Here There be Dragons: Testing the Waters

They left Matthias in the care of a steward at the palace. He was just royal enough that he needed to be housed by the palace. Aella grumbled as he flounced off.

“Try not to be found in any fountains,” she hissed at his retreating behind. He laughed loudly, boisterously.

“Oh, Admiral Aella, I would never!” He flounced his hair dramatically, the thick blond braid catching the torchlight to shine like gold. His escort, a young male guard, stared at him with open admiration. “It is much too cold for such activities outdoors! But thank you for thinking of my health!” He gave her an exaggerated wink. Aella managed not to groan aloud again, as that only seemed to encourage him. Beside her, Alejo giggled.

“He’s funny.”

“He’d like to think so,” Aella grumbled. That only made both boys laugh. She heaved a sigh. Dragons save her if the boys ended up taking personality cues from Matthias.

They moved to the sitting room. Epelda kicked off her boots.

“Where’s Jules?” Egaz asked, bouncing on his toes as he signed and spoke.

“He is still on the ship,” Epelda flushed, looking embarrassed. Her signs were slow, almost reluctant. “We didn’t think mom would be alright with him… with him sleeping here.” She rubbed at her coral and shell bracelet, and Aella swallowed. She touched her daughter’s shoulder gently.

“You cannot sleep in the same bed, but he can be here,” Aella signed, her expression gentle. “And in public, you are not to touch. The Salamaders get their panties in a twist over the slightest bit of public affection. You don’t want to hear the old biddies nagging you, do you?” Epelda smiled, but it was a sad, almost hurt smile. Aella swallowed back a particularly nasty bit of swearing as she watched Epelda play with the bracelet again. She had wilted at her mother’s words, and Aella glanced over at Nereida. Her wife looked disappointed in her. There was no winning here.

“Alright,” Aella sighed. “He can sleep in your bed. But we will have a second room made up for appearances.” Epelda brightened and threw her arms around Aella.

“Missed you,” Epelda signed. “The Tooth is not the same without you.”

They got Epelda settled, and sent a guard to get Jules. Nereida explained, with imperious tones, that her daughter’s betrothed would be kept in proper accommodations. The guard nodded, took the news that it was another siren that he’d be escorting with surprising grace, and he trotted off.

“How is Big Salamander?” Epelda asked with a grin. “I’ve missed him too.” But she caught the way Nereida and Aella looked at each other, and her grin wilted. “What?” So they told her, in quiet voices, all that had happened. The King’s death, the Dragon’s purge and rebirth, and finally Camina’s death. Epelda listened, her whole body still, until they got to Alejo trying to heal his cousin until he lost consciousness. She scooped the boy into her lap and held him so tightly he squawked. Alejo leaned into the hug after a moment, and he cried into her chest.

“Brave, stupid boy,” she signed on his back. “Please don’t ever do that again.” He nodded into her.

The moment was interrupted with a knock sounded at their front door. A dark-haired servant in red and black stepped in.

“Her Majesty Queen Creusa invites her cousin and wife to tea in half an hour.”

“We will be there,” Aella replied.

“I will wait in the hall to escort your ladyships.” They bowed and headed out. Aella let out a huff, and turned to her wife.

“Ready to dance the knife’s edge again?” she asked softly. But Nereida was grinning, and there was a glint in her eyes that made Aella supremely nervous.

“She’s a cousin, right?”

“Yes love, and only a few years older than me. Why?”

“I am deciding if I am taking her to task for your deplorable lack of diplomatic skills.” Nereida’s smile was that of a shark. She looked lovely, feral and completely a siren. Her perfect wife.

“She’s not the one. Her mother was my mother’s sister, and they had a brother as well. But love, that generation is all gone. There’s no one left to rail against.” She took Nereida’s hand, lifted her hand up and kissed the back of her hand. “Come, let’s freshen up and not keep her waiting. I’ve never known her to be particularly patient.”

Aella stared into her closet, not quite sure if she should wear her military jacket, which had recently been pressed and steamed, or if she should wear the one she wore to dinner with the family last week. It was well-tailored, sitting well on her frame, and was done in purple, red and black, representing Nereida as well. And she simply wasn’t sure if her title still stood; Creusa had called her “cousin” not “Admiral”. But Matthias had called her Admiral… or was the foppish man just stuck in old habits? She turned to Nereida to get her opinion.

“This is a family function, not high court,” Nereida told her softly. “Wear whichever makes you more comfortable, love.” Nereida kissed her cheek softly. “Stop fussing.”

And so, dressed in her military jacket and trousers, complete with feathered hat, Aella offered her arm to her wife. The two of them were escorted to the guest quarters, where the Queen was lounging on a fainting couch. There was a couch set up opposite her, and a long table between where a beautiful silver tea set had been placed. There was a faint smell of flowers in the air, likely from the tea. The hearth fire was roaring. Matthias was leaning near the hearth-fire, giving the impression he had not a care in the world as he looked over his sister-in-law. Now that Aella knew his impish expressions and careless attitude were, mostly, obfuscations, she made sure to keep an eye on him. Especially when he looked bored.

“Your Majesty,” Aella greeted, bowing at a respectful distance. Nereida, beside her, courtseyed. “May I officially present my wife, Princess Nereida D’Igna.”

“It is a pleasure,” the Queen answered, giving them a small, enigmatic smile.

“The pleasure is mine,” Nereida replied, following the steps she clearly knew.

“Now that the official meeting has begun, would you sit, cousin?” Creusa asked with a little sigh. “I have travelled across the known world to see you, the least you could do is visit.” Aella felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She went to the couch, Nereida following, and began preparing tea; first for the queen, then for her wife, finally for herself.

