“This is nice,” Lilly said as she stretched her long graceful neck skyward. Sarah reached down and gave the little blue dragon a lick on the snout and then decided to go ahead and clean the rest. “But why are we here again?”
Sarah used the bind to answer so she didn’t have to stop licking.
“I wanted us to spend some time at peace,” Sarah said, her voice echoing in all their minds.
Thayle looked up from where she sat astride Gersius and smiled wide.
“I could get used to this,” she said as her hips rocked over his. “Alone with my lovers in a secluded valley, with nothing to do but snuggle and have sex.
“You get plenty of that in the waking world,” Sarah commented as her tongue wrapped around Lilly’s neck.
“It’s never enough,” Thayle laughed and looked down at her husband. “But I suppose you have more than enough.”
“I do get rather tired,” Gersius admitted and brushed a hair out of her face. “But I can think of no other way I would rather spend my time.”
“Such a man,” Thayle laughed and closed her eyes to focus on her work.
Sarah sat to the side of the valley; her massive dragon form curled into a ring. Lilly was tucked in beside, curled into a much tighter ball as Sarah worked her way across her lovely blue scales. Inside Lilly's ring were Gersius and Thayle, naked on the grass and making love. As far as they could tell, they had been there for hours, but time was tricky in the dream. Sarah said it was more like forty minutes, and she was managing the strain well. She believed they might actually be able to stay in the valley for a full night's sleep. If time persisted as it did, it might just feel like days had gone by before they awake.
Lilly closed her eyes and let out a little groan as Thayle laughed.
“Is something the matter, sweetheart?” Thayle called.
“You know full well what’s happening,” Sarah said in their minds. “The bind is making us share your mating. Lilly and I feel everything.”
“What a horrible life we lead,” Thayle laughed and continued. “Having to share even our most intimate moments with each other.”
“I like it,” Lilly admitted as she lifted a wing so Sarah could clean underneath.
“As do I,” Thayle said and looked down at their husband. “But I’m not sure you do.”
“Try to imagine how it feels to be a man when you three start playing with one another. I feel things over the bind that a man should ever feel,” he responded.
“And you think we don't feel you?” Sarah asked silently. “You happen to have something we don't, and the sensation of it over the bind is disturbing sometimes.”
“You two are no fun,” Thayle said with a shake. “Sharing intimacy is one of the greatest joys of marriage. That we can share it so completely is a blessing nobody else has.”
“We have more than enough blessing running rampant in our camp,” Sarah argued. “Lilly’s dragon blessing is still raising questions. People see the change and assume they are somehow cursed.”
“It’s the aura sight transferring over that bothers me,” Thayle said as Gersius groaned. “I can’t believe she can gift another divines blessing with her own.”
“I still think this has to do with emotions,” Sarah insisted. “Somehow, they are the key to unlocking true power. Lilly's access to them has rendered her blessing stronger than any dragon in history.”
“In which case, your weaving should become tremendously powerful,” Gersius suggested.
Sarah paused in her licking to let out a great huff, suddenly feeling sad over the bind.
“Sarah? What’s wrong?” Lilly asked.
“I have tested my weaving and am ashamed to say I notice no change in my power,” Sarah admitted.
“So why is that making you sad?” Lilly pressed.
“Because I want to be just like you,” Sarah replied and licked Lilly's chin. “Full of love and compassion. But I worry that my lack of progress means my emotions are not developing.”
“Nonsense,” Gersius replied and grabbed Thayle’s hips before giving her a strange expression. “Are you dragging this out on purpose?”
Thayle leaned over with a big smile and tapped him on the nose before saying, “Yes.”
“Well, get it over with already,” Sarah grumbled and resumed giving Lilly her bath.
“I am jealous that she can’t bathe me like that,” Thayle said as she took up a more aggressive pace.
“She could put you in her mouth,” Gersius said, then went back to Sarah's point. “And about your emotions. I think you have been growing much faster than Lilly did.”
“I do, too,” Thayle said as she closed her eyes. “You have really embraced love, and we can all see you cherish your family.”
“Then why do I feel like I am not progressing?” Sarah asked.
