My Dragon Husband, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

Part 2

That night, Kaoru tripped yet again and cursed her foggy senses, as she had so many times before. If she could still see in the dark, she would be at his side in an instant. "You can't see in the dark anymore," she whispered angrily to herself. "Stop whining and keep moving. He needs you."

Evading the guards' notice was easy, for they had prudently moved well away from their charge and could not see Kaoru in the darkness. The dragon, moonlight gleaming faintly off its scales, was a humped shape in the center of the village: a dangerous novelty on display. Kaoru gritted her teeth when she saw the chains and ropes that bound his limbs and held him pinned to the ground, torture for a being that belonged in the sky. She would kill them...if she ever found the opportunity, she would slaughter all of them like the savage little beasts they were...

Her steps slowed as she came close, for she knew that to approach a dragon carelessly was folly, no matter how helpless it seemed to be. He knew she was there - a low, menacing growl slithered out from between his jaws, and his mad golden eyes rolled to look at her. Her heart sank as she took in the tense lines of his body, the motion of his claws as they curled in readiness. He did not know her.

"My love," she whispered, but she was hesitant, for this mindless creature was no longer the mate she knew. She swallowed, and her eyes fell on the sword wound near his heart, which was still trickling blood. A name fell heavily from her lips. "Ken...shin." The golden eyes blinked, the rage in them unresponsive. "I will call you this," she said sadly, "while we are among these humans, who go about with names for fear they will forget each other."

The low growl turned into a panicked snarl when she came closer. The muscles under his crimson hide strained, but the bonds held firm. "I'm so sorry," she told him, her heart aching. "Kenshin...I would free you, but you would kill me if I did, and then you would be lost forever."

She realized suddenly that she could not feed him. Perhaps she could bring broth next time, though she wasn't sure if he would take it; but in this moment she dared not touch the chain that sealed his mouth.

She could give him a drink, at least. Unstoppering the jug, she carefully held it over his snout and tipped it, so that water came trickling through his clenched fangs onto his tongue. At the touch of it, he jerked so violently that she actually jumped back, startled. For a moment he was raging, but then he went limp and the golden eyes widened, staring at her.

There were voices in the darkness, from the distant guards. One of them was cursing. "Why won't that beast shut up?"

"You wanna go see what the problem is?" another shot back. There was some grumbling and shifting, then silence.

Cautiously, Kaoru came close again and poured more water into the dragon's mouth. This time he did not resist, though she could see that it was difficult for him to swallow. He wrenched his head back and forth in distress, half-choking; she held back a sob as she watched him, both of them so helpless. Then he found by accident a certain way of tossing his head back that made the water go down his throat, and for a few more minutes she carefully trickled more water into his mouth and he swallowed. Then he fixed those eyes on her again and growled.

Slowly, not meeting his gaze directly, she moved her arm as close as she dared to his nose, so he could get her scent clearly. The growling stopped for a moment, but then surged up again, louder than before, when she moved out of his sight. "I want to look at your injuries," she told him, though of course he did not understand.

The sword wound was the worst, for it was deep and had not been treated. The only other significant damage she could see were the arrows still caught in his wings. She briefly closed her eyes, then went back to his head, where he spit a half-choked snarl at her. "Kenshin," she said quietly. "I'm going to have to hurt you. I am so sorry, but I must. I hope you will be able to forgive me."

He did not understand her words, but she knew that her apprehension was leaking into her scent because he began to thrash, growling louder than ever. She realized that she must do this quickly, before the guards' sense of duty overrode their fear. Wasting no more time, she dashed around to Kenshin's back, and he howled the moment she left his sight again. His wings swayed with the violence of his struggles, making it difficult for her to reach them. When she managed to grab the wing with three arrows in it, his howls rose into shrieks at her touch, but he could do nothing to stop her from wrenching out arrow after arrow. There was no time to be gentle. Even as she grabbed for the other wing, she could hear human footsteps running in the darkness, and raised voices.

The last arrow was out. No chance of treating the wounds now, but they were small and would not need much help from her to heal. She circled around again and shouted at the men who were now striking the dragon, enraging it all the more, its shrieks intensified by pain and rapidly increasing anger. "Stop that!" she cried angrily. Then she sucked in a breath, remembering that she had to school her behavior while in the presence of the humans. "Please, stop. There is a better way."

"Kaoru-san," one of the men snapped. "What are you doing here? Go home, this is no place for a woman." The other guards came crowding around, angry as they clutched their crude weapons and shot venomous looks at the dragon.

"I can send him to sleep," she told them coldly. "Leave this to me; I will make sure he does not trouble you."

"Kaoru-san-"

"Do you want him to die before you can make use of him?" She winced at the hysterical note that had crept into her voice, but was relieved when they eyed each other and finally shook their heads, still looking distrustful. "Then start a fire," she snapped. She turned and went to find the package of herbs she had thought it best to bring just in case.

The odor from the burning herbs reached them even when they had backed away a safe distance. It seemed to take ages before the effect finally crept over the captured dragon, but eventually his howls died down to muted growling, his wild thrashing slowed to a drunken sway, and at long last he lay still. The nasty laughter of the relieved men made Kaoru sick.

"See?" she said shortly. "There are better ways of subduing him than trying to bludgeon him into silence."

"Thank you, Kaoru-san," they told her, with a sincerity of gratitude that surprised her. One of them even offered to walk her home.

"No...no." She added awkwardly, "Thank you, but I will be all right." She pretended to leave, hiding in the shadows until she was sure they had all retreated. A few of the more suspicious ones lingered, and she watched with frustration, hating them. She hated even more the ones who stole the opportunity to give the helpless dragon a few vicious strikes, but at last they left him alone, and she was free to creep back to Kenshin's side.

He lay completely still, his scaled sides rising and falling as he breathed. His eyelids trembled, but he would not awaken for hours. Biting her lip, Kaoru moved close to the wound in his breast and set to work. She had herbs to stop the bleeding and to speed healing, and was able at least to clean all the blood and dirt away. He would recover. He had to, before it was too late.

She had decided that no matter how wild he still was by the time appointed for his death, she would free him. Even if he killed her for it, she would free him.

To be continued...