by Ella Hart
He’d finally gotten the release to give, and caught her as she fell back to the ground. Gently setting her on her feet, he helped her get the rest of the net off of her. In her struggling, she had tied some knots around her arms and legs. He always carried a knife, so it was no big deal.
After she had been cut free of the ropes, she bestowed a thankful kiss on his cheek. He’d blushed deeply, not expecting any kind of reward for helping her. She laughed a little at his blush, and asked if he would escort her out of the forest. She’d gotten lost after the fires, and had stumbled into a hunting net. She’d been stuck up there for the entire night.
“I’m guessing you did escort her back to town.” Paulina smiled a little.
“I couldn’t not help her, if that makes sense.” He bit his lip. “I was the equivalent of an army man. A soldier of sorts, if you will. I served in a local militia instead of the national army. There really wasn’t much of a national army at that point, though, so that’s beside the point.” He smiled a little as he remembered this. “I knew my way around those woods well.”
“So I see.” She smiled. “Keep going. What happened on the walk back to town?”
On the walk back to town, he had gotten to know Solana a little better. She had been separated from her family on a recent hunting trip that the king took. She’d been trying to get back to the palace for three days, and had stumbled into that trap. He’d given her a general sense of where they were – halfway across the country and thousands of miles away from the palace. When she frowned, he had offered to help her to the palace.
He’d walked that route a few times, mainly to help keep a few of the other men from getting too rowdy as they were transported from the city jail to a dungeon in the castle. This had been a common practice in the time, and it took a moment for him to find a way to explain it to Paulina. After he did, however, she understood.
They spent the night in the remains of the town. There hadn’t been much food leftover after the fire, but once the mayor heard that he was escorting the princess back to the palace, he made sure they had enough food to get to the next town without needing to hunt. They would need to stop at a river along the way for water, but they had enough food to get by.
Paulina didn’t seem too interested in what they had to do on the way through to the next town. They walked from town to town along the route, until they were finally at the palace.
She got them through security, and insisted that he accompany her inside, despite his protests. She knew that her father would want to see the man that had saved her.
“So, you got to meet the king, too?” She sounded intrigued by this point. There wasn’t much else he wanted to say about this particular story. It ended in a culmination of heartbreak, tears, and grief. Lots of grief.
“Yes. I got to meet the king too.” He managed a smile. “I met not only the king, but the queen and Solana’s brother – the crown prince.” He bit his lip.
“Really? What was her brother like?” She continued to question him. He wasn’t sure what to do.
“I don’t want to talk about Solana and her family any more. Please. It’s a painful topic for me.” He sighed. There was nothing else he wanted to say. He didn’t want to talk about Solana and her brother – Alejandro. He didn’t want to talk about how he lost her. How he lost them. How he was betrayed. He simply wanted to enjoy some silence for the moment.
“Oh. Okay. Do you want to sit in silence then?” She didn’t seem too happy about that idea, but it was all he wanted at the moment.
“Yes. Please. I know it’s not so exciting, but I would just like some time to think. Dragons are very... introspective. Please.” He sighed softly through his nose.
“All right. I’ll let you think. Do you mind if I turn on some music while you do? I can’t personally stand silence.” She put her hand gently on the knob of the radio.
“Go for it. Just... nothing too loud, please?” He didn’t want to sound pathetic, but he knew that was probably how he sounded. He probably gave the impression that he couldn’t hold his own in a fight. It certainly wasn’t true.
“No problem.” She smiled, and kept the volume low. So, he closed his eyes, and began to think. Of Solana. Of Alejandro. Of the various friends he had that had betrayed him. Of what he had been doing alone all these years.
Then, he had a strange thought. Being alone sucked. It gave him far too much time to wallow in his sadness. There had to be something else he could do.
He realized that he wasn’t alone anymore. There was a woman – sitting right beside him – that cared more than anyone else had ever cared about him. He wanted to know why she cared, but didn’t want to ask. He wanted to hear her voice, but also wanted silence. He wanted so many things that were in direct contradiction with each other. He wanted to marry, but he didn’t want to watch his wife die.
As the thoughts swam round in his head, things only became more confusing. This was an interesting turn of events. Trying to clear his head, he did the only thing he could do. He took a deep breath, and focused on something else. Something less confusing.
He thought about what he would do when they met her friend – this Rani person. He wondered what was going on in her life. Was there something interesting about her that had drawn Paulina to her? Or was there something he was missing? He sighed softly.
“What’s up, Cobalt?” Paulina caught his sigh. “You can tell me anything. You know that, right?” She smiled at him softly.
“Yes. I know. The problem is that I’m not sure I’m ready to tell you everything.” He managed a small smile. “It is hard for a dragon to trust. Especially after we are betrayed more times than we can count. I want to trust you, but my past makes it difficult to do.” He looked dejected. That was honestly the truth. He did want to trust her, but he couldn’t. Not yet. Not until he knew for sure she wouldn’t purposefully betray him. He needed to know, but didn’t want to be put in a position that would make her choose.
