Touch of Flame

“Malachi. No deed just goes away. Good or bad, we will have to live with its consequences.” He remembered Chanan’s words.

He was literally living with the consequences of his actions. A broken woman, and he was the reason.

She turned her head looking disturbed. “Ares.” She mumbled.

Malachi frowned. So that was where she went now. That was where she wanted to be and with whom she wanted to be.

“Ares.” She turned her head to the other side.

Malachi’s hands clenched into fists and he left her room. He took a few deep breaths not wanting to be angry over this. The man was dying. It was a pitiful act to be angry over something like this.

He went outside to see his brothers. He sat with them besides the river. The only one missing was Joel.

“Are you alright?” Saul asked.

Malachi nodded.

“If you didn’t tell her, she would find out anyway.”

“I know.”

“Do you think she will leave now?” Kenan asked.

Saul gave him a push.

“What? You need to think about it. It no news to be thrilled over.”

Saul ignored Kenan. “You just need to explain it to her.” He told Malachi.

Malachi chuckled. “Explain what? That I tried?”

“Just give her time,” Aaron said. “Since she came here things have been difficult and she just recovered. Just let her settle down.”

He was right. She just had her back clawed.

“What about king Tural?” Malachi changed the subject.

“He is coming tomorrow but he is no fool. He will probably tell the messengers, so if we do anything strange news will spread. We can’t just kill a king. Other rulers will feel threatened, especially now with your human breedmate.”

“But we have evidence of his people attacking,” Kenan said.

“He could just say he never ordered them.”

“They are all dead. We could say one of them confessed before dying. That should be offense enough and gather some more witnesses on our side.” Aaron said. “The white dragons also had a previous warning where they broke the rules and attacked humans.”

“It will have to be one way or the other. Either we are careful and diplomatic or we take the risk and take control of the situation and I don’t think this is the time to be diplomatic.” Malachi said. “Now is the time to take control.”

His brothers listened carefully.

“Now more than ever, whether they like it or not, they will need our protection. There are dragons out there helping humans fight us. I am also going to allow Ravina to make weapons if she wants.”

Saul frowned. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Having weapons will give us an advantage over other dragons and you have not seen the kind of weapons they have these days.”

“After what she found out, do you think she would want to make weapons for us?” Kenan asked.

“I think so,” Malachi replied.

He knew she wouldn’t be alright for a while but he would give it time as Aaron suggested. He knew she had nowhere to go anyway.

“So what are we doing now exactly?” Saul asked. “With Tural tomorrow I mean.”

“We will kill him,” Malachi said.

Saul remained silent.

“Then we will find out who wants to take the throne. That is who we are looking for. “

“We don’t know the next ruler won’t be like Tural,” Aaron said.

“Let’s take one thing at a time,” Malachi told them.

“Malachi?” Ravina’s frightened voice made his head turn.

Ravina stood there, shaking slightly with wet hair and bare feet.

“Ravina,” he rose hastily. “What happened?” He hurried to her side.

“I need to talk to you,” she shuddered.

“Yes. Come,” he took her back inside. Her skin was damp.

He became filled with dread. Did she have another nightmare because of what he did? He truly hated this.

“What happened?” He asked her, trying to help her sit down in the parlor near the fireplace but she refused.

“Look,” she said, her voice still thin as if she couldn’t bring herself to speak. She showed him her arm.

He looked at her confused. She was scaring him with that look in her eyes. “I am wet.” She began. “And- and…” she looked down. “My feet. I walked in mud.”

He looked down. Well, she had walked outside. He wasn’t following.

She trembled and he grabbed her arms stroking down to calm her. “I slept then I was somewhere else. I was- I was in a forest. It was damp and water dripped on me. I got wet. I was also barefoot. Everything was real. It felt so real and then I woke up and the mud was on my feet and my hair and skin were wet.” She spoke fast.

“Well, the dampness could be sweat and you walked out bare feet.”

She shook her head. “No. I woke up like this before I walked out the mud was on my feet!”

When he just looked at her concerned, she fell back to sit on the couch and buried her face in her hands. “Oh, I am losing my mind.”

“No..” he crouched in front of her. “You have been through a lot. You just need to rest.”

She removed her hands, “I do have vivid dreams but this one, I could feel it. It was so real.” Her expression changed and slowly became calm. Her eyes turned left and right as she began to think.

He took her hand in his. They were very cold as if she had indeed been outside.

“Let me bring you dry clothes,” he said leaving her for a moment. He found a robe for her and brought with him a towel and blankets.

When he came back, as he put the robe on the table, she just went ahead to undress without warning as if she just wanted to get out of her clothes. Not wanting to alarm her, he didn’t look her way and she grabbed the robe with a shiver. “Thank you,” she said as she wore it.

He caught a glimpse of her hip and bottom before she slid the robe over the other arm. She grabbed the belt and tied it around her waist.

“Do you want something hot to drink?”

She turned around. “Yes, thank you.”

She grabbed the towel and sat down to dry her hair. He went to the kitchen to make tea while thinking of what she said. What frightened her so much this time?

He took the tray with him to the parlor. She had already wrapped the blanket around herself and her now calm gaze looked his way.

“I made tea,” he said putting the cup in front of her on the table.

“Thank you.” She took the cup where she sat with her legs bent sideways.

He sat across from her. “What was your dream about?” He asked as he watched her take her first sip.

She shrugged. “I was near the sea and then in the forest and in the river.”

“And did what?”

She looked down at her cup, with a slight frown. “I guess, releasing some kept emotions.”

He nodded.

She gazed up at him and they watched each other in silence for a while. She then took another sip. “Are you hungry?” He asked.

She shook her head.

“Was it raining?” She asked him. “The ground was wet.”

“It rained just a little.”

She frowned.

“I would like to meet Chanan,” she then said after a while.

Chanan?

“I will tell him to come and visit.”

“Thank you,” she replied.

“Can I ask something?” He said

She nodded.

“If you could leave, do you now wish to leave this place?”

He waited for her answer in dread. “No,” she replied without hesitance.

She surprised him.

“I don’t hate you now if that is what you think. I am angry, sad but I don’t hate you.”

He sighed.

“You said you wanted to do better. I want to do better. Maybe for two people who want to do things better, we can help each other.”

He frowned. Again this woman surprised him with her strength. He wished he had at least a fraction of her bravery and all this wouldn’t have happened.

“You would be the best support I could have,” he told her.

She smiled. “You might change your mind later.”

“No. But you might.”

“You know I am stubborn.”

“Oh, I know.”

They both smiled at each other. He was glad things weren’t so bad.