[stylist] Trials of an honorary Dragon: chapter 14 (new chapter).

[helene ryles]

Hi Barbara,
Thanks for your response but I'm not too sure what you mean here.
Vinny and Liza are not dragons. It's also not there first meeting.

I wanted to hint at something taking place between them without going
into details.

Helene

On 03/10/2009, Barbara Hammel <poetlori8 at msn.com> wrote:
> If this is not to be a story with sex in it, why must we have the dragons
> take their clothes and leave them naked on their first meeting--or at all?
> Barbara'
>
> Snow is God's way of reminding us that beauty can be found even in the
> coldest hearts.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "helene ryles" <dreamavdb at googlemail.com>
> Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 8:21 PM
> To: "A private list for authors" <DB-AUTHORS at tr.wou.edu>; "Writer's Division
> Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [stylist] Trials of an honorary Dragon: chapter 14 (new chapter).
>
>> Liza 3: The Parvesh Clan by Liza Bronze
>> 6/1995
>>
>>
>> One day, Talmon fluttered in with unwelcome news about a prospective
>> mate for me.
>> I was sitting motionless on the carpet, gazing into space in a
>> listless sort of way.  The house felt so empty without Nadia there. I
>> tried to visit Nadia at NIRC a few times but I was denied entry.  The
>> letters I wrote to Nadia remain unanswered.
>> It’s almost a year since Nadia was last here, but Nadia’s room is just
>> as she left it before going to school on that ill fated day.  I never
>> could clear away her toys since I felt an overwhelming sense of
>> sadness whenever I enter her room.
>> I sense that Nadia is in danger, but I am up against two powerful
>> witches, and nobody is prepared to help me get Nadia back.   They all
>> believe Madrella and Beria rather then me.   They must think I’m just
>> some foul mouthed cop with nothing better to do, then kidnap other
>> people‘s kids.
>> I gazed resentfully at Talmon as he flew through the door, flapping
>> his leathery wings in an excited manner.  Even Talmon had fallen out
>> of favour after he refused to help me get Nadia back.
>> Suddenly I was envisaging myself with a very attractive looking
>> grey-skinned guy.  He was about ten years older then me, and carried
>> both a red and white cane, and a walking stick.   I envisaged us
>> cuddling together.
>> "What's all this nonsense about? I told you before; I don't want to
>> find a mate. I just want Nadia back," I signed.
>> I pictured Nadia happy and safe in the company of other children.
>> "Sorry Talmon, but I don't buy that.  If she was ok, I'm sure she
>> would return my letters.   So far she hasn't answered any of them.
>> Talmon shrugged.   I was visualizing Nadia busily playing with a group
>> of other children, then I visualised this guy again.  This time he had
>> three children with him, all carrying long white canes.  There were
>> two teenage boys, and a little girl.
>> "I don't want to replace Nadia!  Nadia's in danger.  She needs our help."
>> Talmon carried on trying to reassure me about Nadia, while telling me
>> about this guy he had found for me to get married to, as if I'd want
>> to marry at a time like this.
>> It seemed this man; Vinny Parvesh was the man my Aunt Arielle had married.
>> When my aunt Arielle left him, Vinny had been so upset that he tried
>> to work magic in an effort to bring her back. The spell Vinny was
>> working on went horribly wrong, and he suffered from a stroke, which
>> left him completely deafblind and paralyzed.   It took him several
>> years to recover from the stroke, but fortunately most of his movement
>> came back.  So now he just needs a walking stick as well as his long
>> cane.
>> It was his mother who wanted to find another wife for him to replace
>> Arielle.  My aunt Beria had alerted Talmon's attention to Vinny
>> Parvesh.  Talmon had already gone to visit Vinny, and decided he liked
>> him.
>> “No Talmon! I’m not interested in this Vinny Parvesh.  Not at a time
>> like this.”
>> The images of several unpleasant looking men flooded my mind, then the
>> image of this older deafblind guy again, followed by a question mark.
>> "I don't want a mate!"
>> The image of that awful Dragon Judge flashed into my mind again.
>> Talmon was reminding me that I didn't have any choice in the matter.
>> Since the six months had elapsed, Beria would be required to find me a
>> mate.  I wondered how long I would have to endure him for, until we
>> could finally get divorced.
>> I may not have any choice in the marriage, but I could choose how our
>> meeting was arranged, and I was not going to be delivered to this guy
>> like a package. I would get to wherever this guy lived independently,
>> thank you very much.
