Sapphamire (14 page)

“Are you okay? I know that trip is a bit much the first few times.” It was then Natasha looked around and realized their landing had drawn attention. People and dragons alike were starting to gather around them.

“Um, Blain, are we safe?” she asked as she glanced around.

“Sure we are. When you can get your legs back under you, I’ll introduce everyone.”

He quickly stood and redressed, in the midst of friends stopping to welcome him back home. One very close friend came up and slapped his long-time-no-see buddy on the back. “Well, it’s about time you decided to come back home!” Then, the man glanced down and seemed to have just noticed Natasha as she stood and brushed herself off. “And who is this little bundle of beauty?”

“Back off, Dominic. She is mine!” The growl coming from deep in his chest, as he issued his warning that would have sent most men scrambling. But not Dominic.

“Well, hello, lassie.” He bowed formally and elegantly as he turned to address Natasha. “And where in the world did you pick up this rogue?” he asked in a teasing voice.

“Who, Blain? He’s my mate,” she answered truthfully.

Dominic turned toward his friend. “Are there more like her on Earth? Maybe I will come with you this time when you leave and see if I can secure a mate.”

Blain shook his head and chuckled. “You’ve been threatening to come to Earth for several years now. I think you really don’t want a mate.”

Dominic growled in reply, and Natasha couldn’t help but smile at the two of them bantering with each other. Suddenly, she felt something tug at her pants leg.

Looking down, she saw a rather small person, only standing about three feet high, but with keen intelligence and mischief in his eyes. His pointed ears gave his elven heritage away. Blain glanced over to her at the same time and noticed the little man also. Quickly looking back at Dominic, he questioned him. “Since when does King Thoran allow elves on this land?”

Before Dominic could reply, the elf stated, “Hi, Blain Barrymire, I’m Adorellan. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Blain started to extend his hand to give the elf a handshake, but Dominic stepped in, snatched Adorellan up by the back of his shirt, and shook him.

“No one wants you here, little man. You are not even supposed to be here. Now go on and stop bothering our guests.”

An anger like no other she had ever felt before hit Natasha at how Blain’s friend was manhandling this little man. How dare he! Just because the man was an elf and therefore short, didn’t give anyone a reason to mistreat him. Before she even realized what she was doing, she reached over and placed her hand on Dominic’s arm. When she did, she immediately started smelling burnt flesh. She quickly looked down in amazement to see her hand burning Dominic’s arm. About that time, his pain receptors kicked in, alerting his brain that his arm was in pain. She quickly yanked her hand back, and at the same time he dropped the little man and yanked his arm back also, but the damage was done.

“Blood hell, woman! What in the hell do you think you are doing?” He cradled his injured arm up to his chest, looking over to Blain for answers. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing your own weapon!” he yelled.

“You didn’t ask. Surely she didn’t cause that much pain, did she? She is only a female, after all,” Blain smirked at his friend.

“What the hell? Do you sleep with one eye open every night?” His friend pressed as he started lowering his arm. He had dragon blood in him, so even with the burn it would heal quickly.

“Nope, I try like hell never to make her mad,” Blain replied as he watched his mate stand feet spread apart and hands on her hips. He also spotted the elf hiding behind her. Suddenly, Sapphamire decided to join in. '
Hehehe,'
the dragon chortled. '
Yeah, her powers are starting to wake up! She is going to be gorgeous once Naquadus fully develops
.'

'
Naquadus
?' Blain questioned.

Sapphamire sighed deeply and shook his head, even though Blain’s mind’s eye was the only one who could see it. '
Her dragon, idiot man. Naquadus is her dragon’s name. It is the joining of her name Natasha, and her dragon’s color of aqua. Na-quad-us
.'

There were times Blain wanted to kick Sapphamire’s ass for being such a smart mouth
. I’d better try to calm Natasha down before she gets us kicked out of here before we even get settled!
he thought.

