Lady Dragon, Tela Du

by Kendra E. Ardnek

  “Reuben, you can go talk to her, if you want to,” said Alyce. “In fact, I’d highly recommend it, as it’s a decision that you two need to come to together.”

  “I wish you guys wouldn’t push her, not like that, anyway,” Reuben answered. “You’re really not helping. But I guess I’ll go see if she wants to talk to me.” With that, he left the room.

  “Now for you,” said Alyce, taking Laura’s hand and guiding her to sit down on the bottom step of the Hill. “I do have a few cryptic bits of advice and even some instructions for you if you care to listen. I think you’ll find them invaluable.” She glanced up at Ashley and the queens. “Do you mind giving us a few moments?”

  Chapter 10

  Petra managed to not get lost while looking for the kitchen. The ball of nerves in her stomach grew tighter with each step. She needed tea. Once she found the kitchen, she not only started a kettle on the stove but also pulled the pitcher she’d fixed the day before out of the refrigerator, since she sure whether she needed it hot or iced right now. She found a glass and a mug in the cabinet and a box of peppermint tea in the pantry. She filled the glass with ice, added the tea from the fridge and a straw, and then sipped it while she waited for the water to heat.

  It didn’t take long. She dropped a tea bag in the mug, poured in the water, and added a small pinch of sugar. A chuckle came from the doorway as she took a sip of that, too. She didn’t even have to turn to see that it was Reuben.

  “You think it’s funny?” she asked.

  “I just love it when you can’t decide if you’re southern or British,” he answered.

  “Some days my heritage doesn’t get along. You know that, Reuben.” She glanced over her shoulder back at him. “Haven’t you ever wanted to paint yourself with war paint and run around the campfire singing war chants?”

  “No, Petra, and I do believe it would be considered offensive if you said that to the wrong Native American.” He left the doorway and sat down across from her at the kitchen table.

  “Everyone loves a stereotype until it’s applied to them,” Petra said, taking a long sip of the peppermint tea. “Except for England and tea. That one’s sadly true. After all, we did fight a war over it.”

  “So, you’re saying that if Amber were to abolish tea in Rizkaland, you might actually fight her?” Reuben raised an eyebrow as he leaned forward, resting his chin against his fist.

  “It’s a likely possibility,” answered Petra, sipping the iced tea. She raised an eyebrow of her own. “Are you sure that you’ve never wanted to prove your manhood by tying yourself to a rock overnight in the middle of winter?”

  “Kevin, Robert, and I did discuss doing something of the sort the last time I visited,” said Reuben. “We decided against it and agreed to not mention it to Uncle Steven. He might have made us do it.”

  “I’m surprised he hasn’t made you three do it of his own idea,” Petra commented. “Your uncle loves traditions.”

  “I think that’s next year,” said Reuben. “Know what? Stay there, and I’ll be right back.” With that, he jumped up from the table and dashed out the door.

  Since Petra had no intention of going anywhere, she was quite content to stay seated in her chair sipping her teas. So far, neither seemed to be doing her much good.

  She liked her life when it was nice and neat, and fit logically into boxes. Unfortunately, so little of her life had followed that pattern. Usually, she had Reuben to make her smile and see that it wasn’t really the end of the world – but right now he was the focus of her confusion. Falling back on him and letting him tell her everything would be all right would just confirm what everyone else said about them.

  Yes, she trusted the guy with her life, but did she want him to be her life? Sure, all of her best-case plans involved marrying him, but why did it have to happen now? Why did everything have to be so complicated?

  Why was she making things more complicated than they had to be?

  She had finished the iced tea and was almost done with the peppermint by the time Reuben returned and plopped a hunk of meat wrapped in white freezer paper on the table in front of her.

  She arched an eyebrow as she looked up at him, staring him straight in the eye as she waited for an explanation. Yes, the guy did strange things sometimes, but he usually had a reason, even if it was an illogical one.

  “Sorry about taking so long,” he apologized, sitting back down across from her. “I had to check with Robert to make sure this was one that I killed.”

  “And?”

