Kai Drakon's Arc

Chapter 7 of 30

Azure kept her hands over her face. Her tail curled tight behind her boots. Kai stopped laughing when he saw her ears were still red. He had come in bracing for grief. He had not planned for this. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked past her at the low coals, then at the long wooden bar with its row of mugs and shelved bottles. The tavern was quiet enough that he could hear her breathing. He stepped closer. "Azure. Sit down a second." She dropped her hands and sat on the stool at the bar. He took the one beside her. Up close her horns caught the last light from the coals. He had been on the road four months before he walked through that door and found her. He had told himself he would leave once the job was done. The job was done. "I need to say something," Kai said. His throat was dry. He took a mug off the bar just to have somewhere to put his hands. "I've traveled a long time. I've met a lot of people. I've never felt what I feel around you. I don't want to move on from this town. I want to know you. All of it. If you'll let me." Azure stared at the counter. Her cheeks went from pink to deep red. Her tail thumped once against the stool leg. She said something into her collar. "I didn't catch that," Kai said. He leaned in. She turned her face up to repeat it and he leaned in at the same moment. Their noses almost touched. Azure jerked back. The stool tipped. Her boot caught the rung and she went sideways off it. Kai moved. He caught her under the arms before her tail hit the floor. He held her there, half off the stool, her hands braced flat on his chest. Her horns were a hand's width from his jaw. "Say it again," he said. "Please." "I feel the same," Azure said. Clear this time. "I have since you walked in. I didn't know how to say it. I thought you were leaving." "I'm not leaving." "Say that again." "I'm not leaving, Azure. I'm staying. For you." He set her on her feet. She did not step back this time. Her hands stayed on his jacket. She looked up at him and nodded once, like a decision being closed. "Alright," she said. "Then you're walking me home. And you're eating breakfast at my table tomorrow." "Yes." "And every table after." Kai laughed, quiet, and pressed his forehead down against hers. Her horns clicked against his. Her tail wrapped once around his ankle and stayed. He had said it out loud. She had said it back. The road behind him was closed. What came next was a farm, a woman, and a life he had never learned how to build.