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A week passed uneventfully. The students returned to their daily happy, routine. From time to time, they saw Karina outside of school, as she went about her nonsense. She was currently making and installing bird houses. Around them, she was planting sunflower seeds, with cardinal climbers. The two plants functioned well together. From time to time, as Karina did her little chores, she would enter a trance, and she would forget where she was, and the people around her. Such trances are common among those who get really into what they are doing, before they know it, the task is done. During her little trances, Karina would sing to the little plants, and some would germinate and grow a little in response to her touch. Of all her siblings, she has the best green thumb. It was during those days when the men found her the most charming. Still, there were many who thought the whole gardening thing was a type of publicity stunt, or something to try to make the tyrant of her brother seem more approachable. And, then there were the others who worried that the King was a little too soft, and that they were appearing weak in the eyes of their imaginary enemies.

Truth be told, with Marduke, Veragerung was as safe as it could ever be from both inside and outside problem. Sure, the odd weed would appear from time to time, but nothing that a diligent gardener could not address quickly. It was during one of those days when Letholdus came to Karina, and asked, “Do you need some help planting your flowers?”

“Not really, but if you want to amuse yourself that is fine. I can easily do this for days. If it wasn’t for the little creatures, I would forget to return home,” said Karina.

Letholdus rearranged his advertisement sign, and kneeled down on the floor to help. On that day, they were planting baby breaths, forget me nots, lobelias, and thyme. On the nearby guard tower, Karina was placing on the battlements a couple of air plants, Spanish mosses, and aechmea plants. The soldiers thought it served no strategic purpose, but it at least gave them something nice to look at during their routines.

Letholdus asked, “How long have you ever gone planting, without taking a rest?”

“Once I went for 2, years. I planted an entire field of lilies, all of different colors. I was interrupted from my abstraction by my brother who asked me to come to this Continent, and now, here I am living in Veragerung, with nothing to do with my time,” said Karina.

“What did your brother ask of you?” inquired Letholdus.

“Oh! Nothing, just to stay out of the way. It was a bit insulting really. I was already out of the way, I did not need to be uprooted from my home to stay out of the way elsewhere,” said Karina.

“There must have been another reason,” said Letholdus, “Maybe you were not safe at home, and so he asked you to move. When I was wee small, I too was uprooted, as you put it. I was perfectly fine at home, and happy as a bee, and then we came to live in Veragerung, were I knew nobody, and was a nobody to everyone.”

“You are not a nobody Letholdus,” said Karina looking sternly at him, “Every living creature is important. It is those who wish to control you who want you to think that way, like your life doesn’t matter, like you don’t have control of your life, or your destiny for that matter.”

“My mother is nice once you get to know her you know,” said Letholdus chuckling.

“We are not talking about your mother, you know, and I am also a little mama’s girl too. And I am not ashamed of it,” said Karina.

“Really, were she at?” asked Letholdus.

“Hi mom,” said Karina waving.

Letholdus looked over his shoulder and saw a maiden who looked nothing like Karina waving back at him. She had short red hair, green eyes, and freckles over her nose. Letholdus chuckling said, “Sheesh, you weren’t kidding. Now that I know whom to keep an eye out for, I see that she has always been in your general vicinity.”

“She keeps a respectful distance,” said Karina, “The more she respects you, the more distance she keeps from you.”

“Huh!” said Letholdus not getting it.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Karina smiling.

Letholdus chatted with Karina about nonsense, and mothers for about five hours. He was eventually fetched by his own mother. She was going to nag him a bit, as was her hobby, but she stopped when she noticed that Letholdus was with a lady. Wiping a tear from her eye, she thought, “My little boy is finally growing up.”

Letholdus was not without experience. He was even married once, but it ended in divorce which was unusual at the time. The wife cheated on him, and she wanted him to tolerate the horns, to yell at her, to strike or something. Letholdus did not do as was expected of the men of his time. He simply cried and then gave her some money and brought her before the judge. He got the marriage annulled on grounds of infidelity. After the incident, his ex-wife was moved by her family to another city, and sold off as a widower of sorts. Her new husband was a drunkard, and a wife beating brute, and she loves him all the more for it, because she finally found a real man.  

From time to time, Letholdus would think about his old wife while gardening with Karina, and his brow would furrow. His only consolation was the knowledge that Karina was not like other maidens, because she came from another world. And from that thought, the train of his mind wondered to other worlds, and if the people were the same as in his world.

The hours on that day rolled slowly by. Letholdus kept checking the clock from time to time, while back at home. He was to see Karina again, this time at a public venue. There was going to be at night a dragon fight exhibition in the arena of the castle of Berthame. These days, it was the only spot being extensively used. The main halls had been locked away by powerful magic, so no outsiders could enter and loot the place. When the castle had been taken, a lot of the architecture got damaged, and many of the items stolen. All who participated in those robberies were long dead. It was believed that the ghost of Berthame was angry at the disrespect being shown to his personal possessions. Like a pharaoh from yonder times, Marduke had buried what remained of Berthame in the Libra Tower, with his larger than life armor serving as a marker. It was while digging up his grave that Marduke found the lovely Agrafina.

She was found in the hole that Marduke had dug up to bury Berthame’s urn. During her day, there was something like a Colosseum. Due to her insistence, Marduke decided to put on Veragerung’s very fist Dragon Show. The show had been secretly choreographed for weeks by the participants. In this respect, it was much like pro-wrestling.

Close to dusk, Letholdus started his libations in preparation for the date. Dating was usually done among newlyweds, and men with their pretty courtesans. Most people did not go out with their future spouse to be. This only applied to the civilian population. Those in the army tended to have a more relaxed approach to the whole dating thing, seeing as though many promises were made during the heat of battle. Those that tended to survive tough times together, stayed together.

