Chapter 7
"It's time for dinner," Dave finally told Dania, after looking at his pocket watch.
Dave's stomach growled as if to tell Dania that he was hungry.
Dania giggled at the sound that Dave's stomach made but realized that she was starving as well.
"Yes, it's time for some dinner," Dania agreed, as she rose to her feet Dave immediately following. "I'm sure the food is excellent here."
"I'm sure it is too," Dave agreed smiling. "I've had food on trains before when they've had a dining car and the food is usually very good."
"Well, I'll just have to see if I agree with you, though I'm sure I will," Dania said, as she took Dave's hand. They were supposed to be a couple after all and married so it was OK for them to hold hands without people commenting.
Of course, some of those old fuddy-duddies would still give them disapproving looks because they were holding hands in public, but you just ignored people like that.
Holding hands was hardly kissing open mouthed with tongue or fondling each other, so Dania didn't know why those old fuddy-duddies would have a problem with it.
The two of them strolled through the train until they reached the dining car, and Dave pulled out Dania's chair like the gentleman he had been raised to be and then seated himself.
"Thank you," Dania said politely once she was seated.
"You are quite welcome," Dave told her smiling. "Order anything you want, honey. We are on our honeymoon after all," Dave added teasingly. "Isn't that what you told the conductor?"
"You know why I said that, though," Dania shot back though her voice was quiet, as she didn't want to draw attention.
"Yeah, I do," Dave agreed smiling, as he remembered Dania telling the conductor that they were on their honeymoon when she had seen the man looking at her fake wedding ring, and wedding band.
Both of them opened their menus and studied them, and Dania decided on the ham as she had never eaten ham while she was on her own because it was so expensive, but then again, so was seafood, even though San Francisco was a port, which meant it was cheaper there than elsewhere.
Still, Dania was well aware, that she was going to be able to enjoy well prepared food for a long time thanks to her involvement with Dave, because before she'd had to cook her own, as she couldn't afford to eat out and she had never been able to cook seafood, even if she'd been able to afford the ingredients.
But then again, she had only been 11 when her entire family was murdered, and her mother had barely begun to teach her magic or how to cook for the day she got married.
Obviously, her mother might've taught her how to prepare seafood though come to think of it she never remembered a meal that involved fish or oysters or any other seafood, which either meant it was too expensive for her family to afford, or her mother wasn't good at preparing it. Some people weren't Dania knew and her mother might have been one of them.
It could be either one Dania knew, though she wasn't sure which, not that it really mattered. That didn't mean that her mother hadn't been a great cook of anything except seafood though, and she missed her mother's cooking sometimes with a dull ache.
She also missed her mother with a longing that was actually painful on occasion.
"You know, I miss my mother sometimes," Dania finally spoke after they had both decided on what they wanted to eat.
"I can't blame you there as I miss mine as well, sometimes," Dave said quietly, as they waited for the waiter to approach their table. "She might've been queen, but she was still my mother."
"While mine wasn't royalty she was still kind and considerate, which didn't mean she didn't have a temper, though if somebody annoyed her mostly my brothers and occasionally my sisters too. She was also a great cook of most any type of food, except seafood as we never had that while I was growing up."
"Nobody can be good at everything," Dave said, and Dania laughed softly in agreement.
"True enough," Dania agreed. "It could also be that seafood was just too expensive to purchase, even though we did live near a port, but my family lived outside of San Francisco not in the city so it's quite possible that any type of seafood was just more than my family could afford."
"It could very well be," Dave agreed. "Things that had to be imported were more expensive than things that were exported."
"It's not like the fish or whatever it was would've had to come very far since we lived close to San Francisco," Dania snarked sarcastically. "Still, I do understand what you mean."
Dave chuckled at his mate's sarcasm, even as the server approached their table.
"Still, I do understand that transporting goods that need to remain as fresh as possible inland cost a great deal, as the food needs to get wherever its going before it spoils."
"You'll have to try some seafood once we get to Chicago or maybe somewhere along the way," Dave suggested.
"Be happy to," Dania said enthusiastically. "I have had seafood before once, but that was all. I never had it when I was on my own, as I never ate out if I could help it. I admit, I haven't had seafood in years."
