Chapter 84: Pepper
My heart is beating rapidly and a fine sheen of sweat covers my skin. The dragon almost caught me in his room. My fingers hum where I ran them across Tahr's chest. I bring my fingers up and run them over my lips while I inhale his scent to calm my nerves. He's incredibly alluring even in sleep. I could bypass his silky shoulder-length brown hair, strong jaw, blue eyes that change to the most stunning silver, a single dimple in his cheek that I saw one day when he smiled at Meagan, and a body that no human male could ever rival... if not for the inexplicable energy.
It's the energy that attracts me.
I'm hidden within an alcove in the dragon's main wing. It's one of my favorite tucked-away spots to observe him without him knowing. Meagan asked me to watch over him after she died, she was most adamant about it. I owe her everything and never told her that I would have done it anyway.
I think about the day Meagan and the dragon brought me here as a child. I'd lived in constant pain for years. Leaving everything I knew behind was terrifying. But that's when my amazing life began. A life free of pain in a world of magic.
Most humans in the dragon's realm are brought over as babies and remember little of their earlier years. I was six when the magic of this realm healed me, and I have memories that the other children don't live with. White walls, painful procedures, and dreams of a far off fairy tale land where a magical prince saved me from the wicked witch called cancer.
From the ages of six to sixteen, I lived part of my dream, minus the prince of course. After my sixteenth birthday, which Meagan and my friends celebrated with me, the dragon took me back to the earth realm for a short visit with my parents. I wasn't the only human Tahr transported through the realm crossing. There were twelve of us. A team of oxen pulled us in a wagon until we reached the unseen barrier. I was terrified because I remembered the pain of crossing from ten years earlier. Tahr shifted to his human form and one by one, he took us over. When it was finally my turn, he grabbed my hand and walked me forward. It was the first time he had touched me since my original crossing. At the point where our skin connected, a slight buzzing sensation traveled up my arm. I squeezed my eyes shut as he gave a gentle tug. I concentrated on his touch and only a dull ache traveled through my head as we crossed the boundary. It felt strange when he released my hand and severed our connection. He looked down at me with the oddest expression on his beautiful face. I wanted to touch him again, but of course I didn't. He intimidated me as well as all his humans. To us he's a god. We live to serve him. We are the worker bees in the background that keep his castle running smoothly. At sixteen, I knew my place, but that didn't mean I accepted it. I wanted more. The dragon was my prince.
After Tahr brought everyone through, a large van delivered us to our parents. The youngest among us had no memory of the strange world we were delivered into. As we drove through the streets, my memories kept me from the terror some of the others experienced. It didn't keep my anger at bay. I understood the promise made by the dragons to allow the ten-year visits. I didn't understand our parents' desire to inflict this trip on their children.
My mother had cried almost the entire time I was there. I could see the love in my father's eyes, but he was wary too. Three siblings came after I left my parents' care. Those children were my father's primary concern, not the strange teenager who could barely speak. My voice returned when I crossed into the earth realm, but I didn't know how to use it properly. I managed a few croaks, which my sister and brothers laughed at, so I stopped using my voice. I knew within a few hours that I was no longer a part of the family or the earth realm. I couldn't wait to return to my quietly regimented life in the dragon realm.
The three days seemed like weeks. By the second day my joints ached and I felt nauseous. It was the illness from my early childhood. Meagan explained to us that our visit would be short because whatever disease we left behind would return. By the third day, I was exhausted and just wanted my real home.
I hugged my mother and father goodbye for the final time. I would not return. I could see it on the faces of my friends too. This was no longer our world and we needed the magic to keep us whole and allow us to flourish. We all had the choice of staying. It would mean death, but we still had a choice. Our decisions were easy. Our destiny was to serve a dragon.
When Tahr grasped my hand for the return crossing, the tingling was stronger. He looked down at our hands and shook his head. His magic took away the anxiety I'd experienced during my three-day visit. It buzzed along my skin and comforted me. He didn't look at me, but he gave my hand a slight squeeze before releasing it. Since that day, I've felt a kinship with his magic.
I shake my head to dislodge memories of the past.
I've stayed in my hiding place long enough and need to return to my room in the other tower. I head down the stairs, run through the large courtyard and make my way to the human living quarters. It's quite a hike, but I've done it so many times and my body is accustomed to it.
