The affluent acceptance of his rank warmed her already overwhelmingly heated heart, his eager yearning to always follow her, love her, guard her made all the more evident. Devotion and love were strong ties they shared for each other; their heartstrings were forever intertwined by the powerful emotions. Mirage was a fortunate mare, she knew this, she knew that her upbringing had been the best possible; a loving and faithful family, who stood by her still, and her bond with Akaith –there were few times that the mare could have been accused of being lonely. But though they were few, the sting of loneliness still smarted, she was simply better at avoiding it now; she was better at providing company for others and thus alleviating the solitude that haunted her. She did not pity her mate, but rather, understood the harsh reality that a life lived without a constant comrade was.

Unable to keep her form far from him any longer, she found her shadowy self back in his embrace almost instantly, the steps taken from there back to him swift and fleet. “With my heart in your possession you needn’t ever feel deprived of such bonds again.” Earnestly her speech was made, and from somewhere far away, Akaith’s vibrant call echoed through the trees. Lissom flutes tilted atop her slender tiara, capturing the tones in their concave cavities, her lips curling affectionately at the meaning of the descant. “She always calls you a bronze, you know.” Though she might have been smaller than those he was brought up with, Akaith had surely proven that she was indeed a very real dragon, and Mirage had hopes and suspicions that Vikram held the queen’s opinion in reasonable esteem.

“Were you close to any of your kin?” Quietly she asked, the first time since their first meeting that she had breached the subject of his past. She knew he was born from an egg, that his mother possessed magic which allowed her to take the shape of an equine; this she knew, and nothing more. The mare had longed to hear more of him, just as she longed for knowledge of everything, and everyone, always. Her mind was always thirsty for the addictive substance; the most powerful substance in existence after all was an education. Once, her reasons for wanting to know more about him were entirely selfish – now, things had flipped, and she longed to know more about him simply because she cared about him, she longed to know as much about him so that she might know how to ensure his happiness forevermore.