Tales of Fire and Ruin

Tame

"I..." I faltered and frowned. "That's not reassuring at all, Oleander."

"It's not, is it?" Oleander pursed his lips in thought. "How about I could truly use your help to clean the wounds? Moving hurts and I can't see my own back."

As I stayed silent, Oleander added, "Please."

"Fine," I gave in. "But you can eat on your own. And there will be no massages."

"You drive a hard bargain, lord Montbow." Oleander smiled and flipped himself on the bed so his back was facing up. "Is it bad?" he asked.

I hesitated. I had agreed to look at Oleander's wounds, yet somehow it felt like he'd tricked me into coming too close and sitting beside him. When he was a dragon and I slept under his wing, it was different. But I'd already promised my help.

The inn bed creaked as I lowered myself onto the mattress and leaned in to examine the angry red scratches and cuts. The wound on his shoulder where the arrow had struck was clearly the worst. All the others on Oleander's back would heal up nicely on their own. As I investigated Oleander's skin, I suddenly noticed strange markings on his upper back. Barely visible reddish threads, thin and near-transparent like a spider's web, shaped like the leaves of a pine tree.

I recognised the patterns well. They mirrored the markings on my chest, and the markings I left on people I struck with my thunder. Gingerly, I touched the red threads and felt bumps underneath my fingertip.

Oleander darted a glance over his shoulder. "I was fortunate you hit me in the wing," he said. "The wings retract into my flesh when I shift back to my elven form, so the wound was mostly internal. If it had not been, you might've noticed the scars left by thunder and drawn the conclusion I was the dragon."

"I'm not sure I would have," I admitted. "My mind was rather scrambled from fighting a full-sized dragon and then finding an elf, of all possible things, in the valley. It was a rather eventful day."

"It was indeed," Oleander agreed. "But I am grateful it was you and not another aspiring knight finding me vulnerable and naked in the valley."

I scoffed. "Oh, please. You would have been just fine. You would have stolen their weapon and put the blade between their ribs before they saw it coming."

"Possibly. But I was taught to always try to catch the humans off-guard first. We learned you are naturally inclined to think of us elves as pretty. It's always easier to escape the human kingdom if there is a human helping you out of a misplaced sense of infatuation. The stabbing part can always happen after if that plan doesn't work out."

I stared at Oleander dumbfounded, and shook my head. "You really did have it all planned out from the beginning, huh?"

"I did," Oleander said. "Except you were the one catching me off-guard in the end."

My jaw clenched. "Yes. Certainly," I said. "Anyway, the wounds on your back aren't deep. They will heal on their own, given time."

I turned away and tried to stand, but Oleander didn't allow it.

The sheets rustled as Oleander turned and grabbed my arm to stop me from moving away from the bed. I froze in place, startled by Oleander's sudden hold on my arm. He reached up with his other hand, tracing my jaw with cold fingers before gently turning my face, so I looked at him.

"It wasn't personal in the mountains, Laurence," he mumbled. "Any human man or woman could have found me in the valley and I would have done the same to them. I didn't know you then like I do now. And..." Oleander struggled to form words for a moment and wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Never make me repeat this, but I am sorry that you were the one I deceived."