They both nodded.
“Once we get there, you need to find a Temple for Healing the Mind and go there. Then we can start a plan for justice.” The Air Dragons were masters of matters of the mind. They could help Zhao overcome his insanity of revenge.
Zhao smiled and rubbed her front shoulder. “Who could hold on to anger in your presence?”
Marut also smiled, “Now that, we can agree on; not even the Blood King could be angry with someone like Agne around.”
*****
They arrived long after dark and headed directly for the Air Dragon Minister’s barn. The palatial barn wasn’t as big as the palace, but it was big enough to house the offices and residences of the Minister, and the private quarters of her staff and riders. Agne would have loved to have grown up here.
There was a glow in the upper level, which was the minister’s private residence. The lower level housed rider quarters and offices for the minister’s staff and the deputy minister’s residences.
Marut pointed, “Back there, we can land behind that bank of trees and do some surveillance.”
They flew around to the rear private training yard and headed for the trees. Agne looked around wagging her tail. This wasn’t a yard for one spoiled pup. It was enormous, the entire staff could use this yard to train. They landed as quietly as they could. There were several beautiful park-like areas, and patios, but also some areas for training riders to become archers while on the back of an Air Dragon.
She remembered her mother said she didn’t take a rider because he kept falling off. Finally, her father declared that humans simply could not ride Air Dragons and the matter was closed for discussion. She noted that Zhao seemed able to ride just fine when they were spotted.
“Princess?” Someone called from a small door in the rear of the barn.
Agne looked over at an Air Dragon guard with a rider. She smiled, her father was wrong – humans could be riders to Air Dragons. Her smile dipped, just like her books said before her father removed all the books on riding from her library. Why would he do this to her? He had always told her how much he loved her. Why would he deliberately feed her false knowledge or beliefs?
It’s me, Princess Agne,” she said, trotting out into the yard. “Have you heard what happened?”
He nodded, “We received word two nights ago from the Queen. She wrote that you were on your way. When you didn’t arrive on time, we feared the worst. Come, I will take you up to see the minister. She will be very happy to see you.” He led them inside, pausing in a large storage room and pointing with his tail at Zhao. “Your rider can dismount here; saddles and gear go over there. You can stay in the rider’s quarters, humans aren’t allowed upstairs, not even tame ones.”
“He isn’t her rider, just a guide here,” Marut said, glancing at Zhao, who gave him an obscene gesture with his pointing and middle finger crossed and pointed at Marut. “Nice, very temple-like of you.”
“Then we thank you for getting the princess here safely. You can dismount now, and leave. Is that a Water Temple student’s uniform? It’s about an hour’s walk, or I can have one of the Mountain Dragons take you.”
“Wait,” Agne said, also giving Marut a dirty look. “I can speak for myself as to who he is to me.” She twisted her neck back to look at Zhao. “He is my rider, and I am his dragon. But, I meant what I said about revenge versus justice. That is the only condition.”
“I accept,” Zhao smiled. “I’ll just hang our saddle over there, with the others – that belong to the riders. Marut can take care of his own saddle.”
“Nonsense, we have a staff for that,” the guard said, squinting at Marut as if trying to remember if he knew him.
Marut shrugged, “It was worth a try. You do know the King will hunt you down– to the ends of the earth. You could escape and go free. If you leave now.”
“Your Highness, May I ask who this is?” The guard nodded toward Marut.
“Marut, he helped us get here safe; especially during the last leg of the journey,” Agne said before Zhao could put his two bits into the conversation.
The guard successfully stifled a smirk, and almost instantly regained his stiff and formal posture in the presence of the princess. The guard’s rider’s posture mirrored that of her dragon, even though she didn’t speak and avoided eye-contact with Agne.
Agne sighed blowing a dust bunny out from under a gear storage area. The guard’s smirk at Marut told her there was still more to his story. It disappointed her that he didn’t tell her the truth when she gave him the chance.
