Jewel of the Hoard Ch. 05

"What does this molten rock do?"

Cadmus smiled. "Well, it hardens because it cools and leaves the crystals behind."

"Interesting," Aries said as he digested the information Cadmus fed him. "Is there any way to tell when the volcano would erupt?"

"We do have ways of predicting when it would erupt but it can be off. Our scholars used to have resources scattered along the volcano's rim. We have devices and measurements but it is sometimes unclear," Cadmus replied and finished up the left side of Aries' head. He swiftly moved to the right.

"Hmmmm..."

"Sounds like you have a question," Cadmus said with a gentle rumble to his voice. "I know that sound anywhere."

"Where did you live on the island?"

Cadmus gave a wistful smile. "The ash from the eruptions would rain down on the valley and would blanket the ground. Most of my subjects lived at the foot of the valley while the royalty lived further up the mountain."

Aries blinked. He had forgotten about Cadmus' royal heritage. It was strange to think of his dragon wearing more formal wear and dressing for diplomatic talks or socializing with the upper class. At least, that was how Aries thought of it. For all he knew, the way dragons did things could be completely different than humans.

"I had almost forgotten that you ruled over Cinere."

Cadmus paused. "Yes. Sometimes I do too. It feels so long ago. Almost like a second life."

Aries remembered back at the cave when Cadmus confided in him. How he wanted to take back the kingdom that rightfully belonged to him and how his position was stolen from him. Aries did not know the full details but he figured that the dragon would open up to him over time.

"Do you miss Cinere?" Aries asked softly.

Giscela shifted in her seat. Even she looked visibly uncomfortable with the question. It did not take a spymaster to know that Aries was treading into an old past and one that Cadmus could be afraid to share.

"Of course I do, my love. That answer should be clear," Cadmus said curtly as he finished up the right side of Aries hair. The dragon moved around Aries' body until he was facing him. He squatted down like how he started. Aries could see the intensity in Cadmus' eyes as he made some of the final touches.

"I'm....sorry. That was inappropriate of me to pry."

Cadmus sighed. His hand came up to brush against Aries' face and his thumb rested gently on his lover's cheek. "You are fine. What you must know is that I wish to retake my throne and I will see to it that you find your own secrets about your father."

Aries nodded. "I know."

"Good."

Cadmus grabbed the silver case for his tools and opened it. He placed the scissors and comb back inside and closed the case. "I will tell you when we reach Rendelen. I do not wish for you to worry about my past. And...I don't know if I am ready to talk about it."

Aries was conflicted. He wanted to be fully available for Cadmus but at the same point, he also knew why Cadmus was withholding. It was not the time or place and Cadmus was exhausted. Aries could see it in the way Cadmus' appeared. His eyes had bags and he did not have that same spark of excitement that he had in the cave. He was still Cadmus but his resolve had been chipped away.

"I understand," Aries said and leaned forward to give his lover a kiss on the cheek. "Tell me when you need to."

"You are too good to me, my little sparrow," Cadmus blushed and stood up over Aries. His impressive wingspan loomed over Aries and he reached down to offer a hand to his human. Aries brought his hand up and he was pulled to his feet and turned around. His back was up against Cadmus' broad chest and his relatively large arms wrapped around him protectively.

"This coming from the guy who cut my hair."

"And he did a fantastic job, too," Giscela explained with a smile and walked forward. In her hand, she held a small pocket mirror. The tool was small enough to hold in the palm of her hand and the gold that built its casing was chipped. The metal made intricate patterns and crossed through like a river through a forest. She opened up the mirror like one would open a pocket watch and brought it towards Aries.

The human's once unkept and long hair was now cut short on the sides while keeping some of the length on the top. Aries brought his hands up to the shorter areas and his fingers moved across the sharper edges of the cut hair.

"I would shave your face as well, but I do not have shaving cream," Cadmus said with a shyness to his voice. "Do you like it?"

With his beard and light amount of facial hair, he still had a mature look about him but his new hair style gave him a more trimmed and clean look. Giscela moved the mirror to show the different sides.

"I'm at least impressed," Giscela said with an uptalk to her voice. "You are quite the artisan, Cadmus."

Cadmus' hand came up to rub the back of his head. "Let's not go that far! I'm not virtuoso but....thank you. I'll cut your hair sometime as well."

"I'd like that," Giscela replied with a smile. She turned towards Aries who was speechless as the two were having their own discussion. "Well, Aries? What do you think?"

