Harper

  Lou had finally calmed down.

  Now he sat in the front cave, snuggled up between bnkets and pillows. Renan had brought more pillows and bnkets after the sorcerers left. He had also brought new clothes for Lou. Of course, Remy had taken care of everything. But Lou had ignored the new clothes until now. Instead, he wrapped himself in several bnkets so that only his face could be seen. It reminded me a bit of a maggot. Smiling, I tugged at one of the bnkets.

  "Can I come in?", I asked. "Vivi?"

  "Huh?"

  "Into your cave!"

  "No." Lou shook his head.

  "And me?", cried Max, giggling. "May I?"

  "Or me?", asked Ross.

  My siblings liked Lou. They called him 'Tiny' or 'Sweetie'. Lou blushed every time he heard a pet name. Then he shook his head and stammered that this was not his name. At least he didn't protest against 'Vivi' anymore.

  "Lou? Please? I want it to be cuddly too!" Ross tried puppy eyes, but Lou shook his head persistently.

  "And me?", asked Sally.

  "Me?" Of course, Connie had to beg as well.

  "Children? That's enough!", our father grumbled. Mom, on the other hand, just shook her head. The two of them sat a little deeper in the cave and ate some mice they had hunted. Lou couldn't see them. Today the hunt didn't go well. They had only brought me a small, skinny rat. My stomach growled relentlessly. I guess I had to go out myself ter. But I didn't want to leave Lou's side.

  My entire family still avoided approaching him in dragon form. I, too, only changed when he was asleep. And Lou slept a lot. A striking amount. And he always seemed exhausted. My parents thought he was sick. Mentally. And he ate too little.

  Remy had provided us with supplies for him, but Lou hardly touched anything. He ate only tiny amounts. He seemed to like figs best. Then his eyes sparkled. I'd like to see him smile.

  "I want to be under the covers too!", Max teased again. "I'm not very tall! I'm sure I'll fit in! May I? Sweet Lou?"

  "No." Lou shook his head.

  "Ooooooh." Max pouted. "What a pity."

  "Don't fret. He doesn't want to cuddle with us either!" Ross comforted her.

  "And we're real cuddly dragons!" Connie whistled with a ugh.

  I rolled my eyes.

  By now it was evening. Remy had promised to come by at sunset. Since he spent a lot of time with us dragons, this was not out of the ordinary. He even occasionally stayed with Narcisse's family.

  And then there were all the curious dragons. No one visited us so far, but everyone took a look into our cave. Everyone wanted to know what the person who lived with us for the time being looked like. Until TRemy would take him away from me.

  I didn't like the idea. Deeply!

  Stupid humans.

  Would Lou's sister visit him here? Actually, she was forbidden to enter, but when Lou was here... Louise seemed nice. But she reeked terribly of magic. Of witchcraft. Her smell had tingled in my nostrils. And it wasn't a pleasant tingling sensation. She almost made me sneeze!

  Maybe it's an allergy!

  The thought was so ridiculous that I smiled. Lou noticed this and looked at me. "It's nothing!" I hugged the bnket. Vivi still smelled of fear, but he allowed minor touches. Even without wings. Especially when I was just touching the bnket. He even let Mom comb his hair. She had run her fingers through his hair and had gently untied the small knots. In the end, she tied the bow back into his hair that he had received from Narcisse.

  Lou had been restless and shaking a little, but he let her take care of him. But after that, he had immediately wrapped himself in all the bnkets. Presumably, his hair was now full of knots again.

  I pulled him to me. "Would you like something to eat?"

  "No."

  "A fig?" I kept trying. "There are three left."

  "Oh."

  "Would you like one?"

  Lou shook his head. His body was barely noticeable under the bnkets. As if he wasn't here. As if he didn't exist. "Would you like to see Louise? Maybe Remy can bring her here", I suggested.

  Maybe he ate when his sister was with him? How could I help him?"

  "Louise?" Lou frowned. "No. The curse."

  I sighed and looked at my parents. Lou didn't believe there wasn't a curse. When we brought it up, it unsettled him and he burst into tears screaming. So we didn't say anything anymore. He reacted simirly to compliments. When Mom called him pretty, he balked. But Lou was pretty. But all of these were issues that we better avoid.

  "Oh, I'm sure the curse won't be a problem!" Ross turned to him. "If you want to see your sister, we'll make it work somehow."

  "And you've got us now!" Sally sat down next to me, grinning.

  "Oh." That's all Lou said. Just 'Oh'.

  sasi