Trinket (Reverse Harem)

Magical Enough

"I can get you to the bottom of the shaft," he said, "but not inside the cave system itself. The passages are too narrow for the bubble, and it will pop. The shaft is deep enough that the pressure would crush you before I could return you to the surface."

I couldn't do much of anything from within the bubble. It was a bubble. What did I really hope to accomplish going down to the bottom of the shaft to see the unicorn's horn, anyway? What was I hoping to accomplish?

...step...step...step...

I closed my eyes.

...step...step...step...

In the memory, I didn't feel broken or sad or anything. I felt like I did right then: drifting. Past the point of caring. Listless. Apathetic. Broken. Because I had been broken. I wasn't even happy to be in the arms of my sea serpent again--because it had to have been him who had carried me. I hadn't even felt relief that he'd come for me, or he was trying to save me. I hadn't felt fear, or anger, or resentment, or trepidation, or grief. I hadn't felt anything but broken and tired. He might have been carrying me, but I was still back on those rocks, waiting to die.

And the closer I'd come to unraveling the truth of who I was, I'd just come back to the rocks.

"Or," Itek said, "Korr could freeze the shaft."

Korr raised his gaze from his tea. "That would not create a passage for her to pass through, and we don't have a fire dragon to help."

Itek pointed at Ethat. "Don't need one. Have him weave a barrier to hold back the water while you freeze it."

"That works until the dragons come and thaw it while we're down there," Asund said.

"So you and I stand guard," Itek said.

Ethat tapped his fingertips on his teacup, expression nervous.

"You're magical enough to do that, aren't you?" Itek asked Ethat. "No one talks about it, but you're just as powerful as your brother, right?"

Ethat fidgeted. "I am not as powerful as he is, but I am close. Korr is..." Ethat glanced at his brother, then back at us, "very powerful. Some say powerful enough to be Lord-Dragon."

"Not interested," Korr said around his teacup's edge. "And our family isn't politically aligned for it. And no, that's not your fault."

"I don't help," Ethat whispered.

"I am not powerful enough to be Lord-Dragon, and no one wants me as Lord-Dragon anyway. Completely impractical. Look how much ice we have." Korr gestured, somewhat impatiently, to our surroundings. "They would want you, brother. A Spring dragon as Lord-Dragon is an easy choice."

Ethat fidgeted some more.

Korr sighed. "I'm sorry, Ethat. I didn't mean to imply you failed anyone. Our family isn't connected enough, and it would have taken decades of us maneuvering through the Court to even have a chance at a coup to rule. No matter what our parents might have thought. The fact they even thought it was a possibility when you were hatched is silly and shows they had no real political savvy."

Asund leaned forward with one elbow on his knee. "Wait. Ethat, your parents looked at you to make a bid to be Lord-Dragon?"

"When we were very little," Ethat whispered. "Because my...predilections...became obvious."

"Spring dragons are even more rare than Ice dragons, and infinitely more useful," Korr said. "Our family has ambitions, and saw Ethat and myself--but especially Ethat--as a way to the Court. Technically, I am not an Ice dragon. I am a Winter dragon. Ethat is Spring. There are Summer and Autumn, of course, but Spring is the most prized by far. Our family saw us as a way to improve their circumstances."

Ethat looked down.

Itek tapped the table. "But you're powerful enough to do that, Ethat."

"I can," he said softly.

"There. You two freeze the shaft so we can have access to the bottom," Itek said. "Asund and I will stand guard. The rest of you go down there. I presume to free the unicorn's horn?"

Ormiss sighed, but it wasn't a this is pointless sigh. It was a this is grim work sigh. "I'm not sure we'll be able to, but it bears trying."

That unicorn's actions--and suffering--had informed my own choices in my previous life. Even if I ultimately had met a similar fate.

I got up so I could move to sit next to Korr. He tensed, guarded, and my soul and scars hurt. He seemed gaunt as he looked down at me, a furrow of questioning drawn between his brows.

"I do love you," I told him softly. Because I did, and the thought of losing him or hurting him made my soul ache.

Ethat, behind me, kissed my neck and breathed against my skin, a reassuring I will always love you, little monster breath. It was the only thing that made me strong enough to face Korr's grief, but if I forced the brothers to choose... was a broken unicorn just going to break everyone around her?

A wan smile crossed Korr's face. "I will never leave. It just hurts so much to know my shape carved itself into you. Painfully."

"But that's the thing, Korr."

"What is?"

I tilted my head to the side, and felt along the scars on the side of my face and neck and shoulder. "In life, we stayed friends."

"That's a minor distinction," Korr said, "and we both know it."

"No, it's not. It's a very important one. Because the God of Barren Branches restored me to you. Not my sea serpent."

My consorts, as one, lifted their heads with interest.

"And in the memories I do have," I went on, "the one with you, in the cave, is pure happiness. It's beautiful. The one in the hall, as I am carried by my serpent? I feel nothing but how beyond even pain I am. My sea serpent wasn't restored to life. No cast was made from his soul. And the God of Barren Branches didn't have to cast you to be one of my consorts. There are four other consorts I love. You were restored to me for a reason. A good reason. That good memory of you is the time we could have chosen differently. We've been given a second chance." 

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PEEPS:

I DO NOT RECOMMEND PURCHASING HOUSES. 

:: sobs quietly in corner :: 

My husband is just like "we're almost done" and I'm like "THEN I HAVE TO MOOOVVVVVEEEEE" 

Across the country.

With CATS.

In SUMMER. 

~ Merry

(pathetic pantster) 

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