The Dragonlady

Chapter Eleven

Tobias was furious with Clara.

"How dare you!" Tobias said. "Shouting like a market peddler in the middle of the street for all to hear! Whatever you thought Parmer had done wrong, it would have been better to confront him quietly in private. What were you thinking?"

Clara still didn't understand where she had gone wrong. She knew Tobias spoke sense and yet all she could see at the time was all her hard work and reputation thrown away. Now Tobias shouted at her. Never in all their time together had he ever shouted at her.

"I didn't think...."

"Quite right! You didn't think. When you do think, your thoughts are wrong. All these stupid notions over the past ten years...I tolerated them, then ignored them when I should have said something, done something. I should have asserted my rights and sound reasoning, and perhaps we could have prevented this disaster. It is a disaster...Rin's missing – who knows where she is? Parmer's out searching too, along with scouts and some of the guards."

"Parmer?" Clara asked weakly. "Where is he?"

"I asked him to report back here if he heard any news." Tobias said, calming. "I don't know where he headed. He was in the dragon enclosures when I saw him last."

"Dragons? Oh, Seafoam, you mean?"

"Yes, and Rin's male dragon. Seafoam and Blue have mated, you know. Seafoam has a clutch."

"Oh, by the gods! How...? Why...? When...? Did they..." Clara was flustered and embarrassed to put her concerns into words. Had her son sullied his mind watching the two dragons mate?

"Come now, Clara...you know how babies are made. We had two children, remember? Dragons are similar, except that they lay eggs." Tobias sighed.

"I...well...Parmer didn't see it happening, I hope?"

"Clara, he's almost twentyfive. I hope he knows all about procreation by now. He's been quite diligent with his studies."

"But...."

"You can't shield him from life, Clara. He knows, he learns. Procreation is a part of life – a huge part of it! I worry what you might have been putting into their minds, Shella included. This 'correct' business must end – now! All these stupid or strange notions that you've been enforcing will now stop. I want my wife back...the one that I loved, who had my children and shared my bed. I don't like what you've turned into, Clara, and I'm certain the children don't like your ideas of 'correctness'."

"But I only wanted to keep them innocent and pure so they could wed well."

"You've made us all into a laughing stock! Except Parmer isn't laughing. I left him weeping, feeling weak and helpless. Do you want people to think that of him?"

"I...no!" Clara sat down in a heap on the kitchen chair, wringing her hands in despair.

"I told him to take charge of his life, and to do what he thought was best. I hope he listened."

"Where's Shella?" Clara asked.

"With Eno. She offered to keep him company while we waited for news.

"The groundsman?"

"Yes. He's a fine man. You have to remember where you came from, Clara. You know full well how the mighty can suffer and fall. I don't expect you've told your women friends in their refinery just how I met you and where you came from?"

Clara shook her head, hit by a sharp pang of shame.

"I bedded you and then I courted you, wedded you after your belly began to grow. I took you from your father's stables and gave you a fine home and two lovely children. You were happy...we were happy. Do you want everyone to know your beginnings?"