my family. Pretty strongly."
"Of course I'd rather these dreams be just some side effect of the crystal cave," Grav agreed. "I just can't help but think we've somehow stepped into something bigger than us."
He shrugged. "But maybe that's just my childhood fantasy of being a chosen one talking."
"With our luck?" Kiara snorted quietly. "We'll both end up "chosen"—problem is, chosen for what? And by who?" She sighed, reaching up to rub at her temples. "Adventures are more trouble one than their worth."
She considered a moment, lips pursed. "Maybe...maybe it would be worth following the lead? Checking in with my contacts in Connlaoth, I mean." She glanced quickly at Grav's father and assured, "Y'know, when we have time."
Grav nodded. "I think we should, yeah. Though if capital F Fate is involved, we'll end up finding out one way or another. It's, by all accounts, a persistent little shit."
Varren barked a laugh. "Aye. That she is. Not one to take no for an answer, that one."
"Oh good," Kiara half laughed, half sighed. "Because that's what we need--more people in our lives who refuse to just let shit lie." She winced, then glanced at Grav's father. "Er, pardon my language?"
Varren barked a laugh. "You're talking to a sailor, lass. You're practically reserved compared to some in my crew."
Grav grinned. "Yeah, you're fine. It's going to take a lot more than that to shock my dad."
"Well, ah, glad I haven't offended." She smiled sidelong and added wryly, "Gimme time."
Sobering a bit, she glanced at Grav again and pursed her lips. "I don't...I know you haven't been home in a long time. I don't want to cut this short, but I just--I wonder if maybe we should...look into this. This dream thing. Once we're, y'know, moving again." She added a hurried, reassuring, "Whenever that is."
"Oh, I agree. The last thing we should do is ignore them and hope they go away." Grav showed her a familiar smirk. "You should know by now I can't refuse the call to adventure."
"The boy's like a shark. If he ever stops moving, he'll keel over," Varren chuckled.
"I've noticed," Kiara chuckled dryly, rolling her eyes at Grav. With a small shrug and a slightly crooked smile, she admitted, "Though I suppose I'm the same--my mother used to call it "wanderlust". Can never seem to settle myself."
"Then you two are the perfect match." Varren smiled before transitioning into an amused grin. "Well, that or the perfect storm."
Grav smirked. "I mean, there is a non-zero chance that's why we keep finding trouble."
Non-zero? Kit's voice sounded incredulous down their new, three-branched bond, and Kiara tried to hide her chuckle in a cough. That's certainly putting it mildly.
"I dunno about perfect match," Kiara huffed with a quiet laugh, "I'd think Grav needs someone to keep him planted rather than encourage the wanderlust." She shrugged and gave him a crooked smile. "But you've got me. Sorry for your luck."
It had the cadence of a joke, but there was just a hint too much self-deprecation behind her eyes.
"Pfft! Pfft, I say! Home is where the heart is: As long as I'm with you, I'm home." After a moment, he flushed crimson at how unbelievably sappy that was.
Don't you dare comment, scaly.
"I, err, well..." he floundered.
Somehow, Kit's snort could be heard physically even from inside the house.
Kiara's cheeks had gone very red, and she simply stared at Grav for a moment with her lips slightly parted before she managed to shake her head and look away with an awkward clearing of her throat.
"R-right! Well. Ahem." She cast about desperately for something to say, feeling Grav's parent's attention like a physical weight on her shoulders. "Sh-should we, um...I mean, maybe I should help clear the table or--or something," she muttered, giving Grav's mother a vaguely desperate look.
Grav's mother stifled a laugh and smiled. "That would be wonderful, dear."
When the two women were alone and had busied themselves, Imira abruptly observed, "He's certainly fallen for you hard, hasn't he?"
Dear gods, what was it with this family? Did everyone just have a knack for putting her on the back foot?
"I--I guess," she stammered out an automatic response, not looking at Imira. "I mean, he--we've been through a lot together. We're...close. Even before the, um..." She waved a hand vaguely, unable to come up with an appropriate term for whatever it was that she and Grav were doing. Courting didn't seem quite right, but it also wasn't wrong.
"Romantic complications?" she ventured with a chuckle. "There's nothing like a good crisis or two to get the heart yearning. Especially when you're young." She spoke as if she had experienced it herself.
Kiara flushed a bit deeper, not sure if she should protest that or not. It certainly had been a series of near-death experiences that had prompted her and Grav into confessing how they felt about each other, but at the same time she thought it was those experiences that had so firmly solidified their friendship first.
"Is that...how you met his father?" she asked Imira somewhat cautiously. "Or, um, someone else?"
"His name was Thale," Imira reminisced, smiling a little sadly. "He was this handsome, charming privateer that I met down south. Adelan, I think, but I was never sure, and he never said. He worked for Serendipity, though. One thing led to another, and I joined up with him for a time."
"I'll spare you the gory details, but things ended rather violently, and he was killed. It was beautiful and exciting while it lasted, though."
"I'm sorry," Kiara murmured, not really sure what else she could--or perhaps should--say. She hesitated, then offered quietly, "My, um...my mother died when I was a girl, so she didn't tell me the whole story exactly but--I remember her telling me once that it was worth it. Loving someone that much, I mean, even if it doesn't last."
She huffed and rubbed at the back of her neck with an awkward little laugh. "At least, I think that's what she was trying to tell me. I was just a stupid kid though, probably not remembering the whole thing."
"Oh, I don't regret the experience one bit. Besides, I ended up with someone wonderful and an adopted son I adore. I consider myself lucky." She smiled fondly.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that. I thank the gods that Grav wasn't old enough to remember his birth parents, though I suppose these visions of yours may show him what he lost."
"Maybe..." Kiara sighed quietly as she finished drying a dish. "Honestly, it seems like...well, if the dreams are, y'know, real--or as real as dreams can be I guess--it seems like even if his parents would have been nice enough toffs, his brother..."
She shook her head, frowning. "Kit's the closest thing I've got to a sibling, and I can't even imagine ever wishing real harm on him. Letting alone making it happen."
"Family is complicated, especially for the high-born. And sometimes they forget what it even means, losing it in the fog of money, power, and influence. If my Grav is indeed born of nobility, then... while, of course, I'm not happy he was orphaned, I'm glad he wasn't raised in that environment," Imira said with all the love that she would have if he were her natural-born son.
"Hey, I frequently refer to an actual dragon as my brother," Kiara laughed wryly. "Yeah, family can be weird."
That wasn't even mentioning her father's side of things.
She finished helping Imira clear up the table and returned to the main room, crossing to lean against the windowsill and toss Kit a few fish where he was curled up beside the house.
"Sooo..." Grav asked as he walked up. "Now you've met the whole family. You probably think I'm crazy for wanting to leave."
He had thought it about himself plenty of times. He had a great life in Griffonbeak, it just didn't feel right.
She chuckled quietly and tossed Kit another fish. "I don't think you're crazy." She shrugged. "Some people just aren't built to stay in one place. I can sympathize."
She glanced around, then added with a sideways smile in his direction. "But like I said before—this is a good place to come back to."
Kit rumbled his agreement before rising to his feet.
We aren't planning on leaving anytime soon, are we? he asked with a glance inland. If we're here for the next few days, I might go in a proper hunt.
Grav smiled back at her, but Kit cut the moment short before he could respond. Honestly? This dream thing is making me pretty anxious to solve the mystery. Probably a few more days anyway but that could shorten.
If I leave tonight, I can be back in two days, Kit said as he rose to his feet and shook himself, rather like a hound rising from the hearth. Cocking his head at them, he added wryly, I doubt you could, but don't leave without me.
"Consider that lesson officially learned," Kiara chuckled. "Leaving the dragon behind never ends well."
"I mean, technically it ended well." Grav smirked teasingly, ever the wise ass. "We survived and killed the lich. Okay, sure, that was only because you found us in time to help, but still."
"Never again though! It was way way way too close."
Not to mention what happened the other time.
Kit snorted, fixing them both with a look that made it very clear he knew exactly what it was none of them were mentioning. Then he shuffled his wing and moved away from the house, toward the edge of the cliff.
I'll see you in two days. Cheekily, he added, Be good, before launching himself into the air.
Grav sighed. He was glad nobody brought up that a wish was the only reason he survived in the crystal cave. It didn't need to be discussed again. Or the monster thing.
"Sooo... what now? Should we just, I dunno, try to actually relax for a change?"
"Relax?" She frowned at him. "I'm not sure I—are you using some weird sailors' cant? I don't know what that means."
Dropping the bit, she snorted quietly and shrugged. "I mean, it'd certainly be a change of pace, but why not? Worth a shot, right?"
Grav smirked back at her, approving of the joke. "Yeah, I'm not accustomed to the concept either, but we're in the best place to try."
He stretched with a yawn, not unlike a cat enjoying a ray of sunshine. "Speaking of, it's going to get dark soon."
"True." She glanced at the horizon through the window, judging how close the sun was to its edge. Looking back to Grav, she quirked an eyebrow. "So what do folks around Griffonbeak do for fun after dark?"
It wasn't until the words were out of her mouth that she realized the potential double entendres. Her cheeks warmed slightly and she cleared her throat, looking quickly away again. "I mean, unless we're getting right back to bizzaro dreamland, I guess."
Her correction was too late to prevent Grav from grinning like an idiot. But he was also disappointed that any joke he might have made had been thwarted. "Boo. No fair dropping a line like that and pulling it up before the fish bite."
"Are you tired yet? Cause I'm not."
"Pff, that one was too easy. Wouldn't have been satisfying at all," Kiara retorted with a roll of her eyes. "And no, I'm not particularly tired. Amazing what a few nights in a row of decent sleep and, y'know, not constantly fearing for our lives can do for a person, huh?"
She smiled lopsidedly at him, then shrugged. "If we were closer to my neck of the woods--so much as I have one, I guess--I'd suggest a pub or something. But you're the expert here, not me."
"We could always hit up The Mermaid and hang out with whichever of my friends are there tonight," he offered with a thoughtful shrug. "Either that or The Kraken's Nest, the rowdier, dirtier pub where you can sometimes find pirates. If you're in the mood for rolling the dice, both literally and figuratively."
"Up to you, I think." She shrugged and gave him another quick, sideways smile. "If I was on my own I'd probably end up in a place like The Kraken. But seeing as I have a guide, I'll defer to your greater wisdom of the area."
She bowed theatrically to him, genuflecting with one hand at least twice as many times as was probably called for.
"Well, I still feel bad about bailing on my friends..." Grav scratched his chin.
"But!" He grinned eagerly, not thinking ahead far enough to see the hangover we would inevitably get. "I don't see why we can't do both."
Kiara snorted. "Ambitious, aren't we?" she noted teasingly, then shrugged. "Hey, I'm game. We might even be able to pick up some contacts, if we play our cards right."
Clearly, her own experience with pubs was mostly business related, rather than for fun. Probably not all that surprising, really.
"Oh! I didn't think of that." He thought for a quick moment. "Maybe we should just drop by The Mermaid to say hi then? That way we can start without already being a little drunk."
"Up to you." She smiled and shrugged. "I'm just along for the ride here, Puppy."
Glancing out the window again, she added, "But whatever we're doing, we'd better get started—it'll be dark sooner rather than later."
He looped his arm through hers and smirked playfully. "Then let us go, m'lady. Shall I have Wentworth bring the carriage around?"
"Oh gods." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You joke, but watch that Danny's coachman is actually called Wentworth."
She allowed him to lead them along--both because he was obviously more familiar with where they were going, and because it allowed her to let her attention wander a bit and simply observe the town as they passed through.
Grav shuddered. "Gods, wouldn't that be creepy? Though I would not be remotely surprised by that development."
The town at dusk was rather lovely, the dying light giving the whole place a painterly feel. It spoke to Grav's wanderlust that he would ever want to leave, for it would be easy to become enchanted by the rustic seaside town.
"Oh my gods."
Kiara suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Then she moved her hand from the crook of Grav's elbow to lace her fingers through his and darted between two buildings, right up to the edge of the cliff—or as close as a clearly much-needed safety rail allowed.
"Oh my gods," she whispered, free hand clasped over her mouth. She was looking out at the end of dusk—the last few moments of a sunset—over the ocean.
She'd lived two years in the Faerie Realm, and it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.
Grav laughed as she practically dragged him to the cliff edge along the upper section of town. The lower angle really did have the strange effect of making an already breathtaking view even more beautiful. He had long since taken it for granted, but her excitement made him see it with fresh eyes.
He sighed happily, grinning. "It really is something, isn't it?"
"That's an understatement," Kiara laughed breathlessly. She stared a few moments longer before shaking herself and glancing up at him. "Ah, sorry. Guess I sorta delayed us here, huh?"
Grav moved to wrap his arms around her from behind and kissed her once on the neck.
"We can watch the sunset a little longer," he offered. "The pubs will still be there."
It might, in fact, be the most truly romantic moment they've had since the night he figured out his feelings for her.
She leaned back into him when his arms came around her, and quite without consciously deciding to do so found herself tilting her head against his shoulder to bare more of her neck.
"I guess they will," she agreed with a small smile, and let her hands settle over his. A small part of her quietly marveled at how...easy this was, when they let it be. Especially considering all of the ways it might not have been
It was a common enough thing to wonder, she supposed: would we be here if...?
Not many people got their answer in the form of magical dreams from a wish-granting entity, but yeah. They'd never exactly been the kind of people to be overly fussed with conformity.
Grav kissed her neck again before gently swaying her side to side. As if mirroring her thoughts, he asked, "It's almost enough to make you believe in destiny, isn't it? That we might have ended up together no matter what happened..."
"No pressure," he chuckled.
"No pressure at all," Kiara laughed wryly. Still half-smiling, she tipped her head back to see his face and added, "Though something tells me those other two have some stuff to work through before they end up...y'know."
She gestured vaguely at the way he was holding her to indicate "y'know".
"Sweet on each other?" He smirked, not quite ready to call what they had love, for fear of scaring her off. Although... what he had said made it sound like they were children. That made him feel awkward about it—very, very awkward.
"I could have said that better." He chuckled awkwardly.
"Oh, I don't think it was that bad." She grinned and twisted to kiss his cheek. "Corny, but not bad."
The last rays of sunlight were slipping below the horizon. She sighed quietly, leaning into him for a moment longer, then sighed and murmured, "Guess there's not much excuse to linger here anymore..."
"No," Grav sighed, "I guess not."
He reluctantly released her and looped his arm through hers. "It sure was nice, though."
They started walking again and, eventually, disappeared into The Mermaid to say hello to his friends.
Not that much later, the pair stepped into The Kraken's Nest. Inside was a cacophony of boisterous laughter and shouting that could obviously give way to a bar fight at any given moment. At least if the pirates and other less than reputable sailors that filled the place were any indication.
"I heard they actually had a gnoll play here once," Grav said.
"Really?" Kiara quirked an eyebrow. "I didn't think they came this far north." Smirking, she teased, "Sure that's not just some drunken rumor?"
Judging by the general state of the clientele, that certainly wasn't out of the question.
She dodged a swaying sailor and consequently tucked herself a little closer to Grav's side, shooting a quick glare in the boisterous man's direction before glancing toward the bar. "Maybe this wasn't my best idea," she laughed a little nervously.
"It'll be fiiine. I have actually been here before. Some of dad's crew prefer this place, so we might actually run into someone who knows me," he reassured her.
"Besides, if there is a fight, I think we'll both end up on top," he whispered, lest a drunken sailor see that as a personal challenge.
"You say someone who knows you like you're sure that would be a good thing," Kiara scoffed, but in a tone that meant she was joking. "C'mon, let's get drinks."
Glancing around the place, she added, "...Maybe something that'll keep us clear-headed."
"Yeah, getting drunk probably isn't the best idea. And, well, okay, I might have humiliated a pirate or two in a swordfight, but what are the odds they'd be here now?" He knocked on a support beam for luck.
