A Dragon's Tale Ch. 54

"Do not concern yourself." He instructed. "Turn around."

She wasn't sure how he could, but nodded and did so, scarcely believing this strange turn of events. "I'm glad you are trusting me this much." She said after a moment with her back still turned. "You're been so good to me and Conner. I'm not happy you were hurt, but I'm glad that I can be helping."

"Trustworthy women are hard to find." He replied, but didn't elaborate.

Hmm.

Interesting.

"You may turn around." He said after a moment.

Fiona turned and--

Wow.

The last man she had seen with his shirt off was her deceased husband, Sean. Sean was a military man and thus had kept himself in excellent shape. He had been wiry with lean muscles that she had definitely appreciated on their wedding night and many, many times thereafter. Lord Delmar was like that, only better.

Every one of his muscles was lean, hard, and well-defined. She wouldn't have been surprised to learn that he could lift one of those bookcaseswith the books still on it. But it was more than that; his body almost radiated strength. He looked powerful in every sense of the word, and yet that was combined with an almost cat-like grace.

Suddenly, the copper-haired woman felt a bit warmer than she had a few moments ago; had the fire started burning a little hotter?

"Fiona, the arrow." Lord Delmar said.

It took half a second for the copper-haired woman to tear her eyes from his torso and look up into his eyes. It took another second beyond that to collect her thoughts.

She nodded. "Right."

Lord Delmar again turned around and knelt down, putting the arrow at an angle that she could reach. She couldn't help but notice that his back was every bit as nice as his front. She looked at the arrow and was about to grab the shaft again when she realized something.

The wound looked... wrong.

There was no blood around the wound even though there was blood on the shaft. It didn't even look like there was a hole in his skin. In fact, other than the fact that there was an arrow sticking out of him and he was undeniably in pain, he didn't look wounded at all.

Strange.

Frankly, everything about this night was strange.

She put it out of her mind, got herself into position, grabbed the leather arrow shaft again, and pulled. Lord Delmar let out another inhuman growl of pain but the arrow didn't budge.

"It's still caught on something milord." Fiona said, entirely unsure what to make of that fact or the impossible-looking non-wound wound. "I can't be seeing what though. It's almost looking like there isn't a wound here at all, so I can't be seeing what it's stuck on."

He nodded and then stood, wincing slightly as he did. He turned around and looked her in the eye, his gaze piercing. He did this for several long seconds, his face unreadable.

"Is there anything I can be doing to help?" Fiona asked.

"Swear to me by Illuminar Himself that you will never reveal what I am about to show you."

"I swear by Illuminar that I'll be keeping your confidence unless you yourself are releasing me from this oath." She replied instantly.

He looked at her for almost a whole minute before speaking. "I am not human."

Fiona stared at him. "What?"

"I am not human." Lord Delmar repeated. "I am a dragon using a powerful disguise enchantment."

What?

How could...

Although those noises he just made...

But a dragon?

She stared at him for several seconds, tempted to laugh at the idea but seeing no trace of mirth or jest on his face. "You're being serious?"

"I am."

The lord looked into her eyes and she could see the enormous and vast power of his will there. On more than one occasion she had found it hard to meet his eyes and dragons were reputed to be like that. But Lord Delmar... he couldn't be a... could he?

"You do not believe me." He stated.

"I'm finding it hard milord."

"I will deactivate the disguise enchantment slowly. Do not scream."

She nodded.

Over the next several seconds, Lord Delmar's shape changed. His human features morphed into a dragon's features and his trousers faded into black scales. In just seconds, Lord Delmar was gone and a black dragon of his exact size stood in his place. Something about the way that Lord Delmar carried himself remained though. She couldn't put her finger on it, but the posture and body language were definitely the same even with the different body.

On his chest was a necklace of what looked like dragon steel. It was a large disc a few inches in diameter and rather thick, and she assumed that the disguise enchantment must be housed there.

"The arrow is likely caught on one of my scales, which is likely preventing its removal." Lord Delmar said. His voice was the same as Lord Delmar's. His tone was the same as Lord Delmar's. Even his body language was the same as Lord Delmar's.

Fiona stared.

