“It’s a sight, isn’t it? The bedrooms are along this way…” Sandra continued down to a side door. They walked down a long hallway to the end and turned left. Another row of doors continued on from there. Sandra stopped in front of the fourth door.
“This is the one,” she said and turned the knob.
Hasley gasped and covered her mouth. Inside was a four poster bed with light pink sheets and a pile of fluffy white pillows. The floor was carpeted, with a small writing table beside the window. It was much bigger than her room at home. The way the light shined through the sheer white window curtains and onto the bed made Hasley want to lay down and sleep in its warmth.
“I’ll go fetch the boys,” Sandra said and turned to leave.
Hasley walked further into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. Her bag, which up until this point she had entirely forgotten about, laid on the small end table beside the bed. Overwhelmed and exhausted, she fell backwards onto the covers and closed her eyes.
“Hasley. Hasley can you hear me?”
Hasley could feel her body shaking, but her mind couldn’t register the feeling as belonging to her. She opened her eyes and instead of the bedroom she had been in moments prior, Hasley was on a beach. She saw sand, the glittering water beyond it, and in the distance a vessel tied to decaying wood and a broken-down dock.
“Hasley, wake up!” The familiar voice said again. Her body felt movement, arms on her shoulders and a hand to her brow, but she stayed put. Hasley wore a white dress and it blew behind her in the breeze.
She sighed and thought, this is where I want to be.
That is where you should be, the voice of her fatelessness answered.
Twelve
Meaning in Pain
Hasley reunited with her physical body in a jolt. She was back in the room Sandra said was hers, with two concerned faces staring back at her.
“Oh thank Aaleia, you are okay,” Amic said in relief. His voice quivered uncharacteristically.
“What’s wrong?” Hasley asked, confused why they were concerned by her napping. Then, the vision slowly returned to her. It wasn’t a dream, was it?
“You were staring at the ceiling. We tried to talk to you, we tried to shake you, but you were unresponsive. It was pretty scary. How do you feel? What did you see?” James asked.
“I was by the water again, but this time I think I saw Arsenio’s boat,” Hasley explained. “I was there, but I also wasn’t at the same time, it was confusing yet peaceful.”
“We’ll have to see if Arsenio saw the same thing,” Amic mused, coughing into his hand and standing up from the bed. He straightened invisible wrinkles in his jacket.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for breakfast, Hasley, we were strategizing and I lost track of time,” James explained.
“Of course, I understand, James,” Hasley said lightly. and also stood from the bed. She stood from the bed.
“Speaking of Arsenio, this room is for the both of you. Once this mess is over.” He gestured around the space before beginning to pace.Hello
“What were you strategizing over?” Hasley asked curiously. Despite just standing up, the lack of food and comfortable sleep made her feel dizzy. She sat in the chair at the writing desk.
“Getting allies. Amic can explain, right?” James looked to Amic, who nodded, “I’ll get you some food and be right back.”
James left the room in a rush. Amic opened his mouth to talk. Before he could get a word out, Hasley said “thank you, so very much.”
Amic’s brows furrowed. “For what?” he asked.
“For the room, for the care and kindness you’ve shown me. For everything,” Hasley said and gestured wide to encompass where they stood.
“You’re my family now, Hasley. You deserve a place to call your own,” he said.
Hasley felt an emotional lump in her throat. She already had a place, and a family, waiting for her back in Firetop. When she made the choice to leave it all, she didn’t imagine she would find another. But here she was, so close to both.
“Well, thank you all the same,” she said with a genuine smile.
Amic flushed and cleared his throat. “Anyway, the problem we are facing is in finding allies, something to unify the different pockets of rebellion around the idea of using the synthetic dragon blood. We don’t have enough numbers yet for the united strike we need to weaken the wall enough to be rid of it for good.”
“What do you think would help bring in numbers?” she asked.
“People are scared. They know they want change, but the idea of it is too abstract to risk their lives for it. They need something concrete, something physical to show that they are right to place their hopes in it,” Amic mused.
A memory flashed in Hasley’s mind. On the day she partially fated to Arsenio, the strangers carting away barrels witnessed what happened to her and cried. In fact, most people that saw her had cried, Amic and James included.In that moment, she was made of pure hope.
“Would what is happening to me, a fating kept apart by the wall, provide enough of a symbol?” She asked hesitantly. Her gut twisted at the thought of sharing more of her pain, but she also knew this was an opportunity to further her purpose.
He stopped his pacing and turned to her. “Maybe, why do you ask?”
“I wouldn’t mind…” Hasley began. She started to lie, then chose honesty instead.“If you think that people seeing our interrupted fating will help the cause, then bring key people to see me in the woods. Ask Ember, even. It’s time she knew the whole truth.”
Amic placed a fatherly hand on her shoulder. “Only if you are comfortable with it. If you decide afterward you don’t want to have any more visitors, that is okay. You can change your mind about your involvement in this anytime, okay?”
Hasley nodded. James knocked on the door and entered with a tray. While she ate the fresh fruit and sandwich he brought, Amic and James discussed the idea and who should come to see her. She tried to listen, but she felt drained of social energy.