Kiara groaned. "Oh, don't say that," she complained. "There's no wood hardy enough to knock on to ward off your bad luck when it comes to fateful encounters, Puppy."
Was it her imagination, or was one of the sailors at that table eyeing them funny? Gods, now Grav had her paranoid that every second person they met was going to be out to get him.
"You say bad luck, but I can think of at least one good thing it's brought me," he commented, too engrossed in attempting to sound clever to pay much mind to who may or may not be eyeing them funny.
Now there really was someone staring at them. Though whether it was a glare of anger or of lust was hard to determine.
That was egregious enough to distract Kiara from her potential worry. She groaned and shoved Grav's shoulder lightly, but she was grinning. And--though she would deny it--blushing.
"You're so sweet you're gonna rot my teeth," she accused as they finally made their way to the bar. "They have a cider or something here?"
In the press of bodies all clamoring for the bartender's attention, she didn't notice that the person staring at them had risen from the table to approach.
The man cleared his throat to get her attention. "You're way to pretty to be with a Connloathian dog. Why don't you let ol' Hellbeard show you a good time?"
Grav, having yet to turn around, perked up at the decidedly dumb pirate name. Oh, this is going to be... something.
Oh.
Oh, wonderful.
Kiara's easy smile turned brittle, and the hand she'd rested lightly on Grav's forearm suddenly tightened.
Just barely tilting her head to give the man only a fraction of her attention, she said to Grav with deliberate unconcern, "Oh I'm just fine with my pup, as it happens. And if the smell of whiskey on your breath is any indication I'm not sure you would be up for any idea of a good time, Hellbeard."
Hellbeard reached out as if to grab her arm. But before she could retaliate, Grav caught him by the wrist and smirked at the man. "You never could take no for an answer, could you, Heckscruff?"
"That's Hellbeard to you..." The man blinked, snarling drunkenly, "You!"
"Me!" Grav grinned.
Hellbeard's hand started to move toward her, and Kiara's own hand automatically went for the dagger at the small of her back. But before she could even touch the hilt, there was a moment of recognition.
She groaned aloud. "Oh, perfect." It didn't take much to slide herself between the two men, just a bit, putting herself in a position to guard Grav's throat if the pirate decided to play dirty.
"I take it this is someone who might be looking for a rematch?" she noted over her shoulder to Grav, though she didn't take her eyes off Hellbeard, just waiting for him to make a move.
"Did making fun of his silly name give it away?" Grav asked.
The pirate reddened angrily. "At least my name isn't on letter off from gravy!"
"Really? You've had three years to think of a better insult, and that's the best you've got?" Grav asked, his brow raised.
Hellbeard was at a loss for a moment, muted by indignation. "Like I've had nothing better to do than think about the likes of you!"
"I mean... I did cut your belt off in front of your entire crew. Men like you don't forget that kind of thing."
Someone laughed. The pirate glared them down before turning his back to Grav. "That's it! You, me, outside, now!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, boys." Kiara put her hands up, trying to force some more distance between them. Shooting Grava Look, she continued, "While I'm sure it would provide a fine evening's entertainment for these fine folk, I don't have much interest in the metaphorical dick measuring contest, alright?"
She held Grav's eyes for a moment, then let hers flick toward the table Hellbeard had come from--where half a dozen equally burly and intoxicated pirates were watching, clearly waiting for any sort of signal to turn the situation into an all-out brawl.
Grav sighed. "Listen, Hellbeard, I shouldn't have done you like that. And maybe sometime we can settle this the way you want. But I'm sober and you're drunk, and we have enough on our plate without having to deal with a barfight right now. I'm gonna have to ask for a raincheck." He put all of his considerable charm into it, hoping to deescalate the situation.
There seemed to be some hesitation at that, and Kiara felt her shoulders start to relax a bit. Subtly, she started moving toward the exit, sort of herding Grav along with her in a way she hoped wasn't obvious.
At length, Hellbeard grumbled, "Fine. Shoulda known you'd have coward's legs anyway. Your kind always do."
Kiara tensed again, hackles rising. "And what," she said pleasantly, turning back to the pirate, "is that supposed to mean?"
"Dog's out for himself, innit he?" he scoffed in answer. "Ready to fight when there's glory to it, but otherwise can't be arsed." He smirked, clearly not seeing the danger behind her own smile. "Hidin' behind his girlie, too. Wouldn't have though between the two of ya he'd be the p--"
Kiara decked him.
She really didn't even mean to move, it just sort of...happened. And then she was standing over a pirate twice her size who was bleeding heavily from a clearly broken nose, and she realized what had happened.
"Oh...shit."
Grav wasn't surprised by the punch as much as the ferocity of it. Not that he blamed her one bit. Hellbeard had that effect on people.
"As romantic as that was," he said with a nervous smile, "maybe we sh--"
Someone sucker-punched him. "... run," he said, spitting out a gob of bloody saliva.
"Yup." Kiara ducked another fist and darted for the door. "Running seems good!"
Oh my gods I cannot believe I just did that. Was she an idiot?! Between fight and flight, fight was never her go-to option! And here she had been trying to back Grav down from the conflict.
...Sweet stars, he was never going to let her forget this.
Grav ran after her, deftly sidestepping a fist and leaning to avoid another. It'd be impressive if she was actually looking, but he had to remind himself that such things didn't matter when running away. What was more important was remembering she started it this time!
The aimless fighting thankfully delayed Hellbeard and his drunken crew more than it did two fighters with more agility than the pirates had sober. But that didn't stop the pirate captain from shouting after them as they got some distance from the tavern, "That's right! Run away with your tail between your legs like the yellow bellied land-lubber you are! And never show your face in The Kraken again!"
Once they'd made it a few streets away, Kiara reached for Grav's hand and ducked down an alley between two houses. She fetched up against the wall, panting.
"Well."
She looked up at him sidelong with a sheepish smile. "That was...not my best move, I'll admit."
Grav laughed between panting breaths. "No, that did not go according to plan." He grinned. "And it wasn't even my fault for once!"
"But... seriously... if anyone had it coming, it's that idiot. We were never gonna get through that without a fight."
"Maybe." She sighed and let her head fall back, eyes closed. "I still shouldn't have hit him. It was stupid."
...It had been satisfying, though. If painful.
She shook her hand out lightly with a small chuckle before examining her knuckles. Her form had been bad—she was definitely going to have bruises, though luckily she hadn't broken anything. "Damn. I haven't actually thrown a punch in a long time, I'm out of practice."
"Then I'd hate to see you at top form." Grav smirked. "As you are, I'm pretty sure you broke his nose."
"His grudge most definitely extends to the both of us now. But, at least the o--nevermind. I'm not tempting fate again tonight."
She laughed, nodding quickly. "Yeah, probably the smart move." Head tilted, she gave him a crooked smile and added a little more softly, "Well, guess we should be heading back to your place. Unless there anything else in Griffonbeak's nightlife that I should see?"
"Not unless you want to head back to The Mermaid and drown the shame of running away from Hellbeard." He just couldn't get past how stupid he thought that name was, but he supposed smart people didn't become pirates.
Kiara laughed and shook her head. "Nah. Something tells me with the way our luck is going tonight, a few drinks might be the end of us."
She grinned crookedly at him and linked her arm through his. "Home?"
He grinned back at her with equal crookedness. "Home."
In the dream...
"Your... Da? I take it I'm not going to enjoy this," he commented, gulping.
He frantically looked around the forest, expecting... hells, he didn't know what to expect, he just knew it was bad.
"I don't think any of us are," Kiara muttered, glaring down at the glowing amulet beneath the collar of her shirt.
For all the worry between rider and dragon, their guest's appearance was actually rather understated, when it came: the amulet abruptly stopped glowing, the metal cooling against her skin, and then a voice came from the trees behind them.
"Well. This was not where I expected to find you."
Kiara closed her eyes, sighed, then turned to face the Autumn Prince. Her father was dressed rather plainly, for him, in crushed green velvet with only three rings between both hands--though his thin gold circlet did rest on his brow. Strangely, he seemed at once both perfectly at home and deeply out of place in the trees around them. A courtier of nature out of his court.
"And hello to you, too." Kiara swallowed; in all the time she'd had the amulet, her father had never actively sought her out with it before.
Aeolthaine looked the small group over, a faint line forming between his brows. "...Just what are you doing here?"
"Ah! Hail and well met! We were looking for a place in which to camp for the night, good sir... Fae?" Dan felt obliged to fall back on his training in courtly manners. However, upon realizing just what he was addressing, he faltered. He immediately shot Kiara an irritated look for not warning him.
If they'd had the time, Kiara might have responded to his pointed look with a irritable snap about how she hadn't exactly been expecting her father to just pop up out of nowhere, and frankly outside of this very specific and unlikely situation her parentage was none of his damned business.
"Your Highness will do," Aeolthaine told Dan with a hint of a frown, before he returned his attention to Kiara. "You have not answered my question."
She sighed. "It's a long story, Da. What are you doing here?"
The frown deepened. "I had planned to deliver a summons--though I had expected to deliver it to you in Serendipity, as you seem disinclined to visit without cause."
"Well gosh, I wonder why that might be," Kiara huffed, rolling her eyes. "You've never given me a summons before--why now?"
"That is for the King to discuss with you, not myself," Aeolthaine replied briskly. There was a pause, then he added in a fractionally softer tone, "I...felt your magic in Connlaoth. I thought perhaps it would be prudent to deliver your summons now, so I might...assess the situation."
Kit huffed quietly with something that might have been surprise; in fae-speak, that sounded dangerously like an admission of worry for Kiara's safety.
Dan resisted the urge to speak out of turn, instead sidestepping to Kit's side. Leaning in close, he whispered, "Since you can apparently talk... Just who is this guy, and should I be worried?"
The dragon snorted—perhaps somewhat indignantly—and looked down at the young nobleman sidelong.
"That," he tumbled quietly, "is the High Prince of the Autumn Court of the fae. Next in line to the throne—though that doesn't always mean much, with immortals." He paused, then added even more quietly, "Yes. You probably should be worried."
He certainly was.
"Well, consider the situation assessed," Kiara was saying blithely, arms already wide. "I'm quite well, as you can see. And I've received your summons, so...we done here?"
Aeolthaine's brow furrowed a bit more and he glanced at her companions, then said something quickly in a lilting, silvery language that had to be Sylvan.
Kiara frowned in turn and snapped something back in the same language, subtly moving herself to stand between her father and Dan.
While it wounded his pride to have a woman shield him, he understood that he was the weak one in this scenario. Nervously, he said, "Not a fan of Connloathians, I assume."
He wasn't so sure he was anymore. At least, not of those in charge.
"Not a fan of human men," Kiara muttered back. "The Connlaothian bit is just gravy on the irritation meatloaf."
For the briefest moment, her father's mouth seemed to twitch in the semblance of an amused smirk at that—and for that brief moment, the resemblance between the two was striking.
Then his expression sobered again and he nodded to his daughter once, rigidly. "I've said my piece. The king will be expecting you ere the moon grows full again."
Kiara gritted her teeth, but nodded back. "Understood."
"Good." The prince hesitated. "Do you...need anything?" His eyes cut toward Dan, and he offered with obvious reluctance, "To assist yourself or your companion?"
Uncertain if he was supposed to speak at that moment, he did his best to show proper respect this time. "No, your highness. Your daughter is quite capable of keeping herself safe. Herself and the hapless mortal she has taken pity on."
Aeolthaine stared at him for a long moment, expressionless, before looking back to Kiara.
She sighed. "I— We're fine, Da. Really."
Could her father have helped them out of their current predicament with the Connlaothian mage underground? Maybe. But there was every chance his idea of "helping them out" would involve turning the rebels to toads or sparrows or something. She'd rather not risk it.
The Prince nodded again, once. "Very well. I will take my leave." He paused, eyes on his daughter, then said in a slightly stilted tone, "Take—take care, Kiara."
And as suddenly as he'd appeared, he was gone.
Dan was visibly relieved, his legs almost jelly as he supported himself on a tree. "Sweet, merciful Ansgar. I thought he was going to turn me into a newt or something dreadful."
Kiara snorted, but she leaned back against the trunk of a nearby tree herself, as though her own legs were a little shaky. "Well, that was...unexpected," she mumbled, dragging a hand down her face.
Kit snorted his vehement agreement and dropped his head to nose at her shoulder. You okay?
She shot him a quick, grateful look and nodded before looking to their companion. "Oi, Puppy. Ready to move out?"
"Are we just not going to talk about the fact that you're a fairy princess?" he asked, his mind still reeling from the revelation. It was the very last thing he would have guessed about his companion.
"And you're a disgraced nobleman on the run from both your murderous house and the mage underground, so we all have our own shit to deal with, don't we?" Kiara snapped back, eyes flashing with a hint of green fire for half a moment.
Kit rumbled, and she took a breath, then let it out slowly. A bit more calm, she muttered, "I am not a princess. My father is a prince. It's...not quite the same thing."
Dan took another moment to regain his wits. She was right, of course. They were both trying to get out from something assigned to them by virtue of parentage. And though she was of royal fae blood, she wasn't a princess.
"My apologies. Your father's sudden and unexpected appearance rattled me something fierce."
He stood up straight. "I believe the moment has passed. Let us continue."
With a single chuckle, he added, "I might have actually had fewer problems as a newt."
Kiara chuckled, then sighed almost wistfully. "Wouldn't we all," she muttered, scrubbing both hands down her face.
There was another moment of silence in which she just stared intently at the place where her father had disappeared. Then she shook herself and nodded quickly. "Yeah, let's get a move on. We still need to figure out how to get this relic to the right people without it costing us our hides."
They soon found the streambed that led them to the cave. It was just big enough to fit all three of them. At least, if Kit curled up.
The following morning...
Realizing they were low on supplies, a decision was reluctantly made for the two bipeds to venture into the nearby sleepy town of Ondunne. The dragon didn't like it, but Dan was confident no one there would know his face. After all, what were the odds?
"We go in, we get what we need, and we leave," Kiara was saying as she followed Dan into town. Much as she disliked admitting it, it simply made more sense for him to take the lead in an area he knew better. "And I still think we should have colored your hair or--or something."
"With what, pray tell? Mud?" Dan asked as if the idea were unthinkable. He was just vain enough to fight her on it if she really was thinking that. Wasn't it bad enough that he had to cut his beautiful hair.
"Or soot," Kiara replied with a shrug. "Anything that'll make you look less like you long enough for us to get the over with." She adjusted the strap of her pack over one shoulder and looked around warily. It didn't seem like they were getting suspicious looks...
Dan continued forward as if nothing could possibly go wrong. Only a child of privilege could be so cavalier, reinforcing the idea that he'd be dead without her. Long dead at this point.
"The store isn't far, though I've never had cause to enter."
"Of course you haven't," Kiara muttered as she increased her stride to keep up with him. "Do you even know the sorts of supplies we're looking for?"
It hadn't occurred to her until then that he might not, so she hadn't bothered briefing him before they set out. Oh boy.
"Of course I do," Dan huffed. "Salted meat, hardtack..."
He left the sentence hanging, frowning as he scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"Oh gods." Kiara rolled her eyes and started in on the list of supplies they would be looking for—it would be easier and quicker to find everything if they divided the work up between them, but that meant he needed to know what they were getting.
She was so intent on the task that she didn't notice the two sets of eyes following them as they entered the general store—or the way the two figures faded back into the crowd with intention, as though intending to make a report.
Dan took a mental note of the items he was supposed to find. The task seemed simple enough. He didn't know why servants were even necessary for things so easy.
He turned back and, before beginning his mission, confidently proclaimed, "Don't you worry. I've got this."
Gods. He was going to get something entirely wrong, wasn't he?
It took a not inconsiderable amount of willpower for Kiara not to scrap the idea of "divide and conquer" and simply shadow him like a mother hen to make sure he didn't screw up.
It was fine. Worst came to worst, if he forgot anything too important, they would just waste a little more time finding it. Which was what she kept telling herself as she set about procuring her own half of the supplies before returning to their agreed meeting point about half an hour later.
