"Ryuu, wake up!" Erik shakes me gently. "We're almost here."
"W-we are?" I yawn, still half-sleeping.
"Yeah, and you're the only one who slept through the whole journey," he laughs.
I stretch my six limbs and sit up. My maid Ayala comes in to quickly comb my hair and adjust my robe while the flight attendant folds the bed back just in time for landing. The long journey I was dreading so much is over and it wasn't bad at all.
"Now what?" I ask. I was so focused on politics and our agenda that I didn't even ask about basic organisation.
"We check into our hotel, of course," Erik answers.
"A normal one with lots of humans?" I get a bit apprehensive.
"A luxury hotel for ambassadors and with maximum security," he says as if it should have been obvious. "Don't worry, the government made sure there won't be regular guests, just other state representatives staying for the conference."
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Liana greets me when we meet in the corridor. "Although it's already afternoon here."
We proceed to the exit and I see Rien talking with his aunt Bauerova. Oh, now that I think about it... Emi intends to take him with her, meaning he won't return to Europe. I wonder if his parents are worried. I bet they are. Bauerova certainly looks really worried about her nephew.
"Your Majesty, please, talk some sense into him," the Prime Minister pleads desperately when she notices me. "He's too young for such an endeavour."
"I'm twenty-two," Rien shows off his wolfish teeth in defiance.
"He didn't even tell his parents about it," Bauerova cries. "He told me literally just now."
"Because you would try to stop me, duh," Rien retorts.
"And what exactly does Aefener have to do with it that you're asking him?" Emi emerges and looks pissed.
"He's the Emperor," Bauerova says simply.
"The Celestial Emperor," Emi reminds her, annoyed. "I'm Rien's Supreme Alpha."
Damn, it happened again. Why the hell do humans think that I somehow represent all Draconians? Just because it's me who is most visible in the media? I hope this misunderstanding will be finally cleared during the conference.
"Your Majesty, Your Excellency, our escort is waiting," Miruel informs us impatiently.
"We'll talk about it at the hotel," Bauerova concludes for now, refusing to give up.
The guards make a protective formation around us and we exit the plane in a strict order. I can feel the cabin crew is relieved that the flight was without an incident.
I take a deep breath of New York air that feels very different from Prague. My nose isn't even close to Clawfang and Earthborn sensitivity but my Celestial lungs can tell it's foreign. Erik stiffens and clutches my hand firmly. He tries to act all confident but he doesn't feel safe out in the open even if the guards are putting up shields around us.
I look down and see a numerous crowd of people and an avalanche of conflicting human emotions hit me. I try hard to focus on Erik and my fellow Draconians as my safe haven. I realise I stopped being used to perceiving so many humans at once. Since my transformation, I was surrounded mostly by Draconians and my telepathy got even stronger. Will I be okay during the conference?
My feathers stand up a little, mirroring my jarred emotions. The people in suits must be politicians but most of our escort seems to be the army. For the first time ever I'm actually glad to see the press being present as well. The American government shouldn't try anything funny when the whole world is watching.
Don't let anything show on your face, Aefener, Liana warns me, brushing her wings against mine so that I can hear her thoughts. I know that you're scared but we're safe. They just want to intimidate us.
We slowly descend the stairs and our whole entourage gathers. I thought we took a lot of people, maybe too many, but now I'm starting to think it's not enough. The Celestial delegation consists of thirty people in total: me, Liana, Luviael, Taranah, Vermiel, Miruel, my maids Ayala and Cien, two Liana's maids and twenty guards.
Emi brought Rien and her pack, twenty-two people in total. Fefnir took only ten Dragonkin with him since Deminas is bringing the rest. As for the Earthborn, there aren't any representatives coming with us. Ingri stayed home, and most of the Earhborn left already. The Earthborn delegation is entirely up to Twyla and Werden.
As for the EU representatives, Miss Ortega and Bodin returned to Brussels a week prior to the conference but I have no doubt I'll see them here. Together with the EU President Bennett I'm not exactly fond of.
"Welcome to New York," a middle-aged woman in a very formal business suit steps forward to greet us. She has shoulder-length brown hair and piercing brown eyes. "My name is Yasmine Behera and I'll be taking care of your safety during your visit."
She offers her hand to all of us but me. I'm grateful for that even though I still don't feel comfortable with people bowing to me. Emi doesn't accept the handshake. In a normal formal interaction, it would mean a huge faux pas but it seems Ms Behera simply thinks that it's a Clawfang custom or something so she doesn't dwell on it.
I was hoping Emi would mostly overcome her trauma by now. She does like Erik a lot and she even got used to Julia over time. But I was mistaken. While her burning hate for humans isn't so dramatic anymore, she just doesn't trust them and maybe she never will.
"Please, follow me," Ms Behera shows us the way. "We'll escort you to your hotel."
I gulp because there're several cars waiting for us. I was hoping it would be a helicopter again even though that's not much better. But remembering Liana's words, I let nothing show on my face. I just clutch Erik's hand more firmly.
It'll be okay, Ryuu, he comforts me. Look, they're limousines so you should have enough space for your wings.
I'm not worried only about that. All those human emotions are getting to me, soaking into my brain. And they aren't nice emotions at all. I don't want to claim that all Americans hate Draconians by default but compared to Europeans, they're definitely more antagonistic towards us in general.
