Another chapter! Wow, I'm really pumping these things out, aren't I? Must have something to do with the fact that someone duct-taped me to the keyboard when I wasn't looking. Those sneaky…

Okay, this one's shorter than some, but I don't care! Hah! Anyway, review or else. Or else what, you say? Sporkings. Random sporkings. *Evil Laughter*

Those of you who say "But I already reviewed, Tierl!" Do it again! ^__-

Lady Nightwind- Since I know you in real life I take the opportunity to say that your brain runs off quite frequently. ^_^ And you KNOW what the dance of cheese and crackers is. I told you, remember? Took you long enough to review my story…since you're the first person who READS IT! :P

Windigo the Feral NYAR- Of course it's not cheating! Here's more, keep the henners away from me! Back, damn you! Back! *Fends off henners with spork*

Crimson Primrose- Well, dear Ryu and friends shall have a future role…quite a large one. ^_^ If only to mess things up even more. Bwahahaha…and Yahla will get home…eventually. ^_^

Review more, people!

Please see introduction for disclaimer regarding this work.

Chapter Fourteen

One Kind Deed Merits Another

"Your husband?!" The demand was explosive, bursting from the king's throat as he stared at her in disbelief. For a moment he remained speechless, searching for words. "Elena, what have you brought into our castle?" He started to call for the guards, but Elena grabbed his arm, hanging on to him the best she could.

"Father, the First Emperor saved my life! You would repay him like this?" she looked pleading, her childlike face sincerely upset. "Please, Father!"

The king opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again. "You're right." He turned to look at Yahla, his expression sheepish. "My apologies. You must understand my people have been at war with yours for hundreds of years. I reacted without thinking."

Yahla nodded, smiling slightly in amusement. I be not wise to the reason mine beloved saved thy princess, but as of the moment I be glad he didth. "'Tis understandable. I be no more trusting of thy people."

"Well. It looks as though we owe your husband a debt." He sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair. There was another uncomfortable silence, before he said, "May we ask your name?"

"'Tis Yahla," she replied guardedly, watching the mortal through slitted eyes.

Looking her up and down, the king smiled wearily. "It suits you, I think. I'm afraid I've a great deal to talk over with my daughter, and any discussion over what aid we can offer you to repay our debt to your husband must wait for tomorrow. In the mean time, will you accept one of our guestrooms and a meal? And a bath." He wrinkled his nose. "You look like you could use one, if you pardon my frankness."

After a long pause Yahla accepted, the idea of a bath being too tempting to give up. "Very well."

After the dragoness was shown to her temporary quarters, the king enfolded his daughter in another hug. "I've missed you so, Elena."

"I've missed you, too, Father." She returned the hug, resting her head on her father's shoulder. "So much has happened, I don't really feel like myself anymore."

"You may have changed, Daughter, but you're still my Elena, my little princess," he told her, lifting her chin to look into her blue eyes. "You'll always be my little girl."

Smiling a bit tearily, the windian whispered, "I love you, Daddy."

"I dost not need aid in lavening! Goest from this place!" The dragoness' voice was sharp with wrath and her narrowed eyes prompted the mortal to back down. Naturally, the human failed to notice the warning signs.

"But Milady," the maid protested, clasping her delicate hands together in a gesture of sincerity. Her big blue eyes gazed winsomely up at Yahla, an expression intended to be endearing that simply got on one's nerves. "The king told me to help you with what every you needed! Now, let me help you out of that, please." She moved to undo the fastenings of Yahla's armor, but jumped back as the dragoness fended her off with a handful of sharp claws.

"Fie! Pray thee cease, er I halt thee!" Unlike many mortals, Yahla did not protest in some attempt to maintain modesty, as she hardly cared if a mortal saw her naked, but because she was more than capable of taking care of herself. She was also presently in the mood to be left alone, preferably as much as possible. And besides, only her husband was allowed to wash her back.

"But…" The maid didn't seem to know what to do, as if Yahla's refusal had turned her entire world upside down. She asked plaintively, her eyes starting to look teary, "Don't you want a bath, Milady?" The little maidservant added brightly, "Cleanliness is next to godliness, my mother always said."