Before he could open his mouth to try to calm the situation, the one man he didn’t want to see right at that moment walked up. As he approached, there was little guessing exactly who he was. Tall and proud, he walked up to the growing crowd with authority. Stopping at Blain’s side, he extended his hand. “Thank you for coming on such short notice. Do we have a problem that needs to be addressed here?”

Blain turned and bowed before his king. “King Thoran, may I present my mate, Natasha Clayton.”

Blain watched as Natasha’s mouth dropped open and then she began to wring her hands together, a sure sign she was stressed out. “Kkkking Thhhoran,” she stuttered. “Itttt is ssuch an honor.”

King Thoran threw back his head and laughed heartedly. “Oh, my girl, the pleasure is all mine. I love seeing this one settled down. Didn’t think it would ever happen. Now, are you the same Natasha Clayton that I have heard about? Is your mother part pixie and part demon, and your father an angel?”

Upon hearing the mixture of her heritage, several people gasped out loud.
Great, just great! He announces to the entire kingdom what I am so they can all be scared of the big bad girl that must have untold abilities and powers…right!

“I have no powers, sir,” Natasha responded to his question. Would this group be just like the Council and want her locked up? The king penetrated her with a look, capturing her eyes, forcing her to look into his piercing blue orbs and lock there.

“You just
think
you have no powers, my child. They are there, and will be coming out very quickly. Prepare yourself, so you’re not taken by surprise, and remember to always use your powers for the good. You were born to do great things, little one. Have faith in yourself.”

He then released her from his stare and turned his attention to Dominic. “Let me see that arm,” he commanded. He held his hand directly over the burnt flesh for about twenty seconds. When he lowered his hand to his side, Dominic’s arm was completely healed, leaving only a slight pink tint to the skin.

“Thank you, My Lord,” Dominic stated in relief.

“Next time, think before you act. Adorellan is to be treated as a guest, not a prisoner.” He stopped and looked out over the crowd. “That goes for everyone. Do I make myself clear?” he bellowed. Gone in an instant was the carefree, seemingly easygoing man who had been standing in front of Natasha a moment ago. Now, he spoke with all of the confidence and power of an ancient leader.

“Yes,
My Lord,” was the unison response.

Adorellan took that moment to peek out from behind Natasha. “I know you are back there, Adorellan. Come out here, please. I want a word with you.”

Adorellan slowly came out of his hiding place from behind Natasha. “You, little man, know you can’t go irritating a big dragon that is twenty times your size. Leave them alone, and they will leave you alone,” the king reasoned.

Natasha quickly stepped up behind Adorellan. “Excuse me, but he wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was simply introducing himself when this overgrown buffoon decided to snatch him up by the back of his shirt.” Her head cocked toward Dominic as she discussed this with the king.
The king! Who would have thought I would be defending someone I just met, and arguing with a king!

King Thoran tried to lock Adorellan’s eyes with his, but the crafty little man began to look everywhere but at King Thoran’s face. He kept moving his head up and down, side to side, looking at everything possible except the king’s face. He knew his little fun would be over if the king managed to lock eyes with him.

“Enough! Look at me, Adorellan!” the king bellowed in exasperation that this little man was trying to give him the slip.

As soon as Adorellan looked at the king’s face, he had him. And twenty seconds later, the king had his answer. Glancing back up to Natasha, he quietly asked her, “Did you have anything in your pockets when you came here?” As soon as the question was out in the open, Adorellan moaned and dropped his head.

“Yes, I did. I have…”
She reached into the side pocket of her jeans to show her favorite pocket knife. It had been the very first knife she had ever owned, and her father had given it to her as a present. It was gone! Oh, no! She quickly looked down to see if maybe it had fallen out of her pocket when she slid down Sapphamire’s back. Nothing. Meanwhile, the king stepped back and folded his arms over his massive chest, as he glared down at the elf.