He was a few minutes late—just enough to show his inexperience managing his own time. When the nobleman did show, it was with mostly the right stuff. A few of the food items were too perishable, and at least one thing wasn't even on the list.
"See? Easy."
"...Uh-huh." Kiara sorted through the supplies he'd found, and ultimately decided it wasn't worth nit-picking right that moment. They'd just have to go through the perishable food first, and--
"Alright, why do we need this?" she asked, holding up a carved bone flute that had certainly not been on the list she gave him. She wasn't going to make him put it back--if he wanted to waste his coin that was his business--but she decided she was going to tease him about it.
"Once we part ways, I'm going to need something to keep myself sane," was his shrugged response.
"But, as I'm paying for it, you needn't worry. I shan't be annoying you with my, admittedly mediocre, fluting either."
"Alright, alright." She rolled her eyes and returned the flute to his bundle. "Just don't act all shocked when you run out of coin." Arching an eyebrow, she added dryly, "You do know coin runs out, yes? Or is that never an issue you've had to deal with?"
As she spoke, she started back up the main road through town. All in all, she'd consider that a successful outing--and no hunters on their tail. Maybe they could get this whole thing over with easier than she'd thought.
She should have known better than to even think something so optimistic.
"I know very well that coin is not unlimited. My family is not so well off as to not have bottoms in their pockets," Dan said, minorly offended but still in his usual annoyingly high spirits. Of course, he was used to his pockets being much deeper.
"We should hurry back to your brother, though. I'm sure the big guy is worried."
At least he had the sense to avoid words like 'House' and 'dragon' in public.
"Yeah, yeah." As they neared the edge of town, she considered doubling back--it was a habit she'd picked up to avoid being tailed, but...
She glanced around. None of the faces or figures around them were overly familiar, which meant they weren't being followed. Probably best not to waste the time then.
"You're right, he does tend to fret," she sighed as she started forward again. she suddenly stumbled, as though tripping over something, but the path was clear. "Whoa." She frowned and tried to blink away the sudden dizziness--it was as though she'd passed through an invisible barrier and suddenly her entire equilibrium was off.
Like a proper gentleman, he rushed to catch her before she fell. "Goodness! Are you alright?"
He didn't know what he'd do without her help. Find himself in irons, most likely. Or even dead, slain by his brother's assassins.
"I--" She squinted as the dizziness started to pass. "I'm...fine."
It took her a moment to realize why the world still felt tilted at an odd angle; she had essentially swooned in Dan's arms, and he was still holding her.
She jerked away from him quickly, clearing her throat as her face heated. "Ah, sorry. That was...weird. I'm fine now, though, really. Er, thanks."
She still felt a little off--gods, it would be just her luck to be coming down with something now--but she was so flustered by the situation that she didn't much want to dwell on it. If it was a serious issue, she would deal with it once they were back with Kit and moving out again.
"Are you sure?" he asked. The way she was brushing it off worried him. He didn't want to be surprised by some condition she didn't tell him about.
"I'm sure we can spare a moment if you need to sit down."
"No, really, I'm fine." She had to work to keep her tone out of "snappish" territory--he was just being cautious, which was reasonable. She just didn't like it when people treated her as though she was fragile. "I dunno what that was, some weird moment of vertigo, but I'm fine now. C'mon."
She started walking again without giving him a chance to force her to rest, reaching out to Kit as they got closer to where they'd left the dragon that morning.
You ready to get moving?
Should be. His voice in her mind was sleepy, as though he'd just roused himself. Bit drowsy, but I'll be good to fly in a few minutes.
She frowned. She was dizzy, and Kit was suddenly drowsy. That was...odd.
The feeling continued to strengthen as they got closer to Kit. At least, until the twig snapped.
"Well, damn it all..." a voice to the side said with a sigh. How the hells was someone following them that close?
Kiara whipped around toward the noise, hand going for the dagger at her hip. "Show yourself," she hissed at the sound even as she fell back a bit toward Dan--he was the one most likely being hunted, after all.
Silently, she threw a warning down her mental link to Kit.
A young man in the armor of a Mordecai stepped out of the trees. The haughty, smarmy look he cast towards Dan suggested the two men were well acquainted, but it seemed a lucky bonus to tracking down a dangerous mage.
"I knew you liked dangerous women, Gravaudan, but I do believe you've bitten off more than you can chew," he taunted.
"Cazador! He would send a corrupt little toadie like you to hunt us down," Dan retorted.
Caz laughed derisively. "Welcome to how the world really works. To that end, I'll make you a deal: stand aside and let me have the mage girl, and I'll help you get out of the country myself. Believe it or not, I'd prefer not to condemn an innocent man."
"Hey now." Kiara scowled, glancing back and forth between the two men as she tried to get a handle on just how well they knew each other. If they'd been friends, Dan might not be willing to fight him--then again, suppressed animosity released in a burst could be what they needed to clear their path. "The mage girl can speak for herself, thank you very much. And you're not having anything."
She narrowed her eyes at the Mordecai, flexing her fingers around the hilt of her dagger. Kit, we need you here!
I--I'm on my way. His voice was sluggish in her mind, and worry clenched tight in her gut.
"So you're why I've been feeling off-kilter," she said aloud in Caz's general direction, trying to stall for time until the dragon arrived. "I gotta say, I've been wondering just what exactly a Mordecai's aura would feel like." She wrinkled her nose at him. "Can't say I care for it."
"I could say the same of the smell of a filthy mage. They say to hate the magic but not the mage, but honestly, your accursed kind makes my skin crawl." Caz dramatically shuddered in revulsion.
He drew his sword and stepped closer. "I wouldn't count on your dragon swooping in to save you. I have crossbowmen armed with anti-dragon bolts sweeping the forest as we speak. Nasty bit of poison, those."
"Oi." Kiara lifted one eyebrow as though mildly offended. "I bathed two days ago. I do not smell."
But the moment he threatened Kit, all posturing was gone in a blink. She actually paled at his mentioned of poison, and her jaw went tight. Taking a menacing step forward, she snarled, "If he has so much as a nicked scale, I'll rip you to pieces with my own damned teeth."
Heat was gathering in her gut, in her chest. She didn't think much of it--her magic always responded to her emotions, and in her flash of panic for Kit's safety, she didn't think of the fact that in the presence of a mordecai, that should be impossible.
Dan was wracked with indecision. On the one hand, she had saved his life, and he owed her the same. On the other hand, she was a practicing mage and a foreign criminal in league with pro-mage radicals. Not to mention that Caz had the resources to help him disappear and could guarantee his safety in a way that Kiara could not.
But, on yet another hand, Caz couldn't be trusted to live up to his promise. And even if he could, something inside of him was screaming at him to help her. Though, to his shame, he was still afraid to throw the chance away.
Caz smirked. "Oh, but you won't be in any condition to make good on that threat." He lunged, sword point racing for her throat.
Kiara's dagger came up in a flash of metal, just barely in time to force the mordecai's blade to skate against its edge rather than sink into her throat.
Kit, hide! she shouted down their link as she fell back a step, teeth still bared at Caz. His men have anti-dragon weapons--he said poison, I think it's dragonsbane.
I'm not just going to leave you to--!
"Don't argue, just hide!" Kiara snapped, both aloud and in her mind. Dancing to keep out of reach of the mordecai's sword strikes took nearly all of her attention, she was losing focus to keep their conversation strictly mental.
She spun on her back foot, drawing her second dagger, and didn't seem to notice the sparks that kicked up from her heel--or how the edges of her blades seemed to shimmer with heat.
"Tell your--" Caz's blade sliced the air where her stomach had been only moments before. "--beast to hide all you want." The sword sparked against her daggers. "It can't hide forever."
Kiara snarled again. Her eyes sparked. Her sun-tanned skin seemed to be suddenly lit up from within--and quite abruptly she looked like something Other. Something not human.
Nothing about her actually changed; the point to her ears grew no sharper, she didn't sprout wings, her eyes were the same dark-fire green they'd always been. But all at once the cluster of distinctly fae features scattered over her form seemed to be all one could focus on. There was a power around her, the same kind of presence that her father had had when he appeared to them in the forest the night before--like she was something existing in the world, and yet apart from it.
"Leave. My brother. Alone." Her voice echoed with an undercurrent of snapping flame. The sparks that had been dancing around her heels whirled up to her waist, and the air around her grew furnace-hot.
This wasn't mortal magic. This wasn't a snap of her fingers to light a campfire or a subtle sculpting of Kit's firebreath. This was the power of the royal line of the fae, as much an inherent part of the natural world as the rushing of a river or the wind of a hurricane, and there was nothing a mordecai's aura could do to stop it.
Nothing Kiara's mortal body could do to contain it.
Caz stepped back, unprepared for any show of power from his target. His eyes widened with fear from the sight. "This... this isn't possible... You can't be doing this..."
Dan, too, was surprised by the unexpected development. She shouldn't be able to do such a thing. Unless, he wondered, the fae magic in her didn't shrink before the presence of a Mordecai. No matter the reason, she didn't seem to need his help. But... Kit did.
"I..." He gulped, suddenly reaching a decision. "I'll protect Kit; you focus on giving this blackguard what he deserves."
The only answer Kiara gave him was to cut her eyes briefly in his direction and nod once.
Then she exploded forward, daggers a blur as fire licked around her hands. She slashed for the mordecai's throat with one hand and his gut with the other while the foliage beneath her feet hissed and sputtered--luckily most of it was too wet to burn, but the flames that burst from her every step summoned plumes of smoke from the underbrush.
She'd never felt like this; her magic had always been a part of her, but a part of her that she could channel, could mold and shape and control. Yes, in the last year or so it had become more draining to use, she'd known something was different, but this...
She was the fire, leaping and dancing and twisting through flame as the tenor of her battle with Caz shifted. She was the one pressing him back now, metal singing against metal as her daggers struck again, again, again, and the heat of her magic literally glowed from her skin.
It was all that the Mordecai could do to block her strikes with his blade. "What are you?!" he demanded as he was driven back.
Dan raced through the forest in the direction of where Kit had been waiting for them, his eyes peeled for hunter and hunted alike. The irony of a future knight racing to save a dragon was not lost on him as he prayed to—Hells, he didn't even know anymore—that he'd make it in time.
What was she?
"...My father's daughter."
And she erupted into flame.
By the time Dan made it back to the cave where they had spent the night, Kit had clearly been found out. The young dragon was crouched in the cave's entrance, snarling and snapping as the half dozen archers who were steadily closing into a tight semi-circle around it. Fire crackled in a line just in front of the dragon--clearly he'd been trying to ward them off--but with the way he was surrounded he couldn't take off without making himself an even easier tarted for their poison-tipped barbs.
The crossbowmen were so focused on the dragon that Dan had an opportunity to ambush the hunters. Before they could react, he pulled up behind one of them and brought the blade of his sword to the man's throat. Several of them took aim in his direction, but none had a clean shot.
"Drop your weapons and walk away, lest my blade slip," he commanded.
Caz howled in pain as he recoiled, dropping his red-hot sword. He frantically pulled off his scalding gauntlet and stared in horror at his burned hand. "You... You've ruined me!"
None of the archers obeyed, but none of them tried to shoot either.
"You're outnumbered, milord," one of them called, putting a bit of caustic emphasis on the title. "And in enough trouble as it is. Don't make this worse."
Kit growled from where he was crouched in the mouth of the cave, and one of the men shifted his grip on his bow meaningfully.
Kiara laughed, high and wild. "Good."
She kicked his blade away and leveled one dagger at his throat, fire still dancing around her. Her clothes had started to burn away, but her skin was untouched. "Leave. Now."
"If I surrender to you, I'm as good as dead. My brother will see to that." Dan's sword drew a trickle of blood. "Now what's more important to you; the life of a comrade or hunting down a young dragon whose only crime was saving my life?"
"As loathe casting myself as a villain, but I've been left little recourse."
The Mordecai practically quaked in his greaves before turning tail and running away.
Slowly, one at a time, the archers lowered their bows.
"Caz isn't paying enough for this," one of them muttered.
Kit exhaled a plume of smoke as they began to back off. The one Dan held was stiff and silent in his grip, though he didn't protest his comrade's retreat.
Then, suddenly, the dragon's head swung in the direction Dan had come, gold eyes frantic. Kia? Kia!
"Good--" Kiara coughed. Her throat was raw, as though she'd been screaming. Or exposed to severe heat. "Riddance..."
Her knees buckled. The flames dancing along her body began to sputter and fade, and her eyes fluttered shut.
Dan released the poor man and suggested he run. As the man did so, the young noble noticed Kit's expression. Somehow, though he couldn't explain it, he knew Kiara was in danger.
He broke into a run, gesturing for the dragon to follow. "This way!"
Kit launched after him, stymied slightly by the close press of trees and foliage but still loving at a quick clip.
They found Kiara sprawled on the ground, no mordecai in sight, with undergrowth smoldering around her. Her shirt and breeches had been half burned away, and her skin still shimmered gentle, as though under a heat haze.
It didn't look like she was breathing.
Kit made a strangled, whimpering sound that didn't seem like it should—or even could—come from a dragon, and threw himself onto the ground beside her. "Kia?" he whispered, nosing at her shoulder. "Kia..."
She took a low, ragged breath.
Had he done the wrong thing by leaving her? Or would he even have made a difference? He supposed he'd never know.
He had made it half way to her side, ready to attempt to resuscitate her, when the gods granted her another breath. Relief washed over him as he closed the distance to kneel beside her. "Give her some room," he all but commanded, scalding his fingers to slide his pack under her neck for support. "Hot hot hot hot!"
Then he gently slapped her cheek to try to rouse her. "Stay with us!"
"Kia, please," Kit begged, "just open your eyes. Please..."
She didn't. Back in bed with Grav, safe, she still didn't open her eyes.
And she was running hot. They had been traveling together long enough that Grav would be used to her magic occasionally fluctuating in her sleep—but it usually didn't last long.
Cramped together on his childhood bed, the fever-hot feel to her skin was nearly overpowering. And her breathing wasn't the same even rhythm as peaceful sleep, but the sort of stuttered, ragged gasps of a nightmare.
Grav's eyes shot open. "Oh come on! You can't end there!" he exclaimed.
Then he registered an all-too-familiar heat from Kiara. "Kiara?" Eyes wide, he shook her shoulders. "Kiara!" He shook her harder. "Kiara, wake up!"
If Kit had been within reach, he might have been able to use their three-branched connection to aid in Grav's attempts. As it was, Kiara simply moaned softly as he shook her, but didn't wake.
The veins in her wrist and neck had started to glow subtly, as though those closest to the surface of her skin were running with fire rather than blood. Her eyes flickered restlessly beneath their lids and her back arched slightly as though she was trying to buck off an invisible assailant.
Her skin grew even warmer, creeping away from "fever-hot" and toward something almost dangerous to touch.
Grav hissed from the sudden heat burning his hands, but he kept shaking her and calling her name until he couldn't stand it any longer. He scrambled out their awkward sleeping arrangement and ran to open the door.!
His mother was already running to see what was the matter. "I heard shouting! What's wrong?"
He gulped and hurried her inside. "Something bad happened in the dream, and now she's literally burning hot and won't wake up," he explained fretfully. "It's got to be her magic. The other Kiara went all out, and, well, it eats up her life every time she uses it."
"Kit might know what to do, but he's out of reach."
Imira nodded, not fully understanding the situation but understanding enough. "Draw some water from the well and get your father. Between a wet rag and his magic, we just might be able to cool her down."
Shortly after, Kiara had cool water on her forehead and a wind mage blowing cool air over everywhere else.
The cool water and wind seemed to be helping; Kiara was less restless, at any rate, and slowly but surely the temperature of her skin began to decrease.
Eventually, she came awake with a start, throwing out one hand as though to ward something off as she cried out in Sylvan. Fire leaped from her fingers in a quick burst, then died away again quickly.
