“My…claiming?” Prim breathed, disbelievingly.

She looked to the three ladies who stood off to the side, Tamar’s arm threaded through Delle’s as they stood next to one another, Marnie standing in front of her mother with the woman’s free arm across her chest. All three seemed to have glassy eyes accompanying their smiles.

“I’m going to be a dragon whisperer?” Prim asked when nobody offered any more of an explanation.

As if the words were a call to action, the coughing sounds multiplied as every single beast in the circle blew flames straight up. The heat wasn’t as unbearable as Prim would have thought; it was more like the pleasant feeling of the sun warming her skin on a brisk day. Like she usually did when she found herself in that situation, she closed her eyes to better experience the sensation.

Dante’s hands released their grip on her shoulders only to take her right hand in both of his. Prim opened her eyes to find him staring at her fingers. He carefully spread them apart, sliding her ring off. Not her fingers, then.

“No, Bear. I claim you.”

Prim sucked in a breath, but she didn't dare move. She only stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

“If you want to live in Pregg, we will live in Pregg. If you want to live in Hogard, we will live in Hogard. I will go anywhere, as long as you’re by my side. Now and forever. But I want that same assurance from you.” Dante released her hand, pulling the other one to him and stroking his thumb over the back of it. “So, Bear, will you marry me?”

The flames licked the space above them, the light and heat adding to the enchanted feeling of this moment. The look on Dante’s face, so full of love and hope and happiness melted her far more effectively than the dragon’s breath. One of his hands gripped hers, the other held the ring just in front of her marriage finger, ready to slip it on as soon as she gave the word.

This time, it would mean something. This time, it would remain on her left hand for the rest of her life.

“Yes, Dante.”

He didn’t take his eyes off hers as he slid the blue-stoned ring onto her finger. Once it was secure, she pushed herself into him, circling his neck and kissing him harder than she ever had before. When they did break apart, he picked her up and spun her around, laughing.

As her feet once again made contact with the soft grassy ground, she still didn’t take her attention off him. So Prim didn’t notice the incoming horde of her new in-laws rushing them with cheers and embraces that nearly knocked her down.

Dante let the ladies fawn over them for a few moments before he gently positioned himself between them and Prim, begging them not to scare her away before their vows were made.

“If you haven’t scared her away yet, I hardly think we will,” Tamar joked, rolling her eyes.

Dante only shook his head, and Prim reached up to kiss him again. “I claim you, too.”

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The five remained in the hidden dragon dome for an hour or two more, celebrating. Delle and Marnie had cooked a feast they laid out on a blanket that they all enjoyed with a couple bottles of wine. The teenager’s eyes had become as big as saucers when her mother said even she could have a glass for the occasion. Once the talking and laughing died down, Prim lounged in Dante’s lap, staring at her ring as he massaged her neck and shoulders.

Prim tilted her head back to look at him. “I love you.”

He pressed a kiss onto her forehead. “I love you.”

She melted into him, happier than she’d ever been as she watched the dragons meandering or resting in the clearing and Delle and Tamar entertaining Marnie.

A short time later, the three Northern ladies left on their dragons, Marnie assuring them the dragons didn’t mind them staying without their escorts with a mischievous grin. Prim and Dante sprawled on the blanket now clear of dishes the women had packed and taken back home. She snuggled into his side as they both stared at the night sky through the hole in the center of the mountain dome, now littered with stars. Neither spoke for a while, the closeness of their bodies enough communication.

“Marnie requested the wedding be in Hogard,” Dante said, his voice blending nicely into the ambient noises of the dragons moving around. “She thinks a wedding in a castle is romantic.”

Prim turned to her side, reaching across his chest to lace her fingers with his. “That’s fine with me. Did she also plan your proposal?”

Dante’s body shaked under her as he laughed. “She had some input.”

“It was perfect,” she said, stretching her neck to kiss him.

“You’re perfect,” he answered, kissing her forehead as she snuggled back into his chest.

Of course that wasn’t true, but she wasn’t about to contradict him.

The two laid under the stars long enough that Prim began to doze off. The ground was comfortable, especially with the blanket and Dante’s arms wrapped around her. The Northern night was made far more pleasant with the regular bursts of dragon fire that warmed the air, and Prim had even become deaf to the accompanying coughing noises.

Prim hadn’t even noticed it was one particular dragon who seemed to stay closer than the others, providing the comfortable atmosphere.

Dante stroked her arm, bringing her out of that blissful state between wake and sleep. She didn’t open her eyes. She only wrapped her arm around him tighter.

“Let’s go home, Bear. I want to sleep in the bed I share with my betrothed,” Dante whispered into her ear.

Prim smiled, but still didn’t move.

“We’ll be heading back to Hogard soon. We’ll have a wedding to plan. Well, I’m sure Bristol will be the one to plan it--”

Prim laughed at that; he wasn’t wrong.

“We’ll have a couple years there and then we can start thinking about finding our own home here, if your powers allow it.”

She squeezed him again. She loved hearing him talk about their future.

“But tonight, I’m going to have you in our bed. And then I’m going to sleep with my arm around you.”

Her stomach flipped and she released a whimper.

“So let’s go home,” he said again.

What awaited her there was better than this beautiful place, so Prim finally stirred, standing up. Dante joined her and kissed her in a promise of what was to come before hefting her into his arms. Their eyes locked; he didn’t take off.

Then a thought speared her mind.

No, not a thought. A voice.

“I can give you a ride if you’d rather.”

Startled, Prim pushed against Dante’s chest and he immediately set her down, a concerned look on his face. “Bear?”

Prim whirled around, her eyes roving over the clearing and landing on the dragon that had stayed close and kept them warm all night. As she did so, the dragon breathed fire into the air, illuminating its blue body--Wassalian blue, not sky blue like Gordy. Blue like Prim’s dresses and her ring.

The beast took a few steps forward, nuzzling her shoulder with its maw. Dante sucked in a breath, his expression turning from concern to shock.

“I claim you.”

#

The end.