Fable - Ask The Warmth of Dragons

[Errune Thesius]

Rune maintained a healthy distance from the booth, having smelled the acidic vapors on the air from over a dozen yards away. A look of dour deadpan met the woman's question, briefly the thought that this was not how a lady of her stature should behave crossed his forethoughts only to be reminded that Cressida was not a traditional lady of the court.

"Un-de-nia-bly sure," the syllables of his response were slow and clear. Rune's gaze dipped downwards from his stiff posture to eye Baron greedily and sloppily gobbling up his own bowl. He felt his upper lip tick slightly.

The hound would be sleeping in the parlor tonight, far away from his bed chambers.

Looking back to Cress, Run reached into the inner breast pocket of his suit, withdrew a clean kerchief and held it out to her, "Enjoying yourself?"

 

[Cressida]

"Very much so," she continued to slurp down noodles as she answered Rune, balancing her bowl in the socket of her elbow while grasping the handkerchief he produced in her now-freed hand.

Dragon fire noodles were her favorite part of the festival day. Apparently the chiles were the hottest right around the time of the celebration and she really didn't bother indulging in the heat any other time of the year.

It made her heart swell to see that Baron was just as big of a fan as she of the capsaicin sensation.

Cress blew her nose in the recently produced kerchief, "you aren't having fun?" She really should've forced the man to order his own bowl.

 

[Errune Thesius]

If one were to look up the word fun in a dictionary, it was quite possible that the present expression on Errune Thesius' face embodied and could have been used to illustrate the very antithesis of it. Dry and palid as the parchment upon which the dictionary would be written, Rune's face held not a single iota of what might have been construed as fun.

"My dear Lady Cressida," he began quietly, sternly, and above all seriously, "I ceased to be capable of having fun a decade past..."

By the dragon priests - come to think of it, he would soon be looking at the tenth anniversary of his son's death and the start of the dark age of his life. This realization grew the dourness of his expression even more and he might have shortly turned to take his leave of this horrible social affair ... but the absolute disregard of Cressida for her appearance while she slurped and gulped and beaded sweat on her reddened forehead.

Utterly content and oblivious like a piglet in the muckyard of a butcher's shop.

He decided to placate her by remaining and instead gestured to Baron who had licked the bowl clean and was now in the process of slorping the juices off the cobble, "That is why Baron is here."

 

[Evirea Nymbos]

Evirea’s dragon was small, but thankfully not as small as Bani’s feathered dragon. The mercenary couldn’t help but smirk at the sheer disadvantage the poor woman had to contest with in carrying the sheep, but she knew that Vexillion was quite capable of catching up if he could overcome that task.

“Hyah!” The white dragon launched into the air in a split second. His four wings slammed down to give him the initial burst of speed that rocketed him toward the sheep pen, a gust of wind further pushing him forward. The dragon’s jaws hung open as he took in the air, bright blue eyes fixed on the wooly creatures. His mouth watered, but a tug of the reins refocused his attention. Taivas’ will bent to his rider’s.

They didn’t waste time singling any out. He simply folded his wings, swooped down, and extended his hind legs like a falcon about to snag a hare. The sheep bleated as Taivas’ talons sank into the mass of wool. Blood trickled onto them as he curved back upward and shot over the field. Evirea barely even felt them slow, but another gust filled his wings and brought him back up to full speed in seconds.

Nobody said dragons couldn’t use their magic to their advantage.

His wings alternated beats: as one pair slammed down, the other rose, keeping him at a steady, but still swift, pace. He made a beeline for the basket in the plaza, urged forward by his rider. After all their years working together, it took little effort to guide his attention toward his rider’s goal. It only took the first mental nudge from Evirea to turn him away from landing and tearing into the sheep like a wild animal. Instead, his eyes fixed on the Royal Plaza, claws holding tightly to their cargo.

Bani, Who Chases the Sun Raimond Thesius

 

[Cressida]

Cressida winced slightly but tried to recover from it. Still, Errune was perceptive enough that he likely saw her mask slip.

How could it not though? He'd spoken the thing she already knew to be true and despite her best efforts the man before her was absolutely miserable. Not even Dragon Fire Noodles were elevating his mood, she'd need to try something else. "Baron has a healthy appetite."

