Jim Gem's Arc

Chapter 14 of 23

Weeks passed after that night in the loft. Jim flew as the dragon each morning and returned to Lena each night. But lately she watched him strange over breakfast, chewing her lip, saying nothing. He knew that look. She wanted something and would not ask. So he decided to ask first. He wanted to marry her. Jim found Kael in the tavern, cleaning a blade at the corner table. The ninja did not look up. "You've got the face," Kael said. "The one Kai wore before he dug crystals for Azure's ring." "I want to ask Lena," Jim said. "I don't know how." Kael set the blade down. His voice went quiet, the way it did about Ire. "She runs when people see her too clear. You know that. So don't corner her." He thought a moment. "She only climbs the watch tower when someone's watching. Give her a crowd. Give her the flip. Then ask." Ire passed with a tray and caught the end of it. Her amber tail flicked. "Ask my Lena to marry a dragon?" She grinned, dangerous and warm. "I tied Kai's wrists myself. I'll tie yours too." She leaned close. "But if you make her cry, ranger, I know where the salt is." So Jim planned it. He spread word through town that the dragon would fly at dusk over the Tall Mushroom Watch Tower. By evening a crowd gathered at its base, pointing at the sky. Lena climbed to the top in her trapeze costume, hungry for the eyes below. Iron Riven, the old watchman, stepped aside and let her pass with a nod. Jim shifted behind the trees. Scales climbed his arms. He held the layered forms one by one until the purple dragon rose whole. He beat his wings and lifted over the tower just as Lena leapt. She flipped once, clean, and the crowd roared. Mid-air she saw him climbing toward her. Her eyes went wide. Jim caught her on his back between his wings, and the people below screamed and clapped, thinking it a trick. He glided down slow and set her on the tower rail. Then he shifted back, scales sinking, until he stood before her as a man. The single black scale glowed on his chest. He knelt on the wooden platform. "Lena," he said. "You never run from me. Marry me." Lena's mouth opened. For once she said nothing quick. Her hands shook. She dropped to her knees and pressed both palms to his chest, over the glowing scale, the way she calmed his shifts a hundred times. "Yes," she whispered. "Yes, baby." The crowd below could not hear. They only saw the ranger and the flip girl holding each other on the tower. Jim held her tight. He had mastered the dragon. He had won the woman.