"I think we should do something different for Lover's Day this year, folks," Sarosi said almost as soon as she'd taken her place at the table in the Elders' Hall.

I frowned in surprise at her unexpected comment but didn't immediately pass a comment at the elf's announcement. Several snorts from the other Elders at the table met her unexpected proclamation, yet Corey gave her an interested stare.

"And what makes you come out with such an unexpected statement, 'rosi?" he asked quietly.

Elf's gaze met human as Sarosi tilted her head towards Corey in amusement. I watched with growing interest even as Jay poked my knee with one hand; my mate grinned at me when I glanced at him yet he didn't have the chance to say anything as Sarosi was already speaking.

"Well, the important day's coming up, isn't it?" she questioned. "Every year, we have a feast, exchange messages and whatnot. While I love a good feast and a sappy love note as much as anybody else, wouldn't it make a nice change to do something different?"

A sudden susurration of interested murmurs met her statement even as some of the Elders exchanged nods.

"And so? What do you suggest? A kiss-chase through the burial ground?" Stevain chipped in with dry humour stamped across his face.

More than one of us reacted unfavourably to his slightly off-colour comment.

I was the first to object by saying - "Well, I for one wouldn't want to do anything in the burial ground, let alone a drake-blasted kiss-chase."

Another round of murmured agreements met my objection which left Stevain a little red-faced and embarrassed by his prior statement.

He shrugged and said - "Well. It was just a suggestion."

"Well, maybe you should have picked a more respectful one then," Rowan said softly.

Stevain looked even more embarrassed by his elvish counterpart's remonstration.

"Okay, so forget the burial ground part. Change it to the park then," Stevain said, his voice as quiet as Rowan's.

"While that's a better idea, I don't think everyone would be on board with a kiss-chase, Steve," I said with a slight frown.

Jay chuckled and said - "It's never a good sign when an Alpha dragon frowns. What's up, Quinn love?"

The tone of his voice indicated that he knew full well why I had put up an objection - mild though it had been. Only Jay might have been aware that it was even an objection at all, as he was the only one privy to the colours that swirled over our mated soul-bond. He of course had seen the colours of my disapproval and discontent.

"You know, dear," I said and quirked my lips into an almost smile at my mate.

"But everyone else here in the room doesn't. They're talking without words again, aren't they?" Polly said with a sigh.

That was the first time the alpha werewolf had chosen to speak since the conversation had started - which was rare for the usually garrulous Polly.

"They are," I said and grinned at the werewolf's sudden spurt of laughter at my cheeky aside.

"Well, would you care to enlighten the rest of us to your private conversation?" Sarosi asked with one of her cheeky grins. "You know, us mere plebs who aren't actual dragon-shifters?"

"You could never be a pleb, love," I said with another of my frowns.

"I think the gist of the conversation centred around the fact that Quinn doesn't want to be kissed by anyone but me. Let alone chased for it," Jay interjected before I could put forward that same objection. "I might get jealous."

"Oh really? Would you really get jealous?" Stevain asked in surprise. "You've never struck me as the jealous type, Jay."

"Oh no. I'm not," Jay said brightly. "I know Quinn's devoted to me. He knows I'd kill him anyway if he ever strayed."

"And thereby you'd be killing yourself in the process," I added dryly with a slight smirk at my mate.

There was a smattering of gentle, polite laughter at my comment, even though I hadn't been joking. A dragon-shifter's bond was perfectly that - a life bond. Should one dragon-shifter be killed, so should the other. Luckily for us, dragon-shifters were notoriously hard to kill and it took another dragon to know how to do it.

"Okay. So that puts the dragons in the room out of the running for the kiss-chase," Stevain said and he looked most disappointed that he wasn't garnering more support for his idea.

"And the elves," Rowan said as he indicated his wife and then himself.

Sarosi immediately nodded with a slight grimace and Stevain looked even more dejected.

"Okay, so let's just say everyone's not on board for the kiss-chase," Polly said with a sigh.

"I'm not entirely against it but it does seem rather the kind of thing a five-year-old human would do. Sorry, Steve."

Stevain choked back a laugh even as he feigned an outraged expression.

"A five-year-old human?" he asked. "Am I the only five-year-old human in the room then?"

