“You’re a quick study,” he agreed. Add that to the growing list of mysteries, actually. He’d assumed that she must have had some background in the language, being a dragon. Lana had explained that her father had insisted she study it… in this world, it wasn’t commonly spoken, but it was still used for record-keeping. But from the way she’d been talking about it, it seemed it had been brand new to her. “You really didn’t know any before we… met?”
“Of course not,” she said, quirking an eyebrow as though he’d asked her something ridiculous. “Hey—would you like some breakfast? I can’t offer you much more than toast or cereal, but I’ve got plenty of coffee to make up for it.”
Strange words, interspersed with the familiarity of his language. But the rigorous politeness that had been ingrained in Conrad for centuries wasn’t going to be put off by a simple lack of knowledge. He was being offered hospitality, and so he inclined his head graciously and followed Mira through her living room and into the kitchen they’d sat in last night. With the midmorning sun spilling through the window, it felt much brighter, and he could almost forget the grim confrontation with the strange man from the night before as Mira cleared away their cups and busied herself preparing food for them.
He felt like a child as he studied the strange objects she pulled from a cupboard to prepare their breakfast. For the first time, he began to wonder how exactly Lana had managed to settle into their world so easily. He’d only been in this place for a few hours, and he was already beginning to feel overwhelmed by how different it was here, by the unfamiliar magic that Lana used without a second thought.
She laughed when he pointed it out, though, her golden eyes crinkling in a way that made him itch to lean across the counter and kiss her. “Magic? It’s electricity.” Her smile faded a little. “You don’t have electricity, huh?” A mute shake of his head, and Mira took a deep breath. “Coffee first, I think.”
The drink she offered him was unfamiliar, but it had a rich, balanced flavor that reminded him a little of some types of herbal tea from back home. Perhaps that was why Lana had been so interested in sampling every kind of tea the kingdom had… he’d even gifted her an ornate teapot for the first anniversary of her coronation. His gaze drifted around the kitchen, taking in all the unfamiliar objects, his mind grappling with the size of the difference between their worlds…
“You alright?” Mira’s gold eyes on him, and he realized with a start he’d dropped his guard a little, let his expression change. He felt too comfortable around her, he thought, straightening his spine and nodding.
“I’m looking forward to learning more about this place.”
She smiled back at him. “I’m looking forward to showing you around. Speaking of which, I’ve got an appointment this afternoon. I was wondering if you’d like to come with me? It’s only a short drive, but you’ll see a bit of the city.”
Conrad blinked, a little thrown. She wanted to leave the house? “Are you sure that’s safe?”
A shadow passed across her face. “No, I’m not. But I can’t just hide in my house for the rest of my life, can I?”
“Well, no, but—”
“I’m not missing my appointment.” She exhaled, sipping her coffee, and Conrad could see a glint of stubbornness in her eyes that reminded him a great deal of himself. “They know where I live, right? How am I any safer here than out in public?”
Conrad bit his lip on the urge to argue with her. It would be a lot easier to defend her here, in this little house with doors and windows they could lock… but when he tried to explain that, Mira held up her hand to stop him, eyes flashing.
“Conrad? I appreciate your concern, but I’m going.” After a moment, she softened the declamation with a smile. “But if you’d like to accompany me as my bodyguard, I won’t say no.”
“Bodyguard,” he repeated, smiling a little despite the worry that was twisting at his gut. “An official title, hm?”
“Very official.”
“I’m honored, dear lady,” he said solemnly, drawing on archaic honorific terms that were rarely used. They won a laugh of recognition from her, and he faintly remembered talking about the terms in a dream. “I wonder how much time we’ve spent together,” he heard himself muse aloud.
“I was thinking about that myself,” Mira agreed. “It’s like we’ve known each other for years but we’ve only just met, all at the same time.” She smiled softly. “I like it.”
He reached across the table to take her hand in his, feeling the familiar shiver of sparks moving through him at her touch. “I do too.”
After the odd, almost-familiar experience of breakfast, they set about preparing to go out. Conrad checked over the damage that had been done to the front door, noting where the lock had been scraped by the man’s lockpicking tools. Thankfully, it had been the lock that had given way when the guy had kicked the door down, not the hinges. It meant they couldn’t close or lock the door, of course, but it was easy enough to shift some heavy furniture in front of the door to bar any attempt at entering. He caught Mira watching him from the doorway as he heaved her heavy couch in front of the door, her eyes roaming across his back and shoulders… she blushed when she saw him looking and turned quickly away, but he grinned to himself as he turned back to his work.
They left through the house’s side door, and Conrad found himself confronted with one of the contraptions that he’d been most fascinated by in Lana’s stories of her home. Mira opened the car door and slid inside like it was the most natural thing in the world, and he tried to look confident as he followed suit, settling himself in the carriage and trying not to stare at the unfamiliar console spread out in front of them.
“No cars in your world, huh?” Her gold eyes were curious as she looked across the seat at him, and he nodded in agreement. “Well, you’re in safe hands with me, alright?”
She turned something below the wheel of the vehicle, and he jumped a little as the machine began to rumble. And then they were in motion. Conrad sat very still, hoping he didn’t look as shocked as he felt as they pulled out onto the street and set off. There were dozens of these things on the street. “Does every human pilot these things around every day?”
Mira chuckled, glancing over at him. She looked incredibly relaxed for someone who was apparently in full control of a ton of metal hurtling at fatal speeds down a street crowded with other, similarly deadly contraptions. “Most of us, yeah. They’re killing the planet, of course, but…”
“What?”
Another quick smile. “Let’s put climate change on the ‘later’ list, okay?”
He nodded agreement, grateful for his decades of practice at maintaining a calm, implacable exterior. It hid a lot of unease as he gazed through the window of Mira’s car and tried to take in the strange world he’d entered without so much as a second thought. Perhaps if he’d known how strange this place was, how many new things he’d be confronting… would he have made a different choice? Would he have hesitated before taking the plunge through the portal?
He glanced over at Mira, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel with the sun shining on her hair. He thought of the man who’d come to her house in the dead of the night to break her door down, thinking she was alone. No, Conrad thought, fresh courage pooling in him. No matter how strange this new place was, he knew in his bones he was exactly where he needed to be.
Chapter 11 - Mira