“And your sister.”
I nodded. Maggie began to fester with a tap of her fingers on the handle of the chair before asking out loud.
“What exactly are the scales? Like…balancing scales or…”
“Out here…” I held my fist out before slowly letting my fingers unfold as a tiny spark of flame hovered my palm. With a gentle blow of air from my lips, you could see the blue flame take shape as a winged serpent suddenly shook its body before expanding its wings. “You call them dragons, yes?”
Maggie’s mouth dropped as I closed my hands, letting the flames burn and seep back into my body like a warm glove. She slowly began to nod.
“Figures we’d have dragons out here too…because why the hell not?” She muttered to herself. “So you are what…a dragon woman? What does this mean?”
“It means my beginnings do not come from man and woman. My lineage comes from the original winged serpent…the first children and creation of the sun…Back home,” turning to look up, “there are seven kingdoms. I come from the first one, the oldest one. The oldest civilization known to earth.”
“Are they all…dragon friendly?” She asked as I laughed.
“Just us. The others have their own culture and history, but we all fall under the Solhari and the seven kingdoms, and I am considered the next sun.”
“Like the Sahara desert,” Maggie said before asking, “did you have a boyfriend or husband where you come from?” She asked.
“No, no no no noooo,” I said with a shake of my hands. “No husband for me. I have never been with a man before.”
“Oh? Do you think it will be…a problem if mine comes to visit or spends the night from time to time? I–––”
“I didn’t mean you–––”
“Because he will probably pop up at some point, and–––”
“No, it is fine–––”
Realizing we were talking at the same time; we grew quiet as I leaned in.
“You…have boyfriend?”
She playfully leaned in with a raised brow.
“I have boyfriend, yes,” she nodded, mimicking my accent as I laughed. “You have such a rich way of speaking, your highness.”
I laughed out loud as I leaned back into the chair with a silly grin at this woman.
“You have a boyfriend,” I repeated, attempting to sound more American instead of Native, but it was of no use. “You kiss?”
“I do.”
“You do more than kiss?” I asked as she wiggled her brows.
“I do much more than kiss,” she replied. I gasped with a hand clamped over my mouth. It was so natural and normal for women out here to lay with men without a prior commitment. “Mostly…he slobs all over me like a dog,” she added before playfully moving her head around as she pretended to lick and kiss on something in front of her like a wild woman. I let out a squeal in laughter before covering my mouth again. “Werewolves…I wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t want the extra saliva everywhere.”
“No...no of course,” I settled before asking, “You love him?”
“I do, although he gets on my nerves sometimes,” she waved off. “I’m pretty sure he’ll be the man I’ll marry.” She suddenly turned to me with a grip of the chair. “Do you want a boyfriend?” I shook my head. “Good. Explore. Have fun. Eventually it will probably come out that you and your sister switched places…If I were you, I’d take advantage of every moment and live it up. Go find a man to kiss on your own.”
“I might,” I whispered with an airy tone. Silence felt comfortable between the two of us as we sat like two old women watching nature watch us.
“So you left this place, a fancy palace to come to a magical school for black people…” Maggie concluded before turning to look at me with a nod to herself. “Wouldn’t be my first choice but I get it. Cool. We gotta get you above ground so you can see the rest of the world. Sometimes being down here you can forget how lonely it can be after a while…”
“Yes,” I said, trying to contain my excitement that I missed the somber tone in her voice.
We grew quiet as we looked out into the houses, studying the windows with lights going on and off from inside. I could hear laughter from another home and the buzzing noise of the bright lamp post that was closest to us. When the light began to flicker, Maggie leaned to the side as if she was backing away. The light suddenly wavered in brightness, growing bigger by the second before bursting in the air causing every other light to shut off.