There was laughter at his cheeky aside before Corey said - "There's nothing wrong with being young at heart, Steve. I just happen to agree that maybe a kiss-chase might not be to everyone's tastes."

Stevain capitulated with a sigh and gestured silently for the rest of us to put forward better suggestions.

"We could exchange love letters," Polly suggested. "Again. I do realise we do that every year but you know what they say - if it doesn't need fixing..."

She broke off her sentence and shrugged airily.

"While that is a case in point, it's fine if you've actually got a partner or a love interest in mind," Saarosi said before she smiled. "Although no one's stopping those from exchanging letters if they have a mind to do so."

Polly grunted and nodded, even as she gave Sarosi's words some thought. A silence fell as everyone else gave the matter at had some serious thought.

"How about a love poetry competition?" I asked into that silence. "Or a love song contest?"

A sudden stillness met my off-the-cuff comment and for an instant, I thought that perhaps I'd made a faux pas.

"That's a good idea. We've never done anything like that before, Quinn," Corey said as he blinked at me in surprise.

"What made you think up of that idea?" Rowan asked and he looked intrigued by the prospect of the contest.

"It's something that we used to do at Adiren. Or at least us high-born did," I explained with a wry twist of my mouth that was almost a smile.

Any mention of Adiren was bound to bring back less-than-happy memories of my former home yet that day, those memories were unavoidable if they helped the matter at hand.

"Yeah, I think the high-born dragons at Blackloch also did the same," Jay confirmed with a slow and thoughtful nod. "Of course, I wasn't amongst them. I'm still not."

He gave a lop-sided smile at his own admission. He'd been a low-born dragon-shifter and not often privy to the customs that the higher-born - and therefore richer - dragon-shifters took for granted. He'd been elevated to high-born status by proxy when he'd agreed to be my mate. He'd learned the appropriate customs swiftly yet there were sometimes moments when he let his low-born manners slip into the foreground. Not that I ever minded and no one else ever seemed to either - particularly those in the room with us. Most of them were also low-born.

"Why should that kind of thing be relegated only to the high-born when anyone can do it?" I asked gently. "I think it could be fun for anyone. And it doesn't even have to be about love for a mate or a potential partner. It can be about love of food or love for a pet if one so wishes."

There was a sudden spike of excited interest in the room then and suddenly the other Elders began talking amongst themselves, eyes shining and many an amused chuckle thrown over the table in my direction.

"D'you know what? I think you're onto a winner there, Quinn," Corey said after the votes came back unanimously in favour of my suggestion. "Let's do the love song thing."

"Do we have judges?" Sarosi asked with interest. "Who judged it at Adiren, I mean?"

"Usually, the women at the court did," I said and looked over at Jay.

He nodded before he said - "I believe the same could be said of Blackloch, also."

I had only visited Blackloch once and even then only briefly. My flight had once been at war with Jay's flight, and it had been up to Jay and me to end that decades-long feud. We'd done it but had decided not to remain with our respective flights as we'd already forged a new life for ourselves elsewhere and had been perfectly happy with that renewed stab at freedom together.

"Does it have to be women?" Stevain asked and he seemed genuinely disappointed by the prospect. "I wouldn't have minded putting myself forward as a judge and I'm no woman."

"We can do whatever we want here, Steve. We're not amongst the high-born anymore. Not here," I said.

"And what do you mean by that, Blacksmith?" Polly asked with a sudden hoot of genuine - yet teasing - laughter.

"I mean that as an intense sigh of relief, Pol," I said and grinned at the sudden laughter that surrounded me and my fellow Alpha.

"We'll have to take your word for that then, Q," Polly returned with a cheeky grin at me. "Seeing as almost none of us are high-born."

Corey, Rowan and Sarosi were the only ones who were the closest to it, yet they had 'bought' their way into the richer sets of society through hard work and diligence; they hadn't been born into that status as I had.

"One question," Jay said before he paused thoughtfully.

I made a questioning noise and silently indicated for my mate to continue.

"Can we compose a piece of music?" he asked. "Instead of an actual song? You know I'm no

good with this high-brow stuff like poetry. Neither can I sing."

I frowned at his questions and Jay laughed - he knew that I did not agree with his alleged no flair for words. His singing, however, left much to be desired; the politest descriptions of his attempts in the past involved such epithets as 'cat's chorus' and 'donkey's brayings'.

