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separatist-apologist · 9 months ago

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Burning Red

Summary: When Arina is brought with her father to Velaris, she sees an opportunity to escape the marriage she's desperate to avoid. She wants a smaller life- a simpler life.

One that doesn't involve a dragon.

For @erisweekofficial

Running away should have been simple. Vanish into the woods, change her name, find a job and a cottage and settle down far, far away from this place. It had never involved a dragon trailing after her, fighting off a hoard of wolves and then passing out in a mountain valley far from where they’d started.

Arina hovered over his large, orange scaled form and wondered what she was supposed to do. Did she leave him? She could have—it seemed like the only logical solution. It was night…and he’d saved her life. Arina felt a strange, yawning pull that urged her to stay.

Her indecision cost her. A furious roaring shook the valley, causing Eris to thrash his tail for a moment, as if he knew there was another dragon nearby and he needed to do something, but his injuries were too much.

Arina didn’t move, frozen with fear as a great, golden creature sailed overhead, trumpeting its rage at the intrusion. The thing landed a few yards away with enough force to shake the ground beneath them. She tumbled backward, falling against warm scales before she righted herself. The armored plating was sharp—she cut her palm in the process.

Tears pricked against the corners of her eyes, though Arina stood her ground as the beast came toward her.

“Lucien!” A woman’s voice sliced through the night, stopping the creature in its tracks. Arina could have wept, knees shaking, at the sight of a beautiful brunette stomping down the hill, hands on her aproned hips.

A moment later, a very naked man stood in place of the monster, gesturing between Arina and Eris and himself. “They encroach!”

“Are you here to kill me?” the woman asked, an amused note in her voice as she quickly untied her apron. She shoved it against him, barefoot in the sparkling grass. Arina didn’t know where to look—she didn’t want to see this naked man, even as he tied the pink and white lace apron around his body with a deep frown, the half-dead dragon behind her, or the woman herself the aforementioned man seemed to be guarding.

“No?” Arina asked, as the man huffed out a see?! “We didn’t mean to land in this place.”

“See,” the woman murmured, touching the man’s arm gently. “No one is here to harm me.”

“Could you not scent our presence?” the dragon, named Lucien, demanded.

Arina turned to the woman, who only shrugged her shoulders in response. “Of course I can’t!”

Her words were half hysterical. She felt hysterical, truthfully. Unlike Lucien, who very obviously wanted her to rouse Eris and leave, the woman came forward with sympathy etched across her features.

“Are you well?” she murmured, brown eyes radiating warmth.

“I was trying to get away from overbearing men,” Arina whispered, voice trembling as she swallowed her tears. “And I’m back where I started, but with these…these…creatures—”

Lucien snorted softly, parading past them to look at Eris.

“Come inside—”

“Inside?” Lucien scoffed, clearly riddled with disbelief. “Where we live?”

“Yes, Lucien,” she replied with saintly patience. “A little hospitality won’t hurt us.”

“He might—”

“I don’t think he’s interested in me,” she said with an easy smile, clearly amused. Arina wasn’t, though. The whole thing seemed like a strange hostage situation. Still, Arina had no choice but to follow the woman—who quickly let her know that her name was Elain—up the hill to the house. She didn’t know what prompted her to tell Lucien, the dragon-man, not to hurt Eris. Eris was her only ally at the moment, even if he was incapacitated, and she’d take him over the strangers living in the valley.

At least Eris had demonstrated he didn’t want her to die. Lucien couldn’t boast the same. Arina didn’t believe for a second he wouldn’t kill her if he thought he needed to, nor did she think this woman would be particularly upset with him should it happen.

Elain hummed to herself as they trekked up the hillside, clearly unconcerned about the rising tension. Did she feel it, or did simply not care? Arina was forced to conclude it was the latter, and that in some way, this was a usual occurrence for her.

Inside, Elain found someone's home. Childrens toys lay scattered across a brightly colored rug, causing Arina to trip when she stumbled over a painted yellow, wooden duck.

“Careful,” Elain said cheerfully, making her way into a small kitchen. A loaf of bread sat on a floral tea towel, steam rising from the crusty top. The windowsill was pushed open, revealing a pretty latticed pie cooling on the ledge. There were flowers on a little, rounded table and more plants in large, painted pots in the living room beyond. It was cozy.

Lived in.

“You have children?” Arina gaped, setting the wooden toy on the nearby table as Elain began to busy herself with food.

