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Chapter 42
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“The emotional transfer has failed." Said Tundor. "I barely dislike Lothinar anymore. Actually, I kind of admire him, and yes, he’s handsome for an elf. Most of what has to be Ardwynn’s hostility towards him has slowly seeped from me and obviously back into her.”
”I can tell,” said Candasar. “The problem is that Lothinar’s feelings for Ardwynn, now that they have awakened, are not that easy for him to rationalize away. He is loyal to a fault. He took it very badly when she moved back into her parent's house. At least she still kept his ring.”
“I know. It's hard on her too. Originally, she actually needed to put her parents’ things in order. She is the only remaining member of that family, after all. Then she said that she needed some time to process all the losses she’s been through,” said Tundor. Going through their things refreshed a lot of memories. Good and bad. She is very confused right now."
”Lothinar and I are hoping that the backlash of anger is from the withdrawal of her being addicted to his pheromones. She was originally distanced from her family and took the job with Cantrell as a warden just to get away from being near them. Once she gets back in balance, chemically, she may feel differently about him. She may be able to love him again.
His body obviously still makes pheromones.” Said Tundor. Those things are very powerful. Ardwella unintentionally attached Cantrell. I think when Ardwynn is around him, they are actually working backward on her, making her dislike him more than she normally would. It's kind of a backlash. Lothinar could accidentally very easily make someone else become infatuated with him. Males generally sweat more than females. You are going to have to keep your eyes open for that. Unless they are already dragon bonded, females around him are going to possibly be affected. That's practically everyone.
"It's good this is an outpost town with many male elves around. At least so far it's only the female elves that are interested in Lothinar. I’m hoping that regular bathing mitigates the effects.” said Candasar. “It’s turning into a logistical problem more than anything else. Starett told me that humans use something called perfume to mask body odor, but covering up the pheromones doesn’t eliminate them entirely.”
‘Starett is aware of the issue?”
”Yes, He’s been so helpful with everything else so far”
‘The two dragons were flying back from feeding. Their magically enhanced growth, though steady, had begun to slow. Candasar was actually about the same size as Tundor now. According to Vanador, the other rare white, he was back on the correct track for a normal dragon his age.
"I just thought of something," said Tundor, flapping a bit harder to come up next to her in flight to look Candasar in the eyes. "Harvey, the human guard, was overcome by Ardwella's attractants. He got a case of that so bad he was willing to risk everything and get himself killed trying to save her."
"So you are thinking that human females are going to be just as easily affected by Lothinar? I haven't seen it yet, but I'll try to keep it in mind."
The dragons had arrived over Tasumakoji and were circling above the elven settlement. Below they could see the home that had belonged to Ardwynn's parents. Knowing that the dragons were high above her through the bond, Ardwynn had stepped out onto a back porch and was waving at her dragon. At least she was smiling.
“How is staying there?” Asked Candasar.
“They have a barn, so I’ve actually been pretty comfortable," said Tundor. "They had horses, if you remember. Three of them. They needed them because Quinton was always making trips back and forth to the capital. Ardwynn didn’t want them, so she asked Albarad to take them. He came by and collected them when he and Ardwella moved back into their lake house. It was a good thing that Ardwynn’s parents had a couple of people on staff to take care of the home upkeep, or those horses wouldn't have survived locked up in their stalls while we sorted this all out.
I saw the extra horses in Albarad's barn when Lothinar and I stopped by to talk with his parents. They were nervous around me, so obviously, I stayed out of the barn." said Candasar. They seem fine now. Beautiful animals. Sometimes I kind of want to eat them, but obviously that would not be a good idea. Ardwynn might decide she wants them back for some reason. Jamison doesn’t seem to mind the company.” continued Candasar. I think Albarad really loves horses.
Despite Starett's assurances that it wasn't necessary, Albarad, Ardwella, and Siophra had all moved out of the temple and back home. The extra horses seemed to make pulling the wagon a lot easier. They all seemed more comfortable there, especially while they were trying to get her healed and recover from what she went through. She is staying in Lothinar's old room. Being in a familiar place like her grandfathers's old house seemed to really help her.
