DEADLINE TO LOVE THE DRAGON LORD

Raven’s pov

"Have you seen this man? He is a traitor to the crown and is set to forfeit his life for that."

I glanced at the rumpled wanted poster on for formality, then back to the two troglodytes before me, once they had been my playmates, and now they were dogs of the vile King. "What did he do to incur the wrath of the crown, Gorg?" I asked the taller one.

Scaled lips parted to open but his brother,Bvon elbowed him so hard he went wheezing.

"That . . ." He tapped the poster for emphasis, ignoring his brother," . . .does not concern you, now tell us have you noticed anyone suspicious recently?"

A warm breath blew past my bloomers, brushing up my thigh and nearly sending me buckling over.

"Are you ill?" The recovering Gorg asked," . . .your face is suddenly reddening,"

"I—" my voice cracked.

I set down the tweezers I was working with. How would I begin to tell that past my counter, beneath my apron and my wool skirt was a man?

And I could bet an arm and a leg that he was exactly who they were looking for.

Only moments ago, the cloaked man had staggered past my 'No dragons allowed signed', clutching at his bleeding arm and releasing it to slam a pocket watch on my work desk.

"Fix it!" he demanded.

I wasn't going to serve him on the basis of his deplorable dragon blood, but the way he spoke to me hardened my resolve.

"Find someone else, my hands are tied with work from other clients that aren't your kind,"

His eyes were covered by the cloak he draped over himself that was darker than the night sky.

"I heard you didn't serve dragons, it seems the rumors were true."

"Indeed," I said, putting away a dream catcher and some veils filled with fairy dust," . . .and yet you come to my haven in typical dragon fashion, you can't handle a 'no' you never had to."

Spite swelled in my stomach as I spoke, eyes finding my grandmother's urn at the center of the shop, protected by an invisible barrier.

"All you dragons know how to do is take. Thanks to your kindness, I have nothing worth losing anymore."

I stab my finger towards the door, "Leave!"

"I would, but I have been to every artisan, mage . . . Anyone you could think of to fix this pocket watch. They say your skills are at 11:30, which has been unheard of for centuries."

Pride swelled in my chest, that was exactly how I kept my workshop open. I had a honed gift that the dragons wanted so badly they just couldn't kill me off.

"Exactly,"I spared the pocket watch a millisecond's glance. It was a golden piece with ancient dragon runes that I couldn't read. "Now, since you know that . . ."

"I came here with something,"he interrupted me," . . . A bargain that you cannot refuse. "

I was about to scream for him to leave anyway. I expected him to tempt me with a chest full of gold, but then he offered me something else.

Something that made me hastily accept to fix the pocket watch and hide him under my dress when the guards came marching in.

"I'm fine,"I said, smoothing my voice, reminding myself what was at stake, "You know today is hard on me because it's . . ."

"I can't believe we forgot!" Gorg panicked as the man's weight pressed towards my chin.

"We have been haunting a traitor!"Bvon chastised his brother, then set his armored arms on my counter as I focused back on the pocket watch. "Don't just bury yourself in work, Mama L would have wanted you to at least rest today."

I chuckled, it was dry and sour.

"We don't know that because she's dead . . ." I looked straight into his green slit pupil, "because the dragons took her from me."

Scaly fingers pressed against my lips as a more unwelcome touch intensified between my legs.

"Raven!"Bvon said, severely turning his head side to side, "Do you want to lose your head?"

"I'm just saying the truth," I muttered, taking attention back to the delicate gears.

"... But let me not stall you from your duties, search my workshop . . .." I fished out the keys to my backroom and slammed them on the counter, "Here, search the backrooms too. Far be it from me to stop your duties of being royal dogs."

Bvon takes the keys, stomping to the backroom, Gorg looks between the two of us.

"Raven . . .we hate ourselves too, the dragons . . . our parents . . .they also . . .when it comes to survival . . ."

I clinked an escapement gear into place, ignoring him. Air escapes his reptilian nose close to a sigh as he follows his brother's tail.

Old habits die hard

Discomfort made me shift my leg to return their blood flow, a mistake on my part, as the dragon below brushed his hand on my ankle and heat shot through my skin.

But it didn't burn the way other dragons did instead.

"Nothing here, we'll be going now," Bvon announced louder than necessary, then stepped away from the backroom. He came up to me when Gorg was already at the door.

"We can smell his blood, which means others will too."

He didn't say anything before walking out onto the cobblestone street with Gorg, and neither of them would ever be able to say anything again as a stream of flames poured from the sky, incinerating them to dust.

"Nooooo!" I screamed, nearly knocking back my chair to rush to them, but the man below grabbed me by my thighs, pulling out of my skirt and placing me back on my chair.

"Fix it . . ." He pointed to the pocket watch, my eyes bulged out, the streets outside were filled with flames and screams.

"This is because of you, right? They're burning down the town just to find you . . .who are you? What did you do?!"

"There's not even time to explain, fix the watch or else we will both die,"

As he said this I heard the sound of bones breaking like twigs. He growled, wings ripping out of his back through his cloak, blocking the flames.

I moved to the pocket watch, years of loss playing in my mind then being shut away by what he promised me.

In the end, I'm always alone.

I set the final gear in place and the pocket watch shut itself, the flames grew and collapsing debris fell from the caving roof as the pocket watch began to glow, the light consuming all around it and the last thing I heard was.

'A year is all you get, right the wrong and restore balance.'

And the last thing I felt was a firm, warm chest against mine until the light swallowed us both.