Page 160 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume Two

“Gunter, lunch? It’s noon.” Nikki waited to see if those words penetrated.

It took a second, but Gunter’s head finally lifted. He looked first at Nikki, then the clock. “Oh. Oh, you’re right! Alright, let’s go up, then.”

Nikki stepped back, giving Gunter room to rise, satisfied. They enjoyed watching the dragon stretch his long arms above his head while releasing a happy sigh with the pop of weary joints. There was an elegance to Gunter’s slender frame and height. He was a rather swan-like dragon which, in their opinion was much better than the big, lumbering dragons.

It wasn’t like Nikki didn’t know where the dining hall was. That wasn’t the issue. For one, lots of mages were up there. Nikki still wasn’t comfortable around them, although they were beginning to think the Burkhard mages weren’t so bad. Sora and Tori were okay; so was Cassie. It was a work in progress.

The main reason Nikki poked Gunter was something else entirely. If Nikki didn’t get Gunter out of that chair, the dragon would stay fused to it until he passed out from hunger. Nikki would lay even odds on that.

But Gunter didn’t take reminders of meals with any seriousness. So, Nikki played up their fear a little just to get Gunter reliably out of his chair three times a day.

One could say the care and feeding of a dragon required certain subterfuge.

They went up the many, many stairs to the main dining hall. Living here was something of a workout. Nikki’s legs were constantly sore from all the stairs. They would surely get used to it, after a while, but right now it took nightly baths with Epsom salts and a few judicious spell ingredients to keep the aches away.

Gunter cast them a quick study as they rounded a corner. “Are you still nervous about coming up here to eat? I promise, every member of my clan is completely trustworthy. You don’t need to be nervous with them.”

Nikki blinked sad, ingenious eyes at him. “I just feel better if you’re with me.”

“Oh.” Gunter didn’t seem to know how to respond to that. (Or realize that Nikki had an agenda, dammit. That was the frustrating part.) “Well, I guess it doesn’t hurt. You’ll get used to them at your own pace. I hope you will, because I want you to be comfortable here.”

“Thanks, Gunter.” Still no fight. Good. Although Nikki had several alternative plans for when Gunter got stubborn.

“We had to do that with Tori, too,” Gunter recalled as they walked. “Although he was the opposite of you. He didn’t like dragons.”

Nikki almost tripped over their own feet. “Wait, what?! How can you not trust dragons?”

“Part of the teachings of his clan. They taught that dragons were the ones who caused the Dragon War, not the other way around.” Gunter shook his head and made a soft clucking noise with his tongue. “His clan is very…troubled. And even saying that is an understatement. We’re still trying to help them.”

“And Tori believed this?” They still couldn’t wrap their brain around this. How could anyone believe dragons were evil?

“It’s what he was taught all his life. Just like you were taught all your life mages were bad. When he escaped from his clan, and Baldewin first approached him, he put a paralysis spell on Baldewin and Warin. Tori fought them tooth and nail about coming back to the castle. If the Jaeggi hadn’t been actively trying to kidnap him, I’m not sure he’d ever have agreed.”

This was unbelievable. Dragons had always been the epitome of a dream for Nikki. How could anyone possibly ever fear them? And yeah, okay, the dig about Nikki being taught to mistrust mages had hit a little too close to home. They squirmed a bit under it. Nikki was making progress, though! They didn’t think every mage in the clan was horrible.

“He’s brilliant with herbology. Seriously gifted. We’re blessed to have him for that reason alone, but he’s a really good man, too. I find him a good listener. If you want a listening ear, Tori would be the one to talk to.” Gunter reached out as if he meant to place his hand on Nikki’s shoulder but seemed to catch himself and awkwardly drop it to his side again. “He also grew up in an abusive environment, so he’d get it.”

Be that as it may, Nikki was hesitant to approach Tori. It felt like a serious imposition. And they weren’t sure if Tori was just being nice when he’d made the offer.

They entered the dining hall, saving Nikki from answering. The large room was filled with thunderous noise from conversations, regularly punctuated by bursts of laughter. The cacophony was normal, as any gathering of dragons produced noise.

Nikki understood from Gunter that it used to be quieter than this, but they had a lot of guests from other clans right now, mages and dragons alike. Enough to fill the dining room to capacity. It seemed like an ongoing party every time Nikki entered.

Personally, Nikki liked the warmth and exuberance that filled this room. It felt like a happy family all gathered together. Nikki had never experienced camaraderie before, but the atmosphere felt like a giant hug from everyone gathered.

It also didn’t hurt that the food was delicious.

Gunter drew in a deep breath and then made a noise of pleasure in the back of his throat. “Seems we’re having Indian cuisine today. I smell naan.”

“Is that good?”

“You’ve not had Indian before?”

Nikki shrugged. They’d not had a variety of cuisines while under the ‘care’ of the Jaeggi. Mostly pre-boxed and canned foods that could be easily reheated. Why take care of someone only there as a battery source?

Remembering made them angry. Almost irrationally angry, and there was nothing to readily do to diffuse the emotion. Nikki chose to ignore it much of the time. Their childhood was so completely fucktangular, it would take decades of therapy to straighten it out. And lots of things set them off. For instance, food. Nikki’s food allotment had never been enough and always the same types, things easily heated out of a box or can. The food in Burkhard was a gourmet’s feast in comparison. It was very, very hard to not overindulge with every meal.

With a deep breath, Nikki took firm hold on this present moment, shoving past trauma to the side.