The armor-clad woman sniffled one final time before resisting the urge to clean her own bowl, instead sliding the remainder of her meal into Baron's now empty bowl and waiting a moment as he slurped up the new serving.

Taking time to compose herself - though her face remained a splotchy reddish mess - she gestured towards the elaborately decorated stalls. "Ice cream or firecrackers?" By the end of this day she'd coax at least one smile from Rune.

 

[Errune Thesius]

"He never misses a meal," Errune looked down his nose at the hound who more than happily dove into the remnants of Cressida's bowl, "on purpose or otherwise..."

The next choice on the itinerary for the afternoon was especially difficult without an option C: Neither. At least for himself. Knowing Cressida as he did, she was likely hoping for ice cream - because what was more perfect to follow up dragon fire noodles than something sweet and soothing for the mouth. At least ice cream was quiet.

"I am certain that Baron will gladly choose the edible option every time," to which the hound looked up, licking his reddened chops and blinking bleary-teary eyes.

"Lead the way."

To ice cream they went. Rune declined again but Baron eagerly sat and waited with his tail-nubbin vibrating faster than a hummingbird's wings while Cressida ordered. Rune chose an empty nearby bench to take a seat and rest while she and the dog indulged themselves.

"How is your family, Cress?" he tried for light conversation, though there was an earnest interest in the wellbeing of her House.

 

[Raimond Thesius]

Raimond locked his legs tight on either side of Ha'Than the moment before the word 'GO' sounded, and the very second it did, he felt the force of an overexcited dragon taking flight hit him in the chest, the wind coming from the sudden pickup in speed hitting him square in the chest like a ton of stone bricks. A grimace found his mouth as his White Dragon leapt from his perch with a roar and swooped down low for a burst of initial speed, but it was a pain he'd grown used to riding the bundle of energy.

What he wasn't prepared for was Ha'Than tucking his wings into a dive straight down towards the sheep.

"Pull up! 'Than! You're going too low!"

Raimond might have been trying to fly safer to avoid Vhagor's wrath, but apparently Ha'Than hadn't gotten the memo. His attempts to pull back on the dragon's horns to get him out of the divebomb towards the four sheep in the waiting pen were in vain. When a dragon was on a mission, good luck talking him out of it.

The ground was growing closer and closer, and the concerned shouts of onlookers reached his ears even through the roar of the wind. All that he could do was clutch 'Than, close his eyes, and hope his reckless companion didn't do too much damage. At the point of no return, Ha'Than flared his wings, brought his feet forward towards the ground and...

There was a crash, but not nearly as bad as he'd been expecting.

The force that pushed him forward was his dragon landing on his feet, but it was far more graceful than he'd anticipated. Ha'than dugs his claws into the ground to anchor himself, leaned forward and opened his mouth wide, taking all of the waiting sheep into his maw before snapping it shut.

Raimond would have groaned, if 'Than didn't push back off of the ground immediately, sending them flying back up to Bani and the others' altitude, now with a mouth full of wooly critters.

Raimond took a moment, collecting himself after the intense experience and refocusing on the task at hand. Right, he'd ask his friend what the hell he'd been thinking later. "I swear if you swallow any of those sheep..."

 

[Cressida]

"I think we can accommodate Baron's appetite," it was a good excuse for her to indulge in ice cream. Not to mention Errune, if there was one food no one could resist it had to be ice cream.

They made their way towards the stall but en route Rune actually brought up a topic. A pleasant surprise, even if it was about a benign subject.

Cress allowed herself to wear a pleasant grin. "Chryseis," her sister, "is expecting another child. And father continues to pester me about marriage but you already know how that discussion went." Cressida simply did not see the point. If she were to be married, if she were to start a family, she'd likely have to resign from her military posting. And it wasn't like her family needed more grandchildren or alliances.

"Otherwise they are all well, we're expecting another round of hatchlings in a month," the black dragons of Murizi bred quickly and often, smaller than the other house's but ferocious none-the-less.

She had, of course, offered to pull strings and get Errune a House Murizi dragon on one occasion but his reaction had informed her to never make such an offer ever again.