She kept staring, her mind having trouble wrapping itself around this. Lord Delmar was a dragon? A dragon? The lord of Narlotten -- the one who was so devoutly committed to the country's wellbeing, who brought such peace and prosperity, and who enforced its laws so ardently -- he was a dragon?

"The arrow, Fiona." Lord Delmar said. "Will you still remove it?"

"Right, you're still needing help." Fiona shook her head slightly to clear it, feeling like her entire world had been turned upside down. Regardless, Lord Delmar needed her help, dragon or not.

He once again turned around and knelt down, though there was perhaps a bit of reluctance in his movement this time. Did he think she would hurt him? Regardless, Fiona could easily see the problem now. The corner of the arrowhead had gotten lodged under one of Lord Delmar's scales.

She stopped.

She took a moment to absorb the utter lunacy of that statement, except that she was seeing it with her own two eyes. His voice and mannerisms were the same, but still... She teetered on indecision for a moment before realizing that even if it wasn't the Lord Delmar, this dragon was still someone who was hurt and was needing help. She intended to help him.

She took a moment to examine the wound. "Okay, I'll need to be pulling the arrow down and to the right pretty far, so I'm sure it'll be hurting."

"That is fine." He replied as if being told that he was about to be in extreme pain was a normal or mundane thing that didn't bother him.

"Okay, here I'm going." In one smooth motion, she pushed the arrow down hard enough to unhook the one arrow point from his scale and then pulled. It came, though she might've found it hard without the strength-enhancing armbands.

Lord Delmar inhaled sharply, but otherwise made no sound or motion.

"It's out." Fiona said, feeling a bit awkward.

"I'm healing." He replied as she stood, and she thought she saw the wound starting to close before he turned.

The black dragon stood and Fiona couldn't take her eyes off of him, and not in the same way as when he'd taken his shirt off... Hmm. She realized that he must not have taken it off since it was never real to begin with. Even with the scales, she could see that he was every bit as powerfully muscled as the disguise enchantment had made him look.

After a minute, Lord Delmar took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Thank you Fiona. You may go if you wish, but I have one other thing I wish to discuss if you would be willing to tarry for a short time."

"I..." She hesitated.

Itwas the Lord Delmar.

There could be no doubting that. His voice, his mannerisms, his body language, the ways he spoke, the tone and cadence of his voice; everything matched. He really was a dragon. She wasn't knowing what to make of that. It felt like her entire world had shifted just slightly to learn that he wasn't human.

Still, he had done so much for her and her Conner that she didn't feel right not at least hearing him out. Besides, he had trusted her with a secret that could possibly end his entire reign; she felt like she should be trusting him in return.

"I can be staying for a minute, but I should be getting back to bed. I'm working in the morning."

"I shall tell Marge that you have been excused for the day."

"Thank you."

"As you know, Narlotten is without an heir." Lord Delmar began. "My daughter cannot produce a legitimate heir since she was disinherited and I have no wife to produce one since Helene died." There was the tiniest variance in his tone when he said his deceased wife's name. It was too subtle for Fiona to divine its meaning though.

"Aye, the whole kingdom is wanting you to marry again."

"I have not remarried because I have not found a woman whom I could trust with my secret." He then looked at her pointedly. "However, as of tonight, a woman of childbearing age knows my secret. A woman who has passed an uncommonly difficult test of integrity and discretion, and this woman is also well spoken of by all who know her."

Fiona stared.

He wasn't suggesting...

...was he?

He continued. "As a matter of practicality and not romance, would you -- Fiona McWilliams -- consider becoming the first lady of Narlotten so you could bear a son to be the heir to Narlotten's throne?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began and ended on day 102 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms. (The ending with Fiona is technically on day 103 though) I submit new chapters on the last Wednesday of every month, and they usually drop after the 2-3 day review process. Thus I'll submit the next chapter on February 28th and it'll probably drop on March 1st or 2nd.

To the two most recent anonymous commenters on chapter 52, I'm so glad that Lucien's speech helped you. :) To the one, I'm so glad you passed your test! Congratulations! ^_^

I'd like to extend a very special thanks to two of my patrons, one of whom didn't want to be credited by name. So "Anonymous" and Joseph: thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate it.

STORY TAGS: dragon, magic, medieval, elf, teen, romance, virgin, harem, cuckquean