"I love it. Thank you, Cadmus," Aries said as he looked himself over in the mirror. Giscela closed the mirror, the smile she had was contagious between the three and each of them gave a long sigh.

"There is one thing that I have always wanted to try, however...."

Aries raised an eyebrow.

"And what would that be?"

Cadmus looked practically giddy. "When we get our scales cleaned and groomed, we use hot coals to bring out the brilliant colors. Perhaps some heat can help with your hair?"

Aries looked over at Giscela and the queen shrugged.

"Never tried dragon fire for hair care before. Perhaps it could yield a different result than regular fire?"

Aries nodded. "I suppose. It doesn't hurt to try!"

Cadmus smiled. "How adventurous!"

Cadmus took a large breath in.

"W-wait! Let's not light my whole head on fire!"

Cadmus blinked and then chuckled nervously.. "O-of course I wasn't going to do that! You aren't a dragon after all."

Cadmus walked closer. "I'll simply do one small area to see the effect!"

"Alright, that seems fair. Just use that same amount of pressure you used when we first had our little spat," Aries joked.

"Awwww but I want to see if Cadmus can light you on fire!"

The dragon snorted.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Aries huffed and readied himself.

Cadmus leaned forward towards Aries, his large chest puffed out as he inhaled. His lungs filled with air and the gas that built up in his lungs lit.

"Prepare yourself, Aries," Cadmus huffed through his breath.

With one puff, a small amount of flames gently left the dragon's nostrils. They moved towards the side of Aries' hair and the hair lit much like hair would with a regular fire. The putrid smell of hot, burnt hair reached each of their noses and all of them gave a unified gag.

"Blech! It is exactly like regular fire!" Giscela said as she grabbed her water skin from her belt and splashed Aries' head.

"Gods, what were we thinking?!" Aries shouted as he patted the back of his smoldering head. The stench of hair still permeated the environment and a small, dark black streak of burnt hair was on the back of Aries' head.

Cadmus blushed. "Sorry, my love."

Aries laughed. "No need. It was our dumb idea. But anyway, how does it look?"

Cadmus clicked his tongue. "Not as bad as I thought. It should go away in maybe a few days or so."

"Thank the Gods."

The three stayed up for a moment, chatting about their dumb decision. Cadmus started to tell another story from the village. This story was about Cadmus trying to herd a pack of cows back to the village. Even though he was a big, scary dragon, he still struggled with a couple. Some of the bulls took Cadmus' horns as a challenge.

"Well, it is time we turned in for the night," Giscela said as Cadmus finished his story to a starstruck Aries. Giscela walked over to the fire to add more twigs to it. "We have quite the walk in the morning but we will be at the Capitol tomorrow."

Giscela frowned. "It will be strange not to have my father waiting there for me, but..."

She shrugged. There was another awkward pause.

Cadmus spoke first, coming to his feet and walking to Giscela carefully. "Giscela, I know you did not care for your father but he was still your father. Are you sure you are ready? We can turn back and I know people in my village."

Giscela turned on her heels, her eyes filled with a fire that struck the dragon to his core. "Each of us have made our choices and we have gotten this far. There is nothing we can do now but find out what is going on in Rendelen."

Cadmus took another step forward. He knew he had to be careful talking to Giscela about such personal topics but something had been bothering the dragon about the circumstances regarding Giscela's father. It all happened so fast in the cave. One moment, they were wondering if Rendelen was going to send more troops after them and they would have to scavenge whatever resources they had to fight whoever Edward decided to bring with him the next time but the King's death was almost a morbid breath.

"Giscela, you must admit that this feels like it could be a trick. What if your father is alive and the Senate has lied in order to bring back their spymaster?"

The Princess briscled for a moment but the anger subsided. Cadmus was right; it could have all been a ruse and as a spymaster, Giscela had thought of all the possibilities before they had even left the cave. Cadmus had sacrificed so much. He had left his home that he had lived in for multiple human lifetimes.

"The possibility is there," Giscela replied with a thin veil of annoyance. "I believe that if he was alive, we would not have had as quiet of a time as we did. After all, Edward would have raised enough of hell for more than just one dragon to deal with."

"That is a fair point," Cadmus mumbled. Even though Giscela was right, Cadmus' ears folded downward and guilt creeped up into Giscela's conscious.

Giscela tisked and shook her head. "I'm sorry. You are right. We have to think of every scenario." Giscela's shoulders relaxed as if she had been in a stance to defend herself.