It took a moment for reality to set in and she just sat there, swaying slightly in place and panting as she struggled to make sense of the world around her.
Relief poured through him as she awoke. He hadn't been this terrified since he thought she was dead. "Easy, easy," Grav said soothingly. "You're okay. No sense burning the house down."
"Uhg...Grav?"
She blinked, struggling to bring him into focus. Then she groaned and doubled over, clutching at her head with both hands.
"Hurts," she managed to grit out. "Everything...everything hurts."
It felt like she'd been lit on fire from the inside, and though her magic was thankfully not firing off randomly, the burned-empty feeling she got after overextending herself lingered in every inch of her body.
Whimpering quickly, she curled in on herself, eyes tight shut. Her amulet swung loose from the neck of her shirt--she didn't notice that it had started to glow, much the way it had in their shared dreams.
Grav was far too preoccupied with her health to notice the glow either. Varren, though, couldn't miss it. "Excuse me, but what is that light?" the sailor asked, fearful of another complication.
"Light? What li--oh..." Grav had no idea how to explain that without spilling her secrets, but he supposed those secrets were about to spill themselves. "I think you're about to find out."
Kiara whimpered as another pulse of aching pain rang through her, and she couldn't get out much more than a half-gasped, "I'm...sorry...about this," before the glow from her amulet brightened further and the metal warmed to the touch.
It wasn't like when he'd appeared to them before--either in the dream or the waking world--where he simply melted out of the space between trees as though he had always been there.
No. In a very human world, Aeolthaine had to make a human entrance. The glow from Kiara's amulet flickered, and then there was a sharp knock at the front door.
"Stay with her. I'll get it," Grav sighed wearily. This was going to be fun.
He left the room and moved to the front door. After taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, he opened the door. "Hello, your highness."
For someone who had seemed so concerned with social niceties--although perhaps not necessarily human ones--the last time they had met, the Autumn Prince was decidedly short when he snapped out, "Where is she?"
It seemed to take a moment for him to actually recognize Grav, but when he did he paused. His brow furrowed slightly. "You. I know you. She brought you through the barrier." He seemed mildly surprised that Grav was still accompanying his daughter.
Then there was a pulse of power, subtle enough that only Aeolthaine could feel it, and he quickly shifted back to his initial impatience and demanded, "Take me to my daughter. Now."
The demand was unnecessary, as Grav was already preparing to do just that. "I'm glad you're here. I don't know what to do to help her."
He did his best to fill the prince in on the situation, conveniently leaving out that they had been sleeping in the same bed. Just letting him know that they were more than friends and were sharing a magical dream was terrifying enough.
Aeolthaine gave no outward indication that he was actually listening as Grav led him to where Kiara was still curled up in the bed, other than a single brisk nod when they reached her.
"I am afraid I've no time for typical niceties," he told the two humans--he assumed the family of the one who had been guiding him--as he swept into the room. "Ask the boy if you've questions, and give me room."
Kaira blinked fuzzily. Her head was pounding, and she barely had the strength to groan out an embarrassed, "Da...it's their house..."
"Hush, firefly." Very abruptly, the Prince's demeanor changed. Though he had shown hints of concern for Kiara's safety, both in the dream and when they had visited his Court, he had hardly seemed to be the most parental of figures--especially compared to Grav's mother and father.
But as he knelt in front of the bed and took both of Kiara's hands in one of his, the other reaching up to brush sweat-slick curls off her brow, there was suddenly very clear emotion on his face: worry, confusion, fear, love.
"Steady, steady," he murmured when Kiara pitched and swayed, collapsing back onto her side. "It will be alright, little one. Just breathe." He began to glow faintly--much like the gold-burning veins Kiara's wild magic had caused, but much softer. A warm hearth as compared to a forest fire.
Kiara sighed, eyes fluttering closed and her breathing beginning to even out as his magic swept over her. Without turning his head, Aeolthaine said in a once again quick, sharp tone, "If there is any trace of a rowan or hazel in this house, bring it to me."
Imira and Varren gave their son a perplexed look. He nodded for them to cooperate. "We'll explain later. Just do what he says. If anyone can help her, he can."
Imira gave a quick nod and flew from the room. She returned in practically no time at all, handing over a sprig of hazel freshly cut from her herb garden. "I hope this will do. I don't have any dried."
The fae prince took it quickly, and only a few moments later seemed to remember to say a curt, "My thanks."
He cupped the spring in his palm, then closed his fingers around it. Heat radiated from his closed fist, and when he opened his hand again the sprig was ash. Shifting onto the bed so that he could cradle his daughter in the crook of one arm, he tipped her head back and poured the ash into her mouth.
That was enough to earn a sputtering protest from Kiara, but he said in low, firm voice, "You need protection. This is fastest."
She blinked, clearly still not entirely lucid, but nodded and swallowed--though she made a face as she did, like a child forced to take cough medicine. Some of the tension seemed to leave her father's shoulders and he laid her back down on the bed.
"I--" Kiara coughed, struggling to keep her eyes open. "I feel...heavy."
"That's alright." Aeolthaine stroked a hand over her hair. "Rest, firefly. I'll do what I can."
She stared at him blearily for a moment, then sighed, nodded weakly, and allowed her eyes to drift closed. Her breathing quickly dropped into the rhythm of sleep.
"You said in the dreamscape you share that she had fought a mordecai when she lost control of her magic?" Aeolthaine asked quickly, looking up from her unconscious form to seek out Grav in the room. "What were the effects? Were there any physical changes? How did her magic respond?"
Grav did his best to recall as many details as he could. "Her Fae side became impossible to overlook, and she sparked with magical fire. Then my other ran off to help Kit. When he came back, her clothes were half burned off, and she was hot to the touch. She wasn't responsive, but she was breathing. That's when I woke up. When I checked on her, she was in much the same state."
He was in no hurry to explain their sleeping arrangement. This wasn't the time for the 'I'm in love with your daughter' discussion. That unpleasantness could never come, as far as he was concerned.
Aeolthaine closed his eyes for a moment, jaw tight, then released a slow breath. "I worried it was something like that..."
Turning back to Kiara and raising both hands to hover over her, he began to explain, "Hae-faeries--or halfings, some call them--are incredibly rare, even among the children of fae and mortals. Usually, when our kinds mix, they result in one of two things: a fae creature with slight mortal quirks--perhaps their hair or eye color, or a slightly weaker natural magic--or a mortal with some physical evidence of fae heritage and perhaps a very slight magical gift." He sighed. "Technically, Kiara falls into the later category. But her magic has always been volatile; I do not know if it is because her fae heritage stems from a royal line, or because her mother was dragon-touched, or--or maybe it is simply dumb luck. Whatever the reason, while her body is mortal, the power that she can call through it is distinctly fae."
He moved his hands slowly over her body, a faint dusting of golden shimmers falling from his palms to settle over her. It was unclear if he was offering the explanation because it was necessary, or if it was something of a way to keep himself grounded as he worked.
"If she were a true hae-faerie, this would not be a problem. I would have been able to teach her to control and channel her power. But as it is..." Another heavy exhale, tinged with both worry and weariness. "In that dreamscape, the mordecai's aura would have prevented any instinctive failsafe in her body from stopping the reach of her power. Her usual magic, the small sparks and shaping of flame--that is mortal magic. It should be all she is capable of. But as she's grown, that small pool has...eroded the gap between her fae and mortal heritages. If she reaches the end of it, rather than simply being offered no more power to wield, her magic taps into a power she cannot hope to withstand. Not in a mortal body."
Slowly, the golden dusting streaming from his hands trickled to a stop. He sat back with a quiet breath, as though stretching up after a long time spent crouched. "It sounds as though the dreaming version of her has...accidentally accomplished what I have been asking Kiara to consider doing for years." He dragged a hand down his face--a strangely human gesture. "With the pool of her mortal power blocked, fae magic consumed her. And, since it evidently didn't kill her, it...changed her. I would have preferred to undertake the process with significantly more safeguards in place, but..."
He shook his head, then looked to Grav with a slight frown. "Whatever is happening to you two, these are no mere dreams. You know that. But I do not think you realize to what extend you are connected to them--the Kiara you saw in that dreamscape has become fae. And her link to this Kiara, the Kiara we know, is strong enough that it triggered a response in her magic." He looked back to his daughter, mouth a tight line. "She is running out of time to make her choice."
"What happens if she chooses to remain mortal?" Grav asked. She had told him, but he wasn't ready to accept that it was true that her life would end far sooner than his own.
"Does this change that?"
Aeolthaine closed her eyes with a low, careful exhale. After a long, long moment, he admitted:
"...I do not know."
He shook his head. "I do not know; without an outside influence, I would say her magic would eventually burn through her lifeforce. That could have taken months, years, maybe decades, but she would have been robbed of the life she could have lived. Now..."
Frowning, he turned to look at Grav. "This link, this connection, it...it has done something to the balance of power within her. Within you both, I believe."
Grav couldn't help but raise a brow at that last addition. "What do you mean, both?"
"No, nevermind, she's who's important right now. Are you saying she might survive as a mortal now?"
Aeolthaine suddenly stood, dark eyes snapping with an inner fire of their own as his presence seemed to momentarily sucked the air from the room. "I don't know!"
His voice was a thunderclap, nature run wild—and then it stopped as he clenched his jaw and took a breath, clearly trying to calm himself. It seemed that he wasn't actually angry at Grav, he was...scared.
"I don't..." He swallowed. "I don't know," he repeated, much more softly. "It...may be possible. But if she did—this was not done in balance. If she chose a mortal life, she would lose all that marks her Fae heritage. Her magic, whatever improved senses she has, all gone." Another sigh and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Not to even mention what it may do to her bond with Kittsareyn."
He looked up as though suddenly remembering something. "Where is the dragon?"
"Kit's..." he began, eyes widening. "Shit. He has the dream too. He's definitely already on his way, and freaking out to boot."
"I'm this close to losing it myself." His expression at that moment clearly showed more worry than a simple friend would have.
"Good." Aeolthaine sighed yet again. "Good. It will be best if I can...explain all this to him as well."
Now that Kiara didn't seem to be in immediate danger, and he was no longer actively working magic on her, he gave Grav an evaluating look. "You were with her," he noted, brow slightly furrowed. "You and that Serenian boy. A human lord. I...did not expect you would still be traveling with her."
It was an innocuous enough statement, but there was clearly a question in his tone: why were Grav and Kiara still together?
"I... err... well..." Grav shrank under the prince's scrutiny. He knew he couldn't talk his way out of answering. "A lot happened, you see, and, one thing leading to another, we became quite... close."
He coughed dramatically. "Romantically."
For a long, long moment, the High Prince of the Autumn Court simply stared at him, utterly expressionless.
Then he said, quite succinctly, "Well...fuck." Eyes closed, he rubbed at his temple and declared, "I am going to need the strongest alcohol you mortals have available."
Varren couldn't help but laugh. Composing himself, he said with a grin, "Aye! And I happen to have just the stuff—the absolute worst rotgut money can buy."
"Come. We can discuss the fine mess our damn fool kids have landed themselves in."
"Yes. Let's." The fae prince inclined his head to Varren imperiously, as though he'd just been offered the finest wines at a king's table, rather than moonshine at a sea captain's.
He paused before following Grav's family from the room, lingering for a moment at Kiara's bedside to touch her hand lightly. Then he sort of shook himself and swept away after Varren.
Grav took a moment to do much the same, lightly brushing her cheek. "We'll fix this. I promise."
Not long after, Grav set himself up outside, watching the skies for Kit. Every few moments, he sent out a feeler over their connection but was unsure he could initiate long-range communication without Kiara.
Whether it was through Grav's tireless efforts or simply because that particular dream had spurred no small amount of urgency in the dragon, it actually didn't take long for Kit to respond to him as he reached the edge of their connection.
What in all hells is going on?!
He could sense that Kiara was asleep, and that something had happened with her magic, but he'd been out of range when the actual fluctuations and her father's momentary fix of the situation had occurred.
Kit! Thank the gods! The other Kiara's magic affected her somehow and now it's hurting her and I don't know what to do!
Grav breathed in and out, trying to slow himself down. Her dad showed up to help and she's stable, but even he doesn't completely understand what's going on.
I'm scared, Kit.
...I'll be there soon. He didn't know what else to say--he was scared too.
Inside the house, Aeolthaine was seated at the Caviin's table with all of the gravitas of visiting royalty, a cup of Varren's "gut rot" in one hand.
"So...you are a sailor by trade?"
Ahhhh, the painful awkwardness of meeting the in-laws.
Varren nodded. "Aye your highness, and a trader by sail." He chuckled at his own wordplay before taking a swig from his own cup.
"You'll have to forgive my poor manners. I never expected I'd be holding conversation with royalty of any description. My boy didn't see fit to prepare us for the possibility."
"I suppose you are forgiven." His delivery was so deadpan that it was impossible to tell if that was meant to be a joke or not. He eyed his drink rather suspiciously for a moment before taking a sip, then said, "I suppose to be entirely fair, my daughter did not see fit to inform me of...any of this."
He waved a hand broadly around the room to indicate "this"--Grav's family, his home, his presence, all of it.
"I'm not sure they've even figured out exactly what all this is." He chuckled. "I just know that Grav has never looked at anyone the way he looks at your daughter. I dare say he's positively smitten."
"The way they tell it, they've already moved heaven and earth for each other. It would certainly explain these odd consequences of their adventures."
"...Mmm." Aeolthaine stared down into his drink, frowning. "Consequences..."
He abruptly looked to the window where they could see Grav waiting for Kit outside. "And yet your child still deigns to inform his parents of such developments. Eventually." He took a long sip from his cup before noted dryly, "I highly doubt Kiara would have bothered to tell me on her own. Not until she had to return to the Court to fulfill her grandfather's summons, at any rate."
It seemed the Prince was operating under the assumption that Kiara had not been playing that tidbit closer to the vest.
Kit landed just outside the Caviins' house not long after, stumbling a bit when his paws touched earth in his rush. He snorted when he saw Grav and loped over to shove his muzzle into his friend's shoulder--not all that unlike a cat demanding attention, or comfort.
"How is she?"
Varren blinked. "He doesn't tell us everything, it seems. I take it her time to make the choice you spoke of was running out before this even happened?"
Grav hugged the dragon around the neck. "Aeolthaine put her back to sleep while we waited for you so he could explain our options."
Aeolthaine sighed again. "Yes. It is...something of a long story."
He looked up as Kit approached and started nuzzling into Grav. One eyebrow crept up, but he only noted, "Perhaps it is best to continue this discussion with all relevant parties."
"Options?" Kit repeated--and because his anxiety was sitting so close to the surface, the memory of a healer saying those exact words to Kiara when her mother's illness worsened--"We need to discuss your options"--tore across his mind and practically shouted down their bond.
He jerked his head back quickly. I--sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to share that.
Grav reeled slightly from the assault of such a sad memory. He quickly gathered himself and gave the young dragon a sympathetic look. "It's okay buddy. I know. I know."
"But let's hear him out before we scare ourselves even further, okay?"
The dragon crooned softly and nodded, nudging his shoulder again, just as Aeolthaine appeared in the doorway.
"Kittsareyn." He nodded to the dragon formally.
Kit quickly ducked his head in his closest equivalent of a short bow. "Your Highness." Glancing from Grav to Kiara's father, he asked cautiously, "Is she—will she be okay?"
A muscle fluttered in Aeolthaine's jaw. "Perhaps...we should all sit down for this."
Grav nodded in agreement. "Kit can't fit inside, so I guess I'll just sit here," he added, sitting on the ground next to the dragon.
"I'm... as ready as I'll ever be."
Kit settled himself back on his haunches and half curled around Grav, twisting his tail around in front of both of them in an almost protective gesture.
"Very well." Aeolthaine took a breath as though bracing himself. "Kiara—you both understand the choice that lies before her, yes?" He looked between them. "When last we met, she had a meeting with the Autumn King, and he offered her a place in the Court. Do you understand what it means should she accept?"
