Page 24 of Sugar & Dragon Act I: Temptation

Like him, she tried to keep her face and voice composed, but even in the dim light she couldn’t hide her confusion. “You’re right,” she said, squeezing the folds of his cloak.

As she began to turn, he took a step and leaned down, gathering her into his arms. When he picked her up like a knight would a princess, she cried, “What are you doing?!”

“I’m carrying you to the bedroom,” he replied, trying not to pay much attention to the softness of her curves or the pleasant weight that rubbed against him when she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself.

“Why?”

The faint note of curiosity behind her suspicion fueled his desire to tease her, but his learned habit of keeping his desires in check helped him control himself. Instead of giving a juicy answer, he just said, “Because you have no shoes.”

He had to be patient. From a long-term perspective, patience was more profitable.

XIV Hera

When Hera woke up, there was a hairy brown spider crawling on the ceiling. It had eight legs and four eyes and was as big as the bed she was lying on.

She started screaming.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

She had to admit. The landlord reacted fast. She hadn’t even screamed for a minute when the door to her chamber flew open and Dago ran inside. He was disheveled and wore only a wide loincloth, but his eyes showed he was ready for anything.

For some reason, Hera fell silent at his sight, even more puzzled. Dago too seemed surprised to see her cowering against the headboard, covered with the quilt up to her neck, but after a moment he relaxed and looked up into the spider’s poisonously green eyes.

“Haven’t I told you that humans consider it rude to scare them?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“You have,” the spider replied in a familiar voice.

“Then why did you ignore meagain?”

“Because I was boredagain. You promised we’d be chasing fish, but you’re sleeping instead.”

Dago rubbed his temples, then ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ll prepare the food, and you will set out the sunbeds, table, and chairs on the island’s edge. If you get bored, you can start looking for koralion. I’ll join you after I eat. All right?”

The spider slid down a strand of silk until he was hovering over Dago’s head. “Will you make a chocolate dessert later?”

“I will.”

The imp swung the silk, did a flip, and landed on the floor. He reached the door in a dancy step and squeezed by it thanks to the spider-specific gymnastics of his legs. Once he was out of sight, Dago looked at Hera, who had straightened up, trying to look more like a woman who liked to read in bed than a child who believed that the blanket would protect her from nightmares.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his gaze flickering over her exposed cleavage.

Blushing, she adjusted the strap of her chemise, which had slipped off her shoulder. “Yes.” She cleared her throat. “He surprised me. I didn’t know… What other forms can he take?”

“A dolphin, pigeon, and chimeric panther, but I suspect he’s secretly learning another shape so don’t lose your guard.”

“Has he the makings of an ifrit?”

“Yes.” Dago looked up at the ceiling and rubbed his chin in thought. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if he turns out to be a marid. Sometimes he looks at the clouds like he wants to become one of them.”

This information made her shame slip into oblivion. Imps and ifrits could take specific shapes such as animals, plants, humans, or objects. “Imp” was the term for a morpheus who could only take a few of them, unlike an ifrit, who could have as many as they wanted, provided they had the power and patience to master them. “Marid” was the name given to those dwellers of the Dreamland who, in addition to specific shapes, were able to become phenomena such as gusts of wind or rainbows. The strongest of the strongest could even become a wholeland.

The queen’s ancestor was a marid who had rooted in the human world. That was why she knew almost everything that was happening in her country. Ilion was apartof her.

If Pandorian became a marid…

…and he wouldn’t want to go back to the Dreamland…

…and nobody would unteach him nightmarish reactions…

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