Dave and Dania ordered their food from the server who then left them to continue their conversation.
"Whenever you want seafood just let me know and I'll be perfectly happy to take you somewhere where you can get it," Dave offered.
"That's very sweet of you Dave and I certainly appreciate it," Dania said touched at Dave's generous nature.
Dave said nothing to the comment, just gave his mate's hand a squeeze to communicate that he understood.
~~~Dave and Dania~~~
"So, I know this is a rather inappropriate question and I would never voice it if we weren't alone, but why haven't we've been making love? If I am your mate I would think you would want to have sex with me as crude as that is and yet you've never have even mentioned it."
"First off, let me say I don't mind rude or crude questions as some of the expectations in society, especially for women are ridiculous," Dave begin after getting over his shock at Dania's question.
"As to your question about us making love, let me just say, I would love to, but I also didn't want to force you. I was trying to go slowly since I know that technically we only met a few weeks ago and you're still not sure if you're going to stay with me permanently or go your own way at some point.
"I hope you decide to stay with me, as even the thought of you going on your own way away from me is painful," Dave continued.
"As to having intercourse, I would love to have sex with you, though you must realize that there's every chance you'll get pregnant and if that's OK with you then I'll be happy to oblige you."
Dania blushed at Dave's very blunt and truthful answer, but since she had asked, she couldn't really censor him for speaking his mind.
In fact, she appreciated Dave's honesty, even if he made her blush in embarrassment at his bluntness.
"I've wanted children for a long time," Dania said. "I just never figured I'd find a man that would want more than a one night stand or as his lover, but not as his wife. I've always turned down other men's offers, because I could tell that they didn't want anything permanent. No, they just wanted to have sex with me and then dump me not caring about my reputation. Not to mention, they were rude and called me, sweetie pie or honey, and pinched my behind when I walked too close to their tables."
"Women have to endure a lot from men," Dave acknowledged, with a rather sour expression, as he thought about how crude men would pinch his mate's behind and call her cute nicknames that they didn't really mean, all designed to get her into their beds.
Men could be such asses and also pigs. He ought to know, as he had heard it all over the centuries.
"True, at least for the ones that came into the restaurant, but then, I know I lived in a poor part of town, though certainly not the poorest," Dania agreed.
"Men anywhere really are like the ones at the place you worked, though some have more manners because they had better upbringings," Dave said. "In any case, if you want me to make love to you, I'll be more than happy to oblige, though this isn't really the place to do it. If you want to wait till we get to Chicago, I'll rent us a hotel suite at one of the finest hotels in the city, one with a king size bed."
The enthusiasm and happiness in Dave's voice at the thought of making love to her charmed Dania no end. The excitement in his voice told Dania that Dave was genuinely looking forward to making love to her, his mate, for the first time.
"You can still rent that suite with a nice big bed when we get to Chicago, but I would like for us to make love right in that double bed. And no, I don't mind if I end up pregnant, as we are pretending to be married after all, and if I do end up pregnant, we'll just have to stay together until after our child grows up," Dania told Dave making him get a big grin on his face at the thought of her pregnant with his child.
"Any children will technically be next in line for the dragon throne, so we're going to have to be very careful to guard them all the time so that Miles doesn't find out about them and hire yet another assassin to get rid of both me and our child and probably you too for getting involved with me in the first place. He won't care that you're my mate or that our child is his niece or nephew, as he will exterminate them like they're nothing but an insect or a rat."
"We'll just have to face what comes," Dania said determinedly.
Dave said nothing because he wasn't sure that his mate realized that the way she was talking indicated that she wanted to remain at his side and would accept his tooth eventually. He didn't want to wreck things so he said nothing at all.
"Well, we'll worry about that later, as you might very well not end up pregnant as dragons don't conceive that easily, which is why my parents only had me and Miles instead of a whole lot of kids. My brother and I were several hundred years apart in age, which ought to tell you how much trouble females have getting pregnant by a dragon shifter. Most dragon shifters usually only have one or two and occasionally more.
"So, in other words, the likelihood of me getting pregnant is low," Dania said. "At least right away."
