Conversations With The Wind...from Songs for the Dragon King, by Vivian Hadding

She sat back on her heels, wiping the soil from her hands. She looked at her nails lamenting her lack of gloves. "Ah, no matter." She told herself adoring the pretty wild roses she had planted. Whites, pinks and yellows smiled back at her. She had found them unexpectedly on one of her long walks near the sea. They had been such a treasure, such a treat. All her years of gardening, all her vines and flowers had been left behind the day she escaped the Emperor and his men. She pushed those memories aside, shook herself awake from the dreams that plagued her most nights. "No! It was all a lie." She told herself. "The Emperor's love...the myth of the Dragon King...No. I must move on." She did not notice the wind at first, a slight breeze flowing from the east. It danced around her gently luring her away from the shadows of pain.

"How do you feel?" He asked her.

"I don't know." She answered laying back, stretching her legs. She knew she could confide in him, trust him to listen, to make her laugh. "Confused, alone, grateful, scattered, joyful yet sad. Its as if I'm sleep walking sometimes... drifting in and out of dreams...just doing what I must to survive most days and trying hard not to think too much about love."

"Why love? Why is it so important to you?" He settled round her.

"I'm not sure exactly, only that it seems to reside in the deepest part of my soul... More than that, it guides us, moves us, inspires us and gives us a stronger sense of purpose."

"Us?"

"Yes...us...all of us and yet so many of us turn it off, walk away...don't want to take a chance....But, it lives, it breathes it moves through all of us searching, tunneling, striving to break through our surface like a river searching for the sea."

"Us?" he questioned insulted. "The Wind hides nothing. The Wind fears nothing...the Wind blows freely, powerfully, gently. I can glide across your cheek, or wrap you fiercely in my embrace. The Wind fears nothing." He maintained. "The Wind just is."

"Yes." She answered feeling his breath warm and frisky. He was excited...passionate about life. He was life and he let his feeling show. "Oh, Wind..." She inhaled deeply allowing his touch to take her away. "You release me, if only for a while from the pain of the Dragon King."

"Why?" He whispered loving this woman who could appreciate him...who believed in him and felt so many things. "You are not like the others." He continued. " You see what others refuse to see...Feel what many dare not admit. We..my brothers and sisters and me, we would do anything to keep you, to heal and protect you." He inhaled her and she was momentarily swept into his scent...cool and refreshing, the way he knew she liked him best. "Why?" He whispered again wanting to understand."

"When I'm with you I feel carefree" She answered. "I am like you if only for a spell....brave, inquisitive, light, simple. I can create without fear, without shame. I can be me. I can sing and dance and play and feel safe...but more or just as much...I feel accepted, I feel protected, I feel loved."

He blew at the tears forming in her eyes, the tears that silently began to roll down her cheeks. He knew how much she hated to cry, how much she had tried to forget. He had watched Shulynn her whole life. He had loved her because she always believed.