Chapter 75: Ch 75: The Council of Kissing

Ch 75: The Council of Kissing

Abel lowered his hands from his dramatically gasping face, the confusion finally overtaking the mimicry. He looked from the children’s still-stunned expressions to the two wooden toys resting nose-to-nose in the grass.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice a mix of curiosity and concern. He took a step closer, peering down at the dragon and the horse as if they might have caught fire or sprouted wings (which, in the dragon’s case, it already had).

Millie put her hands on her hips, her commander’s stance returning. She shook her head, her red braids swinging. "Oh, you silly," she said, her tone implying he was missing the most obvious thing in the world. She pointed a decisive finger at the toys. "*They are kissing.*"

Abel tilted his head. He crouched down slowly, getting to eye level with the scene. He studied it. The dragon’s snout was indeed pressed gently against the horse’s carved muzzle. The angle was soft. Intimate. Now that she said it, he could see it. They weren’t just touching; they were... connected.

"Indeed they were kissing," he murmured, repeating her words as the observation settled. He looked up at Millie, his brow furrowed. "So?"

"So?!" Toben erupted, scrambling to his feet. "So! That’s *kissing*!"

Willem adjusted his spectacles, entering lecture mode. "Kissing is a social-biological behavior primarily observed in romantic or deeply affectionate pair-bonds among humans. It is not typically observed between... uh... carved ligneous equines and draconic figures."

Lissy whispered from behind Lady Rag, "Mama and Papa kiss."

Abel’s face cleared. "Oh! I kiss Orion too." He said it plainly, as if stating he also enjoyed apples. He looked over at Orion on the bench and gave a small, happy wave.

Orion, trying desperately to keep a straight face, gave a little wave back.

The children stared at Abel. Millie’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. Toben looked like he’d been told the sky was green.

"Yes," Millie finally managed, finding her voice. "You kiss Lord Orion because you are *married*. Married people kiss. A lot." She said ’a lot’ with the grave authority of someone who had deduced this from overheard kitchen gossip and ballads.

Abel nodded, following the logic. "We are married. We kiss." He puffed out his chest a little, a proud smile tugging at his lips. It was a fact he liked very much.

"Right," Millie said, steering the conversation back with the skill of a seasoned general. She pointed again at the toys. "But *they* are not married."

Abel’s proud smile faltered. He looked back down. The dragon. The horse. Not married. His mind, which worked in clear, literal pathways, traced the new route. Kissing. For married people. These toys were not married. Therefore...

His eyes widened. Real understanding, sharp and genuine, dawned on his face.

He gasped.

This was not the playful, mimicked gasp from before. This was a real one, a soft inhalation of shock that made his shoulders rise. He looked from the toys to the children, his green eyes wide with scandalized comprehension.

"They are kissing," he breathed, "and they are not married."

The children nodded in solemn unison. They had successfully communicated a profound societal breach.

"But..." Abel began, struggling with the implications. He reached out and carefully picked up the horse, cradling it in his palm. He looked at the dragon, still lying in the grass. "Horse is mine. He has always been mine. Since... since before." Since before the quiet rooms, since before the darkness. Horse was a constant.

Willem, ever the analyst, stepped forward. "The draconic figure arrived yesterday. Via carriage. It is a new variable in the stable-yard ecosystem."

"Chase’s dragon," Toben added importantly, as if naming the co-conspirator.

"He just arrived yesterday," Abel repeated slowly, looking at the handsome, foreign dragon. His expression shifted from shock to something more protective, almost suspicious. "In a carriage. He does not live here. Horse lives here. With me."

Millie crossed her arms. "Exactly. He’s a newcomer. And he’s already kissing your Horse. Without being married. Without even asking permission!" The last part was delivered with immense outrage, born from a child’s keen sense of fairness and ownership.

Abel’s grip on Horse tightened slightly. He looked at the dragon with new eyes. It wasn’t just a beautiful toy anymore. It was a... a smooth-talking, scale-covered rogue who had swept in and started kissing his oldest friend on the very first day.