The first thing Letholdus did was take a bath. He had already bathed, but he figured he should do so again, since he had worked in the soil. He had read from his friends that maidens like stinky men, just out of the field or some nonsense or other. Karina had once sent Babysel home for smelling like a swine. Letholdus figured that he should at least bathe. When he concluded, he went to his father’s room while wrapped in a tower. His father was always away on business, with his uncle, and cousins. Since Letholdus was not considered particularly smart, he was always tasked with manning the shop when everyone was away.

Letholdus after opening a couple of drawers asked, “Mom, did you move the musk?”

“Third drawer in the right,” said Letholdus’ mother. Her name was Amrita of Dokai. She was one of the adopted children of the Grey. She met her husband when he was visiting, and they eventually married and moved to Veragerung.

Letholdus applied the musk, which was made from the musk deer, cabbage roses, amber, and coconut water. With the perfume applied, he gave himself a shave. There was not a spec of hair on the fellow, but he decided to shave anyway, just to be safe. When this task was done, he polished a couple of his best shoes. When he concluded this, he felt he was dirty again, and so he bathed one more time.

Amrita shaking her head sadly said, “Son, you really need to relax. You already impress that weird teacher of yours, from now on, all you have to do is be yourself. You are trying too hard.”

“Mom, what do you think she sees in me?” asked Letholdus, “She could have any fellow, and yet she chose me.”

“From what I overheard; it is only a date. It is not as if she is accepting a wedding ring. Still, you have gotten farther than any of the other little boys that fly about her. Whatever you did, just keep doing it, and everything will work out,” said Amrita petting her son on the head.

She left the bathroom and she returned with a towel and some clothing. Letholdus had forgotten both, and he was getting the entire bathroom floor wet. Amrita did not mind drying it, but she worried that her son might slip and fall. After getting dressed, Letholdus was not too certain about the attire. He thought it looked too frilly, and it did not have any balls. Karina liked round things. To remedy this, Letholdus added a round pin to his black cape. Black was considered to be a sign of wealth, and so his entire attire followed in suit. As he made his way towards the door, he looked at all the hats being sold in the shop, and he picked one with two extravagant ostrich feathers held in place by a round, black obsidian surrounded by white pearls. With this final change, Letholdus finally left his home to see Karina.

As for Karina, the first thing she did as soon as she returned home was water her little saplings. A storm had come earlier that day, and so she went to check up on her sunflowers. There were two particularly tall fellows. They were mammoth sunflowers, and one was with seeds, and the other was starting to bloom. The one with seeds had been slightly dropping, and so Karina had tied a stick to it. The one without as stick was being supported by the other sunflower. The tallest one had been in the most danger as a result of the sudden, thunderstorm. It was a good thing that its sibling had held it in place. This scene made Karina smile, and so she proceeded to untie the big fellow of a sunflower. With this task done, she proceeded to perform her libations.

Normally, this would have taken her a little bit longer since she tended to nap a bit. Instead she hurried it up a bit. With her bath done, she opened one of her junk drawers looking for her brush. Inside, she found Nalini’s little Vaikus napping. She closed the drawer ever so softly, without making a sound. When it was closed, Vindkald came closer to see what was the matter. Without opening her mouth, Karina said to Vindkald using her mind, “The little quiet guy is sleeping.”

Vindkald in response to this said rather loudly, “Oh, that guy! He is a jerk. Wake up, wake up!”

He then proceeded to rattle the table, and to turn portions of his body into cymbals and other loud musical instruments. Much to his dismay, the creature that was Vaikus did not awake. That drawer in specifically was gyroscopically stable, and when closed did not budge an inch. Vaikus was a creature of silence, and when he was about everything had to obey.

“Oh! Pooh! Pooh! What do you have against such a fellow?” asked Karina.

Vindkald said nothing. In response, he turned into a very soundproof looking Iron Maiden, with the spikes. He then started the waiting game. Karina instead of getting dressed to go out, she laid down in bed thinking.

Vindkald asked, “You are not going?”

“I dunno. I am suddenly wandering if it is going to be worth the effort,” said Karina.

“Effort? You are just going out to see some dragons. If you want to talk about effort, try sitting here for hours waiting for your prey to let his guard down,” said Vindkald smiling with his iron maiden of a face.

Turning to the side, Karina said, “I dunno. It is probably going to be a huge disappointment at one point or another.”

“You don’t have to play if you don’t want to. Life is just a game, anyway. You can leave the board at any point. It is not as if you have anything to lose by going. You are strong, and you can read minds. There is absolutely no risk on your part, so go and play it by ear,” said Vindkald.

Karina got up languidly from her bed. She putted on the first thing that fell out of her inventory. It was one of her many approved, premade sets. She looked at herself over the top. Frowning, she changed once again. This time she putted on what she used to wear back in her old world. It was not approved because of the materials used. After making some substitutions here and there, the auria master grudgingly approved her attire. Karina did her hair up, in twin pigtails. The hair acquired a nice silvery tint, with a purple stripe. The top of her attire was light blue, with a weird cut, and blue frilly arm decorations, the wavy, frilly skirt was just over the knee, and it had four long cloths coming out from beneath the underskirt. The exposed arms had two spiral upper arm bracelets, with an orb. From the orb, a fabric was interconnected. The ankle shoes had a nice star pattern on top, and the zippers came with a little bell. On the head, she had a fabric tied head band. Aside from blue, the outfit had single purple line as accent. Also, the socks were of two different lengths, with the shorter one having a ribbon tied a couple of inches over the knee. For earrings, she wore two large hoop earrings. As before, she wore plenty of bracelets, and a couple of rings as well. That Karina liked her hand ornaments. Since she still had a bit of time, she painted her nails lavender, with the ring fingernail white. For the final touches, she added purple and blue eye makeup, with silver lipstick.

