Dragon's Tongue | Bard x gn!reader
『••✎••』
↳ ❝ Hi!
Can I request the prompts “Take it, I want you to have it” With Bard please? ❞
: ̗̀➛ Bard doesn't mind being in a relationship with a soldier, especially not one that's lost absolutely everything.
: ̗̀➛ violence & death, angst
•───────────────★•♛•★──────────────•
You coughed weakly as you started to stir, heat rising and bubbling from your stomach up to your face as you stretched and looked over next to you; Bard was still sound asleep, lying on his stomach with his arm draped across your stomach, his fingers splayed out so he could feel the rise and fall as you breathed.
You almost felt bad for it, in all honesty. Being awake so late while he was so sound. But you couldn't help it. The life of a soldier was an entirely different world than that of a bargeman, after all.
Everything you had seen, you could still picture it so clearly. You did your duties, you paid the price of a mile ten thousand times over - yet it felt like it had all been in vain.
Lucky to be alive, you were one of the few that survived from your regiment; one of the few to be saved by the very thing that Bard had been born to kill.
You had spent years defending a dragon that slept soundly within the mountains of a small island; you could still hear the steady rise and fall of its great breath, an earthquake beneath your feet, when it slept.
You could still feel the heavy vibrations when it grumbled and alerted you to danger. It wasn't like any other dragon; it had given its life to defend the people of part of the small island.
Towering in stature, its winged seemed to form two massive mountains on their own, its legs thicker than any stone or metal you had ever known. The smallest of its sharp and pointed teeth was still longer than you were tall.
But its red scales, shimmering in the golden hour sun, were always so beautiful. Brilliant crimson and ruby shades mixed with garnet and merlot. Its eyes were angular, and its tongue formed a massive pointed arrow at the end, almost identical to its tail.
Its great claws were able to tear apart even the heaviest of stones, and the spikes that littered its body seemed denser than anything else you could have imagined. The dragon never hurt anyone, though. It seemed to know who its people were, and was only ever hostile to outsiders.
You had spent years guarding it, keeping it safe. The dragon's tongue was always more natural when leaving your mouth, as opposed to the language of men.
The sword that currently sat at the beside, now dulled and neglected, had once been pulled from a lake by that massive beast, who had insisted that you needed it. It never said when, or why. But you did find out.
You found out the day that they attacked from the east. Men, armed to the teeth and with gnashing and gnawing accents, Men, who wanted to take over the part of the island that you belonged to, and would stop at nothing to take it.
They outnumbered you, and they had more artillery; you and your men would never have survived, if it hadn't been for that dragon.
It had fulfilled its promise, coming to aid its people when they needed it most; using its massive tail and claws to take down as many as it could - but it did not expect them to have catapults, and nor did it expect them to use them to chain it down.
By the time it had broken free of its chains, you and your men had all but entirely been wiped out by the men. The dragon had managed to fend them off for long enough for the survivors to flee, but heavily injured, you never got far.
But what those men did to your home... you could never forgive such animosity. Such beastly and inhuman actions.
They had taken everything. They banned the dragon's tongue, and anyone who was caught uttering even a single word had been beaten and bruised to the point of near death.
They took your homes, demanding that they owned them, and forcing you out of your own lands. They outlawed your practices - culture, traditions, holidays. Everything.
That poor dragon, who had given its life to defend you and your people, was trapped inside the mountain.
They promised that it would never come back, that they would slaughter everyone if it did.
Lake-town was your best option. Far enough from those men that you could feel safe, yet close enough that you didn't miss your home too much. Even though it wasn't your home anymore. Even though they had destroyed every ounce of your home.
Bard, despite his distrust and distaste for the beasts, had encouraged you to teach him and his children the dragon's tongue - he picked it up well enough, although you still had to wonder off a few times.
Sometimes it was too much to remember that you once had a lovely, beautiful home; situated within deep Valleys near the mountain. Near the river that ran through the part of the island that you and your men had given your lives to protect.
But Bard had never been anything but understanding. A soldier, you were never really used to kindness. You were never used to a gentle touch and a soft kiss. But Bard changed that. You would trust him with anything, everything.
He stirred what he felt you move, shifting around to lie on his side as he let out a long yawn and looked at you with such horrible softness in his eyes.
"The mountain?"
You nodded, a little surprised when you swiped a hand down your face and felt something wet near your eyes. "Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mâd, tros ryddid gollasant eu gwaed..."
Bard nodded, frowning as he moved a little closer, looming up at you and daring to smile sadly. "So did you."
You shook your head, clearing your throat. "I should be dead. I should've died in... in my home..."
It was a particular kind of homesickness, Bard knew that better than anyone. The type of homesickness that wasn't just limited to a place; it was missing a language, a culture, traditions. People.
The true meaning of home. It was never about a place, it was never about those beautiful Valleys or that deep, blue river or those cold rocky mountains. It was about the humanity. It was about what had been stolen so violently. It was about the people.
There wasn't much Bard could do, except get up as he hummed under his breath. He grabbed his leather and fur coat, and tossed it over to you as he dared to flash you a quick smile.
"We'll go sit outside, come on."
You nodded, tugging it on and inhaling his scent for a moment before falling into step beside him and standing by the front door.
"I used to think it was funny," you mumbled. "I was born to protect a dragon - you were born to kill one."
Bard smiled as he laughed softly, daring to take your hand in his. "Why don't you think it's funny anymore?"
You shrugged, swallowing thickly. "I love you too much to care about the difference anymore..."
"Are you feeling alright?" He whispered, getting close enough so that his lips were beside your ear.
You shook your head. "I don't know... is that bad?"
"No," he said quietly. "The children are all put tomorrow in the morning... what do you say you come to work with me?"
"Won't I distract you?"
"No," Bard hummed. "It might do you some good, get you back onto lakes and rivers... besides, you can wear my coat again."
"I couldn't-"
"Take it, I want you to have it," he told you gently. "Please."
46 notes
·
View notes