 

[Errune Thesius]

Ah, pregnancies. He supposed that after all these years the topic would have become easier to entertain, but Rune felt his words falter at the joyous news and instead of congratulations he offered a meek raise of the brows and nod of understanding. As if it were simply something that happened, like dragonpox or a headcold. She'd get over her pregnancy well enough.

To marriage however, a different sort of response. A hmh of abrasive humor from him without any smile to match, though a glint did touch his eyes as he recalled the first time Cressida's father deigned to trouble her over such trivial matters as marriage. Back before everything was terrible, Errune agreed with her father. Cressida would make a wonderful wife and doting mother if the way she worked with dragons and dedicated herself to the militia were any reasonable estimation of it.

Now? He was more inclined to lean into her independent whims.

"That is well," the man replied at length, "a shame it will be a month yet for the hatchlings. They'll miss the census. I suppose I will simply have to make a second visit once they're ready."

 

[Cressida]

"They'll make the next census," a dismissive wave accompanied her off-handed statement, "besides if I get to see you and Baron again it'll be worth it."

To her second point she bent down and rubbed the ever-loyal pooch behind his ears as the trio approached the ice cream stall.

There were a dozen flavors from Tsonye Dragon Mint to Rocky Ransa Road, Double Dragon Crunch to Thanasis Ripple. They even had an exotic flavor known only as "Chocolate." With so many choices it was a struggle for her to pick out just one, she'd surely need to get a cone with two scoops of different flavors.

Cress looked up-and-down the menu before glancing back towards Errune. "What are you getting?" There just simply wasn't any way that any person, no matter how miserable they were, could resist free ice cream on festival day.

 

[Bani]

Bani could feel every muscle of Vexillion's body coiling in rhythmic waves, lifting them higher and higher into the sky bit, by bit, by bit. Her jaw was clenched and she held herself as close to his back as possible, trying to bury her tiny frame into his feathers. The smaller she could make herself the less friction Vex had to battle, and that fucking sheep was nothing but a giant, smelly, fluffy drag-sail.

The plaza was drawing closer. They had risen high enough that they would clear the roofs, but barely. The ground was also not moving nearly fast enough below them. Bani looked down and glared at it, but quickly looked up when she and her dragon were covered in shadow.

A large dragon, a very large dragon was overtaking them. It held five sheep, one in each foot and one it its maw, and it drifted through the sky as though they were barely an inconvenience. Bani fumed at being passed at such a leisurely pace, and actually shouted out loud as she saw another dragon quickly gaining on their flank. No it... it wasn't...

She adjusted her goggles. Fucking HELL it was Rai. A quick scan over her other shoulder saw Evirea closing in as well. She shrieked a verbal tantrum into her facecloth before directing all of her evil words at the sheep that she had decided to blame for all of this.

"I am going to eat nothing but mutton for a year! Do you hear me?! A year!!!"

 

[Errune Thesius]

He had to wonder if Cressida had simply asked him out to the festival for the sole purpose of spending time with Baron. In which case, he could have just lent her the hound for the day. Brows flat at the thought, he slowly hobbled along with her to the Ice Cream stand and planted himself in his customary ever-patient stance of cane at his front, both hands firmly rested upon the dragonclaw handle.

Absorbed for the moment in mentally cataloging how exhausted he presently felt, the man blinked at her question, "A small, plain vanilla," Rune told the vendor, "for Baron."

Baron perked his ears and wagged his nub. Had to wash down that dragonfire sauce.

 

[Kaveh]

Briseis

Kaveh gave a nod to Errune and Cressida as they bade their leave.

The Prince didn't care one way or another for their presence, both of them had served their purpose as far as he was concerned. Though his mother seemed rather disappointed in their exit, shaking her head as she watched Errune depart towards the stairs. "Poor man, I've been trying to get the King to build an Elevator for him."

"Elevator, my lady?"​

"Oh it's this marvelous thing from the continents..." The conversation was turned, and Kaveh suddenly had even less interested in the goings on. Instead he turned his attention back towards Briseis. Gently grasping her arm and guiding her away from the others.

They walked together over towards the edge of the balcony. Far below them, Thanasis stretched out in the valley. The domes and roofs of the ancient city looming above the celebrating crowds and cheering people.

"I imagine this is a very different sort of celebration that you're used to." He said, glancing over towards the Nobles. "Maybe all together not a better one."

