Page 22 of Sugar & Dragon Act I: Temptation

Hera slipped off the delicate chemise from her shoulders, letting it fall on the floor, then climbed onto the windowsill and jumped out into the night.

XIII Dago

Dago had a conundrum. Two, in fact.

He was convinced he knew a lot about Hera Galenos, but the last few days had made him realize that he didn’t know her as well as he’d thought. The woman not only agreed to talk about marriage and allowed him to touch her, but she seemedcuriousabout it. It wasn’t the reaction he would have expected from the maga whose image he had in his mind… and it unnerved him a bit. He was usually pretty good at figuring out people’s characters and finding their weaknesses, but now…

He didn’t feel theneedto figure out Hera Galenos. He had adesireto watch her. To cause reactions with his words and touch. To explore her body and mind.

He wanted to know her.

He wasintrigued.

And here was another conundrum: self-knowledge. He would never have thought that the equationhe + woman + library - sexmight equalnicely spent time. Nyx Nemesis, even thinking about it seemed absurd.

And yet.

Self-delusion made no sense. He had no choice. He had to admit it.

Today was indeedaniceday.

And strange. After all, it was about himandHera Galenos. Andnothingthat had happened.

They talked, read, cooked, ate, talked again… Those were ordinary everyday activities. Nothing.

And yetsomething.

Taking into account that Dago had a low tolerance for people staying in the same room with him and the number of people he’d ever invited to his castle minus one imp until recently had equaled exactly two and included his friends, the value of thissomethingwas so large that he couldn’t consider it a statistical error.

Gazing at the surface of the water located hundreds of chariots below, sparkling with a light borrowed from the moon it mirrored, Dago wondered,Is it because we studied magic together?

Yes, that must be it. This would explain why cooking together went not only efficiently but alsopeacefully. They had no reason to quarrel because they had quarreled so many times that they inevitably knew each other’s flashpoints and, forced to cooperate by factors beyond their control, had developed a system that allowed them to avoid them. Galenos weighed and measured because she wanted to make sure everything would be exactly as in the recipe. He cut and mixed because counting everything that wasn’t gems and gold bored him sorely. Neither of them liked being rushed. They were both suspicious of the results of their joint work. They’d had to throw an obol to determine who would take the first bite…

Sitting together in a library wasn’t new either. They had the same homework and projects to work on. More than once, their final grade depended on their cooperation, and because they were both ambitious, they learned to tolerate each other’s company even if their teeth hurt from clenching their jaws…

Why did being in the same room with Hera Galenos seem so difficult then, but now it was almost as natural as breathing? He didn’t think he had changed much since school, and she didn’t seem significantly different either. Why was it differentbetween them now?

Dago rubbed his temples but finally gave up and lowered his hands. Even though he’d been walking on the wall for an hour looking for inspiration, he couldn’t find answers to the questions that were bothering him. Wearily, he turned around, intending to return to his chamber…

…and froze.

A gigantic firebird hovered above the castle. The flames dancing on her red-gold feathers enveloped her like a cloak. One hot blast created by the flap of her wings was enough to melt any doubt about their temperature. With a second flap, the bird soared higher and flew away toward the dark sky. With each passing moment, she resembled less an animal and more a shooting star. At first, she was flying fast, as if she was racing with the clouds. Then she dove and made sudden twists and turns like a fiery fairy from the Dreamland.

Dago stood still, enchanted. Even though he had seen Galenos in her daimonic form many times, the sight had never ceased to fascinate him. It was both different and similar to her. As a daimon, a woman was the embodiment of the element. Wild. Dangerous.

Free.

Just as she could be in human form if she didn’t try so hard to be perfect.

What are you afraid of?he wondered, watching her dance.That freedom has no borders? Or that you could do anything with it?

What would youwantto do with it?

The weariness he’d felt earlier dissipated and blended into the darkness of the night. He was barely aware of the cold surrounding him. He didn’t know how long he stood there, but he was sure that if the phoenix hadn’t gotten tired and turned back, he would have stood on the wall until dawn.

Hera must have noticed him because instead of landing right away, she hovered over the castle as if wondering what she should do. He waited patiently until she finally decided to confront him.

“You couldn’t sleep?” he asked when she landed a few chariots away, gradually reducing her size.

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