Page 24 of The Dragon and the Exiled
Euclid leaned forward to set his empty cup on a small table, then sat back and took a deep breath."Trade is everything to dragons.It is our way.People have accused us of being greedy, selfish, conniving, and worse for always insisting on trade, but it is simply our way of doing things.It is how nature is.Predators get their fill of prey, but that means sometimes they go hungry and other times that prey gets the best of them.Flowers of incredible beauty are poisonous to the touch.Earth, water, wind, fire exist together in a delicate balance of give and take.Trade.But… but there is sacredness in simply giving and expecting nothing in return.We do it for family, for our dearest friends, and for lovers.True lovers, not the fleeting ones who last hours or days or months at most."
For a second, it felt like Dipak's heart truly came to a stop in his chest before it remembered how to beat.He nearly dropped his cup in his haste to discard it."Euclid…"
"Come, I'll show you the rest of my home," Euclid said, and rose.
Dipak hastened after him, keeping the soft blanket wrapped around him because he was oddly reluctant to let it go.Anyway, who knew how cold some of these caverns could get, though it seemed like between the stove and the hot springs, everything stayed relatively warm where it mattered.
The next room, through a large passage that had been hidden by a particularly heavy curtain, led to an actual library."No wonder you seemed so amused.You have so many more books than what's in the other room.That barely even hints at this."
Euclid laughed in delight."Of all that I acquire—silk, jewels, metal, whatever, the books are by far the most vital.Jewels can be replaced.Knowledge cannot, or not without great and terrible cost, time that many races do not have to spare.I do share them, though.I take them to monasteries, libraries, universities, wherever, and commission copies that I trade away.Knowledge is no good to anyone if it remains here unlearned."
From the library, where Dipak could have easily stayed for hours if not days, they went to a room filled with plants."Not what I expected."
"These are not native to the region, and should they get out into the forest, they could do harm."He pointed up to where the cave was open to the sky but covered in glass."So I let in sunlight, and have the room heavily protected so that nothing gets out that I do not take out myself.There are things I miss about places I used to live, but I do not want to harm the forest."
"Incredible."It was another large space, a miniature forest within a forest, complete with small pools of water that must be brought in somehow.Everything smelled fresh and green, fruity and spicy; it was much like the Forbidden Forest, but also nothing like it."How do you have time for all the endless trading you do and maintaining all of this?"
"Mostly it maintains itself, after years of working to get it that way.The forest isn't very busy, really.Not everybody needs something every day.As winter sets in, everything will get very quiet, and I will only check on everyone once every few days, save for those who require more frequent checks."He smiled faintly, slyly."Or those I simply like to see more often."
Dipak smiled back.
Just past the garden was a proper kitchen, and a smaller version of the enormous storeroom, already well-stocked for the coming cold."You are fond of pickles."There were twice the number of shelves devoted to all manner of pickles as nearly everything else.
Euclid brightened."I am.Salty, sour, sometimes even sweet pickles are all right, though I vastly prefer the really vinegary ones.Eating in this form is much more fun than in my dragon form.I'm afraid like that I only get whatever I can snap up, fur and bones and all."He wrinkled his nose."Hardly a trial, but humans have so much more fun than the rest of us when it comes to food."
"I can't really argue that."
The room after that was an enormous workshop, along with still more storage, for all the wood, thread, beads, fabric, and so much more that Euclid used for… who even knew what.Directly off of that was a room that was clearly meant for holding things as he traded them all around.Explained how he managed so much at a time, especially if he could slip in here, drop off one thing, grab another, back and forth all day long as he traded amongst people.
"Dragon, when do yourest?" Dipak asked as they made their way back to the main living area, which after exploring the whole space, proved to be significantly warmer than all the other caves.The curtains, rugs, and stove worked well to create a cozy little nest.
"I do not require the same sleep as most beings.In a perfect world, I would sleep for a week straight a couple of times a year, three weeks at the most if something went horribly wrong and I needed additional restoring.That would mean leaving everyone to languish for too long, though, my forest unprotected.So I sleep for a day or two at a time in the quiet winter months, and simply relax as I'm able the rest of the year."
"That…that's notgood enough.You need properrest."
Euclid reached up to touch his cheek with his fingertips, the touch barely there and feather soft."You are sweet, hunter, and your caring runs deep.I am managing fine.I am not in danger of my heart giving out or anything like that.My mother once stayed awake for two hundred years without any sleep because that was the only way to keep her kits safe and fed in dire times.Not me, I was from a much later litter."
"I don't care, you should be able to rest as you need when you need."
Handing him a fresh cup of tea, Euclid reclaimed his earlier spot, and Dipak did the same."If I had a mate, they of course would be trusted to handle things fully in my absence, much as I would cover their duties while they slept.As I said before at the gathering, those with match potential are few and far between, and becoming the eternally-bonded lover of a dragon is no easy thing.All things have a price; there is always trade."He sighed into his tea, looking for a moment so exhausted and sad that Dipak wanted to cry for him.
Looking up again, Euclid said, "You are the first true friend I have had in several decades.Those are nearly as difficult to come by."
"I don't—"
"You are worlds different from those mercenaries," Euclid cut in."You are traumatized, severely, from a hard life and a tragedy that you should not have endured once, let alone nearly three times.You killed the man you loved to stop that third tragedy.Of course you made a foolish decision to regain the only comforts you had left.Your dedication to killing me was barely ever skin deep.I realized all of that once I had calmed down.The matter is long ended.Let it rest, hunter."
Dipak sighed, finished his tea, and set the cup back where he'd first left it."Fair enough, dragon.I am honored to be your friend.So what is match potential, exactly?"
"Above all else, a strong soul.Anyone who is to be bound to a dragon must be able to live a dragon's unending life."
"How is that possible?"
"The binding, itself an arduous undertaking, basically ties my life to that of my bonded.They will live as long as I do.The trade is that when I die, so will they.They must have magical acumen of some sort, though that can take many shapes.They must have strength of heart.Dragons hand over a great deal of power and make themselves dangerously, mortally vulnerable, when taking a mate, and so the person they choose…"
"Has to be trustworthy, far and above normal expectations," Dipak finished."No wonder they're so difficult to find.I'm sorry, I can't imagine the stress.My relationships were few and far between because of my work, and then I wound up with the very last lover I ever would have expected."In his wildest imaginings, he'd thought about marrying into some small noble family via a youngest child, or a merchant family, something like that.
Life might have been kinder to him if he had, but there was no point dwelling on the impossible.