  “I’m going to assume by your conversation just now with Laura-Alyce that you already know what the Tying Ceremony is.”

  “Rintaya told me about it. May I assume that you know, too?”

  “I read about it in the Legends. For instance, it was an essential part of Water Princess, Fire Prince. I didn’t want to frighten you, so I didn’t bring it up.”

  “You’re lucky that Rintaya had told me, because if she hadn’t, I would be thoroughly annoyed with you right now,” said Petra. “As it is, I’m just mildly annoyed and really, really upset. I mean, if you knew this was part of being king and queen, why didn’t you make sure I knew about it? I – I’ll admit that I did the same thing, but how many times have you asked me to marry you? I knew it wasn’t an issue.”

  “You’ve never told me no.”

  She blinked. “Well, of course not, I…”

  “Petra, if you meant to tell me no, you would, but you never have,” he explained. “You’ve told me to wait, which means that you could at least see yourself marrying me. Honestly, though, I wasn’t expecting it to come to this quite this quickly, and I’m sorry about that it has. I … I really should have cleared it with you yesterday, but you were already worked up so much, I didn’t want to add anything else for you to freak out over. I thought we’d have more time.”

  Petra dropped her gaze to her steaming mug. “I … I suppose you’re right. To tell the truth, I knew and accepted it even as we opened those boxes. I just – I just wish we weren’t being pushed into this while our lives are still ahead of us. I want this to be my choice, in my timing, when I feel ready.”

  “I want it to be your choice, too,” agreed Reuben. “Honestly, I don’t like this much more than you do. I’ve never wanted to push you. Let you know that I haven’t changed my mind, yes, make sure that you hadn’t changed yours, yes, but never push.”

  “I’ve never felt pushed,” Petra admitted. “Not by you, anyway. Just by everyone else.”

  “My mom being the chief of sinners, I know,” said Reuben, with a growl and a shake of his head.

  “So, when are you going to explain this hunk of frozen meat that you just plopped on my table?” Petra asked, ready to stop talking about the present topic and to receive the illogical explanation.

  “I’m getting to that,” said Reuben, leaning back. A small grin pulled at the corner of his mouth as he glanced towards the meat. He was clearly far too pleased with this new antic of his. “You see, according to Cherokee tradition, if a young man liked a girl, he’d bring her a deer that he had killed. If she liked him back, she’d cook the deer.”

  “So, you’ve brought me some of the venison from your trip to your uncle’s last…” She trailed off. “Oh.” This was actually a very logical explanation. A logical explanation that had everything to do with the matter at hand.

  “One I shot myself at that. Didn’t like doing it, to be honest, but it was strangely satisfying once the deed was done.” He ran a hand through his hair and stared at her expectantly.

  She glanced at the meat, and back to him. Back to the meat, and back to him. He was serious this time. He wouldn’t take wait for an answer – he couldn’t. They both knew that this was a moment of decision that would irrevocably change their friendship no matter what she decided. Petra wasn’t sure whether she wanted to run screaming from the room or fall into his arms and start crying.

  She dismissed both of those options as illogical and ridiculous.
They’d only make things worse.

  Instead, she just stared at him, and a slow smile formed despite, or perhaps even because of the uneasy knot in her stomach, and a small laugh forced its way out of her. “I’m proud of you for actually doing something involving your heritage,” she said at last. She stood, pulled a towel out of a bottom drawer, and wrapped it around the frozen lump.

  “It needs to thaw before I can cook it,” she told him, putting it into the refrigerator. “I can fix it for supper tomorrow if you’re okay with that. You could even join us if you’d like. Though it would have to be after we get back from Rizkaland, so it might be a while.”

  “So … is this a yes?” Reuben asked, standing.

  Petra rolled her eyes. Did she really have to spell things out for him? She walked over to him and slid her hand into his. “Look, maybe I don’t want things to change between us, but things already are, and if I’m honest with myself, they were changing even before Laura showed up and sent us to Rizkaland. I think that we need to stand together with the foundation below us firm and steady in order to weather these changes. We can’t be wondering where the other stands. Since this has to happen, since I have to be Tied, I’m glad that it will be to you.” She shook her head. “I can’t lose you.”

