Setting a bowl of potatoes down on the table, Victoria’s mother sat in a chair on the other side of the table. Her eyebrow going up as she saw our hands. In response, I opened my hand and tried to remove it from Victoria’s tight grasp. It tightened as she pulled it back down.
Giving up, I tried to take her mind off it instead. “What do you mean by we are no longer on Earth? Where are we?”
“This is Avalon, the birthpce of the Dragons.” She said as she spooned a helping of potatoes onto her pte before moving to the other dishes.
Using my one free hand to get food from the serving dishes to my pte was a bit of a challenge. Starting with the easiest, I helped myself to one of the slices of roast. Asking “Dragons?” as I turned to Victoria. Offering her a slice. She smiled as I put it on her pte.
“Yes,” she replied as she traded the roast pte with the mashed potatoes for me. “They rule this world and have for as long as our history goes back.”
Still struggling with serving myself, I again tried to pull my hand away. This would have been easier if she at least helped me, but she refused. Instead watching me as I nearly dropped things in an attempt to transfer them between ptes. “What else is around? Any towns? Creatures?”
“There are a number of creatures. Most of which will probably kill you on sight. The only official town on the isnd is protected by a wall and the ocean. Other than that, there is only the castle mountain peak. Not that you will ever be allowed to go near it. In fact, they would probably kill you at the gate.”
Finally finishing with the arduous task of serving both of us, I started to eat. Only then did Victoria drop my hand. Using a knife and fork to cut up the slice of roast. I rushed to do the same in case she decided that she just had to hold my hand again. Not that I would leave myself open for that if I had a choice.
It was just so awkward. She had never shown those kinds of feelings for me in any way the entire time I had known her. Plus, how could I trust any of what I knew about her if I missed any of this? No, I just couldn’t go down that path.
“So, when can I go home?”
“Most likely not for a long while. Maybe never. It depends on quite a few things that are too complex to get into right now. For now, practice what fighting skills you have. Given enough time here, you may want to go exploring or even into town.”
She sounded like we were safe here in this wooden house in the middle of a forest full of creatures she had called dangerous. Before I could voice my question about our safety, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning, I found Victoria holding up a forkful of meat near my mouth.
Her pushing the fork at me had me opening my mouth and eating it out of habit. It wasn’t the first time she had shared her food with me. Usually, though, it was because we both had something different and wanted to taste the others' food. Looking at the st bite of my roast, I held it up for her.
With an odd grin and glint in her eyes, she snapped it off my fork. Acting as if the thing would get up and run away, she quickly chewed and swallowed it. While that was my first clue that something more was going on, it wasn’t the one that really got my attention.
No, what caught my attention was that her mother's face was full of emotion. Sadness, resignation, fear, disappointment, surprise, and more that I couldn’t interpret as they crossed her face one after another. Finally, her emotionless mask back on her face, “Victoria, you get to expin what you just did to him.” I could hear the start of an argument from next to me, but her mother held up a hand. “Nope, you will, and if you don’t tell the truth to him, I will.”
A scrapping chair had me turning to look at Victoria. Confusion over the situation going through me as I tried to figure out how the topic kept changing from the events of earlier today to anything and everything else. One of her hands was kneading the other as she started and stopped. Both her mom and I sat there in silence as we waited for her.
“No predator likes to share food with those they are not close with. For one to do so typically means they like the other creature. You understand that?”
“Like how some animals will bring their potential mate dead creatures as offerings. What does that have to do with humans, though?”
She didn’t answer my question, instead nodding as she continued, “Well, for some more civilized creatures, the sharing of food is to be done when they are dating. Sharing the st bite of each of their food is only reserved for when they are married.”
“Again, what does that have to do with us?”
“We aren’t human, you idiot.” Came her mother's voice as she scoffed. “In fact, she seems to have been working toward this for a while based on how you acted. Am I wrong?” She looked at Victoria, who blushed hard as she tried to hide her face.
Thinking over everything, I recalled how awkward the situation had been the first few times. I had only gotten over it as she said it was fine. That it wasn’t all that weird between really close friends. Not having had any friends before her, I had just accepted it. Then again, there was that time when Bret asked what we were doing.
She had asked to talk to him alone for a minute. After that, he never asked about it again. Was I really that dense? Taking a deep breath in, I asked, “What does this mean? For me and her, I mean. I didn’t know what was going on, so the feeding means nothing…right?”
A soft sniffle came from Victoria, dragging my attention to her. Her mother’s voice was softer as she said, “You brought this upon yourself when you didn’t tell him what you were doing.” To me, she spoke in a normal tone. “And no, you cannot break it. Not without some consequences. This isn’t a bond formed with powerless vows. It is magic that you both have been building together over the course of years. That is also why you probably haven’t noticed any difference.”
“What is the cost if I break it?”
“It will cripple one or both of your magic as well as cause you both pain. You're practically ripping a piece of your soul apart to tear out the roots of the bond. And trust me, it doesn’t feel good.” Her voice cracking at the end. As if she was speaking from experience.
“Is there any way I can take the entirety of the consequences on my shoulders?” I mean, it wasn’t like I had any magic, so losing it wouldn’t do much to me. The pain would be annoying, but I would get used to it, eventually.
To my horror, Victoria burst into tears. Reaching over, I pulled her to me. Her head buried itself into my chest. Tears soaking through my shirt as her hands balled it up. “No matter how you break the bond, both sides will suffer the pain. Honestly, I would love to find a way to break the two of you apart, but I don’t know if it would even do anything. Not with how you two act anyway.”
I just sat there, letting her use my shirt as a rag while I gently rubbed her back. Her mother cleaned the table around us. Finishing, she turned to us, “At least make up your mind before you do anything too stupid. I will put a pillow and bnkets on the couch for you.” With that, her mother was gone.
At some point, Victoria left her chair and climbed into my p as she tried to get more comfortable. Moving her head from the center of my chest to the crook of my neck. As soon as she got control of her tears, she kissed my damp neck. Taking off for her room as soon as she did so.
I had no idea what to think of the situation. Did I like Victoria? Yes. As a friend? Definitely. As anything more? I had no fucking idea. All I knew was that this would change our friendship forever, no matter what happened, and it wasn’t even guaranteed to be for the better.
With those thoughts running through my head, chasing after the memories of the events of the day, I walked to the couch and id down. Pulling the bnket up and trying to sleep.