Her smile was soft. “One. Another on the way.”

“With…with him?” Arina demanded, because surely not. Even with the golden band wrapped around Elain’s throat, effectively marking her, Arina simply could not believe this was her chosen, simple life. He’d kidnapped her, if Arina had to guess. Forced himself on her, and she’d merely learned to make the best of a difficult situation.

“Who else?” Elain replied, her gaze sharpening ever so slightly. It didn’t help that she held a long knife in her hand that Arina didn’t doubt she’d use.

“When did you meet him?” Elain asked with more curiosity than was perhaps polite.

“This morning?” Arina replied. The day felt like several years had passed, and somehow she felt as if she’d known Eris far longer than she had. “I was trying to get away from men.”

Elain’s smile was soft. Knowing. “Funny, how it works out.”

“Is it funny?” Arina demanded, whirling so quickly that Elain’s knife clattered to the floor between them. “To trade one life shackled to a cruel master for another?”

“Is that what he’s promised you?” Elain asked, not taking the bait. Arina wanted a fight so badly that she’d pick it with a near stranger if she could.

“He didn’t make me any promises,” Arina admitted.

“What happened to him?”

Arina explained as Lucien returned, still wearing the floral apron that didn’t hide his backside at all. Without staring as he meandered his way through the home, picking up items on the floor while generally keeping watch. It felt very much like a polite warning—she was allowed because Elain willed it, but should she change her mind, he would be the one to enforce it.

“He smells…familiar,” Lucien told Elain once Arina concluded her story. He’d taken up residence in a chair at the table, which had caused Elain to make a second plate of food. She set it before him only for Lucien to shove it toward her while Arina picked at grilled chicken smothered in a garlic sauce.

“Familiar how?” Elain questioned, cocking her head so curls spilled down her shoulder. Elain hadn’t realized she was pregnant until she tried to sit, smoothing her dress over a small, rounded stomach that had just begun to take shape.

“Like my mother,” he finally said, exchanging a significant look between himself and his…wife? Kidnapped bride? None of that meant anything to Arina.

“Is he going to die?”

Lucien exhaled loudly. “No. It would be difficult to kill him. He’s simply injured.”

“Then we’ll leave as soon as he’s well,” Arina declared, suddenly wary of these two. Like my mother. Arina didn’t want to get caught up in a family affair. She intended to get Eris and herself away from these people before politely asking him to drop her off somewhere safe and go about his life without her.

The look exchanged between dragon and woman didn’t give Arina any confidence they’d allow it. She needed to be on guard and careful. Arina ate despite her nervous stomach, making polite small talk before accepting blankets for the couch in the living room.

She waited until the candles were extinguished and the sound of footsteps on the creaking wood overhead had silenced before she grabbed two of the nicer blankets and slipped out. She didn’t trust either Elain or Lucien to let them go or not to immediately send her back.

Strange, though, that she trusted Eris.

He still laid on the sandy beach of the lake, tail curled around his body as little tendrils of smoke escaped his nose with each breath. Arina pressed her palm against the soft snout, relieved when one gold eye peeked open.

He huffed in response, stretching his injured wing in an attempt to shield her from the cold. Arina held up the blankets as both his eyes opened, round and wide with surprise.

“This belongs to another dragon and his kidnapped…wife?” she whispered urgently, noting Eris’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “They say you smell familiar but I don’t trust them. I think we need to leave.”

The exhaustion on his face told her he didn’t want to. He huffed again before shifting, bones creaking from the effort. Where once a massive creature had lain, now a very naked man replaced it, curled in the dirt.

Arina dropped a blanket over his body. She didn’t want to see what he looked like naked, afraid some part of her might like it.

“We?” he questioned.

“You can stay if you want,” she replied, stomach clenching at the thought. “But I’m leaving before they wake up.”

Eris forced himself to his feet, blanket falling gracefully to the ground. His body was a mass of toned muscle and broad shoulders, ribboned in glittering orange scales that gleamed in the waning moonlight. Arina tried—and failed—not to look any lower. He wasn’t erect, at least, but the largeness of him alarmed her.

Her eyes flew back to his face. The creature was too exhausted to have any smugness to him, holding out his hand for the other blanket draped over her arm. She thought he wanted it, but Eris merely staggered forward to bunch it over her shoulders.

“We’ll fly until I can’t,” he said, voice close to a whisper. “And then we sleep.”

“Fine.”

