“They had for me as well. They barricaded the bridge leading to Armis just to try and stop Charlotte and I, not to mention that I’m not exactly welcome in the church anyways.” There was a dejected sigh as Myrtle put down her pen, but still not facing me.
“You stop lying to me and just say that you’re a Pact Mage from the church and you and my sister-in-law fell in love. That’s the simplest explanation.” There was an implied ‘get out of my room,’ but I stuck around. I wasn’t going to leave this easily, especially not when I had the truth. I just had to convince her of it.
“Well, what’s the story in Armis? That a dragon and a young woman rescued the town?”
Myrtle nodded. “What’s your point?” She gritted her teeth and I grinned.
“You’ve traveled that bridge, right? I say bridge, but it’s more like bridges. It’s about a two to three day trip if you don’t have horses.” She scribbled away. “Or about six hours without them. It’s weird how we arrived right in that timeframe, just a little over two days from the inquisitors yelling about being spared by a dragon.”
“That doesn’t prove anything. You had the cover of a good story to work from,” she shot back as I leaned against her door. I’d despised my time at my father’s estate. At the same time I’d never stopped being impressed with how useful it was to hold my own in an argument.
Was I the ultimate noble now that I didn’t mind solving problems via dragon too?
“But what about the young lady’s hair? Curly dust amber, right? Same as Charlotte’s.”
Myrtle shook her head. “Yes, but you said it yourself that the church inquisitors spread the story. So there’s nothing there that validates your story anyways. Besides, you have your hands wrapped around my sister-in-law.” She scowled. “I can’t trust her account either.”
“You’re right, but that leaves you with two troubling implications, because I can tell you every detail about our adventure in freeing Armis. The white-haired, short Pact Mage that told the town that they’d be protected by the wings of Cestra once again. Bishop Buryan leaving with her. The fact that they attacked the smithy, and Charlotte held them off.” She wasn’t writing anymore, though she wasn’t facing me. I couldn’t see nor hear, but I could tell she was sweating bullets.
“The two conclusions must be that I’m either a dragon, or there is a church conspiracy against your name. Do you think that the church would create an entire cover story, and risk an entire town just for you?” I realized I sounded really threatening and scaled it back. I could see the fear sweat dripping down Myrtle’s neck.
I raised my voice to that pleasant melodic tone again.
“Sorry for freaking you out, Myrtle. The church has been giving me just as much trouble, and I’d hate to be lumped with them too. That’s why I want to change things.” She turned around in time to see me blushing a little bit as I remembered saying that I’d like to change things for Charlotte’s and my sake.
“Call me Mari. Myrtle makes me sound too old for my liking, and Charlotte’s stupid nickname makes me sound even older somehow.” There was embarrassment as she turned around, her fearful gaze meeting my cheerful one before relaxing again.
“I’m going to ask around, and if that story doesn’t add up then I’m going to kick you out for being a spy of the church, all right?”
Both of us knew she was saying it to make a point. I didn’t doubt her ability to check, but she knew that it didn’t make sense for the church to go through all this trouble and risk an entire town for her. They didn’t go through that much trouble for anyone.
I closed my eyes with a knowing smile.
“Thanks Mari. Also, would you mind telling me how you and Kennith met?” I began, wanting to hear a cute story from her for bonding purposes.
“I’m not very good at stuff like that.” She began to bite her nails.
“Please, if you want to know more about me, ask Kennith. I’m not like most people. Even if I forgave you, I need time to prepare. Else the words are going to come out all wrong.”
I nodded, watching her chew her nails some more. “I suppose me staying around to comfort you would have the exact opposite effect then?” Mari nodded. I understood what she felt.
“At the end of the day Aria, I’m a regular girl. The best I can do is bake you something for breakfast. Goodbye.” She picked up her pen and returned to work. I wanted to apologize too, but I could tell that she was already quite stressed. I softly shut the door as my ears picked up on the conversation with Charlotte and her brother.
“We were thinking of having kids, but she’s been really stressed lately. The church blocked her book, so she’s turned to hand writing books to make ends meet.” My heart dropped a little as I heard more of Mari’s story from her husband.
“Why didn’t you tell Aria? She needs to know.” Charlotte was right. I did.
“That’s not how you treat your guests. If she’s your girlfriend, and she’s as serious as you say, then she’s my future sister-in-law. When that time comes, then Mari and she can have a talk about what she can do about it. Until then, I don’t want to bring up that kind of stuff up with her.”
I did understand Charlotte’s brother, I really did. At the same time I didn’t need that kind of coddling, not anymore at least. Okay, only Charlotte gets to coddle me, but that’s different. She’s an exception.
Time to make an entrance.
“Well, it already involves me, so the point is a bit moot. Seems like the church has managed to hamper all our progress in one way or another.” I realized I had crashed the conversation to a dead stop.
“Aah, but Mari and I have gotten on better terms? I think?” I continued, “So, we have some common ground moving forward! Oh, and she agreed to make us breakfast!” I giggled in delight as Charlotte gave me a worried and knowing smile.
“She’s made a horrible mistake. You’ll see why tomorrow,” she shook her head as I felt my stomach grumbling.
“How about today. Hey Kennith! Do you want to see what horrible choice your wife made?” I grinned as he glanced back at the meal still stewing in the background.
“Do I have to?” Charlotte and I shared a laugh together.
Chapter 13: A Home Worth Protecting
I woke up to Aria asleep by my side, her arms wrapped around me. Kennith’s house only had one extra bed, which didn’t bother us at all. We had a little bedside chat about how Myrtle was always in nightwear, and Aria trying out my sister-in-law’s spare clothes.
As good as she looked in them, they were too big for her. Except for her knee socks and stockings, but Aria didn’t understand why they existed. I guess it’s hard to explain why you would wear them to someone who didn’t feel cold. She also complained about how clothes never fit properly when she transformed back, and that socks of all kinds were the bane of civilization, made by humans with no regard for dragon-human transformations. She was not wrong.
I didn’t want to wake her, as Buryan was taking her to Mithil Castle later today. She needed to be well rested. I scurried out of bed, popped on a shirt, and tiptoed downstairs. Both Myrtle and Aria were late risers, so I was expecting a late breakfast and catching up with my brother a bit more. Instead, I found my brother in his winter cloak dragging a large sack of food from the outside into our kitchen’s ice box.
“So!” He gave the sack a kick to unwedge it from the doorframe. “I heard that Aria’s a dragon from Mari.” I began to open my mouth for an explanation, but he kept going.
“I completely believe her. I have never seen anyone eat like that before. She swallows things whole! Bone and all! That’s crazy!”
I scratched my head. I guess it was a big deal to normal people. “I guess I’ve gotten used to it. I remember her eating an entire restaurant clean.” It might’ve been a bit of an exaggeration. My brother dumped a sack of frozen meat and vegetables into the ice box. “Is that really that much of a dead giveaway?”
My brother shook his head. “Well, how else do you explain a tiny girl her size eating the entire pot? That pot’s huge! That stew was supposed to last us a few days. Then we were going to skim the fat and make some fried flatcrisps! But she ate it all.”
