The Heart Grows

Penelope had never been big on the capital of the kingdom. It was a place to pass through while seeking somewhere else. Ever since Travis had opened an entrance here, though, it was her home. Or, at least, one of her homes. His presence was like a blanket wrapped around the city, and the moment she was in its embrace she felt him.

"You're back! Pen, I'm so glad to see you!" Travis' voice, even in his own head, sounded desperate. "I missed you so— Oh, you can't talk because you're flying fast? I can wait!"

The moment Penelope was on the ground, and she wasted no time getting there, she almost threw Stewart off her back with her haste. "Excuse me, Your Majesty," she said, aware that they were being watched by not just his guards, but several groups of nobles that were visiting the keep, "I need to retire to my dungeon."

"Of course, Lady Penelope." Stewart had spent enough time with her with and without official company that they both had a relaxed and easy way of letting their actual intentions show despite the more formal language needed around nobles. He had a lot of respect for Penelope as a person who'd been betrayed and sought out a life as a new creature entirely.

There was a tiny amount of regret that she had forsaken her humanity because of citizens of his kingdom, but at the same time it had felt good to bring justice to that chapter of her life. Stepping a bit closer, so only she would hear him, he said, "Thank you, again. I know this has been trying, but I promise I'll do everything I can to make it up to you."

Penelope froze at the offer. Not just a man, but the King had made it. "You've already done a lot for me. Will and Peter were constant specters that even now I have trouble accepting are gone. You've also helped Travis and our friends." She shook a little at how his and her words weighed on her shoulders. "If you ever need me again, I am at your service."

It was a great relief to hear those words. Stewart bowed his head formally. "Go. You're overdue for a reunion."

With an order from the King, Penelope was not going to hang around any longer and jumped onto the wall of the keep, crawled over the crenelations, and picked a nice empty section of road below to drop to. Silence on the formerly bustling street greeted Penelope. None of the people had seen her above, and now they had a dragon descend into their midst. "Excuse me," she said, doing her best not to cause a panic while also trying to not waddle down the street.

Travis, watching through the eyes of dozens of lizards that hid all over the city, watched Penelope walking. Unlike before, she moved slower, her body shifting like a cat as she approached his entrance. "Felna, you are going to want to see this. Get to the entrance as fast as you can." He kept his words tight and only for their intended target.

Felna would normally prefer banter, but Travis had already told her that Penelope was back and on her way to the dungeon, so when she heard she should be at the entrance, she broke into a dead run. From the tavern on the second floor, she took the stairs up four at a time and dodged around a surprised Stephan, then launched over the top of Mixie and reached the entrance antechamber. When Travis told her "capital", she ran to that entrance and peeked out—and froze.

Travis got to see through Felna's eyes as Penelope came home. He'd never have thought a draconic face could so perfectly convey pure joy, but he was now convinced Penelope could emote just fine. "Dammit, I want to hug her."

Lips curling into a bigger smile, Felna said, "I can help a little. Keep focused through my eyes and imagine what I feel." Biting her lower lip, she advanced on Penelope, whispering, "She looks good moving like that."

The view was something. Travis did as Felna suggested and focused on her vision. Watching Penelope walking toward him and he toward her, he let out a little gasp that only Felna heard. When they were close enough, arms reached out, pulled Penelope's muzzle close, and kissed her.

Penelope and Felna each let out their own breathy gasps when the kiss broke. Felna pressed her head against the bridge of Penelope's nose, and Travis spoke for her with, "Welcome back."

Her chest vibrating into a rumbling purr, Penelope said, "It's good to be back. I have seen more of the kingdom than I ever wanted to, and though the company was agreeable—I prefer having the two of you with me."

"Come on back to Northridge. I want to cuddle and talk and smell like nothing but dragon for a week," Felna said, her own purr rising in intensity at the thought. "Travis has some news, too."

"I have enough levels and stuff to get to the next tier."

Penelope paused a moment, only to have Felna stumble at the stop. "Oh! So you need to sleep again?"

"Yeah. I better tell Stewart and Honor. Oh, I'll need to wait until he's with her so I can listen with the wyverns." That was all in the background to Travis. The foci of his attention were Felna and Penelope.

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Walking through the entry and out into Northridge, Penelope breathed a deep sigh and said, "Get on my back. I don't want to wait for you to climb that damn tower."

Laughing, Felna didn't need assistance to swing up and over Penelope's back. She leaned down against her neck and rubbed one cheek against the plated scales there and whispered, "It's good to have you home."

When Honor heard that her cousin had returned, she slumped down in her seat. A relieved and victorious smile creased her lips as she reached out and formed all her paperwork into a neat pile. When Stewart marched into the expansive office and found her bowing, she said, "Your Victorious Majesty, if you'll excuse me, you have a celebration to organize and a pile of paperwork to complete."

