Artemis came into the dining room just as the family sat for dinner. “It appears, listening to the staff and workers in the barn, that I missed quite the ruckus today. Were you in the barn when it all happened, baby?”
“Yes, Daddy. But I didn’t say or do anything; I was a good girl.”
“That’s my girl.” He sat down, placing his napkin on his lap and looked at Cloven with a mischievous grin. “Heard you paddled Wish’s ass today, and had everyone gawping in the process.”
“The brat asked for it by defying me, and I gave it to her good too.” Cloven only looked at Artemis for a second, obviously too busy shoveling food into his mouth.
“From what I hear, you were also out of line and took liberties where it wasn’t needed or necessary.” Artemis had his attention with that remark.
Cloven dropped his fork with a clatter, resting his forearms on the table and narrowed his gaze at his lifelong friend. “Is that so? Because I gave her a clear order, and she knew the consequences of disobeying. As far as far as I’m concerned, she asked for it – loud and clear.”
“Cloven, must we discuss this again?” Drayce leaned forward the tic in his jaw present.
“I’ve heard that her caterwauling could be heard clear to the other side of our property and that your belt was swinging like a flag in a windstorm.”
“Yes, indeed. When giving a whipping, it should be fast and harsh. The errant girl won’t make the same mistake twice. But we’ve made amends, and I promised her that we’d become friends and I’d make it up to her.”
“Wow! Drayce must have given you a good tongue lashing. I’m not familiar with this side of you.” Artemis looked over at Drayce.
The commander nodded solemnly. “I most certainly did, and it was richly deserved. But if you all don’t mind, I’m weary of this whole incident and would rather discuss other things.”
Satin smiled and said, “I think we should talk about the battle and do a little planning.”
“You just never relax do you?” Cloven shook his head in disgust.
“Cloven, not all of us just sit around plotting how to cause trouble and do as little work as possible. I’m anxious to retrieve these dragons back to our planet, and we cannot do that if we don’t make clear plans.”
“I know that you’re excited, Satin, but the dinner table really isn’t the place to discuss The Battle of the Bloodthirsty, right?” Drayce squeezed her hand, winking at her. “How about if we meet after dinner in my office?”
“That’d be lovely. Will you join us, Thistle?”
“It seems that it wouldn’t be fruitful to include me, I’d have nothing to contribute and wouldn’t have the faintest idea how to actively participate in such discussions. I have no real function here. I’ll retire to the kitchen and help with dessert or go to bed and read.” Thistle’s demeanor had quickly deteriorated, and she stared sullenly at her food, her lips pouting, eyes glassy with the threat of imminent tears.
“Thistle.” Artemis dragged out her name in warning. “We’ve discussed this – many times. It’s important to have someone here at the estate keeping things running smoothly. Not everyone is a warlord or dragon trainer.”
“I know,” she responded sullenly.
Gossamer, the Queen, spoke up. “Thistle, I understand. I went through this when I first married Zorander. It felt like…I’d been left out and rejected somehow by the dragons. But as time went on and I realized my role here, and motherhood filled my days, it became more evident why I was here and not in the air fighting battles.”
Drayce continued where his mother left off. “And besides being here at the castle with mother, there’s Willow and Rosary; they’re here with you also.”
Thistle looked across the table at his sisters, giving each a weak smile. She hadn’t bonded with them yet but knew with his absence she would find great friends with his siblings. The women were intelligent, kind, and funny—all the traits that Thistle respected in others.
“May I go to the barn after dinner?” Those sparkling green eyes begged him, and Artemis felt helpless to say no.
“Of course, you may. I’ll make sure Zayvoc is present.”
She rolled her eyes sighing loudly.
“Or you can go to bed with a sore bottom; the choice is yours.”
Her eyes widened slightly, and she quietly shook her head.
“Good girl.”
Cloven snickered. “She’s not a good girl if you had to threaten her. Good girls do as they should with no direction or guidance.” He looked at all the women at the table.” It’d do you all some good to remember that.”
“Says the only man at the table without a wife.” Zorander chuckled, quickly changing the subject. “So Mayaibo says the dragon babies are growing quickly and should be ready for war within six months. Also, he says that we need to make more Grokiorica cream before the battle, overstocking our stores.”
“I’ll have to contact our medicine woman and see if she can make some.” Drayce focused on his plate of food not lifting his head.
“Wait. So you have a woman to make the salve? How difficult is it to make?” Thistle had put her fork down, focusing all her attention on Zorander and Drayce.
Artemis knew the answer but waited for the other men to answer his wife.
“Quite a while. We only have one woman who knows how to make it, and she is also the midwife for the dragons as well. So we keep her pretty busy. The fermentation process for the salve is what takes time, the herbs and chemicals are plentiful but waiting until it is perfect is the problem. If given enough time she can make huge batches and have them ready when what we have stored is gone.”
She blinked. “Do we have a recipe or something of sorts, a list of herbs and chemicals required?”
Drayce tilted his head curiously at her. “Well, yes. But you wouldn’t be able to do this, dear. It requires a knowledge of chemistry and a bit of magic.”
Satin interrupted, “But Thistle always did well in the sciences, we just assumed she’d have a career in a lab or something. Do you think you could do it, sister?”
“Well, if it requires magic, I’m not sure. But I’d be willing to try, guess I won’t know until I give it a shot.” She smiled broadly at Artemis, and he would never admit it to anyone else, but his heart skipped a beat. He’d never loved a woman as much as he did Thistle, and her happiness meant more than his own.
“We’ll go to the barn after dinner, babygirl and you can try the concoction.” He squeezed her knee under the table.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” Cloven rolled his eyes mocking her, focusing on his soup, slurping it loudly just to piss everyone off.
This time it was Gossamer who rebuked him, calmly without raising her voice at all, if anything, she may have dropped her voice instead. “Cloven, you’ll keep a civil tongue in your head or leave the table, you’ll not mock my new daughter-in-law.”
Lifting his head, Cloven look at his mother, his throat visibly working to swallow. “Yes, mother. Sorry, Thistle.”
“Apology accepted.” Thistle nodded at her tormentor and then with her wide eyes made contact with Artemis.
They both smiled at how Gossamer held the reins with her son when no one else could.
The family continued their meal in silence, each deep in their own thoughts presumably. Artemis hoped that his wife would find a peace being left at home and wouldn’t fall into depression…or worse anger.
Maybe. Just maybe she would be able to make the salve, what a relief it would be to have someone in their own estate who possessed the gifting. It seemed it was too much to wish for.
Or was it?