A Nagas tale

A lifeline I am not

I roll onto my back listening to Yyvonne play with Idris and Leo. I look up at the ceiling trying to figure out something to do to cure my boredom. I roll over once more seeing Kogen at his desk reading the reports. 'it's been two days since those snakes attacked.' I sigh for the millionth time this day. I felt sluggish and tired due to my menstruation. The pills did magic with the cramps who knows how grumpy I'd be if I didn't take them? "Audrey." Kogen looks at me from his spot. "S..sorry is it bothering you?" I ask worried my sighs were getting annoying. "come here." he demands gently. I get up and walk over to him "What's up? need me to get you something?" I ask hoping there is something I could do finally. He shakes his head and pats his lap. "sit with me." he was asking. The thought of sitting some more was dreadful but hearing him ask me as I had told him before was too good. Without a fuss, I carefully plop myself in his lap. He hands me some papers "Mind summarizing these?" he asks me. The dread of boredom is quickly thrown out the window I pick up a few pages. "Alright, thats not a big problem." I agree so ready to get some mental stimulation that was not needing to get fucked or wondering about the old world. He lowers his face next to mine. I turn to him "Hm... do you..." my questions are silenced by him giving me a quick kiss. He lets out a soft hum before moving away. My mind falls blank as I look at the bookshelves off to the right of the room. 'huh?' I look up at him wanting to understand why he did that. I blush seeing him lick his lips before getting back to work. I turn back to the pages in my hands and hide away the pleased smile that pulls at my lips. 'god fucking damn it!' I try to control my need to let out a squeal. I feel my lower body tingle as I try to calm down. 'fuck fuck fuck... can't I just give in? ugh, this is torture.' I sit up and start reading the reports doing my best to ignore the growing demands of my body. I look up at the others who have stopped talking. They were looking at us I'm not sure if from shock or disgust. I look at the words again 'ignore them. Ignore them.' I repeat this new mantra of mine. I take a deep breath before I continue with my mantra. That night after a nice bath I watched Kogen cook for us like he usually does. I touch my lips losing myself in the thoughts as to why? 'An accident? did he mean to kiss me on the cheeks?' I feel my lower stomach tingle with excitement. I put my head on the table as I try to fight off these bad thoughts. Those sluty dreams coming back up only make this worse. The dreams where Kogen threw caution to the wind. My body shivers as the images rush into the front of my mind. 'I need to go take the pills before they stop working.'  I lift my head when I hear Kogen let out an annoyed groan. "hm? What's wrong?" I stand up and walk over to him. The window I would catch him looking through was too tall for me to see out of. "that old fuck is back." he huffs putting the spoon down and crouching to my height. "Hm? oh, you mea!" I bite my tongue as he lifts me by the legs. I gasped holding onto his shoulder so it wouldn't dig into my stomach. "My baby!" I twist my body to see what's going on. That man from before the one who said I was his family is standing at the kitchen door. "Old man leave." Kogen demands not happy he came back. I look at Kogen's head and frown feeling a cramp on my stomach. "Ugh.... hu... Kogen, c..can you please put me down?" I ask knowing the pills are wearing off. "I said leave." He raises his voice. I bite my lip as the pill's effects wear off. I grab his hair pulling his head to my stomach. "Hunny." I whimper as the pain seems to thunder through my body with the vengeance of thousands of angry bulls. I hug his head tightly wanting the pain to go away. "A.. Audrey!?" he turned his head wanting to see what was going on only for his nose to press into my stomach. I shake my head "P..put me down." I whine to which he quickly does as I ask. I hug my stomach "Audrey! what happened!? did I hurt.." I didn't let him finish his question and run past the man and towards our room. I grab the pill bottle and take the two pills before curling up in pain from the cramp. Kogen walks into the room looking like a lost pup. "Audrey? Are you okay?" he asks kneeling in front of me. He reaches for my face but stops "D..Did I?" He seemed scared to finish that question. I shake my head "No... honey.... I needed to take the medicine earlier." I answer as the pain lets up. "I forgot to take it in my daze." I grab his hand pulling him closer. I lower my knees as I pull him to me. He lets out a deep sigh as I try to offer some comfort. He pulls me onto his lap holding me to him. I can feel his heart beating rapidly against his chest. I rub my face against his neck taking in his scent. "S...sorry if I scared you." I whisper an apology for my reaction. We sit in silence as I wait for him to calm down. I felt so comfortable in his arms the warmth of his body relaxing the remaining sore muscles in my stomach. I would love to stay here forever wrapped in this warmth and comfort. "I swear you kids these days are always risking burning something down." I frown seeing the elder walk in. "I'm not here to hurt Audrey, stupid boy." the elder hissed. I lift my head from Kogen's neck. "His name is Kogen." I hiss correcting his disrespect. "Keh, I don't care this stupid boy has been a thorn in my side for 246 years!" he answers. I shake my head "So fuckin what? Just cause you are called an elder doesn't mean you can disrespect others." I scoff. The teachings of my grandmother came through. He frowns "You talk