The Dragon's Kiss

"This."

The Dragon Emperor shot the silver-haired boy in front of him a fiery glare while his fingers closed tightly around Kel's wrist.

A sharp tug sent Kel stumbling away from Taegus's side, directly into the emperor's chest.

"This is mine," Calix growled, closing his arms around Kel's wet body.

Kel's tunic and chest wrapping were both securely in place, but the emperor's forearm pressed firmly across her breast made her feel completely exposed. With each breath, she felt the emperor's arm push harder against her chest.

Taegus's gaze seemed to also be focused on the emperor's arm rising and falling with Kel's breaths.

"Kel is a person, Your Majesty," he said in a low voice. "Not a possession."

Calix let out a snort but otherwise ignored the boy's bold comment. He then whirled around, dragging Kel with him as he tramped back toward his tent.

Kel gave Taegus one last panicked look as she was spun away from him. His friendly gaze had once again morphed into the intense golden stare she had known. Even as she was pulled away, Calix's body set exactly in between the two, she could still feel the sharp golden eyes piercing her.

When they reached the emperor's tent, Calix immediately threw Kel onto her bed. She landed on her back, the wooden cot groaning underneath the impact.

Startled, Kel tried to push herself up, but the emperor was on top of her in an instant.

"Your Majesty?" Kel squeaked, the small bed shuddering with each of the emperor's movements as he planted himself like a cage around her.

She'd been trapped underneath this man before, but it had never felt quite so precarious. Bloodthirsty crimson eyes scanned her, hovering just above a scrunched nose and bared teeth.

"Agh!" Kel let out a yelp as the emperor's hand suddenly shot out, grabbing ahold of the hem of her tunic.

Forcefully, Calix tried to rip the shirt up over her head while she fought with all her might to keep herself covered.

"Please!" she gasped as Calix caught one of her hands and pinned it to the side. "D-don't do this!"

At her pleas, the man paused for a moment.

He blinked a couple times and then glanced down to where he had her tunic yanked halfway up her abdomen, leaving her belly button exposed.

Slowly, his eyes found their way back to hers.

Kel swallowed, wondering what would happen next. With one hand trapped, she couldn't hope to fight him off.

But, why was he doing this now?

No.. what exactly was he doing?

Letting out a shaky breath, the emperor gently pulled Kel's shirt back down over her bare skin and released her wrist. Then without a word, he stood and stepped back to the tent's door flap.

Kel stayed still, holding her breath as she watched him leave.

".. Change your clothes," Calix murmured, pushing the flap aside. "You'll catch a cold."

For the rest of the day and even into the evening, Kel didn't see the emperor again. Eventually, she fell asleep, assuming he'd wake her up to fetch dozens of buckets of drinking water or something of the sort when he came back.

But, in the morning, Kel woke feeling well rested from an uninterrupted night's sleep. She looked around the dim tent, but the emperor was nowhere to be found.

"What is going on?" she wondered, rubbing her eyes. "Am I still dreaming?"

Even more curiously, she found her boots completely mud-free outside the tent.

"It makes me more worried to see them like this," she mumbled to herself, slipping the boots on.

When Colonel Senf approached (just as Kel was getting ready to assist in the tent packing that was going on around her) she noticed the man wasn't carrying the usual bowl of food he brought to her in the mornings.

"You've been reassigned back to the infantry," the man declared immediately, before Kel could even offer a greeting. "Please return to the west side of camp."

"Ah?" Kel's eyes widened in surprise.

Was the emperor really letting her go so easily? And why did she feel so.. disappointed about it?

"Ahem! I mean, I will go pack my things and leave," Kel finally responded.

She was just about to return to the emperor's tent to retrieve her bedding and clothes when the colonel interrupted her.

"That won't be necessary. Your sleeping arrangements haven't changed."

"Uh.. what?" Kel paused with her hand outstretched, reaching for the tent's door.

"You will be stationed with your original squad, but your bed assignment remains here," Colonel Senf clarified. "Please leave your things to be transported with the rest of the officers' items."

Kel sighed, retracting her hand. She wasn't being let go of after all. Now she felt even more foolish for the unintentional sting of disappointment when she first heard the news of her transfer.

"Yes, Sir," she nodded, pivoting on her heels to face the infantry side of camp.

Out of all the events that took place that morning, the most shocking came as Kel trekked in between tents toward the archery unit.

The dirty looks that should have surrounded her were nowhere to be found. In fact, nobody even paid attention to her. It really seemed as if she was just another soldier in camp once again.

"How is it possible?" Kel pondered aloud later as she assisted Matty with taking down their squad's tent.

Thankfully, her former squad members welcomed her back graciously. Matty, who had been demoted once again to newbie in her absence, was particularly excited to see her return. Even Alaric, grumpy and loud as he was, gave her an approving smile.

"How is what possible?"

Matty's curly head poked out from around the corner of the tent.

"Oh.. I just.. everyone seems so nice today," Kel admitted, flashing a clumsy grin.

"Well I should say so," Matty snickered. "If they want to keep their toes."

Kel's face fell. "What does that mean?"

"Didn't you know?" Matty tilted his head.

"Last night, the emperor rounded up a bunch of people who supposedly messed with his attendant's shoes and cut all their toes off."