  He didn’t say a word, but a wide grin spread across his face, revealing his dimples in all their depth as his hand tightened around hers. Before she had a chance to brace herself, he wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her into a hug that would have been bone-crushing if it had been both arms.

  She smiled too as she laid her head against his shoulder, letting him have his moment of ecstasy. She relaxed as the knot of nerves in her stomach unwound. Her decision was made. There’d be no turning back now. Even if she wanted to turn back.

  At length, she pushed out of it, declaring that they should really go find their moms, let them know what they’d decided, and see if they had any more useful information.

  She also tried to pull her hand out of his, but he refused to let go. She sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation, but let him keep it. Together they walked through the hallways. Neither said anything. Nothing needed to be said.

  They found their moms and Ashley in the living room just down the hall from the strange Room. There wasn’t a Laura or Alyce in sight.

  “Ah, there they are,” declared Aunt Michelle before Petra could comment on Laura. “Didn’t take them long at all, what did I tell you, eh, Jane? Look at ‘em, holding hands and all.”

  Even though Reuben’s mother wasn’t really Petra’s aunt, her brother was married to Petra’s real aunt, and it was just simpler for all of the cousins to refer to any parent that wasn’t their own as “aunt” or “uncle.”

  “We’re standing right here,” said Petra, rolling her eyes. “And we can hear you.” She made another attempt to pull her hand out of Reuben’s, but his grip was tight.

  “I think that’s the point,” said Mum, raising an eyebrow. “Michelle, please don’t give them a hard time. Petra might change her mind, and we don’t want that to happen.”

  “I’ve been working on rings for the two of you,” Aunt Michelle continued, oblivious to Mum’s chiding. “Care to take a peek?”

  Curious despite her annoyance, Petra allowed Reuben to pull her over to the coffee table where Michelle had the rings displayed. One was silver, set with amethysts and diamonds arranged in a geometric pattern that she found aesthetically pleasing. The other was a simple band of gold, though etched with strange writing on the inside rim that certainly wasn’t English.

  “It’s actually just a bunch of squiggly lines,” Aunt Michelle explained when Petra glanced up at her. “I was inspired by those fantasy books you like to read, Reuben, though if there’s something specific you’d like me to write, I could change it.”

  “I like them,” said Reuben. “They don’t quite match, but I think they really do suit us.”

  “They look expensive,” Petra stated.

  “They would be if I were to sell them, especially Petra’s” Aunt Michelle agreed. “There are perks to being the Queen of Rock and Mineral. I’ve been working on Petra’s for over a year, though Reuben’s was a bit last minute. I just threw it together while we were waiting for the two of you.”

  “And, on a more helpful note, I have this,” said Mum, picking up a paper lunch sack.

  “Is that the bag of fire?” asked Reuben.

  “What?” said Petra, glancing his way.

  “In Through the Mountain, Laura had a bag of fire like this,” Reuben explained. “So, I thought…”

  “This is that very bag,” Mum confirmed. “You’ll need it to restore the statues once winter comes. Just pass it to Laura when you’re done with it.”

  “So how come neither of you ever bothered to tell us that you just so happen to be queens in a fantasy world?” asked Petra.

  “Petra, we had thought that we’d closed that chapter of our lives for good,” said Mum. “Until Laura brought Ashley two years ago, we never expected to have any true contact with Rizkaland ever again.”

  “Your daughter just so happened to look like Amber,” Petra pointed out.

  “To be honest, Petra, it’d been so long since we’d last seen Amber, we couldn’t know for certain,” said Mum. “Alphego banished Amber in the fifth year of our reign. We ruled for forty. There were times, especially when you glared, that I honestly wondered, but until Ashley came, fresh from her own encounter with the Dragon, having never met you before, we had no confirmation. A mother doesn’t want to see her childhood nightmare in her daughter’s face.”

  “It’s been two years since she came. Maybe you could have said something in that time.”

