by Jada Fisher
“Um, pardon me, but where am I supposed to, uh, relieve myself?”
The woman arched a single eyebrow and I had to wonder what she thought of me. Did she know I was raised as a human? Or did she think of me as the most airheaded seer she had ever met?
Wait… I was probably the only seer she had ever met. I hoped I wasn’t giving my species a bad name, but there wasn’t like I could really do anything about it. I didn’t even really technically know if being a seer was its own species, or more of a magic class. It wasn’t like there was a manual.
My attention came back to the present as the woman pointed to a door in the corner. Oh. The bathroom was separate from the washroom. How fancy of them.
“Thanks,” I murmured sheepishly before shuffling off so I could escape her sight.
Of course, what waited for me behind the door was another unnecessarily large and ornate room. Why anyone would sink so much time, money, and detail on someplace where people excreted waste, I didn’t know, but I went about my business and waited to come out until after I heard the maid’s footsteps head out.
“Is she gone?” I asked Mallory, just to be sure.
“Yeah, she’s gone. You can stop worrying about making a fool of yourself, because that has long since passed.”
“Hey,” I objected, fully emerging from the bathroom. “I’ve been through a lot in a few days. I think I’ve earned some social foibles.”
“That’s one way to put it.” She shook her head and laughed, starting to shuck off her clothes. Normally, I was incredibly self-conscious of my soft, doughy body, heck, I didn’t even take my glove off in front of most people, but Mallory and I had been friends for so long that it was just sort of second nature. Maybe it was a girl thing, maybe it was a maturity thing, maybe it was because she had been just as mocked for her physique when we were younger. Whatever the reason, I happily disrobed and headed toward the shower.
The hot water was bliss on my aching body, soothing everything but my mind which refused to relax, bouncing from thoughts of where the heck was my sister to what I was going to do about Bron’s cousin.
I knew that guy was bad news, but now, due to my waking vision, I also knew that telling Bron was bad news. Somehow, I had to prove to him that his cousin was up to no good without either of them knowing I was gathering evidence. Considering I had the subtlety of a stampeding elephant, I didn’t know how I was going to pull that off.
And then there was Mickey. Where was she? Was she alright? She still came to me in my dreams occasionally, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. I felt like she was still trying to warn me of something, but I couldn’t figure out what. I had never in my life been separated from her, and every single moment we were apart was physically painful. I felt guilty for smiling, guilty for eating, guilty for doing anything but searching for her with all my being.
It didn’t sit right with me to let others look for her while I just sat back every day, but what else could I do? I knew nothing of the world I had been launched into, and on top of that, I had evil dragon-folk looking for me. Even though I knew all that, it didn’t stop me from feeling like I was failing her.
“Hey, you gonna hog the shower forever, or let me get cleaned up so I can enjoy that hot tub that’s just screaming my name?”
“Oh, right.” I stepped out sheepishly, letting my friend pass through the steam-covered partition. I guessed I was still a little out of it, even with all the rest I’d had. Maybe I had done a little more damage than just a concussion, but it was hard to say. I was a barista, not a doctor.
I approached the tub tentatively, not wanting to slip and damage my skull any further. There was a bench all around the inside rim of the tub, giving me somewhere to plant my butt as I settled in.
Like the shower, the hot water was lovely, and vaguely perfumed with lavender. It made me unwind a bit and take just the tiniest of slivers off the sharp edge of my thoughts. It didn’t even irritate the scar tissue all along my arms and the slight spattering across my middle.
Thinking about my own scars made my mind turn to Mickey’s. Were they being moisturized? Did she have her emergency vitamin E oil to keep them from cracking? Was she even alive?
I could feel tears pricking at the corners of my eyes, and try as I might to hold them off, a few escaped to run over my cheeks. I splashed water onto my face to hide them, but Mallory knew me too well.
“You okay?” Her brows were furrowed as she lowered herself into the hot tub, sitting across from me.
“Just stressed.”
“That’s fair.” She let her hair down and it bounced around her shoulders in wild curls. I was so used to seeing it pulled tightly into a ponytail that it seemed bizarre to see it otherwise. “You’ve been through a lot, and you’re doing as best as one could expect.”
“It really doesn’t feel like it,” I grumbled, feeling my cheeks burn slightly.
“That’s because you’re too hard on yourself. You’re always too hard on yourself. You’ve basically learned about a whole new world, and half of it is trying to hunt you down. Give yourself a break.”
“…I guess.”
But Mallory didn’t seem to be done. “So, are you going to tell me what’s going on with Bron’s cousin, or are we trying to pretend that you don’t have something on your sleeve?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, letting my eyes slide away.
“Girl, I’ve known you for years. If you’re gonna lie, learn to do it better.”
I pouted at that. The one downside of having a BFF that knew me too well was that I couldn’t get away with anything. I couldn’t believe I had thought I duped her about my visions when I was younger. Clearly, I thought better of my acting abilities than most people.
“I…I had a vision of him and Bron fighting. Not in a family argument kind of way either.” I sighed, thinking back to the dream I had before everything went to hell in a handbasket. “It was official, with soldiers around and everything. They looked like they were really hurting each other, and Bron was definitely losing. I got the distinct feeling that the stakes were high, and that if Bron lost, everything would fall apart.”
