11 11

Kohra

I don't know what moved me to tell him about the battle of the undead. I didn't have to but seeing Jeir trying to deal with forces higher than her made me want to do it myself. I don't want to pull someone else in my mess.

His body is surprisingly soft. Tracing my hands on the supple skin of his back, I didn't want to stop. If the skin on his back was this soft, how would his hands be? I snap out of it and use my magix.

I'm looking for the spell on his back. I have superior eyesight so the spell I saw wasn't just a slight of the light. Even Jeir saw it.

I had a theory on what it was but I had to make sure first. I lick a part of his back and the mark immediately appears. It's a red rune in a forgotten language. The magix emitting from the rune was rejecting mine and hurting him.

My theory was correct. He was marked by Burmi.

My fists clenched. How dare that filthy god mark him? He's my consort. I hate the gods if I haven't passed that message across enough and for one hypocrite to mark what was mine severely angered me.

I use my chaos magix to get hide the rune so he's not hurt. I tell him he's marked and I leave.

A thousand thoughts are running in my head. Jeir wanted to use the rune to bring the gods down. I also wanted to but the gods were more powerful than we could phantom. It would take more than a rune to bring down gods that have ruled for a millennia.

I could just leave the rune and let him whither away like the others before him. No, I'm not a just queen if I leave one of my subjects to die because of something a god was responsible for.

I could also remove the rune. The thing is, I don't know how to. In fact, nobody in the Quitri continent knew how to remove the mark of Burmi.

There was a name that came to my mind but I shoved it back into the deepest recesses of my mind.

I needed to clear my mind and I go to the one place that works. My legs take me to the stables and to Zoma. Together, we ride into the forest.

After riding for an hour, the waterfall becomes clearer. I dismount Zoma and stand at the river's edge. I pick up a pebble and skip it on the river surface. It only skips for a while before sinking into the water.

Zoma already disappeared into the forest like the impatient bull-horse she was. I sit on a rock bordering the river and wait.

"How many times have I told you to stop doing that?" An aged loud voice calls from inside the water. I smile.

"If I can get your attention anyhow else, I would be unwilling to try"

"Queen or not, you're a brat"

"Thank you"

He pokes his head out of the water and it's huge. His large yellow eyes look down at me and he snorts. Smoke curls out of his nose and mouth, rising to the sky.

"What's the matter now Kohra?"

"Well Anak, I just came to visit"

"No one comes to just visit a dragon. You have something on your mind little queen, spit it out"

"I have a consort"

"I heard from Britta. That old hag never keeps her mouth shut. That's what you've come for? Romance advice? Wow, how low I've sunk" he says in self depreciation. I chuckle.

"No Anak. I don't need romance in my life. I don't want to end up like you and Britta"

"What's wrong with me and my mate?"

"Nothing but endless madness"

"Oh shut up brat" I chuckle again. Riling him up was a pastime.

"So, what's with your consort that's enough to bring you here?"

"He was brought from the monastery of Burmi. He's not a monk though. He studies the gods as a scholar. He bears the mark of Burmi"

"Did your mother know he was marked when she brought him?"

"No. I just noticed it today. Mother did say the Abbot was unwilling to give him up"

"You're concerned. The Kohra I know would let him die after all she has gone through. What made you change your mind?"

"Jeir. She's trying to get revenge for me. I'm afraid she would get herself killed so I'm doing it myself. I've come to ask for your help"

"You do realise the reason I'm here is because I'm hiding from the gods. Why would I want to fight them? And if I'm not mistaken, the only reason why we met was because the gods overpowered you?"

"Both of us have been living in the shadow of fear for a long time. If we can recover, we may be able to...."

"Forget this insanity Kohra and focus on being queen. Bear a heir from that consort of yours before he withers away. You can get many consorts. One consort is not worth your life and your kingdom"

I say nothing and call for Zoma. He watches me as I ride away. I'm stubborn, he knows, but I care more for my kingdom than a replaceable consort.