The Dragon's Kiss

"Did you just say secretary?"

Chills ran down Kel's spine at the man's icy tone.

"Are you not then?" she quavered, confused by his unexpected reaction. She wondered if she'd just unknowingly stepped on a land mine.

"I guess it looks that way," Ira groaned. He removed the spectacles from his face with one hand and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other as if he was deep in thought.

"Forget an entire empire's finances! And who has time to worry about historical records and military reports!" the man shouted.

Kel jolted at the sudden outburst. Ira had gone from irritated to unhinged in a matter of seconds.

By asking such an innocent-seeming question, Kel had indeed set off a land mine..

"I suppose all I am is a glorified personal secretary! Ordering dresses and everything!" Ira snorted before breaking into a fit of ironic laughter. He pounded the desk a few times before letting out a slow breath and carefully replacing his glasses.

"A-are you alright?" Kel asked in a small voice.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," Ira sighed, pressing a hand into his forehead. "But for the sake of my sanity, could you please leave this office?"

"You want me to leave?" Kel was taken aback. Was she supposed to go back to the west building? Would it even be possible to remember every detail of the route?

"Yes! I don't care where you go," Ira lowered his voice, "but please make yourself scarce."

"It doesn't matter where I go?" Kel questioned. Ira seemed to hold an extremely high position in the empire's government. Were his words enough to grant her permission to wander freely?

"Are you a parrot?! Get out of here!"

"Ah yes sir!"

Kel jumped to her feet happily and skipped toward the door. Just before slipping into the dim hallway, she turned to ask Ira one last question.

"Just checking," she began timidly, "but you do know who I am, right?"

Ira snorted. "First she thinks I'm a mere secretary, and now she thinks I'm stupid," he grumbled to himself.

"I was just making sure!" Kel interjected, eager to escape before she accidentally triggered another tantrum. With a small nod, she stepped out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Surely, that was enough to count as permission, right? Ira knew she was a hostage and still told her to go wherever she wanted, so she might as well take advantage and explore.

First, she glanced around to make sure she was alone. To her right, she could make out the bright hustle of the grand palace halls in the distance. To her left, the small dark hallway continued on its path without a single person in sight.

Kel thought about which way she should go. If she went back to the main palace, she'd definitely get caught. In that situation, the only thing she'd be able to say is "Ira said I could."

Suddenly, the image came to her mind of a raging Ira, shouting that he'd never given her any such permission.

She shuddered at the thought and took off to her left without any further hesitation.

Most of the rooms she passed were dusty and unused, full of old furniture and other fixtures. After several anticlimactic reveals, Kel had nearly given up hope on finding something interesting. Sighing, she approached the final set of double doors and peeked inside.

Much to her surprise, the room was in nearly decent order. It still seemed uninhabited like the others but was devoid of dust, and the layout actually resembled a proper bedroom.

"Interesting," Kel murmured as she stepped inside.

As she inspected the simple yet well-maintained furniture, she wondered why this room in particular had been taken care of. Did it perhaps belong to someone after all?

A leather-bound book sitting atop the table next to the bed caught her eye in the midst of her rummaging. She hurried over to it and picked it up.

Neither cover had any kind of marking. The fibrous pages were sewn in carefully though ruggedly. It reminded her of the homemade journal Uncle Itzae always kept by his side. Kel and Dash had always wondered what kind of secrets he kept in that book.

After Uncle disappeared, the two had found the book among his left behind possessions. All the entries written inside turned out to be ordinary, run-of-the-mill recollections, but Dash and Kel weren't disappointed. Reading about Uncle's daily life in his own words brought them both a great amount of comfort when the old man was no longer around to rely on.

A kind of warmth welled up inside Kel as she clutched the leather book. To find such a sense of familiarity in a frightening foreign place brought a speck of relief to her weary soul.

Swallowing in anticipation, she delicately turned to the first page.

-To the Young Lord Calix-

"Calix must be the owner of this room then," Kel whispered, continuing to skim the page.

-My time here is nearing its end. As I won't be able to watch you fulfill the continent's destiny, I will leave this record in my stead. This is everything I know about the dragons.-

Hungrily, Kel devoured the next few pages of notations. They contained a detailed story about what the author called the "Dragon's Kiss." Supposedly, the Dragon's Kiss was a gift given to an ancient emperor by the dragons themselves. This emperor then used the gift to unite the continent into one great kingdom.

The story went on about the emperor and his descendants, and the various wars that divided the continent once again. The final paragraph explained that there was a clear marking for those blessed with the dragons' gift, and such a gifted person was the only one who could reunite the scattered kingdoms once again.

"But what is this mysterious gift?" Kel mused aloud, flipping through more pages.

AHEM!

She jumped at the loud cough behind her. As she whipped around to face the source, her eyes locked with scarlet irises, rapidly approaching.

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