Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) (21 page)

Starting for her invisible pack, Colbie waved her off quickly warning, “No, no, it would be more of a bother than I want to put you through, besides too much change at once might make Evan and the others confused. I don’t usually dress up for a party.”

Cheleya looked a little disappointed a moment before grabbing her friend’s arm and steering her for the door. “Then let’s go downstairs. I am very interested in this dancing you humans do. Che’ther have a different way of dancing and it is done with all four legs instead of two. I suppose mar’goyn’lya must dance on two legs as well?”

Grunting without truly answering, Kel’lor followed the two girls after locking the door with the key.

Their return to the table brought Evan’s eyes open in surprise. “Did she change your hair color?”

Sitting across from her long time friend, Colbie leaned onto her hands and shook her head. “I swear she’s more of a girl than I am.”

“Well, that’s not hard to believe,” Evan chuckled.

“Hey!” she protested his joke.

Shrugging, he explained, “Well, you’re usually so busy trying to be taken seriously as a battle mage, that I forget that you’re actually a pretty girl as well. When did you get those earrings anyway?”

His surprising compliment caused the woman to blush, but his usual lack of attentiveness led her to sigh, saying, “I got them while I was a cadet. You noticed them then too.”

He smiled and shrugged once more, “I forgot, but you look nice. How does a che’ther know how to do that?”

Pointing to Cheleya and Kel’lor who had fallen behind as Colbie retreated to the far side of the room, the mage said, “Ask her that for your self. I don’t understand how she can hate being human, know so very little of our customs and still be able to be such a girl.”

Evan smiled at the dragoness as she walked up and he quickly noticed the change to the girl’s hair as well. By the time they had arrived, Cheleya had pulled her hair back and he noted the lighter true blond color. “Can someone teach me how to dance?” the girl asked before anything else could be said.

She half bounced as the girl asked the question and again Evan thought how he had seen young human girls act similarly. It was like Cheleya had been born che’ther, but should have been human, since the girl had much of the mannerisms coming to her naturally.

Quickly standing to take the pretty dragoness by the hand, Evan volunteered happily, “I am not the greatest dancer, but I would gladly dance with you.”

Watching the two move onto the dance floor, Colbie shook her head with a slight frown.

“You disapprove of Cheleya learning to dance or of the two becoming friendly?” the deep voice of Kel’lor asked curiously.

Surprised at getting caught by the gargoyle, Colbie realized that, unlike the che’ther, mar’goyn’lya and humans probably had a lot of body language similarities being both humanoid. With a smile to offset her words, the girl stated, “Just worried that he’s going to get his heart broken.”

Quietly questioning her statement, Colbie sighed and continued, “She’s a che’ther, but very human as well. Cheleya can fool the eye and someone who didn’t know what she was might simply question if her people have different customs from ours.

“The plains nomads to our west have no known cities and yet number in the thousands. It’s said they can tolerate the cold like a mar’goyn’lya and they revere horses and the strange, feral cattle roaming the land. They’re unlike anyone from Staron or Southwall. I’ve even heard stories of savages on another continent that live in tribes in something called a jungle. They wear clothing different from us and maybe their views are also something that would be considered naive if they were to walk among us here.

“That said, they are still human and, if they had feelings for each other, they would at least have a similar starting point for understanding that in each other. Cheleya is another creature entirely. She belongs with other che’ther, doesn’t she?”

Colbie had laid out her worries to the near stranger, but Kel’lor was like the quiet men she had fought with in the corps for years. They were men both of action and patience that solved problems and listened to worries without judging.

Kel’lor was also a gargoyle, even if he too hid in human form. The facade made it easier for Colbie to forget that he too was of a different race, though his sheer size as a human still lent itself towards him being different from the much smaller girl. Men and women were nearly different races it often seemed, so it wasn’t uncommon to feel comfortable enough to talk candidly.

The calm demeanor of the gargoyle barely changed as he asked, “Is it that you fear him loving Cheleya because she is a different creature changed by magic or that you fear your friend will like you less when she is around? If you truly worry that some forbidden romance will come from this, then I think that you may be safe enough since Cheleya is still very young in her way of thinking.

“If it is the latter then you need to consider if it is his feelings or yours that you truly worry about.”

“If you are trying to say that I am in love with Evan, I swear that I will have to stab you with this new sword!” Colbie warned half in jest and half in truth. “There is no way that I have those kinds of feelings for him. I think of him the way you think of Cheleya. He’s like a brother to me and I’ve known him for years.

“I am worried that he is getting the wrong signals from Cheleya and she doesn’t even know that he is receiving them.”

A strong nod and a grunt drowned out by the music preceded his words, “As I said earlier, in che’ther years, Cheleya is still just a child though she is seventeen. In human years, that would be mature enough to think of romance and love, but I am unsure where the little che’ther’s head is at now that she has been locked into her human form for this long.

“We don’t normally remain human for more than a few hours and she has been trapped for most of a week. Whether that means Cheleya will start acting more like a human girl of seventeen, I am unsure. Even so, she is very naive to things like love and relationships especially with humans.”

Colbie nodded and answered, “So in other words, we need to worry after all.”

Sighing, the gargoyle could only shrug. His eyes went to his little sister in worry after the mage’s words. If Evan and Cheleya did start having feelings or she found a different human male and felt that way, he feared that Colbie’s assessment of heartache could be true.

Cheleya took the hand Evantus offered and felt his other hand put her free hand on his shoulder. When his strong hand touched her waist, she felt an odd shiver like when the cold winds had blown on her bare skin in the night. The man set up the framework of the dance and tried to guide the dragoness with both his words and his grasp. It took a few turns for Cheleya to understand the movements, but the girl was a quick study and soon moving with ease.

