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Something was still bothering Iris.
She was trying to be upbeat, but whenever the conversation waned, she fell into a gloom especially out of place under the bright summer sun. And Char had a pretty good idea of what—or rather, who—was on her mind.
Even dead and gone, Micah was a sickness Char couldn’t cure.
Fortunately, Rath exercised his gift for reading people and talking them into better moods to the fullest, recounting every embarrassing story he could think of about Char. And Char couldn’t complain too much. Iris would hear it all anyway, whether now or at a later date, and he would rather have her smile and laugh at his expense than see her retreating within herself to some dark place.
So he grumbled where appropriate and endured the discomfort, and when Rath was running low on material, Char repaid the favor.
“Rath’s first near-death experience happened when he was three.”
“Oh?” Iris looked at Rath with that gorgeous smile, making it easy for Char to ignore Rath’s groan.
“When we were kids, we used to go on family picnics and play this game where we’d jump off of a cliff, and Father would fly in and catch us. I was just a baby when this happened, but the way I hear it, Father had played the game for a while until he was tired, and then he’d told Rath it was time to stop, and he'd left to go hunting. Mother said she took her eyes off of Rath for a minute to change me, and then she heard him saying, ‘Catch me!’ And when she looked, Rath jumped off the side of the mountain.”
Iris’ dark brown eyes widened. “I bet that scared her to death.”
“Yeah, but luckily enough, Father hadn’t gone too far, so he caught Rath before he splattered all over the place.”
Rath shrugged. “I trusted him to catch me, and he did. But if we’re telling hunting stories—”
Char groaned. “Not this one.”
“So, we share our western border with the elves. Nobody really knows where the exact boundary line is, so we just avoid hunting in that area, because elves are vegetarians, and they freak out if they see us killing anything. Well, Char was after an elk that led him straight into the danger zone, right when the one elf who is the biggest pain in our rear happened to be there.”
“I was kind of focused on catching the elk, not watching my surroundings,” Char mumbled.
“Anyway, he kills it right in front of her, she gets mad, he and I both transform to try to talk her down, except he also has a cold—you know his fire-breathing trick?”
“Oh, no,” Iris said, covering her smile with her hand.
“Yeah. He sneezed, lit the carcass on fire, and started a whole international incident.”
It worked well enough to keep her distracted for most of the morning.
The temperature rose with the sun. Char tugged at his collar. Rath had sweat stains on his back and under his arms, and Char knew he had them, too. He wished he could take his shirt off. Rath caught his eye and mouthed ‘do it,’ but when Char looked at Iris, withdrawn into herself again, he decided against it.
Humor and lighthearted banter were good ways to draw her out. Shock? Not so much. She’d experienced enough of that in recent days.
Rath sighed. “That’s it.” He stopped in his tracks and tossed his packs to the ground. “I can’t stand this heat anymore. After lunch, we’re flying.”
“Just a test flight,” Char reminded his brother, dropping his pack with the other two. “Why is it so hot, anyway? It’s been so cold lately, and then today, it’s back to summer.”
“It’s because of the crystal,” Iris said.
Rath and Char looked up from rummaging around in the packs for food.
“How?” Rath asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
She didn’t elaborate, and although Char knew there was more she could at least guess about, he didn’t ply her for information. She looked uncomfortable in a way the heat couldn’t explain. Sweat had plastered her hair around her downcast face and to the back of her neck, and as she went through the motions of eating dry bread and swallowing mouthfuls of water, her gaze seemed distant.
Micah was dead, but he’d left scars on her that would take time to heal. Char understood that. The crystal, however, was gone. So why was that bothering her?
“Well, let’s get you bundled up,” Rath finally said, untying the pack that held most of the blankets and standing to let one unfold. “I’m going to apologize in advance, because I know this is going to make you feel absolutely miserable until we get in the air.”
Iris looked up at Rath, focusing on him for the first time since they'd stopped. “We don’t need to take a test flight.” Her dark eyes moved to Char. “I have enough magic to make it back.”