Mallory’s eyes went wide. “Oh, geez. That’s intense. So, he’s a bad guy then? Or at least not a good one.”
“I think so.”
“So why didn’t you tell Bron? Although he seems a little spoiled and naïve, I think he would want to know.”
“I saw what happened when I did, and it wasn’t pretty. He stormed out, and I could feel that his trust in me broke. It was like there was a warmth between us that withered and died. It was pretty upsetting.”
Mallory sighed, shaking her head. “Yeah, and if we’re going to be stuck in the dragon world, we want all of the support we can get. Losing the trust of Bron would mean losing the one connection we have to people we know we can trust.” She paused for the slightest of seconds. “We can trust Bron, can’t we?”
I shrugged. “As far as I can tell, but I’m not exactly an all-knowing personality reader. I get feelings in dreams and sometimes real life, but they’re not constant, and I don’t exactly know if they’re all accurate yet.”
“But haven’t you been having these visions since you were a kid?”
I winced at that. I didn’t like thinking about the hallucinations of my childhood now that I knew they weren’t hallucinations at all. So much of the anguish and self-hate I had gone through, all a waste. “Yeah, but it was different. I did my best to ignore them, and they were faint, like shimmery ghosts in the corners of my vision. The anti-psychotics helped me forget about most of it too. Once I was on the right medication mix, I could go months without a single vision.
“The ones I have now are…different. Stronger. It was like touching Bron unleashed something in me that I can’t shove back into its container.”
“Yikes. Probably has to do with being raised in the human world. Although how you avoided direct contact with any dragon-folk is beyond
me. The younger ones like to run all over the city like it’s a playground. Sometimes they make trouble just for their own entertainment. It’s not like they’ll ever be punished.”
I nodded, thoughts wandering back to the first moment I had made physical contact with Bron. The feeling that had overcome me was still so strange. It was like being struck with lightning and caught in a windstorm all at once, but I had emerged completely unscathed. Well, at least on the outside.
Maybe it was because our destinies were so interlinked? Or maybe it was just my ability telling me that interacting with that boy was going to make my entire world fall apart. I supposed I would never really know.
We finished our soaking in relative quiet, just enjoying the reprieve, but eventually I did have to get out before I turned into one giant, Davie-shaped prune. Thankfully, I managed to do so without faceplanting, and put on one of the many fuzzy bathrobes hanging up in the facilities.
“Shouldn’t we wait for the maid?” I asked as we headed through the doors, our dirty clothes in our arms.
“I think I can lead you to your bedroom,” Mallory said, rolling her eyes. For some reason, that made me smile, as if it was just a normal day with her bumming at my counter.
“Fair. Lead away.”
I followed along after her, looking around at the paintings, sculptures, and all-around finery that surrounded us. It was hard to imagine ever walking through this place without being distracted by the accoutrements, but I supposed Bron had long since been over it.
“Well, if it isn’t our guests that I’ve been hearing so much about!”
I didn’t know that voice, but its rumbling velvet sent a shiver of dread down my spine. Mallory whipped around, but I turned slowly, afraid of who or what might be awaiting behind me.
Baelfyre.
Did life have something out for me? It seemed like it did, and I wanted to point out that I had done absolutely nothing to deserve its violent treatment.
“Hey,” Mallory said, forcing a bright smile onto her face. “I’m afraid we have no idea who you are.”
“Apologies,” he said with a dramatic sort of bow. I could tell that he was trying to be charming, but it just made me uncomfortable. “I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Baelfyre, friend of your Prince Bron.”
“By friend you mean distant cousin,” I corrected before I could stop myself.
But he just brightened at that. “Ah, I see my reputation proceeds me. I hope you’ve heard only good things, of course.”
Crap. I should have played dumb. “I just happened to be on the balcony when you arrived. Bron named everyone going in.”
“Ah! How fortuitous then. The only downside is that I have not had a chance to learn your name, and I assume you do not wish to be called ‘the seer’.”
I stayed tightlipped for a moment, trying to envision all the consequences of telling him or not, but I supposed he would find out one way or another. “Davie.” I answered flatly. “And this is Mallory.”
“Davie? That seems a rather masculine name for someone as beautiful as yourself.” He cracked a smile at me and I swore I saw his teeth sparkle like a toothpaste commercial. Geez, this guy really bought into his whole Prince Charming persona.
“I guess that’s one of life’s great mysteries,” I said noncommittally. I turned to go, but he just cleared his throat and offered his arms to both Mallory and me.
“It’s not right for guests to have to wander the halls alone in their unmentionables. Please, allow me to escort you back to your rooms.”
“No, it’s fine,” I said, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. His grip was like iron and I had the feeling that his fingers would bite down if I struggled, and I supposed that I didn’t want to arouse his suspicion right out of the gate.
“Please, I insist.”
I looked to Mallory and I could tell that she was glancing at me uncertainly, waiting for my cue on whether or not to beat him into a pulp for daring to touch us without our permission. I gave her the tiniest of shrugs and screwed a polite smile onto my face.