"They must be..." Abel searched for the word, the concept the children were circling.

"Sweethearts!" Lissy piped up, then immediately hid her face behind her doll, embarrassed by her own boldness.

"In love," Toben said, swooning dramatically against Jax’s leg.

"Engaging in unsanctioned romantic affiliation," Willem clarified.

Abel absorbed this. The dragon and his Horse. Sweethearts. In love. A whirlwind romance begun in a basket of gifts. It was shocking. It was improper. It was also, now that he thought about it, strangely... nice? Horse had always been alone, except for him. Maybe Horse wanted a friend. A special friend.

But the rules were the rules. Millie had said so.

He looked at her, his commander in this crisis. "What do we do?"

All eyes turned to Millie. She stood there, the weight of their expectations upon her small shoulders. She tapped a finger against her chin, her brow furrowed in fierce concentration. She looked at the guilty parties—the dragon on the ground, the horse in Abel’s worried hand. She looked at the expectant faces of her council. She looked at Orion, who was watching the entire proceedings with an expression of utterly captivated amusement.

A plan solidified in her mind. Her eyes lit up.

She dropped her hands to her hips again, striking her decisive pose.

"Then I know what we should do."

A hushed silence fell over the courtyard. Even the breeze seemed to still. Toben leaned forward. Willem adjusted his spectacles, ready to take notes. Lissy peeked out from behind Lady Rag. Abel waited, holding Horse close, his expression a mixture of hope and anxiety.

"What?" Abel asked, the word a soft exhale.

Millie’s grin was triumphant. "We marry them."

For a second, no one moved. Then:

"YES!" Toben exploded, jumping up and down. "A wedding! With cake! And fighting! I mean, dancing!"

"A marital ceremony would legitimize the observed affectionate behavior," Willem agreed, nodding briskly. "It resolves the social contradiction."

Lissy clapped her small hands together, making Lady Rag bounce. "A wedding dress! For the horse!"

Abel’s face transformed. The worry melted away, replaced by dawning wonder and then sheer, unadulterated delight. A wedding. For Horse and the Dragon. It was the perfect solution. It fixed the kissing problem and made it into a celebration. It was the best idea he had ever heard.

"We can marry them?" he asked Millie, needing confirmation.

"We’re the courtyard council, aren’t we?" she said, as if it were the most obvious thing. "We can do anything. We’ll need a priest. Flowers. Rings. A feast."

The practicalities tumbled out, and the council sprang into action. The scandal was forgotten, replaced by the thrilling project of a wedding.

"I shall be the priest!" Willem declared, puffing out his narrow chest. "I have read about liturgical procedures. I require a robe."

"I’ll get flowers!" Toben yelled, already sprinting towards the kitchen gardens. "The big white ones that look like puff-balls!"

"Rings..." Millie mused, tapping her chin again. Then she snapped her fingers. "The wire from the kite frames! We can bend it into circles!"

Abel looked down at Horse in his hand, then at the dragon on the ground. He carefully knelt and picked up the dragon too. He held them both, one in each palm, bringing them face to face. "You are going to be married," he told them softly, seriously. "It is a very important day. You must be good."

He looked at Orion, his eyes shining. "Myorion! Horse and Dragon are getting married!"

Orion, who had been biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, finally let a soft chuckle escape. He rose from the bench and walked over to his husband, placing a hand on his arm. "I heard. It’s wonderful news. They make a lovely couple."

Abel beamed, as if Orion had just given his blessing. He held the toys out. "Will you help? You are good at... at important things."

Orion’s heart squeezed. He looked at Abel’s eager, open face, at the children now buzzing with mission-fueled energy, at the two wooden toys destined for matrimony. This was their life. This bizarre, beautiful, tender madness.

"Of course I’ll help," he said, his voice warm. "Every wedding needs a witness. And someone to make sure the rings fit."