We divide ourselves into cars, Celestials taking limousines out of pure necessity while other races board SUVs. Limousines are supposed to be the epitome of luxury cars but I can't bring myself to enjoy our generous transport. It's still a metal box to me and my wings are too big so I take one whole seating area. Erik is able to sit next to me but he can't lean back. Liana occupies the seat in front of us and Vermiel somehow manages to squeeze next to her so that he can maintain the shield around our car.
I hope I'd be able to relax at least a bit but Yasmine gets into our car, sitting next to the driver and rolling down the window separating us.
"No need to be so wary, we're monitoring the area we'll be passing through by police drones," Ms Behera tells us, eyeing the thin layer of protective shield enveloping the car and trying to act nonchalant about it.
I study her emotions and the overall impression she's giving off and I come to the conclusion that she's someone we can't mess with. She's not just our assigned escort, Ms Behera probably holds a very important position in the government. Is she from the Department of Homeland Security? I bet that's the case. Her job is to protect us as much as it's to keep us in check.
Our cars leave the airport and the moment we enter regular streets, I see it. Protesters. They are lining up on the pavements, holding up signs with various messages against Draconians. Their emotions hit me hard. The sheer amount of hate is overwhelming.
"Uh, I think I'm going to throw up," my stomach turns upside down.
Fortunately, Erik is ready with a plastic bag. He was keeping one in his pocket ever since our helicopter flight, thinking it might come in handy. It certainly does now.
"Are you okay, Your Majesty?" Ms Behera gets startled and surprisingly even tiny bit worried.
"Just motion sickness," Liana explains quickly so that our escort won't get strange ideas. "We don't cope well with means of transport that are unnatural to us and our Emperor is very sensitive."
"Oh, I see," Ms Behera nods and her emotions tell me that she believes us. Well, it's not like she has any reason not to.
The mood in the States is even worse than we expected, Erik sends me his anxious thought and keeps hugging me to calm me down. Is it too much for you, love?
I clutch his hand in response and try to focus entirely on my partner. If it wasn't for his presence, I think I would have fainted already from the telepathic overload. How will I hold on during the conference?
There won't be as many people, Erik is assuring me.
I dare to look out of the window again and watch in horror as a group of human protesters gets into a quarrel with a group of opposing Draconians.
"We have to stop it!" I shriek, terrified.
Liana chews her lip while Ms Behera just tells the driver to go faster.
"We were expecting riots during your visit," she says, keeping an undisturbed expression even when her mind is anything but that. "Let our police force handle it."
We pass the rioting group and my heart sinks. How can I do nothing?
Don't feel responsible for everybody, Ryuu, Erik tells me gently. You'll do your best for them at the conference.
I try closing my eyes but that makes all those emotions I perceive even more vibrant. It feels like forever but we reach our hotel eventually. I'm wobbly when we finally get out of the car but Erik provides me with his support so skilfully that it doesn't look that suspicious.
My head is pulsating with a blinding migraine and my guards, quickly hopping out of their cars, take notice that something's wrong with me immediately. I'm really grateful that they know about my telepathy because they get the gist of what's going on right away and act.
I hear Ms Behera asking in panic what's going on but I'm already surrounded by my people who shelter me with their wings so that it's impossible to see that Erik has to take me into his arms because I start shaking.
Liana speaks on our behalf with Ms Behera and the staff but I focus only on Erik. I can vaguely feel that we get into an elevator and walk somewhere but everything is hazy to me. When my head decides that it wants to shatter me completely, I'm put down on a soft surface. Did we get into our apartment?
"He couldn't take it?" I hear someone new talking but all I see is Erik and my maids blocking the view.
"We were afraid that might happen," Liana answers anxiously. "Can you help him somehow? Mitigate his migraine?"
"I can try," the voice says and the person finally emerges from behind Liana's wings.
"Werden?!" I blink, not sure if I'm seeing right.
"Yep, that's me," the Earthborn King himself smiles. "We arrived a few hours before you so Liana texted me right away that you need a Draconian doctor."
I've seen Werden many times before, of course, but that was only via a screen. He's even more impressive in person. While he maintained his general facial features so that he stays recognisable even to humans, the rest of his body is augmented beyond recognition.
His hair is non-existent, he grew long thin tentacles instead of it. They appear to be sensory because he keeps stretching them after every little disturbance. He also prolonged his ears so they resemble an elf and he has something very similar to gills on his neck. His skin is dark green and he isn't wearing any clothes. Instead, he augmented his own skin into protective leafy scales. A true Earthborn.
"Lie down, Ryuu, ale let Werden examine you," Erik says gently and together with our maids, he helps me out a few layers of my robe.
Werden attaches his rooty palm tentacles to my arm and flinches when I connect to him telepathically. It's almost impossible for me to resist this automatic instinct of mine when I'm weakened. But he gets used to my telepathy quite quickly and fully connects to my body the Earthborn way as well.
It's a strange sensation. I've experienced it several times before with Ingri and Noage but I still can't wrap my head around it. I can feel Werden examining my very genetics, looking for clues to my migraine. I can feel him getting excited that he can study my unique DNA. He has to try hard to stay focused on his mission and not to examine me as a whole. It's the Earthborn quirk, they can't resist a tempting genetic material.
"I'd call it a telepathic overload," Werden announces after a while. "I'm afraid there's no other cure than rest without excessive sensory inputs for a while. Sleep will help."
I don't feel like sleeping. I was sleeping on the plane after all but before I can say anything, Werden injects me with something through his tentacles. I want to protest that I didn't consent to this but soon I'm too weak to do anything else than close my eyes.