"Oh, you will eventually conceive, but it might take years or even decades before you do, that's all," Dave said. "We are compatible with other species, other than dragon shifters, so it's not that. Really, it doesn't matter who our mate is or what the species is, as we still have trouble having children and that's even with our own kind."
"I'm surprised that you haven't died out since you have so much trouble having children," Dania commented.
"Oh, there are still thousands of us, but they're certainly aren't as many dragon shifters as there are humans on this plane," Dave said. "The witches of my plane, however, certainly outpace us population wise as they don't have the trouble having children so long as they breed with their own kind. They are much like humans or the witches here on this plane in that way. We are in no danger of dying out unless there's some kind of global catastrophe. Of course, I won't say that there won't be a lot of dragon shifters deaths, because of my brother, but even he won't be stupid enough to kill off his own species to where he and I are the only ones left."
"Are you sure about that?" Dania inquired in a sardonic tone. "I mean from everything you've told me about him he seems like the type that wouldn't care whether or not he kills off enough of your species to where you would die out in a few thousand years, since you have so much trouble having children."
"Now that's a horrible thought," Dave said actually shivering in horror. "Let's hope that Miles is not that stupid or that greedy. Still, there's no point of worrying about it right now, though I'll hate to see the damage Miles has caused in all the centuries I've been gone. Still, there's no point of worrying about it right now, as there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Believe me, I wish more than anything I could, but I can't, because if I showed my face without enough forces at my back, I would be dead before I knew it."
"So how are you going to get enough forces to retake the throne?" Dania wondered.
"Well, a lot of the Royal Court escaped, ones loyal to my parents, but that's hardly enough to retake the palace," Dave said. "We might have to use some of the weapons from this world in order to retake my realm. I hate to do that though because we're all about honor."
"So, using weapons from this world wouldn't be honorable," Dania said immediately understanding what Dave was getting at.
"It would largely depend on what kind of weapons we used," Dave said. "Technology is improving all the time and the humans already have guns, even if they're pretty primitive. The technology will be improved upon over the next few centuries to where I'm sure we could retake the palace using some guns and other weapons that can kill a lot of people at once. The problem with that idea, though is, we might kill some innocent people. I would hate to have the death of innocents on my conscious, though I'll have no problem dealing with Miles and those that have supported him and if that means shooting them in the head with a gun then so be it. I won't feel the slightest bit guilty if that scenario happens."
"What about some of the witches from your realm? Would they be willing to help you retake your kingdom? I'm sure they're feeling the pinch of Miles greed just as your people are."
"They probably are and I'm sure relations with them are going to be strained if I am ever crowned king. That's only if they are not, totally destroyed by the time Miles is finally overthrown."
"Which to me, means they'd be willing to help you in retaking your kingdom back from your brother," Dania pointed out logically.
"Probably," Dave said considering it. "If we can get the witches on our side then we might not need to use any of the weapons from this realm. That's a possibility for the future, but it's certainly a good one."
"Glad I could help," Dania told him smiling.
"Yes, it was a great idea, but it's not going to happen anytime soon, so why worry about it right now?" Dave said.
"So how many dragons are on this world?" Dania asked.
"A couple of hundred," Dave said.
"That seems like a lot to me," Dania said.
"It's really not, when you're planning a counter rebellion to dethrone your own brother, because he stole the throne from his own parents. I'm sure that Miles probably has at least a few witches working for him and there will be at least 500 to 600 people inside the palace alone. All of those might not be loyal to my brother, but there's really no way to know without questioning them one at a time. I'm sure they are at least some of the servants that are still loyal to me, because they were loyal to my parents and if that's true, they're bound to be keeping their heads down."
"Because your brother will have them killed if he discovers that they're not loyal to him," Dania suggested, and Dave nodded, looking grim.
"Exactly," Dave agreed.
The two fell silent, and Dania began taking off her clothes without a word, and Dave watched with eagerness as Dania got naked in front of him for the first time.
Dave was smart enough to understand that this was Dania's way to end the previous conversation and to indicate that she was ready for him to make love to her for the first time, something he would do with great pleasure.
~~~Dave and Dania~~~