A Pet for the Dragons

71.

IVRET

"Why isn't she waking up?" Radrox asked me again, and at this point, I'd forgotten just how many times he'd asked that question.

"I'm trying to wake her up." I frowned. I was annoyed because I was trying to make some healing potion for her, but Radrox kept interrupting.

"If she doesn't wake up by evening, then I'm going to beat Callath into a pulp," Radrox growled.

It turned out that the Empress had sent one of her bonds to spy on us, and he was reporting everything about us to the Empress. He was the one who told the Empress about Arika. When he was trying to sneak into the castle to gather more intel, Arika caught him, and Radrox joined the mix, but things went downhill quickly.

Callath was now locked up in the Westernmost tower after Radrox had given him a good beating. Zorge was now keeping an eye on him to ensure that he couldn't try something shady again.

It was surpassing how things turned bad to worse so quickly. Previously, we only had to figure out how to mark Arika and keep her safe in the Cardinal House, but things got out of hand soon because of this unforeseen guest. But this sprouted a vile doubt in me.

If we couldn't keep Arika safe here, then there was no way she'd be safe in Cardinal House, especially with that place swarming with dragons willing to do anything to impress the Empress and get a favour from her.

The thought instantly made me panic. Mavie would be very mad at us for beating up Callath. I was sure about this. I'd been tending to Mavie ever since she was a princess. We almost grew up together, and I knew what she could be like. She could be sweet most of the time when things go her way. However, she could quickly become a tyrant when she wouldn't get her way. Her memories almost made me shudder.

It made me more eager to know why Callath had been sent here in the first place. Why, after all these years, the Empresses summoned us? After our discussions, it was clear that it wasn't because we crossed the sea to look for Arika.

Callath seemed to have been keeping an eye on us longer than that. He was here before we found Arika at the harbour and brought her to the Gallow Castle. We couldn't find a probable reason behind the summoning, which made the situation tense. We didn't know what to prepare for. But one thing was clear— Arika was in huge danger right now, especially because we hadn't marked her yet, and the Empress was now aware of her.

"Did he say why he came here?" I asked while I continued to look for the ingredients for a healing potion that wouldn't be too strong to make Arika sicker in the process of healing her.

"He said he wanted to see you," Radrox gritted, making me freeze.

"What did he want to talk about?" I asked, taken aback. The fear of uncertainty crept into me while Radrox gave me an almost murderous look. I knew what that meant, and it made me shut up instantly.

I needed to put an end to this soon.

"She looks paler than before," Radrox commented, moving closer to her. "And she's freezing! Make the fire stronger!" He roared.

"I'm preparing her potion, and we can't temper with the fire. It'd burn the ingredients," I moved quickly, instead trying to find something hot to give her. I was scrambling around, digging through all my junk while my mind was still occupied with Callath and his reason for being here.

Radrox gave a frustrated growl before he settled her unconscious body on his lap and wrapped his cloak around her to share his body heat with her. I clenched my jaw and got to work instantly.

Too much had been going on lately, and I didn't know what to focus on first— preparing a healing potion for her, preparing a thrust serum for Callath or finding ways to cure Arika of our venom. It was a lot of work, and I couldn't catch a break for the past couple of days.

Fortunately, I found some mild ingredients for the potions and prepared them on time before gently dripping a few drops between Arika's lips. Radrox held her upright meanwhile, keeping her warm at the same time.

She looked less pale, and the colour returned to her face gradually. After she unconsciously gulped the potion, she went back to snuggling against Radrox, burying her face in the crook of his neck and sighing deeply in her sleep. Radrox's sour mood improved drastically.

"She'll be alright in a few hours. Callath shocked her with his magic. It probably wasn't anything dangerous. It's just that she seems fragile against magic," I said, and Radrox grunted before wrapping his fur around them tighter.

"You say that even after you're unable to tap into her energy to heal her like you would do to a normal dragon?" Radrox questioned. "And Zorge still can't read her."

"Or maybe she resists magic," I guessed. It was still a big mystery to us why we couldn't use our natural powers on Arika. It certainly didn't have anything to do with her being a human. And as far as I had looked up, humans had no magic in their blood.

The witches and wizards were the only humans said to have magic in their blood, but they weren't completely human. They were said to be products of breeding fallen fairies with the humans in the dark times.

I'd have known if Arika came from one of those lineages. I'd have at least sensed something, but that was not the case either. It left me even more puzzled about Arika. Maybe either of her parents was a crossbreed between some other magic creature, and the magic got increasingly diluted when Arika received it. I had many such theories like these but no answers.

The only person who could answer such things was Arika herself, but we were so caught up in other things that we never got the opportunity to know more about her, and that instantly made me feel worse. Maybe I shouldn't have ignored her so much in the past few days. Come to think of it, she was still a complete stranger to me— a stranger who now had my heart.

I took a last glance at her. She was still deep asleep, snuggling against Radrox. I wish it'd have been me with who she snuggled up, but I have my hands full now. I needed to sort things out quickly, or all of us would be in grave danger. I couldn't do that while I kept getting distracted by Arika.

"Take her to her room and lay her there. The potion is already working on her, and she'll be asleep for a while," I told Radrox, and he left immediately. I sighed deeply and started preparing a truth serum for Callath.

He wanted to see me? Fine. I'd see him and put an end to all this.

~

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