At this the dragoness exploded and chased the poor servant from the room, shrieking, "I be already a goddess! Out! OUT!" She then promptly slammed and locked the door in the bewildered and frightened human's face.

Breathing heavily, she turned her back to the door and leaned against it, anger still flooding her veins. The effrontery of this mortal…

Her eye fell across the steaming tub that had been prepared for her bath, and her mood swing left as quickly as it had come, banished by the idea of being clean after days of filth. She unfastened her armor and slipped out of it, wondering if there was someone in the castle with the proper equipment to clean the stuff. Figuring that would have to wait for later, Yahla spread it out on the floor before lowering her self into the basin of hot water. It was almost too hot to be comfortable, but Yahla basked in it anyway, feeling sore muscles uncramp and relax. The dragoness sunk up to her chin in it, the steam of the water warming her face and smelling faintly perfumed. She was content just to soak for several minutes, before starting to wash off. To her delight, they had both soap and shampoo ready for her, a luxury she had done without for several hundred years. In fact, the last time she had bathed with soap had been on the evening before she had nearly sacrificed herself to save her husband.

Yahla worked up a thick lather between her hands and massaged it into the skin of her face and shoulders, rising from the water to get at the rest of her body. She soaped and rinsed several times before her skin felt sufficiently clean, the evidence of her days of travel removed. Dirt, oil, and dry skin sloughed off, leaving her skin with a healthy shine.

Her hair proved more difficult to get clean, tangled and thick as it was. She ended up using most of the shampoo provided, though it would normally have been enough for five people to wash their hair with. At last the tangles were worked out along with the filth and Yahla rose from her bath.

Water ran down her shoulders and back and little puddles formed as she stepped, dripping, out of the tub. Her hair hung wet and clinging to her back, and Yahla reached for a towel, intending to dry out the long coil before it tangled again. Dismayingly, the towel ended up sopping wet before her hair ended up dry. Several more towels a later, the dragoness had her hair dried to satisfaction and started rubbing the water off her skin.

In a short amount of time, Yahla was dry and smelling mildly of soap. She sat down on the bed they had provided her, comfortable in her nudity. After a moment of contemplation and enjoying the sensation of being clean, she stood and went over to her armor. Holding it up to examine it, she grimaced. It desperately needed to be cleansed, and the dragoness let it drop back to the floor. She wasn't inclined to wear something to dirty after all the effort she had taken to return to her immaculate condition. The dragoness went back to sit on the bed, one slender leg folded under her as the other hung off the side of the mattress.

Glancing about, the dragoness found to her amusement that her hosts had failed to supply any extra clothes. I wouldst wonder at their reaction wert I to be going to their supper arrayed as I be… The image brought a grin to her face, and her eyes narrowed mischievously.

There was a knock at the door, and Yahla turned to look at it with a raised brow. Rising gracefully from her sitting position, she walked over to the door, "Yes?"

It was the maid, who had apparently become terrified of her at some point in time. The girl's tremulous voice was barely audible through the wood and it shook as though she expected to be attacked at any second. "Mi-Milady? If-if I can't help you bathe…can I…can I at least give you some clothes?"

Grinning and trying without much success not to laugh, Yahla opened the door to let the maid in. The girl entered with a pile of clothes weighing her down, stacked so high in her arms that the dragoness doubted she could see over them. The human put the mountain of dresses down on the bed, before turning to see the dragoness. The servant's eyes widened hugely, and she put a hand up to cover her mouth.

Yahla crossed her arms over her naked breasts and raised an eyebrow in question. "I wouldst be thinking that were thou assigned to assisteth guests in bathing thou wouldeth ne'er be offended by exposure of the body."

The maid blushed an interesting shade of red, replying, "It wasn't that, Milady. I just…those are terrible scars, Milady."

Yahla glanced down at the scar tissue that covered much of her chest and stomach. "'Tis so," she agreed, figuring there wasn't much else one could say about them.

The human walked a bit closer, totally unabashed by the dragoness' nudity. That, of course, was to be expected in her line of work, and it was a pleasant change from mortals who attempted to camouflage themselves as tomatoes at the sight of bare skin. Yahla, feeling a bit more tolerant after her bath, allowed the mortal to inspect the scars to her satisfaction. The little female's eyes opened even wider as she took in the extent of the damage, and she exclaimed in morbid fascination, "That's horrible! How did you get them all?"

