The Dragon and the Princess

Chapter 18

Flying was difficult, all the holes in the membrane of his wings were making sure he had to work a lot harder than normal just to perform the usually simple task.

Finally arriving back at the castle, Lithon gently placed Lydia on the soft grass as he shifted back into his human form. Falling to the ground on his back in exhaustion, he took a few deep breaths before he looked up at his princess.

"Oh, Lithon, I'm so sorry." She sobbed as she crawled over to where he lay, her wide, worried eyes still spilling tears. Gingerly she lifted his head and placed it upon her lap. "This is all my fault... You were right, it was a terrible idea to try and convince them..." She sobbed, turning her face away from him.

Lithon raised his hand and gently turned Lydia's head so that she was facing him again. "It's not your fault," he spoke softly, smiling up at her kindly. "You couldn't have known this was going to happen." gingerly he brushed away her fallen tears with his thumb.

"But..." Lydia protested, her bottom lip trembling as she tried to stop her tears. "But you got hurt because of me." She turned her head away again, unable to bear the guilt.

"Lydia, look at me," Lithon spoke sternly as he slowly sat up. "You can't blame yourself. Besides, I can heal myself. Look." He waited until she turned back towards him until he ran his tongue over one of the many cuts he had on his arm.

Lydia watched in amazement as the cut sealed and then completely disappeared before her very eyes. "How..." she wondered aloud as she watched Lithon heal the remainder of his injuries.

"Dragon saliva has healing qualities." She heard him say and she slowly raised her head to stare into his eyes. If dragons could heal then could he heal her injuries?

"Would that work on me?" she absentmindedly said before she could stop herself, her own words caused her cheeks to flushed bright pink.

"I..." Lithon stumbled, his own cheeks growing slightly red as he struggled to find the right words to say. "I will admit that I have thought about it before... But I don't know if it would actually work." He answered honestly.

Lydia nodded in understanding and as she thought about what she wanted to say next her blush deepened a few shades. "Can... Can you give it a try?" she lowered her head, unsure about how he would react to her request. Suddenly she sat up straight as the realisation of what she had just said hit her. "Oh my goodness! I didn't mean - I mean, I did mean, but I didn't realize as I said it that that would mean you would have to li...l-lick my wounds..." Oh my goodness, how embarrassing! She thought to herself as she buried her face in her hands, too embarrassed to look at him.

Lithon just continued to stare at Lydia in shock. He had never expected her to ask that, although, it did make sense as to why she wanted him to do it. Would it work? Would his saliva heal her? Maybe... And if she was willing to give it a try then why shouldn't he? It would be embarrassing, sure, but he potentially had the ability to heal the woman he cared deeply about... If she was willing to allow him, shouldn't he do it? That way she would no longer be in pain.

With his resolve set, Lithon nodded to himself, gently picked up Lydia as he stood up, and made his way into his home, heading towards Lydia's bedroom.

"I'm..." he cleared his throat, trying to push his own embarrassment aside. "I'm willing to give it a try if you are." He continued and looked down into Lydia's eyes to see not just embarrassment, but also a deep curiosity in their depths.

"I-I am" she replied, burying her face in Lithon's chest and using the sound of his accelerated heartbeat to calm her own frantically beating heart.

Reaching the bedroom, Lithon gently placed Lydia on the edge of the bed and kneeled in front of her. Taking her left foot in his hand, he slowly began to unwrap the bandages, slow enough that he was giving Lydia plenty of time to back out if she wanted to. But she remained silent, just watching him as he removed the last of the bandages.

Glancing up at her for a brief second, he offered with his gaze one final opportunity to stop him. But still, she did nothing, allowing him to continue. Slowly, Lithon brought her foot closer to his face and, with a swift but gentle motion, he ran his tongue along the damaged skin.

Lydia's reaction was instantaneous. Gasping in shock, she pulled her foot from Lithon's grasp.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Lithon quickly asked as his heartbeat like a hunted rabbit.

"No, no, I'm fine... I was just startled is all," she reassured him, her cheeks never losing their rosy colour, and placed her foot back within his reach. "Did it work?" she asked with embarrassment but genuine curiosity. Lithon gently took hold of her foot again and glanced at the sole. A surprised look crossed his face before it broke, being replaced by a smile.

"It did!" Lydia smiled at him at those words. This meant she could walk again without any pain!

Without any delay, Lithon began to heal the remainder of the injuries on both her feet. When he finished, he raised his head and looked at Lydia encouragingly. Lydia knew what he wanted her to do.

Cautiously, she rose to her feet. Once standing, she let out a loud sigh of relief.

"Their all healed! Oh, Lithon! This is amazing!" squealing with delight, she twirled on the spot, truly happy to be back on her own two feet again. She only stopped twirling when she felt dizzy and the cut along her back began to protest. Panting happily, she sat back down on the bed and smiled up at Lithon. "Thank you." she breathed.

"Your welcome. But there is still one injury that I'd like to treat if you don't mind. It was my fault after all." he requested, his eyes falling to the floor at the end of his sentence.

Lydia didn't know what to say. It was true that he was the one to hurt her but he was only trying to defend her. Surely he knew that? "You were just protecting me, Lithon. I can't blame you for that." she smiled at him and he gave a small smile in return. Lydia went to expand upon her earlier words but, as she went to open her mouth she closed it again once his request sank in. He wanted to heal her back. Lydia felt a shudder spread up her spine but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. It was actually quite an exciting sensation.

Without saying a word, she slowly lay down on the bed and turned so that her stomach was pressed against the bedsheets. Then, carefully so as not to expose herself, she lowered her dress until it pooled around her waist. Lydia could hear her heartbeat in her ears as she felt the bed dip under Lithon's weight.