Char frowned. “How do you know?”
She grabbed the other two packs and climbed to her feet. “I just do.”
“Well, I hope you’re not saying that because you think it’ll be warmer up in the sky now that it's hot out, because I have news for you,” Rath said, draping the first blanket around her shoulders. “It’s always cold up there.”
“Cold or hot; it doesn’t matter. I’ll be fine.”
The brothers exchanged glances. Rath gave Char a slight shrug, and Char sighed and added another blanket around Iris’ shoulders.
“It’ll be late when we get back. Too late to wake Mother. You’ll have to stay in the barracks with us. Kelnor will want a full report first thing in the morning, anyway.”
“If not sooner,” Rath said. “Are you doing okay?”
She nodded. Sweat dripped from the tip of her nose. “Just really hot.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Rath,” Char warned his smirking brother.
“What? I was just agreeing with her. And you.”
Char smacked Rath’s shoulder.
“I think I’m going to melt,” Iris said, face flushed. Each successive blanket made her shoulders slump more.
“Last blanket. Rath, you can go ahead.”
“Yeah, yeah, you need to kiss her before we go. Don’t take too long.”
Char appreciated the blast of icy wind from Rath’s transformation, and he knew Iris did, too. Then he saw the long strips of angry red scaleless skin streaking Rath’s sides, deeper in places than others, and he frowned. He’d have to keep a close eye on Rath during this flight.
“If he won’t let me heal him, he needs to see a doctor when we get back,” Iris said.
“Yeah.” Char turned his attention back to her, nothing more than a face swathed in a lump of heavy blankets. He tucked her sweaty hair behind her ear. “You can take my bed, and I’ll sleep on the sofa. Unless you need me to stay with you,” he added, seeing her bite her lip.
She nodded.
He leaned in and gave her a light kiss. “You can tell me, Iris.”
“I know, but… We should get going.”
He nodded and pulled the blankets over her head like a hood, and then he stepped back for his own transformation. The ice rushing through his veins felt refreshing. He picked her up, careful not to snag a claw on the mass of blankets, and then he launched into the air, climbing higher with every beat of his wings.
Maybe she would tell him what was bothering her tonight. Maybe not. For now, he needed to watch Rath and make sure he wasn’t pushing himself too hard.
All good? Rath asked as Char flew up to his side.
Yeah, how about you?
Oh, you mean these? Just scratches. I feel great! Rath did a barrel roll for emphasis. If Char could have rolled his eyes in dragon form, he would have.
You’re getting those looked at when we get back. And if you need to stop—
I won’t. I just need a nice hot bath and a few day’s rest, and I’ll be right as rain. Give me that long to recuperate before your wedding, huh?
If Char could have smiled in dragon form, he would have.
No guarantees.
True to his word, Rath seemed to be okay. His injuries didn’t slow him down, and they made good time throughout the afternoon and on into the evening. Char felt Iris shivering, but no more than she had done the last few times he’d flown with her, and he was in high spirits when they landed inside the flight cavern. She wasn’t blue—always a good sign.
He picked her up and carried her back to his shared quarters with Rath, deciding to wake her up there.
“My boys!”
He wasn’t expecting his mother to be there, ready to tackle the first person through the door in a bear hug.
“Ow. Hi, Mother. Squeezing a little hard there.”
“Rath, you’re hurt!”
Char smirked and stepped around them, heading for the sofa. Rath couldn’t get out of medical treatment now.
“It’s nothing, Mother, really. How’s she doing, Char?”
Char laid Iris on the sofa. “Shivering, but seems okay. Iris. Iris, wake up.”
“What’s wrong with her?” his mother demanded.
“Don’t worry,” Rath reassured her. “She always loses consciousness when we fly.”
Char shook Iris again. He knew she was fine, but this part always scared him. What if she didn’t wake up?
“Iris. Wake up.”
And then those brown lashes parted, and those dark brown eyes looked up at him, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Welcome back.”
