Sword and Snow

Emery and I stared across the table at Vale, slightly dumbstruck by what he had just said.

Cierra and Stena were running about, playing with some toys. Their laughter filled the stunned silence comfortably, as both of us tried to put together what Vale was talking about. Stena wandered over and slammed herself into my lap, laying partially across me.

“Momri, I’m hungry.” Stena whined cutely, and rolled over so her face was facing upward toward me. I smiled, at least momentarily rescued from trying to process the new situation we were facing.

I scrubbed a dirt stain from Stena’s cheek idly as I asked, “And just what would you like for lunch then, hm?”

“Leftover dinner from yesterday!” She declared loudly.

“We can do that. I’ll go heat some up for you, okay?” I chuckled as Stena flew off of me so I could stand. She was hopping around excited, and Cierra joined her so they could hold hands and hop around in a circle. Emery and Vale watched them with content smiles as I walked off into the kitchen to prepare some of the previous night’s leftovers.

Stena had become practically obsessed with chicken. It was all she ever wanted to eat, and she asked for it every chance she got. Emery and I didn’t fight her on it because she was so thin when we took her home and she desperately needed to put on some weight and grow. It did require us to regularly make quick trips down to the City to replenish our chicken coop though.

My mind wandered as I reheated the food over a heat Array, bouncing from thought to thought while avoiding the bit of info I should actually be thinking about. It wasn’t until I returned to the table with lunch that I reset my mind to focus.

Once Cierra and Stena were both seated at the table and happily munching away at their leftover grilled and breaded chicken, Emery finally spoke. “Vale, you’ve got to be kidding. Seriously.”

“Part of me wishes I was. But no.” He answered seriously, although he was smiling as he watched the girls eat.

“Why didn’t you tell me this would happen when you told me about this spot?” Emery asked, frustrated. She clearly wanted to be loud about it, but held back.

“Honestly, because I didn’t think they’d care that my daughter was living here.” Vale said with a small shrug. I saw Emery twitch, his unbothered attitude beginning to grate on her. “I still don’t think they would be bothered by it, under normal circumstances.”

Emery quirked an eyebrow at that statement, as did I. “And what, exactly, makes the current circumstances not normal?” Emery asked, her voice heated. I reached over under the table to place a hand over hers to try to keep her calm. I wasn’t sure it would work, admittedly, but I didn’t want her to explode at Vale.

Vale opened his mouth to respond, but Emery quickly cut him off. “And I swear, Vale, if the next words out of your mouth are “because you’re trying to marry a woman” I will kill you.” The absolute seriousness of her voice quickly sobered Vale. Even I was taken aback, and my hand grabbed hers tightly and squeezed reassuringly.

And then Vale laughed. Emery’s anger vanished in an instant as utter shock and disbelief chased it away. “No. Do you really think I would let you settle somewhere where I thought that might be even the tiniest bit of a problem?” Before Emery could get angry at him again, he stood and walked around the table to give her a hug.

“No. That is not an issue at all. I promise.” He said, a bit more quietly, as he embraced her. When he let go and stood again, Emery’s anger didn’t return thankfully. Vale pointed at me suddenly, then said, “Part of the problem is with Avuri, though. Or, more specifically, that she came here from the Frozen Mountain Sect.”

I blanched. “And that’s a problem?” I asked timidly.

“Eh, not really?” Vale said, sounding unsure. “They’re mildly concerned about letting someone who is part of an unrelated sect settle here, especially since you haven’t introduced yourself.”

“They’re a secret group of Elders that run a city. No one knows they exist! How could we be expected to introduce ourselves when we don’t know they even exist?” Emery was just short of manic shouting as she got more annoyed as she spoke. I squeezed her hand again, trying to keep her calm.

“I’m sorry, that’s my fault.” Vale said, as he walked back to his place on the other side of the table. “Apparently, they had assumed I would fill you in because you’re my daughter.” He frowned. “They were actually surprised that I kept them a secret - like they asked - and not told my family. So here we are.”

“So…they aren’t upset with us for not greeting them, then?” I asked tentatively.

“No. If anything they’re mad at me, not you all.” Vale said with a frown, then he sighed. “I hate politics.”

“So, all of this will be basically settled if we just go greet them?”

“For the most part, yes.” Vale said. “I’ll coordinate a meeting with them. They really do want to meet you four.”

“Four?” Emery asked.

“They want to meet the girls, too.” He said. “And they don’t believe the demon-touched bad luck nonsense.” He quickly added before Emery could get mad again. “They’re just interested in the family you’re putting together.”

Emery and I both sighed; mine was from exhaustion, hers from general annoyance.

“Fine. Set up the meeting.” Emery said finally, glancing over to the girls happily eating at the other end of the table. “We’ll all go and greet these Elders of yours.”

I nodded to her. “It’s not a big deal. They’re basically the rulers of Flowing Dragon City, right? It can’t hurt to be on good terms with them. We probably should do our best to be friendly.”

Emery shook her head and sighed. “I know. You’re right.” Then she turned to Vale again. “Why do they even care about a small family settling in the mountains nearby, anyway? It’s not like we’re messing with the City.”

Vale looked away when she asked, and I was suddenly worried about what other bad news he was about to throw at us. “Well, technically, they more or less…own the Dragon Peaks themselves.” Vale suddenly looked like he wanted to run away.