Once he was well, she’d leave him. Gripping her chin beneath cool fingers, Eris forced her to look at him. He didn’t say a word, amber eyes searching her own as if looking for something he’d missed. Arina pulled from his grasp, frustrated he was touching her.

Eris exhaled. Had he found what he was looking for? She hoped not. The last thing she needed was a duel between the fiance she’d escaped and the dragon now re-standing before her. Eris bowed his neck, allowing her to clamber up the smooth scales. There was little for purchase, though once he righted himself, she realized she wasn’t really in danger of falling.

He took to the skies, glancing her way only once. No one came to chase them.

They were safe.

ERIS:

He wanted to die.

Every inch of his body screamed for rest, begging him to land on the ground where he could close his eyes and allow his dragons blood to heal the wounds rapidly reopening with each flap of his wings. His mate wanted to leave, believing they were in danger of another dragon. Eris wouldn’t have told her no, but the thought of another male sniffing around make him anxious.

He was injured—it would be easy for another dragon to lay claim to her and snatch her up before he could do a thing about it.

So he flew through the night, gritting his teeth until blood flooded his mouth, looking for anywhere he could safely set her down. Somewhere she couldn’t escape, though he knew that was wrong, too. He had no right to hold her hostage and force her to accept him.

But she didn’t know him, either, and was convinced he was a creature he wasn’t. When he fell into a healing slumber, he didn’t want her to run off and be recaptured. Or worse, harmed, because she wouldn’t listen to sense of reason.

The problem was how few places there were to truly go. Behind him lay Velaris and the vast kingdom belonging to Rhys. To the east, Windhaven and the home of the eastern Dragons which lay in the hands of Cassian. If Rhys demanded Cassian hand Arina over, Cassian would do it.

His own territory was further to the west, over a vast ocean Eris wasn’t convinced he could cross without dying.

Eris was going to try. To have her safe in his own territory, assured that the only person who could order her back was him, was enough to keep him going even when his mouth dried out and his muscles began to fail him. He kept her scared face forefront in his mind, calling it up ever time he dipped over the glittering water. He didn’t know if she could swim.

There were other dragons.

She was beautiful.

Eris spied the trees before he saw the shoreline. Despite being so west, his territory was temperate, the weather mild all year round. He knew the water would be unpleasant should they be close, the wind practically unbearable by then. He had an estate up in the forested mountains, miles from his palace. If he could get close, she’d make her way to the home by virtue of needing shelter. There was no one within, no servants stationed when his presence wasn’t required.

And on every side, she’d be surrounded by dense woods, in a place she wasn’t familiar with. He was a bastard—thats what his father used to say before he vanished.

They say you smell familiar.

Eris banished the thought. If his father had sired others, well…that wasn’t his business. Not anymore. As a youngling, freshly made a king before he had hair on his face, Eris had gone looking. Had scoured the lands trying to find out where his father had taken their mother. His father was older, cleverer. And then, of course, the waves of humans had descended, destroying the females and children with such ferocity that Eris could think of nothing else. Unlike so many other territories, he’d managed to stave off the worst of the violence, losing more males than anything else.

Someone had warned the humans where dragons were vulnerable. Eris had long wondered if it hadn’t been his father. He was too ashamed to give voice to those fears, worried that if any of the remaining monarchs investigated, they’d find him at fault given Beron, wherever he was, clearly had perished.

Still, the question nagged at the back of his mind even as he began to lull to the side, unable to keep himself steady. They were close enough, he reasoned. A ten minute walk if she didn’t linger and moved in a straight line through the thinning trees. He wanted to warn her where to go, alongside the dangers of the forest should she venture too far, but he couldn’t speak in this form.

Eris tumbled to the ground gracelessly, dragging fallen leaves up like clouds of dust. Arina screamed, the sound arousing the baser instincts that demanded he protect his mate. One wing flung out in a misguided attempt to protect her from the danger, though he was the danger. Still, she was uninjured when he slowed, though clearly just as exhausted.

“Where have you taken us?” she breathed, smoothing out her rumpled, dirty skirt. Eris wanted to tell her. He simply could not bring himself to do so. Every inch of him hurt, wounded and injured from keeping her alive.

Don’t leave me, he wanted to say. Everyone does.

She was already walking away as he thought it, and the last thing he saw before the darkness reclaimed him, was her retreating back in the forest.

Leaving him.

As everyone always did.

