Adventures of Jessa: the Adventures Continue

8

"Well, I have to say, King Stefan was far more willing to listen than the old king of Castlerock was." Jessa says as she relaxes for the night. They had come out of the audience with the king with assurances that his people will fight. Even before they finished the conference the king was giving out orders to his generals.

The generals were the ones that were more than a little reluctant. Finally Jethro himself came and started chewing out the generals for failing to listen to their sworn liege and to prepare for war.

It turns out that the generals were all followers of Jethro. They all about had heart attacks when they found out that Jessa was Jethro's chosen champion. 

Just the memory of the look on their faces was worth it, to Jessa. It still makes her chuckle even as she finishes eating.

"Your remembering the look on the generals' faces as they were all told off by Jethro aren't you?" Dhiren says with a smile of his own at the memory.

Jessa giggles a bit, "Yes, I can't get the look out of my mind. Nor do I think I've ever seen any one move so fast as the general that was insulting my fighting ability."

Dhiren chuckles as well. The fool about choked on his own air when he found out that Jessa could out fight Dhiren.

"Dhiren, the moon is singing tonight." Jessa tells him as the song comes in through the open balcony doors.

"Then by all means, we should dance. Love?" Dhiren asks holding out his hand. Jessa takes his hand and they start dancing. Even if they are fully dressed and not wearing the wraps they are moving easily in time to the music.

Some how the clothes seem to disappear from their bodies and they find themselves wearing the wraps by the end of the dance. "Did you notice when our clothing changed?" Jessa asks before Dhiren starts kissing her.

"No," Dhiren answers before things became too busy for thought.

They get up early and head to the hiring grounds. It's normal for Jessa to do so, but this morning she intends to only go against the possible gold guards. She already let Frosnak know to have them meet there this morning. 

Already the sounds of the bazaar are quieter than she's ever heard them at this time. Many of the caravan masters had wasted no time gathering up men and items for a caravan back to Castlerock. The guards had mostly been hired. Very few, mostly inexperienced guards remain. Inexperienced and the unwanted. 

They are the ones that watch in fascination as the infamous Jessa, the ones that had been hearing rumors and stories of the incredible fighting prowess of Jessa, that get to watch as she judges the gold dragons that wish to join with Jessa.

"So you wish to become my guards?" Jessa says coming up to them. "I won't accept any that can't fight at least as well as the elves that guard myself and Dhiren. I've been working with them for years to get them to that level. I hope the same won't be needed for you."

She picks two of them at random and has them show her their skills. She watches them with a blank face.

"How are they doing, princess?" Frosnak comes up to her and asks.

Jessa doesn't take her eyes off the two that are currently sparring. "These are the best fighters the golds have?" Jessa keeps her voice neutral so Frosnak has no idea just how she really feels.

"Of the ones that volunteered to be your guard, yes."

Jessa mutters something under her breath.

"Frosnak, did you know my father?"

"Reniel?" Frosnak clarifies. At Jessa's nod Frosnak answers her question. "Yes, he was an incredible fighter. I'm still not sure how he lost against that blue dragon."

"Tell me, compared to these two, how did my father fight?"

"Ah, well, Reniel was the best of the us. Only Alaric was a better fighter. He was better than these two. You far surpass your father though."

"Uh huh. Thanks." Jessa then turns her full attention to the two before her.

"Shit, that's enough. A full blooded black or red would easily get through those defenses. The greens I'm sure would as well. What the hell is this?" Jessa yells out angrily.

Frosnak sighs, she had hoped that the dragons would do better than the elves had before.

Dhiren chuckles, "I'm glad to know that my people aren't the only ones that don't measure up to their princess's demands."

Frosnak frowns at Dhiren. "If you weren't the crown prince, Dhiren I would chew you out."

Dhiren snorts, "Don't let that stop you, it never stopped Jessa from doing so, even before she knew her true ranking."

"You can't hold a gold dragon back from saying the truth when it's beyond obvious, prince. You will find this out now." Frosnak informs her new crown prince.

Dhiren frowns. He hadn't thought of how his personality would change along with his form.

"Don't worry, I have no doubt that Jessa will help you learn control once more. She learns faster than any one I've ever met in anything that she tries." There is no doubt that there is a great deal of respect for Jessa from Frosnak.

"Dhiren, will you help me show these idiots just how to fight?" Jessa yells over to Dhiren. That brings the attention of all those that are nearby. Including their guards and the human guards that are waiting to see if they too will be hired.

Dhiren sighs, he'd hoped to not have to fight again so soon. But then he remembers the words of Jethro. He needs to practice daily if he's ever going to gain control of his dragon strength and body.

It doesn't take long for the two to be moving so fast that all there are only seeing blurs of movement when they take strikes or stop strikes from happening. They are able to do so for some time before they are disarmed. Kelton runs over and grabs their weapons as they start their hand to hand fighting.

The gold dragons are in complete awe as they last for some time, before they declare a draw. Jessa is smiling brilliantly at Dhiren even as she wipes away the sweat. "You almost had me there, love."

"Almost isn't the same as doing." Dhiren replies a bit sourly, but he feels better about this match than any of his previous ones.

The gold dragons are standing with their jaws open. Well some of them are any way.

"Jessa, there are some other full dragons in the crowd. Some gold, some other metallic colors." Jasper whispers to her as she cleans herself up a bit.

"Which ones?" Jessa whispers to him without moving her lips. Dhiren would really like to know how she does that.

"I see a couple of silver, a bronze and a copper so far as well as several gold."

"Thank you, Jasper."

Jessa turns back to the gold contenders, "Now, would you like to try once more? Let me see you do your best or leave."

This time the contenders fight far better than Jessa had believed they could. They are still far less than she would like, but she can work with them. Just like she had with Dhiren's guards and she already has to with her guards.

Finally after several hours she finds a few, less than the ten the elves had given her, that she could deal with. The others just weren't good enough.

"I'll find more while you are on your journey and meet you along the road to get you more candidates." Frosnak tells her once they are through for the day.

"Make sure they are better than these ones."

"I will. Some of the older dragons were watching and I'm sure that some of them will wish to join you now."

"Any of them females?"

Frosnak shakes her head. "None of the surviving females will be allowed to fight. They are far too precious. Many of them are sitting with their eggs from their last mating flights. They won't leave their young."

Jessa sighs, it was as she expected but she still had hoped.