“He can stay in the guest dragon quarters upstairs. Any guest of the Princess is a guest of ours,” The guard said, eyeing Marut up and down. They waited patiently for Zhao to dismount and Marut to get his saddle off. Agne noticed he retrieved his gold horn ring, slipping it over his right front paw.
The guard looked to a human stablehand, “And, you, get this place cleaned up. It’s an Air Dragon barn – we can’t have dust clusters rolling around like tumbleweeds.”
The human nodded and scurried off.
In rider fashion, Zhao said good night by putting both of his hands on her horns and resting his forehead on hers, “I will do as you ask and head to the Temple of Healing for the Mind tomorrow.”
She nodded, “It will make us stronger if we seek the correct path as a united front. Good night, Rider Zhao.”
“Good evening, Princess,” he nodded and headed into the rider quarters.
Marut smirked, “Yes, go to the temple; where you will hear many things you must become cognizant of about life.”
Zhao made an obscene gesture over his shoulder at Marut, without turning or looking back.
“See, Princess, he is a wildling, completely untamed.” Marut frowned and pointed with his tail in Zhao’s direction.
“I’ll pick my own rider and friends if you don’t mind.”
“If you’ll excuse me,” The guard’s rider dismounted, and followed Zhao. “I’ll show him where the food is.”
Then the dragons headed up a grand staircase. It was extra wide so dragons could choose to walk or fly up them. The teakwood railings were carved to resemble clouds in the sky, and the walls were adorned with portraits of famous Air Dragons and their riders.
If she had more time, she would like to study them, but she could hardly wait to see her aunt. Something needed to happen to move the wheels of justice forward. She prayed someone in Blue Valley would help- could help.
CONNECTION
Chactau flew behind the king, watching Ja Hua. He couldn’t stop wondering if she was the king’s willing rider or if he was forcing her. He had never heard of a human tame enough to sleep in what amounted to a pet’s bed next to her dragon. Or! Perhaps she was forcing him? Could a human be that powerful?
“We’ll camp here.” The King landed not far from the ruins of East Blue Plains along the Blue River, which was a main tributary to the Aquaqueia River.
Chactau took his place next to the king, with Loutic on the other side. Ja Hua started to dismount but paused, staring at him. “May I help you? You have been staring at me for almost the entire flight.” It was the most he had ever heard the witch say in one conversation.
“I have also noticed that,” The King said, laying down with his saddle still on. He crossed his front legs as he settled on his hindquarters. “She is a thing of beauty, is she not? Do you want her to ride with you?” He made a presenting motion with his tail like Ja Hua was a prize in a game of Castle Tower.
“No, Majesty. She is your loyal rider. I was just wondering if she ever misses her people, her village?” He hoped he looked as grounded as his voice sounded because a tiny part of him wanted to panic. Not only was she talking in general, but she spoke directly to him: that couldn’t be a good thing. He needed to be careful of how he looked at her in the future. They clearly co-ruled.
She dismounted, and stood next to the King with arms folded.
“Ah. Wonderings of home-through others.” The Ki
ng nodded. “You miss your father. As do I. He was a good friend, a real patriot. He didn’t deserve what that village did to him.”
It was a source of angst for him. Other dragons had told him that if his father had a rider, he would not have been killed. He nodded; finally, all those years of verbal badgering by his father was paying off. He had been resentful of the way his father had spoken to him, but now he could keep his cool under pressure.
“Yes, he was a great general,” Ja Hua said, walking toward him. “We burned and buried that village in unmarked graves so deep that even the best Earth Dragons would have a hard time retrieving the bodies to mourn. The village is less than a mile from here. I can understand it would bring up,” she smiled, with her eyes cornered to the west, before looking back at him, “unpleasant memories.”
Chactau nodded and glanced down at the ground trying to look mournful. The King was right, for a human, not many were as beautiful as Ja Hua. However, not many humans could creep him out the way she did either.
