“Is the desert that dangerous?”

  Queen Mavel says “It is pretty dangerous, but I am more worried about what the desert air will do to the skin of my daughters. They are looking for husbands and need to look their best!”

  King Gremshow says “It’s not like a day or two of dry air is going to do anything!”

  I quickly excuse myself to go get Lizzy ready to go and as I am leaving the room I hear Mavel tearing into him. I have been the target of enough of those conversations to not want to hear another even if it isn’t aimed at me. I make my way to the stables where I find Lizzy and Leylisha sitting and happily chatting away.

  The light is much better now and I finally get a good look at Leylisha’s eyes, which seem familiar. It takes me a minute to realize that her golden, slitted eyes are almost exactly the same as my own. Those are not the eyes of a lizard, they are absolutely the eyes of a dragon.

  You could make an argument that a dragon is a type of lizard, but not around a dragon unless you want to be eaten. I quickly take a better look at Leylisha, looking for more signs of dragon blood. I spot the nubs of horns on her forehead, but that is the only thing that sticks out.

  I would guess that her tribe is a lizard tribe originally, but at some point they got some dragon blood. I would have to do some tests to be sure, but I would guess that she is less than a quarter dragon. I suddenly notice a blush on her cheeks, around the patch of scales, and only then do I realize I am staring.

  In fact, it seems that I have been staring at her for several minutes without meaning to. I cough and look away, suddenly embarrassed, but I keep my mouth shut. She is beautiful, but there is no way to explain that I wasn’t staring at her because of that.

  Any attempt at explaining would only make things far worse, better to just keep quiet. Hoping to let the embarrassing moment pass, I take out my kit and start grooming Lizzy. It seems to work as Leylisha starts helping, she is obviously used to doing this kind of thing.

  By the time we are done grooming Lizzy, the caravan is starting to get organized. The carriages all have their beasts harnessed and the cavalry are getting mounted and organized. Just as I am thinking about getting some space from Leylisha, Lizzy equips her saddle.

  While that would be fine normally, this time she has altered it to have two seats. Before I can even say anything, Leylisha has jumped up and settled into the first seat. I could go ride with Amn, but if I do Lizzy is never going to let me hear the end of it.

  Stolen story; please report.

  So, I reluctantly climb up into the saddle behind Leylisha and start telling her my story. Luckily, the story keeps her completely enthralled and nothing else embarrassing happens. The caravan makes decent time, but it is still going to take us around two days to reach the desert.

  With how many questions I have to stop and answer, my telling takes most of the day. At least riding with Leylisha does one thing, it keeps Mavel’s daughters at bay. Still, I find riding with her right in front of me a little too pleasant, enough that I feel slightly guilty.

  I decide that I need to tell the girls in the soulscape tonight, otherwise I will feel like I am hiding things. I will also tell them about Mavabel, not that I think anything is going to happen with either of them. I just don’t want to feel like I am keeping secrets, that will just make me feel worse.

  I know that I haven’t done anything to feel guilty about, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling it. Although, I will admit that throughout the day I have been really tempted to pet Leylisha’s tail. It is just there, right in front of me, and I am curious as to how the scales will feel.

  The metallic purple of the scales constantly glimmer as they catch the sun and it keeps drawing my eyes. I can’t help but wonder if they are normal for the lizard tribe or if they are another sign of her draconic blood. However, I have interacted with enough beastmen to know that touching her tail could be taken completely the wrong way.

  After the earlier mistake of staring at her for so long, I have to be careful not to give her the wrong idea. After I am done telling my story, Leylisha starts asking more questions about the peninsula. Most of them are about the beastmen on the peninsula, especially the lizard tribe.

  Despite the beastmen on the continent being created by humans, she is still curious. It turns out that the two lizard tribes share a lot of traits despite never being in contact. There are still differences of course, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Leylisha.

  Leylisha says “If I stick with you, will I eventually be able to meet this other lizard tribe?”

  “Sure. That will be really easy to arrange.”

  Lizzy says “What Ash means is that the lizard tribe has sworn to him.”

  That isn’t the kind of statement that I can just slip by Leylisha, so I have to explain. I tell her all about the current situation on the peninsula and my plans to unite it. That takes long enough for the caravan to stop and set up camp while we are talking.

  I set wards around the camp and then the three of us get a little distance away from it. Leylisha wants to see my true form, but I don’t want to scare people and delay dinner. Once we are far enough from camp, I jump down from the saddle, take a few steps away, and then drop shapeshift.

  Leylisha is at first surprised, maybe even scared, but it doesn’t take her long to get over it. As soon as she does, she jumps off of Lizzy and rushes to my side and starts petting my scales. I am a little disturbed that she is treating me exactly the same way she treats Lizzy.

  In fact, she insists that I give her the grooming kit so that she can take care of my scales. I don’t feel that there is anything wrong with my scales, but I give her the kit anyway. It is easier than arguing with her and I figure it will make her more comfortable around me.

  It turns out that getting groomed feels incredible, it is better than a professional massage. Apparently, keeping myself clean with a spell is not taking proper care of myself. Leylisha spends almost half the time she is grooming me, chewing me out for not taking care of myself.