Each bite felt like a strange torture. Hasley felt she needed to get back to the wall, back to Amalthea and Arsenio and their letters, but she also needed strength. She held out to the last bite, downing a drink and standing back up.
“I have to go, I can’t stay any longer.”
James stopped his conversation and followed her to the door. “I’ll help you get back to the camp,” he said.
“It’s fine,” Hasley said in a rush, the door knob already in her hands.
“You are always welcome here,” Amic called to her as she rushed down the hall.
Thirteen
Ember Dragon Daughter
On this particular day, Hasley decided to wear the dress she had left her home in. She had avoided wearing it most days, instead keeping to the clothes Amic and James brought her. Today she could imagine meeting him in person with more detail, as if the dress reminded her what it would have been like to be normal again. The dress had stains and was not as cute as it had been before her adventures thus far, but she wanted to wear it.
Hasley groggily pulled the blanket around herself as she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She thought it must be lunch based emptiness of her stomach, but she couldn’t muster up the energy to look up. Another letter would be coming soon, and she only had the energy for that.
“Because of her,” Amic said distantly. Multiple gasps sounded.
Ah, it couldn’t be James then. She did not want to be on show today. Over the past week she had secured more than a dozen people’s help in the coming demolition. She knew it was important work, and it seemed to be helping, but it drained her like nothing else. This was supposed to be a private pain.
But this was no stranger. Hasley felt a wave of relief as she met the eye of her best friend and future ruler. Her smile quickly broke into a sob.
“Hasley,” Ember called and ran to her.
They collapsed together onto the floor, arms wrapped around each other. Ember’s black a
nd rainbow reflecting hair was shorter now, which surprised Hasley. Life back in the palace must have changed Ember's confidence, as surely as Hasley was irrevocably different. In the weeks since they've seen each other, everything was different.
“I’m sorry,” Hasley said between hacking breaths. She buried her face into Ember's neck.
“Why would you be sorry, Hasley? You have done nothing wrong. I’m the one that is sorry. I failed you,” Ember whispered. Ember held tighter to her best friend, brushing her dirty hair with soft fingers.
“I knew. I knew I was sick. I couldn’t tell you. I.. I…” Hasley's fumbled for the right words.
She felt sorry for so many things, for the jealousy, for the need to be number one, for not writing to her or confiding in her.
“It’ll be okay,” a man said from beside Amic. He inched closer to them. “We can help you.”
Hasley even felt sorry for not knowing this man, as it must have been her best friend’s pair, Noorworth Knight. Amic had told her that shortly before meeting Hasley he had met Ember and her fated Knight at her debut ball. The one Hasley should have been at.
“If we take down the wall, we can,” Amic said to Ember and the curly haired man with her. Ember turned to him from her seat on the floor, “What do you mean?”
“Her pair is outside that wall, right now,” Amic said matter-of-factly.
Amic pointed to the spot right behind Hasley's head, as if her pair was actually there this moment. If only he could hear them, know that the Dragon Daughter was here. He would want to meet her, as he had met the rulers of his own kingdom once.
Ember held her hand to her mouth, too shocked to speak. A tear ran down her friend’s face.
“I’m sorry,” Hasley whispered again, this time to herself. She pushed her back flat to the wall. Her friend was here, but she couldn’t focus on her. She couldn’t focus on much but her next letter.
“How can you know that?” Ember’s pair asked Amic. Of course, the question was needed. But there wasn’t any way to answer it, they wouldn’t understand until they witnessed it themselves.
As if waiting for the right moment, Amalthea flew in from above and landed onto Hasley’s shoulder. Amalthea nuzzled her bowed head like a pet, scales meeting blue hair, and Hasley looked to her with a smile. A real happy smile, she felt like the wraith was part of her family now. It helped her feel like she was normal, ironically.
Hasley reached for the scroll tied to the wraith's leg and opened it greedily. Her skin brightened from the inside out as she read. A soft yellow cast seemed to bring her to life as she absorbed the words. She was warm and fulfilled once more, her heart healing.
“What’s happening?” Ember whispered.
“Come closer and see,” Amic said. The three sat before Hasley on the ground as she fished for something to write with from her dress pocket. She wrote on the opposite side of the letter feverishly.
The wraith hopped down, her long thin tail brushing the grass. As Hasley finished her scribbles, it stuck out its leg and accepted the letter. Amalthea adjusted her stance and with a proud chirp flew fast into the sky. They tilted their heads up to watch the small demi-dragon disappear over the wall.
“But wraiths can’t fly over the wall to deliver letters,” Ember’s pair said in disbelief. They were told this fact their whole life and yet it was not true. There were many truths that seemed only partially true when years passed by.
“Oh, but they can, Noorworth Knight,” Amic said. “You just have to have someone at exactly that spot on the other side waiting. If no one is there, the wraith’s circle back. The water is too far for them to cross, but they can visit the eroding coast and old docks on the other side if they have a reason to.”
“Someone is out there,” Ember echoed his meaning, staring at Hasley instead of the wall.