"Sundry ways, little mortal," Yahla said, amused and a little saddened by the curiosity. "Dost thou truly wish to know?"

The maid stared another time at the flaws in Yahla's other wise unblemished skin, and shuddered. "No, I don't think I do, I guess. Let me help you dress, Milady."

She frowned. "I canst array mineself," the dragoness argued, though she wasn't looking forward to it. Yahla had never worn clothes in her hybrid dragon form, and had no idea how to get a dress on over her wings. Usually, whenever she went some place she would need to wear anything, she went in the shape of a human. In this case, her pregnancy made it so she didn't have the energy to change shape.

"Not with some of these dresses, Milady," the mortal contradicted her, starting to sort out several of the outfits, all of which looked to have been made for windians. "The fastenings for them are all in the back, and you have to have another set of hands to get in and out of them, Milady. Now, which do you like the best?" The windian held up several of the dresses, all of them approximately Yahla's size.

It took some time to find a dress that fit Yahla, and even longer to find one she was willing to wear. At last they settled on a strapless green gown that was decorated with gold lining and embroidery. It was made for a windian but would work well for anyone with wings, hybrid dragons included.

After the human finished fastening and adjusting the gown, she led Yahla over to a full-length mirror set in the wall. Yahla inspected her reflection with interest, noticing she was starting to show slightly.

The dress was form fitting and low-cut, showing off a great deal of cleavage and pale green skin. It sat snug against her body until below her waist, where it spread out into an elegant skirt. A narrow slit ran up to her thigh on one side, and on the other elaborate creases and folds formed a waterfall pattern that started over her right hip. Patterns had been sewn in golden thread on the torso and skirt of the dress, closely matching Yahla's eyes.

"May I do your hair, Milady?" the maid asked, bringing Yahla out of her examination of her reflection. Without waiting for an answer, the human started to brush it out, commenting on the length and softness. She pouted when Yahla forbade her to do anything but brush it, but quickly go over the disappointment and was chattering about things again while she pulled the dragoness' hair. Ready for the evening meal and out of patience, Yahla ended up chasing the maid out of the room again.

"Father, I realized when I thought I'd never see home again that I can't do it," Elena said, sitting next to her father in his room. She had changed some time ago into a white and pink dress, and since then father and daughter had been talking for hours.

"Daughter, you were willing before," her father asked, frowning slightly. He had expected some changes from his eldest daughter after her ordeal, but this had not been one of them. "Why now?"

The windian princess averted her gaze, staring at the floor. It was obvious she felt she was somehow disappointing her father or failing in her duty. "I…When I agreed to marry the prince of Ludia…" Her voice trailed off, and she tried again, still hesitant. "I was willing to have an arranged marriage, without love…but I can't marry someone I don't love…when I already love another."

The silence was long and uncomfortable, before the king finally broke it. "It's Cray, isn't it. The chief of the worrens." He didn't make it a question, for he was certain he already knew the answer.

Elena nodded miserably, her gaze still lowered. "I…didn't mean to fall in love with him, Father. Things just happened, and I…"

The king interrupted her, laying a hand on her arm. "Elena." She raised her gaze to his, and he continued softly, "It's okay, Daughter. I was going to break the betrothal anyway, so you and Cray can marry without worry."

She straightened up at this, looking surprised. "But, Father…why?" The look on her face warred between joy and confusion, though joy was winning.

The king smiled grimly. "Ludia and Windia haven't been getting on well these day. Cray went into the Empire to search for you after you disappeared, and Ludia attempted to bring him up on charges for it when he was caught. When Cray escaped he fled to Windia, and we sheltered him from the Ludians. I'm afraid our relationship has been getting worse and worse."

Elena caught her father in a hug, startling him and almost knocking him out of his seat. "That's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard!" she exclaimed joyfully, before skipping out of the room, singing happily at the top of her lungs. She had a beautiful voice, and since she forgot to close the door he could hear it as she wove her way throughout the hallways of the castle.

Shaking his head, the king watched her go. He was unable to keep the smile off his face. After a while he got up and shut the door, before moving to change for supper.