Kit rumbled quietly with a slow blink. "I...understand generally, ser, yes."
"It means she would have to abandon her life as a mortal and live in the Fae realm. It's possible I could visit her there, or her here, but it would be exceedingly difficult for us to have any kind of lasting relationship beyond friendship. Yes?"
As much as he hated the idea, he would rather she choose to live. Watching her slowly waste away would be too much to bear.
"That covers the broad implications, yes." Aeolthaine looked between them again. "She would need to learn the ways of the Court--an education that can take decades. But, of course, that would not be a problem should she fully embrace her fae heritage."
Kit shifted uncomfortably; while he could live with Kiara in the Fae Realm, the idea didn't exactly appeal to him. But of course it was infinitely preferable to his rider suffering an early death.
"If she...chooses to remain as she is--a demifae mortal--the implications are rather more dire."
Kit nodded slowly. "We understand that, your highness."
Aoelthaine stared at him intently. "I am not sure that you do. Before this...connection was forged by the Tears of the Stars, the risk to Kiara's life was that her power would eventually burn through her lifeforce. Now..." He closed his eyes and exhaled carefully. "Now, the risk seems to be that any use of her magic will trigger a transformation in her. It is frankly nothing less than a miracle that the dreaming version of her survived such a thing--it is highly unlikely that our Kiara would do so."
"But--" Kit's voice rose slightly in the beginnings of panic. "But sometimes her magic just happens! She doesn't always consciously--"
"I know."
Grav had thought he was prepared for what she herself had warned him about. But, until that moment, it hadn't felt real. Unless there was some loophole, he was going to end up without her, no matter what happened.
"You said something about balance. Can't we use the dream to somehow balance her powers between them? The other Kiara is already Fae, it wouldn't hurt her. Maybe that's..." His voice cracked with desperation. "Maybe that's why this is even happening?"
Aeolthaine stared at them both for another long, quiet moment. Then he sighed and sank down to sit in front of them.
Kit snorted quietly, surprised; in all the time he had known the Autumn Prince, he'd never seen him so clearly drop his cloak of royal manners.
"I...can try," he said slowly. "But magic that reaches across realities--it is a complex and difficult thing to attempt. And...I would need your help." His eyes--Kiara's eyes--flickered over them. "Both of you. Whatever this connection is, it exists between all three of you. Or, I suppose, all six of you."
"I'm pretty sure I reached my double last night, even if only on a subconscious level," he said hopefully. "And if I did it once, I can do it again."
"Whater the risk to myself, I'll take it if it gives her a real choice."
Aeolthaine nodded slowly before looking to Kit.
"Of course," the dragon replied instantly. "Whatever she needs."
Another nod, another sigh, and the fae prince rose carefully to his feet. "Very well. It will be best if we can accomplish this while she still sleeps--but I need you both to understand, this is not a solution." He looked between them again. "This is a bandage. It may buy her some more time--though even I cannot say what the exact effects will be."
Grav nodded gravely. "Just tell us what to do."
The Autumn Prince nodded in turn. "Very well. I will collect Kiara--and we should do this with some distance from your family's home. I do not know how large the magical field of impact may grow."
He swept back into the house, and Kit sagged into a desolate pile of scales and wings. He made a small whimpering sound that was not at all like him and closed his eyes.
"First fires." He rolled one golden eye open to look at Grav. "Are...you okay?"
Grav sank against the dragon's flank with a miserable sigh. It was all he could do to respond coherently. "Not remotely. Even if this works... she'd be a fool to choose a death sentence just to stay with us."
"I hate this," he added heartbrokenly.
Kit groaned a wordless agreement, curving his neck around to nudge at Grav's arm with his snout.
"...I think I'm most worried that she's going to be a fool," he admitted quietly. "You know how stubborn she is--especially when it comes to the people she loves."
As miserable as Kiara leaving them to enter the Court properly would be, he was more scared that she would refuse, and they would lose her to death rather than the Fae.
"I'm right there with you, buddy," he said sadly. "Because of me, she threw away her best chance to be free of this."
"I just... I wish there was some way she could live and be happy. I'd give anything for that—my body, my soul, my life—if it wouldn't make her miserable."
"Don't blame yourself," the dragon rumbled quietly. "You know she'll kick your ass for it." After a moment of thought, he added, "Besides...maybe that wish is what makes it possible to save her now."
They could hope, anyway.
Aeolthaine reappeared in the doorway with Kiara held in his arms. For a creature who seemed so willowy, he was clearly surprisingly strong, bearing her weight easily as he stepped down onto the grass.
"Is there somewhere nearby where we may proceed without interference?" he asked Grav briskly, whatever vulnerable emotion he might have been displaying earlier once more locked behind an impassive mask.
Grav nodded as he got to his feet. "I know just the place."
He led the way to the secluded clearing where they had met with his childhood friends. "This far enough outside of town? It... seemed further when I was little."
The Autumn Prince nodded brusquely. "It'll have to do."
He knelt, gently laying Kiara on the grass, and gestured for Grav and Kit to draw in closer. "This connection that you have forged," he began, looking between the swordsman and the dragon. "It allows you to speak mind-to-mind, as Kittsareyn and Kiara do?"
Kit nodded, hunkering down to curve around Kiara's unconscious form. "It seems to work best when I can...act as a conduit, I think," he noted, looking to Grav for confirmation.
Grav nodded in agreement upon lying down opposite of Kit. "A fringe benefit of being subjected to body-altering alchemy. It unlocked something—something that getting my body back didn't close again."
Aeolthaine hummed softly in acknowledgment, then nodded again. "Very well. If the two of you can access the bond, reach out to her—she is not in your shared dreamscape, merely unconscious. You should be able to reach her."
Kit snorted. He'd often woken Kiara from sleep using mindspeak, but he'd never spoken with her while she was asleep. "And that...will work."
"It will allow me to anchor her while I work this magic," the Prince replied. "Quickly now, if you would."
The dragon looked to Grav, tentatively reaching down their bond. Ready?
The human nodded. Ready.
He grabbed a hold of the sensation of mental contact and reached out to Kit. He wasn't sure it was working, but he didn't waver. If his love for her couldn't make it work, nothing would.
Kit held on tight to his sense of Grav's consciousness and then stretched further, braiding the connection into the link he shared with Kiara.
Aeolthaine knelt next to his daughter. "Hold onto it," he instructed, quiet but urgent. "This will feel...strange. And intense. The link will want to snap, to protect each of you individually, but you must hold onto it."
So saying, he laid one hand on Kiara brow and bent over her, murmuring quietly in Sylvan.
At first it was just a light tug, a sense of something plucking at the link between the three of them. It quickly grew stronger, tugging, pulling, ripping into their connection.
Kit growled and physically leaned forward, as though bracing himself against a strong wind; he wrapped one wing forward over Kiara and Grav protectively, though there was no physical threat to shield them from.
Grav put everything he had into reducing the strain on Kit. He gritted his teeth, holding onto the link as if trying to restrain a particularly obstinate bull with a rope that, itself, fought like a writhing snake. Getting through this with only a headache would be a miracle by itself.
The connection between the three of them grew taut, shivering--as Aeolthaine had warned, on the point of snapping under the strain. There was something else, too, a faint external presence prodding along the length of the bond as shimmering fae magic wound around both forces, feeding them into one another.
And then, quite abruptly, it relaxed. The Autumn Prince sat back with a low exhale, and the glow of magic around Kiara's form gradually began to dim.
Kit huffed, sagging, and drew his wing in tighter around the two humans. He nosed at Grav's shoulder with a concerned croon before looking at Aeolthaine.
"Did it...work?"
Kiara's father had his eyes fixed on her form; she was still asleep, though her breathing seemed to have deepened a bit. Evened, as though she was more at peace.
"I...believe so," he answered slowly. "Though we will have to wait for her to wake to be sure--"
Gasping, Kiara shot upright, eyes wide. She looked around wildly, her chest heaving with pants, before her attention settled on the prince.
"D-Da...?"
Grav shot upright after her, holding her shoulders to steady her as much as himself.
"Easy, Kiara, save your energy. You've been through a lot," he urged.
"What in--?!"
Kiara flinched back from him, then frowned. "You...what...?"
The lines between her brows deepened and she blinked as though trying to clear her head. The subtle glow of magic clinging to her skin still hadn't entirely faded, even making her freckles glitter gently.
She squinted at Grav's stubble as though she'd never seen it before. "How--how long was I out?"
Aeolthaine's eyebrows crept up as he observed her. "Ah. That...may complicate things."
"All morn--" he began to answer before Aeolthaine's words brought him up short.
Worriedly, he asked, "What might?"
"...Kiara?" Kit asked, his voice just as worried as Grav's. "What--what's the last thing you remember?"
Groaning, Kiara rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes. "I--that jackass with the sword said there were dragonhunters in the forest, and--"
She frowned, looking up at Grav again. "And you said you were going to help Kit."
Grav really, really hoped she was just recalling the dreamworld. "The other you fought the Mordecai off, but she... her magic took over and she... and you wouldn't wake up. We were so scared we were going to lose you..."
"The...other...me?"
Kit swallowed. "...Oh no."
"Okay." Kiara raised both hands and tried to get to her feet. "Alright. What—what's going on. Where am I?" She frowned as she looked around. "These trees are—wait a fucking second, are we in Serendipity?"
"Oh no," Kit repeated helplessly.
Grav's heart fell. This was still Kiara, but it wasn't his Kiara. Everything they had been through together to make them so close was gone unless they could fix this.
"What's my name, Kiara?" he asked in grave misery.
"I—" She gaped at him. "What sort of—I've not gone mad, Dan, what's—"
She saw Aeolthaine's very slight wince, and that seemed to push her over the edge. "What the hells is going on?"
Fire ignited around her feet and she yelped, jumping backward, but the fire followed her. It took her a moment to realize it was coming from her.
Kit whined quietly in the back of his throat, a rather canine sound. He looked to Aeolthaine desperately.
The Prince spread his hands. "I told you this may have unforeseen consequences. It seems that...in order to protect the human Kiara from her own power, the connection has...switched them."
"What the fuck are you all talking about?!"
Grav did his best to gather his thoughts and explain. This... wasn't going to be easy.
"We--me, Kit, and our Kiara--we've been seeing another version of our lives in our sleep. One where we met under very different circumstances. Here, you never took that job in Connloath, and I was orphaned at sea at an early age."
"When your magic went wild, hers did too. Only, unlike you, she was dying faster because of it. Her mortal side, anyway."
Unless Kit and Aeolthaine teamed up with Dan to trick her somehow, which was unlikely, or this wasn't Dan at all and he was telling the truth. He certainly didn't talk like the naive nobleman she knew.
"That—" Kiara swallowed. "That's...that's not possible. That's just not—This is a trick. Some Fae bullshit. You—"
"Your mother's name was Ranith," Aeolthaine said suddenly. "She—we—called you firefly. When you were eight, you had a toy sea serpent made of fabric woven from fae cotton that you called Sylvester. He was pink."
Kiara stared at him, mouth open. He quirked an eyebrow. "Shall I go in, or do you believe I am, in fact, Aeolthaine of the Autumn Court?"
"I—" She licked her lips. "I believe you..."
"Then you will know I cannot lie." He nodded to Grav. "So you will know it is truth when I say he offers you no deception. Everything he's said is true."
Grav suppressed an inappropriate smirk as he catalogued that embarrassing revelation for later teasing, only to feel a fresh pang of misery.
"We won't stop until we can get you both back where you belong," he promise, the pain and worry in his voice betraying his affection for his Kiara. "This wasn't supposed to happen."
"Well, what was supposed to happen, Danny Boy?" Kiara snapped. She took a step back from him, eyeing him warily—in a way his Kiara hadn't since they'd first met.
Kit started to reach out, Kia—
He snorted abruptly, jerking his head back. Kiara seemed to realize it at the same moment, snapping her eyes to the dragon as her expression morphed from confusion to something like fear.
"I—I can't hear you..."
Aeolthaine closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "No. Because you do not belong here, no more than our Kiara belongs in your world. You are connected to her, as they are connected to their own alternate selves, but you are not to this Kittsareyn or Grav."
She blinked. "...Grav?"
Grav shrank back a little himself. Seeing her look at him like that hurt like nothing ever had.
"I was so young that I could only tell my adoptive dad the first part of my birth name. So, Grav it was. I didn't remember that snobby name Dan gave you until he said it in our visions of your world. Hells, I didn't know I was gods-damned nobility until this all started. Though I did have my suspicions."
"Oh, of course." Kiara threw her arms out with a vaguely hysterical laugh. "Why not. Makes about as much sense as anything else today!"
She looked at Kit, pain flashing in her eyes for a moment before she shook herself and turned her attention to her father—or, well, a duplicate of her father.
"So how do I go back?"
Aeolthaine held her eyes for a moment before looking away. "The magic I used to stabilize you—her—is unpredictable. I'm afraid I don't...exactly know—"
"Of course you don't." She took another step back, glaring around at all of them. "You—what gives you the fucking right to play with someone's life like this?!" she exploded—literally, sparks lighting up and leaping from her fingertips as she gestured wildly.
"We—" Kit's voice was wavering, uncertain; it was one of the rare times he sounded as young as he was. "Sh-she was hurting, and we had to—we had to try. We love her..."
Kiara took another step back, shaking her head. "...But I'm not her. I don't belong here..."
It was low. It was really low. But he was hurting enough that it seemed like the only card he had to play.
"You can't ask him to say goodbye to someone he loves without a fight. Not again. You would have done the same thing if you had a chance to save your Kit, wouldn't you?"
Kit snorted and glanced at him, but didn't protest.
Kiara blanched, her jaw went tight, and for a moment it looked like she might set him on fire.
Then she released a breath, and it seemed that whatever strength she had just drained away. She sank down onto the ground and put her face in her hands with a low groan.
"I want to go home," she whispered pitifully.
On instinct, Kit slowly lowered his head to nudge at her shoulder gently. She glanced up at him, expression lost.
Then she gave a short, sharp-edged laugh and shook her head. "Fuck. Guess it doesn't matter—with me like this, I..." She swallowed as she looked down at her hands, at the shimmer of magic still swirling around her fingertips. "I'll...have to leave my Kit...anyway..."
Grav felt incredibly guilty for playing that card, but he can beat himself up about it another day. They had to figure this out first.
"We aren't going to give up. You deserve to get to say goodbye every bit as much as she deserves a shot at not having to."
He shot a look toward Aeolthaine. "We are going to try again, right? To fix this?"
The Autumn Prince sighed heavily. "I...do not know what else there is to try. I told you this magic would only be a bandage, a way to buy time...it seems this—" He waved a hand toward the Fae Kiara. "This is...how that time is bought."
Kiara made a choked, half-whimpering sound, and he winced.
Then, suddenly, his head lifted and his shoulders straightened. "Although...this was done with a connection to Kiara's magic. Perhaps..."
Both Kit and his rider looked at him hopefully. "Perhaps?"
"If...if this switch is tied to our Kiara's use of magic, then..."
Kit snorted, eyes brightening. "Then if she uses magic over there, they'd switch back?"
Aeolthaine nodded slowly. "Possibly. Likely, even—the spell I wove intended to siphon her Fae magic into the Kiara that would best be able to handle it. If she calls on that power, it will call this Kiara as well."
"Great!" Kiara got to her feet swiftly. "So...how do we make that happen?"
Dan awoke with a start. What a strange dream he was having: Kiara swapping bodies with herself, himself with a scruffy beard, her dad. Hells, he could feel how distraught his dream self was about the situation he was in; he loved her deeply.
That was ridiculous, obviously. Sure, she was growing on him, but he had only chosen to help because he felt he owed them.
And I could hear the dragon in my head. Totally absurd.
"—av, wake up!"
Kiara was shaking him by the shoulders, expression frantic—and somehow it seemed that not only were her clothes not burned away, but entirely different from the traveler's garb she'd been in for the last few days of their company.