"After all, I'm not the only one who had to sacrifice parts of themselves. I know that home and your village meant a lot to you," Giscela expressed. "I must be careful with my own selfishness."

Cadmus nodded. "I know that you do not mean any harm. If I could stay in my cave forever, I would but..."

Cadmus looked over at Aries with resolve. "There is something about our situation that has brought us together. I do not think I would be in the cave for long anyway."

"I think my whimsical charm would have led you out," Aries joked and got up off of the ground to walk to the wagon. He grabbed the small bedroll and unrolled it near the fire, the warmth from the flames coming off and sinking into his tired body.

Cadmus snorted. "You came at me with a sword. My first impression of my knight in shining armor, ladies and gentlemen."

"Yeeeeah. Sorry about that."

"You kinda did deserve to get knocked on your ass with the stance you had," Giscela teased as she grabbed her own bedroll with more of a pep in her step.

"And I remember you being drunk," Aries shot back as he pulled off his shirt and then his trousers. "The most beautiful, charming Princess that the Capitol had ever had could hardly keep her balance. You certainly gave Cadmus hell."

"Mmmm, and what a night that was," Giscela gushed and started to fiddle with her own leather straps. She pulled off the armor which clattered to the dirt below. She wore a simple undershirt along with trousers. Her fair complexion was a nod to her royal heritage. Immediately when her armor was removed, Aries cleared his throat and Cadmus sheepishly looked away.

"I promise I don't bite," Giscela snickered.

Giscela giggled when Aries looked back up to her and Cadmus stopped shuffling nervously.

"Well, you are the Queen of Rendelen now..." Aries whispered and Cadmus blushed.

"I think both of you are well within your right to address me as Giscela and there is nothing that makes me any different from before. Both of you are my friends and not my subjects."

Giscela's mouth twisted as if she had bit into something sour. "That word still seems a bit strong. To think that I would be fit to rule."

"I certainly would feel protected within the region you rule over," Cadmus said and he walked over to Aries' bedroll and started to strip down himself.

Giscela smiled and she fell quiet as she made herself comfortable. The moon was high in the sky and a light, cool breeze blew through the valley. A warmth was carried on the wind now that the bite of the mountain was behind them. It was strange not camping underneath a rock grotto.

Aries and Cadmus were huddled together, the dragon's muzzle perched protectively on his human's head. Their chests breathed in rhythm and Giscela could hear their whispers to one another. The small kiss and their giggles.

Giscela started to think back to the magnificent balls. She remembered first meeting Edward. He was a handsome noble. He had the look of someone who knew he was born into something. It was as disgusting as it was charming. His ego may have been insurmountable but Giscela knew she would have no trouble getting secrets out of him.

The Queen closed her eyes. She could hear the waltz in her mind. She stepped in rhythm as she has always done and turned like a doll on a string. Her movements were graceful but any dance trainer could have seen they were forced. She still remembered feeling the stings of her instructor's training whip. It was a small, tortuous tool that had just enough of a sting to bring tears to one's eyes but not draw blood. Her own father had hired him in order to make sure she fulfilled her role and stepped in rhythm.

Edward offered his hand and she pretended to be enthralled. Everything was going to plan. The satisfaction she would receive from her father and Senate was like a drug laced with poison. They danced the night away and for a moment, she almost forgot she was a spy. She could see her own father smiling in the background as she twirled and she received another smile from Edward as he watched. She would cement her legacy as bringing both Rendelen and Lannish together at last through marriage.

Her father demanded it. Honeyed words that were cut with beautiful dresses and jewelry and she would willingly be going back to it. There was no doubt in her mind that she hated her father but...

Warm tears streamed down her cheeks.

Her father taught her how to use a bow. Her father taught her how to defend herself and to stand up to others. Her father taught her how to be independent. He would hoist her up onto her own horse and then be proud when she could pull herself up onto the saddle by the stirrups. He cried when his wife died from consumption. He was human and part of Giscela wondered if he deserved to die with a knife in his back or by poison.

The thought that she was not there when he was killed or knew how he died was nauseating. His face could have been mangled beyond compare and she wondered what his last thoughts were before he died. Giscela wondered if his last thought was regret about how he treated her. Maybe he thought about not being able to see her get married and carry on a legacy.

Giscela tossed and turned. She remembered how Edward would hold her and the warmth of companionship even if it was fake. At least the pretend felt better than the reality. The thought that soon she would know the truth was her only comfort in the night and she fell asleep to the thought of dancing, her beautiful dress in her dreams stitched tight to hide the secrets in.