Dragons Outlawed

"I took some blueprints from the ground, and the rest was easy," a pleased Liam smiled as he leaned against the doorjamb. He was on his feet from exhaustion.

"This is marvelous! Can we live here?" Cal asked, stopping in the middle of the hall.

"Sure, if you want," Liam said, coming over and hugging him from behind.

Cal put his hands on top of his and felt an indescribable joy. He couldn't even imagine such happiness.

"When does the Head of the Academy have time to do these things," he said jokingly.

Liam let go of his waist and stood in front of him.

"The students are going back to school tomorrow. So I had some free time."

Cal nodded understandingly, which meant he'd have to attend class, too. It made him feel a little sick inside.

"I've made you a special schedule," the Head winked at him, "how about you attend only my classes?

"What about Nod, Rashid, and Unner?" Cal asked.

"They need to learn as they should, they don't have your experience," Liam hinted at the recent events.

"You seem to have a pet, the Head," Cal whispered in his ear as he hugged Liam.

"Don't think you'll be idle," Liam warned him, "I have a busy schedule, lots to do, and I'm counting on you to accompany me."

"Of course," Cal said, picking Liam up in his arms, "and right now I want to escort you to the bathroom..."

He looked around confused.

"...Where is it, by the way?"

Liam silently, pointing in the direction with his hand, and Cal went that way. Leaving Liam in the bathroom, he carefully looked around the house and turned off the extra light.

In the right wing of the house was the bedroom: a regular-shaped room with a large bed. A soft gray rug lay beneath his feet. It rested against a beautiful banquette at the foot of the bed.

The man's imagination pictured what so interesting things he could do in this room, but suddenly his stomach rumbled. He remembered that he had devoted the whole day to the marshal and had not eaten anything since this morning, so leaving the bedroom, for now, he went in search of food.

He met Liam in his robe and with a towel over his head. He was humming some kind of song and rearranging the utensils on the table.

"Just in time, I'm starving," said Cal and flopped down on a chair and was immediately slapped on the hands that were reaching for food.

"Wash your hands," Liam said grumpily.

He had to get up from the table and follow the order.

Liam could hear him laughing in the bathroom.

Cal called Liam "grumpy wifey" over and over again.

After dinner, he did the dishes, showing respect for Liam, who had done so much for him that day, including a wonderful dinner. It was unfamiliar to spend the night in someone else's house. But quiet conversations and warm touches brightened their evening.

Once back in the bedroom, Cal was nervous for some reason. The setting seemed to oblige him to display all the strength and prowess of a male, and it made him feel uncomfortable and strange.

He stomped awkwardly in the doorway, then didn't know which side of the bed to choose and ceded primacy to Liam. As he took off his clothes, he felt awkward like the first time and was unsure of himself.

"Acting like you're on your wedding night," Liam described his condition as he plopped down on the bed. He was wearing sea-white silk pajamas.

"Not at all," Cal hid under the covers, too. He lay staring up at the ceiling, feeling strangely embarrassed.

"It's a strange place, like a guest or an inn," Liam remarked, pulling closer to him.

"No one talks like that anymore," Cal was referring to the inn. He kept grumbling to hide his strange state.

Liam had to get up and open the closet. He pulled out something that had particularly struck him on his last visit to the Earth.

With a lot of effort, he was able to get his record player.

Sitting on the bed, Cal watched as a black, round record emerged from a paper envelope. Liam put the record into the record player, started it up... and the room filled with enchanting music.

It felt to Cal like a thousand needles were piercing his body at once, and the hairs on his head stirred. Liam just sat on the edge of the bed and immersed himself in the music.

A beautiful female voice hummed, "You made me love you. I didn't want to do it"...

Cal came to his senses and walked over to Liam, holding out his hand.

With the music playing, the two lovers joined together in a tender dance, and the soft, diffused light poured in from their bedroom window for a long time, falling on rose bushes, neatly paved paths, and pretty garden figurines.

When the music finally died down, an unwary passerby could hear soft moans filled with desire and passion. Someone begged for mercy, but his voice was drowned in a maelstrom of wet, hot passion and was consumed by burning lust.

Clinging to Liam's back, Cal buried himself in his hair and inhaled the pleasant scent, wanting to absorb it and remember it forever.

They stopped only when their desires outgrew their possibilities and were forgotten by a happy sleep. Early in the morning Cal got up first, and cooked breakfast for Liam, even if it was clumsy and not entirely edible.