She smiled and sat up. “You always look so worried.”
He kissed the tip of her cold nose. “You almost died the first time.”
“Iris!” Char’s mother shoved him aside and engulfed Iris in a bear hug. “Iris, you’re alright!”
“Hello, Elera,” Iris gasped.
“I lost the fairies! I don’t know what happened to them! They were here one minute, and then the next, they were gone!”
“It’s okay. I summoned them.”
Elera pulled back and stared at Iris. “You what?”
“I summoned them. They should be back soon.”
Elera frowned, and then she hugged Iris again.
“Mother, you’re smothering her,” Rath said, laughing.
“What are you wearing?” Elera asked, pulling back to study Iris’ apparel.
“A dwarven man’s clothes,” Char explained. “And Rath and I are wearing human soldier’s uniforms.”
“What on earth—”
“It’s late,” Rath intervened, taking Elera by the arm and pulling her to her feet. “We’re okay, the fairies are okay, and you should go home and get some sleep. We’ll tell you everything tomorrow.”
Elera pursed her lips together, as if she were trying to force a frown when she wanted to smile. “And where is Iris sleeping tonight?”
Char didn’t have to look at Iris to know she was blushing.
“The fairies will look for Iris when they return, and we have to give a full report to Kelnor in the morning, so it will be easier if she stays here,” he told his mother. “I promise I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
Maybe.
“Hm.” Sharp blue eyes so similar to Rath’s flicked from Char to Iris and back again. “See that you do. She isn’t one of your wild party girls, and you don’t want to ruin your honeymoon.”
Char’s stomach lurched. He looked at Iris, and it was as though Elera had slapped her. Wide brown eyes, mouth agape—and then she bolted into Char’s bedroom.
Char hesitated only a moment before going after her.
“What did I say?” he heard his mother ask.
Water was running in the bathroom. He crossed the bedroom and peeked through the open doorway, and there Iris was, on her knees next to the tub—sobbing.
He hated Micah with every fiber of his being.
“Iris,” Char called, pushing the anger away and kneeling beside her. He took her by her upper arms and pulled her back against him, but when he slid an arm around her waist, she bent over it, away from him, her entire body shaking with the force of her crying. Tears hit the stone next to the tub with the occasional spray of droplets from the faucet.
She was falling apart. Why did his mother have to say that?
He shifted to a sitting position and pulled Iris onto his lap, every motion slow and careful. This time, she turned to face him, grabbing his shirt and burying her face in his chest. He kissed the top of her head and held her close.
The bathwater continued to rise, and Iris’ tears continued to fall.
After a while, he scooted closer to the tub and reached out to turn off the water.
“I’m sorry,” she choked out.
“It’s okay.”
“I kn-know I shouldn’t f-feel guilty, but I do. I f-feel s-so dirty, like I’ll n-never be clean again.”
Char kissed the top of her head again. “Nothing has changed for me. I still love you, and I still want you.”
She relaxed a little. Her fingers loosened from his shirt, and as the shaking eased, the torrential flow of tears slowed to a steady trickle.
“Do you want me to sleep with you again?”
She nodded.
“Okay. I should get cleaned up, too, and if I want to beat Rath to his tub, I need to leave now. Will you be okay if I go?”
She nodded again, but she didn’t move.
He sighed. “Iris…”
He tilted her chin up to place a light kiss on her forehead. She’d closed her eyes, but she opened them again, the dark brown now muddied with raw emotion as she looked up at him. He brushed the tears from her cheeks with the pad of his thumb. Then he sighed again and set her on the floor beside him.
“I’ll be right back.”
He returned to the bedroom and hunted through his bureau, pulling out pajamas for himself while searching for her clothes. Second drawer from the bottom, with a nightgown right on top. He grabbed it and carried it into the bathroom, where she was still sitting next to the tub.
“Here.” He squatted beside her and held it out. “I won’t be long.”
“Thanks, Char.”
He brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her forehead. “Anytime."12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeizBfoqae9
