Touch of Flame

“I thought you didn’t like the paleness,” she said.

“I didn’t. ” He said, continuing to put the paste onto her arm. He then nudged her arm aside and she felt the cool paste on the side of her waist. She was still as his fingers tickled her.

When he was done, he closed the box. “Rest now. I will make dinner.” He said standing up.

“I just… woke up,” she said already dreading not being able to do much.

“I meant rest not sleep.”

“I can’t.”

He frowned. “Why not?”

She clenched her jaw. “It stresses me.”

“Rest stresses you?”

“Yes.”

He watched her carefully and she avoided his gaze. “Well then…” without warning he leaned down and carried her up.

“Oh… what are you doing?” He carried her up as if lifting a blanket from the sofa.

“Taking you to the kitchen so you have something to do.”

Her face flushed as he took her back to the kitchen. He placed her on a chair near the table. “No onions this time. You can peel the potato and carrots.”

“Uh… alright.”

He pushed the chair so she was sitting closer to the table. Her face was still burning. This meant he had to carry her back again. She should have kept her mouth shut.

Malachi went to find potatoes and carrots. She watched him as he came back and put it on the table, giving her a knife. “Just don’t cut yourself.” He said.

As she peeled she continued to observe him. He was cleaning after the mess she created.

“What will you cook?” She asked.

“Chicken. Can you eat spicy?”

“I can try,” she said. “As long as it isn’t as spicy as the one I made.”

She wondered if his insides survived that day. Clearly, it wasn’t a dragon thing to eat that spicy since his mother couldn’t tolerate it either. Why did he eat it? It was as if he had been protecting her in a way. Well, it didn’t matter. It was his instinct driving him to do all those things. It wasn’t because he liked her.

Ugh. This peeling thing was harder than cutting. The knife kept slipping from her hold. Eventually, she got busy with it and then chopped it as he instructed her.

“This is terrible. Peeling with a knife is not safe and very hard to do. There should be some other way.”

He watched her as his lips curved.

“What?”

“What other way?” He asked.

She became thoughtful. She could make something that would…. “I have to think about it.”

He nodded looking amused. As he made the rest of the meal, her thoughts were occupied with how to make a safer peeling experience. She needed a pen and paper. She looked over at Malachi, her hands itching to write down her ideas but she couldn’t bring herself to ask him what she needed.

Her lips parted but then she found the excuse that he was already busy. When he wasn’t looking at her, she tried to put her injured leg down and see if she could walk. She flinched at the pain.

Quickly she adjusted herself when he turned around, sitting straight as if to not get caught.

“We just have to wait now,” he said walking over. He sat across from her, his dark eyes finding hers.

“Do you believe that souls are reborn?” She asked.

“Yes. Why?”

“Do those reborn souls have memories of their past life?”

“Some do, some don’t.”

“Do you?”

“No.”

“Do you think you are reunited with the same people?”

“That is unlikely to happen. We have different journeys and different sins. We move on to different stages. “

She nodded. So he wasn’t Hiroshima?

“Did you meet Chanan again?” He asked.

“Yes.” She met him again in this life. “Why don’t you climb the stairs? He complained about it.”

Malachi smiled but it was somewhat sad. “He doesn’t like me,” he said.

“Then you should definitely go there.”

He tilted his head. “Why?”

“You are king. Father told me that we need people who disagree with us and dislike us as much as people who do like us and agree with us. It challenges our thinking and broadens our perspective. As a king most people even if they don’t will show that they like you and agree with you.”

He regarded her with a tilted head. “Your father was a wise man.” His eyes looked pained or was she imagining it? And he just spoke well about her father.

He stood up and she heard the small sigh and took notice of his strained expression as if what she said bothered him. He went to see the oven and stirred the pot. He kept himself occupied, serving the table and watching the food.

Ravina wondered what happened to him. Finally, he sat with her again to eat. A mix of vegetables with grilled chicken. She took a bite and tasted it. It was spicy but she could handle it. She just had to keep her glass of water close.

“Is it too spicy?” He asked.

“No. It tasted good.” It had many other delicious flavors. Why did they never use flavors and species this much back home?

She began to feel pain in her shoulder as she cut the chicken. It was the shoulder that was injured. It was beginning to hurt now. Sleep would be even more dreadful tonight.

As they ate in silence, a knock from the front door interrupted them. Malachi paused, listening to something she couldn’t hear, and then he continued to eat.

“Should we not open the door?”

“Ignore it,” he said.

She was sure dragons could get inside no matter what, but would they do that?

“It is not late. They will know we are ignoring them.”

“Yes. Maybe because we are busy. We can’t go open the door while naked?” He said.

What?

She opened her mouth but he put a finger over his lips, telling her to be quiet.

“Let’s not interrupt what we are doing?” he said with a lower voice.

________

Bonus chapter dedicated to Onix_Rain25. You spoil me. Thank you <3