He'd always thought the peasants had more fun. Less worry about a dagger coming to their throat.

 

[Cressida]

For Baron?

So Rune truly was going to forsake everything, even ice cream. Just so he could be a miserable layabout in his study, reading and chronicling and taking no joy from life ever again. What Errune didn't realize, and what Cressida would likely never have the courage to tell him, was just how disappointed his departed loved ones would be to see him like this.

Emelin and Roane and Asari would all struggle to recognize this shell of a person who had let themselves simply give up on life.

"Chocolate." Her tone was flat, empty. She'd seethe quietly and come up with another plan to get him out of this rut.

Once they were handed their frozen treats Cress looked at Errune seriously. "What hobbies do you get up to these days?" Perhaps she'd been going at this all wrong. Maybe she could simply insert herself into whatever it was he was living for instead of trying to pull him back into all of the things he used to enjoy.

 

[Briseis]

'I imagine this is a very different sort of celebration that you're used to."...Maybe all together not a better one.'

"Sort of.." Briseis smiled with a light shrug. "I was quite young when I joined the Sahar House staff, they had soirees often, but I was far more used to pouring the wine than drinking it.."

"I remember the festivals when I was a child, though. We weren't allowed inside the city gates, but there was music and dancing and candied apples even way down there.." she chuckled, recalling the festivities with warmth in her smile.

"This is.. Quite something, though." she mused as she cast a wary glance around, her expression warming as her gaze settled back on the Queen.

"Your mother is very lovely.." she said quietly..

Kaveh

 

[Kaveh]

Kaveh listened to Briseis for a few seconds, a small frown forming on his lips as he realized just how little he knew of the life of those below.

Though his reputation spoke elsewise, the Prince had always thought of himself more close to the people than most of his family. He, at the least, had never liked the strict lines drawn. It was one of the reasons he had taken Briseis into his home, why he protected her.

Yet he was beginning to realize that perhaps he simply did not know as much as he thought.

His lips thinned for a brief moment as he continued to listen to Briseis. A small, almost imperceptible smile, pulling at the corner of his mouth as she let out a small laugh. He had not heard many of those from her. "She is the only reason I am alive."

Kaveh answered finally, glancing towards the Queen.

"I think without her, my father would have bent to the nobility." Though the King was the true ruler of Thanasis, even he had to fall to the whims of others at times.

His rages had marked Kaveh as a way for many nobles to attempt to descredit the royal family. If his brothers and those that supported the King had their way, Kaveh would long have been exiled, or killed.

 

[Errune Thesius]

If he sensed her prickling, he did not show it. Truth be told, Rune was far too immersed in his own mental churning to have. With Baron happily chomping up ice cream off the ground, the Archivist let his gaze and mind wander, thinking that perhaps the Sanitation Crew were being paid too little for their excess of duty required of them for the festival.

Wasn't until his green eyes shifted back to Cress and noted her direct, serious gaze that he realized she'd addressed him. "Apologies, what did you say?"

 

[Evirea Nymbos]

Evirea winced as she caught sight of Ha’Than crash landing, then quirked a brow at the mouthful of sheep the larger white dragon carried on up with him. She adjusted her visor and spurred her dragon onward. She only needed one, not that Taivas could carry much more than that considering how small he was. Thankfully not as small as a feathered dragon, though, considering how much Bani and her own dragon seemed to be struggling with the first task. Evi couldn’t help but smirk at her rage, though thankfully the expression was hidden under her visor, not that anyone could’ve seen it clearly from a distance, anyway.

Taivas zipped ahead of several other dragons, carried both by his four wings and the wind. Some growled as he passed, but he paid them little mind as he swooped above the basket and dropped the sheep unceremoniously into it. Evirea could just barely hear the terrified, confused, and pained bleating from the poor creature as she and her dragon sped away toward the mountains. She twisted around to see that much of the competition had already been left behind, unable to keep pace with Taivas. The rider turned back, leaned forward, and patted her dragon on the side of his neck. He trilled as he shot between gray crags and through hoops, most of which were made to be wide enough to accommodate dragons far larger than he. They were hardly obstacles.

 

[Cressida]

"I said," Cress started before stopping and furiously licking her chocolate ice cream in the same manner that Baron was consuming his on the ground.