“I think that's because you are the matriarch,” Gersius replied. “You have taken the lead and become the first woman of the empire. You handle all the responsibilities and carry the weight on your shoulders. Lilly was brought into this way of life like a child and has been allowed to remain mostly innocent. You have even helped shelter and keep her safe from the toils of war.”
“So when do my emotions start growing?” Sarah asked.
“Sarah,” Thayle laughed. “You are bathing Lilly as we speak.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Sarah asked.
“We all know you aren't doing it because you think of Lilly as an actual child,” Thayle said as Gersius shifted beneath her. “You're doing it because you seek a way to express your affection for her.”
“And that expression shows in everything you do,” Gersius replied as his hands tightened on Thayle. “From how hard you worked to make her the dress to the way you insist on being the one to brush her hair.”
“Or how about the way she tucks Lilly into your arms and kisses her cheek before wishing her a good night,” Thayle added.
“I do that to you as well,” Sarah protested.
“I know, and I love it!” Thayle said excitedly. “I even like how you choose my clothing for me in the morning.”
“Really?” Sarah said in surprise. “You were rather hostile about that in the beginning.”
“We needed some time to adjust,” Thayle admitted as her legs started to tire. “I just needed to understand you were only doing it because you cared.” She started to lose control, so Gersius took over, holding her up as he did the work. The task was over in a few moments, and Thayle was lying on his chest to recover.
“At least that’s over,” Sarah said as she tucked her head into Lilly.
“Look at them now,” Thayle laughed. “How could anyone not think Sarah was as loving as Lilly.”
Lilly laid her head on Sarah's neck and let out a contented sigh. She was tucked into the warm red dragon as tightly as possible with her human lovers at her side. All was right with the world except that this wasn't the world and would eventually have to end.
“Don’t think about that,” Sarah sighed. “Just let time slip away and enjoy what we have.”
They agreed to put it out of their mind and let the hours tick away until Lilly looked up from her nest at Sarah’s side.
“I doubt it will be there,” Sarah said as she red the little dragon's thoughts.
“Can we go see?” Lilly asked sadly.
“It takes strong emotion to imprint on the dream,” Sarah said. “How could that have imprinted?”
“I don't know, but I want to look,” Lilly said. “Please.”
“I wouldn’t mind going to look either,” Gersius agreed.
Sarah agreed, and the two changed forms to their human shapes. Together the four walked to the end of the valley where Lilly's cave opened high up the cliff. Sarah had to will them to the ledge as Gerisus suggested they could build stairs here in the future. Once inside, they walked down the long snaking passage as Lilly's heart twisted in need. They rounded the final bend to the massive chamber that once acted as Lilly's lair. By some amazing act of fate, a single blue egg the size of a pumpkin rested by the wall.
“It is here,” Thayle said in surprise as Lilly ran across the room and fell to the floor beside it.
“How can this be?” Sarah asked and then remembered the scene when it was laid. She realized there was one member of their family whose emotions were strong beyond measure, and he had once dominated the power of the dream to save Lilly.
“You did this,” Sarah said and turned on Gersius.
“I did? How?” he asked in surprise.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I remember what happened that day,” Sarah began. “You knelt before that egg and put your hand on it as your heart filled with a joy so powerful I was drenched in it over the bind. Your emotions must have forced an image of it into the dream.”
“I can't help that I love my child,” Gersius argued. “Besides, what harm has it done?”
“None,” Sarah admitted and looked to where Lilly was holding the egg and crying. “I just thought she would find it hard to leave if she found it here.”
“Lilly wants this child badly,” Thayle said. “She tries not to think about it, but all Lilly really wants is to be here with us and her egg.”
“To be honest, so do I,” Gersius admitted.
“All of us would rather be here,” Sarah said and paced nervously. “Even I who loves and craves the power I have as an empress would rather be here with all of you. But this is even more proof that I am right about emotions being the key.”
“If that's the case, then we can't be sure Gersius did this,” Thayle said. “Lilly was swelling with hope the egg would be here. She has done nothing but pour out emotions since she thought of it.”
“And the dream may have responded,” Sarah sighed and looked at Gersius. “You and Lilly are capable of emotions powerful enough to shape the dream. So why wouldn’t you be able to cause blessings to be much stronger than expected?”
