Series: On Dragon's Wings||Title: Proper Behavior||Chapter: Judgment
Characters: Mizael, Alit, & Leonius
Chapters: 8-8||Words: 1,865||Total: 13,325
Genre: Friendship||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Diversity Writing, section I10, multichap with exactly 8 chapters
Notes: This takes place in the same world as Ring The Dinner Bell & Face of Death, and occurs after Mizael left Vector's kingdom. Summary: Mizael's evening rest is interrupted by two strangers who think they've seen a dragon. Really. A dragon. How silly.
Alit buried his face in the hand he could spare from checking over Leonius. Seriously? Seriously, now of all times?
"Someone tell me who hired that guy. Honestly." Alit didn't move away from Leonius, who hadn't yet managed a word, but clearly was alive and going to stay that way. Bruised and battered, too busy taking in breaths to take in what was going on around him, and Alit was perfectly happy for him to be that way right now.
The guard tried to pull Mizael away. The dragon didn't so much as move a step, looking at Alit and Leonius.
"Is he all right?"
"He will be," Alit said, brushing some of Leo's hair away from his forehead. "He'll probably need to rest for a while, though." Which meant they needed to get back to the palace so he could rest in comfort. Away from falling buildings and guards who had the audacity to try to arrest someone who had just saved the Emperor's life.
The guard cleared his throat. "Did you hea -ack!"
Mizael's hand now rested on the guard's throat, tightening slowly, his eyes cool and full of fury. "Be silent. I've heard more than enough from you."
"I'd suggest you not kill him, but mostly because I think Leo's going to have a few words to say to him, and it would be a lot easier not to say them to a corpse," Alit said. He breathed easier when the sorcerers rushed into the area; they would be able to return Leo home in safety.
The guard's eyes darted worriedly from here to there but he said nothing more as Mizael pulled his hand away.
"If he touches me again, then I might forget I ate already and have a snack," Mizael said. "He doesn't look all that appetizing, but I'm willing to make some sacrifices for the sake of peace and quiet."
Alit snorted. "I don't blame you." He watched worriedly as the sorcerers tended to the Emperor's injuries. If any of them noticed Mizael standing there, they all had the good sense not to say anything about it. Even though Mizael had technically broken his exile, it was for the Emperor to decide his fate for doing that, and no one else's.
"Would you come with us?" Alit asked, looking over at the dragon. "I'm sure Leo would like to thank you in person once he's feeling better. And we can provide all the cows that you'd like." He managed a small, weary smile. "As long as you don't want a hundred a day or something like that."
Mizael's smile gleamed a bit brighter than Alit's. Alit would never understand how he could show all of those teeth. It must be a dragon thing, he decided. "I would be honored to be your guest again."
Alit said nothing at all about the way Mizael emphasized that word. Instead, he gestured for their guest to come with him, and they followed the sorcerers and guards back to the palace.
If one guard watched the dragon's back more than was strictly necessary, at least now he had the sense to keep his mouth shut.
It took three days for Leo to recover enough to be able to move out of his bed. Alit stayed with him as much as he could, while the sorcerers worked magic both mystical and mundane in order to accelerate his healing. Alit could manage some of the royal affairs, but everyone wanted Leonius back on the throne where he belonged.
Mizael enjoyed himself the whole time. He ate at least two cows twice a day, which was probably more than he actually needed, but he couldn't help enjoying the look of shock and fear on the faces of those who dared to watch him. So far as he cared, they should respect a dragon's power as much as they did that of their king.
That one guard kept watching Mizael, even going so far as to set himself up to watch outside of his bedroom door. Mizael made a point of requesting a room large enough to accommodate his dragon form and sleeping in that. He knew the guard looked in at least once a night, probably to assure himself that Mizael wasn't off devouring small children or whatever it was that he presumed Mizael would be doing that he shouldn't. So he made certain that he was always sleeping soundly, or giving the appearance of such.
By the time Leonius summoned him to the throne room, the guard looked as if he'd barely had a wink of sleep since Mizael's arrival and kept staring at him as if he expected the dragon to change to his true form and start eating everyone in the throne room.
As if he would. Two of them were his friends, and Mizael didn't eat his friends. The rest of them had too much perfume and not enough meat on their bones to satisfy him. He also never had developed a taste for humans as a regular portion of his diet.
At the appointed hour, Mizael entered the throne room. Acknowledging the fact that the room wasn't big enough for all those of Leo's court and his dragon form, he remained human-shaped. Every move smooth and graceful, he stepped forward until he stood before the Emperor.