—

Arina didn’t know what to do for a dying monster. Panic had settled into her bone, especially as the air took on a distinct dusky chill. Did she traverse the forest looking for help? Was there even help? She’d been so sure he knew where he was going until his body lurched, landing them in a sloping mountain covered in dense, brightly colored treetops.

It excited her and it frightened her. She knew, by virtue of crossing a dark sea, that she was so far from her fathers reach that he may never find her. And still she warred with herself, until Arina decided that she would stay, at least until he died.

She didn’t know how to tell what a dragon needed. As night approached, Arina merely curled close to his body, delighted that, even as he died, he radiated an incredible amont of heat. She still had the blankets they’d taken from Lucien and Elain. She placed one around her body, creating a little bag that kept her body off the leaves while still covered, and the other around his neck. Did dragons get cold?

Arina wasn’t sure.

It should have been terrifying. For a few moments, when pure darkness settled around them and the noises of the nightlife began to echo, she had been nervous. But she learned, quickly, that nothing dared to get too close to the predator napping in the woods. She’d always wondered what freedom might feel like.

Arina’s home had been warmer than this place, sandier and hillier with few trees to truly speak of. She’d been enarmored with nature as a child, the great tragedy of her lifetime given that she was not allowed beyond the high palace walls without an escort.

She wasn’t allowed within the grounds without an escort, either. There was no napping in the shade or running barefoot through the grass. She was forced to stroll in heavy gowns that caused sweat to slide down her spine while making idle chatter with the ladies who weren’t quite her friends.

Arina had tried, of course. She’d snuck around until the secret passageways had been boarded up. She’s slipped her chaperones, which only caused more guards to be posted. And eventually, she simply gave up. At every turn, her father was determined to keep her indoors.

Not anymore, she realized as she lay on her back, a massive dragon curled around her. She pressed her fingers against his soft underbelly, wondering when his steady breathing might stutter and then eventually stop.

It was strange, but she’d miss him.

Arina fell asleep to the soft rustling of animals running underfoot and the feel of cool wind caressing her cheek. Her dreams were sweet, for once, filled with images of those jewel colored treetops and a life running between the sturdy trunks. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or merely just feeling safe for the first time in living memory.

Or maybe, deep down, she knew Eris wasn’t going to die. Arina woke, sweaty and well rested despite the unforgiving ground beneath her. A heavy wing had draped itself over her, shielding her from a light rain drizzling overhead. She sighed, causing the wing to lift just a little so a familiar amber eye could blink in, obviously curious.

Arina pressed her fingers to Eris’s belly. “Are you okay?” she asked him, well aware he couldn’t answer her in his current form. Still, she pressed against the soft, unplated flesh, earning a woosh of warm air from his nostrils.

“I’m jealous of that,” she admitted, noting what had once been tender and swollen now seemed wholly healed. He lifted his head, bones snapping before he was the man again.

A very, very naked man.

The water he’d been shielding her from began to slide down her cheek, dampening her hair as she rose gingerly to her feet, trying—and failing once again—not to look between his legs.

“Why are you here?” he asked warily.

“I thought—” she felt strangely stupid all of the sudden.

She tried to keep her eyes on the ground, but his fingers found her chin, lifting her face so she had to look up at him.

“You thought…?”

“I thought you were dying,” she admitted, wrenching out of his grasp. “I didn’t want you to die alone.”

A strange expression flitted over his handsome face, bringing with it a wash of color. Defensive, Arina decided she didn’t need to say anything else. It was on the tip of her tongue to say something cruel—to demand he not hurt her—but she knew he wouldn’t. If he’d wanted to, he would have by then.

It was clear he was still injured—his skin revealed the healing gashes and bruises that no longer seemed so lethal, though she imagined were still painful. He winced, offering her a hand she didn’t take. He was still naked, after all, and she’d spent her whole life being told to stay away from naked men.

“It’s difficult to kill my kind,” Eris informed her, taking a careful step through the soggy underbrush.

“Unless they’re female?” she heard herself ask. There was no malice to her words—just curiosity. Why had they done it?

Eris’s gaze sharpened, nearly ablaze as he turned to look at her. “It was not my kind that slaughtered each other. It was humans, emboldened with knowledge they shouldn’t have, that descended upon us. Who stole sleeping young from their beds and killed their weeping, pleading mothers with impunity.”

“That’s—”

“Its not my kind that forces females into marriages they don’t want…or strikes them across the face when they’re displeased.”

“I don’t think you have the moral high ground. You kidnapped—”

“Kidnapped?” he scoffed, turning abruptly to face her. “You ran straight into wolf infested woods. I rescued you.”