“I understand. I do, but just remember, my ears are always open if you need them.” She smiled at him softly before pulling the car into a driveway. “By the way. We’re here.” “All right. Thank you.” He smiled. “We should go inside, shouldn’t we?”
“Yes. Yes, we should.” She turned the key in the ignition, and the car shuddered to a stop. He undid his seatbelt, and managed to work some feeling back into his legs. There had been no way to stretch his legs, and, they had fallen asleep on the last leg of the trip. Last leg... why was that even a phrase? He didn’t understand it.
He got out hesitantly and followed Paulina up to the door. She knocked, and the door opened.
Chapter Nine: New Love
He waited for the person at the door to realize who had come to visit her. When Rani realized it was Paulina, she shrieked with excitement.
“You didn’t tell me you were coming over today, Paulina!” The girl’s voice wasn’t as high-pitched as the scream had led him to believe it would be. “How long do you plan to stay this time?” It seemed as though they had a history of doing this. One would visit the other without saying they were coming. Then the one they were visiting would be pleasantly surprised. They would chat at the door – just as they were doing now – and just stand there for minutes on end. Minutes.
It made him feel rather like a third wheel on a tricycle or the third leg of a three-legged stool. The one that was always alone, without someone to be beside. Paulina turned to him.
“Cobalt, this is Rani. Rani, Cobalt. We need a place to stay for a few days.” With that, the other woman stepped aside to let them in.
“It’s nice to meet you, Cobalt. Any friend of Paulina’s is a friend of mine.” She smiled at him.
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you as well.” He smiled a bit at her, and then shut the door behind him. Paulina had walked in ahead of him.
“Thank you so much, Rani. I owe you big time when this is over.” They walked towards another room, this time the living room, he guessed. “Things
got a little... heated in town, and Cobalt and I needed to leave.”
“Heated? With you? Now that’s a different kind of story. Are you going to tell me what happened?” He looked at Rani with interest. There was something about her face. he couldn’t tell what it was. She just didn’t seem trustworthy. In fact, she looked downright familiar – as if she were related to someone who had betrayed him long ago. He wondered what her last name is. He could always remember a last name.
“If Cobalt is okay with it. It’s mainly his story.” Paulina didn’t betray his secret to a new acquaintance. There was something of a hesitation in her voice, as if she wanted to tell her friend. She didn’t because she wanted his friendship, which he appreciated greatly.
“Maybe after I get to know you a little better, Rani. I apologize for keeping you in suspense for the moment.” He smiled a little. He wasn’t really all that upset about it. There was no reason for him to tell her what had happened. For now, it was all he could say. All he wanted to say because he didn’t want to make her upset.
“I understand, Cobalt. Thank you for being honest.” She valued his honesty. It wasn’t something a lot of people would value today, but that made her all the more trustworthy. If she wasn’t going to press, he was going to be incredibly happy. “If you want to tell me what happened, I’ll be happy to listen. If not, I understand. So, changing topics, are you hungry?”
“No at the moment, we stopped on the way. Thanks, though, Rani.” Cobalt spoke up before Paulina could. “I would like to sleep, though. Do you have a free guest room?” He was as polite as he could be, considering the circumstances.
“Yes, actually. I have two. Here, I’ll show you to one, and Paulina, you know where yours is, yes?” She looked to her friend, who simply nodded.
“I can find my room easily. Is the bathroom still stocked full of products?” She didn’t seem too surprised to find that it was. “Thank you, Rani.”
“Thank you.” He echoed her sentiments.
With that, Rani led him upstairs. They passed a picture gallery – a family picture gallery – on the way. He recognized one of the earliest pictures. That’s why he knew her face; her great-great-great-great grandfather had been one of the people who had ratted him out years ago. He began to wonder if he would ever be able to settle down somewhere and just stay there. While he liked the idea of being on the road, there wasn’t a lot left for him to see.
Rani left him alone. He looked around the room. There was a bed off to the side – right under the window. There was a dresser by the bed, so that it could double as a night stand. A large closet took up the space on the wall opposite the bed. The rest of the wall space was barren. On the wall opposite the dresser, there was a desk. The chair was black, with a black cushion to pad it.
He sat down on the bed and tried to collect his thoughts. He was beginning to understand his feelings for Paulina a little better. Not only had he managed to keep his secret from why they had left town, he had managed to figure out how he felt about his travelling companion.
He loved her.
He loved her, and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop himself from loving her. The way she smiled at him. The way she cared enough to stick life and limb out for him. The way she’d given everything up. And he meant everything. She’d literally given up everything to come with him, and there was only one reason he could think of that she would do that.
She had to love him too to do that. To give up the life she already had. To give up her parents. Her grandparents. Her home. Her education. Her friends.
He took in a deep breath, and let it out with a sweet relief. There was something special about knowing that he had fallen in love again. After losing Solana, he hadn’t thought he’d ever find love again.
On that note, he laid back on the bed. With his eyes slowly closing, he couldn’t stave off sleep anymore. He let it wash over him as he drifted away.