The next hour was a blur of purposeful chaos.

Toben returned with an armful of slightly crushed white hydrangeas and some dubious-looking weeds. Willem fashioned a "priestly robe" from an old, clean sackcloth feed bag, cutting a hole for his head. He practiced his solemn face in a puddle’s reflection.

Millie, with clever, quick fingers and a pair of borrowed pliers from a friendly stable hand, expertly unbent sections of the kite wire and twisted them into two small, lopsided, but sincere rings.

Lissy took charge of the bride’s attire. Using a scrap of lace from the sewing room (provided by a giggling maid who was in on the game), she fashioned a tiny veil, which she carefully attached to Horse’s ears with bits of string.

The dragon, deemed the groom, needed less adornment. But Abel insisted he look smart. He found a snippet of blue ribbon—the same colour Chase had sent for Horse—and tied it around the dragon’s neck like a cravat.

Jax and Corin, unable to resist, became the honorary guard. They stood at stiff attention near the "altar," which was a flat, mossy stone under the largest willow tree in the courtyard.

Orion’s role was to hold the rings and give the bride away. He accepted his duties with mock gravity that hid his deep affection.

Finally, all was ready. The summer sun dappled through the willow leaves onto the sacred stone. A respectful hush fell over the assembled crowd: the four children, two large guards trying not to smile, Orion, and Abel.

Willem, in his sackcloth robe, stood behind the altar stone, his spectacles gleaming. He held a stick as a ceremonial staff. He cleared his throat.

"Dearly beloved," he began, his voice surprisingly steady and formal. "We are gathered here today to join this Equus caballus... uh, this Horse... and this Draco magnificus... the Dragon... in the holy bonds of matrimony."

Abel stood before the altar, holding both toys carefully. He listened with rapt attention, his face the picture of solemnity.

"If any person here knows a reason why these two should not be joined, let them speak now or forever hold their peace," Willem intoned, glaring around the clearing as if daring a protest.

No one spoke. Toben looked like he might burst.

Willem nodded. "Who gives this... uh... Horse to be married to this Dragon?"

Orion stepped forward. He placed a hand gently over Abel’s which held Horse. "I do," he said, his voice soft but clear.

A beautiful, tremulous smile broke over Abel’s face. He looked from Orion to the toys, his eyes shimmering.

The ceremony proceeded. Willem asked the couple (through Abel, who tilted them forward for ’nods’) if they promised to share their hay and treasure, to protect each other from knights and other dragons, and to be friends forever.

"I now pronounce you... horse and dragon," Willem concluded, stumbling slightly over the unconventional phrasing. "You may... uh... you may nuzzle the bride."

Abel, understanding his cue, carefully brought the two wooden toys together. He gently touched the dragon’s snout to Horse’s veiled muzzle, holding them in a chaste, wooden kiss.

The courtyard erupted.

Toben cheered and threw hydrangea petals into the air. Lissy jumped up and down, squealing. Millie grinned triumphantly. Jax and Corin clapped. Willem looked immensely pleased with himself.

Orion slipped the tiny wire rings onto the toys—one on a dragon’s claw, the other, with some difficulty, on Horse’s front leg.

Abel lifted the newlywed couple high, his face alight with pure, unfiltered joy. "They are married!" he announced to the sky, to the trees, to the world. "Now they can kiss as much as they want!"

He looked at Orion, his happiness spilling over. He set the toys down carefully on the altar stone and, before Orion could react, swept him into a fierce, spinning hug.

"We did it, Myorion!" he laughed into his husband’s neck. "We fixed the kissing!"

Orion clung to him, laughter bubbling out of him, mixed with something warmer and deeper. "We did," he whispered back, holding the man who could turn a scandal into a sacrament. "We absolutely did."

Under the willow tree, the dragon and the horse stood side-by-side, ringed and veiled, their noses forever touching in sanctioned, marital bliss. The council’s work was done. Justice had been served. And love, in all its strange and wonderful forms, had found a way.