“I am ready for this world,” said Karina smiling.

The drawer opened a little, and little Vaikus peeped his head out to see what all the fuzz was about. It gave a curious glance to Karina before closing the drawer once again. Vindkald sighed and said, “I had forgotten how much you loved your ridiculous costumes and makeup.”

“It is not ridiculous, you are ridiculous,” said Karina frowning.

She left her room, and on the way out, Kanon commented, “Looking sharp, Karina!”

“You think so?” she asked.

“Sure, I would not be caught dead wearing such a ridiculous get up, but if you don’t mind being called a whore, then go ahead,” said Kanon laughing.

“Why is everyone being a dick to me today?” asked Karina more to herself.

Zibanu who was entering the apartment said, “The boys are just jealous as all. Pay them no mind. They cannot help but be bound to their petty, past habits. I have seen the same thing far too many times, and you are lucky that Marduke is not here to see you behaving so callously towards little Karina, otherwise, he might demand what he calls a trail separation.”

“I’ll be good,” said Kanon sadly, “You look fine. Weird, but fine. Like a clown, or a gymnast.”

“There! Was it so hard to say the truth,” said Zibanu smiling. He came and kissing Karina on the forehead before saying magnanimously, “Now have fun on your little date, and don’t forget to use protection.”

“Protection, what do you know about protection?” asked Karina a bit weirded out.

“Dunno, I am only familiar with the phrase, not its meaning,” said Zibanu. He added, “Wait here a moment.”

And so, he came back with an ornamental dagger. Handing it to Karina, he said, “I suppose this is what he meant by protection. Stab him with the pointed end if he disrespects you.”

Karina said before departing, “I am not going to need this thank you very much, but it does make a good compliment for my dress, so I will take it.”

As soon as Karina was out of earshot, Zibanu said, “Well guys, we tried.”

As of lately, things had been swell with the people living with Marduke. They dreaded the possibility of a new face bringing tension to the household. Vindkald nearly had a heart attack when he saw Lucian in Karina’s bedroom. Playthings were one thing, but a new person who was to mingle with the family was something that Vindkald could not tolerate.

He looked out the window wearing a dejected puppy face. The puppy face in specific he chose was that of a shar pei puppy. Without realizing it, everything started to grow quiet around him. He jumped out of his skin, when he looked to the side and saw Vaikus, in his human form. He yelled, “Chibi Christ!!”

The yell made Vaikus extended and close Vindkald’s many mouths.  When everything grew as quiet as a mouse, Vaikus left Karina’s bedroom to roam. As he did, everything about him was compelled to be still and silent. Even the whinny baby settled down when it felt his shadow passing by.

Karina frowned a little when she noted the silence slowly creeping by. To ward it away, she changed her shoes to ones that had a metal sole. This caused her footsteps to become loud when walking on the cobblestones. This became eventually unnecessary as she reached the steps leading towards the main door of the castle of Berthame. Castle was putting it mildly, with its massive size, and 5 wings, with 5 towers, the place was more of a palace. The courtyard had been fitted with wooden step seats like the ones used in jousting. Marduke had thought a bit as to when it was best to do the exhibition match. In the end, he decided at night because the dragons were not going to hurt each other for real. With nighttime, their fires and theater magic would look more impressive. Karina waited at the entrance, but she did not see Letholdus.

After waiting a lot, an Observer told her were to find the fellow. He was moving about looking for her. Karina saw him passing by, and she ran after him. She pulled his arm to stop him, and then she said, “Letholdus!”

“Can I help you?” said Letholdus annoyed.

“Oh my! If you are gonna be like that, then I am going home, don’t ever show your face in my class again,” said Karina starting to go home.

Finally recognizing the voice, Letholdus said, “Karina?”

“Yes, yes, little Karina indeed, why did you recognize me, even if I was a stranger, there is no reason to be so callous, and you wonder why your father doesn’t trust you to run the store,” said Karina.

“Rub some salt on that wound, why don’t you,” said Letholdus frowning.

Karina sighed and waited. Eventually, Letholdus said, “I am sorry… I was surprised as all, by your disguise. I suppose it makes sense that you would not want people talking about you. They say enough things already, without you doing anything wrong.”

“Sorry to disappoint you little man, but everything is true, so take it or leave it, just don’t make too much of a big deal about it,” said Karina, “It doesn’t hurt anyone, and it is all fun, and good games, without the risk… for me.”

“Let’s talk about something else, inside. We don’t want to lose a seat,” said Letholdus.

After pushing her way through the crowd, Karina eventually found two seats in the topmost portion of the bench. Letholdus commented, “I don’t think we are going to see much of anything.”

“Dragons fly, remember. You want to me up to see all the action, not down,” said Karina.

The dragons in question were two juvenile dragons, ages 31 and 71. The youngest one was an alabaster dragon with pure white scales, named Cimarron. The whiteness of his scales was a sign of his age. He would not be able to mate till his top armor darkened to a healthy brown. Maroon was another desired color. Alabaster dragons had a long wingspan, and bulkier, muscular bodies. The mane of Cimarron was longer around the head, which made his growing horns look even smaller. The hands and feet only had three fingers, with no opposable thumbs. The tail had a bit of a fin, which was used for midair steering. The other fellow was unlike anything seen in Veragerung. It had a serpentine body, with some back fins that resembled wings somewhat. It had a lot of small tiny legs, like those of a centipede or a caterpillar. The wings indeed were bigger, but the dragon had to pump blood into them. The mouth had a serpentine like quality to it. When the wings expanded they acquire color, with the chroma of a rainbow. Starting red at the top and turning blue at the bottom. This strange dragon called itself Nuanua.  

The dragons started by glaring at each other, and snapping their teeth. It was followed by aggressive turnings, as one usually sees in cats in the wild. Their manes started standing on end. Nuanua started snapping closer and closer, while Cimarron started taking in and exhaling air. Slowly, the air started taking a more crimson color.

With this opening, the fire cauldrons around the arena were lighted up. And the music started. The band was located at the foot of each of the benches. Each was composed of 20 musicians, each following in suit. In this way, they provided a bit of a surround effect for the dragons fighting in the middle. Karina brought out for Letholdus some popcorn.

Frowning he said, “What is that?”

“Food? Don’t you want any? It is called popcorn, by the way,” said Karina.

“Well, put it away, it is rude to the people around you,” said Letholdus.

Karina asked the people around her, “Do you want some?”

“Yes, thank you, I am starved,” said the fellow.

The girl beside him asked, “Do you think this is actually safe?”

“What if a dragon falls on us?” asked another fellow.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Karina, “You see that man in a white robe. He is creating a shield, if anything is thrown in our direction he will intercept it.”

“Phew! What a relief,” said Letholdus starting to relax a bit.

The dragons started clawing, and snapping at one another. The scales ripped, and some shards even landed near the feet of some of the people in the lower banisters. A child came to try to pick one up, but he crossed his hand over the red line. Cimarron immediately stopped the battle, and he roared, “Get back behind the red line little boy!”

The child crying ran back to its parents. This caused some chuckles in the crowd. Nuanua and Cimarron resumed the position they were in before, and they continued their made-up dance of death. Eventually, Nuanua bit Cimarron, and he screamed in anger, with the mouth cracking fire. This caused plenty of gushing and wows in the crowd. It was then when Cimarron took to the sky, and started sweeping Nuanua with plumes of fire. Some of the plumes of flames got a little too close for comfort. At least enough to feel the heat, from a burning furnace.

Letholdus had many stupid nonsense to say to Karina, but it was forgotten by the spectacle of dragons fighting. He had seen dragons before, but not actually in action. From time to time, he would take a handful of Karina’s never-ending bag of popcorn. At first it seemed like Cimarron had the advantage, with the flying nonsense. Nuanua could only dodge around him, with his tiny feet. Eventually, Nuanua got heated up enough to shoot from the mouth a burst of lighting, that looked quite impressive indeed. As it spread about, filling the night sky one bolt eventually found Cimarron. This messed with Cimarron’s flight trajectory, which he had to correct to avoid hitting one of the towers. With Cimarron stunned, Nuanua started gathering air, and blood flowed into the shrunken wings. Eventually, they grew into beautiful, rainbow wings. From then on, the battle took to the air, from time to time, one of the dragons would fly a little too close to the banisters.

The night was quite clear, and most of the moons were full. As such, it was one of the brightest nights in the Kingdom. Due to the bring colors of the dragons, it was impossible for a fellow to miss any detail of the action. The pair of dragons had been chosen for this exhibition match because they regularly fought over mating rights, and territory. Since they had grown up together, the fights never escalated to the point where they actually harmed one another. At the crescendo of the battle, Nuanua coiled around Cimarron biting him in the neck. Cimarron wrestled away from Nuanua dealing the final blow, a deadly bite to a growing area that appeared every time Nuanua took in breath. It was common belief that the dragon heart was unprotected and noticeable. A well-aimed strike to a dragon heart was commonly believed to kill him. Nuanua for example had about five hearts, like the noble worm. If one was injured, the others could pick up the slack. Still, it was not a pleasant experience. Eventually, the injured heart was excreted out, and overtime a new one developed. As for Cimarron, his chest scales were the thickest in the body. They became even stronger, as the fire was built inside the lungs.

The skirmish overall lasted 20 minutes. Cimarron wanted it to be a little longer, but Marduke said that people got bored if the fights lasted more than 15 minutes. The bite was not part of the script. Rather, it was a reminder for Cimarron to get with the program. In all their past skirmishes, Nuanua was always the undisputed champion. Since Cimarron was not a fan of losing in public, Nuanua gave the youngling this public victory.

With this done, the rest of the dragon show could continue. The following show was a series of dances, dedicated to Erua, the Jellyfish Goddess of Salt Water. The dancer was Deasura. She was doing her famous Jellyfish dance, with some of her dancing apprentices. Among them was the bizarre humanoid, sponge Lucier. She had the shape of a person, but no hands, or feet, just pointy nobs at those ends. On top of her featureless head, she had two antennas, with round clear bubbles. Her back had four pairs of wing like appendages, each with strings with a round pearl at the end of it. To add to the entire aquatic theme, the little pudgy dragons also joined in the show. Since the wars ended, the dragons had a lot of idle time on their hands. And so, they had gotten into the arts like their shell-shocked riders, and handlers.

Letholdus yawned at this. He said to Karina, “I have to take care of some private issues. I will be right back.”

“You should have gone before you left,” nagged Karina.

“You sound just like my mother,” said Letholdus smiling.

Karina in response gave him a peck on the cheek. Letholdus blushing started pushing his way through the crowd of people complaining. More than once he nearly fell off the stairs. He came to find a corner, and tried to evacuate. He had just unbuttoned his pants when a deep voice behind him said, “What do you think you are doing?”

Turning around, Letholdus saw Muldred in his human form, with the silver hair, and eyes. Ever since things had settled down, Muldred spent his summertime in Veragerung. Muldred said to Letholdus in his usual stoic, half joking, half threatening way, “Just because the castle is not in use, doesn’t me we will allow it to become a dump.”

“Sorry, were is the?” asked Letholdus feeling rather stupid.  

Muldred pointed to the right wing, were the overgrown smithy was located. After following a carpet with arrows, and words that read “Bathroom this way!” Letholdus finally found the place to lay down his burden. The popcorns had not suited him well. When he found the bathrooms, it was like nothing he had ever seen. They were bright, and shiny. And the toilet, was made of copper, with golden, floral patterns. It was indeed a work of art. Eventually, Letholdus’ need overcame his admiration. When he concluded, Letholdus noticed that there were no more towels, and the water pail for cleaning was no were to be found.

Dreading to return with dirty breaches, Letholdus looked about. He saw that from where he was sitting, there was a bathtub, and some soap. He filled the tub, and he cleaned himself full, before getting dressed again. To dry himself, he used his overcoat. After squeezing it like a mop, he felt that his coat was dry enough to hold near his person. After half an hour he returned to see Karina. Karina had a funny look on her face. Grinning, she asked, “What took you so long?”

“Oh, nothing. There was a line to enter the bathroom as all,” said Letholdus excusing himself.

“I am surprised. The smithy had about 70 full bathrooms,” said Karina.

“Well, there was a line, and about 30 people per bathroom stall,” continued Letholdus.

“So, what you are saying is that there was about 2100 people going to the bathroom at that very moment,” said Karina insisting on the matter.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Letholdus.

“Why?” asked Karina with a pouty face.

“Because its private,” said Letholdus.

“There is no need to be embarrassed at something that every living creature does,” said Karina.

“Yes, it is something normal, but I don’t feel right about talking about my stool with you,” said Letholdus.

“Mine comes out in the form of bunny pellets,” said Karina pocking Letholdus’ ribs with her index finger.

“Stop acting like a child!” said Letholdus laughing.

The nonsense continued till the end of the show. Overall, the dragon show lasted for 2 hours. After the dance, there was more acrobatic flying of the dragons to show their maneuverability. There were also dragon riders performing stunts on top of their mounts. Following, Muldred and some of the other dragon fellows showed the crowd how they turned from human to dragon, and vice versa. Lastly, they did a bit of a documentary skit teaching the visitors about each of the dragons. Since this was the last part of the show, the children were allowed to come closer and pet the dragons, and handle the dragonlins.

The true aim of the show was to dispel the public’s fear of dragons. Dragons were not weapons of subjugation, but very power living creatures, with thoughts and feelings. At least, that was Marduke’s working theory. Based on the memory fragments collected from those who attended, Marduke’s approval rating had skyrocketed, as well as the fear of the man.

As for Letholdus and Karina, they were getting along rather nicely. Both had polite conversations about nonsense. The current topic was about unicorns. Karina was explaining to Letholdus why Unicorns could not breed with horses. Despite looking like mammals, the Unicorns were cold blooded animals, and they laid eggs. They have more in common with the discus fishes.

While discussing the discus fishes, Karina suddenly turned serious, as if all the joy had been sucked right out of her. She said to Letholdus, “You know, it is getting late. You should go home or come to my home.”

“You could stay in mine, mom will not mind,” said Letholdus.

“If you say so, but your cousins will mind, and your father has returned early,” said Karina.

“Was it the little bird who told you?” asked Letholdus.

“No, I think it was Banshee. He hates your father, and so I heard him barking, with that particular high pitch bark he does whenever your dad is nearby,” said Karina.

“Why does he hate dad?” asked Letholdus. By now, they were making their way home.

“From what I heard; your dad was one-time doggie sitting it. He tried putting a collard to walk the dog, but Banshee did not approve of it. Ever since then, the little chihuahua has been holding a grudge,” explained Karina.

“That was like seven years ago,” said Letholdus.

“What can I say. Dogs live in the moment, but Chihuahuas hate you forever,” said Karina.

When they arrived at the entrance of Letholdus’ house there was a huge structure on top of a cart. The structure was round, and on the inside there were carts and wooden horses. Letholdus asked the pertinent question, “What is that?”

“Seems like a Carousel,” said Karina. She added more to herself, “When did that get approved?”

“You will have to forgive the mess, but father is known for his impulsive buys. They rarely occur, but when they do, it is always something of a surprise,” explained Letholdus.

“I don’t consider it a mess. Once it is up and running, it is going to be a major thing,” said Karina. She added, “You guys might be able to open an amusement park, or something.”

“Amusement Park?” asked Letholdus.

“It is, what it sounds like,” said Karina. Frowning she added, “Still don’t get it. It’s a park, were you go have fun.”

“Oh! Like those recreation parks, with the sliders, and the ladders, and swings?” asked Letholdus.

“More or less, but with bigger stuffs to interact with,” said Karina.

“I see, yes, why not. There are a lot of kids lately. And most of them have not even started school. Father says that if this keeps up, the soldiers will quadruple the population,” said Letholdus.

“It’s a fun way to spend the time, I don’t see anything wrong with population growth,” said Karina.

“What if we run out of resources or something?” asked Letholdus.

“Every day, there are new advancements in agriculture, and architecture. With both things progressing, we can feed everyone, and house everyone,” said Karina, “And the meat. Well, we can make buildings dedicated to fish farms, or something. So, you see, instead of looking at a problem, and whining about it, you should be solution oriented, and the solution should not involve turning dead people into food, or killing newborns.”

Letholdus frowned at what Karina had said. To end the conversation he said, “Well, I should be headed inside. See you at class tomorrow.”

“See yah,” said Karina kissing him in the cheek.

Letholdus made a turn to try to get the kiss on the mouth, but Karina turned his head. This annoyed him a little, but he took the show of affection without any complaints. As soon as he entered inside, he found his entire family, and some of the bored merchants assembled. They were there, along with Letholdus’ father to start their interrogation.

The following day came and with it, another life lesson from Karina. She found all her dear pupils assembled in the last floor of the library. There was also a couple of new faces here and there, but none that would become a recurrent character, or even an interesting one. The first was a little girl named Regina Picitratis di Vali et Unheil. She was staying temporarily in Veragerung with her family, who came with the traveling merchant band. She was dressed like a little doll, with the pink dress, the bonnet, and the black shoes with the ribbon. The other fellow was a lad named Quentin and his brother Severin, Dukes of Sassari and Martisor. They had bought the title of Martisor recently. They even got a plaque, and shield handcrafted, and designed to look super official. The Grey from the mountains gave them out whenever there were petit nobles visiting, looking for way to look far more important than what they were. The titles did not provide any actual power, just entrance to the castle to speak with the Sage King of Dokai. Still, being able to enter palaces and mingle with the high nobility, was something that most people in the Kingdom aspired to do, as if it would bring them some sort of benefit or other.  As most things stood as of lately, the nobles and the merchants had grown reserved, and now they only dealt with familiar faces.

Marduke thought nothing much of nobility and titles. For him, skill and purchasing power was the only thing that mattered. The time that Marduke spent in the castle as a little Lord in his youth, was enough to bore him to tears. And indeed, the little Lord Marduke did cry often out of boredom. This was part of the reason why he had moved to a seemingly small apartment, instead of habituating the castle of Berthame.

The five others visitors were ladies in waiting of the Alpha of the Dragon Riders. The current alpha was an orc maiden named Homa. Normally, the Dragon Riders would have gotten a new Alpha by then, but Homa had turned out to be quite the savvy leader. She was both kind, and wise, despite her young years. She was currently cruising Veragerung on a super top-secret mission of finding a mate for herself. Since her rank isolated her from her peers, she went incognito to Veragerung to find her luck. Currently, she was roaming the schools. Since her ladies in waiting were bored of waiting, they entered the first random class they found. That class happened to be Karina’s. The first girl was called Biribi and the other Airelle. They had no last names because they were raised by dragons. Their true draconic names were more like growls. They just added more vowels into the name, to make it easier to pronounce when talking with outsiders.

After the usual tirade, Karina settled down to start her lesson. The crazy story for this lesson started as thus, “So, there was I, waking up like normal. I went for my bath, and I noticed that I had a lot of odd veins. Slowly, over the course of the day, I got blisters, and my vision started fading. From time to time, I was compelled to moan. When my jaw started drooping, and I had a weird, tired way of walking I realized what the problem was.”

“And what was it?” asked Casimir looking concerned.

“I was like turning into a zombie. It’s a degenerative condition like vampirism. If left untreated, you die, and then become a type of undead, it is real unpleasant stuff,” said Karina.

“Is there a plague in this city?” asked Mico alarmed. As he said this, he moved away from Karina and those around him.

“It was a dream, you dope,” said Karina trying to calm Mico.

“Dreams sometimes warn you of future problems,” suggested Lucian.

“Only if she is physic,” said Suntaria who had graced the classroom with her presence. She had sweetened up, ever since she had found her better half. Her better half was made of porcelain. She had rediscovered a childhood hobby she used to share with her dead mother. Now that she had more idle time, she was doing an apprenticeship to learn how to make porcelain dolls. It kept her mind at peace, and on the weekends, she went to talk to a Listener.

The Listeners was profession created by Marduke. This was what Marduke called Psychologists and Psychiatrists. Most of the Listeners in active duty were retired priests. They no longer did sermons, or marches, or tended to the temple. They still bothered with the flock. A weeks or so ago, Suntaria had suffered a bit of a breakdown due to her lack of sleep, from the night terrors. She became convinced that the dream was real, and it got a bit messy with her threatening to kill her cousin for removing her flower garden, because he had plans for it. She was not even that avid of a gardener, nor did she hate the fellow in the least. Now, every night she drank Lime Flower Tea before going to bed, and she slept like a baby.

This was difficult indeed, because the servants had to wrap her up, the way one does to calm babies.

Karina changing the subject said, “Well, the whole zombie thing is not important. The lesson is not to forget that you have flesh and blood. You get so caught up in your nonsense, that you do not notice yourself getting sicker, and sicker, till the problem becomes impossible to ignore. Which reminds me, there is now a five Listeners on the third floor of the Library. The Listeners’ names are written on the door.”

“I don’t know,” said Casimir, “It sounds like a made-up career if you ask me.”

“It is more or less, but at least some people might get a kick out of them. Not me, though. Not, so much. Marduke thinks they are useful for coping with crippling depression. You can pretend it’s not there, but then one day, you wake up moaning, and drooling like a zombie,” said Karina, “It is ok to ask for help as all, but also be careful around the edges. It is not safe for weak minded people to unburden themselves on the wrong person, and then end up blackmailed or worse, right Letholdus.”

“Why are you signaling me out?” whined Letholdus.

“You know what you did,” said Karina frowning.

The conversation on nonsense and the undead continued for a bit. In the end Karina said, “Since we have some time, we should go to the temples.”

“Why?” asked Carmenta.

“Well, most of the Listeners have religious backgrounds, so you should see what it is all about,” said Karina.

“I am going to tab out of this, I am religious my own way,” said Casimir getting up and closing the door behind him.

Lucian and Janus got up to catch the fellow in the stairs, but when they opened the door to look for him, he was no were to be seen. Casimir always had a knack for disappearing on you, when he did not want to be found. The students together with Karina wandered about a bit through the temples in the city. The temples were mainly for the popular Gods like Lara, Arasa, Hemi, Hexin and Lytha. The biggest temple at the moment was the one dedicated to Hemi, the Goddess of Truth. A weird architect was still working on it, with the tiny details, and the nice acoustic. You could have a conversation in one room and be heard in another. The decorations were distorted versions of real things. It drew attention of how the truth was distorted by others. In the center, there was a large, round blue Opal. The closer one got to the center of the temple, the less distorted the architectural features became. Eventually, everything looked beautiful, and serene like a classical Greek Statue. As for the other Gods, they only had mini Chapels.

The students and the tagalongs drew near the whitish, bluish round sphere. It was not often that the temple relic was left outside for all to see. This relic had recently been rediscovered. It was said to be the point of origin of the curse or blessing of the Berserkers. According to lore, a thief had snuck into the temple of Hemi, and had killed the priest to get an opal ring from his finger. When he putted on the ring, he was compelled to tell the truth, and the ring could not be removed.

In the end, the nameless thief had to cut off his finger. The curse did not end with the removal of the ring, and it was passed on from himself to his descendants, and whichever person was unfortunate enough to come in contact with his blood. In a sense, the truth spread like an infectious disease, and it still does. This is why carriers of the cursed blood are careful with whom they mingle with, because it is a power they jealously guard.

As for the opal ring, it eventually grew in size, till it was impossible to ignore. To appease the Goddess of Truth, the Berserkers made temples for her, and she blesses them with the ability to tell when others are lying, and with the ability to tell the truth when it is convenient for them to do so.

Carmenta staring at the large, round opal asked the pertinent question, “Is it true that the berserker’s power is passed through their blood?”

“Yes, and no. Let’s say that you kill a poor fellow, and take his blood. That will not make you gain the blessing of the goddess. As with most divine gifts, there are exceptions to the norms. Still, if it was up to the Goddess, we would all forced to tell the truth, and be unable to lie.”

“That sounds terrible, if you ask me,” said Casimir.

“How so?” asked Janus.

“Well, what if you have a secret that you do not want anyone to know about,” said Casimir.

“I suppose that might be a problem, if that secret keeps you safe from harm. Still, one way or another, everything comes to light, even if it takes a million years, and when it does it no longer matters,” said Karina.

“I don’t get what you are saying,” said Lucian.

“It means that sometimes the truth takes so long to be revealed that when it does, it no longer matters, like finding out that there really was a bunny on the moon, making the elixir of immortality, living with a princess, or that you can travel through time and space, with the power of your mind. Both became obsolete with the creation of the warp drive, and the crystal, but pay me no mind,” said Karina remembering that she was talking to normal people.

She drew a little nearer to the opal. The distortions in the opal reflected back Karina’s true form. Sighing, Karina continued, “You know, when I was wee small, I was able to speak more openly with fellows. I could say the strangest things without people looking at me like I was weird or something. What I am trying to tell you my fellow, bored classmates is that I am tired, and I am not even tired.”

There was a strange silence that followed. In part, the silence came in the form of Vaikus. He was roaming the temple, looking at all the cool distorted figures. When he drew near the opal, his visage became hideous, and warped. It caused quite a fright on the students, and those assembled, but it was a thing that one had gotten used to. Aside from making a big fuss about the noise, the creature was harmless. On weekends, Lucian played very quiet chess with Vaikus. One time, he got him so quickly that Vaikus threw the board, making some noise. Vaikus could be randomly infantile, but he tried to maintain an air of being a cool, supernatural entity.

After the visit to this final temple, and making some rounds to the chapels, the students went on their way. Letholdus lingered a little. Karina asked Letholdus, “You want to get married?”

“Sure! Awesome, but don’t I need to ask your father for permission or something?” asked Letholdus.

“I don’t see why you have to,” said Karina, “It is not as if you are going to sleep with him. And besides, he knows.”

“So, how long do you want to do the courtship for?” asked Letholdus.

“When I asked you for marriage, I meant like right now, right now, we united under the eyes of a God or something, and we start living our life as one person, maybe, till one gets bored or dead,” said Karina.

“Don’t you want to have some stupid wedding or something. I hear that is all the rave, among the pretty ladies of the court,” said Letholdus.

“If you want a fancy ceremony then by all means, but you better find somebody else to follow you in that charade,” said Karina.

“Why do you want a private wedding. Are you ashamed of me?” asked Letholdus.

“Nope. Its fine as all. After we are married, we can put an article on the newspaper for the rest of the city to be quick on the update,” suggested Karina.

“Won’t that be something, for my poor mother to find out about our marriage from the newspaper,” said Letholdus laughing nervously at the idea.

“She could not find out at all, if it will please you. But I am not the type of person to withstand ceremonies, and formalities. We were born in two different worlds, but a least we originated from the same world, so that is something to bond over,” said Karina.

“I don’t follow anything that you are saying,” said Letholdus.

“Other than serving as a topic of idle gossip, what other usage is there for a public wedding?” asked Karina, “It is a big waste of money as all, and it is a magnet for bad luck. Last time somebody from my family had a big showstopper it ended in tragedy, bodies everywhere, and all that.”

“I see,” said Letholdus taking things in earnest.