>>
>>
>>              ***  ***  ***
>>
>> It was a very steep climb up the mountain ranges, to the entrance of
>> the Parvesh stronghold.  Every now and then I would pull out my
>> monocular to see if I could find a building of some sort.   Anything
>> that resembled a door would do. I didn't even know what I was looking
>> for.  All I could see was more bits of purplish red rock, spiky
>> shrubbery, and the occasional goat.  In no time at all I was well and
>> truly lost.
>> I had a map in my backpack which I had bought earlier that day, from a
>> man running a stall at Keraina market place.
>> Right now the lighting was no longer good enough for me to read it by.
>> Still I had memorized the route as best I could.  This was the
>> mountains where the Parvesh Stronghold should be, but I could not see
>> any sign of a building at all.
>> After morosely tramping round the mountainside for what seemed an age,
>> I peered closely at my large print watch.  By that time it was getting
>> too dark for me to read the watch.  I could only assume that it was
>> very late.
>> I must have been walking for hours without getting anywhere.   I was
>> wondering if there was anything here.  I was now bitterly regretting
>> my obstinacy in refusing to let Talmon bring me here.
>> As if that wasn't bad enough I heard the 'Beep Beep' of my cochlear
>> implant batteries running flat.  I looked in my rucksack for my spare
>> batteries, but I couldn't find them anywhere.
>> By this time the light had faded completely.  I did not relish
>> spending the night out here, but there was nothing else for it.  So I
>> anxiously reached out for the boulders.  Occasionally I had to pull my
>> hand back when I came in contact with one of the spiky leaves.
>> Finally my hand touched a flattish boulder which was big enough for me
>> to sleep on. I put my head in my hands in despair.  Tomorrow I would
>> try to re examine the map to see where I had gone wrong.  If that
>> didn’t work I would just have to summon Talmon.
>>
>>                           ***  ***  ***
>>
>>
>>                          ***  *** ***
>>
>> At first dawn, I woke with a start.  A hand touches mine.
>> "Are you Vinny Parvesh's prospective wife?" finger spelt a pair of
>> grey-skinned hands.  I could smell a trace of goat on the speaker.  I
>> looked up to see an attractive looking boy wearing a loose cotton
>> shirt and matching trousers.  He looked about fourteen.   The long
>> white cane he carried helped me recognise him from one of the visual
>> images that Talmon had sent me.
>> "I'm Liza Bronze.  Is there a house round here? I've been sent to meet
>> Vinny Parvesh."
>> "That's my father.  I'm Pluto Parvesh.  I was going to come and sit
>> here, to wait for your dragon to arrive with you.  I’ve never met a
>> dragon before.  Only your dragon appears to have got here before us.
>> Why drop you off here though? It would have been easier to fly to the
>> front of our cave.”
>> “Your family lives in a cave? I spent all yesterday trying to find a
>> building.”
>> “No wonder you got lost then.  If you grab my arm, I'll take you there
>> now."
>> "I'm not blind."
>> "Yes you are.  You’ are just in denial.  I had a classmate like that.
>> In the end he was transferred to some school for the blind, since he
>> couldn’t keep up with the rest of us, having no blind skills to speak
>> of.  I don’t suppose you even know how to use a long cane."
>> "Yes I do, but I never need it during the day."
>> "You will definitely need it now, if you hope to keep up with me."
>> I didn't like being ordered to use my cane in this manner, but I
>> realised this Pluto was right.  To follow people in this sort of
>> terrain, I really need to know what was underfoot.  By using a cane I
>> could use my sight for following the boy with, without having to look
>> at obstacles all over my path.  I just hoped nobody saw me with it.
>> A few hours later we came to the entrance of a cave.  It was partly
>> below ground level.  I would never have found it by myself, even if
>> I‘d known what to look for.
>> "Meet my Granny," Pluto told me, introducing me to an older,
>> round-faced woman.  She was quite plump and was wearing a sari.  She
>> looked me up and down rather sceptically.  I guessed she must be my
>> prospective Mother-in-law.   The woman took my hand. She began to
>> lightly touching the tips of the first three fingers of both my hands
>> to form what I could only assume must be some sort of code.   I had no
>> idea what the woman was saying to me.
>> "Sorry, I don't use that form of communication," I explained. I was
>> feeling more useless by the minute.
>> "My mother wants you to follow her into the cave.  She was using
>> finger braille.   Don't you know finger braille at all? That's how my
>> father communicates as well as tactile sign language and finger
>> spelling.”
>> "Does this cave have any lighting?" I asked as I was about to be
>> plunged into the pitch dark mouth of the cave.