“This is fun,” the little blond said looking up with her brilliant emerald eyes. “So this is human dancing?”

The mage laughed at her exuberance and replied, “It’s just one of the types of dances that we do in Staron. There are fancier cities that have schools to teach dancing to royals and the rich. Others maybe learn to perform for people with money. Then there are the rest of us and we do whatever we can learn or make up.”

Smiling, Cheleya replied, as she moved a little closer to speak through the noise, “Your people are very creative then. It is one of the reasons that I think that I had so much fun playing the role of a human girl while I trained. I see things like dresses and rings and think how beautiful the colors and workmanship can be.”

“Don’t che’ther wear anything?” the man asked curiously trying to imagine what Cheleya looked like as a dragon and just couldn’t see it.

He twirled her receiving a little laugh at the move, which was part of the particular dance, but he hadn’t warned the girl this time.

“I have known wizards to wear rings and, of course, many wear amulets. Being able to change form to work spells with human fingers or being able to fly as a mar’goyn’lya can come in handy. Those without magic usually can’t work them, however, so many of them don’t understand.”

Seeing through her words to a point, he asked, “Your parents don’t like humans?”

Realizing the tune was about to end, Evan broke the hold and held up his finger to pause their conversation. People clapped for the musicians and they jumped straight into the next song. It was a little slower than the last. In theory, it was a dance for lovers, but there were probably many that weren’t that still held each other a little further apart while continuing to dance.

Nodding to Cheleya, Evan encouraged the pretty, little blond to continue their conversation.

“My mother doesn’t like magic actually. My father understands magic and uses it for farming. I am not sure why, but people seem to respect my father very highly despite just being a farmer. He has never said if he ever attended the academy, but to have any control over magic I would think that he must have long ago.

“Che’ther live so long and I am only seventeen, so mother and father could have done many things over a hundred years before I was hatched.”

The candid conversation about parents over a hundred years old and being hatched kept Evan remembering that this was a che’ther inside the beauty before him. He understood Colbie’s warnings, but there was also something very magnetic about the dragon’s personality. She was so human, even though she had quirks that reminded him otherwise at times.

“Even for humans, you are still quite young,” Evan agreed. “Humans rarely live to be a hundred and to think that your parents waited an entire century before having a child is literally a lifetime or more for us. I can understand there being too much to tell a child after a hundred years though.”

Cheleya nodded and admitted, “Being their child leads to the same thing. What do I ask? Where do I start? Do they even want me to know something that happened several of my little lives ago?”

“My father died when I was young. My mother was barely twenty when she had me and he died when I was just four. I have questions that I can’t even ask with him gone. At least you still have the chance and will probably live long enough to find out the answers.”

Her eyes darkened at the thought and Evantus thought that he spied tears threatening to escape her green eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad,” the man couldn’t help laughing self consciously at his bringing up the sad feelings in the girl.

Wiping at her eyes a moment, the dragoness smiled quickly and admitted, “These human eyes seem to weep very easily. It is all right though. They seem to leak when I am happy sometimes too.”

That did make him laugh. “I guess that che’ther don’t cry then?”

“Their emotions aren’t so close to the surface,” Cheleya said as the couple dancing renewed their motion. “It has been a little difficult holding such things in, since the change. While these emotions are hard to get used to, I almost prefer them to how stoic many of my people are. The mar’goyn’lya are maybe even worse about that.”

The current song ended and they clapped for the musicians again, but when the next music started up, it was a much faster tune. Evan leaned in close to be heard over the music and noticed a strange sweet scent on the girl. He warned Cheleya, “This one is faster and at the chorus we change partners, so don’t be afraid.”

“I won’t,” she assured him keeping her eyes on the man before her.

“You’re doing very well by the way. I would never know that you hadn’t danced before if not for the first few seconds as you learn the steps.”

Before she could answer, the chorus began and those who knew the words sang out as the dancers changed partners. An older, bearded man took her hand and smiled appreciatively at the pretty girl as he twirled her in the steps. Returning his smile, the dragoness finished out the chorus and found Evan leading her again.

“Miss me?” he asked with a quick laugh.

“My partner was charming,” she exaggerated as the girl teased him and danced.

A slight frown creased his forehead as he replied, “Great, I think that Colbie is rubbing off on you. You’re quick to learn dancing, but you don’t have to learn how to tease me as well.”

The dragoness found herself giggling at Evan as they parted for the next chorus and a nice looking blond haired man took her hand with a grin at his luck.

“Well, now you must be the prettiest girl in here tonight and I get to dance with you. I must have done something right,” he said coming on a little too strong for Cheleya’s taste.

She could smell the ale he had been drinking as well. Cheleya put up with her new partner for the chorus, but as she tried to part to rejoin Evan the man continued to hold onto the dragoness.

“Let her go, Kerlan,” his partner a brown haired woman, who was pretty enough in her own right, tried to get the man to release her firmly.

Evan moved closer trying to help Cheleya as well. “Let her go and get back to your partner, sir,” the mage cautioned politely. “We’re trying to have fun here, so let’s not ruin it.”

“That’s what I’m doin’, boy. Now I’ll just keep your little girlfriend for the rest of the dance and maybe the night,” the man stated taking her with both hands trying to pull Cheleya closer.

Chanting quickly, a surge of electricity flowed into the dragoness causing the man to let her go with a yelp of pain. Glaring at the drunken man, Cheleya wagged her finger at him dressing him down as she warned, “I am a wizard, sir. I suggest you do as your partner says. My partner is a battle mage and will hurt you a lot worse than that tickle I just gave you.”