Crown of Beauty and Vengeance

Chapter 18

           

Chapter 18

With a new baby dragon in their unconventional family...well, things got very interesting over the next few weeks. 

First off, Posy had completely fallen in love with Roshan.  Since she'd stayed behind at the palace the afternoon Roshan hatched, Lyv decided to take her with them the following day.  Forget horses, which she'd been obsessed with before.  Dragons were her favorite now. 

Her love of the baby dragon was reciprocated, too, and Lyv knew they were undeniably going to be a handful together, especially when she'd caught them playing later that afternoon.  Posy had secured herself on Roshan's back with a small piece of string and they were charging through the tall grasses chasing butterflies and pouncing on small flowers.  

Even though Thia had warned her, Lyv had totally underestimated just how fast Roshan would grow.  The day after he had hatched, he'd already grown two inches.  And by the time a week rolled around, he more than doubled in size.  Of course, he was still a baby and his first week of life were filled with what babies did most – sleeping. 

But as week two rolled around, Roshan started staying up for longer periods of time, mostly when Lyv came to visit since he was staying with Erly at the Branvon estate.  With every bit he grew, Lyv could feel the bond between them strengthening.  She took the time to get to know him and all his little quirks, which included the humming that Erly did as well.  And he had an attitude...which Gideon laughed and said he got from Lyv.  She slapped him on the back of the head for that. 

By the end of that second week, he was the size of a very large dog and staying up pretty much all day, causing a chaos with every moment.  He wasn't just growing in size either, but abilities as well.  Though it would still be another few weeks before he could fly or even breath fire, they still worked with him to strengthen his muscles, especially those in his back.  Erly did this with him mostly, with added encouragement from Lyv, Thia, Gideon, and even Destan and Eamon when they were able to sneak away from their own royal duties. 

And when Roshan would get tired, he'd just huff out a puff of smoke and plop down right where he was.  His favorite place to do this, though, was right on top of Lyv.  Even though he grew bigger with every day, Lyv still couldn't stop him from doing this.  She didn't want to either.  Even with spikes and razor-sharp teeth, the dragon was still too adorable as he gazed up at her with his head resting on her stomach, both of them sprawled in the grass.  This was usually followed by Lyv loving on him and scratching the spot right under his jaw that made him hum and close his eyes.

Roshan wasn't the only one in training.  Thia worked with Lyv to learn how to fly on the back of a dragon, using Erly as practice.  She'd surprised her with her own gear and told her randomly one day that Roshan was taking a break from his own training and she was going to learn how to ride.  Lyv was at first terrified at the idea of being so high up in the air, even though Thia had showed her how to strap herself into the harness. 

Erly was patient with her, though, only taking her about fifty feet in the air at the beginning...but it was a feeling that Lyv had never felt before...and wanted to immediately go higher.  Dozens of feet turned into hundreds, maybe even thousands, as they flew over the rolling hills just outside the city before going over the city itself.  It was the most breathtaking sight she'd ever seen and something she knew she could get used to.  Thia was laughing by the time they'd landed, telling her she was a natural.

And Gideon wanted a turn then, which Thia completely denied but was disobeyed by Erly, who turned to him and ready to go again.   

The growth spurts continued.  Once he was three weeks old, Roshan was the size of a horse and so close to being strong enough to fly.  Lyv and Erly had caught him trying and failing to lift himself up into the skies, having watched Erly, but it would take a little more training before he could.  Thia's idea for Lyv's day off from her palace healing duties would be just the thing.