TLoS: UAA 49: Elwynn's Memories

Ddraigtanto's thoughts were suddenly interrupted however, for there was a knocking at her front door. Captain Sol was quick to respond and answer the door; in another few moments he approached Ddraig with a guest.

"Your majesty." He greeted her with a bow. "The King of Wales. He wishes to see you." The light dragon quickly left them on their own. The ice dragon king put on a nervous smile, bowing his head slightly.

"Hello there..." He greeted meekly.

"Good day Elwynn." Ddraig responded. "Please, take a seat. Then you can tell me why you have visited me."

Elwynn obeyed, sitting down next to his empress. "I won't lie to you. I've been deliberately procrastinating here in Warfang. I've been worried about you, and wanted to see if you were ok, following the poor outcome of our trip to the Valley." He also sighed. "...I've also heard of your recent activities with the good King Alexander."

"Oh, you too have heard of that?" Ddraig muttered.

"I have, it's spread about quite quickly I must confess." Mused the blue dragon. "I do hope you've enjoyed yourself."

"I..." Ddraig paused. "Wait, you're okay with it?"

"I'm jealous..." he confessed. "But what's done is done, it's better to focus on the positives. King Greywater will have enjoyed good company, there's no doubt about that..." Another sigh escaped him. "...I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish it had been you and me though."

"Really?" Ddraig asked, giving Elwynn a look, slowly developing a theory of what Elwynn might mean. It was Ddraig's turn to sigh. "...I am sorry I've neglected you for so long. We used to be so close, but we rather drifted apart as we grew older."

Elwynn nodded in agreement. "...My education with the guardians was finished and I was to return home to my family. You had your job working for the King, we just, went our separate ways I guess." He sighed a happy sigh. "Oh, I remember it well. You were, by far, the prettiest young dragoness in the entire of that dragon temple." Ddraig stared at Elwynn. Ddraig was definitely not a female when they were kids! Just how far back was his memory changed?

Ddraig sighed. "I suppose. And you remember them?"

"I do..." Elwynn took a moment to pause, thinking it over. "...There's one story in particular which keeps returning to me. We'd been to the old Temple Bathhouse..."

"Looking back on it, it turned out that 'painful curse of death' was just lead poisoning." Elwynn muttered. "They probably shouldn't have made pipes out of lead."

"I think you're getting sidetracked." Ddraig grumbled.

"Yes, sorry." Elwynn apologised.

"Yep, there it is..." Elwynn muttered. He took a look round.
"Apparently the water was supposed to be heated..." She ran a paw through the water, shaking it dry as she quickly pulled it free again. "It's a little warm." She commented.
"Really?" Elwynn smirked.
"Yeah..." Ddraig spoke, not noticing the look on his face until she saw him. "Wait... Oh no, no you don't!"
"Oh yes I do!" Elwynn retorted playfully, before giving Ddraig a push. She squealed, grabbing the first thing available to her which, unfortunately for Elwynn, was his tail, dragging him in after with a splash!
"You!" Ddraig screamed as she bobbed on the water surface. At least it wasn't cold water. "You dick Elwynn!"
The ice dragon chortled at the sight of her. "Your face!" He squeaked between bouts of laughter. "It was priceless!"
"There aren't even any towls or bathrobes in here yet!" Ddraig continued. "Did you not consider that!?"
Elwynn continued to smile like the schoolboy he was as he shook his head. "...Still worth it."
For all her up-tightness and her moodiness, Ddraig couldn't deny that even she found their situation a bit daft, and swimming was kinda fun; as was dumping a large quantity of water on her friend's head by way of revenge! And so began a water fight, where the two adolescent dragons found themselves making small tidal waves at one another.

It wasn't long until one of them did something daft; once again, it turned out to be Elwynn.
There was a sudden chilly blast and frost flew up into the air as the ice dragon fired a spray of cold air at the water, turning it into snow, the rest of the pool soon followed. Thankfully the pair of them were out by then, but not before they were both covered in rather cold snowy dew.
"Great move Elwynn." Ddraig snapped. "How are we going to explain this to Master Ignitus?! Or Master Cyril, or..." Then Elwynn hit her with a snowball. "You bastard!" She yelped. "Oh, you're in for it now!"
It was the middle of April, and they were having a snowball fight; now this was the interesting thing about having an ice dragon as a friend: Somehow, snowball fights and skiing became popular hobbies. The look on Ddraig's face was a very happy one, far more so than Elwynn had seen in a long time. They were screwed, obviously, they were both going to be in quite a lot of trouble for freezing the bathhouse before anyone could actually use it; but, as Elwynn had said, it was still worth it...