”Yes, Esmarilla decided to stay in the temple with Vanador for now," said Tundor. Esmarilla said that It’s not far by air if Ardwella needs her. Both Esmarilla and Vanador go over to the house every day to spend time with the sisters. The humans practically begged them to stay, and they just had more room, at least for dragons. Apparently, the whole human town is preparing for a big shot's arrival. It's a big deal. Did you know the humans are calling the two big dragons by the nicknames of Salt and Pepper.!" Can you believe that?
”Only humans would nickname their gods,” said Candasar. I'm glad that they don't think I'm one of them yet. "I'd probably be nicknamed blueberry!"
"Well, Ardwynn's calling for me to come down. We need to talk through some things privately."
"It was good getting out and hunting with you today Tundor. I really miss not having you around!"
"Until we can patch up this broken relationship with our elves, that's how it's probably going to be". said Tundor.
"This is definitely not the way I expected this to go when I told Lothinar to choose Ardwynn," said Candasar. "She seemed so deeply committed to him."
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"Things change," said Tundor, tipping his wings and descending toward the house."
"Yes, they sure do," said Candasar to herself. Then she turned and headed back toward Delora Natine, the city of men where her bonded was waiting.
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It had been three days. Siophra had been convinced that the emperor would be hot on her heels and yet there was no sign of him or his army of warriors and magicians. Ardwella didn't know what to think. The emperor had to be running out of dragon eggs at this point. Soon, if she were not mistaken, he would begin to die without the dragon egg magic to keep him alive. He was even older than she was and unbonded. To try and figure out what to expect Ardwella had called a meeting between herself and the two elves within reach that probably knew the emperor best. Mavis and Siophra. That Siophra had threatened to kill Mavis the last time that she had seen her didn't make setting up the meeting easy.
Siophra was easy to find. She lived in the house. She shrugged and said she would be there. Mavis was harder to track down. She had been spending a lot of time down by the lake playing with a new baby dragon. She didn't even seem to mind getting mud on her shoes these days. Mavis had insisted that she wasn't getting anywhere near Siophra without Cantrell around. If Mavis had been hard to find, Cantrell had been almost impossible. It had taken Lothinar's soul seer sense to find him.
Candasar and Lothinar had flown out over the hills behind and above the lake until they sensed him and Mo-Rung. Cantrell had been up in the hills scheming with the big red dragon and the hardened well-worn men that attended him. They had hit it off, apparently. It had only been three days, but Cantrell had combined his years of experience, the tough human hunters, and his own small group of warden elves into a fighting force. He had blended into the scenery and had been making defensive plans to defend the dragons of the lake if and when the emperor arrived. Ardwella was impressed, especially since Cantrell wasn't even bonded to Mo-Rung yet. Lothinar and Esmarilla had offered, but they both seemed hesitant to finalize their relationship by bonding for some reason. That didn't mean that they couldn't work together in other ways.
Mavis had insisted that they hold the meeting in the neutral ground of the temple courtyard. The sister and brother pair loomed over the courtyard as the parties involved all came together. Starett stood next to them nervously. Ardwella had asked him to preside over the meeting as a dragon-interested neutral party. The young man looked like he would rather be anywhere, and Mavis shot an angry glare at Siophra as she walked in. Siophra had a small bundle in her hands and tossed it to the flouncy elf.
"These are your clothes, cleaned and pressed. They were missing a lot of important fabric when I got them. They don't cover much at all. but thanks for the loan of them."
Mavis deftly caught them.
"They were nicer than what you were wearing... Which, if you remember, was NOTHING!"
Cantrell scowled at both of them and then walked slowly and carefully toward Siophra who still wore the black sword strapped to her waist.
"I don't think we should start out criticizing someone else's fashion choices. The gods know you have been through a lot at the hand of the emperor..."
"Her father!"
"An accident of birth," said Mavis angrily.
