Enderal I Lords and Mages
Chapter 3 My Puppy Dragon
8th Era, 479, 6th of Weeping Widow
Ice Islands Region, Wyk, Screaming Lady Fort
Aleron Pyke Point of View
The empty library of the castle grew silent and the heavy breathing ceased as I stepped away from Adrianne and she fixed her gown and stopped leaning against the bookshelf behind her. I looked at the gorgeous woman, her sleek raven hair, large breasts and small tight bum.
“So what happens now?” She asked in her serene voice.
“I am going to feed my little dragon puppy,” I answered.
“That’s not what I meant,” Adrianne said firmly. “Aleron, you love me don’t you?”
I avoided sighing. I love your body, I though in amusement, but I didn’t say that since she wouldn’t take that very well.
“Off course I do,” I said instead.
“So…have you found a priest that will marry us in the Goddess’s name without speaking of it too our Houses?” She was more specific now than before.
We started walking side by side out of the library.
“I have one. A man I know on East Wyk. He’s shipping over and will be here in a few short days,” explained to her. “I have seventeen Longboats that await my command. My name has brought many men to my side. We sail to Sand Island in the south.”
“And then?” She asked.
That wasn’t enough for her? I rolled my eyes in annoyance.
“And then, you, my little puppy dragon girl and my Bondwife wait in a castle in a hidden Bay until I gather enough support to overthrow Balyzard as head of my House, then I will claim kingship over the Ice Islands.”
We passed a servant in the hallway, as soon as he was out of earshot Adrianne whispered, “Don’t like half the noble Houses hate you? How are you going to get their support?”
I sighed heavily.
Then she hooked arms with me and gently placed her right hand on my shoulder.
“Please, Aleron. I’m worried. I don’t know what brilliance is in your head,” she pleaded.
I had to concede she was right about my brilliance.
“Alright, the strongest families are House Blackiron, Seafarer, Greywood, Greymyre and Merkyne.”
“You can probably count my Houses out of this as long as my father and brothers live,” she scoffed.
“I, probably,” I agreed amused. “Blackiron shouldn’t be too hard to convince if I promised them Icemoat Castle and the whole island of Greygarden in compensation. Lord Blackiron is a big enough man to put our past behind us for promise of a land grab.” Though I wasn’t willing to forget the flogging, although, I’d put it away until all this was over. “I’ll promise the Greymyres Wrath land, then we take it and give Blackiron their lands. House Seafarer will want rights to expand their right to take timber from other forests to build Longboats, and some land presumably. We can split Merkyne lands in half, take half each,”
Houses Merkyne, Pyke and Seafarer was the only noble families that shared the largest Ice Island, Wyk.
“Same for all that promise support, land. I imagine we can recruit mercenaries from Sand Island. I know of a good number of mercenaries after my travels on the seas. The Silver Armada would alone be able to end the coming conflict.”
“You could never get enough coin to bay the dwarves,” Adrianne claimed.
“I’ll give ‘em land.”
We entered my chambers and she opened her mouth to speak but realized two slaves was handling the plants. Lionella was also present, she had taken up the task of folding my washed clothes for whatever reason.
“Get out!” I snapped at them and they disappeared immediately. Lionella was looked worried, unsure if it meant her and hurried for the door just in case. I shook my head and she stopped and folded her hands together. Adrianne looked at her and to me, I waved dismissively that she was fine, we could talk in front of her. she wouldn’t dare betray me. Also, she had worked so hard to get on my good side.
Adrianne closed the door firmly behind them.
“You cannot promise everybody land darling,” she told me, her voice soothing and sweet. She raised a finger. “Let me try that anew, you cannot give lands to them. if you betray the Silver Armada they will come with, like three hundred warships and crush us. The entire united Ice Islands can’t withstand that many ships. Our Longboats isn’t a match in a proper naval engagement.”
She came over to me and held my hands, looking into my eyes. her unusual yellow eyes was a gorgeous vision. A sigh escaped me. Lionella watched us awkwardly.
“No cheating people you can’t beat,” Adrianne told me sweetly.
My attention turned from her to my little pet when a squeak found my ear. I looked to find my little puppy dragon on my med, suspiciously cuddled down with the sheets. I had named her after a famous dragon of olden days, Vaerkyrion. The original owner of the name had been a strong and enormous female dragon. Hopefully mine would follow in those footsteps.
“Hi girl,” I said with a wide smile.
I walked over to the bed and waved at Lionella, hoping she would understand. She actually did and handed me a plate with fish, beef from a cow and spiced seal beef. Little Vaerkyrion strolled over on her four legs and looked at her food eagerly before she breathed heat on a fish. Guess she didn’t think it warm enough. From this I understood that breathing fire was not a born ability, it was something that evolved with their age. Similarly to the human desire to mate and forward ones bloodline. Vaerkyrion grabbed the fish with the tiny-yet very sharp-teeth in her mouth and swallowed it whole. With her equivalent of a big ole’ smile looked at me, jumped excitedly in place, and grabbed another fish. A Salmon, like the first, it too went down whole.