Some of the bread was burnt, but a grateful and happy Liam appreciated his efforts and ate it all, even if it gritted suspiciously on his teeth.

…...

The day when the students returned was rather hectic. While checking schedules and accommodations, Liam didn't sit down even once, constantly dealing with issues of some kind. Meanwhile, Cal was dragged around the corner by Grady, who was waiting for him to return.

"What?" he asked her a little irritably.

She pouted and pounded his shoulder with her fist.

"What's the matter?" Cal asked more gently.

"He confessed his love for me," the girl finally said and smiled, a little dumbfounded.

Cal's eyes widened as he realized it was Michal we were talking about.

"But, you... he knows, don't you?" It suddenly dawned on him.

"Yeah, I told him first," the girl's eyes sparkled like a Christmas star.

"Ugh, you scared the hell out of me." Cal said with relief, "so what now?"

"We're getting married at the annual Dragon Parade!" Grady whispered in a mysterious voice.

It's time for Cal to be surprised again.

"But it won't be long now," he murmured, "usually in August, won't it?"

"Yes, but something happened while you were away. By the way, are you coming to breakfast? Shall we go together?" Grady was already dragging him along.

The students greeting them weren't surprised, knowing that the two were kind of close. It was nice to see a packed dining hall. The lively voices, the laughter, the bickering - it was just like before, even though Cal had left the Academy not too long ago, it seemed like an eternity to him. They sat down at the table and began to eat, and Grady began to update him on the news.

"You weren't here when the murder happened," she began, taking a round bite out of her bun. "Three of the students have been harassing the others for a long time, and the status and wealth of their families has allowed them to do wild things with impunity."

Cal listened intently.

"It got to the point where they locked the student in the barn and abused him regularly. The boy from a poor family with no friends or connections simply disappeared from class. Teachers did not immediately pay attention. No one ever stepped in to protect him. He seems to have been hoarding a grudge for a long time, because one day his dragon attacked those students when they went on a secret picnic, ignoring the Academy rules."

Cal was surprised and the food almost fell out of his mouth:

"A dragon attacked students?"

"Yes, it was strange, because dragons are usually reverent about human life. But somehow it happened, and now the world is cleansed of this abomination."

Grady looked pleased as she reasoned about someone else's death, which made Cal inwardly shudder. Even with all he'd experienced in training camp, he hadn't reached the point where he wished for someone's agonizing death.

Sure, Legion hadn't fully grown up yet, but the idea of pitting it against his abusers hadn't crossed the man's mind. After finishing his tea, he got up and went looking for Liam, hoping to hear details from him.

"The Head is out," the Third Elder said, and suggested that Cal wait.

"Do you know where he can be found?"

"Oh, he's probably by the lake; he has a lesson scheduled."

Cal was flooded with memories of the day he'd been hiding, listening to the Head's tale of the rebirth of the dragons. Leaving the Academy, he headed straight for the place, noticing from afar that something was wrong.

Liam stood surrounded by far from students. He was besieged by angry men and women shouting that the lake should be sealed off and that students should not be allowed to come here.

As he got closer, Cal became involuntarily nervous as he watched Liam struggle to control the situation. The Fourth Elder approached the crowd from somewhere off to the side.

"Look, the decision has been made about the lake. It will be closed soon."

He drew the crowd's attention to himself and assured them that access to the lake would be closed.

The people murmured in satisfaction.

Liam asked them to leave the area so that the designated Elders could do their work.

The crowd began to disperse, discussing the situation loudly. Cal lurked to the side and watched as the five Elders, including Liam, lined up in an arc and after their words were spoken, the valley began to be covered in mist.

The Elders left the place before the poisonous cloud touched the edge of their robes. At the head of the Elders was Liam's uncle. Fascinated by the conversation, they left the valley and headed toward the Academy. Liam was the last to go, and Cal quietly called him aside.

They turned aside and went into a grove. Liam used the sound barrier the captain had taught him and only then did he speak.

"I just heard about the dragon attacking the apprentices," the apprentice said.

"Yes, but it's not that simple. The investigation has stalled, we have been unable to find conclusive evidence that an attack took place, and the bodies of the dead have been taken from us at once without giving us a chance to examine them."

"So that's why people insist on closing the lake?" Cal asked.

"Not only that, they want us to stop owning dragons and keep them isolated."

"That doesn't make sense," he muttered, frowning.

"And they've canceled the Dragon Parade," Liam added dejectedly.

Cal lifted his head and stared at the Head for some time, unsure of how to say what was on his tongue. But first, he decided to talk to Grady again.