Chapter Seven #3
“Can you change it?”
“Oh. Now? Sure.” She put her hands at the crown of her head and moved her fingers down. The colour was an amazing and deep red.
The king blinked. “I remember you. How old are you now?”
“Thirty-four. I—wow—I have been out of the stronghold for over fifteen years. I didn’t think it was that long. I am going to need to rethink my timeline.”
Ival nodded. “I met you ten years ago.”
“Damn. Well, there goes my memory.”
The baby started fussing. Ramera moved closer to Ylara. “Remember Levika. Ramera was a name for a different time.”
Ylara smiled and handed the baby over. “Thanks, Levika. We will be in our quarters within the hour.”
“Yes, Princess.” Levika held the baby comfortably and headed back the way she had come.
Ival watched her go. “She looks better with hair.”
Riimal smiled. “So do you.”
“I thought I was pretty cute bald.”
“You were, but your hair is better.” He caressed her cheek and then slid his fingers over her hair. It had reached her shoulders.
Her grandparents were shocked at what they had just seen, but they whispered to Ylara, “Princess, you are letting her take your child?”
“I have seen her future. My daughter is still healthy and happy in it. All the children she cares for thrive.”
The king said, “You said she will have children of her own. Who was her mate?”
“I don’t know, but her children all had white hair. White-white.”
Ylara looked at Riithan’s black hair and the dark hair on the rest of the royals. “No one in this room then.”
The king sighed. “Making her Usar was uncalled for. If she and her mate were combative, he could have been persuaded to release her.”
Servants came in, filled the teapots around the room, and returned to their posts. Riimal reached and got her another cookie while they waited.
She smiled, and her grandmother said, “She was always after cookies. She ate them faster than I could make them some days. Her father was the same. When the two of them were in the kitchen together, I made them help.”
Riimal chuckled and reached to pour the tea. His brother tutted. “The lady pours.”
Riimal said, “Not when her hands can barely deal with the pressure of fabric. Give her a few weeks. She can’t deal with heat yet either.”
His brother blinked. “I forgot.”
“Yes, I know. So, her grandparents or I will help her until her skin toughens up. I could have left her in Aksalla for a few weeks, but I didn’t want to.”
Ival smiled and leaned her head carefully against his shoulder. His body got rigid, but his hands were steady as he poured tea for them both and moved the cups in close.
He touched her cup with his left hand, and she felt something run through him. He picked it up and held the cup to her lips. The tea was tepid, and it was just what she wanted.
He looked at her. “Good?”
“Good. Thank you.”
Riithan looked at his uncle, amazed. “Uncle, I never thought to see you so attentive to a partner.”
“She demands it, and I will give it. I know she will reciprocate when she is able. She is a very honourable woman.” He smiled.
“Plus, this is fun. I get to hold her close, and it reminds me that she is fragile right now. I have seen her in action and know that if she wanted to get loose, she wouldn’t hesitate to escape me.
Well, she would try. Now that I am more familiar with her, tracking her will not be an issue.
” Riimal said, “I have her close, and he is calm.”
Riithan nodded. “That much I understand.” He leaned over and kissed Ylara.
The conversation went to polite topics. Local events, training for Riithan and Riimal.
Riithan grinned. “I can imagine the stir when calm you arrive at the field.”
Riimal nodded. “It will be interesting. You might be the only one brave enough to spar with me.”
Riithan paused. “I think Ylara needs me to change the baby.”
“For three hours?” The king grinned.
“It’s a complicated procedure.” Riithan smiled. “She wiggles.”
Ylara snorted.
They talked for another hour, and the snacks were gone. When Ival woke from her doze, she was in her childhood bedroom at her grandparents’ apartments in super-soft sheets, the windows caught the sunset, and her walls glowed red.
She slowly sat up and put on the fluffy slippers waiting for her. She was still in her court dress and walked slowly into the common areas.
Her grandfather saw her as she moved slowly, and he said, “Your friends in Aksalla sent this chair.”
She nodded, slowly made it to the seat, and settled into the encapsulated gel chair. It wasn’t as comfortable as Riimal. He adjusted to all her curves.
Her grandfather said, “I didn’t know you had scales. I can’t even see them.”
“You didn’t see me after activation. It happened in my late teens. The more follicles that exuded toxins, the smaller the scales got. It looked like skin if you weren’t scaled yourself.”