Eventually, they grew tired, and the snow was beginning to melt; now they were cold and soaking wet, but they didn't care. For Ddraig, it had been a great distraction from all the recent problems she'd been facing. But for Elwynn, it was impossible for him to ignore Ddraig in this state; the snow on her scales had melted into a thin sheen of water which made her scale glisten like obsidian glass across her slender frame. It was a mental image he wasn't going to lose anytime soon; she was the most beautiful dragoness he'd ever seen. Everything about her was seductive and elegant, even if she made no effort to be so...

Ddraig continued to watch Elwynn as he finished retelling the story. He genuinely believed it. The reality of it was that Ddraig remembered the story from start to finish, but she remembered it as it was: When she was a male, and they were both young dragon boys, adolescent and barely in their 150s. Ddraig had been through a lot, her mother died when she was 15 dragonyears, but Elwynn had been a constant; right up until he had to leave for Wales again.
The point was that the memory was wrong; Ddraig wasn't a female back then, and she wasn't elegant or seductive in the slightest! As it was, Ddraig very distinctly remembered that, around the time Elwynn was saying she was being graceful and seductive, she, as a he, had actually slipped on the floor and landed right on her face, slipping again as she tried to stand up and landing on her rear; Elwynn made himself cry from laughing so hard all the while.
It did reveal something rather worrying though: Elwynn was picturing Ddraig as her younger self. A teenage dragoness which didn't exist, and he sounded as though he was falling for her! It was almost regretful for the both of them. In another universe, they might have been good together, but as it was, Elwynn never had the chance to start with, though he remembered it as though he might have done, if only he'd been brave enough to ask the adolescent dragoness which never existed out; but there was no adolescent dragoness, there was Ddraig, a teenage male who would remain a virgin well into his 30s, losing his dragonhood before he ever had the chance to use it.

"I'm glad you were there for me before." Ddraig spoke, a hint of sadness in her voice. "...I wasn't a good friend to you before, and I'm really sorry."
Elwynn smiled at her. "I know what was going on back then. I can't really say I blame you. I'm just glad we had the chance to catch up on lost years. I would have kept in contact, I should've written or something, but..." He sighed. "...Well, I guess life got in the way for both of us, didn't it?"
Ddraig nodded. "That it did..." She took a deep breath to focus herself, still she wasn't wearing the crown, but slowly she felt herself keeping control of her emotions (though not as well as she would with the crown's aid). "...Still, life goes on. I'm the empress of Avalar. You're my King of Wales, and my oldest friend. I have a job to do, and I can't neglect it for any account. Not for change of sex nor memories past..." Another breath. "...I had one last thing of great significance I need to do for a while, and it's something I should have done a long time ago."
"What is it Ddraig?" Asked the blue dragon.
"...I'm going to Ifriqiya, unannounced, to see King Har'Lan. The members of the EAM did so because of misogyny and corruption in my government. No nobledragon or dragoness in my government has been accused of sexism and malpractice more than King Har'Lan. The Imperial Crown gives his government money to develop the kingdom, bring stability and lift people out of poverty. This has been going on since the 50s, and still it's the poorest part of the entire Empire. For all the resources and all the investment put into that region, it really shouldn't be." Ddraig scowled. "Something is not right in Har'Lan's kingdom. And I intend to find out what, and make him stop, or he's to face the courts for corruption if I have my way."
Elwynn stared at her. "Ddraig, are you mad?!" He stammered. "Har'Lan's dangerous! You can't trust him! He's a tyrant and if he's as vile to women as the rumours say, what's going to stop him doing..." Elwynn shuddered. "...Horrible things. No! I can't allow this Ddraig!"
"It's my job!" Ddraig snarled. "DO NOT try to stop me!"
"Then at least let me come with you!" Elwynn begged. "Please. I don't want that animal alone near you."
Ddraig huffed; Elwynn was ever the loyal dragon. "...Alright." Ddraig spoke. "...It'll be good to have another king backing me up. I'm aware of his rebel sentiment, so I might need to take a few trustworthy dragons at my back, just in case..."