“My blessings have been perfectly normal,” Gersius argued.
“Just as Sarah's weaves have,” Thayle said with a slight nod. “Could that be because you two have strong emotional discipline?”
“What do you mean?” Gersius asked.
“I mean, you two know how to set emotion aside to focus on your tasks, where Lilly has no idea how to do that and pours her emotions into her tasks instead,” Thayle said.
“So my years of training and practice to be controlled are holding me back?” Sarah asked.
“It’s just an idea,” Thayle offered. “And it assumes you’re right about the emotional link to power.”
“Can we talk about this later? I want to be with her,” Gersius said and went to Lilly’s side to hold the egg with her.
“I want our baby,” Lilly cried as she looked up. “I want to hold our child and tell her how much I love her.”
“You are so certain she is a girl,” he said.
“I know she’s a girl because I keep seeing her in your dreams,” Lilly said and caressed his face. “You dream of her often.”
Gersius knew the dream Lilly was speaking of where he was holding his daughter's hand and pointing to a distant star. He did have the dream often, but he had no idea why. Lilly was becoming a bit fatalistic about them, feeling they represented her absence somehow.
“I promise we will win the war in plenty of time,” Gersius said. “I have already begun the march.”
“I know,” Lilly sighed as a tear fell to her egg. “I wonder if my mother ever felt this way about me when I was an egg?”
“Judging by what we know of your mother, I would have to say that she felt even stronger,” Gersius replied.
Lilly smiled as Sarah and Thayle joined them, each touching the egg with a gentle caress. For over an hour, they sat around it talking until Lilly said she wanted to see where the house would be built.
Together they went about halfway across the valley until her cave was a distant dot. On top of a small hill near the stream, Gersius laid it all out. Sarah once again reached into his mind to make it come to life, and they walked through a house as real as the palace in Calathen.
“I want a fireplace in this room,” Sarah said as she looked across the sitting space.
“You want fires in every room,” Thayle laughed.
“I happen to be fond of fire,” Sarah replied with a slight smile and looked at Lilly and Thayle. “Well?”
“Well, what?” Thayle asked.
“I have brought you back to the valley and established our house. Why aren’t you two running wild yet?” Sarah asked.
“Oh, you mean why aren't Lilly and I playing like a couple of carefree young girls,” Thayle said and took Lilly's hand. “Come, sweet Lilly; mother wants us to go play.”
“This is the life you really want,” Gersius said as the girls went out the front door.
“To mother those little flowers to death is all I dream of,” Sarah said and turned to him. “I am sorry about Carigarra.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Gersius said. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Oh, but I think we both know that it was,” Sarah replied. “I am the one who wants a bunch of spoiled brat wives to take care of. When she walked in, I thought we had found another one. I wanted so badly to believe we would add number four to our family, and that need influenced all of you because of the bind.”
“I thought she might be a good match for us,” Gersius agreed. “I very much enjoyed her company.”
“To think she was a dragon the whole time,” Sarah said with a pained voice. “How could we not have seen it?”
“Because she played the role perfectly,” Gersius said. “I have no idea how a dragon under the curse was able to blend with humans so flawlessly. She’s better at it than Lilly.”
“You’re right,” Sarah said with a nod. “That girl knew human behavior inside and out. She couldn’t possibly have been so cultured unless she had spent a great deal of time with humans. But why would a cursed dragon even think of such a thing?”
“Are we sure they are all cursed?” Gersius asked. “Lilly’s mother isn’t, and I am suspicious of Shadros’s mother.”
“Telling her son that she loved him could only mean that she wasn’t,” Sarah agreed.
“Then we have to consider the possibility that there are more ways to break the curse,” Gersius said and pulled her into his arms. “And maybe we can save a few more.”
“Let’s hope,” Sarah sighed.
“Where are we going?” Lilly asked as they trudged across the valley.
“I have always wanted to see what was on the other side of that narrow canyon where the water leaves your valley,” Thayle replied.
“It tumbles down a stony hill into a forest,” Lilly said as she held hands with Thayle. She smiled and started to think silly things as Thayle smiled with her.
“I think Sarah really does want that,” Thayle laughed.