Stewart was struck momentarily dumb at the vision of his cousin, and designated heir. She was flanked by a pair of wyverns that each looked more than a little antsy about something. He was completely done with being surprised by Travis and his minions, though. "I'll get you a bottle of my father's best brandy if you finish the paperwork."

"There wasn't any brandy in your cellar." Honor narrowed her eyes. Her cousin knew what her tastes in drink ran to.

"In the castle's collection? No. Dad had his own. It is locked and had two keys." Stewart walked to a painting on the wall and opened it like a door. Behind the painting was a small crevice from which he took a pair of gold necklaces, each with a key attached. "Which is why we have to drink to him, to his legacy, and to each of us having a key to it."

Taking one of the necklaces offered, Honor slid it over her head and tucked the key safely out of sight in her tunic. "Tomorrow, then. I'll get this finished and then I'm going to sleep."

"Travis arranged some friends to keep you company?" Reaching his hand out, palm up, Stewart let the nearest wyvern sniff him.

"They keep me company and guard me from vicious," Honor rolled her eyes and said, "N O B L E S." She was careful to spell out the word since both wyverns had learned it meant trouble.

Nodding in full understanding, Stewart said, "My father's hunting hounds were the same. How is Travis? He sent some of his best fighters right when we needed them, and I need to thank him for that—among other things. Dungeons last a long time, and I think I owe it to him to ensure the kingdom supports him at least as much as he's supported me."

"Then you better marry and get to teaching some kids about their uncle dungeon, and why it's important to be friends with him." As she spoke, Honor saw Stewart stiffen at the word marry. A smile tugged at her lips, but she declined to push her cousin on the matter.

Shaking off the surprise at how close Honor had come to what he was thinking, Stewart shifted his focus. "It seems I have no say in the matter. You'll like this story, Honor. Here I was, in West Reaches, having just executed her uncle and worrying about what Elanor would think of me for that, and she marches up to me and glares at me."

"She was angry?"

"Furious. She had the wrath of a dragon in her eyes." Playing on Honor's curiosity, Stewart shook his head. "I'd have done anything that woman commanded right then, such was her presence. Can you guess what she asked of me?"

Shivering, Honor asked, "Clemency for her parents?"

"That was a given by me, but no. She asked me to marry her." The stunned look on Honor's face warmed Stewart's heart. He'd gotten one over on his cousin. "And before you ask, I said yes. I'm not a complete idiot."

Breathing a melodramatic sigh of relief, Honor said, "Good! The sooner you do, the sooner I can go back to adventuring."

"You can be honest here. You want to tackle some of Travis' practice dungeons." The guilty look told Stewart he'd guessed correctly. "You have my permission to, even as heir. Perhaps it would be best to have both of us in the dungeon at the same time, so Travis can ensure I don't have an accident while you're fighting for your life?"

"Excuse me," Travis said, focusing his attention on the pair and his wyverns (the latter of which wagged their barbed tails so much half their bodies wagged too). "I thought I should let you both know I'm going to expand my next floor."

Stewart had a moment where he had to recontextualize to include a disembodied voice into their conversation. "That's good to know but what does that entail?" Also running through his head was how much Travis had heard.

"I'll be unconscious and unable to respond for… I don't know how long. The first time it was a day, then a week the second time. It could be up to a month. I've notified the workers to let their bosses know they won't be able to mine in me for the duration."

"What about travel?" Honor asked.

"The doors will remain open, but I can't track what people are hauling and there will always be my own guards there. Sorry, I get very nervous about this. I want to get it done in time for when the northern passes thaw."

Nodding his head, in complete agreement on the last point, Stewart said, "I'll have a squad of my personal guard assigned to you too. You have my word that they will defend you—with their lives if it's required. When were you going to begin? I had planned to organize a celebration for the end of fighting and a wake for my father this week, and Lady Penelope deserves to be a large part of that. Commander Astrid and her force too."

Travis laughed. "Her wolves have been talking of nothing else since returning. Even catching a Northern scout didn't distract them from talk of the fights you deployed them to."

"A scout?" Stewart asked, and looked at Honor. When she nodded, he realized he was going to have to review a lot of reports in a short amount of time. "I'll spend a day bringing myself up to speed with local events. It will give everyone a chance to prepare for the celebration."

Honor warmed to her next task by clearing her throat. "It will even give you a chance to entreat with the Western generals you sent to me to deal with. Thank you for not providing any details on what I was supposed to do with them, by the way. They both seemed trustworthy, and that you'd sent them and not executed them hinted that I could trust them, but next time a letter of introduction and instruction would be appreciated—not that there will be a next time."

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This story is released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. If you are paying money to see this or the original creator, Damaged, is not credited, you are viewing a plagiarized copy of the story.