Her dark, almond-shaped eyes studied his face. Internally, he smiled while keeping an outward stone face. She was trying to read him. He was a dragon, the source of magic for humans, and she was trying to use Earth…no, she wasn’t, she was using Water Magic. He bowed his head for her to pet his forehead. It was an insult for a human to do this, and demeaning for a dragon to allow it, but it pleased her to touch dragons, and what pleased her pleased the King.
He blocked her probe ever-so-gently by internally chanting Earth contains Water. This enchantment would allow her to absorb only what he wanted her to hear from his thoughts; a dragon loyal only to the King’s cause, with no self-ambition. It was the only enchantment that his father had literally beaten into him.
She patted his head. “You are such a brave dragon. Patriotic to the core, just like your father.” She looked him in the eye, holding his gaze for a moment before winking, and returning to the king’s left rear hindquarter. She gave every indication that she was the tamest human who ever lived.
She definitely had the art of being creepy mastered.
One of the Air Dragon infantry jogged up. “Majesty, we have her.”
The King looked at him, while Ja Hua jogged back over to him and took her place in the saddle. “All of her, or just the part I requested?”
The soldier smiled and bowed low, raising his claws off the ground to demonstrate his respect. “Just the part you requested. You were right, Majesty, she was a fighter, and nearly took us out. There would not have been a way to get her here alive without the advice you gave us, My King.” He nodded over his shoulder to some other dragons who had walked up with him. “Bring it.”
The dragons nodded, taking a few steps forward.
“Hum,” The King said, nodding in approval. “She must have loved Agne more than me. She actually offered herself to be beheaded to keep me from getting the information?”
“Yes, my King, she did. She simply stopped fighting and let it happen.”
“Well,” The King walked up to the dragons. “Let that be a lesson; never underestimate what a mother will do for her pup.”
Chactau turned away from Ja Hua as he heard her say, “Do not react to this. I have your water, I can talk to you directly, do not look at me.”
He froze. She had taken some of the water out of his blood. She could read his mind – sort of – she could telepathically talk to him.
“Listen to me – do not react. Do not look at me.”
He understood this time and kept his eyes on the Air Dragon, avoiding eye contact with Ja Hua.
“We can talk in flight later, but whatever you do right now, General, do not react.”
Two new dragons came from the crowd with a sack dumping it out before the King. Queen Airyanna’s head rolled out of the sack. He looked down at her lifeless eyes. They had once been so beautiful. He mentally thanked Ja Hua for the warning, and he heard her say, “My pleasure. I need you. Just follow along.”
The King lifted Airyanna’s head. “This is what people who commit treason get. Join me in rejecting treason.” He roared flames up in the air.
The whole thing revolted him, but he held his mind still by grounding his claws into the dirt, internally chanting; Earth forms, and the Water flows as it is told. That would keep Ja Hua from reading his immediate feeling of disgust. The Queen had done a lot to maintain stability and calm things down over the last few years. She only wanted to protect her daughter and bring peace to the nation – if it could be had after the recent political divisions.
“Quell your thoughts.”
He heard the voice loud in his head. It was almost as if she were standing next to him.
“Project nothing less than loyalty to the king.”
“I am loyal.” Why did she disguise herself as an Earth Witch? Why not claim…. The thought was cut off.
“Roar in support of the king, and I’ll answer. Show him your support.”
It was a vile thing to do; roar over a severed head. He wouldn’t do it.
“Then you’ll expose your intentions for nothing --- you cannot help her now, but you can help us find the princess.”
He reared up and roared over the dead head of his friend and mentor. He also noticed that not one dragon in his battalion roared until he did. He had the loyalty of his troops, not the King. Earth forms, and the Water flows as it is told.
He heard her in his head again, but her voice was getting weaker. “No one can know he has Water at his command. It’s his secret weapon. They think he’s doubly strong in Earth, but it’s the Water that causes him to have the extra impact.”
He wondered why did she think it necessary to share this with him?