“Who am I to refuse a prince’s cousin?”
I saw the teeniest of cracks in his expression. “I’m actually a prince where I’m from.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” I answered, feeling my saucier side rise. “I’m not clear on dragon politics yet. He’s like, the big prince over everything and you’re one of the smaller family’s royalty, right? Kind of like the equivalent of a duke or something in the human world.”
Ah, I saw more of that saccharine smile crack, fissures rising in his near-perfect illusion. To think, if I hadn’t had a vision about him, I might have been completely fooled. I guessed I was lucky, although it didn’t feel much like luck.
“Something like that,” he said before striding forward.
Mallory and I didn’t say much as we strolled along, content with listening to the dark-haired man bloviate about the halls around us and the rooms they led to. I was unimpressed, but I did glean a few useful bits here and there.
Thankfully, it only took us about five minutes to reach our door, but it felt like four minutes too long. I disentangled myself from him and went straight for the door.
“Perhaps when both of you ladies are more comfortably dressed, I can take you on a tour of the palace. There are all sorts of beautiful places.”
“Uh, sure,” I said, eager to get away. I was all too acutely aware that I was wearing nothing under my bathrobe and it left me feeling far more vulnerable than I would like. Sure, I had proven that I could bluster myself through a fight with only a few major injuries, but there was something about standing in front of someone you knew was dangerous in just a single layer of fabric that was inherently unnerving.
“Nice meeting you,” Mallory said, flexing her bicep so that his hand had to open. He gave her a surprised look, but she just shot him a prim expression before joining my side. Just as I reached for the doorknob, the door opened and I was face-to-face with Bron.”
“Davie!” he said, smiling brightly before noticing who was behind me. “And Baelfyre. Why are you here?”
“Wow, guess I’m chopped liver then…” Mallory muttered under her breath.
He looked down at my short friend, and in doing so, seemed to just realize exactly what we were wearing.
It was interesting to see such a pale man blush, and I watched the pink rapidly rise up his face. “You are not dressed,” he said, eyes wide.
“Glad to see your vision is just as sharp as always,” Baelfyre said, laughing brightly. Once more, he stepped between Mallory and I, slinging his arm around Bron’s shoulders. “Come, let’s go see if we can natter the cook into making us our favorite cake for lunch instead of dinner, and we’ll leave the women to themselves.”
Bron didn’t say much, his face still vermillion as they left. Mallory and I rushed into the room and slammed the door behind us. My heart was pounding surprisingly hard for such a low-key event.
“Well,” Mallory murmured when we were finally alone. “That was one way for me to meet the big bad.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, sliding to the floor. Why did everything have to be so complicated? I liked it when my biggest worry was whether that month’s bills would get paid or not.
“He’s a charming one, isn’t he?”
“Yup. Don’t trust it, though, it’s like camouflage on a predator.”
“Are you sure?”
I heard the quiver of doubt in her voice and I glanced at her in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re always the first to say that you don’t really understand how this works. What if you’re wrong about him and what you saw was some sort of like…sanctioned wrestling match, or even if you just got your lines crossed in general?”
“I…I don’t know how this works, but I do know, without a doubt, that he is bad news. While some things are shadowy, or confusing, that single fact is crystal clear.”
“Alright then. I trust you.” Mallory’s face hardened and she g
ot that same expression she wore before her fights. It made me feel better to know that, no matter what, she would always be by my side.
I was on a very strange journey, but at least I wasn’t alone.
Not like Mickey.
3
Tour of the Digs
By the seventh day of recovery in my room, and after many rounds of incessantly pestering Bron for updates about Mickey, I was going a bit stir crazy. Suddenly, the large, spacious area didn’t seem so open, and the décor seemed more mocking than awe-inspiring. I wanted to do something, to progress or accomplish anything instead of just sitting in bed all day and waiting to be told I was useful.
It didn’t help that Bron seemed to be avoiding me. What few times he did come in to check on me, his cheeks would go red and he’d start sputtering and then everyone felt awkward. But still, after a solid week of being in one room, I didn’t care how flustered he was.
I heard him shuffling toward my door and I practically vaulted out of bed toward it. Grabbing the knob, I flung it open to see the prince standing in the doorway, looking quite shocked.
Baelfyre was with him, of course.
Drat.
“You!” I said, pointing a finger in his face.
“Me?” Bron responded, also pointing to himself. Huh, and to think that I had once been so intimidated by this man that I had literally fled from work. He was basically a cinnamon bun in dragon/human form, only maybe with more frosting.
“Yeah. You. You’re going to take me on a tour of this place.” Perhaps I should have asked, but that might have given the impression that there was an option here. Which there wasn’t. I was getting out of the room and I was going to find something useful that I could do and that would be that.
Even if Baelfyre unfortunately came along.
“I really should be meeting with the elders…”
“Don’t worry,” his dark-haired cousin said, slithering in like a snake. Except I rather liked snakes and comparing them to him was a bit of an insult to the cute danger noodles. “I’d be more than happy to take our venerable guests on a—”