After a moment, the king grew impatient. “Adorellan, don’t you have something that belongs to Ms. Clayton?”

Natasha’s head quickly swung upwards upon hearing the king’s words. She looked over to the elf. “Did you see my pocket knife?”

The little man was looking exceedingly guilty. “Yes, well, it was pretty and shiny, and I like shiny things.” He grudgingly walked over to her and, reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out a lady’s pretty hairpin, a shiny rock, and finally, Natasha’s pocket knife. “I’m sorry,” he grumbled as he handed the knife back over to her.

The king cleared his throat. “Please forgive our guest, Natasha. It seems he has a favorite pastime of pick-pocketing.” The king then turned his attention to Blain. “Adorellan is here because he became a bit too nosy for his own good and followed Colt in the portal.” The king stopped and shook his head. “It is a miracle the little man even made it here, but now I have to decide if he can be trusted with our secret. Unfortunately, all evidence points to the contrary.” The king cut his narrowed eyes down to Adorellan as he finished speaking, a frown marring his chiseled features.

He turned to Natasha. “I hope your visit here will be enjoyable.
Make sure Blain shows you around the kingdom while everything is quiet.” He gave her a smile, and then started walking back the way he came from.

“Wow!” Natasha whispered in awe.
To be greeted by the king himself! How special was that?

Blain cleared his throat to gain her attention. “If you are finished ogling over my king, maybe I can show you where we will be staying.” His words had no bite whatsoever, and Natasha glanced up at him to see him grinning.

“Lead the way, O Mighty One!” she teased back.

“Miss Natasha, I’d be happy to carry your suitcase for you,” Adorellan eagerly offered from behind her.

Natasha caught Blain’s raised eyebrow, and quickly interceded to head off any more problems. Turning with a sweet smile on her face, she answered, “Oh, thank you so much for the offer, but really, we don’t have much. Blain can handle it.” Truth be told, she didn’t trust Adorellan not to go through everything she owned.

The elf’s shoulder’s sagged, and he seemed to have the wind knocked out of his sails. “Oh, okay then. I guess I will just see you around, perhaps.”

“Oh, I am sure we will see each other. Maybe we can have lunch together one day.” Even though the man had pick-pocketed her favorite knife, she still couldn’t stand to make him sad. She tried putting herself in his place and realized if she were in a strange land, she would hope someone would be kind enough to offer friendship to her.

The little man perked up instantly. “Really? You mean it?
Oh, we will have such a wonderful time. And I know just where to take you!” He rubbed his hands together in glee.

Blain watched the interaction between this elf and his mate for a moment. “Hey, Adorellan, I have an idea. I am going to be busy part of the time, and I hate the idea of leaving Natasha by herself when she doesn’t know this region yet. Do you think you could help show her around?”

The little man became so excited both Blain and Natasha thought he was going to start dancing
a jig. “Really? You trust me with your woman?” he questioned Blain.

Blain narrowed his eyes at him, schooling his facial features. “Do I have a reason not to trust you?”

“Oh, no, I would never…” Shaking his head furiously, he took the olive branch that had been handed to him. He stopped and bowed before Blain. “I am honored you place your mate’s safety in my hands. I won’t let you down, sir.”

Natasha rolled her eyes at the speech. As if she needed anyone to protect her! Especially a tiny little man standing all of three feet tall! She just barely got her facial features schooled before he straightened back up.

Blain reached over and put his hand on Adorellan’s shoulder. “I know you will take care of her. I wouldn’t have asked you otherwise.”

'
Aww, a bit of male bonding going on, I see.'
This time when Natasha heard the voice, she didn’t panic. She now knew this was her dragon speaking to her.

'
Umm, hi?'
she said silently. She searched her mind, trying to see what her dragon would look like.

'
Hi, Natasha. You can’t see me yet because I am not quite ready to be seen, but soon, my dear. I am almost completely developed and very soon you will be letting me out for my mate to see.'