“So, that is what Riimal saw.”
“Correct. My blood tasted familiar. He knew what I was.”
“Do you like him? He’s terrifying, and I don’t know where we could go if you don’t.” He looked at her. “But we would. We would start over to keep you safe.”
She looked at his earnest features. “You don’t need to. I actually like him. Something in me settles when he’s near. I feel like my body can do it right this time.”
He smiled. “Good, because he is going to take you from us sooner rather than later.”
“I will be near. My friends will come to me because I ask it of them. I need to write, and I need to rest.”
He nodded. “You keep yourself together in the writing?”
“If I can make others laugh or sigh, to bring a bit of the joy I once had, it settles me.”
He smiled. “Your father was that way. He said he had love and safety when he went home, and he wanted to help others find it. He wanted to protect all the little children who reminded him of you.”
“He was totally a girl dad.” She smiled.
“Yes. He was. I am so sorry that we left you and your mother alone.”
“I understand it as an adult. I know where the blame lies. I just need to get into better shape before I can have a chat with them. I got very good at hand-to-hand in the arena.” She smiled brightly.
Her grandfather said, “You wouldn’t.”
“Just straight combat. No poison.”
Her grandmother came in, and a smiling servant wandered in behind her. “Ival, do you remember Tyish? This is her granddaughter Priana.”
“Hello, Priana. Have you been briefed on my status?”
Priana looked nervous. “You are promised to the sand dragon.”
“Aside from that. I am regenerating the thicker skin on my hands and feet and will be moving slow and needing soft stuff under my heels for a few weeks.”
Priana nodded. “Do you need help moving around, miss?”
“Only if I ask for it. I am fine to walk, but I am slow.” She tapped in her com to tell Zera and a few others that she was home and safe.
Zera responded, Any treatments yet?
No.
On it.
Zera stopped responding, and Ival frowned. “Nandy, what kind of treatments was I supposed to have?”
“Your skin needs a heavy moisturizer for a few days until you rebalance fat and collagen. I will help you apply it after dinner.”
“Okay. Expect a call from Zera. She’s upset I haven’t had one already.”
Nandy frowned. “Do you feel okay?”
“A little hot and kind of tight.”
There was a knock at the door, and Priana went to answer it. A stunned Priana came into the living room that overlooked the central gardens. Riimal was there with a slight smile. “Madam, sir, I am here to assist your granddaughter with her healing.”
Nandy blushed. “I was going to help her after dinner.”
“Apparently, she requires the help now. We will be out in half an hour. Was the table delivered?”
“It was, Your Highness.”
“The oils?”
“Those as well. They are in the second door on the left, in the reflection room.”
Riimal nodded. “I will return her shortly.” He turned to her, lifted her out of the very comfortable chair, and carried her to the reflection room that had a low, flat pool, and on one side of it was a massage table. A table with a tray filled with bottles and large jars was standing to one side.
“Well, Ival, I need you to remove your dress.”
She nodded, removed the sash that held her dress in place, and then slowly pulled her dress up and off, moving to set it aside on another low table.
She slowly pulled her slippers off and said, “What next?”
He looked at her and exhaled. “So very many things, but allow me to help you face down on the table. He is going to treat your hands and feet first, and then I will work on your skin.”
She blinked, and he put an arm under her knees and ribs and lifted her to settle her on the bed.
She frowned when he lifted her hand to his lips.
His eyes glowed bright gold, and then a forked tongue came out and worked over her palm and then her fingers.
He lifted his head and smiled, his scales very visible. “How did that feel?”
“Warm. Wet. I thought you would have a lisp.”
He grinned and brought her other hand to his mouth. His forked tongue slithered everywhere, and her hand felt more like itself when he was done.
She flexed her fingers and smiled. “They feel nearly normal.”
“The saliva is regenerative. Two or three treatments should assist your recovery.”
“Wait. Get away from my feet.”
He grinned, and the long, wet appendage slurped over her right foot from heel to toe.
He held her tight as she shrieked and giggled as she tried to get away.
He continued for three minutes then switched to her left foot.
She wiggled less violently because she was out of breath from the first round.
The tongue finished its work, and he leaned back with a considering expression. “No toxin.”
She wheezed. “Um, no. You don’t want to hurt me.”
Riimal chuckled. “I did not guess you were ticklish. That is funny.”
He stood straight and walked to her head, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.