“But why?” Lilly asked as her smile spread. “Why does she want us to be little girls?”
“She wants us to be free like little girls,” Thayle corrected. “And it's because Sarah feels a very strong motherly need to care for people. So since we are the ones she loves the most, we are the ones she wants to mother.”
“So, how do we be little girls?” Lilly asked.
“We play and have fun,” Thayle said with a shrug. “We can run around, sing, or just lay in each other's arms and kiss.”
“We do that now,” Lilly said with a blush and realized Sarah was mothering them already.
“She sure is,” Thayle said. “That’s why she sets out our clothes and brushes our hair. She is trying to be mother, wife, empress, everything we need.”
“Why?” Lilly asked innocently.
“Because she loves us,” Thayle said. “And now that she has lost Numidel, I suspect her need to shelter us will worsen.”
“How can we make her happy again?” Lilly asked with a sad voice.
“That’s easy,” Thayle said. “She wants us to be free from the burdens of the world. All we have to do is let her take it all away.”
Lilly considered the idea a moment and finally shrugged. “I am fine with being a little girl again if you are.”
“That’s fine with me too, but only when we are here or in private,” Thayle said. “We have to be strong for those who look to you and I for leadership.”
“Well, we're here now,” Lilly said as a smile spread on her face. “And I recall the game we played last time.” Before Thayle could respond, Lilly slapped her back and declared she was it, then ran away.
“You can’t get away!” Thayle cried and ran after her.
They raced across the grass, screaming and laughing until they came over a hill and suddenly stopped. In the distance was something that shouldn't be there, and both of them noticed it immediately.
“Is that a tree?” Lilly asked.
“It is a tree,” Thayle replied and looked across the valley to the far corner where a single large tree grew.
“But there are no trees in the valley except the ones you planted,” Lilly said.
“And they wouldn't appear in the dream,” Thayle replied and pulled Lilly along. “Common, let's go see it.”
It took a bit of walking, but they eventually arrived at a tree standing tall and in a full set of leaves. There were even some fallen ones on the ground as well as a few acorns as if the seasons had passed around it.
“This is strange,” Lilly said as they touched the trunk. “This shouldn’t be here.”
“Could this mean something?” Thayle asked and looked at the thick branches above. “Maybe a message from the divines that something is growing in the valley?”
“Like our child?” Lilly said.
“I very much appreciate that you refer to your egg as ours all the time,” Thayle said.
“That's because it is ours,” Lilly said as she came to Thayle and took her hands. “I want you and Sarah to be that baby's mother every bit as much as I am.”
“Only if you promise to be a mother to any children I have,” Thayer replied.
“Deal,” Lilly said with a smile as Thayle suddenly put a hand to her stomach. “What’s wrong?”
“Just that stomach ache again,” Thayle said and walked a few steps. “It’s already going away.”
“I don't like this,” Lilly said and put a hand to Thayle's stomach. She sang her healing song, but nothing happened, making her even more worried.
“It’s not like the headaches,” Thayle insisted as she read Lilly’s thoughts.
“Then what else can it be?” Lilly asked. “You keep getting them, and there is nothing to heal.”
“Lilly, it isn't the same,” Thayle replied and leaned against the tree. “There is nobody around us to cause me to suffer occasional stomach aches.”
“But it has to be caused by something,” Lilly insisted.
“Probably stress,” Thayle said and took a deep breath. “Well, it’s passed. Let’s go back to the house to tell mother and father about the tree.”
“He hates it when you call him father,” Lilly laughed.
“That’s because he is a very proper man,” Thayle said and then looked over the hill. “Race you back.”
The two ran off in a wild dash, racing across the valley to the white-washed walls of a house that was constantly changing shape.
“I want the patio to be bigger,” Sarah said as she concentrated and changed the seating. “And there needs to be a fire pit.”
“Of course, there needs to be a fire,” Gersius said sarcastically.
“Don't you get that way with me,” Sarah grumbled. “This house is going to be my home, and I am the one who will take care of it. So I want it to be perfect, even if my needs are a little eccentric.”
“Then put a brick one right in the center about this high,” Gersius suggested and held up his hand.
“But then the space is filled,” Sarah pointed out. “That back wall needs to move back, so we have more room.”
