They settled into a routine. Renna’s lessons filled the mornings, in the evening they did what seemed to be a good idea at the time. On most days Renna would work on her rug. But there were also other endeavors.

Renna had convinced Arion to take her out on the beast to explore. Together they had adjusted his harness so it had a comfortable seat for her where she could strap herself safely in place. The wardrobe had produced for her an odd item made of leather with fur inside when she had asked for something to keep the cold away when they were flying. It looked like a pair of pants and winter fur coat turned inside out and sewn together. It came with matching gloves and a very thick hat. It looked funny but it worked. And if anybody saw it, they would have never guessed there was a woman inside that thing.

They would pack their dinner and fly to places no human could go. Waterfalls in the mountains were Renna’s favorites. They would settle, eat dinner, talk for hours and fly back. Renna was often sleeping by the time they got back. He would carry her to bed carefully. He suspected she was not always sleeping as soundly as it seemed… but made no remark. He liked being able to carry her not only as a dragon but also as a man.

Renna’s reading was progressing slowly. By the time winter arriving curbed their excursions to the mountains she could read. Very slowly and laboriously, but could. She would now spend days when Arion was locked inside his beast and afternoons when she felt like taking a break from her rug reading in the library above the great hall. There was one small disappointment for her in learning this skill. The book she had found when she first explored the library remained a mystery - it was not written in her language. The letters were the same but words were not.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Arion felt he was progressing too. He could now touch her quite liberally without getting a smack. Things like holding her hand, helping her down or lifting her up had become easy and natural. Seeing him naked no longer bothered her. He had been shifting back and forth for their trips so many times that I guess his appearance had gotten old for her. He kind of missed the blush, but he did not miss the knee so I guess this was for the best. He no longer needed to tutor her on her reading - she just needed practice now - so he had found something else he could teach her.

Opposite of the weaving room was another big room with a special purpose. It was the ballroom. He had never used it. But it came with the place and magical music was always playing in it. He had been taught to dance by strict private tutors as being able to dance was part of his status. Renna had only seen the fancy ballroom dancing nobles did. She had been intrigued when Arion had proposed it but considered herself incapable of learning.

In the end, she had agreed to give it a try as she too had grown accustomed to their time together. After a few rather painful lessons, especially for his feet, he had to consider the possibility that she had been right and he had bitten off more than he could handle. But he was not willing to give up his time with her. He realized he would need to get her to let him lead for this to ever work. So he started slow. For days he had her just sway with him to the music until she surrendered her stiff control and let him lead her through a dance. It wasn’t graceful or particularly pretty to watch but they could work on that. And this would be something that would keep them busy for ages.

Soon, passing of the days had brought them to the Winter Solstice.