Hasley kept her face upturned, eyes bright and smile wide with the golden glow. But as the seconds passed, Hasley’s skin lost its glow and her smile turned to a more-familiar frown. As if the light never appeared to her, tears welled up, and she looked back to the ground. She wrapped her arms around her legs as she buried her face in her lap.
“Who are you speaking to, Hasley?” Ember asked quietly, scared to disturb her.
“Arsenio,” Hasley said between tears, her body quivered at the mention of his name aloud.
“My son,” Amic elaborated. “She and my son experience bursts of the fating every day… Then they feel it ripped from them.”
“Help us,” Hasley whispered.
She knew Ember was one of the few people that could help Amic and the resistance. In turn, she and Arsenio would be free. And she felt selfish for asking. Selfish for asking her friend of something so impossible. But if anyone could take the wall down, it was her.
“How?” Ember asked no one in particular. She didn’t know how she could make things better, just like Hasley, but Amic seemed to.
“I have something else to show you,” Amic said and led them away. Ember hugged her friend goodbye. Hasley hoped this wasn’t the last time she’d see her. For what happened next, could be the end of them all.
Hasley drew back into herself, no longer capable of speech. She knew that Ember would now go to the dragon blood. She knew that she, Amic, James, and the resistance, would all come together. Hasley would try to help in any way she could.
But really, she knew all she could do was try to help herself and Arsenio before anyone else. No one should live this way. No Fateless should be trapped in their bodies and minds, unable to reach their pair in the way that she could.
The wall separated families, loved ones, opportunity, and the very destiny outlined by the gods. Not even the sea was free of pain, it haunted her and Arsenio’s visions. It was all severed by the royal family. And for what?
For a supposed mermaid feud, if history was to be believed. For safety. To keep the fatelessness from spreading. And yet, Hasley felt it was the cause of it all.
That night Ember returned and held her in her arms while Hasley cried. When Ember left right before dawn, Hasley felt a part of her heart heal.
Fourteen
Where is Home?
“I met her, Embrence Dragon Daughter,” James said the next day at breakfast. “She said something very interesting about the synthetic dragon’s blood.”
Hasley stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate as she collected herself. Mornings felt both easier and harder, as if sleep replenished her physical energy, but zapped her of her mental energy from the long hours of separation from Arsenio. She had a feeling Arsenio slept as little as she did. Waking up in fits, yet wanting the other to rest. Thinking about it now, it seemed like a fruitless effort.
James continued, used to Hasley’s divided attention.
“She said it isn’t fake blood. She could sense that it was real. They have a dragon on Faeinto, or at least, they used too. Maybe it’s dead. You know, since we have all this blood here.”
That statement did, however, catch Hasley’s attention. Hasley didn’t know what she could say or express. If there was a dragon out and about, Arsenio would have told her, wouldn’t he? And Ember’s ability to detect it was real, how could she be sure?
In her next letter, Hasley prodded the question.
What do you know of the synthetic dragon blood? How did they come about giving it to you? I’d love to know more about the kingdom you are from.
Hasley attempted to soften the question, asking for more on his background. She did want to know more, it wasn’t a lie, but the reason for bringing it up so bluntly wasn’t necessarily how she would have done it.
I would love to tell you, Hasley. I also wondered when you’d ask.
Faeinto is very different than what I know of Ashkadance. Less hard. More free-flowing. As you know, Faeinto is the home of the unicorns. We still have them, running free in the fields of our own royal family. Mother was a trader as well, though by necessity and not for the love of it. Travel between us and Grydagia is monitored.
Those with ships need to be vetted, and it’s harder to go in this direction than it looks.
Most of the people that attempted to come to Ashkadance-out of curiosity or a wild idea to liberate the kingdom on their own-turn around halfway through. The merfolk guard the sea near Ashkadance. It’s not even that Faeinto doesn’t allow it, it’s all the merfolk.
The merfolk don’t believe in meddling with the affairs of the kingdoms, and want each of them to choose their own path in their interpretation of Mutrien and Aaleia’s vision.
My mother, on the other hand, had special permission from the merfolk to travel here. Not that she’d tell anyone about it but me. Her family didn’t even know she came here. But she did need an excuse for her travels. Hence, the trading routes. It took me a few years to realize she was bad at trading. She didn’t enjoy the profession, but I did. I don’t know how she convinced the merfolk to let her through, but that favor extended to me when I was old enough. Maybe she told them the truth? Regardless, when I sail this way the merfolk simply move out of the way and let me pass.
I, however, wasn’t as good at sailing as my mother was. So I needed to hire help running my ship. And eventually, one of the shipmates told someone and it spread. By my third visit to talk to Dad, the royal family was intervening and asking me for information.
I couldn’t just pretend I wasn’t able to come here. They already knew. And miraculously, they did want to help. They’ve been working on stockpiling extra of their faux dragon blood for years. They knew it was the only thing that could successfully crack through the peiradoone walls. It was some old war knowledge, passed on through the royal family line. The King sent me letters to pass on to Dad, who agreed to take the material before we even knew how to use it.
Royalty Fantasy Boxset: Ember Dragon Daughter & Hasley Fateless (Fated Tales Series 1 & 1.5) (The Fated Tales Series: YA Royalty Fantasy) Page 32