Still, I shrugged and said - "Do whatever you're most comfortable with, love. As always."

"You know, I think this is actually a good idea," Stevain interjected before Jay could say anything further. "Those of us who are rubbish with words can compose something."

Agreement rained down on all of us and I smiled round at everyone. Soon it became unanimously passed that we would go ahead with the contest after all.

"And what about prizes? Who gets what?" Polly asked next.

"I don't know. Free meals at the Bakehouse for everyone?" I suggested, nonplussed.

"Or free drinks at the Tavern?" Jay suggested next, equally as nonplussed as I was.

"I could throw in some free wood carvings," Rowan suggested with a gentle yet interested smile.

Soon, other offers were being made and it became a collecting pot of things thrown in, accepted and offered out to various levels of craftsmanship. We decided to have a main prize and various runner-up prizes, with the winners choosing their preferred type of gift - just to make it fair.

"And of course, as usual being Elders we can still participate without taking any of the prizes," Sarosi said firmly.

We nodded at the elf's sensible suggestion. It had long since become common practice to do just that and as such, none of us had truly expected to be included in the running after all.

There were no more issues to be discussed at the meeting so we all departed from the room to head for our separate homes after deciding that we should all spread the exciting news to whomever we met on our travels. We knew that words in the right ears would soon spread outwards and within days everyone in town would be talking about it.

****

Not only did we spread the word about the contest via word of mouth but we also did so by illuminated advertisements that were pinned up at strategic places all around Esterloch. As expected, the whole town was soon abuzz with conversation, laughter and plans, as everyone began composing something for the contest.

****

Snatches of song, poetry and oftentimes music could be heard drifting over the streets of Esterloch; I was privy to at least some of the festivities from my vantage point at the Forge while I worked.

Every time I was approached for advice, I smiled and gave it as best as I could, even though

I still counted myself as nothing more than a blacksmith, not a composer or wordsmith. I didn't know how much help I actually provided yet it seemed that I must have been at least partially successful in most cases because I was left with smiling faces and more commissions for smithing work.

****

I sat down at the end of the week in the library I shared with Jay in our cabin and stared at a blank piece of parchment. I scrubbed one hand through my hair and pulled the long strands back into a tail before I let the hair fall back into a frustrated cascade around my face. I sighed heavily again, picked up a quill pen and almost dipped it into the waiting pot of ink before I laid the writing implement aside once more with a heavy sigh of disgust.

Laughter came from the kitchen then and I waited with an amused smile curling the corners of my mouth. It didn't take long for Jay to appear in the library doorway with the most untidiest-looking sandwiches I'd ever seen in my life, balanced on a tray held in Jay's hands.

Jay was notoriously bad at cooking and even sandwiches escaped him. The bread was unevenly hacked from the loaf and even the ham looked as though it had been cut with a dull arrow. Still, it smelled as delicious as I was hoping for and I knew that I would like the food regardless of what it looked like. I also knew that Jay had tried his best.

"Still nothing?" Jay asked as he gestured towards my blank page.

"Unless I've been writing in invisible ink then no," I said before I balled my fists into my hair again. "So many words I want to say to you and none of them are good enough. Not for you."

Jay gave me a tender look then before he said - "Well, you can say my hair's the colour of dog-waste and my cooking skills are deplorable and I'd still love you for it."

I gaped at him aghast before he laughed.

Before my mate could say anything further, however, I said - "I absolutely cannot do that, Jamison. Your hair is not that colour at all."

"I notice you don't contest my lack of cooking skills," Jay observed dryly.

"Well, look at these doorstops," I said as I lifted one of the giant rough-hewn sandwiches from the tray.

Jay laughed and suddenly flushed in inherent embarrassment.

"Okay, so they're not good," he admitted with a wry twist of his lips. "But I suppose my point was that you could write anything you wanted and it would be enough. I know how you feel. In here."

He leaned forward and tapped his fingers gently against my chest and my left temple.

"It's enough," he repeated. "Words don't mean anything when I can see everything you're feeling over our link."

I knew that my mate had a point yet still I wanted to get everything perfect for him and I said as much.

Jay laughed affectionately before he said - "That's my Quinn. Ever the perfectionist."

I just sighed and gave him a lopsided, wry smile. I then ran my fingers through my hair again and stared disconsolately at my blank piece of parchment.