a big game." he chuckles as he holds up his arms. "it's not like there is much to back you." he taunts trying to get on Kogen's nerves. I pat Kogens back asking him to let me go. He hesitates but does as I ask. I step to the elder. "You spent a long time looking for your family." I point out to which he nods "Yes! yes! I did! you should prai" "Well you are mouthing off the wrong one right now, I can refuse to speak to you and I will not accept you as family." I threaten. His smile drops looking at me as if I'd just stabbed him. "What gives you the right to make that threat?" he asks not happy. I grin "I've cut people out of my life before, it's easy to do it." I answer turning to Kogen. "Honey, would you be willing to leave this forest?" I ask but Kogen doesn't reply. "What!? No! you cannot leave this forest! it is your birthplace! your home!" he starts. Kogen sighs "I can ask Centeral to change my post." he answers I nod turning to the elder. "I can leave this place as I wish,  I don't care if this is my birthplace or whatever." I hiss annoyed with him. He seemed nervous "n...N..now let..not get too haisty." he looks at Kogen. "Y..you will be my grandson-in-law so saying your name shouldn't be much of a problem." he laughs nervously. I sigh turning back to Kogen. He seemed ready to just kick the elder out. "My..." the elder clears his throat. "Kogen why don't we head back to the kitchen before the food gets burnt." he points out. Kogen gets up and walks over to me he takes my hand before leading me out of the room. We get to the kitchen just as Yyvonne runs in holding a ball of snow. "Audrey! Audrey!" She calls out to me. I walk over to her and laugh at her snow-covered hair. "Yyvonne, what have you been doing out there?" I ask cleaning off the snow on her hair. "Oh! It's snowing a lot outside!" she points to the door leading out. I wipe her face of any melting snow feeling how cold her skin is. "I think it's time you come in." My recommendation brought a frown to her face. "But it's fun!" she answers dropping the snow on my feet. I shiver at the cold snow before moving my feet away. "I understand it's fun but it's dark and you are freezing." I quickly pick her up and carry her over to the table. "Hm it seems you've really turned this place into your home." I look over at the elder. He seemed sad as he sat on the other chair. "Yeah, this is home." I answer handing Yyvonne a cracker. He said nothing for a while and merely watched as we went about. Kogen was nice enough to make him something to eat so he wouldn't be the odd one out. After eating we sat in the dining room Yyvonne telling us about her little outdoor adventures. The elder hands me a box "Audrey I came today." he sighs "Not to make you two angry, I simply wanted to give you the head jewelry I had promised." he explains. I look at the box sitting on my lap. "this jewelry is a mark of nobility." he explains "Aside from its status indication it also shields your third eye from the world hiding it from view." he points to the jewelry he wore himself. I open the box finding an intricate headpiece. Its base is made of gold and has many emerald stones. There is a chain that runs through the middle that has large emeralds and small stones made of ruby. "I tried making it to match your face so I hope I did well." He seemed rather unsure of the choices. I touch the stones 'Hm he's family and his gift is better than the gifts my other family ever gave me.' I smile and chuckle 'You can't call body dysmorphia and anorexia a gift.' I remind myself. "Is something funny?" he asks curiously. I shake my head "No just a stupid thought." I answer. Kogen walks back into the room with some tea. "ugh this old.... the elder is still here." he corrects himself. I giggle at his effort "Yeah, he's given me a gift." I show him the headpiece in the box. He sets the tea down and sits with me. He looks at the piece giving an approving nod. "Gold fits you." he agrees. I lean on him a bit shy at his examination of me. "I would not use emerald something like opal or garnet." he injects his opinion. I hear the elder scoff "Opal!? Garnet!? Those stones hardly fetch a value in line with Audrey's life!" he rejects. "I would have gotten diamonds and aquamarine but that foolish merchant was selling dups." he groans. I look at the elder "The value of my life?" I ask curious about what that even meant. He crosses his arms before nodding. "The life of a rare naga is worth more than the value of the entire central city!" he raised an arm "A female naga at that! the value is more than what we have in currency!! With a female naga, a new generation is insured! The ancestor's seal will remain sealed with the arrival of more naga to take over the responsibility I hold!" he declares. I feel uncomfortable at the thought of being a lifeline to this tribe. 'Thats a lot of responsibility for just me.' I wish I hadn't asked about that. "I...is that so." I ask not wanting to hear more. He nods crossing his arms "Yes, now finding the perfect husband to create the next generation now thats going t..." "I won't." I hiss not liking the way he was dismissing Kogen. He looks at me startled "I have chosen my husband, I will not be changing that." I explain. He frowns "This! dem..." I glare at him. "I am not somebody's toy to be pushed around. I may be a bit wishy-washy with some things but I refuse to be used as a pawn for gain." I hiss feeling my heart ache "Not again." I close the box and stand up. "Audrey?" The elder seems startled. I leave going back to the room. I pull out the futon and the blankets 'Today has been a lot.' I sigh covering my third eye. I crawl into the sheets and curl up in the blanket.