@Aristocles

"Well their could be a compromise of some sort, Although if we are going that route I have many books and scrolls for you to read. As well I will need to teach him personally for two days per week" Leonore said. Smith was nodding his head wondering how long that would take, This all seemed so difficult and annoying.

Having a vague idea that he would get soundly beaten, Yssil still made a dedicated attempt. Flexing his leg muscles and pushing off the ground, he lunged at Adykon, intending to overwhelm him with several quick swings. With such a vastly more skilled opponent, his only choices were pure offense or an absolute defence. Yssil went with the offensive, hoping to at least sneak in one attack that might throw his opponent off.

@Eviledd1984

"Teach him two days a week? How? Will he be able to visit you, or you come to see us?" Kara asked, not quite understanding the logistics of it all. "You'd be welcomed at my family's place, as long as you keep good behavior. And don't worry about them judging you too harshly. My father, Adykon, had a son with another female once, before he met my mother. He didn't even know he had a child until he found her again, and he only saw his son after she was killed. That's Kosjurec, my half-brother."

@SilverPaw

Adykon saw Yssil's moves coming. His poses, the directions he leaned in, and several other signs let Adykon know exactly what he would do. The veteran adventurer parried his blows with ease, then retaliated with a series of strikes to Yssil's dark-gray hide. He wasn't gentle, either. While he didn't strike his student so hard that he would draw blood, cause serious injury, or risk breaking the practice sword, he hit hard enough to cause no small amount of pain, along with a bit of bruising.

@Aristocles

"I will come see you...however i do not know if your father or many other dra'con's will accept my presence, Because of the dracon-fey wars some year ago i have..become wary of your people...and because of my involvement many dra'cons want me killed" She said softly the shadow of Leonore moving back into the darkness of the room.

"Is that why you left?" Smith then said looking at the darkness of the room.

@Eviledd1984

"Those wars weren't even on the dracon continent! It was a group of dracons who had left to form a colony in-" Kara saw that Leonore was moving away. "No one even remembers those in our homeland anymore, and you wouldn't be a wanted criminal!"

@Aristocles

"Indeed that is why I left...to defend my land,from the invading Dra'con. My heart aches still for the many fey lives we have lost, Many still remember and do not forgive young one" She said speaking in a hushed whisper like their was people listening.

@Eviledd1984

"You'd have nothing to fear from my family, I assure you!" Kara replied, raising her voice, as it seemed that Leonore had vanished. She wasn't even sure where her voice was coming from. "Just promise us that you will visit us, starting this time next week. You owe your son that much! I trust you can find your son with some sort of fey magic. Just find him and you'll find our home. Do you understand?"

@Aristocles

Their was a silence before Leonore spoke again, "I will do that, Would you like for me to visit you to tech you fey magic?" She said softly which Smith nodded his head.

"Me?" Ardasa said, with a laugh. "Influence Rughoi? No . . . surely not. He keeps his own council, and neither I nor his advisors have a good history with changing his mind. Believe me, I've tried. I'm a year older than he is, but that means nothing to him." She quieted down, and stared in silence up at the statue of Arda. It looked back down at her with a strange conviction, one that she was sure wasn't there before. It showed a pride in its face, the pride of the strong mother, who could keep both the snake god Hetuis and the trickster god Scen in check by force of will. "But, supposing there is a way . . . " Ardasa hummed.
________________________________________
Kutur held up the blue bottle, peering suspiciously at the interior. It was filled with a thick, goopy liquid, that seemed to catch light within it. The insides shook, as if it were alive, a testament to its magical potential. He watched as the other magisters imbibed the liquid, some holding their noses and others crying. He was not feeling good about having to drink it himself. Still, with a couple of deep breaths, he followed suit. The liquid tasted horrible, like sugar so burnt it might as well have become ash. Then, the headache began. He keeled over, eyes blurring. Others around him were doing the same. Either that or desperately trying to throw the potion back up. Exarch Rokkar, whom he had spoken with earlier, was banging his head against the wall and roaring at the ceiling. This was how the vote had to be cast. Now Kutur must make a decision.

Yssil growled, partly in pain, partly in frustration. That he would be easily bested had been obvious but to simply give up now would not do. The younger dracon grit his teeth through the pain, gripped his sword more tightly and launched another offensive – this time with more force behind his swings. He was vaguely aware that he was starting to lose his cool and with a surge of will, Yssil tried to work in some evasive maneuvers, intending to put some distance between himself and Adykon and regain a more critical perspective.

@Eviledd1984

"Alright. Then it's settled. I'll tell my parents to expect you at times to train Smith" Kara explained. "And Leonore? Thank you. Your son needs you. Despite whatever happened in the past, I only hope that this can compensate for some part of it."

@bloonewb

"There must be a way. The gods wouldn't set our lord to be where he is if they didn't think it was for the best, and they wouldn't mate you with him if there was no higher purpose for it. They say that males and females exist in part to compliment the other. As far the continuation of our species, this is obvious" Kali explained. "The differences between male and female don't stop in the... intimate parts... no. They exist all over, including the mind. If you can provide our lord with guidance, you will find that he will make decisions based on what you advise, and you can turn him- subtly- to the ends that Arda requires. Try to make it look like it was his ideas, not yours."

@SilverPaw

Adykon's blows kept coming, and he parried almost every blow. The few swings which made it through his defenses were little more than taps against his red hide.

"Good, good! I can see the fire in you. Don't stop now, keep it up! Let go of your fear! Feel free to make mistakes! Better to get them all out of the way here than to suffer in a true swordfight!" If Adykon was winded in the least, he didn't show it. Although he was over 50 years old, age meant very little to dracons until they were at least 100. Eventually, Adykon could see that Yssil was slowing down.

