The Dragon's Kiss

Kel was primarily stationed as a palace guard during her time in Mevani.

She had her fair share of excursions and offsite missions but, even then, traveled only in small to medium-sized squads.

As a result, lately, she'd been finding herself in awe of the sheer massiveness of Serin's military. It was no different as she approached the endless rows of cavalrymen upon their steeds, waiting for the emperor to lead the march.

Kel's eyes sparkled as she gazed upon the dignified horses and riders, all of them decked out in shiny black armor.

For the first time, she would get the opportunity to scout ahead with the cavalry instead of packing up camp and marching on foot with the infantry.

But, how could she possibly keep up?

Suddenly feeling very small, Kel glanced up nervously at all the unfamiliar soldiers. Even the two officers occupying the positions left and right of the emperor's empty steed were men she didn't recognize.

Come to think of it, she hadn't once seen Ira or Thane at the camp. Had the emperor really not brought his two closest aides? Or had she just not noticed them?

"Just what are you looking at?" a sharp voice caught her attention. "Considering your emperor is right in front of you."

While Kel had been searching curiously among the horsemen for her two friends, the emperor had stopped walking and turned to face her once again.

"Ah nothing, Your Majesty," Kel instantly dipped her head.

Why had Calix seemed so angry since this morning?

Did he know that, at the river, she happened to see his..

Oh no. Was this all payback for peeping?

"Anyway, pick a horse," the emperor commanded, gesturing to the numerous occupied steeds.

"Uh…" Kel scanned the riders once again, wincing under the emperor's acute stare.

The only available horse was clearly the emperor's and obviously not one of her options. Did he plan to kick the rider off the horse she chose? Or, perhaps, she would have to share with them?

Slowly Kel raised her finger toward the smallest looking soldier (in hopes that if they shared, it wouldn't overburden the horse, or if he was disposed of his ride, the man wouldn't be able to beat her to a pulp later on.)

"Hmm, there's only one empty saddle," the emperor interrupted before Kel could finish pointing. "It's settled then. You'll ride my horse."

"Y-Y-Y-Your Majesty?" Kel squeaked as all the riders' eyes stung her.

Ignoring her obvious discomfort, and everyone else's, the emperor placed a firm hand around Kel's waist and began guiding(dragging) her toward the horse.

"Please, Your Majesty.." Kel hissed as Calix lifted her off the ground and into the saddle. "If I ride this horse then-"

"Of course I'll ride with you," the emperor responded immediately, pulling himself up behind her.

The stinging eyes around them turned to daggers.

Couldn't the emperor see how surprised and displeased all of his soldiers were at his bizarre behavior? Why had he selected a scrawny and unremarkable archer as some sort of pet?

Ignoring the tense atmosphere, the emperor reached for the reins, locking Kel securely between his arms.

Before setting out, he leaned forward and whispered, "You'd dare ride with another man?"

You told me to pick a horse! Kel screamed internally. How could I possibly guess and keep up with your strange games?!

"No, Sir," she responded quietly.

"Good ---" the emperor replied with what Kel assumed was a smirk. "Hiyah!"

If Kel had been listening more attentively and seething internally less, or, perhaps, if Calix had spoken the tiniest bit louder, she would have realized that he clearly said 'good girl'.

And, if she had realized he said that, the coming several days might have been less strenuous for the poor girl as she constantly wavered between believing, without a doubt, that the emperor knew who she was and wondering if he really had just selected a random archer as a pet.

She may also have been spared from the constant confusion as she ran about doing strange errands and merciless barrage of unfriendly eyes.

But, as Kel was too busy with her own irritation at that moment and the emperor spoke barely under his breath, the awkward arrangement persisted.

One concerned for her life at every turn, in between pondering the Dragon Emperor's odd actions.

And the other punishing his disobedient little bird, afraid if he gave in to the urge to crush her in an embrace before releasing some of his anger, he may actually snap her in half. (Though, snapping her in half was a tempting solution to the problem of her incessant running away.)

When the infantry finally moseyed their way into the next campsite, carefully selected by the emperor and his cavalry, Kel was instructed (by a disgruntled officer) to fetch several things from the supply wagons.

Contrary to the man's intentions, however, Kel was delighted at the excuse to step away from the emperor's spotlight for even a few minutes.

Ignoring the dubious looks of her once fellow infantrymen, Kel made her way to the wagons. When she located the officer's supply wagon, as described by the disgruntled man, she rummaged through folded canvases until she found the tent poles laid across the wagon bed.

Even as a low-rank archer, she'd never had to carry all of the heavy wooden poles by herself. Their length alone made transporting them a two-man job.

"Hmph. I'll show him," Kel grinned, reaching for the poles.

Whether she was talking about the petty man who gave her the task or the emperor, she wasn't quite sure herself, but either way, she was full of fiery motivation to prove herself.

No amount of motivation, however, could change the size and weight of the poles. As Kel struggled back across the camp, lugging the poles like a plow mule, the once-dubious looks became scornful and mocking.

"Yeah, yeah. Scoff all you want," Kel grumbled. "You've clearly never had to travel with the emperor's abs rubbing up against your back all day. This is way easier."

When she finally reached the furthest point in camp and triumphantly dropped her poles to the ground, she made a rather annoying discovery.

The emperor's tent (and all the other officer's tents) were already standing perfectly assembled against the setting sun.

Another officer, clearly a comrade of the one who gave her the order, started laughing impishly when he saw her.

"Oh look. This dumb kid dragged the spare tent all the way over here."