| [She raised me from a baby. Thanks to her, I know everything I do now. And also because of her, I would never eat a dragon. Besides, I couldn�t eat you. You�re too cute.] Vanel tittered and licked his cheek. [You�re funny. I like you.] That seemed to clinch it for the other hatchlings. Zidane suddenly found himself with a lapful of writhing, leggy, snake-like bodies. [How old are you?] [Three human months.] [Wow.] �How old is that?� �Not old enough.� [How old are you?] �What are you trying to say?� [I�m sixteen human years.] �I�m saying that I know you want to take her with us. But that�s not possible. She was just born on this day three weeks ago.� [You�re pretty young for a dragon. What are you going to do when you grow up?] �That�s three human months?!� [I don�t know. I haven�t thought about it.] �Precisely.� �Ouch.� Vanel crawled down his arm and laid along his shoulder, curled contentedly. Zidane turned large, soulful eyes on me. �See? Isn�t she sweet?� �I don�t care if she goes with us or stays at home. You�ll have to ask her parents.� A moment later there were running steps and frantic shouts for the hatchlings napping in Zidane�s lap. They woke slowly and crawled out onto the street. [We�re here, Mother! Here, Father!] The emperor and empress appeared through the dark and spied Zidane. They charged, roaring threateningly. Zidane jumped up and backed away, but they kept chasing him. I leapt in, bowling both over. The emperor recovered first. [How dare you!] I snorted. [You are protecting your hatchlings and I am protecting mine!] [You protect a human?! Traitorous empress!] [No!] the other empress cried. [Leave her alone, Neq! She has done nothing wrong!] [She�s protecting a human, Lexa!] [And that human is her hatchling! Look at him! He has a tail and green eyes. Regular humans don�t have those.] [I don�t trust it.] [Look at his shoulder, Neq.] The emperor�s eyes widened. [Vanel!] Vanel woke with a start and rolled off Zidane�s shoulder, dropping to the street. Zidane lifted his arm up and over her as he pivoted, catching her gently in his cupped hands. Vanel squeaked in surprise. [Are you okay?] Zidane asked, lifting her up level with his face. �Geez, she could�ve died . . .� She stood and shook the sleep off, causing herself to fall. She stood again. [I�m okay. Shaky, but okay. Thank you for saving me, Zidane.] [Hey, no problem. My pleasure.] He stroked her tiny head with a finger. She pushed against it and they began a shoving game. He let her win most of the time to build up her confidence, and then shoved for real. She still beat him. After losing for the fifteenth time in a row, he said slowly, [I guess you better get back to your parents.] He set her down and watched her run to them, surprised when she peeped, [May I go with Zidane?] Her father was unquestionably the most adamant. [No.] That definitely contradicted her mother�s opinion. [Why not?] Tiovex came around the corner with Gelgameth at an easy trot. The emperor and empress dropped their front ends into a bow. The hatchlings did as their parents did. All but Vanel, who stood next to Zidane�s foot and watched and listened curiously. [Kitiane, the population of black mages is down. The last few are being hunted down now. If you wouldn�t mind staying for just a bit longer to replace all the dark in the castle?] [Of course not. It has always been my thought that if you start something, you finish it.] [Hey, what do you know? Me too!] Zidane put in with a smile. [Wonder why that is.] [Sounds good to me!] Vanel chirped. Tiovex looked down. [And who might you be?] Vanel looked around and ducked, realizing what she�d done. [Me?] She took a few steps back. [V . . . Vanel.] [Come here, Vanel.] The hatchling did as ordered. [May I ask why you felt you did not have to bow like your family did?] He nodded to the rest of her family, who was still stretched out respectfully. [Please forgive her, Majesty!] the empress pleaded. [She didn�t know!] Gelgameth stepped around Tiovex. [Silence!] [Stop that this instant, Gelgameth! I won�t treat my subjects like garbage!] [As you wish, Sire.] Tiovex�s gaze returned to Vanel, who was now quite scared thanks to her mother�s fearful outburst. [Answer me, Vanel.] [W-W-Well . . . I was . . .] She glanced around, then up at Zidane. [Tell the truth, Vanel,] he instructed. [Don�t lie to your king. He�ll know if you are and the punishment�ll be worse.] Vanel turned back to Tiovex. [I was watching Zidane. He didn�t, so I thought it was okay if I didn�t. And besides, I�ve never seen you before.] Zidane was punching himself in the head (literally) and muttering curses in the human language. Obviously, being a role model was more difficult than he�d imagined. � Moron. Idiot. Jackass . . .� Tiovex chuckled. [I see. Zidane didn�t bow, but that doesn�t mean that you shouldn�t either, okay? Next time you see me I would rather you bow even if Zidane doesn�t, all right?] [All right!] She circled around one leg in a thank you and ran to her parents. <--Part 16 Part 18--> |
| One must do things he never thought he would do, even if only to please another. But when is it too much? ~Dragon's Teachings, pg. 66 Part 17 |