My Pet

         He burned my hand again! I tried not to glare at him, I tried not to think of how much it pissed me off that he had no respect for me, but the thoughts rose unbidden and now my hand was burned. I rubbed the balm into the reddened skin as he snickered behind me. I held in the sighs of pain that threatened and looked at the irritated flesh of my palm. The redness curved around the pad of my thumb to the top of my hand. He had, as usual, left out the venom and had merely wisped fire onto my hand but it still burned.

         I turned and faced him. He was small for a dragon but that didn't hinder his power. He was, of course, young at six hundred forty three years and so could be partially excused from his juvenile behaviors. I, too, was young and should be excused as well but he insists that humans are not permitted such luxuries. We do, after all, die much earlier than dragons do.

         He has a great head that weighs more than three of me and he has pinned me down with it alone. Thick amber-colored scales cover him, an impenetrable armor, and I scoff at the novels that insist there are places of weakness in their scales. No knight could ever kill a dragon, that was certain, unless the dragon wanted death or, as Fleur said, were incredibly lazy and stupid. His hindquarters were taller than I stood and his front claws massive. I once asked him to shorten his nails for they extended half my height and was rewarded with a deep scar upon my right arm. I had to thank him, of course, for not removing my arm, as he pointed out he easily could.

         His wings were great things though he would never extend them for me to see. I've seen him fly in the sky, high above the sheep-filled valleys, diving and rising, though he's never taken me up upon his back. I remember when Father brought me this dragon, a great gift for a beloved daughter, and how the dragon, upon seeing me, said that he would stay only because he chose to stay, not because he was captured. Fleur explained to me that dragons sell their loyalty at a high cost and burned my hand for the first time when I laughed. It never occurred to me that dragons demanded respect.

         He loathed my family, that much he made clear. He nearly made lunch of Father one day when he questioned Fleur's loyalty. The great green eyes turned red and I could hear his thoughts clear as day, for the first time ever. Only by pleading with Fleur did I save Father's life at all. Since then, my family steered clear of him and me. They insisted that I smelled like the dragon, something I didn't notice. He lowered his head and stared at me, the great horns of his head towering high above me. I knew what he was thinking, what he was always thinking, that one day it would all be over and I would be dead.

         "You shouldn't burn me like that, Fleur." I said, peevishly. "It really hurts me."

         "Ah,"

         I looked around the large cavern. The cave was one Fleur located shortly after Father banished him from the large barn we'd kept him in. The cave was an hours trek from the house and I was forced to make it every day, to spend the day with Fleur in his home. The one day I refused to visit him was the day half the sheep of McCarnes' flock went bloodily missing. Father had to replace them from our own flock. That was something he never made me forget either.

         Fleur growled and I changed the course of my thoughts quickly. I brought him a cow every week and he claimed it was enough. I wasn't sure. He was such a big dragon that I believed he was flying elsewhere and satisfying his hunger in other ways. This bothered me somewhat. How did I know if he was feeding on virgin maidens and small children in some far off country?

         As a child I had watched the sky for a dragon. The family crest was a dragon bowing down to a man. I waited anxiously for my dragon as my family mocked me. It was by accident that Father found Fleur at all, something Fleur insists was his choice not Fathers. Fleur has told me often that he chose me and used Father to bring him to me. That was why he was given to me rather than my one of my older siblings. Why would a dragon choose me?

         Father asked me what I intended to do with the dragon when marriage came to call upon me. I looked at him like he was mad, for surely he was. Marriage would not call upon a young ugly girl such as I. Hadn't I been compared to the true beauty of my sisters many times? Hadn't I been found wanting each instance? The growl filled the cavern and I smiled.

         "Fleur, what will you do tonight?" I asked him as I sat upon his massive claw and looked into his eye.

         "Dance,"

         He never gave me straight answers, my dragon. There was a dance tonight, of course, one that the lords children were expected to attend, but I had no intention of doing so. I knew that getting home late enough would ensure that I would not have to attend. The gown they purchased for me was peach colored. My sisters gowns were the deepest hues of sapphire, emerald and ruby. Why, then, was I forced in peach?

         "There is a gift for you in the chest," Fleur said in the deep rumble of a voice he possessed. It was the closest thing he could manage to a whisper. I was ever grateful that he tried since his roar was deafening. I leapt off his claw and walked over to the chest, his eyes following me. The chest was massive. Once in a great while he would grant me a treasure from it, usually a gold, jewel encrusted bangle of some sort. The chest lid lay open and I saw lying atop the gold and jewels a lovely gown of deep amber. I looked at him.

         "Beautiful," I said softly.

         "And it will be even more so upon your flesh. It's amber so you will think of me while you wear it."

         "I have no intention of dancing at the ball tonight, Fleur."