“Might I have a sip of tea?” Matthias called from his place. Aella understood the unasked question; might I join?

“There is another chair,” Creusa replied with a bored wave of her hand. “Brother-in-law, you’ll have to move it over here, however. As long as my guests have no objections?”

“None,” Nereida replied with a bright smile at Matthias. “It’s good to have a friend at the table.” She turned her smile to the queen. “Though I hope I have two.” The queen chuckled at this, her eyes sparkling in amusement.

“Oh, cousin, she’s delightful.” She leaned in toward Aella, beaming. “And here I thought you hopeless at politics.” Aella scowled, but relaxed when she felt Nereida’s gentle touch on her knee.

“I didn’t marry her for politics,” Aella grumbled, but she leaned back and gave a small smile to Nereida.

“And you didn’t allow a young noble siren to court your daughter for politics?” she asked.

“Jules loves Epelda,” Aella said softly. “The politics had nothing to do with it.” She did not correct the queen regarding Jules’ status amongst his people. It would not help anything.

“Oh, Admiral, you’ve gone soft,” Matthias marveled. She glared at him, but he just laughed, a high, easy sound. “Glare all you like, darling, we can all see it.”

“So, if I am to understand all that you have undergone,” Creusa began, sitting straighter. “You were chased into the Cursed Waters because the foolish, arrogant former Admirals thought you’d made a pet of a person.” Aella felt a small smile tug at her lips when her cousin described them as “former”. She nodded. “The siren they thought you had was, indeed, the very princess I gave you permission to court. And then, you brokered peace with a people we had all thought insane, proved it was an elaborate hoax, which I am honestly flabbergasted by. You were then married by said sirens minutes after you proposed. You still brought your now wife back to her parents and the former king was planning on taking my ship to wage war against the demons, but you sent your adopted,” she made the slightest of sour faces at the word, “daughter, and heir, to retake the ship, escape into the night and return back across the Cursed Sea. All to get help?”

“Yes,” Aella replied, “Your Majesty,” she added, almost forgetting, for the moment, who she spoke to.

“Is there anything I missed?” she asked. Aella glanced at her wife. Nereida squeezed her hand.

“If I may?” Nereida said. The queen nodded. “Aella does not much care for story-telling, but I have a great one. It cannot be told at large, but we have decided that family,” she looked up at Matthias, and the man nodded, looking surprisingly thoughtful, “will get the truth.”

So Nereida launched into the tale of awakening the dragons, how they took residence in a human host, empowering them, changing them, but leaving once their body was made whole. That they have, for the most part, been peaceful, and the one that was not was put down, only to be born again, as Dragons are creatures of magic. She told them what dragons were awake, about housing the Dragon of the Ocean. She did not qualify that she or Aella were still housing the dragons, however. Aella watched their posture, their faces, looking for hints of betrayal or anger, but both were tilted toward Nereida as they listened, wonder openly on Matthias’ face. Creusa guarded her emotions, but her eyes danced with curiosity, until Nereida mentioned that Moon had awakened into Aella. Then there was stark disbelief on her face, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously. After all, Creusa was as well versed in their family history as Aella had been, possibly more.

“Wait, but the moon-blooded line is dead,” Creusa protested.

“No,” Aella replied. She looked at her queen, at her cousin, and smiled sadly. “It lives. In us.” She took a moment to produce a faint shimmering light on her fingers, like the glow of the moon, though it faded quickly. Her cousin stared at her with wide eyes. Matthias’ mouth opened and closed like a fish, his little brain unable to comprehend what he was seeing. She felt her magic settle on her, and she let it do what it would. Fighting the magic always made her feel sick. “The Moon doesn’t shine like the Sun.” She turned toward Matthias as she spoke, her voice not quite her own. He stilled, and did not even seem to be breathing. “We have no need. But the Moon needs the Sun, and will need him soon.”

“Love,” Nereida whispered, stroking her cheek. Aella blinked and the power evaporated. “All good?”

“I’m fine,” she grumbled back. She blinked to dispel the frightening images. Matthias at her side, on the edge of a great shadow. If he was not at her side, the shadow consumed her. She forced herself to look at her cousin, instead of Matthias. “The new moon doesn’t drive us to madness, despite that little outburst,” Aella explained. She felt Nereida’s hand on her back now, doing slow circles. She focused on the feel of her wife’s soft, gentle hand, letting it ground her. “We need to sleep beneath all the moon’s cycles to see.”

“The future?” Matthias asked, his voice uncharacteristically hard.

“Possibilities. It guides me, but I can ignore it.”

No one spoke a moment, the only sound was the fire crackling merrily. Aella took a sip of her tea. All the sugar had sunk to the bottom, leaving it syrupy without much flavour. She made a face of disgust. Even for her, it was sickeningly sweet.

“I very much look forward to your second ceremony,” Creusa said after a long moment, sipping her own tea. She did not take sugar in it, and so her tea was fine. She smiled, a tight-lipped little smile. “Though perhaps, cousin, you’d favour me with a less formal visit? Bring your children. I’d like, very much, to meet the rest of our family.”

“I would like that,” Aella admitted. “Though… only Epelda has taken the Kyverna name.” Creusa waved her hand as if to dismiss the issue.

“There are heirs enough to our name, cousin. And hers,” she nodded to Nereida, “is just as royal. It’s not as if you took a spouse from poverty and changed your surname to Baker.” She laughed a little. Aella smiled tightly, not seeing the humour. She’d take Nereida no matter her station. But she didn’t know how to answer the queen, her cousin, without angering her. Matthias came to the rescue… of a sort.

“Now that the official nonsense is over, Admiral, perhaps you could tell me… where can I get food that isn’t going to set my tongue on fire?”