How did it get to this point? Jalerom had just asked Amber about Ivan, one thing led to another, and now they were wrestling (Amber was in her human for, thank Erevan!) in a battle to the death – or at least the first broken bone. His guess was that she had been embarrassed by the question, but Jalerom hadn't realized that asking her if she and Ivan had shared a bed yet would have garnered this kind of reaction.
As she attempted to pin him, he croaked out, "I'm sorry, Amber! I was just curious!"
"Well, that's none of—I just—ARGH!" she blurted out as a new surge of strength allowed her to pin him. He quickly kicked out though and crawled away, but she pounced on him again and they both tumbled a short way away. Jalerom could almost feel the eyes of the other members of the court watching them in the garden from the main hall, so he tried his best to get Amber into a hold, but her natural strength was proving to be a match for his training.
"I didn't mean it to be about sex, Amber!" he cried, but at the mention of the most embarrassing word, she used her legs to clip his from under him and the two fell backwards onto his back. He coughed as the wind was knocked out of him and began to question his life choices as the dragon used her arms to trap both of his as well as his legs.
"Say uncle!" she demanded, but all Jalerom could do was wheeze. Amber pulled on his appendages tighter and he wheezed a feeble "un…" which thankfully she accepted. She released him and scooted away from him a bit as he unceremoniously flopped limp onto the ground and tried to catch his breath.
"I… meant… did Ivan… stay with you… at night… Amber…" he gasped, his entire torso protesting at the utterance of words. Amber flushed brightly.
"We're not doing anything bad!" she protested, "Just… I sometimes have trouble sleeping. I stay up thinking about Jeminya or I have nightmares. Having Ivan there helps." She pulled her knees toward her chest and buried her head in them. After a few more deep breaths, Jalerom crawled over to Amber and sat beside her. He didn't curl himself up though since he still needed an open airway, so he laid back on his elbows.
"Having Fae there helps too. We haven't done that kind of thing either, you know," he said, and Amber shot him a very skeptical look. "We haven't! I swear!"
"Then why did you pick the tower room? No one goes up there. And there are stairs," she asked probingly.
"Fae is trapped in a library dungeon with her father's work every day. I wanted to give her a view. Plus, I can see how much rebuilding needs to happen and progress being made from up there," he replied sensibly, and Amber shrugged. He continued, "Things have been hard. I've been scared too, Amber. I mean… I died."
Amber's skeptic look softened, and Jalerom took a shaky breath. "I died and I met Asmodeus and then he took Jeminya. I don't know what he wants. And I don't know how we're going to get Jeminya back, but we will. In the meantime, though… it's nice to have Fae there with me when I wake up from another nightmare."
Amber lay back against the grass so that the two of them were looking up at the sky together. If they squinted and focused, they could make out the faint outline of Cumelus still hovering over the city and a dragon or two circling around it to stretch their wings. The bronze and silver dragons had been helping with rebuilding the walls while the golden dragons took care of the fused prince and princess. Strangely enough, the tentative peace between the metallic and chromatic dragons in light of the fusion and the demon battle had a few blue and green dragons aiding around the city in their human forms so as not to scare the remaining citizens, and red dragons were working beside the gold. Jalerom hoped that they weren't just helping because a leader was at stake and that there was some good in those chromatic dragons, but he wasn't holding his breath too hard.
Amber might be, though, he thought. He opened his mouth to ask when Amber spoke up first.
"What happened when you died?" she asked quietly. Jalerom closed his eyes and lay completely down on the grass, folding his arms behind his head. He had mostly recovered from their tussle so he was able to speak more clearly.
"I woke up again. I didn't even realize I was dead because I felt fine, but then it hit me. I didn't even know that he made me an undead until you told me, I was somewhere else completely. It—It's hard to explain," he admitted, rambling a bit to sort of give him a moment to collect his thoughts. "I was on top of a tower. And there was just… nothing around, nothing at all. And Asmodeus was there, and we played a game. He had a chess board in front of him, so I thought we were playing chess, and I won. But then he said that chess wasn't the game. He showed me you have to be really careful with word choices with devils, so… I guess it was helpful. But it was scary; I thought he was going to take me to Baator for some reason. And Erevan couldn't stop him because he wasn't there. And…"
"It's okay, you don't have to keep going," Amber said kindly, but Jalerom shook his head.
"No, I need to say it. I was most scared that I'd never see Fae and the rest of you guys again. Any of us could die, and maybe we wouldn't even miss each other when we're in our respective planes. I don't know. But since I wasn't there – since I was trapped somewhere outside of the planes or even the outlands and I don't even know where – I still had all of my normal thoughts and hopes and fears," he explained, looking up at Cumelus since the clouds had passed, "And my biggest one was of never seeing any of you again. Especially Fae. And my mom. And never getting to tell Jeminya thank you. Just… so much that I was scared of not doing, you know?"
She nodded and lay back next to him, folding her arms under her head as well. "I'd be scared of never seeing you all again too. You guys… you're all I've had since Hawthorne died, and… I hope I go where he is. But even then, will I even remember him? Or any of you? Will I be separated from Ivan? I'm… I'm scared too, Jalerom." He nodded.
"I figured you might be. But I'm sure you could never forget Hawthorne… Cookie Monster."
She hit him in his side and cried, "Not fair! I'm going to ask Ellinor for your dumb nickname when we see her next!" Jalerom just laughed.
"You'll have to get through me first, scale-face," he teased as he hit her back. They began smacking each other and laughing until they got too tired, then returned to their cloud-gazing positions.
Amber sighed, "I'm pretty sure I couldn't forget any of you. But… do you think Jeminya's forgotten about us?"
"I don't know what's happening down there," Jalerom replied after giving it some thought, "I don't think she's forgotten. But she could have lost hope. It's already been over a month, and gods only know what has been happening to her…"
"Nothing good."
"Right. Nothing good. She shouldn't be down there."
The two lay in silence for a time, watching as Cumelus drifted slowly across the sky and silver and bronze dragons performed tricks in the clouds. Amber broke the silence again.
"Where's Fae?"
"In the dungeon. Ivan?"
"He went down there too. He said he had something he needed to do today."
"I see. Well, maybe he'll help her. She needs it."
"Did you need this?" she asked, and Jalerom turned his head to see her looking at him.
"Yeah. I think I did. Thanks, Amber."
"No problem. I blame Ivan."
Jalerom laughed and tried his best to get up. He had noticed a couple of golden dragons flying over the walls of the city and realized that it was nearly time for his meeting with them. Amber stood easily and helped him up.
"Thanks again. Go easy next time, okay?"
"Don't ask me embarrassing questions and maybe I will!"
The two smiled at each other and parted ways. Jalerom headed into one of the main halls, and Amber exited the palace grounds and into the main square to continue helping with construction. And both felt a lightness they hadn't felt in over a month.