And when I saw the murderous look on Emery’s face, I understood why.

“...What?”

“They own the Peaks.”

“No, I heard that. I’m going to need you to explain that a bit more, Dad. And explain why you’d tell me to settle somewhere that is owned land.”

Seeing the look on Emery’s face, I quickly pulled her up to her feet. “Girls, we’ll be right back, okay? We need to go talk to Vale in private for a minute.” I said, and dragged Emery toward the kitchen. Vale got up and followed.

Once we were all in the kitchen, I shut the door behind us quickly before Emery exploded. At least in here, her yelling hopefully wouldn’t scare Cierra and Stena.

“Explain.”

Vale took a deep breath. “The Elders of Flowing Dragon City aren’t responsible for overseeing the City. They were technically put in charge of overseeing the Dragon Peaks themselves, and they built the City after.”

Emery’s eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared at Vale. Then, as I watched, shock overtook her face again and the anger drained away. “You mentioned hating politics before.”

“I did.”

“You don’t get involved with-”

“I don’t.”

“So-”

“Yeah.”

Emery turned to me, her face a mess of several different emotions that I couldn’t quite read.

“They’re dragons, Ri.” She said flatly. “The “Elders of Flowing Dragon City” are actual dragons.”

I fought the urge to laugh, and instead focused on what that might mean. “Is that bad?” was the only thing that came out of my mouth.

“Maybe? Probably not? Shit, I hope not.” Emery blathered.

“It’s not bad.” Vale said, trying to explain. “Dragons are very particular when it comes to politicking. There are some polite rules that they had expected you to follow because you’re my daughter, Emery. They reached out to me when you didn’t follow them to see what was going on. When I told them that I hadn’t told you about them, they told me to tell you and bring you in to meet them.”

Emery rubbed her forehead, and I didn’t have to imagine the headache she probably felt. “So explain to me why you told me to settle here, then?”

Vale looked like he regained some confidence with that question. “Two things. First, I did get permission for you to use the land here, so you’re here with their blessing. Second, this place fits all of the criteria you asked for and you’ll be safer here than just about anywhere else.” He sighed then added, “It’s on me for not asking if I should tell you about the Elders or not.”

Emery let out a huge, overwhelming sigh. “Fine. Fine. Can you go over what we need to know about formally meeting them with us? It’s been a long time since you made me meet other dragons, and I’m sure Avuri has no idea what any of the protocol is.”

“Nope. Not even a little.” I chimed in. “Are they really strict about it? They won’t, like, kill us for doing something wrong?”

Vale chuckled at that. “No, they’re friendly. There are certainly some protocols that they expect people to follow, but it’s more out of politeness than strict rule-following. I’ll go over it all with you before the meeting.”

“And what about Cierra and Stena?” I asked, curious.

“They wouldn’t be expected to follow the rules at their age.” Vale said. “They’ll be fine.”

I eyed Emery questioningly and she nodded. “He’s right. The dragons wouldn’t hurt a child, even if the kid disrespected them.”

“That’s good.” I muttered, then added more loudly, “Alright, teach us what we need to know.”

As Avuri helped Emery get into her favorite emerald green formal robes, she couldn’t help but smile. When she crossed in front of her wife with the silly, wistful smile on her face, Emery asked, “What’s got you all smiley like that?”

“Just thinking about the first time we were getting ready to meet the Elders.” Avuri said as she continued to tie the robes closed. “Or, more specifically, when Vale told us that we needed to meet with them.”

Emery snorted. “That jerk. It all worked out I suppose, but I really wish he didn’t just dump that on us like that.”

“With us so far removed from it now, I don’t really hold it against him.” Avuri said, thinking. “He was originally told to keep them a secret after all. After he got permission for you to settle the area, why would he have ever thought to tell you about it? I can see his logic, at least.”

“I don’t hold it against him, either.” Emery said for clarification. “But I’m still mad at the way he nonchalantly just dumped it on us.”

“I’ll give you, that conversation could have gone better.” Avuri said, then patted her wife on the butt. “You’re all set.”

Emery spun around once, holding out her arms. Her long, flowing sleeves made a beautiful display as she spun. “Lovely.” Avuri said happily.

“I’m glad you think so. Now it’s your turn.” Emery said with a grin. “What were you going to wear to this meeting, hm?”

“I was thinking about the cherry blossom pattern.” Avuri said as she turned toward her own closet.

“You really like those robes, don’t you?”

“I do. And they pair lovely with what you’re wearing.” Avuri said as she moved full hangars out of the way. “Not to mention they’re a gift from you, so of course I love them.”

“Say it like that, and I’m more inclined to believe you’re lying.” Emery shot back. She walked up behind Avuri and hugged her, brushing her hair aside to kiss her exposed neck.

Avuri giggled. “Stop, that tickles!” She laughed, and scrunched up that side of her body to try to escape Emery’s hold. She failed, and Emery held her fast.

“You can’t escape that easily.”

“Fine, but we do need to get ready to see the Elders.” Avuri said seriously.

Emery sighed, and let her wife go reluctantly. “Fine. But when we get back home, you’re mine for a while. If I help you put those robes on, I’m gonna help you take them off.”