Page 21 of Dragon Keeper
“Yes, some hives are protectors. Some are little clowns seeking only to spread happiness and sweetness. Some hives are harder working than others, and perhaps the honey is less sweet, less clear, but they make more. They’re all different and special in their own ways.” Tyr loved them all.
Brayden held his hand out next, and soon the bees were buzzing around. Not swarming, not aggressive in the least, but just buzzing. Welcoming.
Sloan, of course, got the most curiosity. They all wanted Sloan to see them, pay attention to them, love them. And it pleased him to the core to see Sloan pay attention to each one that came to him to offer them care and energy and magic.
Brayden glanced at him.You look so different now.
I do?
Yes. You seemed less bright before, and now you’re shining.
Tyr shrugged. He had his mate, so there was nothing not to shine for. He had all that he desired in the world. He had his bees and he had his mate. One day, perhaps, there would be a child. Then there would be a family.
It was more than he could even begin to hope for. One of the older worker bees landed on his shoulder, and he was singing. Welcoming Sloan and singing the fact that the hives were alive and going to be well. That life would begin to come back to normal.
What a wonderful thought that was. He glanced at Sloan, who was wandering carefully, gently petting the bees who asked for it, smiling at the variety of flowers and trees.
Brayden had sat down on an adjacent path, seeming to commune with the bees, legs crossed, hands on his legs. As if he were meditating.
Riley was the one he would keep an eye on. He was laughing with joy, but he might trample something if he wasn’t cautious. He had a youthful enthusiasm that led him to ask Sloan,How old is Riley?
Sloan chuckled.He’s the youngest of us, barely a few hundred years. But his personality has always been incredibly mercurial. Impetuous.
Ah, I see.Tyr nodded sagely.I have a friend whose temperament is that way, even though he is not particularly young. I suppose he has something of a temper.
“Is he your best friend?” Sloan asked.
He shook his head, then he nodded. He had told Sloan about Cade already but not about Harden.Cade is one of my best friends, but the other one is Harden. He works with animals. He has a small landholding just outside the village on the other side from the mountain, but he’s very prickly and something of a loner, so I don’t depend on him as much as I do on Cade. That sounds unkind. I suppose I don’t bother him as much as I do Cade.
Sloan’s eyebrows went up.But you do see him, right? I mean you spend time with him?
I do. The thing is that Cade is always up and down the mountain and moving around because he’s the village guardian, but Harden and I both have jobs that keep us tied to our own little plot of land. We meet a couple of times a month at the tavern to have a meal together, and sometimes, we go to Cade’s home up between here and the guardian house to have dinner.
That sounds nice. We have many acquaintances…Sloan seemed a little sad, so he decided to gossip to cheer him up.
I should tell you that Cade and Harden fell out for many years, and only Cade’s mating with Poe brought them back together. Poe loves the animals, and so he sort of orchestrated Cade and Harden becoming friends again. It was kind of glorious.
Sloan chuckled.I bet that made it easier for you since you didn’t have to split your time between the two of them.
A bee landed on top of Riley’s nose, and Tyr tried not to laugh out loud as he watched Riley cross his eyes and stare at it. That was so funny.It did. Now I can spend time with both of them again, and it’s a great deal more fun.“Just blow a little bit, Riley, and he’ll fly off.”
Riley pooched out his lower lip and blew, and the bee buzzed away, his wings beating in a little bit of an offended rhythm. But that was all right; nobody else needed to know.
When he checked on Brayden, he found that the man was covered in bees, his meditative stance seeming to draw them in, but he didn’t appear to be bothered by it. In fact, he seemed like he was in a real state of relaxation. Tyr understood. He often came out to the daybed in the bower in the back of the house and took a nap. He then woke up with his bees surrounding him. It was a wonderful way to be.
“These are beautiful flowers,” Sloan said, indicating a delicate, pink bell-shaped flower that was called justinia. “Are they dangerous?”
Tyr winked. “Do you mean are they venomous or poisonous? No, they are not. You may touch them if you would like, but you must be careful because sometimes the bees crawl up inside.”
“I wouldn’t think the bees could fit in there. They seem so small.”
You’d be surprised. I think they’re bigger on the inside.”
Sloan gave him a raised eyebrow look that seemed amused. “There was a TV show which used to say that all the time about something. It was called a TARDIS, and it had magical space on the inside that made it bigger than the outside looked.”
“What did the outside look like?” Tyler asked.
“A phone box.”