  “Petra, maybe we should have, but we didn’t know how,” Mum admitted. “How would you have liked us to have told you? By the way, dear, we’re all forty years older than we ought to be because we went to and ruled another world when we were kids. Also, you have five older siblings that you’ll never, ever have the chance to meet, so far as we know. For the record, we fought against a four-thousand-year-old sorceress for rule over this world? Oh, and don’t freak out, but you look just like this sorceress and are therefore destined to kill her?”

  “Or to have her kill me.”

  “You have to face it, Petra dear, it sounds a bit crazy when you say it all at once, especially if it were said to someone who has never been to Rizkaland,” inserted Aunt Michelle.

  “The two of you apparently have powers over rock and fire. There is a room in our house that is technically part of another world. Maybe you could have presented some evidence? Maybe, just maybe?”

  “Thing is, unless you’ve been to Rizkaland, you’d not see it,” said Jane. “John and I tried to show our mum once, in a fit of desperation, but she just couldn’t see it. Oh, she could see the effects, but she just couldn’t comprehend that we were doing it supernaturally. As for the Room, same thing. If you’ve not been to Rizkaland, you can’t see it. Even if someone else opened the door and shoved you through, you’d walk right into a wall.”

  “That is incredibly convenient,” muttered Petra.

  “Petra, they did the best that they could,” said Reuben, giving her hand what he probably thought was an encouraging squeeze. She didn’t get much encouragement out of it.

  “Well, they could have at least done something to train us,” Petra pointed out. “They plan to toss me into a fight to the death.”

  “I suppose so, and perhaps we should have,” said Aunt Michelle. “But while David and I probably could have handled that part of your education, we weren’t sure how we could explain how we knew swordplay. After all, it’s not standard education at an orphanage. We had almost determined to send you to Anselle and Isabelle since they teach fencing and martial arts professionally, but then Richard and Kathlene went and spent thirty years in Rizkaland, and came back with the report that Clara was to be the Water Princess, so we decided against it. We didn’t want her to meet the Tela Du before
she’d met the Lady Dragon.”

  “Who are Richard and Kathlene?” asked Ashley, and then she gave a small gasp. “Are you saying that you know the identity of the Water Princess?”

  “We do,” Mum confirmed. “Richard and Kathlene are the Wind Prince and Leaf Princess, and their parents just so happen to be King Klaranse and Queen Andrea. Clara is the daughter of Prince Anselle and Princess Isabelle.”

  “I didn’t know that.” Ashley’s eyes widened, and her voice was the barest whisper.

  “Neither did they until they returned from Rizkaland and asked their parents,” said Aunt Michelle. “Which makes the two of you,” she glanced up at Reuben and Petra, “very lucky indeed.”

  “Do you know who the Fire Prince is?” asked Ashley.

  “The son of Prince Theodore and Princess Renee,” Mum answered. “Reuben, I believe you’ve actually met him – Andrew Stevenson.”

  “Andrew?” Reuben repeated. “Andrew is the Fire Prince? Andrew Stevenson was the one who performed all those mighty acts of bravery in the Legend?”

  “Are you having trouble wrapping your mind around that?” asked Aunt Michelle. “Yes, Andrew is the Fire Prince. However, if it helps any, he wasn’t the Fire Prince when you last saw him. In fact, it’s only been a little more than a month since they had their adventure. Actually, that’s why he was in Africa when we visited last summer. We couldn’t undo previous meetings, but we could prevent more of them.”

  Reuben leaned over and whispered in Petra’s ear, “Hey, if Andrew Stevenson could become the Fire Prince, you’ll do just fine.”

  “Good for them,” said Petra. “Now back to the fact that I’m expected to fight a Dragon without any experience? From what I gathered from the Legends, Andrew had a couple months to train before he was thrown at the Dragon.”

  “Oh, I suppose so,” said Aunt Michelle, standing. “But you see, what it boiled down to was the fact that we didn’t know what weapons you would be given, and we didn’t want to train you for the wrong sort. Now that you two have your staffs, we can make up for lost time. Come along. Laura should be done talking to herself by now.”