Chapter 7 Ludo
1843 Words
Ludo
“Ludo, could you please grab me my filer?” Becca asked while surrounded by schedules, papers, samples of invitations, and miscellaneous pictures of bridesmaid dresses on her office phone.
“Ye, ma’am,” I said and grabbed the small box of contacts to hand her.
“Thank you,” she said and blew me a kiss.
“Welcome,” I replied with a wink.
Becca was nose deep in wedding planning as she had a busy schedule for the next three months. She had three weddings, two anniversaries, a birthday, and a fundraiser. It was crunch time for her, and I did everything I could to be a good assistant.
“I’ll get you a snack,” I said softly enough for her to hear. She looked up as she read a phone number to the client and nodded her head at me.
We didn’t have to mind-link to know what she wanted. Since we haven’t marked, we aren't able to yet. The week had already started, we were running out of time before our visit to Dragoon. Four more days until we leave on Friday.
I headed to the kitchen, lost in my thoughts, to put together a snack plate for my princess. I cut up some apples, cubed some cheese, and added some fresh fruits. Freyja’s voice popped in my head as I got ready to slice some strawberries, almost cutting my finger with the knife.
“Ludo!” Freyja practically shouted in my head. “I need to talk to you.”
“Sweet Goddess, Freyja, you almost made me cut myself,” I growled at her. “You don’t always have to mind-link, you know; cell phones exist for a reason.”
“Yes, but you can’t ignore a mind-link,” she countered.
“It would be nice to have the option,” I rebutted. “Could this wait until tomorrow? It’s not like I’m not going to see you.”
“Oh, shoot, right,” Freyja mumbled. “I’m not in Black Wing, so you’ll probably just be meeting with Gwen.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “We already had to push back the planning because you got called away.”
“Well, it happened again, so you need just plan with Gwen,” she said. “I’m in England at Fire Eater.”
“Why are you in England?” I asked.
“The Chiefs went missing,” she said.
“The Chiefs, what went missing?” I asked, confused.
“No, the chief and the chieftainess,” Freyja answered. “They are missing.”
“Oh, what happened to them?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” she sighed with frustration. “I scoped the whole place and found nothing. They are not the only ones, though, Lu. Dragons are going missing all over. Then there are the attacks on the human planes; reports of seeing giant scaled creatures flying through clouds, some are attacking the planes and crashing them.”
“Do you think it’s connected?” I asked.
“That’s what my gut is telling me,” Freyja answered. “But I don’t know what to do now; I need help.”
“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?” I asked.
“Not really, unless your offering,” she said. “But I wanted to talk to you about Dragoon.”
“Oh Goddess, did someone disappear from there too?” I gasped.
“No, at least I don’t think so, but the dragons who started Fire Eater are mostly from Dragoon,” she replied.
“What?” I gasped.
“A lot of the dragons here have mates who aren’t a dragon,” Freyja explained. “The Chief is a dragon, but his mate is a wolf. Joshua, the guy who’s been helping me, is a dragon-bear hybrid that breathes fire.”
“That’s…kind of awesome, and I really want to see that, but why are you telling me about this?” I asked.
“Well, Becky’s from Dragoon, right?” she said gently. “Aren’t you guys going there this weekend?”
“Yes,” I said. “Becca already told me about it.”
“What I don’t understand is why didn’t her parents go to Fire Eater if they were being treated like that?” Freyja said.
“Because her mother was a warrior,” I said. “I understand there was some prejudice against her and her father, but her mother was distant with her.”
“Oh, poor Becky!” she cried.
“It sounds like her mother was kind of…ashamed to be mated to a non-dragon,” I said softly.
“Oh man, Ludo,” Freyja sighed. “No wonder you’re scared to go for a visit.”
“Yeah, thanks for that,” I grumbled. “I’ve been trying not to focus on it too much.”
“Well, do me a favor when you get to Dragoon; keep your eyes and ears open about any missing dragons,” she said.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Hey Lu,” Freyja said, and I could feel the curiosity burning. “Are you going to ask for her parents’ blessing?”
“Blessing? For what?” I asked.
“To get married!” She replied.