"Oh thank gods," she gasped when he opened his eyes. "I don't know what's going on, but I woke up and—and we were all out here, and I can't get Kit to wake up, and—fuck."
She wrapped her arms around him, trembling lightly. "Fucking hells, are you okay? I was so worried."
Dan stiffened from the unexpected hug. Confused, he said, "I'm touched that you care so much."
"How long was I out? Last thing I remember, you were the one that wouldn't awaken."
He blinked, raising a worried brow. "Wait. What do you mean, ser Kit won't wake up?"
Kiara snorted, amused despite herself, as she leaned back. "Ser Kit? C'mon, Grav, you sound...like..."
Her eyes widened. She looked from him to the unconscious dragon and back. "Oh. Oh no. No no no no no."
Suddenly grabbing his shoulders again, she demanded, "What is your name?"
The Kiara Dan knew had never shown such naked emotion on her face—only that brief moment when Kit had been threatened by the mordecai. But this Kiara—Grav's Kiara—couldn't hide the rising panic.
Dan was speechless for once, staring at her as if she had two heads while the gears in his own slowly clicked into place.
"Gravaudan Vannier," he answered questioningly. "Are you quite alright?"
"No."
She swayed, then sank down onto her knees. "You're not...you," she whispered, staring at him as though he'd just told her the world was ending. "I mean...you're you, of course you are, but you're... No."
She looked around, brows drawing together. "You're the right you but I'm the wrong...me." She licked her lips nervously, then looked at the pile of gently snoring scales that was Kit.
"Oh gods." She dropped her face into her hands—looking almost exactly like the Kiara Grav had seen in his dream, save for a lack of a golden glow. "How did I get here?"
"Are you telling me that dream was real?" Dan asked in disbelief. "You were in the wrong place there too."
He felt his chin. "And I had a peasant's beard."
"You're her, aren't you?" he asked, trying not to think about the implications of the love he had felt in his dream.
"You—you had a dream. You had a dream?!"
Kiara's head snapped up. "What happened? Tell me everything you remember! Please."
She swallowed. "You—I know you must think I'm mad, but please. This is important. I need to know everything I can."
Though still a little confused, Dan relayed the entire dream.
"So, you're this other Kiara, then? The one he loves?" he asked, finally getting over the strangeness of the situation.
"I--"
She sighed and closed her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess. Except to me, she's the other Kiara, and you're saying she...switched places with me."
She frowned, starting to pace--occasionally shooting nervous glances in Kit's direction. "Well, I guess what you've said explains why I can't wake him up through our link. Sort of." She started worrying at her lower lip. "If Da did this to protect me from my Fae side--which is what it sounds like you heard?" She glanced at Dan, but didn't wait for him to actually answer. "Then he must have been using our connection--mine and Grav's and Kit's...but we're also all connected to the three of you..."
She stopped pacing. "Fucking hells, this is making my head hurt."
"The three of us?" he asked, musing, "So... that's why this other me could hear Ser Kit in his head..."
"Do you happen to know why you are connected to us? Maybe that could help us somehow."
"I..."
Another sigh. She sank down onto the grass with a huff.
"...Because you were dying," she admitted in a voice barely above a mumble. "You were dying, and I made a wish to save you. And it seems like the...entity that granted the wish took things further than we expected."
She huffed and leaned back, bracing her palms behind her. "At least, that's been our best guess. We've been...dreaming of you lot, actually. Starting since I--she--stole that weird hand thing."
He ran through recent events in his head and had a thought. "Before I went to save Ser Kit, I was gripped with the greatest indecision of my life. But then, like someone had been calling to me—screaming at me—to help, I suddenly knew what to do. And then I somehow knew what the good dragon was worried about, so I returned. Could that have been him trying to reach out to me?"
"Maybe..." She chewed at her lower lip for a moment before shooting him a considering look. "You are taking this remarkably well, Gr--Dan."
Even as she spoke, she was turning over her own recent memories in her head. She remembered where the dream had ended--mostly--and remembered waking up but feeling...hazy. Hazy and feverish. And her Da...
"What did he do?" she muttered to herself, frowning. What had he done, and how did she reverse it?
"What can I say?" Dan smirked with the same kind of goofy confidence Grav wore so often. "It's been a strange few days."
Overhearing her question, he suggested, "Well, if your father did this... perhaps hers can help?"
She made a face that said quite clearly exactly how distasteful she found that idea--but then she looked at Kit. Not her Kit, but still Kit. He was still asleep, and with the way everything else was going, she didn't trust that that was so innocent as it looked.
"Okay," she whispered, then got to her feet abruptly. "Yeah, okay. I don't like it, but I don't have any better ideas. So." She fished out her amulet and cast a quick, warning look at Dan. "I'd take a few steps back if I were you."
Dan didn't need to be told, as he took more than a few steps back. He didn't want to give the frightening Fae prince any reason to think he caused this mess.
"Alright. Summon away, or call, or whatever you... call it."
"Right." Kiara took a breath. "Right..."
She held up the amulet, fingers wrapped around it, and intoned softly, "Aeolthaine, Aeolthaine, Aeolthaine."
All things considered, it was easier to explain to her father's double that she didn't belong in this world than she would have thought. Mostly because he took one look at her, frowned, and said, "Your magic is gone."
And, it seemed, it was--even her mortal magic was missing, according to the Autumn Prince's inspection.
She shook her head, staring down at her own hands. "I--I just don't get this. That me, the one...over there, has all our magic? Not just the Fae stuff?"
Aeolthaine shook his head--not a denial, more in exasperation. "I suppose that is a reasonable conclusion. If reasonable is even a word that can be applied to this situation." He looked at Dan, eyes narrowed slightly. "And you say you saw this other world in your dream?"
Dan nodded. "I suppose that particular ability swapped places with her."
He sighed to himself: getting everyone both back to their rightful place and conscious was going to be exhausting.
"I just--why is this Kit asleep? And why aren't you? And--"
"Perhaps," Aeolthaine put in, "it might be best to save these questions until everyone is in their proper reality."
Kiara stared at him. "I mean...that'd be great. But I still don't know how to do that."
The fae prince shrugged. "If she is truly fae, and now seemingly has custody of your magic--and if it was a dangerous fluctuation in your magic that catalyzed this, then your magic should change it back."
She blinked. "But...we just established I don't have magic." And that was a loss she was certainly going to have to process at a later date.
"Try."
"You what?"
"Try," Aeolthaine repeated.
Kiara just stared at him blankly. Then she snorted. "Fuck's sake--two years practically telling me not to use my magic for fear of a fatal backlash and now... Fine. Fine, I'm trying."
She frowned down at her hands, reaching into that fiery core where she always had at least a tiny flicker of power. But it felt empty. Burned out. Not even that terror-inducing brush against the edge of an inferno that was her only conscious awareness of her fae magic, just...nothing.
She huffed and shook her head, still reaching. "It's not--"
Abruptly, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed, unconscious. Again.
Grav awoke slowly. "Uuugh... The fuck happened... He's dreaming of me now?"
He shot upright. "Kiara?! Tell me it worked!"
"...Grav?"
She was curled on her side. Apparently, with both of them unconscious, Aeolthaine and Kit had moved them into the curve of Kit's body--the dragon was currently coiled around them like a cross between a cat and a snake.
Kiara looked around, saw the trees, felt her link, and nearly burst into tears.
"Oh, thank gods!" She flung herself across the small distance between them, wrapped her arms around Grav's neck, and kissed him hard.
"Whoooaa--okay." Kit snorted and quickly looked away. "Gross."
Grav, caught off guard by the intensity of the kiss, embraced her in return. He was so happy too have her back that it took him several passionate moments before he remembered they had an audience.
He pulled away with an awkward smile. "Umm... Kiara?" he said, pointing a thumb at Aeolthaine.
"Hm?" She blinked, followed the gesture, and went bright red.
"Da!" It was more a "yelp" than a proper human exclamation, and she scrambled quickly to her feet. "You--you're...still here. Ummm..."
She glanced down at Grav, up at Kit, then back to her father. "Ah--thank you? I guess..."
Kit snorted and dipped his head to nuzzle her shoulder, a gesture she returned by hugging his neck tightly.
"Don't ever scare us like that again, okay?" Grav sniffed, the scene finally getting to him. "I thought I might never see you again."
"Not the right you, anyway. The way she looked at me... it was too much to take."
"Oh, Puppy..."
She reached a hand out to him and tugged him closer to join the odd group hug, letting her brow rest against his for a moment.
"I would have found a way back to you," she whispered. "Both of you. Always."
Kit snorted and nosed at them both. Then Aeolthaine cleared his throat softly, and the dragon pulled his head back with a soft snort. Kiara followed his lead with clear reluctance, putting some space between herself and Grav.
The Autumn Prince kept his distance, but there was concern in his eyes as they flickered over her. "How...do you feel?"
She shrugged. "Like...me, I guess. Only..." She lifted a hand and frowned at it. "I--I don't have any magic..."
Grav blinked. "Wait. Like... none? At all?"
He looked at Aeolthaine questioningly, daring to hope. "Does... this mean she's safe now?"
It had to, right?
"I..." Aeolthaine frowned as he looked at her, clearly seeing something that the rest of them didn't. "It...would," he said slowly, "if I did not still see the connection between herself and that other." He shook his head. "You do still have magic, Kiara. In her. And...her humanity is...in you, it would seem."
Kiara stared at him. "...What in the entire, actual fuck is that supposed to mean?!"
Grav looked at her with regret as he tried to formulate an intelligent guess. "It means for you to be human, she has to be Fae. And the connection is how that works."
He turned to Aeolthaine. "Am I right?"
"Essentially...yes." Aeolthaine nodded. "It also means that until we can find a way to safely break this connection...you will be pulled to her world, and she to ours, any time you--this you--attempt to access your magic. Even unconsciously."
Kiara stared a moment longer, then groaned, closing her eyes. "Well. That's just great."
"Hey." Kit dropped his head to nose at her cheek. "It's better than being dead. Which seemed like your other option," he pointed out, and despite the flippant tone, he couldn't quite hide how scared he had been.
"Oh, Kitten..." She stroked his cheek gently and hugged his muzzle. "You're right," she sighed, looking between him and Grav. "You're right. We'll...figure this out. We always do, yeah?"
Grav smirked half-heartedly, doing his level best to regain his usual optimism. "Yeah! I mean, this can't be any more impossible than what got us in this mess. Right?"
"Oh! I should probably mention that their Kit wouldn't wake up. But maybe he was just tired?"
Kiara, Kit, and Aeolthaine all managed to somehow exchange a three-way glance that said they highly doubted it was that simple, but no one was much interested in pressing the point just then.
"Well. I guess we'll get an update tonight," Kiara huffed, then frowned down at herself. "Or earlier." Another sharp exhale and she ran her hands distractedly through her hair before looking at Grav with a guilty wince. "How, uh, how pissed are your parents?"
"Oh, they're more worried about you than us not telling them about..." Grav trailed off and gestured to her father.
"At least, so far," he added with a guilty wince of his own. "But, hey, it's not like we lied about anything. It just didn't come up."
"Right." Kiara huffed, rubbing at her temples.
Her father lifted one eyebrow fractionally. "Flattering as it is to see how overjoyed you are by my presence," he said dryly, "it seems that you wish to return to the Caviins' home."
She snapped her head up, a little surprised. Her Da had never been a particularly present sort of parent, and so she treated him accordingly. He'd never acted like that...bothered him before.
That was right; she hadn't seen just how worried her father had been. For a few fleeting moments, he even seemed almost human. Whatever else you might say about the prince, he does love her in his way.
"Sorry," Grav apologized, chuckling, "We--well, at least I am incredibly glad you showed up. If I had any doubts about how much you care about her, they have been swept away."
Kiara frowned a bit at that and gave Grav a look that was caught somewhere between confused and curious.
"And my validation is complete," Aeolthaine said blanky in response. Being unable to lie, most fae creatures were not particularly adept at sarcasm--Kiara's father seemed to be an exception.
She turned her frown on him, opening her mouth. Then she closed it again, waited a beat to collect her thoughts, and said, "Da...? You...thanks."
Aeolthaine blinked at her. "Of course, firefly."
Kiara's cheeks colored and she ducked her head, muttering something about "silly childhood nicknames", but she didn't actually protest.
Grav's mother's voice in his head suddenly chastised him for not being more hospitable to their guest. So, as absurd as it was, he offered, "I know human commoner food is probably beneath a prince of the Fae, but my mother would never forgive me if I didn't offer you to stay for a meal."
Kiara shot Grav a vaguely startled look, and Aeolthaine actually seemed taken aback for a moment.
Then the Autumn Prince dipped his head and said graciously, "I would be most honored to accept your invitation."
Kit blinked, and Kiara actually blurted out, "You would?" before she had the grace at least to flush slightly. "I mean, uh...right. Okay. I guess we..." She looked to Grav again. "Head back...for dinner?"
"Yeah. Let's."
On the way back, Grav used their link to say, So... crazy day.
Kit and Kiara snorted in tandem.
That's one way of putting it, the dragon agreed wryly.
Glancing back over her shoulder at the fae prince walking a few paces behind them, Kiara added, I still can't believe he just showed up like he did. A flush of embarrassment ran through her and she bit back a groan. Gods, and i may not remember much, but I do remember him being rather rude to your family.
Grav shrugged. I can't believe I'm saying this... But don't be too hard on him; if the situation were reversed, I wouldn't have patience for pleasantries either. Nor would my parents, for that matter.
He suppressed a laugh, instead looking at her with amusement in his eyes. The weirdest part? I think our dads bonded by complaining about how much trouble we get into. Over my dad's liver-rotting moonshine, no less.
"Oh, they didn't," Kiara laughed aloud, then winced. Shit. It was embarrassing enough when it had been just her conversations with Kit that occasionally slipped out of her head.
Her father didn't seem to mind, though he did give them a rather arch look. "It seems the three of you as acclimated quickly to this part of your connection, at least," he noted mildly.
"What can I say?" Grav flashed a proud smile. "I'm a fast learner."
He was! About some things! Usually about fighting, but still!
Also, they totally did! He said he needed a stiff drink, so my dad offered.
Kiara snorted quietly. Gods. Do you know what it takes to get a fae drunk? I'm amazed your dad is still conscious.
When the house came into view she hesitated, so suddenly that Kit actually ran into her. The dragon looked down at her with a soft huff, and she shot him an apologetic look.
"Sorry. Just...well, that was all a lot." She swallowed a little nervously and glanced sidelong at Grav. "You're, ah, sure they're not mad?"
Grav patted her shoulder reassuringly. "I'm positive. Not at you, at the very least."
"The only person they expect to be an open book is me. And, as you're well aware, I usually am. To a fault, even."
"Yeah, but the only reason you weren't about this is because you know I don't like to advertise it." She exhaled sharply and rubbed at the back of her neck.
"For what it's worth," Aeolthaine put in suddenly, once more startling her with the reminder of his usually-silent presence, "Master Caviin seems quite amiable about the whole ordeal. All things considered.
"See! You're fine!" Grav smiled smugly.
He proceeded to the door, which opened before he got there. His mother stepped out, her worried expression brightening as she saw Kiara was alright. "Oh my stars, you're awake..."
She raced over to hug Kiara, fretting over her as if she were her own daughter. "Are you alright? You had us all so worried. Do you need to sit down? Are you hungry? How can I help?"
"O-oh!" Kiara froze for a second, then hugged her back just a little awkwardly. "I'm...fine," she mumbled rather sheepishly. "Really, I'm okay now. It's all...sort of complicated, but I'm...fine."
For now, at least.
She smiled when she pulled back, hoping she looked more at ease than she actually felt. "I'm sorry to worry you. I...didn't exactly expect..." She gestured vaguely at herself and then to her father, who was waiting a few steps behind them placidly.
"How can you have, dearie?" Imira smiled with continued relief.
She glanced at her son, judgmentally raised a brow in a silent question.
