The Dragons Queen Saga

Part 16: Jukie's Memories

"Hello lady. Will you talk with me awhile?"

Dresden sat at the bar in his comfortable tunic and breeches and allowed himself to go barefoot for a change. The sun had set hours ago, the Flag ceremony was nearly forgotten now and Jukie was managing the bar tonight. Dresden waited for her to reply, but she kept her back to him and dried glasses, pretending he didn't exist.

"Jukie, have I hurt you in some way?" Dresden let the words fall from his lips casually. He was not attached to the idea of whether he had or not, but he knew that human women could be temperamental about what they defined as being hurt. At this comment, she did turn towards him. Indifference on the outside, heartbreak on the inside, reflected in her eyes. She couldn't hide anything from him, although she tried.

"Why did you pursue me? You knew I am widowed! Why me?" Her voice was nothing but a whisper, but the ferocity within it told Dresden that she had been thinking about the moment when they would have to speak to one another again.

Why not you, Jukie? You are a fine woman." Dresden clasped his hands on the bar in front of himself.

Jukie bristled. "You don't love me. You may be incapable of loving someone. I learned that the other night, Dresden." Her tone grew bitter the more she spoke. Dresden understood where she was coming from. He was not bad in bed, but he did not make love the way men do when they love a woman. He was bestial, a creature, in a way that had frightened some women before Jukie. He would not apologize for himself. He was not brutal or cruel. He knew what was pleasing to women and for himself. Jukie was clearly shaken. She didn't speak for a long time, Dresden waited patiently for her to say something.

When she finally did speak, Dresden broke out in goosebumps all over his body. Jukie set down her towel and the glass she was working on. She leaned in, very close to him, her voice barely a whisper so that no one else in the bar could hear what she was saying.

"I know what you are Dresden. I know you're a Dragon. Before you ask me how I know, I will say this. I will not expose you to Vlad, or anyone else. Forget about me please. Do not sit at my bar and do not think you can be friendly with me." She inhaled deeply when she finished and stood back, allowing him a chance to comprehend what she'd told him.

Dresden waited to reply. He let his senses take over, retreating to the place in his mind where he could see her story. Although he would have liked to be able to allow her privacy, he could not. After what she just said to him, he had to know how she could possibly have figured him out based on their interactions, and he was beyond asking her nicely. Time slowed around them. With each deliberate breath that Dresden inhaled, the bar faded away into blackness. It was replaced with an open field. She was much younger, an innocent maiden. A creek gurgled near her feet, the treeline at her back, sun high in the sky above her. She was fiddling with the tall grass at her side with the sound of people working a farm in the distance. Dresden stood there beside her, watching the scene play out before him.The hills towered in the distance, the coastal breeze could barely be felt. These were the Western Fields just outside the kingdom of Sveldin, near the Queen's cropland, and that must be Jukie's family working while she rested. A figure emerged from the forest, undetected. He was shrouded in a cloak with a dagger at his hip, revealing very little else but his dark boots and gloved hands. He looked very much like Dresden, but his hair was long and tan, shoulder length, creeping out from around the edges of the hood. He approached Jukie stealthily, silently, like an animal. When he reached her, he waited for her to notice him standing there over her. He looked like a man in his late twenties. Dresden recognized him instantly when he let down his hood, that unmistakable crooked grin on a bearded face. He grabbed up the young girl, covered her mouth and took her back into the forest with him. She struggled against him but he was much stronger than her. Once within the forest, he slowed to a casual walk, carrying her like luggage; her kicking feet reaching nothing but air. Dresden followed them curiously. The young man spoke, his gritty voice incongruent with his youth and handsomeness.

"I am going to take you, little Jukie; there is nothing you can do to stop me and no one will believe you if you tell them what happens to you today."

Jukie let out a little cry behind the man's gloved hand. He walked to a darker part of the wood where the canopy overhead grew thick, blocking out the sunlight so that only dim rays could filter through. He tied Jukie's hands to a tree where a rope had been fastened. She struggled again through tears, streaming down her face. The man removed his robe, revealing muscular arms, then he completely undressed in front of her as she tried to look away, cover her face, and hide from him. Standing naked before her, he got down on all fours, and began to change. Jukie screamed.

His form expanded quickly, scales stuck out where smooth skin shone, his hair weaved into twisted horns, his eyes darkened into gigantic reptilian pupils around violet irises. The ironclad shell glinted in bits of sunlight, and a long, ominous tail swished back and forth like a cat. He grinned, in Dragon form, baring teeth as long as Jukie's forearm. He strutted over to her, breathing in her scent, lifting her hair off her shoulders. Then he began to change back. As quickly as he had become a Dragon, he was a man once again. He lifted her chin to face him. She wanted to close her eyes, but couldn't blink him out of existence. He was real, kneeling there, naked, on top of her as she was lashed to a tree. Dresden knelt down as well, next to them, he looked into this man's eyes. There he saw a primal rage billowing underneath human pupils. There was hunger within those eyes. Then the man spoke again.
"Now that you know what I am, I am going to ravage you, little girl. I am going to have my way with you and return you to the edge of the forest. It will hurt, and I will delight in your pain."

Jukie cried out again. She was helpless against him. Just as the Dragon-man leaned in to lick Jukie's cheek, Dresden made his leave.

At the bar now, Jukie stumbled backwards. She grabbed for the edge of the bar to steady herself. She eyed Dresden with disdain.

"I know what you saw just now. I don't know how you did it, and I don't need to. You fuck like he does." She spat the words at Dresden. No tears fell down her cheeks but her eyes were misty. Dresden chose his words very carefully.

"That was Baylin who took you. I didn't know he was still alive. I am sorry that happened to you ma'am. I cannot atone for his behavior, but I can apologize for mine. Had I looked into your memories sooner, I would have let you be. I do not take kindly to being compared to such a disgrace of a Dragon and a man. Baylin never understood what it meant to be human. He will have much to account for if I ever see him in person again, I assure you of that." Dresden paused. Jukie did not speak, but she was visibly calmer. He continued, "I meant you no harm my lady, and I would not expect you to understand what desires drive a Dragon's heart, so your assessment of my interactions with you is forgiven. I will not dare speak to you again, or darken a barstool within your reach. You will not hear from me and I will not seek you out in any way. I sincerely apologize for the atrocities that were done to you by a brethren of my own kind. My intentions with you were honorable, if that means anything to you."

Jukie breathed in again, and chewed on her inner cheek nervously, fighting off unwanted memories from taking over her emotions.

"I accept your apology, Dresden Pierce. I will expect not to see you or speak to you again in this life. Goodnight sir." Jukie turned away from him again, giving him time to remove himself from her presence. He went back upstairs to his room. He knew what must be done next. With several weeks left paid at the inn, he would use that time wisely before leaving for the forest. Taking Kizjin Kol out from under the mattress, he pulled the blade halfway out of its sheath and spoke to the sword in an angry whisper.

"We have some hunting to do, my friend."