"Dragon Mizael," Leonius greeted him at once. He was still bruised, but the injuries had faded to some extent, and he could take care of most of his duties now. "Seeing you in Spartan City is a very welcome surprise."
Mizael could see that particular guard twitching. This might well be amusing.
"I would say that I regret breaking my banishment, but in the first place, I do not, and in the second, if I hadn't, we wouldn't be speaking to one another right now," Mizael replied. He was not disappointed when the guard's hand twitched closer to his sword.
Leo bent his head. "This is very true. And for that second reason, I hereby rescind your exile. You may come and go from Spartan City as you please."
Alit's grin all but lit up the room by itself, no need for lamps or the sun required. "I hope you'll stay for a while!"
"No!" The guard stumbled forward, dark circles under his eyes and his hand clutching at his sword. "He's a dragon, my king, one you exiled for daring to steal from you! Dragons cannot be trusted! They are not like men, who obey laws and do as they are told! He will take anything that he claims is his and slaughter those who try to stop him!"
Alit and Leo both turned toward the guard, nearly identical expressions of disbelief on their features.
"Are you mad? Have you lost all of your senses?" Leo asked, head tilted to one side. "Mizeal has done nothing wrong at all here. If it weren't for him, I'd not be sitting on my throne today. What leads you to such accusations?"
"You did exile him for theft! He was caught in the act! I was there, Majesty, I saw him!" The guard lifted one shaking hand. "He should be thrown out once again, or executed for breaking his exile, not honored!"
Mizael shook his head. "I think he needs to rest. He's clearly exhausted himself watching me since I returned, and he's not thinking at his best." Mizael somewhat doubted that this guard would ever trust him. There was something oddly familiar about him as well. He doubted that they'd ever met, but there was still a faint hint of a familiar scent about him.
That bothered Mizael, in all truth. He didn't associate often with humans, and he usually could recognize the ones that he knew very well. Granted, most of the ones he knew very well were unusual in some way or the other, which was why he bothered to associate with them in the first place.
The scent prickled at the back of his nostrils and he leaned over absently take a better sniff. The guard stepped back, eyes round and wide.
"See, he wants to eat me! He knows that I am not deceived by his evil!"
Ah, yes. Now the scent clicked. "You're from Vector's kingdom, aren't you?" He eyed the guard thoughtfully. The more he thought on it, the more he began to think that he knew exactly how this guard's path had crossed with him before. "You worked for his father, to be precise. In his dungeons."
Mizael's hands curled into fists. There would never be a day when he forgot a single scent from those soldiers. Yes. This had been one of the ones who'd guarded him while Vector was in the dungeon himself. One of the ones who'd watched as Vector's father beat him and attempted to force him to obey his whims.
One of the ones who'd escaped the vengeance Vector and Mizael brought down on them all. He'd not given much thought to those, expecting Vector to weed them all out sooner or later.
Clearly he'd missed one.
Leo gave a polite kind of cough. "Be that as it may, this is more important, Mizael. As I said, you're free to come and go in my lands as you wish. But I also have something else for you: a personal reward for having saved my life."
He gestured briefly, and someone in servant's livery stepped forward. In her arms there was a very particular vase. Mizael's eyes widened, all thoughts of those horrible hours fading in the vision of what was his.
"I give this to you freely, Mizael, in reward for what you've done for me," Leo said. The servant brought it over and offered it to the dragon, who took it into his arms at once.
"I thank you," Mizael said, arms tightening around it. "But I would have done it regardless." After all, as he'd said once before, dragons lived longer than men did. He could've returned to take it a hundred years onward.
Alit and Leo both grinned at that. "And that's why you've got it now," Alit said. He bounced over toward Mizael. "So, now that you can stay as long as you like, want a proper tour of the palace? Never did get around to you having one of those."
Mizael let himself smile. "I think I would like that."
And so he did.
Dragons. Foul, unholy creatures. It was a dragon that led Prince Vector astray, the guard snarled to himself as he stalked down the road that led out of the city. The king hadn't dismissed him, but he chose not to stay in a place that allowed a dragon to be honored like a man was. At least the beast hadn't returned to Prince Vector's land for many years. The prince was probably still infatuated with him, though.
Suddenly he smiled. An idea so glistening perfect fell into his mind that he could not help himself.
I wonder what our dear Mad Prince would think of knowing that his dragon welcomes the embrace of other rulers?
It was time to go home and find out.
The End
Note: Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the story. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.