Here There be Dragons: Testing the Waters

Nereida, of course, insisted that her brother-in-law move in with them, rather than return to his parents who mourned his sister. She would not let him leave court in disgrace, and was bound and determined to mend things between him and Leevan. But after three weeks, Leevan had not budged. He claimed that Caleb had chosen the traitor over Basiano, that by helping her pass as peacefully as possible was treason and the man was lucky that Basiano had not banished him. Basiano would not entertain any conversation about Caleb at all. He did return to family dinners two weeks after his coronation, no longer wearing the clothing of mourning, though Priscilla still dressed in simple white or grey clothing, extending the official mourning period. She held her other children tightly when she appeared, her eyes never dry. Nereida made an effort to take tea with her grieving sister-in-law, listening and offering sympathy and distraction whenever possible.

The boys were doing well in their lessons, Alejo’s feet were finally fully healed and spring, and thus their vow renewal, was just over a month away. And so, on a particularly nice week, while the sun was bright in the sky, and the wind was calm, Nereida gathered up her boys and wife, and brought them to the hills before the mountains while Caleb remained behind with Damara. The cabin was clean, with large windows with glass facing the rolling, snow-covered hills. There were two bedrooms, both furnished with big beds, fluffy couches and large, gated fireplaces. There were no servants, so they would be making their own food, a large reason why so few of her siblings ever took advantage of the place.

The boys shrieked with glee, pulling on more wool layers when they were told that there were sleds in the outdoor shed that they were allowed to use.

“Sleds like the ones we were in to come down the mountain?” Aella asked, looking slightly green at the idea. Nereida giggled.

“No, of course not! These ones are toys for children. The servants were here earlier, repairing them and cleaning them, so they are perfectly safe.” She brought Aella outside to see the sleds, small platforms of wood with metal runners, a thick rope attached for steering. Aella turned to face her, eyes wide in disbelief. “Dragons’ spiny dicks, love, those are death traps, not toys! What do they do with them?” Nereida grinned back at Aella, and just pointed to the hill. It was a relatively gentle slope, though the children would have a fairly long walk back. There was a gazebo built overlooking the sliding hill, with a small fire pit built inside bricks. Nereida pulled her wife over, getting her to stack some wood so they could start a cozy little fire. Aella grumbled as she worked, complaining about “heart attacks” and “insane mothers”. Nereida payed no heed to her wife’s foul mood, which she knew would disappear the moment she heard how the boys shrieked with joy.

Soon, the boys came out, thoroughly wrapped in wool jackets, hats and mittens, scarves tied tightly and tucked into their matching blue jackets. They each grabbed a sled, waved at Nereida happily, and ran toward the hill. The snow went flying as they sped down the hill, each boy yelling with great joy. The snow being thrown into the air was the best way to track them as they sped down to the bottom of the long hill. Aella watched, her fingers digging into Nereida’s arm.

“It’s like they are flying,” she managed, her words half-choked.

“Epelda flies.”

“Epelda has wings!” Aella snapped. “If they fall…”

“The snow is soft and powdery, and they are bundled tightly. The worst thing that happens is they veer off course and crash into a tree.”

“A TREE!” Aella let out a string of dragon anatomy based curses on rapid-fire. Completely done with her wife’s dramatics, Nereida leaned down, scooped up a handful of snow, and balled it up. She gently tossed it at her wife, hitting her square in the chest. Aella’s rant stopped, and a slow, mischievous smile spread across her face. “Oh, love,” she said, bending down herself, reaching for the snow. “You know this means war.”

Soon both women were shrieking like children as they both attempted not only to hit the other with snowballs, but trying to pull the back of each others’ jackets to stuff cold, wet snow into their backs. The wrestled in the snow, Nereida inevitably finding herself pinned beneath her much stronger, if much lighter, wife. Aella pinned her arms with her knees. The snow she was lying in was cold, but the rest of Nereida ran hot as she looked up at her wife. Some of Aella’s hair had come loose in their playful “war”, and was hanging down, tickling Nereida’s nose. Aella’s eyes were dark, and she leaned in to kiss Nereida deeply.

“There better be a door on our bedroom.”

“Better,” Nereida replied softly. “There’s a door with a lock.”

“Do you surrender?” Aella asked, not moving from her position above Nereida. “Or do I need more snow?” Nereida wiggled under her wife, compressing the snow, and trying to get a handful to throw, but Aella gave her no room.

“Make me,” Nereida challenged. Aella chuckled, and, still pinning Nereida with her knees, she reached down and slowly, ever so slowly, packed it into a tight snowball. She lifted the front of Nereida’s jacket, gently rolling the snowball along the exposed flesh at Nereida’s neck. Nereida yelped at the sudden cold.

“I surrender!” she yelled, giggling helplessly. Aella kissed her deeply again, using her own coat to wipe away the droplets of water that beaded along Nereida’s neck.

“Never bet against me, love,” Aella whispered.

“Never,” Nereida promised.

Their tender moment was interrupted by the boys finishing their climb up the hill.

“Did you SEE that?” Alejo asked, bouncing toward them like a puppy. “I was the fastest ever!”

