-Courting-

Jordan walked through his kingdom, arms crossed behind his back and blue eyes glaring down at the ground. He passed by the merchants, selling their goods with ranged prices. He made his way back to his castle, ignoring all those around him.

He hadn't given the idea any thought—he never needed to, either. He was immortal. He wouldn't die unless some other god killed him. He didn't need an heir.

"Sir? Sir, King Jordan!"

Jordan stopped and turned, scowling slightly. "What? What is it?"

The messenger bowed deeply, holding out a slip of paper. "From the Kingdom of Adraredon."

Jordan took the letter, frowning, and opened it. He read the first three lines, and then the paper suddenly was torn into pieces. He let them flutter to the floor and stomped on the remains.

"So should I tell them it is a no, your majesty?"

Jordan growled, running a hand through his hair. "No. Send a different messenger; say that you died on the journey back."

The messenger bowed again before scurrying off.

Jordan turned on his heel and began walking again, knowing it was already too late. The king and queen of Adraredon were an ambitious couple, and they were most likely already sending their two daughters to him. Which was perfectly fine, seeing that he wanted nothing to do with them.

Right.

[…]

Jordan scowled down at the floor, ignoring the advisors trying to bring him out of his foul mood. Like he had expected, the princesses of Adraredon had already been sent. They were currently being pampered in some giant guest room. He had taken one look at them and had immediately tried to order them away in the nicest way possible, but the two bratty women had turned their noses up and continued to compliment on his kingdom.

The next three princesses came without warning. They had been much more polite, making conversation with practiced ease and trying to win their way to the title as Queen.

Jordan had ordered them away, too.

And the next one, and the next three, and then the two after that.

[…]

"Your Highness, should you not have a wife and an heir to the throne? What if something were to happen to you?"

Jordan cast a sharp glare over to the advisor who had spoken. He was an old man, with balding white wisps of hair and thick glasses sitting on his hooked nose. He shrunk under the king's stare, but held his ground.

"You know very well nothing can happen to me. If I marry, I will have to go through the pain of seeing her die. And if I have children, the same thing. I do not need an heir and definitely not a queen. That is final. Try to force marriage upon me one more time, and you will find yourself stripped of all power. Got it, Jared?"

Jared nodded, hands wringing the feather pen tightly. "Y-yes sir."

"You're excused. Leave."

[…]

Jordan stared out the window silently, twisting the fountain pen back and forth. He had sent the princesses back home, and now he just had to write several letters explaining why. He looked down at the papers and sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Dear Notch, help me…"

There was a scraping noise on the roof. He looked up and stood, hurrying over to the window. Oteri leaned over the edge of the roof, nudging the glass pane open. "Snowy wanted to see you," he explained, letting the blind dragon crawl off his head and into Jordan's arms.

The larger dragon turned away, looking out over the kingdom. "I like this place, you know. You should move us all here. It is very interesting."

"I don't think my people would like that, sorry bud." Jordan let Snowy clamber onto his shoulders, ignoring the lava dripping from her jaws. "But you can stay for a while, as long as you don't bother anybody."

"What are those women doing down there?" Oteri asked suddenly, sweeping a wing towards the street. "Why are they dressed in such a fashion?"

Jordan looked down and scoffed at another two princesses, climbing out of a carriage. "They must be here to propose," he muttered. "Oteri, show them that I don't need a queen."

"What' a queen?" Snowy asked, claws winding around the onyx pendant. "Is it something special?"

"To some people, it is. Go on, Oteri. But just those two, alright? Give them a scare, don't eat anything. I still have to pay that shepherd back from when you ate two of his lambs."

Oteri warbled sheepishly and took to the air, circling above the streets. He landed with a roar, spreading his wings wide and running towards the two ladies. "Dinner! Come to me!"

The two screamed (Jordan could hear it even from the tower he was in) and scurried back to their carriage. One of them bent down and grabbed her shoe, throwing it at Oteri before following her sister. Oteri grumbled, rubbing his nose with a slight scowl. He spread his wings and took to the air, circling above the carriage.

"Filthy vermin!" he cried, tail tip flicking over the top of the carriage, making it wobble dangerously. "How dare you?"

The two screamed again, and a handful of jewels and gold was tossed out of the carriage, along with a purse full of even more riches. They had clearly come prepared to show off. Oteri roared, landing next to the gems. Smoke trailed from his nostrils as he chased the carriage down the street, only stopping once the panicked horses had taken it out of the gates.

He grinned smugly and flew back, gather the gems and flying back up to Jordan, who was struggling to breathe through his laughter.

"Snowy, I got some more treasure for you. I'll go put it in your hole, okay?"

Snowy chirped happily, head bobbing in a joyful nod. "Thank you, thank you!"

"You… You did well, Oteri," Jordan gasped out, rubbing the dragon's broad forehead. Oteri rumbled happily from the compliment and jumped away from the tower. "The next time someone sends you women for queens, remember to call me. That was quite fun."

Jordan smiled and turned away from the window as he flew back to Jerry's tree. He took Snowy off his shoulder and went to the door. "You know," he said to the dragon, "I think a merchant is selling a pearl necklace. Have you ever seen a pearl?"

She shook her head. "What is a pearl? Is it treasure?"

Jordan nodded and said, "Yes, it's a treasure. You can wear it, too. Like I can with this pendant."

"That sounds amazing. Can I have it?"

"Yeah, of course you can. I'd love to buy it for you."

Snowy smiled, flashing her sharp little teeth, and continued to make small talk. She told him about how Corari had done a flip from the diving board a few hours ago, and how Solari had started a little play fight because he had been splashed. "I do not blame him. I would have done the same thing," he said to finish up the story. Jordan hummed and walked towards the merchant that had been selling the treasures.

"We're here, Snowy. Get on my shoulders, okay?"

She obeyed and scrambled onto his left shoulder, setting her chin on his head. Jordan smiled at the merchant and asked for the pearl necklace, handing over a few emeralds for trade. "Your Highness," the merchant said politely, bowing as he presented the pearls. "I am honored."

Snowy snatched the pearls up, studying them. She sniffed them, tongue flicking over the pink and white orbs. "They smell of the ocean," she murmured, sliding them over her head. "I quite like the smell of the ocean. Thank you, Papa."

"Anything for you, Snowy," Jordan said, nodding at the merchant, who smiled and turned to his next customer.

Snowy hummed happily, twisting the necklace in her fingers. He reached up and scratched her jawbone, ignoring the drip of lava that run down his hand. He smirked and flung it into the stream as he walked over the bridge. "Anything for you."

I like this one. I had fun writing the scene with Oteri.

But now I need to talk to you guys about something. So, I hope almost all of you are reading Wizard. If you aren't, don't start. I have posted a poll concerning it, and I need most of your guys' opinions.

Wizard is not how I want it to be. And right now, I'm stuck. Like, really really bad stuck. I have thought about taking it down and rewriting it, then posting it again with a lot of changes. It will mostly be the same, but it'll be… different. You'll see if I get enough response concerning the issue.

I just feel that it's not how it could be, and that I could've done much better with it. So tell me what you guys think, but please vote in the poll if you're able. I'll be looking at that to know what to do, not the reviews. (I'll still look at the reviews, don't worry.)

So yeah… Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one-shot. Tell me what you think, stay awesome, and thank you.

-Cold.