>> "I'm afraid not.  Granny likes things to be left as nature intended."
>> "So do you all have to get about in the dark?"
>> "I was born completely blind so there is no light and dark for me.
>> The sighted witches can all create their own light by magic, but
>> granny and a few others like to go about in the dark.  She advises you
>> to get used to it now, rather then later on when your sight
>> deteriorates further..."
>> "What makes her think it's going to?"
>> "Please humour her.  There is sure to be lighting in the dining room
>> which is where we are heading for.  I can help you if you will just
>> grab my arm. "
>>
>> I could smell a faint dusty smell as we plunged into the darkness of
>> the cave.  The air felt quite damp.  As we went further down the
>> corridor I could smell cooking.  It made my mouth water.
>> Pluto put my hand on the cave wall, which had a very smooth wet feel
>> to it.  I could feel a ceramic plaque with braille letters on it.
>> "Sorry, but I can't read braille."
>> "Well it is about time you learnt.  We have these braille signs up as
>> my father gets disorientated since losing his hearing.  His epilepsy
>> doesn't help matters either.
>> Pluto led me into a large well lit room where several people were
>> eating. It was so well lit that I was momentarily dazzled.  It took my
>> eyes a while to adjust to the light after being in the pitch black
>> corridor.
>> There were a lot of people in this room.  I could sense that most of
>> them were witches. Most of the witches were female, although there
>> were several male witches here too.  Most of the witches, wore cotton
>> tunics with matching trousers.
>> I could tell the witches in this room were discussing me, but I had no
>> idea what they said.  If only my cochlear implant batteries hadn't run
>> out.  I hoped at least one of these witches would be willing to
>> conjure up some batteries for me.
>> Just then a woman in a brightly coloured tunic gave me some delicious
>> smelling soup to eat.  I was very hungry after my long trek the day
>> before, so I had several helpings.
>> After I had eaten, Pluto came back.  He came with an older teenage boy
>> wearing jeans and a tee-shirt that said 'meat means murder' on it.
>> There was also a five year old girl.  She was wearing a black lacy
>> blouse and matching trousers.  They both carried long canes and were
>> just as mobile as Pluto.
>> "Hello, this is my brother Pyre and my little sister Sunniva.  Pyre
>> can't stay long as he is very busy trying to find work.”
>> “How old are you all?” I asked in some confusion.  I remembered Pyre
>> as a baby.   Aunt Arielle used to take him when she came to visit me.
>> I was about twelve at the time.  I had assumed the boys would still be
>> at school.
>> “Pyre is seventeen, I'm fourteen, and Sunniva is five."
>> "How come he has left school then?"
>> "Pyre has a very high intelligence.   He left school at the age of
>> nine.  After that he went on to a special university for gifted
>> children.  Now he has a degree in criminal psychology.   After that he
>> went to medicine school for a few terms.”
>> “Was that for gifted children too?”
>> “No, he only managed to get in by using an aging potion and lying
>> about his age.  He went off the rails a little, after mother left us.
>> He got really involved in politics.  He also used to take Sunniva with
>> him and pretend that she was his daughter. They threw him out after
>> that.”
>> “Oh dear! What about you and Sunniva?”
>> “We’re both at Starhorn, it‘s a private boarding school.  Sunniva will
>> be going to the university for gifted children too when she’s older.
>> As for me, I’m afraid I’m just an ordinary boy.   When I leave school
>> at eighteen, I mean to do a degree in veterinary Science.  My family
>> aren't too encouraging because there has never been a blind vet so
>> far, only a few blind doctors.  Granny's been trying to steer me into
>> music school since I'm good at music, but I'm also good with animals.
>> When father's goats get sick, I've been able to help cure their
>> ailments."
>> “I meant about your mother.  How did you and Sunniva react when she
>>  left…?”
>> “Oh her, I’m much closer to father…” and Pluto trailed off.
>> "Where is your father anyway?" I asked after a long silence.
>> “I'm sorry but Father says he would rather not have to see you.  His
>> apologies for wasting your time but he isn’t interested in remarrying
>> just yet.”
>> “Oh right, the only reason I'm here is some dragon judge is forcing me
>> to find a mate.  If your father would rather not see me, it really
>> doesn't bother me at all.  In fact it would come as a relief."
>> "Really? So that makes two of you.  Some of the women mother has been
>> finding have been dreadful.  Granny is getting really desperate to
>> find him just about anybody, as she thinks it will take his mind off
>> things, but it's just upsetting him more.”
>> I had no idea how to respond to this.