Solana said yes. He had been shaking so badly he thought he’d fall over when he finally asked her to marry him. Yet he didn’t. Somehow, he managed to keep his nerves in check while he got the question out. When she said yes – her eyes wide and her smile just as wide – he had smiled just even wider. The excitement of it all had made him rather giddy with glee.
She knelt beside him, and hugged him. He had no ring to give her – this was years and years before a man would be expected to give his woman a ring – but he had a lot of love for her in his heart. The king had agreed to give Solana’s hand to him in marriage, but the final decision would be up to Solana. If she said yes, then it would be a happy day for all. If she did not, he wasn’t going to force her.
“Does my father know you proposed to me?” Her first question was one about propriety. He nodded. Her smile widened. “Then I’m more excited than I could even express in words. I love you, Cobalt.”
“I love you too, Sol.” He smiled, and pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back, gently and sweetly. He’d expected nothing less from her. There wasn’t much left that he didn’t know about her. Her favorite berries were strawberries. She loved her family. And, above all else, she was a princess with a strong mind.
“We should be going. It’ll be dark soon.” She pulled away before speaking. “Besides, there is a ball tomorrow. I should go to bed early tonight.” She took his hand as they got up.
“I understand. It’ll give me a chance to recover. Asking you to marry me – even with your father’s approval – was the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve done.” He sighed contently, laughing a little as he did so. The statement was true. He’d done some pretty intense things in his life, but asking someone to marry him topped the list.
“Okay, Cobalt.” She rested her free hand on his upper arm. He flexed his muscles without thinking about it. A blush spread across her face as he did so. He caught it, and flexed again – consciously this time. “Stop it, Cobalt. You’re making me blush too much.” She laughed a little.
“I like to see you blush a lot, Solana. Is there anything wrong with that? I love to see you. To see everything about you. Your blush is just one of those things that I love to see appear on your cheeks. And I like to see it stay there.” He brushed some hair out of her face with his free hand.
“You’re just saying that.” She looked down. He raised an eyebrow. Had the man who had courted her previous to him not enjoyed seeing her blush?
“Are you okay, Solana?” He stopped cold in his tracks. He wanted to know. There was something different. She wasn’t the same Solana she had been just a few moments ago. “You know you can tell me anything, right?” He placed his free hand on her cheek.
“I know.” She sighed. “The man I courted before you... he didn’t like to see my blush. And he was very vocal about it.” She started walking, pulling away from him. “Can we go inside now? I don’t like to talk about it.”
“All right. We can go inside.” He didn’t press it any further. She had scolded him for it the first time. Now, he caught up to her. He took her hand softly in his again, and walked beside her. “What’s this ball for? The one tomorrow night?”
“It’s my father’s birthday, remember?” She teased him lightly. Her happy aura had returned. He wasn’t quite sure what he had said or done that had caused her to be upset, but he was glad that she wasn’t upset anymore.
“Oh, yes. I remember now. I was so nervous that I guess I forgot a few important things for a moment or two. That’s exciting though. He’s turning 55, right?” He didn’t know if he had the right age. However, that didn’t stop him from trying to guess the age properly.
“Yes.” She smiled. “I’m glad you remembered. The last man I courted didn’t care about my father’s birthday; he only cared about the money.” Her voice echoed a soft upset tone. It hadn’t been something he said. It had been something he did that made her upset. He’d talked about her blush, which made her think about the prince she had courted when they met.
Luckily, they had stopped courting a few months after he m
et Solana. She and her father had agreed that it would not have worked out at all for them to continue courting.
It was on that fateful walk back to the palace that they were ambushed. There had been rumors of a rising rebellion for weeks now. The palace guards had been on high alert, and Cobalt had been the only outsider allowed in during this time because of his relationship with Solana.
He fell to the ground. Solana fell beside him. There was a man on top of her, and no one on top of him. He got up, and tried to attack the man on top of Solana. But it was too late.
Solana’s head fell to the side, into the grass. Her closed eyes sent a horrifying chill down his spine.
Solana’s still body. She was dead. Dead. They had just gotten engaged, and he had lost her. He lost her. There had been nothing he could’ve done; the attacker stabbed her from behind while he was distracted by another attacker.
Dead. She was dead. Dead. She was dead.
It took him a moment to figure out what had happened. There had been so much going on that it hadn’t seemed right. There had been so little left for him to do by this point. He could only carry her bloodied body back to the palace. Tears streamed down his face as he carried her.
Her father had met him at the door. Someone had alerted him to trespassers on the property, and he’d been about to go find them. The guard had thought they had cruel intentions for being on the palace grounds. He’d been right.
Tears began to stream down the king’s face as he realized what had happened.
“Could you do anything?” He didn’t sound upset. Instead, he seemed to genuinely want to know. As if he were prepared to take Cobalt’s word at face value and leave it at that after he had answered. He hoped that was true.
“No. I too was attacked from behind. I assume that was to keep me from trying to help her. I am truly sorry, sir.” He laid Solana’s body gently on the ground as he spoke. There wasn’t much else that would honor her memory.