An eye twitched, a vein seemed to protrude from her forehead, and nearly every curse word in the Thanasis language streamed through her mind. Rune had been completely dour all day and now as Cressida tried to engage him, yet again, he was lost in his own thoughts.

But, no, erupting at him would do no good. Patience was supposed to be a virtue.

"It's a lovely day." She tilted her head to look up at the bright sky, silently patting herself on the back for not calling Errune every foul name she could summon.

 

[Errune Thesius]

He had a hunch that wasn't what she'd said, but far be it from him to trouble her further about it. If it was so important, she would have repeated herself. Must not have been so important after all.

"Indeed," he agreed with her and gave a short glance skyward, eyes wincing into the sunlight he so rarely saw anymore. Despite everything, just about the only thing agreeable about this day was the weather. Baron had finished his ice cream in record time and was slurping up the cobbles for remnant drips.

"Where to next?"

 

[Cressida]

”Hm?” A gloomy look overcame her as the vindictive side of Cressida wished to show Errune the same inconsiderate attitude he had.

But, almost immediately, the decent part of her won out. ”Do you wish to sit? Take in the sights?”

Rune had been on his feet most of the day so far. The exercise was surely good for him, after all he spent so much time indoors it was unlikely he ever worked his leg muscles, but Cress knew that his injuries also made hours on his feet rough on him.

They could just relax on one of the benches and people watch before she walked him back to his nook of the palace.

 

[Raimond Thesius]

Despite the little hiccup in strategy, Rai and Ha'Than were at a good pace. Several of the larger, more steadily paced competitors were quickly passed over by the agile, medium sized White Dragon that was enjoying a mouthful of wool. (At least it better still be in his mouth.) Rai had practiced for something like this for as far back as he could recall, and he knew these skies well; as long as he just thought of this as another exercise run from point A to point B, it should all be fine.

Rai was confident, Ha'Than was soaring at a perfect speed, and that little brat Bani was just a breath away from him. Then, as so often happened, things had to get stupid.

Another of the riders swooped in from up high to hover over Bani, blanketing her in the shadow of their absolutely massive dragon. Raimond couldn't see who it was from his position a short ways underneath the pair of them, but they were being awfully reckless. It seemed every few seconds they would dip lower, nearly colliding with Bani before raising back up again.

Andras Malennis, then.

If Raimond had a playful rivalry with Bani, then Andras' feelings towards her bordered on full-blown hate. He was a stuck up, snobby rich type who had walked around with a stick up his ass ever since Bani had beat him in a race one afternoon when he'd been bragging to the entire district about how amazing he was. It was kinda sad, really, but then Andras was older than both Bani and Raimond and really should know better.

Now here he was taunting Bani, acting like he was going to downright squash her underneath his dragon. Yeah the gal could be annoying, but that shit just wasn't acceptable.

This seemed as good a time as any to knock him down a peg.

"Pull up, Than. We're going to race a little dirty."

 

[Errune Thesius]

Did his body wish to sit? Absolutely. Please I beg of you-

"Nonsense," Errune replied to her, "as I said before, Cress, I am here for you today," though the man was forced to glance down at his hound who had turned to look up at him expectantly, panting, "and Baron, of course. I am certain that sitting was not on your agenda when you have all the festival games to conquer."

 

[Cressida]

"Alright, games it is then," that seemed like a fair punishment for ignoring her earlier.

Though she did have some degree of mercy in her as the game she had in mind was a short walk, just around the corner, and it actually involved sitting.

They entered the tent through a simple flap and found themselves staring at a squared bar-top with different numbers and colors at each stool. "Best of both worlds." The game was simple, they'd put their wager down in front of them and a man in the center of the room would flip two dice. One with a number, the other with a color.

"Do you know how to play?" It wasn't her favorite game by any measure but at least it let Rune catch his breath.

 

[Errune Thesius]

In his youth he'd been more willing to gamble. The game was not unfamiliar to him, but it had been some years since he'd even thought of it, let alone participated.

"I am afraid I do not recall," he admitted, not immediately moving to take a seat, "though I am certain if I played it before I was not especially good at it." Rune had been competitive at only a few things and games wasn't one of them. Years ago, he would have been in the skies racing alongside his brother Raimond Thesius