“Good job girl,” I congratulated as I kept smiling at her.
She wagged her tail, as if she understood what I said, in excitement and went after the seal beef. She tried to swallow the whole piece but it was too big and she had to put it down. after some carefully plotting against it she grabbed it under one clawed paw and with use of her other paw she carefully directed her claws on it to cut the resisting food-piece in two. She instantly looked up at me, wagging her tail with a toothy grin, or the suspected dragon equivalent.
“Is she looking for your approval?” Adrianne asked from behind me.
“I…think so,” I answered. “That’s what I’ve gathered from she crawled out of her egg. She’s not an Elder Dragon, so she’s not truly sentient, but regular dragons are clever little animals, probably the most clever out there.”
Vaerkyrion swallowed the first half of the seal beef and proceeded with the other. It easily slunk down.
“She’s not even chowing,” Adrianne remarked.
“Aye,” I said, almost whispered. “A mage once told me that baby dragons have some body part that grinds it down on the way down. Said they lost it when they grew up. Don’t know if it’s true or not though.”
Vaerkyrion put her paws on the last beef, the biggest piece on the plate, and bit down with her teeth. She ripped off a piece and chowed a little before swallowing it. With the ferocity of an apex predator. As dragons was the apex predator of the animal world, the Iceborn was the apex predator of the mortal world. Mine and hers was a perfect union of top predators.
“Husband, does she think you’re her dad?” Lionella chirped in.
“No, we have a bond,” I answered.
“How do you know?” She inquired confused.
“I may have slept through most lectures from the tutors but I was awake for the lecture on dragon types and how they work. Baby dragons form a sort of bond with their riders at birth. That’s how the Dragons Rider Order does it.”
“Your tutor told you about dragon breeding?” Adrianne questioned with doubt.
I shook my head.
“No, no. I picked that up on my travels through the Corsair Sea.”
Vaerkyrion finished the last meat on the plate and wagged her sharp tail. The pike on the end was enough to kill someone, when she got older, at least. Though she could certainly cut through skin and right now she playfully wagged in back and forth. I reached out my hand and she nuzzled her scaly snout against the back of my hand affectionately.
“Good girl,” I whispered to her.
“Aleron,” Adrianne spoke up. “Can’t you give me a proper date for our marriage?”
I didn’t move my eyes from Vaerkyrion.
“Uh…three days, okay? The ceremony will be short and we’ll leave the same night.”
That night I slept on top of my sheets as the heat made it too much to sleep beneath them. As she did every night, Vaerkyrion curled into a ball and slept comfortably on my chest. To hear her light breathing was soothing, surprisingly so. Her wings remained unused since she hadn’t learned to fly yet. I understood she was far too little yet. Right now, she seemed satisfied climbing on me and anything else nearby.
8th Era, 479, 6th of Weeping Widow
Mordurel Continent, Dawa Mountains Region
Town of Blackbough, Blackhall Castle
Selene Costayne Point of View
My Hobgoblin friend seemed to barely chow the food before throwing it down his throat. I imagined that if I had been raised as a highborn pretty little noble I would have found that disturbing. I swallowed down a piece of a chicken leg and looked to the grey skinned Captain of my Town Guard.
“Anything interesting today?” I inquired in an attempt to start a conversation.
“Yeah, milady. We arrested that thieving band,” he said in that guttural voice I had gotten used to. “Seven boys close to the twentieth winter. Gonna give two of them public whippings as discouragement for others. Gonna cut the right hand off the other lot.” He eyed me for a response, probably wanted to know if I’d object.
I didn’t though. These thieves had been stealing since many months before I ever set foot in Blackbough.
“Good. Between potential Orc raids and Lord Oatwright wanting my lands it’s nice that something goes right,” I said simply.
“Yeah,” he said and gobbled down half a beef. Juices from it streamed down the sides of his jaw. “How goes, the ruling?”
“Well enough,” I supposed. “I wouldn’t call it fun or anything, but I manage.” As I had expected in both cases. “Do you think you could get in touch with your old Warband?”
He shrugged.
“Sure. I could send a raven, why? This about your family’s old crown?” He asked in a casual voice.
“Something like that. I just assumed you would be able to convince some of them to sign on as mercenaries, traveling to the Easterlands when the time is right. They rarely fight Hobgoblin Warbands over there so it would be a good advantage. That and a horse can feel fear, but an Ash wolf won’t and it can rip somebody’s head off.”
He chuckled at the image I offered.
“Ash Wolf teeth can rip right through plated armor cud,” he mocked. “A knight wouldn’t stand a chance!”
“Send for your Warband, if they can accept a small payment now and a larger payoff later, I will accept their service, and if they can accept that you speak for them,” I said. I hoped to ensure that he felt he had a good and firm place at my side.
He nodded.
“As you wish. I can promise you a few hundred riders as a minimum. Can’t and Won’t promise more than I know I can bring you. My renown only stretches so far, as does promises of future coin,” he explained to me in his guttural voice.
I smiled.
“That’s all I can ask.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAazRHUbUBn
