Part Two: The Abyss

The sound of the ocean was like music to Victory's ears. She loved the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and the smell of salt in the air. It was her happy place, the one place in the world where she felt truly at peace.

So when she woke up to the sound of the ocean and heard the gentle breathing of the sleeping Arious next to her, she felt a deep sense of calm and contentment. She smiled at him, taking in his sleeping form with awe and wonder. He was so powerful, but also gentle and protective. She felt so lucky to have him in her life, to share this moment of tranquility with him.

As she reached out to touch his scales, she realized this was their moment, their small but precious slice of time in the world. She leaned her head back onto the sand, staring out at the blue sky from her window, feeling grateful for this moment, for this place, for this dragon.

The skywing shifted in his sleep, his wing stretching and drifting over her like a cape on her scales, pushing the smell of him over her nose. Victory closed her eyes again, tempted to let herself drift back into sleep, but she knew it would be a fruitless attempt. She nudged her nose against his cheek, the curves of the horns traced by her snout. He shifted again, his golden eyes blinking the sleep away from the corners of his vision.

When he registered that she was in front of him, he smiled, "Good morning, Princess."

"Good morning, Highness," She whispered back ", I hope you slept well."

"Better than I have in years," He said, stretching his wings out and shifting so he towered over her still form on her bed ", And you?"

"Wonderfully." She responded with a rolling stretch of her spine, much like a lynx stretch ", We should be up soon. My mother will be expecting us for tea."

"Hm..." He grumbled, letting himself fall onto the bed again and close his eyes. Victory smiled, her heart filled with joy at the fact that they could spend a few more moments in each other's presence. Arious was the most important thing in her life, and she cherished every moment with him.

"You can rest after, Arious," she said softly, laying her head on his chest and listening to the steady beat of his heart. "We'll have plenty of time to enjoy the day once the tea is over and my Grandmother is done trying to marry me off to one of you."

Arious sighed, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he opened one eye to look down at her. "You're right, my princess. But I can't help missing this already."

Victory grinned, reaching up to rest her paw on his chest. "Already? You must have enjoyed it quite a bit, Arious."

He chuckled a deep rumble that echoed through his voice. "Perhaps I do," he said, closing his eyes again and wrapping his wings around her. "Perhaps I do."

His snout brushed against her neck as he pulled her back onto the bed and wrapped her in the cocoon of his wings. She yelped, playfully batting the side of his head with his wings.

"Get up you absolute sea star-" She barked at him ", We have tea- Aren't you supposed to be a prince? You should know something about tea?"

"I do but I don't care-" He smirked at her, " I am a prince- I should get to do as I please, and if that includes keeping you from your duties? Then so be it-"

His talon brushed along the spike down her neck, and Victory shivered.

"Not today-" She growled playfully, shoving herself up and craning her neck above his head ", Today- We have tea and then we can go swimming, or flying. Maybe both."

"Tempting-" He smirked at her, pressing his nose to the underside of her neck.

The door creaked and Victory snapped to attention, her eyes scanning the door as it pressed open and Wavetamer stepped into the room with a smile. When the abyssal blue dragoness saw her, and her company, her scales flushed with a glowing purple color, an eager grin awaiting gossip.

Victory shifted as she saw the frame of another body behind her sister, rolling off Arious in hopes that the brow dragon wouldn't see, but she wasn't that lucky. Swampdweller ducked his head as he entered behind Wavetamer, his wing brushing against hers as he raised his brow, the faint flicker of anger crossing his face. His brown eyes scrutinized her with such intense emotion, that it almost caused Victory to start. But as quickly as it appeared, the anger faded under a mask that Victory didn't realize her friend had. 

"Is Archunter alright?" Arious asked as he rolled onto his side, meeting the gaze of the mud dragon as if he had not been caught on her bed. "He didn't seem too well last night."

"He's in the healer's den-" Wavetamer shrugged "He was yelling about his head hurting when we went to see him this morning."

"Oh-" Victory sighed, crawling off the bed and shaking her wings out, "I assume that he won't be joining us for tea then?"

"No-" Swampdweller answered for Wavetamer, letting his wing rest over her back ", Not today. We're going without him and were going to see if you wanted to join us. But if you're too busy-"

He trailed off, his brow still raised.

"Don't be rude, Swamp-" Wavetamer said, bumping her shoulder into his ", You'd be a hypocrite if you did."

Victory couldn't help but notice the flirtation in her sister's voice as the darker dragoness leaned into the side of the mud dragon, her head resting on the curve of his neck. She shouldn't have been shocked, Wavetamer was a good dragon to fall for. And yet there was a twinge of resentment, for a dragon who had confessed to her the day before, Swampdweller was very quick to move on to her sister, whom he had only met hours ago in the night.

She wasn't the only one seeming to have these thoughts, Arious swept up next to her, his wing brushing against hers as he eyed the mud dragon. The sky dragon angled his body in front of Victory, using himself as a shield of sorts, between her and Swampdweller.

Should she be worried? Victory couldn't help but ask herself questions like that. Was Swampdweller dangerous to her? She was starting to believe that he was a jealous dragon, but could he hurt his friends?

Anything could be possible at this point.

"Shall we head for tea?" Victory pipped up, fluttering her wings with a nervous smile ", I don't want to keep Grandmother and Grandfather waiting."

"Of course-" Wavetamer smiled brightly, "and we have two handsome escorts to take us. Aren't we lucky, Victorious?"

Her sister's smile was heartbreakingly beautiful, " Of course Wavetamer. Let's be off."

And the four dragons started down the hall, Arious' wing over Victory's back, and Swampdweller's wing resting over Wavetamer's flank.

Victory took a breath and leaned into Arious, whispering, "Did you see his eyes?"

"How could I not?" Arious responded with an equal whisper ", Please, stay with me. Something's not right with him."

Nothing was right with Swampdweller anymore, and that scared Victory more than his harsh eyes.