“That wall wouldn't need to be there if you agreed to put the patio further into the yard,” he argued.
“I like it tucked into the house,” Sarah countered. “It feels more private and secluded.”
“We live in a valley with mountains on all sides. It couldn’t get more private and secluded,” Gersius pointed out.
“Now, you’re just getting annoyed,” Sarah fussed. “Can’t we put another room between the kitchen and bedrooms to push them back?”
“I suppose we could put in a dining room,” Gersius suggested. “Then it would be right off the kitchen.”
“Let's do that,” Sarah agreed and waited for him to envision it, then made the dream take shape. Suddenly she had plenty of space for a patio complete with a firepit.
“Mother, father,” Thayle called from inside the house.
“We’re out back,” Sarah yelled as Gersius rolled his eyes.
“There you are,” Thayle said with a smile as she and Lilly came through the kitchen door. “Oh, I like this space.”
“I do too, but your father is fighting me on it,” Sarah grumbled.
“I am not fighting you, and stop calling me their father,” Gersius argued.
Sarah tsked and turned to the girls with a smile.
“You two weren't gone long. Did you have a good time?” she asked.
“We were playing out by the canyon, and we found something,” Lilly said.
“You found something? In the dream?” Sarah asked.
“It's something that shouldn't be there,” Thayle said. “I can't explain it.”
“Show me,” Sarah replied and took her daughters by the hand. She walked with them across the valley until they crested the last hill, and Sarah saw what they were talking about.
“It’s a tree,” Gersius said.
“I can see that it’s a tree,” Sarah quipped as they continued to approach. “But this valley has no trees.”
“But didn't you say the dream often reflects how things appeared in the ancient past? Maybe back then, there was a tree here,” Gersius suggested.
“And nowhere else?” Thayle asked as they gestured to the barren landscape around them. “What's more intriguing is it appears to be an oak. Those don't grow in cold alpine climates.”
“This isn’t exactly alpine,” Gersius pointed out.
“Gersius, just accept that this tree shouldn't be here,” Thayle argued.
“He’s been like that with me all day,” Sarah quipped.
“I am just trying to be reasonable,” Gersius countered. “But if you insist this shouldn't be here, I will agree.”
“Good,” Sarah said and pulled her wives in close. “Now, why is there a tree growing here in the dream when it doesn't exist in the real world?”
“Thayle thought it might signify that something is growing in the valley,” Lilly said. “Maybe it means our baby.”
Sarah smiled warmly as Thayle leaned into her side.
“I enjoy hearing her say ours so freely, too,” Thayle said.
Sarah sighed and looked up at the branches as she worked on a thought.
“I am looking forward to this child,” she admitted. “I want to hold her to my cheek and feel her love.”
“I feel like there is a but coming,” Thayle said.
“I suppose there is,” Sarah said and looked down. “I struggle to understand why I feel this way. I want to love this baby with all my heart. Why would I want that when I didn’t have it for my own brood?”
“You were still heavily rooted in your dragon nature and hadn’t learned about love,” Thayle replied. “How can you express something you have no concept of?”
“Numidel told me about it a thousand times,” Sarah said.
“You can’t learn about love by being told about it,” Thayle insisted. “You have to experience it for yourself.”
Gersius put his arms around Sarah, and she released the girls and turned to fall into his chest.
“I want to have a baby,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I want to have a baby with you.”
“You are sure about this?” Gersius asked as Sarah nodded.
“I have been thinking about it in private for a while now,” she admitted. “But the war is going on, and I always have to be the strong one. I tried to placate myself by encouraging my lovely flowers, but the more I grow to love you, the more I want to bear your child.”
Gersius patted her back firmly and ran his hand up to cradle her head. “Lilly and I will pray to Balish and ask her to bless you with the gift. I can't say for certain when your season will come, but when it does, I promise to get you pregnant.”
“No,” Sarah said and tapped his chest. “Such a thing would be foolish right now. It is enough that I admitted that I want your child, but it needs to wait until after the war. I just wanted you to know because I hoped it would make you happy.”
“Sarah,” Gersius whispered and hugged her tightly as his heart filled with joy. “Nothing could make me happier.”