Jovari the Blue

Chapter 3: Her Mother's Cooking

Austar Wilderness

Saffra exhaled with delight. The sight stretched out below her was both familiar and unfamiliar all at once. Austar. Her homeland.

They'd been flying for days. She'd done what she'd been too afraid to do the first time she and Bedelth had taken a journey together. She'd gone ungloved and allowed him into her mind.

She appreciated the pace they set, flying by day, resting by night. In the air, they exchanged thoughts and memories and stories. At night, they exchanged gentle caresses, kisses, and heated moments. Her cheeks burned whenever she thought of the way he touched her, the way he left her gasping and satisfied.

"Are you excited to see your family?" Bedelth asked. Her stomach swooped. "I'll take that as a yes," came his reply. She wondered if he was likewise excited to meet them. "I am quite excited. But also..."

"Nervous?" she finished for him.

Sharing their thoughts was still new. They finished one another's sentences. They said a lot without actually saying anything. They shared emotions, and sometimes it was hard to discern whose was whose.

"You'll get used to it," he said.

"Oh? Speaking from experience?" she teased.

A draconic grumble vibrated his chest, the sensation reverberating against her legs. "Careful with that smart mouth of yours, mate."

"Why? Are you going to punish me—?" A squeal broke from her lips. They were suddenly diving, plummeting headfirst towards the land far below. "Okay! Okay! I'll be good," she screamed, her words mixed with laughter and the rushing wind that whistled past her ears. Her heart pounded and adrenaline flooded her body. "Bedelth!" she cried, when he didn't pull up.

The ground surged up to meet them. Her heartbeat came faster and faster. The grip on his neck tightened.

"Relax, mate." He would never hurt her. She didn't need him to say it. Still, it was hard to be rational when it looked like they were seconds from certain death.

A heavy pressure, like hands pushing down on her shoulders, settled against her. He finally pulled level, swooping mere feet above the land.

"If you ever do that again!" she screamed, smacking his scales, which hurt her hand and did nothing but amuse him.

"Then, what?" he teased.

"Then...then I'll stop talking to you."

He made a sound in the back of his throat, a growl more than anything. "Little mate, you realize that when we are mated and begin training together, you will have to do a lot more than dive."

She licked her lips. "Like...like what?"

He sent her a projection of a rider jumping into freefall, only to be caught midair. She gasped. "They're called trust falls. Every rider must perform them as part of training."

A prickle of unease chased its way down her spine. "I...I don't want to do that."

Bedleth let out a low growl. A dominant warning. It set the hairs of her arms on end with eagerness and curiosity. "You will, because you are my mate, and my mate fears nothing."

But he was wrong. There was plenty she feared. He knew that too, because he could see into her mind. Still, he didn't push, didn't say anything about it.

Taking cues from her memories, he navigated them to the cottage that had once been her whole life, until she'd moved to the capital. It was on the outskirts of Brushbridge, near one of the gates. She wondered, not for the first time, where in Claire's world the Austar gate led. Wondered what would happen if they abandoned their mission to locate the stones and instead, went to Claire's world to bring her back.