"Alright, that's enough. You've done a good job, Yssil. Better than most of my sons at your level, in fact."

@Aristocles

Their was a pause and then Leonore spoke again, "Thank you...both of you" She said softly. Smith meanwhile was just staring at shadows as his hands were gently rubbing his cheek.

At Adykon’s urging, Yssil let the fire take over him, forgetting any intents of rationality. A few of his swings managed to make it through, but did not faze Adykon. The younger dracon attempted to work in even more attacks, but his body was starting to protest the intensive training and as much as he was determined to still go on, even his mind was losing the necessary wits for further combat.

Adykon caught the change and stopped the training, and Yssil gladly took his time to regain his breath and energy. He was vaguely disappointed that he had to be stopped so soon, but that emotion was blown away by Adykon’s approval and replaced with immense satisfaction. Yssil wasn’t sure how truthful his teacher was being, but he didn’t care because he was sure to have done well enough. Adykon didn’t seem like the kind to hold criticism back.

“Th-thank you. I honestly don’t think I can manage another round like this right away, however. May I rest?” Feeling vaguely guilty to sound so cowardly after just being praised, Yssil avoided the older dracon’s gaze. He shifted and barely held back a wince as the various bruises made themselves known. He carefully flexed his muscles to assess the damage. It wasn’t much but it was painful. Yssil focused on taking deep slow breaths. It was a good, if temporary, way to reduce the pain.

@Eviledd1984

"So... shall we go back to my father's place now?" Kara asked Leonore. "I have a gate stone. I can teleport back there." Kara knew that she could come back to Leonore's place, since she had been there before.

@SilverPaw

Adykon quickly checked to see if he had been too hard on Yssil. "Sure thing. I didn't expect you to last more than that long anyway." He returned his practice sword to the rack. "You can go on inside, sit on the couch. We have a guest room for you, of course. If you need something, Aerta can take care of you there. As for me, I'll be in the house myself in an hour or so. Still have some work to finish up here on the farm. And Yssil? You did a good job training. Don't sound so unsure of yourself. It'll only lead you to think you can do less than you really can."

@Aristocles

"If you don't mind I would like to accompany you to the portal" Leonore said moving a bit closer. Smith meanwhile was nodding his head and trying to stand up.

"If you say," Ardasa sighed, reluctantly turning her head back towards the statue. It stayed as unmoving and grim as it always had. Was this a condemnation, or an encouragement? Only the three gods knew what they wanted from their servants, and for reasons only known to their great wisdom, they didn't say much. What Kali said made sense, it always did. Still, all this deception, working behind the curtain stuff all seemed a bit . . . dishonest, didn't it? It wasn't always like this. She remembered being a tribal girl, running across sand and shrubbery with her father's strongest warriors and all the other children of the tribe. She was the chief's daughter, but felt nonetheless a part of a greater whole. Maybe the title of empress is too big for her. Having a tribe of a hundred thousand made the connection felt between all members fuzzy, then severs it altogether. It was so different, with rules between kobolds even when there weren't. Maybe she did need to have some agency over how the Empire was being run. To teach these people, so many of them former laborers and slaves, the way the kobolds lived before dracons took power. "Could you teach me?" Ardasa asked. Dare she dream it, the statue of Arda cracked a small smile at that.

"Alright. Thank you. I really am saying that a lot, aren’t I? I will just show you my gratitude by continuing to do so well in training. And I know I can get much better with you as my teacher.” After their conversation, Yssil went back inside. As Adykon advised to him, he took a seat on a couch and just relaxed. He felt that that would be enough.

Thankfully, his body wasn’t in as much pain as he had initially thought. To Yssil’s embarrassment, he was kind of…intimidated by Adykon and had honestly believed the older dracon would have insisted on more training and more physical force. But he hadn’t. And he had praised Yssil again. That was unexpected. But delightful.

Yssil locked eyes on Aerta’s form and asked her “Excuse me, may I have a drink? My throat feels rather parched. Also, I wouldn’t mind a light snack, if you have something.”

@Eviledd1984

"Easy, Smith. You're still getting used to your changed body" Kara reminded him, giving him a hand up. "I think we need to get back to my parents and explain to them what happened. Also, I think it's time we started considering... making it official. Between us. You know. Marriage."

@bloonewb

Kali turned toward Ardasa, kneeling down as they looked at each other. "Absolutely. I'll be happy to teach you what you want to know. Just, before I begin, please understand that the gods work in mysterious ways. Trickery and deception may not be ideal tools for most of life, but they are far better than relying on violence. The gods may frown on lies, but they absolutely hate unjust bloodshed. If the former has to be done to prevent the latter, it is a necessary and sanctioned course of action. But onlywhen necessary. It's very important not to use necessity as an excuse to lie, especially for selfish gain."

@SilverPaw

"Don't be too eager to thank me. It tends to dilute the value of your gratitude. Save it for when I do something good for you" Adykon chuckled. "That said, you are most welcome."

Aerta turned to Yssil when he spoke to her. "Certainly. How about I get you some beef slices and little salad to go with the water?"

@Aristocles

Smith was holding onto Kara, His face blushing when she was talking about marriage. "Marriage? Sure I mean...we should speak with your parents" Smith said smiling resting his head on Kara' shoulder.

Leonore was smiling at the news of making it official.

@Eviledd1984

"Well, yes, but I still don't think we should commit quite yet. It's best to talk about it and make sure we can agree on some things and make arrangements well ahead of time. But once that's done, either one of us should propose to the other. Dracons are fine with either gender proposing to the other" Kara explained.