“I would worry more about what I have and haven’t told him about your intentions – or lack thereof – toward Princess Agne.” Her voice seemed to cut off. His thoughts where his own again.
Relief fell over him; she had misinterpreted his apprehension as not wanting Agne, and not apprehension toward the crown and who was sitting on the throne.
The King reared up on his hind legs and roared fire into the air. Ja Hua glanced at him, then scanned the crowd of dragons. How could she stand to be cut off from her own species? There were no other humans here. Chactau would go crazy without other dragons around. Maybe she had gone crazy too; no, clearly she had gone crazy.
THE AIR MINISTER
Agne crested the top of the stairs, glancing back down at a smiling Zhao, who mouthed, “I will make it up to you, I swear it.” as he leaned on the door frame to the rider quarters.
She nodded and walked into a torch-lit mezzanine with six doors off of it. Portraits of pups adorned the walls. The room appeared to be set up for the minister to receive and hear guests. Agne wondered how the concerns of humans were heard by the elemental government if they weren’t allowed upstairs in the audience chamber. Perhaps they met at the Air Temple. She would have to find out later.
“She’s in the pups’ room, Your Highness.” Grayling used his tail to point toward one of the front rooms.
A larger, older, light blue dragon was reading what sounded like a bedtime story. Agne could hear their voices and the scampering of little claws on the floor. She could see her aunt, but that was the only thing she could see from this angle. She glanced at the portraits and wondered if they were the pups playing in the room.
Her horns were long and untrimmed. They curled around her face like rams’ horns. Agne thought she looked beautiful. Her mother had always kept her horns filed shorter so they did not curve below the base of her jawline; she said it made her look younger. But it didn't, her aunt's horns made her look majestic and intelligent. There was a natural, yet regal beauty about her that mother, with all the gold waxing and faceted claws, didn’t have.
Perhaps it was the fact that her aunt wasn’t a murdering tyrant and that allowed her inner beauty to shine through. Agne shooed the thought away; glad she had the straighter horns of a Fire Dragon; thankful that her mother helped her escape.<
br />
"Minister of Air, Ty-Leah, may I present your niece, Princess Agne of North Dragons Ridge," Grayling said, bowing low on his front legs with his claws lifted off the floor. "And her champion, Marut of the Smugglers of East Blue Ridge; The White Dragon who can muster hurricanes alone." He nodded and offered a smirk to Marut.
Marut smiled and shrugged at Agne, giving her a look as if to say whoopsy.
"Agne," Ty-Leah said, jumping up and running toward Agne with the agility of a much younger dragon. She wrapped her long neck around Agne's. "We feared the worst when you did not show up on time. Your mother’s spy looked for you along the way, but sent us a message he could not find you."
"My rider, Zhao, and Marut planned for us to have a safe arrival," Agne said, backing out of the embrace and making a presenting motion toward Marut with her tail and right front paw.
Marut nodded, "The stealth arrival was necessary. This way the village can choose to deny she is here when the Blood King’s forces arrive." He turned to look at Agne, “And they will arrive. He might be crazy, but he’s not stupid. Not at all.”
"Thank you," Ty-Leah said, nodding to Marut. “And we will need to deny it for a little bit.” She glanced at Agne. “The Blood King will no doubt send his most loyal troops to check here for you. I do wish Airyanna would have thought this through better. This is the first place he will come to rip apart – barn by barn – until he finds you. I may not have seen my sister in person in years, but that doesn’t mean we don’t communicate, and it doesn’t mean the Blood King doesn’t know that.”
“I know Minister,” Marut nodded, respectfully, “But it sounds like everything happened very fast. She may not have had time to consider anything.”
Agne nodded, “Yes. My sisters have been executed. Everyone was so terrified.”
Ty-Leah head butted Agne, gently, “My poor niece, everything is so upset right now. We will need to get you out of here in the morning, and into proper hiding, so he can’t find you. However, I will need to open the barn up for him to search.”
The Lilac Princess and the Blood King Page 9