“Me too!” Egaz insisted.

“I wanna go again.”

“Me too!”

“You can go as many times as you think you can climb the hill,” Nereida said, pulling herself out of the snow.

“Mama, you can’t make snow-birds together. You’ll mess up the shape!” Egaz protested. Nereida chuckled, but Alejo went red.

“You were being mushy,” Alejo accused. He did not wait for any confirmation, but instead grabbed his brother’s hand. “Come on, Egaz, let’s go again before we get mushy.”

“Mushy?”

“I’ll tell you later,” the older boy promised with a look shot over his shoulder at his parents. “So you don’t lose your cookies.”

“I didn’t eat any cookies.”

With that the two of them were on their sleds again, speeding down the hill. Nereida began to laugh, a great, belly-shaking laugh that caught on with Aella.

“Oh, sweet boy,” Nereida managed as she moved toward the fire. It was cozy in the gazebo, the wooden chairs dry. She pulled down the heavy curtains around the edges of the gazebo, blocking all but one side, so that she could still see the boys but keep out the chill of the wind. “I remember thinking that courting was “icky” I think is how I put it,” Nereida continued with a sad little smile. “Basi was courting girls when he was fourteen and I was nine.”

“Fourteen?” Aella asked, scandalized.

“Not for marriage, well, not initially. It’s to see who he gets along with, so when father and mother started pushing him toward a candidate, it would be someone who had similar interests. Though, at the time, I think “pretty” was his only requirement. One of his suitors, a girl a year older than him, was absolutely beautiful. Leevan and I also had such crushes on her. But then she revealed that she was not just an idiot, but a cruel idiot.”

“Oh?” Aella probed. Nereida’s smile faded.

“She cornered me. Told me she’d be the only princess that Basiano would be allowed to care for, and then pushed me into the half-frozen fountain. Basiano happened to come around the corner… and seared the doorframe when he lost control of his flames. He was so angry.” Nereida shook her head at the memory. “Mom made him a bracelet like mine after that. One to reign him in. So that he didn’t kill anyone by acciden.” Aella made a low whistling sound.

“Your mother is not to be trifled with,” she muttered. “Like mother, like daughter, I suppose.”

Aella joined her, sitting in the chair. They leaned into each other, their mitten-covered hands entwined as they sat in the relatively peaceful, warm gazebo. Everything here was quiet, despite the gleeful yelling, like a blanket was placed over the whole world, silencing troubles. A bird chirped nearby, soft and sweet. The birds returning meant that spring was coming, the snow would be gone soon. The ice on the ocean would be gone soon.

They lost sight of the boys after a particularly fast run, but Nereida was not too concerned. No one was around, and she’d hear it if they needed help.

“MAMA!” the shout cut through the quiet. Nereida leapt to her feet. She grabbed one of the sleds even as Aella sputtered her concern, and took off down the hill. The snow flew up into her face, cold and biting, not bringing any joy but instead fear. It was Egaz calling out to her. Where was Alejo? She sped down the hill, following the tracks they’d already left, until she found her youngest son. He was sitting on his sled, shivering. Alejo’s sled was beside his, empty.

“Where’s your brother?” Nereida asked, frantically checking over her little boy for injuries. He had a cut on his cheek, but it was superficial, and disappeared with a quick little song.

“He went to the river,” Egaz said, shaking in her arms. He was barely holding back a sob. “I called for him, but it was like he couldn’t hear me!” Nereida kissed his head.

“You did the right thing, little love,” she told him. “Stay here. Aella’s coming.” She could hear her wife coming down the hill, as each step she cursed as the snow went over her boots. “Tell her to go back to the cabin, I can’t worry about the both of you and find Alejo.”

“Okay mommy.”

The snow was deep enough that tracking the boy’s movements was easy. She followed Alejo’s trail to the river that ran down to the ocean. The river was running fast and free, unbothered by the cold. Alejo was at the edge of the river, staring at it, his coat and boots in a neat pile next to him on the bank. That was when Nereida heard it, over the rushing of the river, over the frantic beating of her own heart. Singing. The song was faint, almost bubbling, and impossible to understand. Alejo, as if he heard her arriving, plunged into the rapidly rushing river. Nereida cried out in fear. Aeljo couldn’t drown, but keeping warm in the frigid water took magical skill that he didn’t have. She raced after him, trying to get to him as the river swept him away. She did not jump in, knowing that her heavy coat would drag her down. As she ran, she struggled to undo her buttons, to throw her coat off, when suddenly, thirty paces downstream, Alejo broke the surface. His lips were chattering as he pulled himself to the bank and lay in the snow. He was laughing.

Nereida dropped down into the snow, her knees screaming as she landed on some ice hidden by soft-looking snow.

“Alejo, little love,” she pulled him up, using her magic to banish the water off his skin and clothing back into the river. The water went without difficulty, leaving her boy dry but cold. She pulled him into her arms, holding him tight, rubbing his back and arms.

“I heard it,” he said, tears starting now. But he was grinning ear to ear. “Mommy! Mommy, Sissy is coming back. The TOOTH is coming to get us!”