Arina felt foolish, fingers twisting in front of her body to keep herself from breaking down. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.” Some of his anger seemed to soften. “How did you imagine it?” he asked curiously.

Arina shrugged, blinking away the urge to cry. They resumed walking, the trees thinning as they went. That was unfortunate, as the leafy tops overhead kept the worst of the rain from falling on them. By the time the reached the stone laid path leading toward a rather lovely estate, Arina was soaked to the bone.

“I thought you’d make your way here,” Eris informed her, careful to keep his distance.

Arina opened her mouth to inform him she wasn’t so awful she’d abandon him to die, but shut it before she said a word. Why tell him that? “What is this place?”

“One of my homes,” he informed her, pushing open the wooden doors to let her in. Magnolias lined the path they’d walked along, dotted orange, yellow, and white beneath the gray sky.

“How many do you have?”

“Three.”

Three? Arina wiped her muddy feet on a mat, dragging puddles of water onto the gleaming wood. The entry way smelled of cedar and woodsmoke and when Eris snapped his fingers, the sconces on the wall ignited with a cheerful intensity. “I thought you were just Eris?”

“I am—to you,” he replied, brushing his knuckles over the back of her arm.

“You didn’t even know me when you said it,” she reminded him, bristling a little. It was all but an arranged marriage, just with different terms.

He shrugged. “I wanted to know you. Pick a room,” he added, leading her down the halls.

“Any room?” she replied.

He nodded, leaving Arina standing alone as he made his way down a separate corridor. She watched him go, eyes trailing down the muscular contours of his back. She was strangely entranced by the shifting muscles beneath his skin. Life would be so much easier if she wasn’t attracted to him, she thought ruefully.

With Eris fully gone, and Arina safe from the elements, she decided to take him up on his offer. The estate was rather large, though not so big it was possible to get truly lost. She found herself turned around once or twice, walking through the same dining room on three separate occasions.

She found a rather lovely library, smaller than the one in Velaris, though larger than the one that had been housed in her own home.

Huge, glass windows smeared with rain droplets created a rather moody atmosphere she found rather charming. Arina did settle on a room, mainly because the room, once made of wood and marble, became glass where the bed lay, allowing the person sleeping to stare upward at the sky and outward toward the forest, if they wanted.

It smelled like that same woodsmoke, mingled with cinamon, and something about those two together made her feel safe. Arina pressed her face into the soft, cream colored pillow before flopping on the bed. It was as if she’d summoned him. Eris appeared in the doorway, eyes slightly narrowed.

“This room,” she said, spreading her arms out wide while he leaned against the door. He had pants on, though unlaced and loose on his sculpted hips.

“Oh?”

It also happened to be the largest in the estate. Arina had considered the implications of it until Eris closed the door with his foot, smug smile on his stupid, handsome face. “You want my bedroom?”

Arina sat up, but it was too late. He was making his way in, arms still crossed over his chest.

“Pick a different room,” she demanded.

“I don’t think I will,” he informed her, eyes sliding toward the rainy glass.

“How long are you going to let this go on for?” she demanded, sitting up, arms crossed over her chest.

He shrugged. “Ask to go back.”

Arina pressed her lips together. She wasn’t going to do that.

“Ask to leave me.” She opened her mouth that time, but nothing came out. A soft tugging kept her from saying it. Why? When it was a lie? Eris waited, his expression so very carefully neutral.

“That’s when,” he murmured.

Arina looked down at her lap. “You’d let me go if I asked?”

“You’re not my prisoner,” was his soft, almost sad reply. “If you decide to leave me, you’re free to go.”

Arina didn’t move, even as the possibilities raced through her mind. He didn’t say it, but she suspected if she asked him to take her somewhere else, he’d do so. And he’d leave, though she was willing to bet he’d keep watch on her somehow. Just in case.

“I like it here,” she declared. “And you can stay…but you can’t touch me. And you have to wear pants.”

He scowled. “Anything else?”

She considered it for a second. “You have to answer every question I have honestly.”

“Deal,” he agreed, his annoyance clearly reserved only for the pants. That would help, she thought, if she wasn’t constantly fighting the urge to look at him unclothed. He didn’t need to know that.

Arina offered him a smile. As long as he upheld his end of things, she’d stay.

And she’d worry about everything else later.

#eris vanserra #who hates pants more lucien or eris #time to find out

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