>> “Don’t worry,” Pluto continued, “I suggest you just hang around for a
>> few weeks, make your excuses and leave.  That‘s what the other women
>> do.  Another thing, I hope you don't mind eating vegan food while you
>> are here.  We are all vegans; it’s one of the rules of the Parvesh
>> clan."
>> "Not at all; I'm vegetarian myself apart from eating fish now and again."
>> "No, you can’t be vegetarian if you eat fish. A fish is not a
>> vegetable.  How about a game of cards?”
>> I nodded.  Pluto pulled out a packet of brailled playing cards.  He
>> dealt out eight hands for himself, me, Sunniva, and some of the other
>> children that he had introduced as his cousins. We spent most of that
>> day playing rummy.  A couple of sighted cousins helped me by providing
>> magically induced lighting.  It meant I could see the cards in front
>> of me.  I could also see them staring at me.
>> I watched the children talking, feeling very cut off that I had no
>> idea what they were saying to each other or me.
>> Later dinner was served.  They served us vegetable curry, with lots of
>> flat bread and aromatic rice.  It was as tasty as the soup had been.
>> This was followed by cheese cake and ice-cream.
>> “I thought you said you were vegan?” I asked as I finished the desert.
>> “We are.”
>> “Doesn‘t cheesecake contain cheese? That‘s not vegan.”
>> “Not necessarily, we make ours with tofu.”
>>
>> After the meal we all had a game of scrabble until my prospective
>> mother-in-law came back to take Sunniva to bed.  I watched her arguing
>> with the little girl.  Eventually they left the room.
>> "If you grab my arm, I will take you to your room," Pluto instructed,
>> soon after they had gone.
>> After being guided down a series of dark corridors, I was escorted to
>> a little room.  Like the corridor, it was also completely dark.  The
>> boy placed my hand on soft cotton bedding.
>> "I'm sorry we don't have a light for you today.  We will sort it out
>> tomorrow."
>> So I got undressed and felt for my bed in pitch darkness.  At least
>> the bed felt very comfortable, and there was a delicious smell in the
>> room.  It helped me get to sleep.
>>
>> I had just drifted off when a hand touched my shoulder.  I could smell
>> patchouli in the air.  I wondered who it was.
>> "It is Pyre here,” a hand finger spelt, “Pluto says you want some
>> cochlear implant batteries.  I can get them for you.  Father probably
>> won’t be interested in marrying you, but you can always go out with me
>> instead. I‘m up for grabs.”
>> "No thanks, I‘m about twelve years older then you," I told him.
>> "12 years isn’t such a big age difference.  Mother was more then
>> twelve years older then father.  In fact she used to be my father’s
>> school teacher before she married him. As long as we are both adults…”
>> “Which you aren’t,” I observed.
>> “I will be eighteen soon, so the age difference won‘t matter after
>> that.  I want an older girlfriend, especially a hottie like you,” Pyre
>> finger spelt in a slow but deliberate way.
>> “What makes you think I‘m a hottie?”  I asked.  After all the young
>> man was completely blind so how did he know what I looked like?
>> “I overheard my cousins discussing you.  They all think you are very
>> beautiful. I also like the sound of your voice.”
>> Now I knew he was just flattering me.  As far as I was concerned my
>> voice sounded terrible. When I was at mainstream school all the other
>> children used to make fun of my voice, all the time.
>> “Excuse me Pyre, but I really want to get some sleep.” I told him bluntly.
>> “Goodnight then Liza.  I‘ll get the batteries tomorrow.   The offer is
>> always there, if you ever change your mind,” and with that the boy got
>> up and left.
>>
>> A pair of tiny hands woke me up the following morning.
>> "Good morning.  I’m Sunniva.  Why aren't you vegan?" she finger spelt.
>> "I like fish too much.  My dragon catches them for me." I explained.
>> "How dreadfully cruel of him,    How would he like it if someone
>> attached a hook to his mouth and dragged him into an atmosphere where
>> he couldn't breathe at all." The little girl replied with quick angry
>> strokes of the hand.
>> "Talmon doesn't use hooks.  He pounces on the fish from the air," I
>> explained.
>> "Well that's hardly better.  I think it’s very wrong to kill and eat
>> animals for food."
>> "I don't eat any land animals."
>> "Why do you eat sea animals?  What have they ever done to hurt you?"
>> And so the interrogation wore on.  My occupation and dietary choices
>> had been heavily criticized by this relentless little girl.  She had
>> an amazingly large vocabulary for such a young child.