Feeling like a kid again, he groaned. "Yes, Mom, I offered him dinner. I haven't forgotten how to behave. I just... regularly choose not to."
She looked at Aeolthaine, her eyes twinkling with satisfaction. "And what was his highness' response?"
"I accepted gratefully," the Autumn Prince replied with a slight incline of his head in her direction.
Kiara coughed, raising an eyebrow at him. He stared at her for a moment, then added in a tone of one unused to saying such things, "I must, ah, ask your forgiveness for my...earlier behavior. I was rather...preoccupied."
"Think nothing of it!" she assured, equally unused to dealing with royalty, Fae or otherwise. "If it were my kid in trouble and I could help, I wouldn't have time for pleasantries either. Be it a beggar or a king."
Grav flushed, embarrassed by the scene. Uuugh... Let's go inside already...
Aw c'mon, it's sweet. Kit nudged Grav's shoulder lightly. They care about you.
Well, yeah. Kiara shot the dragon a drill look as the humans—and one Fae creature—filed inside. That's what parents do.
Kit gave her a look in return that spoke volumes about what that statement meant to the two of them, but didn't press it. He shifted around to the side of the house and let his chin rest on the windowsill where he had been spending most evenings of their visit, in prime position to accept any edible offerings.
I know. But it can be sweet and embarrassing. Things can be two things!
Dinner came before long. While it was nothing fancy or cultured, it was warm and filling and a testament to Imira's skills in the kitchen. The fish was tender and flavorful, the potatoes were seasoned just right, and the roasted carrots were sublime.
"Oh gods... I hope you didn't make a pie, because I can't eat anything else or I'll pop." Grav leaned back in his chair and quickly loosened his belt with a sigh.
Dinner was as good as Kiara had come to expect from Imira, though she was a little less engaged in conversation than was usual for her. She kept glancing at her father over the course of the meal; it was just so odd to see him sitting there, acting as if the situation was perfectly normal.
For his part Aeolthaine said little, but was polite enough to his hosts. He did actually eat the food, and seeing as he couldn't lie, his compliments at least had to be sincere.
"I could eat pie," Kit piped up on the tail of Grav's assertion.
Kiara flapped a hand at him, mock scowling. "Kitten, be polite!" she laughed quietly.
"Yeah. The whole pie," Grav laughed. "As funny as it would be to see a fat dragon, I think that would impede your flying."
Imira laughed brightly. "Grav, no. That's not nice."
Kit snorted a puff of sulfurous breath in Grav's direction with a roll of his eyes, and Kiara chuckled as she assured Imira, "Oh, trust me, Kit gives as good as he gets."
"Though I'm polite enough not to do it in company," the dragon sniffed.
Kiara resisted the urge to call complete bullshit on that.
Aeolthaine watched the exchange in silence, expression considering.
Grav did not resist, though he used kinder words. He smirked teasingly. "Keep telling yourself that, big guy. Maybe one day it'll become true."
Varren turned from the banter to study Aeolthaine. "Penny for your thoughts, your highness?"
"Mm?" The fae creature at their table turned his attention to Varren, blinked, then stood. "I do not require payment to share my thoughts, Master Caviin. I thank you and your household for your hospitality, but...I do have duties I must be returning to. I've lingered here long enough."
"Oh." Kiara stood as well. "Should I, um...I'll walk you out?"
Her father seemed mildly surprised by the offer, but he nodded.
As she made her way around the table, Kiara shot Grav a quick look and sent through their three-strand link, Tell your parents that the fae don't often follow figures of speech like "penny for your thoughts". He's not trying to be an ass.
I will. I figured as much, he assured her.
Once she was out of the room, he did so. Then, he followed her out.
Kiara and her father were already about halfway to the tree line that marked the wooded area before Grav's house. Kit was curled up near the door, watching them with a slight frown.
He glanced at Grav as he came out. He said they needed to talk. Kia didn't tell me to, but...I feel like we should follow them, he said bluntly.
"It's like you read my mind," he whispered.
As he began to sneak after them, he asked, "Wait... how do dragons sneak?"
Kit shot a vaguely exasperated look at him before replying, Very carefully. Now c'mon; I'm worried he's gonna try to sell her on the whole "Fae Realm" thing again...
By the time they reached the glade where Aeolthaine must have decided to cross back to his own realm—judging by the hawthorn at its center—a conversation was clearly well underway.
"—I'm just saying that's awful rich, coming from you," Kiara was saying, arms folded over her chest. She wasn't glaring, but there was something flinty in her expression.
Aeolthaine seemed confused by this. Brow furrowed, he said evenly, "I...would never presume to say that Ranith— your mother's death was any less of a profound loss for you than it was for me. But—"
"Profound loss?" Kiara demanded. "You didn't even come to her funeral. Your stupid Court bullshit kept you pretty busy I fucking guess. How profound could it have been?"
Aeolthaine stared at her for a long omens, lips parted but not speaking. Then he said in all but a whisper, "Is that what you think? All these years?"
Kiara sighed, shoulders sagging. The hint of anger had bled from her tone, replaced with a tired helplessness, when she murmured, "What else was I supposed to think, Da? I don't even think I'm angry about it anymore. I know you loved her, but you told me yourself--the Folk do not love as mortals do."
"And that is what you thought I meant?" he replied. "That we love less? Oh, firefly..." He dragged a hand down his face, expression abruptly haggard. "Of course," he whispered. "But of course that is what you thought. What else could you have..." Another sigh, then he suddenly fixed his eyes on her with new, fierce intensity. "It is too easy to forget--you are mine, and so I forget that you have no idea what it is to be immortal. Or as near to it as a creature of this world can be, without claiming some sort of divinity."
Kiara had gone quiet, staring at him. He'd never said anything like this to her before--she'd never seen him look like this before, with emotion plain on his face instead of hidden under layers of Courtly manners. It was almost enough to distract her from the sense of a familiar presence at the back of her mind.
Beside Grav, Kit shifted uncomfortably. I--I think this was a bad idea. He looked down at the human with apologetic gold eyes. I shouldn't have suggested this.
It took all the dragon's self control not to react when Kiara's voice slipped down their link: Maybe not, but you're here now.
She didn't know if she should tell them to show themselves or not. She was so unused to this side of her father, she didn't know how he would react.
Grav shuddered as he pondered if she would be mad at him afterwards or, worse, hurt. Sorry... We were worried.
We can leave if you want.
...Yes. Please. I love you both so much for being worried about me, but this is...I don't know what this is. In in their minds, her voice wavered a bit. Just...stay close? I'll let you know when it's clear.
Kit sent a sense of affirmation down their link, jerking his head slightly at Grav as he started to back away.
Luckily, it seemed to take roughly the amount of time for them to get out of earshot that it took Aeolthaine to gather his thoughts. When he spoke again, it was in a tone she didn't ever remember hearing from him.
"Firefly, we do not love as mortals do. How could we? When we love, it is as we are--it is eternal. And mortals are not." He drew in a breath, ragged at the edges. "Rani--when she-- I am so sorry you ever thought for a moment that I didn't love your mother with everything that I am." He closed his eyes. "It wasn't the Court that kept me away. I couldn't face it. I couldn't accept that she was..." He opened his eyes to look at her, and she felt her throat go dry. "I still can't accept it. There are moments I forget, forget that she's gone. And then I remember, and it is like the day it happened." He shook his head. "It doesn't excuse--At the time, I thought it was better for you. That I not be there, not make my pain a part of yours. But I shouldn't...I know now that you never should have faced that alone."
"I had Kit," she mumbled automatically.
He nodded, the barest hint of a smile flickering at the edges of his mouth. "You did. You always have. And you always will--even as a full faerie, he will never have to leave you."
"...But Grav would." She held his eyes. "That's what you're saying. Even if we can get this whole nonsense with the other me fixed...either I stay human, and he loses me too soon. Or I become fae, and I have to watch him..."
"Age. Wither. Die." He said it softly, but with a firm finality. "Yes. That is what I'm saying." Another beat of quiet, then: "I'm not speaking as the Autumn Prince, Kiara. I'm not even speaking as a faerie. I'm speaking as your father, and I...I never want you to have to feel that. To know that kind of pain. I know it would hurt now, to leave this young man, but... It is a mercy."
"...I know."
"I--" He stared at her, unsure. "I love you, firefly."
"I know, Da." She hesitated, then whispered, "I...love you, too."
He reached out as though he wanted to hug her, and she started to lean forward--but then they both pulled back. Everything just felt raw, and this...this had never been a part of their relationship that they were particularly good at.
"Please think about what I've said," Aeolthaine murmured, stepping back toward the hawthorn. She nodded, and then he was gone.
She took a deep breath.
Okay. You can come back now.
Grav soon walked into view, looking like a child who got caught with one hand in the cookie jar. Except, you know, instead of cookies, it was private family moments.
When he saw her face, fresh worry blossomed across his features. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
Kiara stared at him for a long moment. She had no idea how her own expression read, but she doubted it was anything good.
Then she moved forward to wrap her arms around him and turned her face into his chest. "I love you," she whispered fiercely, voice a little thick. She might have said something else, but her throat had gone so tight that she knew she couldn't speak without crying, and she wasn't much interested in doing that. So she just held onto him as tight as she could without fear of hurting him.
Kit crept slowly out of the trees, head and tail lowered apologetically. I'm sorry, Kia, his voice whispered through their minds. We shouldn't have--I shouldn't have--
She shook her head, still not able to speak aloud. It's not that. I know you were just worried about me. It's... Another shake of her head and she held Grav a little tighter.
Grav held her tight in return. The unusual intensity of the embrace, however, filled him with trepidation and foreboding. Something her father had said must have upset her greatly. It most certainly was nothing that he would like any better.
"I love you too," he said worriedly, gently stroking her back. "More than anything. And you know you can tell me anything, right?"
"I--" She took a breath and forced herself to pull back slightly. "I know. It's...I just..."
She sighed and shook her head, eyes downcast. Then, abruptly, she gave a short, harsh burst of laughter. "Fuck. Fuck." She dragged on hand down her face. "Do you ever think maybe they're better off?" she asked suddenly. "The other us. I mean, she--she's what she is now, but they never..." She swallowed around the lump in her throat. "Saying goodbye...wouldn't hurt them the same."
Grav frowned deeply. He very much didn't like where this was going. "Is that what he told you? To say goodbye to me now, because it would hurt even more later?"
"You know that's bullshit, right? I mean, of course I'd rather choose for you to live, but I refuse to accept that those are the only two options." She had never seen him so vehement about anything.
"Yeah," she sighed, looking away. "Yeah. Basically. He...wants me to think about it, at least."
She drew in a slightly shuddering breath and leaned back into him. Kit dropped his head to rest his snout on Grav's shoulder with a quiet croon, nosing her cheek.
"I'm not giving up," Kiara mumbled into his chest. "I'm not. Not yet. Just..." She swallowed another surging threat of tears, then admitted in a voice so quiet it almost wasn't audible, "I wish I could talk to my mum..."
Ranith had been the mortal in the scenario that Aeolthaine laid out before her. she'd died too young--but what would she have chosen, if the whole length of her life had stretched out before her?
Her mumbled wish triggered a thought. "What about finding a diviner? A real one, not a penny a dozen charlatan. It's not exactly talking to the dead, but it's as close as you can get without resorting to... you know."
Necromancy was the absolute last thing he'd suggest. It was taboo for good reason.
Kiara exhaled and shook her head slowly--not exactly a denial, more a helpless sort of gesture. "I thought about it," she murmured. "After she...those first few years, I actually looked for someone. I found a handful, but...they're hard to come by. And expensive."
Kit rumbled and flicked his tongue out to scrape against her cheek. "We can look again," he said quietly.
"Maybe." She went quiet for a moment, then shook her head again and started to pull back from Grav. "We should--get back. To the house. It's...been a long day."
Grav barked a rueful laugh. "Gods, it really has. I really hope we're spared the dream again, but something tells me we won't be that lucky. Not until they part ways, anyway."
Unlike other nights, the dream picked up hours later than they left it.
"Thank you for, you know, sticking with me until we're out of Vythe," Dan said, sitting on a log by the campfire. He seemed more distant since he had met her double from that other world; knowing that another version of the two of them that were in love was... distracting, to say the least.
"Mmm." Kiara had been distant herself all day--both with Dan and with Kit. She was sitting in the curve of the dragon's body, but any time he tried to broach their mental link, she put her walls back up.
She didn't know what to say to him. First this--this fae bullshit happened, and now they all had some sort of double? But oh, lucky her, her double was the one who went and swapped places. She didn't know what the other her had said to Dan, but just thinking about the way his double had looked at her...
It was more than enough to make her head hurt.
"Well. Y'know." She shrugged. "Not like we could stay in Vythe either. Don't worry about it."
She nudged a rock absently with her toe.
Kit, who had been asleep for the entirety of the swap and was rather annoyed about it, despite having some odd dreams of his own, snorted and nudged it back sharply with his snout. "So. Are we just...not going to talk about this?"
"What is there to talk about? Weird things happened, Kiara is a Fae now, and the rest has naught to do with us." Dan's awkward dance around the subject indicated that his thoughts far from ended there.
Me and her? Preposterous.
"Riiiiiiight." Kit looked between them, then said dryly, "So the fact that while I was dreaming and I saw that other Kiara get back to her proper place and kiss her Dan like her life depended on it is just...not of interest?"
Kiara choked, eyes wide as she snapped her head around to gape at the dragon. "What in—what?!"
Dan flushed a bright crimson and looked away. "So... About that..."
"That other us?" He shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "They are in love. Which rather explains the lengths he went to in order to help her."
"Oooohhhhhh perfect!"
Kiara surged to her feet and threw her arms out. "Just perfect! Because this whole damn situation wasn't weird enough! That's--"
She looked at Dan, flushed dark red, and looked away again quickly. "Well. I'm not her, and you're not him, and--whatever. Doesn't matter. We're not them," she muttered.
Kit watched her begin to pace and said slowly, "No...we're not. But--Kia, don't you think it's...maybe there's something we should be learning from this? Something this whole situation is trying to tell us?"
"Like what?!" She spun to glare at him. "What, me and Danny Boy are fucking destined to be or whatever? How the hells is that gonna work with me like this?!" She gestured to herself, to the subtle golden glow to her skin and the fact that sparks were leaping from her fingers in her agitation. "I can't even--at least she gets to stay human! No magic, maybe, but human. This--I--"
She swallowed. "...I need to take a walk."
Dan sighed, borderline glaring at the dragon. "You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you? Maybe you are right and there is a meaning to today's events, but that was poor timing."
Kit returned the look with a glare of his own. "What good was ignoring it going to do? Maybe they know each other, but you don't know my Kia hardly at all--if I let her, she'd pretend nothing was wrong until she couldn't ignore it anymore."
"I can hear you!"
Despite the distance she'd gotten from their camp, it seemed Kiara's newly awakened fae senses were quite a bit sharper than they had been when she was human. Kit snorted and glanced in her direction.
"Of course I don't really know her! She won't even let me!" Dan exclaimed in frustration. "Not that it matters how another version of me feels about her. Even if she could stay in the mortal realm after this, we are different people with our own priorities. Whatever spark ignited their hearts has not sought fit to melt the ice between us."
Part of him, a deep part, knew that this was not the entire truth. But what did it matter? Any friendship or anything else that might have come of their meeting was not to be.
"So?" Kit gave him a hard stare. "Melt it yourself. You can't leave all the fire to her."
He huffed and placed his head on his crossed front paws. "There has to be something. Some way to fix this. And maybe that—that connection between the other two is the difference. Maybe that's what we need."
It was suddenly clear in his tone that he wasn't speaking from irritation, as it had first seemed, but desperation. If nothing changed, his Kiara would be drawn into the Fae Realm—and there was nothing he could do about it.
The dragon's desperate tone made the young nobleman's heart ache for him. "I'm sorry, Ser Kit. I would do near anything to repay her for saving my life; she is far kinder than she likes to let on. I just don't know how attempting to woo her into some doomed romance would help either one of us."
