Page 21 of The Dragon Maiden
Lord Dracul led me to his cavern in silence, my heart growing heavier with every step.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, trying to think through my actions from the afternoon and if I had done anything wrong. But nothing came to mind.
He smiled at my tone of concern and shook his head. “You have not,” he said, heading up the stairs along the wall to the landing that held the telescope. “But I figured tonight would be a good night to look at the stars. You indicated your interest a while ago.”
My eyes widened in excitement, he remembered my comment from months ago. “Really?” I breathed, rushing to follow him up the stairs. “I can stay up late to look at the stars?”
Lord Dracul laughed at my reaction. “Yes,” he said. “You can stay up late to look at the stars. The reason I picked tonight,” he said, looking through the telescope and making a few adjustments, “is there is a comet passing by later tonight. I thought you might be interested.”
I nodded eagerly. “That sounds wonderful,” I said.
He moved out of the way, gesturing for me to take a look, and I peered through the telescope. He had focused it on the Drake constellation, the stars forming the shape of two dragons circling each other.
“Wow,” I whispered. “I’ve never seen it look like this before.” I moved back for Lord Dracul to take a longer look.
“There’s a legend about the Drake constellation,” he said. “Have you heard about it?”
I smiled, knowing the answer to this question. It was one of the stories in my father’s book. “There was a dragon that was so obsessed with the stars that he flew as high as he could until he joined them,” I summarized.
Lord Dracul’s smile grew. “That is the commonly told tale,” he said. “But the story told among the clans is a little different.” He paused, almost as if waiting for me to ask him to continue.
I did not want to disappoint. “Would you mind telling it to me?” I asked, sitting amongst the pile of cushions that was arranged on the landing. Lord Dracul came over and sat down next to me.
“Dragons are said to get our powers from the stars,” he said. “A star fell and landed on a lizard, who absorbed its power and transformed into a dragon. And that was how the dragons were born. Each dragon is told this story as a youngling, and one of the High Dragon Lords took that story to heart. One day while he was stargazing, he saw a star falling to a location nearby. He flew to find the star and found that a special dragon had appeared directly from the star, a glowing dragon. He fell in love with her immediately. The two of them spent their days together, filled with love and happiness. Eventually, she had to return to the sky. Despite wanting to keep her by his side forever, he let her go. When she flew back to the sky, she became part of the constellation. The High Dragon Lord was so heartbroken that he started wasting away. One day as he was staring up at her in the sky, he noticed the winking of the star that was her eye. Inspired, he flew up to join her and became stuck in the sky with her. They were finally together forever.”
“That’s a much better story than the one I’ve heard,” I said softly, my face heating up as he stared at me warmly. “Very romantic.”
“I think so too,” Lord Dracul said, his eyes molten. He was so close.
I looked away, my face on fire. There was an unexpected heat in my stomach. I thought my body was going to burst into flames. Along with that was a burning desire to touch him, feeling a pull I could not explain to be near him. Wind from the window blew in, dousing the heat that consumed my body. A shiver ran down my back at the sudden chill.
“You’re cold, aren’t you?” Lord Dracul asked. “Let me get something for you.” He stood and went down the staircase, giving me much needed time to collect myself. My fingers fiddled with the necklace he had gifted me, giving me something else to focus on.
What felt like seconds later, Lord Dracul returned with a plush blanket and two steaming mugs. He drew the blanket around me before handing me a mug. From the smell, I could tell it was a spiced tea, quickly confirmed by a tentative sip. The warm liquid slid down my throat and I felt it re-warming my belly, though this warmth was different than the one from earlier.
“That’s delicious,” I said, snuggling into the blanket. “When does the comet come by?”
Lord Dracul paused, thinking for a moment. “It should be here soon,” he said, standing to calibrate the telescope. “Do you want to see more constellations in the meantime?”
I stood, drawing the blanket around me to block out the cold. I looked through where he had directed the telescope next and smiled at the Mariposa constellation, one of my favorites. “I love this one,” I said, staring at it for several moments before stepping back.
“It’s a favorite of mine too,” Lord Dracul said. “Although I think this next one is my absolute favorite.” He moved the telescope once more, taking a few minutes this time to make the necessary adjustments.
With anticipation, I looked through the telescope. Immediately, tears blurred my vision as I recognized the constellation. It was the first one my father had shown me, the first one I had memorized, and one of my favorite stories. It was the Amor constellation, shaped like two hands clasping each other. My father had shown me the arrangement of stars when he told me about how he and my mother had met—they had been stargazing on the same hill. It was a pastime that they both had shared with me since I was young.
“This one is my favorite,” I said, my voice clogged. “Do you have a story for this one that’s different from the commonly told tale?” The tears began to fall, though I tried to hold them back. But with the anniversary of their deaths fast approaching, I was suddenly filled with lots of memories.
“No, both dragons and humans share the same story for this constellation,” he said, looking curious as to why I wiped away tears. “Valora, is everything okay?”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t mean to ruin tonight, my Lord.” The tears fell faster and I tried to hold them back.
“When it’s just the two of us, you can call me Dracul. You don’t need to address me by my title,” he said, moving closer to me. “And you aren’t ruining anything. It’s fine.” His voice was kind. “Do you want me to tell you another story?” He gestured back towards the pile of cushions, and I nodded, moving to follow him.
I settled back into the cushions and Dracul began to talk, his deep voice soothing. “Back before the world was created, the gods of the universe figured out how to occupy their time. They decided to create our world and busied themselves with their creations. Two of the gods loved each other dearly, but their duties took them away from each other. The daytime god, Solaris, was charged with bringing the sun, and the night goddess, Nosha, was to bring the moon, so they never got to see their love. Solaris worked with the god of the sky to create the Amor constellation so his love would be able to see the image of their clasped hands at night and know how much he loved her. Once a month, on the new moon, they are able to be together.”
I closed my eyes, listening to the cadence of his voice. The way he told the story was so soothing and reminded me of my childhood, of my father reading from his book of stories by the fireplace. As the story came to a close, I opened my eyes and Lord Dracul stared at me, his eyes filled with that molten silver once again. I felt that fire begin to grow inside me once more.
“Do you feel better?” he asked, his voice soft and husky.