she overheard them, Hualiama spied on her draconic companions. This should be entertaining.
Firstly, you need to understand that just as a Dragon has three hearts, a Human female has three minds.
Three? Grandion was as nonplussed as the Human eavesdropping on their conversation.
Aye, three, and you never know which one you’re going to get from one moment to the next. Ooh, she was going to give that overgrown, armour-plated mosquito a piece of her mind–one of her minds. Lia hushed a giggle as the dragonet continued, They can switch from one brain to the next at a speed that would make a bat’s head spin. At least one of their brains possesses a dismaying tendency toward contrariness and wing-shivering vexation, as you observed in the tower.
Aye, that makes sense, Grandion nodded.
Secondly, a woman’s hair is always perfect, the dragonet pontificated. It is neither too long nor too short, too dark nor too light, nor does it ever resemble a windroc’s nest. Clear?
Give me scales any day, muttered the larger Dragon.
Flicker drew himself up. Lia’s hair is wondrous amongst her kind. It falls down her back like spider-silk threads of the whitest Dragon gold.
Grandion’s paw, upraised in the act of scratching his spine spikes, curled as if with a sudden cramp. Hualiama shivered at the tenor of his glance. Dragons were said to be covetous. Surely, that could not be what he wanted of her, to add a Human to his Dragon hoard? One fable told how Dragons could breathe out a magic which converted any object into pure gold. Nonsense, she told herself. Silly tales for children–and who would want a golden statue of Hualiama?
Perhaps Ra’aba, as a decoration for his throne room?
Now, Humans value diminutive size, Flicker instructed. She is cute. Dainty. Lia’s entire person, but especially her backside, is not to be commented upon except with the greatest consideration.
Huh? Grandion snorted. What Dragoness would not burn for a well-turned compliment?
Favourable comparisons to legs as sturdy as the Islands, and haunches as full and round as the Jade moon, are definitely forbidden, said the dragonet. Lia almost choked with laughter. Imagine! They are very particular about the taboo parts of their bodies, and believe their body coverings enhance beauty.
The Tourmaline Dragon snorted even more impressively than before, raising ripples on the lake surface. Ridiculous! She teases and torments like a Dragoness, but then retreats behind her clothes? I could not even chastise her like a hatchling. You witnessed her tears. What did that mean?
Flicker sighed at the same time as Lia. In part seriousness and part teasing, Grandion had wanted to bend her over his paw to receive a beating for defying his commands back at the tower–she had disrespected her Dragon protector, she realised. Hualiama felt ashamed now at her screaming, her blind panic and revulsion … but how could she resist a Dragon’s strength? How could she tell him, that the action reminded her so clearly of a time her father held her down to whip her with a heavy weapons belt?
She is no hatchling, despite her lack of stature, said the dragonet. Perhaps it is taboo in Human culture, or signifies something mated Humans might do together?
She wanted to laugh bitterly. No, Flicker. It was only in speaking to Ja’al’s sisters, quietly that night she had visited his family, that she had learned that not all parents beat their children bloody, nor did they break their child’s arm–Elki, in this case–in a hunting ‘accident’ that everyone knew was no accident.
Abruptly, Lia pushed to her feet. Something needed to be said.
“Grandion?”
“Aye, Hualiama? I will catch you a trout, I promise, but our companion seemed hungry for parasites.”
“He often eats from beneath a log,” Lia smiled, wading out into the lake. She wore just her tunic top, having swum earlier with Flicker while Grandion soared aloft to scout.
“That’s where you find the best and juiciest grubs!” Flicker enthused. “And, I highly recommend those green crunchy beetles. They flutter in your mouth and sometimes right down your gullet, while the many-legged orange ones …”
“Grandion, I know this is an un-draconic apology, but I’m sorry I aggravated you earlier. I was frustrated at doing such a poor job in Rolodia town.”
“Accepted,” he growled.
“There’s more. I vented my pain on you, when I should’ve trusted you not to hurt me.”
Grandion had the grace to shake his head dubiously. “I would not have trusted myself, Lia. This echo arises from your past. Your father hurt you?”