"...You're right." Kit sighed and closed his eyes. "I know, I just...I can't think of anything else..."
He was quiet a moment, then said more softly, "I don't think you should woo, really. But maybe you should at least talk about it--them. The other you two, and...what they're like."
"I... suppose it is worth a try." Dan took a slow breath and stood. "Wish me luck."
The young man headed in the direction Kiara had gone, hesitantly approaching her. "I... suppose you heard at least most of that."
Kiara had found a small hillock to pace around, though by the time Dan found her she was sitting on the grass and staring up through the woven branches above them.
"...Yeah." She sighed and ran one hand down her face. "Part of me thinks Kit might have a point—but most of me thinks he's just desperate."
He sat by her, but far enough away to not draw her ire. "Of course he's desperate. He loves you. But that doesn't mean he's wrong."
"Besides, it's not like being emotionally open about this madness can hurt us. So... is it not worth trying? If he's right, we just might stumble into figuring this mess out. If he's wrong, we'll never have to see each other again."
The prospect of that tugged at his heartstrings. But, why? Had his other's love rubbed off on him, or had he felt it since the moment they had met and just not acknowledged it?
She was quiet for several heartbeats, then sighed again and let her shoulder curve forward as her head sagged. "Fine. Fine. I guess...worth a shot."
Frowning, not looking directly at him, she muttered, "You said he was...in love with her. The other you. I didn't—when we switched, I didn't get any sense from her, we were just suddenly...not where we were supposed to be."
Another sigh and she risked looking at him for a moment. "...How did you know?"
A tenderness was briefly visible in his eyes before he turned them away. "I was in his head. His fear of losing his Kiara was like a black pit I could barely see out of. It was so strong that it could only be love and nothing else."
"The kind of love they write songs about; happy and sad alike." He chuckled. "The kind that reaches between worlds, apparently."
"Fucking hells." Kiara's shook her head and reached up to rub at the back of her neck. "I mean—I guess."
She gave a short, sharp, incredulous laugh and shook her head again. "Gods. What are we supposed to—I mean what the fuck, honestly."
She glanced sidelong at him. "You didn't...get anything else? When you were dreaming of them?"
Dan stroked his chin as he thought. "Well, it wasn't the dream, but the other Kiara mentioned a connection not between the four of us but between the six of us. I believe she also implied—or maybe it was something in the dream—that both of them are linked with Ser Kit."
"Perhaps that imbalance is part of the problem? Only five connected instead of Six."
"They both had a connection to Kit?" She frowned as she turned that idea over in her mind. "That's...I mean, I've heard of dragons bonding multiple times in their lives, but that's usually...well, when they lose their first rider. It's really rare to happen simultaneously. And Kit and I..."
She sighed and shook her head. "We've been together since I was three, since he hatched. I don't—it would take something incredibly intense for him to forge any sort of bond with someone else."
Something intense? No. That was crazy. He couldn't believe he was even going to say it out loud.
"It's absolutely insane, and obviously the very last thing we should do, but..." The nobleman let out a mad chuckle. "Would taking down a corrupt noble qualify?"
That startled her own sharp burst of laughter from her, and Kiara stared at him incredulously. "Well, first of all--I meant intense like, shared emotion. Although..."
Was she seriously considering this?
Slowly, she found herself saying, "I mean...the other you...his parents were dead. I have no idea what his noble house would have looked like. Maybe--maybe that is part of the difference?"
It was Dan's turn to stare in disbelief that she was going along with that.
"It makes a mad kind of sense. Don't ask me how I am sure of this—maybe he can communicate on some level when he dreams—but it seems your history prior to this job was the same. Mine, however, branches off when I was a small child."
"So perhaps this force binding us wants the six of us to put a stop to my brother before he achieves whatever horror he's plotting. Because, believe me, he is a true zealot when it comes to mages. He sees no distinction between those that abuse their magic and those that never use theirs at all."
"...I must be out of my mind." Kiara shook her head, then made a wide, helpless gesture with her empty hands. "Well! I don't have any better ideas, so I guess...fuck it! Let's do this."
She frowned, then wondered aloud, "Do you think...they have to, too? Because, just from what I could pick up...we're a little out of sync, like...time-wise. Maybe...maybe his brother has some sort of plan that's going into motion at the same time yours tried to kill you?"
"Then they have no time to waste. I only pray they are still dreaming of us and they get the message," he answered. "Because I believe we'll need to somehow work together to win the day."
He looked back toward Kit. "Do you think we can sell him on this insane quest?"
"At this point?" She glanced back in the dragon's direction, expression falling. "I think he'd try anything..."
She looked down at her hands in her lap. At the way her skin still shimmered slightly, even in the dark, away from the campfire. Her brows drew together and she flexed her fingers.
It felt different. Being like this. She didn't know if she'd expected it to feel more different or less, but it was definitely...different. There was a faint buzzing, a tingle just under her skin, a contained energy ready to burst forth at a moment's notice. The subtle warmth of magic in the center of her chest, which she had always thought of as an ember she could coax to life, now felt like a fully-born fire that leaped and licked at her ribs and breastbone.
Dan watched her for a moment, and his expression softened again. He could hardly even imagine what she must be going through. She must feel like her body was no longer entirely hers, and in a sense, it wasn't; she was sharing part of herself with another, happier version of herself.
Happy with him.
He shook off the strange bit of envy he felt for his other self and said, "I wish we had met under better circumstances, as they must have. Perhaps something may have come of it. I would be lying if I said it wasn't nice to think about... finding someone who could love me like that."
Kiara looked at him, momentarily startled by the admission.
"Someone could be, y'know...anyone," she pointed out quietly. "You could still...find that. With someone."
Gods. She didn't know how to do this. How to be open with someone. Especially not him, this would-be lord who some version of her in another life was in love with.
"Oh, I don't intend to try and win you over," he answered with a rueful chuckle. "Our other selves have unwittingly poisoned the well in that regard. Even if we did somehow grow more fond of each other, we would always wonder if it was really our choice."
"As for that special someone... I will... have to figure out who I am without having my whole life mapped out for me before I even begin looking."
"Well yeah, I didn't mean me," Kiara huffed a laugh. "Just, y'know..." She shrugged. "If that was something you wanted, no one's saying you can't go find it. Well."
She pursed her lips. "After we deal with your brother, I mean. Assuming we survive that."
"Well, you will. Aren't you an immortal fae now?" Dan joked hesitantly, unsure if it was in good taste.
Honestly, he didn't much care for proper decorum just then. After all, he was planning to kick the hornet's nest and be labeled a rebel. He truly couldn't go back after that.
Kiara winced. "It...doesn't really work like that," she sighed. "The fae aren't immortal, immortal. They just...don't die of old age. They can still be killed. Hurt."
She paused, then reached for the dagger sheath at her thigh. "And things like this?" She carefully unbuckled the sheath, then held it out in her open palm between them. "My daggers are silverite. Even the hilts. But this buckle clasp right here?" She gestured to it. "That's plain iron. Which means..."
She steeled herself, then clasped her free hand over the sheath with a hiss and a wince of pain. She forced herself to hold on for a long second, then drew her hand back sharply, shaking it.
"...I can still get burned." She turned her hand to show him the mark of the buckle that had been seared into her palm.
Dan's face fell into an apologetic frown. "I apologize for my ignorance. My education put little emphasis on matters of the Fae, and what I've read in books was full of superstition and hearsay."
"Which, I suppose, sums up how little Connloathians truly understand about magic."
Say what you will about the naïve nobleman; at least he had an open mind.
She huffed and shook her head. "Don't apologize—the fae folk are secretive by nature, even people who grow up at the edges of their forests rarely know much more about them than bedtime stories will tell you."
She chewed at her bottom lip and stared at her palm as the burn mark slowly started to heal. That was also new...
She shook herself, then glanced at him with something close to the beginning of a smile. "So. What's the wildest thing you've heard about the Fae? I bet I can tell you if it's true or not."
He thought it over, stroking his chin. "Ah! Alright. Do they really steal children and replace them with fae creatures, as if they were little more than cuckoo birds? Changelings, I believe they call them."
"Mind you, I can't imagine why they would do such a thing."
"Oh!" She half-laughed, half-groaned. She should've known that would be one of the first things he thought of.
"Ummmm...yeah, actually," she replied with something like a nervous chuckle and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Some do. It's not normally a creature, though, it's a Fae child. Usually it's done with a baby who might be in danger in the Faerie Realm, so the mother swaps it with a human infant and glamours it so it can grow up in the—I suppose relative safety of the mortal world." She shrugged. "They're both called changelings, the human and the faerie."
Dan's surprise at that being true was evident on his face. "That... doesn't sound very advantageous to the human child. If a Fae child is at risk in the Fae realm, how could a mortal possibly be safe?"
"They do raise the stolen child?" he asked hopefully.
"Errrrr..." She blinked at him, opened her mouth—and realized quite abruptly that the whole "unable to lie" thing was also now part of her Whole Deal.
"Sometimes," she admitted on a sigh. "But the Folk aren't exactly known for being stellar parental figures. Some of the kids wind up as courtiers or wild folk—some actually make it back to the human world. And some..."
She trailed off, looking uncomfortable. "There's a reason people fear the Fae as much as they adore them." She frowned down at her lap again. "I mean, even in the best case scenario—someone's kid is getting stolen away. Depending on how good the changeling's glamour is they might never know but still..."
Dan grew somber. "Yes. It's a terrible thing to do to someone. I suppose when you are ageless, the short lives of mortals might seem to have less worth."
"And what of the Fae child when grown? I assume the true parent comes to them and upends everything they've ever known. A better fate than their counterpart, certainly, but one I do not envy."
"Sometimes they do." She said quietly. "Sometimes they leave them to their own devices—and sometimes the faerie child is only told who and what they are so they can serve as an agent of whichever Court they should belong to in the human world."
She paused, then snorted suddenly. "Alright, when I put it in that sort of perspective, I guess Da hasn't been so bad."
"He obviously cares what happens to you, and not simply because of some purpose he has for you," he said with a smile. "Which is a bare minimum level of parentage that even many mortals have trouble with. Especially those of noble blood; my own parents excluded."
"So, yes, we both could do worse. But I could do without the murderous sibling who's hated me since I was born." He tried to make it sound like a joke, but he was not as adept at hiding his emotions behind humor as his counterpart.
She exhaled a sharp breath that was half a laugh and nodded. "Yeah. I imagine most people would agree with you."
She glanced sidelong at him, then gave his shoulder a quick bump with hers. Neither of them had any way of knowing, of course, but it was very similar to the way her counterpart had first started showing casual affection to Grav. Not all that surprising--they were almost the same person, after all.
"C'mon. Let's head back and make sure Kit hasn't worried himself sick," she said with another small exhale.
"Yes. Let's," Dan answered as he followed her back to the fire.
"So, that's the plan." With a hesitant expression, he finished recounting their rather insane plan to turn around and march back into the lion's den in the hopes of achieving some kind of balance with their alternate selves.
"That's not a plan," Kit replied bluntly. "That's a madcap idea standing on the shoulders of desperation wearing a long trench coat that looks like a plan."
"You got any better ideas?" Kiara demanded. When the dragon grumbled incoherently, she nodded once. "Yeah, thought so. Me either. So this is what we've got."
"I don't like it," Kit huffed.
"I don't think any of us like it," Kiara pointed out wryly.
"Oh, I absolutely hate it," he chuckled ruefully. "After all, I'm the one he's really after. If we split right here, you two would be safe. But if we did, we'd never figure out what's happening with us."
"I don't know about you, but I've had enough of running from my problems."
"And I don't think running would do us much good, at this point," Kiara pointed out with a wide gesture between herself and Kit. "Looks like if we want to get this sorted, we've gotta face this shit head-on."
The dragon sighed, warm breath ruffling the flames of the campfire. "Fine. Guess I don't have any clever quips for that so..."
He looked between the two of them. "What's our first step?"
"We find our way back to Eldridge. I know someone in town that can get us onto the estate unnoticed. She worked for the family until my brother had her fired; she never told me why, but my best guess makes my blood boil," he answered as if he hadn't just thought it up on the spot. He did tell her that the townsfolk liked hi, so it made sense that he could call on someone for aid. Well, unless he was one of those clueless fops that only thought he was well liked.
"Well. It's a start, I guess," Kit huffed grudgingly.
"You sure this woman will be willing to help us?" Kiara pressed, somewhat more gently. "I mean...it sounds like your brother could absolutely ruin her life if this all goes south."
Dan sighed heavily. "Perhaps it is best that we find another way. I couldn't live with myself if we made her situation worse by involving her."
"Of course," he chuckled ruefully and a little madly, "if we fail, I may well not have to live with anything."
"Well hey, don't go there yet," Kiara said mildly. "That's losing the battle before you've fought it." She bit her lip and frowned. "What are our other options? If we don't have a stealthy way in, I mean--what are the estate's weaknesses?"
She was right; no good could come of thinking of what happens should they fail. They could only push forward.
He stroked his chin in thought, going over the entire estate in his head. Maybe... "There is a spot along the east wall where a tree branch hangs over into the back garden. We might be able to sneak in there. Or, if we abandon stealth almost entirely, there's a crack in the north wall that Kit could likely break through. Or you could use your newfound oomph to blast our way in."
"Or, actually, what if you disguised yourself as a bounty hunter and brought he in through the front door?"
"That--" Kiara opened her mouth, shut it, frowned, then said slowly, "That...might actually work. I mean, some of your brother's men saw you leave with me, but they wouldn't have any reason to think I wouldn't bring you back if I heard about a bounty..."
She looked at him with a hint of concern. "Are you sure you're up for something like that?"
Dan released a shaky breath as he nodded resolutely. "I have always thought I was brave, but it was not until I met you that I really understood what it meant to put your life on the line. I want to prove to myself, once and for all, that I'm not all talk. And I trust that you'll get me through this in one piece."
"Dear gods." Kiara rolled her eyes, laughed sharply, then stuck her hand out toward him. "Well. Here's hoping you haven't put your faith in the wrong thief."
Kit snorted, curving his tail around to cover his front paws as he sat primly behind her.
Dan shook her hand once. "You could have betrayed me or just abandoned me multiple times already. I think I have faith in just the right thief."
Grav yawned awake, nuzzling against the back of her shoulder. "Mmnn... morning..."
Kiara murmured sleepily and turned her head back toward him, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead with her eyes still closed.
After a moment, more properly awake, she noted, "Well...it could have been worse."
Grav returned the affection with a kiss on her cheek. "Yeah. They could be planning to assault a noble manor or something," he quipped sarcastically.
He exhaled slowly, turning serious. "What... what do you think will happen to us if they, yanno, while we're dreaming?"
She exhaled heavily, then turned properly in his arms to tuck herself against his chest and mumble something incoherent.
Another exhale, then she tipped her head up a bit and muttered, "Honestly...three days ago, I would've been a bit worried about that, but not panicking. Now?" She groaned and turned her face into his shoulder. "I don't know. I don't know, she--we're connected in another way now. With the switching and all. This..." She shook her head. "I don't know..."
He held her tight, doing his best to comfort her. "Then we'll just have to find a way to make sure that doesn't happen. Dan sure seems to think we have a role to play in their success."
"Which means we have a trip to plan."
She huffed and nodded against his shoulder. "Yeah. Suppose we do."
She let herself enjoy the closeness for a moment longer before pulling back and sitting up with a quiet sound of tired protest. "Well. Guess we'd better talk to your parents about heading out soon."
"Honestly?" he said with a groan as he sat up and stretched. "I think they're surprised we've stuck around this long, especially with something like this going on."
After the pair got dressed, they went to tell his parents they would be leaving for Connloath. He had to do a little convincing to soothe the worst of their worries, which only worked so well as parents were supposed to worry, but by the time they had eaten breakfast, the trio was off.
[Continued here (https://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=27352.0)]