Inheritance

Part 2. Chapter 66

"I want to be like Terran!" Francis exclaimed. "Terran is strong!"

Mother giggled at that. "He is at that! Very well, then you will be male!"

But as time went on, Francis began to resent his brother's protection and love. He spent all his life staring at walls, rarely being let out of his childhood home for fear that someone might guess that he was a mistake.

Francis would get so bored that he would spend hours just looking up at the ceiling—counting the tiles and imagining the blue sky hidden behind them.

After he and his brother had a falling out, Francis decided that he had had enough of being held captive by his family. He snuck out in the dead of night at the age of fourteen—intending to find his very own piece of blue sky, and, if he were lucky, perhaps he would find a dragon to ride, too.

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Francis clung to the dragon's mane as she careened through the sky. Francis' dream of riding a dragon and seeing the blue sky had come true, but it was nothing how he had imagined it when he was little.

The blue sky was made gray by the clouds covering it; the flight was bumpy, freezing, and unpleasant. It didn't help that his nose was running and his forehead felt hot and feverish.

Francis snorted at his own dreams. Terran was right. I should have kept my head on the ground. Perhaps then, I...

Francis thought of the lovely Queen of Alanheim. All he wanted was her love, her praise, and most of all, her respect. Perhaps if he had kept his head on the ground instead of in the air, he would have realized that he would never have it.

Francis felt the waif's tiny arms tighten around his stomach; he felt her cheek lean into his back.

Francis never respected women as much as he did men. They were a silent, delicate, sweet, and soft sort. They melted into the background, unnoticed and unappreciated. Francis chose to be a man because he thought he needed to be one in order to make a difference. Every famous hero, scribe, scholar, artist, and knight he had every read about had been a man, after all.

But Kori was different. She made him appreciate the strengths and talents of women like no other woman did. She was supportive and selfless, caring and humble. She was a hero in her own right, despite lacking the great strength of one. She was doing everything she could to save as many people as she could, including him. He had wanted to cling to being a man so badly throughout his life that he consciously forced himself to be the opposite of a woman, despite the fact that it never made him feel at ease like he hoped it would.

None of it matters, now, I suppose. It looks like my curse has finally done me in. To think, if I had just been entirely male or female, none of this would have happened.

Kori's hands were freezing. Francis glanced back at her. Tears were running down her wrinkled face. She looked apologetically up at him.

Francis faced forward.

He enclosed his hand around Kori's.

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Anyananta landed when night fell.

Casamir dismounted and planted his hands on his hips, gazing at his captives. "We still have three days to go before we arrive at Evanskoll. We must rest for the night. Isn't that right, Anya?"

Casamir's arms looped around her neck.

Francis turned his nose up but said nothing. He slid down the dragon's thigh, falling on his rump due to his fuzzy mind and weakened reflexes. He stood up shakily and sat down, cross-legged, in front of the dragon and the fairy.

"C-can we make a fire?" Francis asked. "It's freezing."

Elegantly, Kori gently slid down the dragon's leg and ran to Francis' side. "Of course we can make a fire." She turned to Casamir and Anyananta. "Francis is sick, he needs warmth."

Casamir smirked. "That's not really up to you, now is it, waif?"

"I'm making him a fire! You can kill me if you want!" She put a hand on Francis' shoulder and another hand on his forehead. "Are you okay? You're burning up..."

"You have guts, waif, I'll give you that." Casamir said with a shake of his head. "You're lucky I need you alive. Very well, build your fire."

Francis was touched by her concern. He found himself leaning his forehead into her palm with an intense, tired smile on his face. "I'm fine. Kori... You saved me earlier, didn't you? The dragon was going to land on me, but you saved me by burning yourself."

Kori jerked her hand away. Her cheeks turned red.

Evidently, the looks he was giving her were too intense for her liking.

Kori nodded. "I did. I launched a fireball at the ground to blow us both out of the way."

Francis whispered, "Thank you..."