"Just eat your sandwich, dear. Leave your poetry for a while," Jay advised.

I just nodded and did as he'd suggested, hoping as I did so that inspiration would strike when I was least expecting it.

****

The following day, I heard Jay grumbling and swearing to himself in the library, followed by a few discordant notes on his lute. Those notes were followed by an extra loud twang as one of the strings broke. Jay's swearing grew even louder and I swallowed back a chuckle as I finished my bath in the bedroom. A few moments later, Jay whirled into the room and shook his lute in my face.

"I broke a string, Quinn," he yelled.

"So I heard," I said a little more calmly. "How about changing it?"

Jay stared at me blankly before the twitch of a smile played across his lips.

Then he said - "The lute or the string?"

"I'm not even dignifying that idiotic question with an answer, Jamison," I retorted even as I climbed out of the bathtub.

Jay grinned at me and watched as I towelled myself dry before he said - "Okay. So I'll change the string. I hate smart-drakes."

"I know the feeling. I have to live with one of those," I shot back which earned me another laugh from my mate.

He just shook his head and left the room without further word or attempt at riposte. A while later, I heard him playing and that time, it seemed his composition seemed to be going a little more smoothly. I just sighed and continued dressing before I wandered into the library to fetch a book. To give my mate more privacy, I retired into the living room and stretched out on one of the settles to read.

****

Later that week, I'd completed my song for Jay yet no matter how many times my mate tried to get me to either show him the lyrics or to sing him the song itself, I refused. I felt too embarrassed by the sappiness of the song itself to do so.

Jay seemed amused yet still he pointed out - "You've got to sing it to the judges on Lover's Day, love. How are you going to do that if you don't practice on me first?"

I stared at him for a few moments and I was rendered temporarily speechless as I knew that he had a point. The fact was that Jay knew it as well and seemed particularly smug about it. He grinned at me and crossed his arms over his chest even as he raised one sandy eyebrow.

"It's disgustingly sappy. Even for them," I finally said.

"So? That's what it's all about. I mean, did you tell the truth when you wrote your lyrics?" Jay pointed out and once again he smirked in smug amusement at me.

I paused before I said - "Yes."

Jay spread his hands out in front of himself as though that was the answer to everything and I supposed that it was.

"So what's the problem with sharing? Trust me, whatever you say in words, I know already," he said and he tapped his head and the space on his chest under which his heart rested and beat.

I sighed and tried to fight down my Alpha male pride. I hated that side of me yet knew that I could never escape it. I knew it was stupid to feel embarrassed and too proud to tell my own mate how I felt about him; Alpha dragons usually didn't do that. I did - most of the time. I knew that I wasn't like other Alphas and I'd purposefully allowed myself to be that way. I had never wanted to be like my father and I'd mostly succeeded. Jay was living proof of that and he'd never ceased to keep reminding me of that fact.

I gave him a short nod and Jay gave me a smile. He'd seen that struggle on my face, seen the pride and the conflicting emotions swirling over our shared bonded link and yet still he remained stoically silent and patient. I silently thanked him for that silence and attached patience. To have spoken now would have made me clam up for good and Jay knew that.

I swallowed audibly, almost painfully and began singing, quietly at first yet louder when Jay remained silent and attentive, an expression of wonder soon entranced upon his face as he heard the first refrain -

"In a hilly vale, where trees ascend,

Lives a dragon-shifter, a loving friend.

With scales of red and eyes of blue,

He guards his love so deep and true... "

Jay swallowed and tears shimmered in his eyes as I continued to sing; he didn't move or speak throughout the entirety of my rendition. I ended my song with the last refrain -

"They soar together, in the vast expanse,

Their love doesn't follow the rules of chance.

Their hearts are pure as in fairy tales,

Telling the world of a love that never fails."

Jay grinned when it was over yet that smile was shaky and I saw the tears in his eyes. He didn't speak; instead, he crossed the distance that remained between us and rested his hands on either side of my face.

He still didn't utter a word; instead, he leaned in and pressed soft, yet insistent kisses against my mouth. His eyes were closed and the shimmer of his golden dragon-love was apparent over our link as it pulsed strongly behind my eyes. I returned the kisses and the love as I felt intense relief - Jay had loved the song that I'd struggled over for what seemed an eternity to me.

