Black as Blood (Part Two)

Farewell

               The next morning Ralem woke to blackness and a backache. Instead of sheets he was surrounded by the rough green leather under Jaydon’s front claws. He could hear the slow drumming noise of a huge heart and could feel the light purr reverberating around the dragon’s body. For a second he lay there, relaxing in the most safest place on earth, thinking about the purely random things one thinks in the morning; of breakfast and wondering if its worth it to get out of your comfortable bed to make a trip to the bathroom.

              Then it hit him. Arianna- she was leaving today! He jerked upwards and got smacked in the forehead by a claw. “Ouch,” he murmered. Jaydon snorted and hugged him tighter to his chest, almost squeezing the air out of him. “Jaydon! Hey, Jaydon! Good morning!” Ralem yelled. Jaydon snapped awake, and Ralem could hear the growl buzz in his throat.  Ralem relaxed into the dragon’s hands and his anger washed over him anew. What was he thinking? He did NOT want to see her right now. But he did kind of want to see her just one last time. Nope. He didn’t.

               Jaydon yawned, a big cat yawn with huge two-foot long fangs. First he opened his wings, blinding Ralem in the shot of pure light, and then he set him on the bed. He thrust his front claws in front of him with his butt up in the air and tongue rolled up in pleasure. Then it also hit him. “Arianna’s leaving today! We got to see her now!”

               “Nope.” Ralem said, “I don’t want to see her ever again.” He said childishly, trying to crawl under the covers.

               Jaydon bent so his face was right next to Ralem’s and he could feel his hot breath, “You don’t mean that.”

            “Yes I do.” Ralem said, digging his head into his pillow.

             Jaydon sighed and then sauntered over to the huge windows and looked out into the street. His widening eyes were greeted by three carriages and a small army of military men and ladies in waiting milling around. He gulped, “She’s leaving really soon.”

               “Don’t care,” Ralem said gruffly.

                “Yes you do!” Jaydon said. He turned swiftly into a human, shoved on a shirt and threw one to Ralem, “Put it on unless you want me to take you to her shirtless.”

                “You wouldn’t,” Ralem raised his head enough to glare at him.

                “I would,” Jaydon said evenly back.

                 Ralem didn’t move.

                 “Okay,” Jaydon said smoothly, “I’ll take you out without a shirt. It’s not like I care.”  Scooping his arms under Ralem, he gathered him up and snatched him away from the sheets. Ralem yelled, “Okay, okay! I’ll get a shirt on. Give me a second.” He grabbed the shirt and shoved it on him, “Okay? Happy?”

                  “I didn’t care in the first place,” Jaydon said before grabbing him by the shoulders and steering him out the door.

                  They were met with the bustling crowd of people getting ready, soldiers getting their armor together, and random peasants who wanted to see what the entourage was about. Ralem slid into the crowd while Jaydon stood on his tiptoes to look for Arianna.

                   “She’s over there!” he finally cried, “Look, she’s coming this way!”

                  It had seemed like a sort of bad dream, like his mind had not processing the immensity of the situation. But when Ralem saw Arianna, dressed like a princess and looking just absolutely stunning it hit him like a ton of bricks. She was not wearing her usual smile, her beautiful eyes were downcast as the ladies in waiting ushered her to her carriage. Ralem wanted to say something, to tell her goodbye or something, but nothing came out of his mouth. It felt like a huge lump was blocking his throat and stopping his words. For a second her eyes lifted to look at the crowd, searching for him? Her eyes passed over Ralem.