10 Dragon King

He was finding it difficult to focus around Elya. Her amazing silver hair was distracting enough but there was this loose curl that fell over her ear which she would constantly tuck. It was such a simple gesture, yet he would find himself staring at her calloused hand every single time. He'd seen hands like that so many times during the war.

A soldier's hands.

The hands of a survivor.

He wasn't sure what he felt for her right now. Things were too new. But whether it was because they were now bound together or his natural curiosity, she was intriguing, not like any of the other vapid daughters of nobility or the raucous soldiers he'd dealt with. This woman who seemed so stern yet laughed and smiled so often could probably tear this building apart with her bare hands, but there was a tenderness about her and Nikolai couldn't help but want to impress her.

Her laughter at the old man's food stand had inspired Nikolai, and he'd taken her to all the hawkers he knew to amuse her further. When he'd discovered she studied history, he'd been delighted and was lost in the conversation. Her viewpoint was fascinating, always considering the financial and military aspects of decisions which Nikolai hadn't examined in depth.

He'd almost forgotten he'd brought her here for a reason and couldn't help showing off the sign that he had spent two weeks inscribing.

As they stepped inside, silence descended before chairs scraped and most of the patrons stood to bow in the fashion of the descendants of the Great Dragon, arms crossed over their chest and heads lowered.

"Welcome Khan!" their voices boomed throughout the inn, rattling the windows and stunning his companions.

"Be seated Children, all is well, and the Great Dragon protects." Nikolai gestured magnanimously. Most of the Dragon Lords hated the customs that bound them, but were unable to cast them off, something deep within their blood binding them.

"The Great Dragon protects." They replied and returned to their seats.

A waitress led Nikolai and Elya to his regular table in the corner and their escorts sat nearby, keeping an eye on the patrons.

"That was surprising." Elya commented.

"The rituals of the Great Dragon are pretty strict. I can't break them." Nikolai loosened the collar of his robe a little, it was warm in here by design.

His design.

The waitress came up to them, her face a little flushed and glanced at Elya constantly as she spoke.

"Will you be having the regular Khan?" She gave him a perfunctory bow.

"Yes, make that two Zaya."

"The Khanbikeh will also take it?" Zaya gasped in surprise and Elya frowned slightly.

"Yes, she will, now hurry and tell Suri to give us the best, none of the old stock." The waitress barely heard his last words, already scurrying away and gossiping with her colleagues. Nikolai could barely make out her descriptions of the 'Khanbikeh' in her native tongue. "Don't worry it's not something weird, it's just unexpected for foreigners to eat it." He added for Elya's benefit.

"What's a Khanbikeh?" her brow furrowed, and Nikolai recognised it as a sign that she was searching through her memory. He'd seen her act like this a few times during their discussion of the Reclamation.

"Ah, that means Khan's wife." He blushed a little at the implication. True she was his fiancée but calling her his wife all of a sudden was awkward. Luckily, Elya relaxed and gave him a soft smile and they discussed innocuous topics until the food arrived. A middle-aged woman rolled towards them in a wheelchair, a tray holding two steaming bowls resting on her lap.

"It's rare for you to deliver the meals yourself Suri." He reached out to grab the tray.

"Suri wanted to see the Khanbikeh." The woman rasped and peered at Elya. Nikolai was worried that she would be offended and wanted to interrupt but Elya raised a hand when he opened his mouth.

"And what do you see?" Elya grinned at Suri, a challenge in her voice.

They locked eyes and Nikolai could feel a strange pressure coming from them. Whatever passed between them was incomprehensible, but Suri just raised her eyebrows a little and nodded.

"Good strong stock." She grunted and smacked the table. "Don't screw this up Khan and bring her around often. Suri likes this one."

Nikolai shook his surprise away and focused on his meal, guiding Elya into understanding the wonders of volha-borsht. It was a soup created from the stock of the drakes that made their nests in the nearby areas and filled with chunks of vegetables and beans.

Nikolai grabbed the rough bread, digging into his meal with gusto and Elya followed suit, removing her thick leather gloves to handle the utensils.

"I feel warm." Elya said as they basked in the afterglow of the meal. Her eyes were half-shut in contentment.

"It does that to you." Nikolai smiled, happy with the meal as usual.

"This is something you eat regularly?" she rubbed the scar on her face for a moment but turned away when she saw him looking.

"During the war Suri cooked it one day." He reminisced, mind going back to a time when Suri had both her legs and led the company that guarded him. "It was cold and wet; the rainy season had just ended. We'd trudged through the Fates know how much mud and the temperature dropped drastically in the evening. I'm not sure why but sitting huddled next to the fire with a bowl of soup in my hands took me away from the war for a while." He blinked. Nikolai hadn't meant to tell her about his emotions, but there was only sympathy in her eyes. She must have gone through the same things as well.

Elya sighed and tightened her gloves once more. "Why did you bring me here?" she was sharp. Nikolai couldn't tell her yet, but it wasn't just a meal that she had enjoyed, she would now have the appreciation of the Dragon Lords. He smirked. Volha-borsht was special to the Great Dragon after all.

"To understand Volhiniya you have to come here." Nikolai said instead, gesturing at the watching waitresses and patrons. "If there's one place from which news spreads, then it's the 'Dragon King', so by tomorrow everyone in the town will know you ate the people's food like one of us."

"I can appreciate that." Elya nodded. "So what next?"

"Next we pay and go home to get you settled in, we have a lot to do." Plans were forming in his head. The wedding would be handled by his parents, but it would be up to him to get her acquainted and he was never one to leave resources alone. A Knight-Captain would be useful.

"We have a lifetime you know." She grinned at him and his lips twitched, the way her hair fell at that moment was dazzling.

"Yes. We do." It was a good day.