“Married?” I said and felt my mouth go dry, which was strange since my mouth wasn’t even open. “Who said anything about marriage?”
“Okay, first of all, you work in the wedding planning business, so you know you’ve thought about it a million times,” Freyja retorted in her snotty kid voice she used to use when we were growing up. “Second of all, don’t act all surprised, why wouldn’t you marry your mate? She’s freaking a blonde bombshell knockout!”
“I…I mean, I do want to, I just haven’t…we haven’t talked about it honestly,” I stammered.
“You have got to be the biggest i***t,” she snapped at me. “What is there to discuss? You love her; she loves you, you can plan your wedding together! It will be adorable! And then you can give me a lot of nieces and nephews!”
“Whoa!” I shouted over her chattering voice, planning my entire life. “Back it up about two hundred miles, Frey, I do want to marry her, but I don’t think she’s ready for that. We haven’t marked yet, which is something she wants to do before we go to Dragoon.”
“Damn, Ludo, I marked and mated Gwen not even after a full twenty-four hours,” she snorted. “I thought you had sealed the deal ages ago!”
“No, we did not seal any deals,” I groaned. “This is a personal and private matter, Freyja, and It’s not open for discussion. I will keep an eye and ear out for missing dragons while I’m at Dragoon and will let you know. Other than that, butt out.”
“Aw, come on, Lu!” She shouted at me, but I forced her out of my head and put a block up.
I quickly finished with the snack plate and brought it up to the home office. Becca was off the phone by the time I arrived, and she looked up at me when I entered. She smiled happily when she saw the plate and quickly cleared a space for it on her desk.
“Sorry it took so long,” I said. “Freyja linked me to tell me that she was England on a protector thing, I guess. She won’t be there tomorrow, but Gwen will be.”
“Oh, no! Where in England?” she said.
“Fire Eater,” I said. “They’re Chief, and Chieftainess are missing.”
“What? Greg and Megan?” She gasped.
“You know them?” I said.
“I know Greg more than Megan,” Becca said. “He was from Dragoon and was probably one of the nicest dragons there. Greg was pretty shy, though, kind of nerdy but seriously smart. He does some kind of science stuff now. When Greg met Megan, he decided to leave Dragoon and make a new tribe where anyone was welcome.”
“Why didn’t your mom and dad go to Fire Eater?” I asked curiously. “They could have been together without feeling judged.”
“My mother is very set in her ways,” she replied with a shrug.
“It seems like your mother is selfish,” I said. “She won't wear her mate’s mark, won't let her daughter be a warrior, didn’t even get married until after you were born. I have a feeling none of those things was your dad’s idea?”
“I know,” Becca agreed with a nod. “But my dad sticks by her because she is his mate, and he loves her more than this world. There’s no talking him out of anything anyway. What is he going to do, reject her after thirty years?”
“I guess not,” I said, feeling bad for her father that I haven’t even met yet.
“How long is Freyja in England?” she asked as she nibbled on some cheese.
“I guess until they find them,” I said with a shrug. “I don’t really know what it is Freyja does exactly, but she asked that we keep an ear out for any word of missing dragons in Dragoon. I guess there’s been a lot of reported disappearances.”
“Oh, that’s scary,” she said. “I’ll call my parents tonight and ask them too.”
“Do you think having the world’s protector as my sister wins me any points with your parents?” I asked as the curiosity hit. “I know if I told her to come to Dragoon, she’d absolutely come for a visit. Granted, she’d probably embarrass the hell out of me, but you can’t get a higher recommendation on this Earth if not from the Protector herself.”
“Ludo, we don’t need Freyja to win over my parents,” Becca sighed and stood up from her desk to come to hug me. “They will see how perfect you are for me, and there won't be a problem at all.”
“I really love how you choose to see the best possible scenario in situations,” I said and kissed her lips. “Your optimism is as inspiring as it is sexy, are you finished here?”
“Oh, not by a long shot,” she chuckled as she pressed her body against mine. “But if you help me get these orders out to the vendors for the fundraiser, we may be able to finish before midnight.”
“Your wish is my command, Princess,” I said.
- Writer