Once the kisses had petered out, Jay rested his forehead against mine and breathed against me. Then he leaned far enough away for me to see that he was smiling. The tears had gone yet the gratitude remained.

"Thank you," he said and I knew it was for more than just the rendition.

It was for everything else - for putting how I felt about him in words, for composing something that was solely for him and no one else. I just gave him a wry smile yet before I could speak Jay gave me a fierce look and pressed his fingers roughly against my mouth.

"Shut your drake-blasted mouth, Blacksmith," he said. "Don't say whatever it is you're going to say. Your song is good enough. It always will be. You didn't spoil a thing and you weren't an idiot for putting how you feel down in words."

I remained silent; I kissed his fingers instead of speaking and he laughed. His hand fell away from my mouth and returned to his side as he watched me.

Then he gave me a lopsided smile before he said - "What are you going to call it?"

"I was going to call it 'Your Song'," I admitted. "Or 'Jay's Song.'"

"The second one," Jay said firmly. "That sounds better."

He gave me another lopsided smile before he said - "And it lets everyone know who you're talking about. I'm laying claim to those words."

Jay's admission made me laugh uproariously yet I nodded in agreement at him.

"Fine. Jay's Song it is then," I said and received a grin in return.

****

The rest of the week passed relatively quickly and more music and singing filled the streets of Esterloch as the townsfolk continued to practice their self-penned compositions. Love letters flew thick and fast also, passed from hand to hand between partners - both prospective and claimed. Presents were bought and gifted and meals were cooked or bought for courtship.

Then the actual Lover's Day itself arrived. Everyone gathered in the park, and an air of expectancy filled the air so thick it was almost like a dense fog had wrapped itself around the tree-lined green space. The air otherwise was chill, as the February-month air was still carrying the taint of winter.

I wore my thickest, heaviest cloak, to keep my fire-drake side warm and content yet typically Jay flaunted his ice-drake side openly through not wearing a cloak at all. That sight alone - as usual - made me feel colder than if I'd gone cloakless.

Fires and cooking pits had been arranged around the park, and braziers billowed beneath spits and baskets of roasted chestnuts. Fried bread bits and cones of cooked peanuts exchanged hands as freely as the larger food items did, such as sausages in buns, bowls of curried meats and twisted bread knots smothered in a variety of flavourings.

The proceedings began early, as we had quite a lot of entrants to get through. Some of the youngsters formed choirs, which lessened the load of judging individuals somewhat and those without partners had also banded together to do the same.

While some were exceptionally good, quite a lot were either bad or just plain cheesy. Sometimes, they were so bad the judges had to choke back laughter for fear of handing over offence to the well-meant caterwauling.

By the end of the afternoon, however, it was left to the judges to give the final performances, even though we ourselves would not be judged or win prizes. By that time, most were weary and it was getting late. We allowed the feastgoers to depart after our own performances and so we returned to the Elders' Hall for discussions.

****

"So are we decided then?" Corey said wearily after another hour of discussions and near-arguments had reigned supreme between us all. "Sam Baker takes first prize?"

We all unanimously nodded. Sam had served us all frequently at the Bakehouse and while we all were admittedly friends with him, his win had nothing to do with nepotism; his entry had been particularly poignant and heart-breaking.

"And Arielle Herbalist takes the second prize?" Corey pressed.

Again we were all in agreement as we were with all other names listed in order by the kindly Elder. Soon, we had filled in the names on the appropriate winners' scrolls, for them to be presented to the lucky recipients the following day.

****

I was surprised to find that both Sam and Arielle chose to commission something from me for their prizes. Sam wanted a new cooking pot for his Bakehouse while Arielle wanted weighing scales for her apothecary. I was amused by their choices yet agreed to fabricate what they wanted.

****

Both Sam and Arielle were pleased with their items when they finally were delivered to them and promised they'd use them respectfully. I had no doubt that they would as they were careful people yet it still amused me to know that they were that grateful for their prizes.

They even were looking forward to participating in the Lover's Day Contest the following year, as it had been decided to make the competition an annual event. I found that despite my initial embarrassment, I too was looking forward to the next contest as I had greatly enjoyed listening to all of the entries. I knew that the same could be said for everyone else and wholesome fun, after all, was often much-needed by all.