Page 43 of The Dragon Maiden

“If you want, I can teach you a little now.” He held out a hand to me.

Without hesitation, I took it, my face flushing from the warmth rushing through me. Dracul was firmer in his movements this time, his nonverbal directions easier to follow as we danced in the hallway. It also helped that this song was slower than our first dance together. At one point, he pulled me close so our bodies were flush against each other, and without thinking about it, my head moved to lean against his chest. I could hear the thumping of his heart and closed my eyes, comforted by the sound. We danced in silence, each of us enjoying the presence of the other.

The song came to an end, and I pulled away, suddenly conscious of my actions, my cheeks reddening. The two of us stared at each other for several moments, neither one wanting to break the silence, the magic of the moment that had just been between us.

Dracul cleared his throat, his cheeks redder as well. “That was much better than before,” he said, his voice low and husky. “We should head back inside now.” He held out his hand to lead me back in.

The rest of the evening, I remained on the sidelines, watching the dancers swirl around the dance floor. Towards the end of the night, when most participants had left to go to bed, Dracul escorted me back to the floor to dance one final time. This time was a very slow dance—a waltz, he told me—and he kept me close the whole time as we moved to the music. The other Lords brought their Maidens out for a final dance, as well, and with that, the festivities were complete.

When the Maidens returned to the cave, we all collapsed into bed, exhausted from the day’s activities. I curled up within my blankets, a smile on my face. The ceremony had been a success and I was now officially a Dragon Maiden.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Valora

After being officially inducted as a Dragon Maiden, my daily life did not change much—only now, when I spoke with the other Maidens, I could feel them giving more weight to my words. And when passing other humans in the corridors, they would bow their heads out of respect for my new title. Overall, I could feel a new presence of attention on myself and I was not sure how to feel about it. My daily tasks remained the same—continuing to clean and deliver correspondence to the other Lords.

Dracul acted like he normally did, and it was a relief, something familiar that I could slip back into. We worked together on brewing more of the potions that he was experimenting with. He would have me prepare ingredients or read steps from one of the many books to him. Now he even gave me additional time to read on my own, and would discuss any questions I had.

Despite daily life going back to normal, there were more whispers in the caves now. Borthen’s forces made very bold moves. It was glaringly obvious that he was preparing for war. Lord Firenze and Lord Hiram stopped by Dracul’s quarters almost on a daily basis now, taking up most of his day for discussing next steps. From what I overheard about their conversations, they soon had to discuss with the other Lords about what was to be done.

It took a couple weeks before a strategy meeting was held. I prepared the cavern where all the Lords were to meet, one of my new duties, and I wanted everything to be perfect. There was a room adjacent to the ceremonial hall, big enough for all the Lords in their dragon forms. It was mostly filled by a grand table, and ornate sconces lit up the room. The overall atmosphere was somber as the Lords met. I was allowed to remain to ensure refreshments were always available—each Lord had a goblet filled with cider and a plate full of meats in front of them.

“We’re here to discuss the Starfire clan’s egregious actions as of late.” Dracul started the meeting off, his voice clipped. I could tell the past few weeks had been getting to him, he grew increasingly worried with each passing day. “Lord Firenze, please provide an update on what your scouts have found.”

Lord Firenze, a brilliant crimson dragon, nodded. “From what we can tell, Borthen has gained human forces from both ours and Grathal’s borders,” he said. “He’s been able to entice them with false promises of greater prosperity.”

“We have not been able to gather taxes from those towns on our side of the border for several months now,” Lord Noxus interjected. “Those towns provide us with lumber, stone, and crops that we do not grow here.”

“Our food reserve is in a good spot,” Lord Lorka said. His orange scales looked like fire in the sconce light. “If we do not collect from those towns, we will be fine for many months.”

“Regardless,” Lord Firenze said, looking at each of the Lords, “it does not change the fact that Borthen is trying to overthrow Lord Dracul. He has also been going to Grathal, where he has amassed an army of dragon mercenaries as well.”

A small outcry at this news rang throughout the room.

“Lord Hiram,” Dracul turned to the oldest dragon in the room, “have you come across a situation like this before? How would you recommend we proceed?”

Lord Hiram drew his claws together, thinking over his answer. “I would recommend we go visit Borthen, at least hint that we know what he’s up to, and try to negotiate another treaty with him. If that fails then we will need to call on Lord Fangburn to enlist the Twisturn clan’s forces and bring Borthen down.”

There was silence after his words. The severity of the situation was not taken lightly by the Lords and I could see each of them considering Lord Hiram’s words.

It was several moments before Lord Dracul spoke. “I will go see Borthen,” he said. “And have Lord Firenze and Lord Verhorn accompany me.”

There were murmurs at his announcement.

“Lord Hiram,” he said, directing his attention to the gray dragon, “I want you to remain behind to keep an eye on Borthen’s movements in Lord Firenze’s absence, in case he tries to attack while we are away. If you see any movement, I want you to go to Lord Fangburn and enlist his help.”

“Yes, my Lord.” Lord Hiram bowed his head.

“Does anyone have any criticism on this plan?” Lord Dracul looked at each of the Lords, who all shook their heads. “Then we have an agreement. Lord Firenze, Lord Verhorn, we leave first thing tomorrow morning.” He stood and swept out of the room.

I ran after him back to his quarters. When we got there, he transformed into his human form and slumped against the wall.

“I hoped it would not come to this,” he said softly, and for the first time, I noticed dark circles under his eyes. This problem had been bothering him this whole time. He had hidden his worries well.

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?” I asked. Worry began to gnaw in my stomach as I watched him walk over to his desk.

He sat down with an exhale of air and stared at the papers, beginning to move them around. “Hopefully it will only be a day or two at most,” Dracul said, sorting the papers into a few different piles. “At worst, a week.”

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