“Well, you don’t need to answer right away. We can get married quickly tonight, at the temple of Hemi, or not at all. It is your choice,” said Karina departing.

Letholdus walked after Karina, and he detained her by grabbing her elbow. When she turned around, Letholdus took the chance to finally kiss her on the lips. He said looking earnestly at her, “We can get married tonight, if pleases you.”

“Yay! I had my way,” said Karina hugging her fellow.

With this matter resolved, the pair went their separate ways. When the night fell, they met with one another in front of the relic. A priest of Hemi could not be found in short notice, but Karina was able to acquire Leif, a friend and priest of Eura. Coming with him was the stilt, sponge figure Lucier, with her angel wings. She was to be used as a witness. It worked just as well, because Lucier could not speak, nor even write, with her knobby like hands. She did poke well with them.

Karina appeared wearing a simple black dress, with a red line under the chest, and another going from the left shoulder, to her right leg. The back was opened in a circle, beneath, the hole, there was a see through loose, red voile fabric. It split in two, and connected to two golden arm bands. As before, she wore dainty bracelets and jewelries. Her black boots were knee high, with the heels colored red. Instead of rings, she wore two very short gloves that barely got past the thumbs. One glove was red, and the other black. The earrings followed in suit, which were black triangles, with a round garnet in the center.

As for Letholdus, he wore his Sunday best, even though there was no such thing as Sunday in that world. He wore green, Rococo like attire, with the knee long pants, the overcoat, and the white frilly shirt, with the socks, and the black shoes.

When Leif got to the part of anyone having an objection, surprise, surprise, someone objected. The first fellow to appear was Casimir. He said, “I object your honor!”

“I am not a judge, and this is more of a formality than anything, all things consider,” said Leif yawning, “Can’t you let me wrap this up, so I can go home?”

“Nope,” said Casimir.

“Why?” asked Letholdus.

“Because…” started Casimir stalling. When he heard the numerous footsteps, he said, “Well, I am done stalling for time.”

As things was to be expected, a little bird had gotten wind of Karina’s little secret marriage idea. The little bird was Gigas, the gossiping Cockatoo. If it was to be a secret of some sort, he would spread it to the four winds. Since he had gotten a good head start, Gigas was able to inform Marduke early, who had enough time to track down all his siblings. Since Letholdus’ family had recently returned from a business trip, they were also not too hard to track down as well. Amrita was quite shocked indeed, that Letholdus would want to have a secret wedding.

Letholdus’ father, Adolfus, was quite proud of his son for securing his family’s future with a marriage to the ruling class. Along the way, the fellow imagined all the perks his family was going to get. For one thing, he had heard Karina was rich, and then there were the dragons to consider. Dragons could sniff gold. They could get into the mining business. While Adolfus counted imaginary coins, Amrita counted possible problems. There was the fact that the young King was a little too pacifist, with a tendency of arbitrarily exiling people. What if Letholdus got himself exiled for not matching Karina’s expectations? Amrita consoled herself with the idea that they could always return to Aragon or go live in Dokai.

The two families saw the ending of the ceremony. They then went to Marduke’s apartment for a very late-night dinner party. The entire evening was spent in amicable conversation. Letholdus’ father spoke to his son about the birds and the bees. Letholdus laughing said that he had been married once before.

In response, Adolfus said, “Marriage has nothing to do with the marital bed. If you want this business venture to work, you better step up your game.”

“I have a pretty good idea of what I am doing, thank you very much,” said Letholdus.

“Sure, you do,” said Adolfus laughing, “Take it from a man who has plenty of experience, you really need to step up your game.”

As if remembering something, Adolfus added, “Here is this stupid book, I bought it while in Dokai. It helped me a lot while I was bored in the road.”

Letholdus read the spine of the book. It was called, “The Scriptures of Gratification.”

He opened the book at a random page, and then closed it again. His father laughed at his son’s reaction. Sneering, he said, “Give it a good read. There are also tips on how women can steal money from you without you realizing it. You are going to start seeing the signs you mixed the first time around. Hopefully, you will not have to try this marriage thing a third time around.”

“I am glad to see you have so much confidence in me, father,” said Letholdus sighing.  

As for Karina, she spent her time catching up with her family. She even played violin with Ahi a bit. They did a contest of improvisations. Ahi usually won those, and this time was no different. Among the people that Karina saw was Nalini’s little baby, that had grown quite a bit. She was a playfellow of Inana. Close to midnight, Rimaru sang a song. Karina said to her brother, “If you like singing for an audience so much, you should go to the opera.”

“I don’t know. I never sang before a live audience of normal people,” said Rimaru thoughtfully.

“I hear the opera scene is a lot of fun. You might even become a pop star, so you can act like a selfish douche consequence free,” said Karina laughing.

“That does sound tempting,” said Rimaru, “I am going to sleep on it, and then I will get back to you on that.”

“Don’t get too douching, my dear Rimaru, lets you end up like out sweet little Nalini,” warned Marduke.

“I promise not take things that far, and I will only act in a way that does not infringe a fellow’s free will,” said Rimaru swearing.

“Aha!” said Nalini, “Now, I see what I did wrong. It wasn’t the spells, or the madness, but the whole-body takeover thing. I should have asked for permission, maybe.”

“Now, you get it!” said Marduke laughing, “You can stop planting daisies, and go be a menace elsewhere, but not here.”

“I promise not to trample over your small garden. Though do be careful with the weeding lets you accidently pull the roots of one of your favorite plants,” said Nalini.

“I suppose nothing is perfect, but one has to at least try to find one’s happy placed as all,” said Karina.