>> In the end I felt my way out of the room in order to get away from her.
>> I felt my way along a smooth rock wall.
>> I was very close to tears when I bumped into someone coming the other way.
>> "Are you the woman that Mother wants me to marry?” Asked a slender
>> pair of hands.  He was using tactile sign language, in the pitch black
>> corridor.   He smelt strongly of goats.
>> “I’m Liza Bronze.”
>> “I hope you won't be too offended by my absence.  My mother wants me
>> to get married to just about anyone.  They don’t consult me on the
>> matter and I’m sick of it.  I wish she would stop sending all these
>> dreadful women here.  I don't know what mother has told you, but I‘m
>> not in the least bit desperate to get married again.  I want to get to
>> know a woman first before I agree to anything like that.   I was very
>> hurt when my wife Arielle left.  I am told she is your aunt.  I only
>> hope you haven't inherited her lack of commitment."
>> "If you are after commitment, I have already committed myself to my
>> dragon Talmon, and all my dogs.  I also have a niece called Nadia whom
>> I'm very concerned about.  You won't have me all to yourself."
>> "I wouldn’t want that.  I come with three children, an infuriatingly
>> bossy mother and a flock of goats.  I got fond of one of the women
>> that mother selected but she wanted me to leave my family.  She
>> wouldn’t even agree to me bringing Sunniva and Pluto with me.    I’ve
>> been wary of those women ever since…”
>> "I’m glad you chose your children.  I find Sunniva hard to get on with
>> but she‘s your daughter so I‘d just have to take her as part of the
>> package.”
>> "Oh dear, has she started getting in your face already?  I’ll have to
>> have a few words with her about that.  She’s been offending all the
>> other women too.  Sunniva was only three when Arielle left us.  After
>> that I had a stroke...  Would you like to go and sit down in my room?
>> Mother has installed a lamp in for you there.  We can have a game of
>> cards? I would be happy to talk to you, as long as we don‘t get all
>> touchy feely.  I like my own space."
>> When the lamp was switched on I could see how attractive Vinny was.
>> He had lovely soft waist length hair, and a long shaggy beard.   After
>> a game of cards we carried on chatting in tactile sign language, for
>> the rest of that day.
>> We were only interrupted a couple of times when a witch came with our
>> food.  It tasted as delicious as the food that I had eaten the day
>> before.
>> By the end of the week I fell in love with Vinny.    He had a lovely
>> sweet nature which I found particularly appealing.
>>
>> A few weeks later I took Vinny outside to meet Talmon.  I could summon
>> Talmon by pressing the Bronze family talisman, and visualising Talmon.
>> I threw my arms round Talmon’s scaly neck as soon as he landed.  After
>> that I took Vinny over to stroke Talmon.  He spent some time feeling
>> Talmon's scaly form.  They seemed to be communicating together.  Vinny
>> had a big smile on his hansom face.
>>
>> Later that day, a few hours after Talmon had left, I looked up to see
>> a goat staring at Vinny and I.   He was chewing up my dress.  I hadn’t
>> noticed the goats before as I had been so absorbed with Vinny.
>> I sprang to my feet; peering round to find the rest of my clothes but
>> the goats must have eaten them.  Vinny reached for me and pushed me
>> back down again.
>> "Don't worry, nobody ever comes here.  It's nice being in the nude.
>> Do you want to marry me?"
>> "Yes. Not because I have to, but because I really love you, Vinny.   I
>> hope you don't mind if I don't change my surname though.  I want to
>> stay a Bronze."
>> "No problem, Arielle was really keen to become a Parvesh.  Some
>> relatives suspect that's all she was after from me, but at least she
>> stayed until after Sunniva was born."
>> "I also intend to keep my job as a police officer, as well as my
>> meetings with the dragons.  I'm sure you can come with me once Talmon
>> clears it with the other dragons first."
>> "Oh good, I would love to meet other dragons. I like Talmon."
>> "I would also like to bring my seven dogs here."
>> "I don't mind, but I'd have to clear it with the goats first, and my
>> mother too.  She‘s not very keen on dogs, so we might have to put up a
>> fight. "
>> "If she refuses you can always come and live with me and Talmon?"
>> "I'm not sure the goats would be too happy about that.  This is their
>> home."
>> "Well, they should have thought about that before they ate our
>> clothes," I told him, lying back down in his arms.
>> I was looking forward to getting married to this man.  If only I could
>> invite Nadia to the wedding.  As smitten as I was with Vinny, my
>> concern for Nadia was still gnawing at my mind.
>>
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