Dragon (S)Layers Ch. 06: Felicia

Felicia frowned. "B- But. . ." The woman placed a finger to her lips.

"Don't." She kissed her finger. "Life will take that light from your eyes much sooner than you expect if you concern yourself with what could have been. Live this moment, own it. . . Love it."

Felicia wanted to cry. How could she say something like that after all they had shared? "B- But, I'm a good girl."

"Exactly." Sarah cupped her chin and kissed her tenderly. "You're too beautiful to see hurt touch those eyes, even for a moment." She kissed her again, much deeper this time. They lost themselves in that kiss that never seemed to end but all too soon it was over. Sarah broke it off and hugged her. "You have all you need now, beautiful."

Felicia wrapped her arms around the elven woman and hugged her tightly. "Will you wait for me if--. . . If I came with you?"

To her surprise the woman smiled. "All right. I'll be outside the south gate before nightfall."

# # # #

Felicia wandered, slightly bowlegged, into her soon-to-be home to find her father slumped in the chair with a bottle laying across the floor with a drizzle of alcohol staining the carpet. The crust of mead drool that glazed his stubbly face had hardened into an amber color that cracked his sweaty, pale skin. His massive gut bounded as he snored in the chair, head cocked off to the side with the rolls on his throat bulging like shackles of fat. She looked on, wondering if her father had waited for her to come home. How long he had been out. . .

She found, surprisingly, that she didn't care.

There was no urge to clean up after him, to coddle him to bed and promise him it was going to be okay. She eyed the coin pouch and then her father. It was more than just the ache between her legs that made her want to cry.

# # # #

It was outside of the south gate, wearing her only travel cloak and sitting on a small backpack, watching the sunrise that she realized Sarah wasn't coming. She had been trying to protect Felicia from herself, but some part of her had expected it. She knew that Sarah would be looking out for her again like she had last time.

She was loved.

Felicia made her way to the Isira temple to find it mostly vacated. All the revelers and dancers had gone during the night, one of the acolytes said. When she asked about Sarah, the woman figited. "I'm not supposed to tell you. . ."

"Wh- Why not?"

She swallowed and shifted her weight. "They're worried you'll follow them."

"Please! I gave up everything for her!" Felicia felt tears coming to her eyes. "I have to know where she is!"

The young woman frowned and considered her for a few moments. "T- They went to Desrol, miss. . . To fulfill their quest. . ."

"Desrol?"

"It's to the west, miss, ahm-- far west."

"What. . . What quest?" Felicia felt a sudden wash of fear. That look Sarah had given her. . .

"They're off to kill a dragon, miss."

Felicia tore out of the temple as if it were on fire, wondering how fast she could get to Desrol or even where it was."