"Cantrell looked at Siophra. "You are what? asked Cantrell. Seven hundred or so years old. She is like twenty-five."
"I was just a little more than her age when I got thrown into her father's jail!" I spent most of my life so far in there"
"You're proving my point," said Cantrell. She wasn't a part of any of that. I know it was impossibly hard but you are bonded to a wonderful dragon. Your life is just beginning."
"Siophra nodded." You're right. I will have a long life to get over it. as long as Argent doesn't show up and throw us all back in prison!"
Siophra took a good hard look at Mavis. Then she blinked and looked away.
She doesn't even look like him. Are you sure that she is his daughter? "Who is your mother Mavis?"
"That's part of what we want to discuss today," said Ardwella.
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Lothinar had given up the suite and moved into a small room on the second floor of the warehouse that Candasar and had been staying in. It wasn't fair or right to take up all that room just for himself. He couldn't go back home with his parents, and he sure wasn't welcome where Ardwynn was staying at this point. He hoped that would change. He had thought about taking Candasar out into the mountains to be a part of what Cantrell was putting together. That seemed worthwhile. He and Candasar were both used to living without amenities, but he wanted to be close enough for Ardwynn to find him if she had a change of heart and came looking for him. He could tell that Candasar really missed Tundor. Lothinar missed the goofy young white dragon too.
The people around here were nice, though. They were regular humans who had made big changes to their lives and how they did things to accommodate him and Candasar. He found it comforting that even after finding out that dragons were more than great statues and beings of legend and mystery, the humans still held the dragons and the elves that bonded with them in high regard.
A soft knock came on the door. Lothinar opened it to find Ronette, the still pretty wife of the dairyman. She looked troubled.
"Can I help you with something?" asked Lothinar.
"I brought a cow for your dragon, but she said that she has already eaten today. What do you want me to do with it? It's already paid for."
"Have you tried to take it over to the temple? I'm sure one of the big dragons over there could use a snack"
"They are all busy in some big meeting that's going on" she frowned. "I already checked. My husband isn't going to like having to write out a refund slip. "This is distressing! - Is it hot in here?"
"A little," admitted Lothinar.
"Hey Candy, I know you just got back, but do you think we could make a quick run out to the place where Mo-rung is staying and drop off an extra cow? I bet he'd really like one"
"Sure, I'd like to see Grandpa anyway," said Candasar.
"Hey! I see a cow down here. Is it the one that someone tried to drop off earlier?"
"Yeah, she's right here. She's Mrs McDonald. Remember, she catered my wedding." Then he got a very sad look on his face.
"You just got lucky, Ronette!" said Lothinar. My dragon and I are going to take that cow out of the city to a relative of ours. It's much appreciated. Thanks.
"You know it's always been my dream to get to someday ride on a dragon. Do you think you could give me a ride and drop me off back at the farm on the way?"
"Don't see why that would be a problem, said Lothinar." "Just a second. I'm discussing it with my dragon and working out the details."
"Get ready, Candasar, we will be right down"
"I'll meet you outside. If you can lead the cow back outside the gate, you can get on, and I'll get airborne. We'll be able to grab the cow up before she runs off. I'll try at least. A cow should be slower than a deer!"
It went exactly as expected. Ronette was surprisingly spry as she jumped up onto Candasar. Lothinar put his arms around her to steady her.
"The first time they jump into the air, it can be a little terrifying," he admitted.
"Ronette let out a little squeak, but he didn't lose his grip on her as they lifted quickly, circled around, and Candasar grabbed the cow. It let out a very startled moo.
The flight to the farm was fairly short. Unfortunately Candasar had to drop the cow to land. Lothinar hoped that Mo-Rung didn't mind his meat tenderized. Ronette gracefully jumped off. Candasar and Lothinar were soon airborne again, and this time, the cow made no attempt to flee while being grabbed.
Ronette watched the whole thing with amusement as they flew away with the dangling cow.
"That was amazing," she thought. "Dragons were amazing. And that elf. The one that smelled so good. He was amazing too."
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