beast was a sulphur-stinking monster who dared to attack my favourite girl!
Flicker, you’re awesome.
He sniffed, Obviously the sheer magnitude of my awesomeness is wasted on the likes of you.
She said, “And then, one day, Ja’al and I were sitting on the rim-wall above the monastery–”
“Doing what, exactly?” inquired Yualiana.
“Talking,” said Lia, at exactly the same instant as Ja’al had a coughing-fit and turned a fine shade of purple. “Well, I …” Her fiery blush did not help her cause one iota. “I-I d-didn’t mean–”
“I kissed the Princess to save her from a Dragon,” Ja’al said, firmly.
His mother’s hands felt like a Dragoness’ claws, digging into Lia’s shoulders. She could not see her expression, but from the way she snapped, “Explain!” it must have been a picture. Beside her, Inniora stifled a chuckle beneath an extremely fake cough, while Hallon and Rallon wore the identically stunned expressions of startled ralti sheep. Yualiana stalked around the table, pouring berry-wine into the tall wooden goblets from a large wineskin, the very tension in her manner demanding answers.
“You kissed my brother?” needled Inniora. Poor Ja’al’s nerve rather deserted him as he slumped in his chair. “Wasn’t that like kissing windroc droppings?”
“We saw her first,” said Rallon. “Why didn’t we get kisses?”
Flicker put in, “Actually, Lia kissed me first, after I saved her hide.”
“Bah, what’s so special about a kiss?” snorted Master Jo’el. “I got one for my birthday.”
Yualiana paused over her husband’s goblet, staring across the table at her brother in a way that made him turn as red-faced as Hualiama. He quickly busied himself with his bowl of stew. Yualiana said, “I can’t believe my pointy ears. What kind of a monastery are you running, brother? Fomenting rebellion against Ra’aba, taking in stray royals who run around kissing monks … and you, son!”
Ja’al narrowly avoided slipping off his seat. “Me?”
“When are you taking your vows?”
“Actually, that’s the main reason we’re here–apart from meeting the Nameless Man, of course.”
His mother snapped, “Are you taking your vows?”
“Of course,” spluttered Ja’al. “No mere kiss could stop me–this very week, in fact. The whole family’s invited. With no disrespect, Princess–”
“By the First Egg, Lia,” Flicker interjected, “didn’t you kiss him properly?”
When it became apparent that embarrassment had stolen Ja’al’s tongue, Lia said, “We had to fool a Dragon, Flicker. But Ja’al’s incorruptible, which is rather helpful, considering …”
Unexpectedly, the dragonet launched off Inniora’s lap, turned sharply in the air, and smacked down on Ja’al’s shoulder. In seconds, Ja’al was being treated to a close-up view of a pawful of razor-sharp talons. The dragonet hissed, “You don’t like my Lia?”
Eyes bulging with alarm, the young monk quickly clarified, “No, no … it’s not like that at all.”
“Is she not the greatest prize of a thousand Isles?”
“Of course she is.”
“And what about her eyes–do they not sparkle with magic?”
“Flicker,” Lia warned.
“They do,” Ja’al agreed.
“So, as a Human male, you admit that you find my Lia attractive?”
Taking in his mother’s frown, he gulped, “Er …”
“Flicker, get your claw out of his nostril!” snapped Lia, beyond amusement now.
“Very attractive!” Ja’al howled.
The dragonet made an unmistakably curvilinear gesture with the forepaw that was not holding Ja’al’s nostril hostage. “What about the size and shape of her br–”
Crimson washed over her vision. Hualiama found herself leaping to her feet, roaring in Dragonish, ENOUGH, FLICKER! Her chair crashed down behind her, but that sound was drowned out as her cry shook the room like a minor thunderclap.
Flicker, being the sensitive dragonet that he was, bared his fangs at her. Into the dead silence that followed her cry, he deadpanned, “Ears.”
So help me, you are unbearable! Lia stormed around the table. Her hands clawed before her as she angled for the dragonet, fully intent on throttling the flying pest, otherwise known as her friend. I’m so ashamed! Everyone knows exactly what you meant, you outrageous … you exasperating … beast!
The dragonet gasped, You just did magic, Lia.
Don’t think you can excuse–what? His comment caught her so off-guard, Lia stumbled over the leg of Master Ga’athar’s chair and landed squarely in Ja’al’s lap.
Once a flurry of apologies had been made, Lia found her seat again. With the help of a swig of ice-cold lemon water, she calmed her flustered nerves, and tried to think through the crumbs the Nameless Man had tossed to her. What did it mean to be a child of Fra’anior, she wondered? And where exactly would she start looking for one rare Dragoness? Oh. There was one Dragon who might make a