Page 23 of Serving my Dragon
“You’ll have fun.” And being with my cousins would be less nerve-wracking than wondering if she’d be fine alone in the house. Blame Juan for planting a worrying bug.
We said goodnight at the bedroom doors across the hall from each other, mere paces separating our beds. I hated in that moment that my mother raised me to be respectful because I wanted nothing more than to have Kayleigh lying beside me. Instead, I had a tiny, burning hot dragon—and the bluest balls in existence.
Chapter Seven
I awoke from molting feeling hungry. Always so very hungry. And did any of my servants come to my call?
No.
As a matter of fact, it appeared both of them had absconded while I rested. However, I would not punish them too hard, seeing as they’d left behind sustenance. I had to admit, my inherited memories of raw meat did not appeal as much as these things called empanadas and tamales. The flavors? Absolutely marvelous. Matias had also left me some lucuma, a fruit that I couldn’t get enough of. I ate all six of the green-skinned, yellow balls of deliciousness and craved more.
The television didn’t have anything of interest playing. I’d finally learned that it wasn’t tiny humans acting out inside the box, but rather recorded videos projected onto the screen via tiny beams of light. A feat created by science, a subject I didn’t know much about, but I planned to learn for I found it absolutely fascinating. So many machines, and not the simple ones of my memories that involved cranks to wind them up. These items ran on electricity, lightning captured and run through wires to power things like the television, fridge, lights, and more.
The remote on the table that controlled the TV taunted me with its many buttons. I should have paid more attention to Matias when he pressed them as I remained unsure which combination was required to activate and then play the telenovelas that I’d become addicted to. They were dumb. So very dramatic and yet fascinating too. It might sound silly, but I learned much watching those episodes. Language, culture, even human emotion and interaction.
At this point in my hatching I was like a sponge, absorbing knowledge. A dragon needed to be smart to survive. Even smarter now given the world had expanded greatly since my maternal progenitor dropped me in that volcano. It baffled that humans thought dragons fictional. How long ago had the last of us expired to be wiped from history? Could it be I was the last? That would be unfortunate, as it meant I wouldn’t have a male to fertilize my clutch when I matured. But in good news, once I attained a proper size, I would be able to begin acquiring territory without any rivals to stem my eventual domination of the world.
I tapped a red button, the only one of its kind on the remote, and did a happy stamp of my feet as the television turned on. A talk show played, the format consisting of two overly happy people questioning guests brought to entertain. Today there was a singer, an actor, and a politician. Apparently, these slick-talking people replaced royal lines as the rulers of countries and the provinces within. I’d yet to discern if appointing leaders by vote or via a hereditary bloodline route proved better. After all, votes could be bought, those given lofty positions could be bribed. In contrast, those who ascended by right of birth could do as they pleased and were beholden only to themselves—and the peasants who had been known to revolt under tyrants. A problem which dragons had also encountered as not all humans recognized our superiority.
Around midday, as my tummy rumbled uncomfortably, Matias returned home, but only for a moment as he had more patients to see. I forgave him though, since he’d come specifically to check on my well-being and to feed me. Upon asking, he informed me he had employment as a dentist, a person who fixed teeth. As someone with many of those, I approved, even though it took him away from me. But as Matias explained, he had to work to buy food. Food I needed to grow so I could acquire my own wealth, a dragon’s rank and prestige being tied to the size of their hoard.
Matias let me know that Kayleigh, the female I’d come to tolerate, had gone shopping. She’d better be bringing me back some gifts or we’d be having words. Since meeting her, I’d had the strange sense we’d met before. Impossible, since I’d have remembered her golden hair. Still, while I did enjoy her company and cooking, I remained wary of her, even though she’d done nothing untoward.
Midafternoon, as I readied to watch my show—that Matias on his lunch break had shown me how to load as well as how to read a clock so I’d know what time it would start—the door opened. I expected either of my servants. Instead, the detestable old woman who’d tried to maim me with a broom entered.
I peeked over the couch back as she glanced around. “Mijo? Kayleigh?” She called out but of course, no one replied. Given our last less-than-pleasant encounter, I chose to remain silent. Not an easy thing to do since she’d shown up with a pot that smelled delicious. The female disappeared into the kitchen with the container, a clang of metal indicating it had been placed in the oven.
Drat. I lacked the height yet to open that door.
As she emerged from the kitchen, her gaze finally landed on me and narrowed.
“Parásito,” she hissed.
How insulting. I rose to my full height—which admittedly wouldn’t intimidate, considering I lacked sized—and snapped in Spanish, “Did you just call me a pest?”
The woman’s mouth rounded as did her eyes. Not a sound squeaked out. Had my dragon power emerged early? Had I turned her to living stone? I thought only Medusa could do that. A rare being that resulted from an unholy mating, the details of which were unclear.
“You. Spoke,” the woman whispered.
“You don’t say.”
“Demonio.”
“I am not a demon,” I scoffed. “I am a dragona.” I specifically used the Spanish word even as I preferred the English version that lacked a sex. A dragon was a dragon whether female or male.
“Impossible.”
“That’s what Matias said. Apparently, humans have forgotten about us, which is rude, seeing as how they hunted us to extinction.”
“You are not a demon sent by the devil?” she asked, creeping closer.
“Do you see horns?” I knew enough of religion by now to mock it.
“Does Matias know you can talk?”
“Yes. He says I never shut up. Maybe because I don’t think he’s listening half the time.”
“Mijo does have a tendency of pretending to pay attention,” she agreed.