         He sighed and the heat in the cavern raised dramatically. "Try it on." He shut his eyes and I slid out of my gown of gray and slide into the amber gown. It was silk, I realized, and the bodice was covered in sparkling amber gems. I turned and Fleur opened his eyes. "Perfect."

         I felt it, the tremor of excitement. Won't they be jealous, my sisters? Won't the heads of all turn my way? I spun and laughed. Then, like a bubble made of soap water, the joy popped.

         "It matters not, Fleur. Every year I attend, trying my best to be who I should be, but then what happens? Nothing!" I reached to remove the dress but felt the pressure of his thoughts.

         "Leave me now. I want to be alone." I turned and his eyes were closed, my grey common gown was gone.

         "Fleur!" but there was no use. I was banished from his presence in a gown of amber.


**

         I stood with my eyes closed as Mother did my hair, placing one of Fleur's gifts within its dark twists. I knew when she was done and had left the room. She didn't compliment me, didn't express delight in my presence. Not as she did with my sisters. I opened my eyes and looked at my reflection in the small mirror I had received from Fleur's chest. The tendrils of my hair that were particularly stubborn had already fallen free of the bonds but I liked the wild look it gave me. My pale flesh was rosy in the candlelight and the makeup I lightly applied accented my eyes and lips softly. I spun in my dress and slipped into soft white slippers and ran downstairs, certain they had left without me.

         Father smiled as I entered and offered his arm to me. I looked behind me to assure myself that none of my sisters trailed late but it was only me. I took his arm and he led me to the carriage, where my sisters and Mother waited heavily makeuped and perfumed. I envisioned a cloud hovering over the carriage and giggled.

         "I am ever so glad to see that you are attending tonight, my Dove." Father said to me, calling me the pet name he had given so long ago. I smiled. I was assisted into the carriage and we headed into the large village.

**
         Yes, they did stare and yes they were jealous but that didn't change anything. The men still danced with everyone but me and I was left, as usual, beside the large windows to stare into the dancers without allowing sorrow to show on my face. Across the room, a man entered, with long auburn colored locks that brushed his shoulders in wild waves, his eyes large and green. He walked with command of himself, garbed in the darkest black I have ever seen, a blood red shirt flowing beneath his jacket. The women stared in mesmerized awe while the men glared in powerless hate as he sauntered through the hall and paused beside a wallflower like myself. I tilted my head and marveled at his height and his familiarity. I should know him, I knew, but I didn't recognize him. Maybe, I thought, he had come through a transformation as I had.

         He didn't dance with the girl but stood beside her, his eyes on the dancers who were not moving at all, so captivated by him that they were unaware of anything. I frowned, "Fleur," I murmured and his head turned my way. He nodded and left the speechless girl to join me at my side.

         "What have you done?" I demanded when he reached me. He took my hand and I pulled away, startled. He shook his head.

         "I cannot breathe fire in this form,"

         "What have you done?"

         "Why, I have taken on my human form to dance with you." He looked at me and his eyes flashed red momentarily. "You are upset."

         "Yes,"

         "I do not care," He took me into his arms and led me out among the stationary dancers. Soon, we were twirling about, under their watchful eyes, the only dancers there. "I do not care."

         I was pulled against him and his thoughts danced across my mind, thoughts of love and desire, thoughts of who we could be together, and I was powerless in his arms.

         "I don't understand," I said at last and he whispered ever so softly in my ear, "This will be your last night as the unattractive, undesired youngest daughter of the Duke. I will take you away tonight, after this, and the scandal will erupt and you and I will become all that we were meant to become."

         "You've lost your mind, Fleur! You are a dragon!" I tried to pull away from him but his arms held tight as he swirled me around the floor, past frozen couples effortlessly. I grew dizzy.

         "It was written in the stars, Love. The dragon chooses one life mate and that is the one that lives with them until death parts them."

         "In what? Forty years? Be logical!"

         "You have my heart beating within yours. You shall live until I draw my last breath. We shall remain as we are, young and beautiful, until that last day."

         He loosened his hold on me and I looked into his eyes, sparkling emeralds in the dim light. His full lips descended and met mine in a fiery crash and waves of heat coursed through me. My heart ceased to pound then quickened its beat and I could feel his heartbeat inside of mine. My legs weakened and only his embrace held me up. The kiss lasted mere seconds, I knew, but hours crawled by in his passionate capture of my soul.

         I was released from his arms and we stood afar off from the noise and the crowds in a darkened corner. "Shall we?"

         I looked out and saw that the dancers had begun their dancing again and that none pursued me, none sought me. I looked into his eyes and saw the love that my heart contained within his orbs and knew that he and I completed each other. With a maddening rush of happiness, I took his hand and we fled into the night.