Lady Dragon, Tela Du

by Kendra E. Ardnek

  “But you have to learn to make the best of it,” said King Brent. “Jillina has prepared a proper introduction for you this evening.”

  “That sounds very thoughtful of her,” said Petra, barely restraining a sigh. “What sort of welcome?”

  “Only the best sort that Rizkaland has to offer,” said Queen Jillina. “Tonight, we’re having a ball!”

  “The people look forward to meeting you tonight,” said King Brent. “In the meantime, there is much official work that we must attend to.”

  Chapter 9

  Ashna quietly followed her father through the forest. The trail beneath her feet was both achingly familiar and completely foreign at the same time. It had been fifty years since she’d last walked this path, and time had done what it did best: change things. The trail followed the same path, but the saplings of her childhood were now tall, sturdy trees. Yet it still felt so nice to be walking among the brightly colored trees which were so much more natural than the monotonous green of Earth.

  Perhaps strangest of all was the fact that Rintaya followed them instead of Ashna’s own mother.

  “What became of Marno’s sister, Quena?” she asked, wanting to get her mind off of the familiarly foreign trees.

  “She married Ritor. Do you remember him? They were quite happy together.”

  “Were?” Ashna’s heart clenched as she heard the past tense. “What happened to them?”

  “Amber saw fit to punish Marno for some invented mistake,” Rintaya explained. “She decided to turn either his wife or sister to ice as the punishment and made him choose. Quena volunteered herself.”

  “And … Ritor?”

  “He wandered off the next day, and no one has seen him since,” Rintaya answered. “It is hoped that Amber captured him and added him to her statues with his wife, but feared that her wild animals killed him instead. And then Amber froze Olinea just a few years later, so Quena’s sacrifice was in vain.”

  “Oh,” said Ashna, her voice small. “Things really have been bad while I’ve been gone.”

  “But now the Tela Du has come,” Father reminded Ashna, turning to lay a hand on her shoulder. “Things are about to look very good.”

  “If Petra can win,” said Ashna, sighing deeply. Since she knew Petra well, she wasn’t as hopeful as she supposed she should be.

  “That’s why she was sent to Klarand, so she can receive the necessary training,” said Rintaya, laying her hand on Ashna’s other shoulder, “even though it does seem impossible that she could gain skills to rival Amber’s in just a few weeks.”

  “Alphego knows what He is doing,” said Father, removing his hand and continuing down the trail.

  No one said anything else until they met with an older man walking towards them down the path. He wasn’t as old as Ashna’s father, but it was clear that the years had taken their toll on this elf.

  “Ah, what a chance! Ritis, Rintaya, I didn’t expect to see you this morning,” the man cried with a large grin. “And,” he paused when he caught sight of Ashna, “is it possible?” He glanced at Father, and then back to Ashna. “Ashna, after all these years? It can’t be!”

  Was this an old friend of hers? If so, who? Ashna’s stomach twisted as once again she felt the weight of the fifty years.

  “Ah, Marno, we hadn’t expected to see you this morning, thought you’d already be well on your return to Amber’s castle for the week. Laura had to take her to the Tela Du’s world for safety,” said Ritis, falling back to put a hand on Ashna’s shoulder again. “Now that the Tela Du has come to fight the final war, Ashna has been restored to us. However, while we endured fifty years, only two passed in that world.”

  This was Marno? Ashna’s world roared in her ears.

  “Ah, I see. I haven’t seen a bit of them since they first came, which is perhaps a good thing since I’ve been at Amber’s castle most of that time, and we don’t want her to hear of them. Still, I had hoped to hear some news of them when I returned home yesterday. Tell me, what has become of the Tela Du and her companion?” asked Marno.

  “They returned to their own world for their Tying,” said Rintaya. “Laura brought them back here yesterday, but they have now been sent to Klarand for safety and training. Ashna will be joining them shortly, which is actually why we’re here. Ritis has been told by the Book to request your grandson as an escort for Ashna.”

  “Noraeto?” said Marno, glancing between Rintaya and Ashna, his eyes widening. “Why, that’s a perfect idea. Noraeto would be honored.” With that, he stepped forward and took Ashna’s hand, pulling her down the path. Ashna glanced back over her shoulder to see both her father and stepmother watching with amusement.

  “Noraeto is a smart, charming young man, to be certain,” Marno was saying. “You couldn’t ask for a better escort, oh no, you couldn’t. And you, Ashna, are still just the dear sweet thing I remember. Ah, the might have beens…”

  Ashna’s heart gave a jolt as a small, familiar house came into view, the house where Marno and Quena grew up. Marno gave her only a moment to take the sight in before he pulled her inside.

  “Noraeto!” he called. “Noraeto, lad, quickly now. I’ve someone I’d like you to meet.”

  A dark-haired young man rose from the couch, book in hand. His eyes narrowed as he saw Ashna. “Yes, Grandfather? Who is she?”

  “This is Bookdaughter Ashna. She was a friend of my sister’s when I was your age. Ashna, this is my grandson, Noraeto.”

  Ashna glanced upwards towards Alphego’s country as she placed a fist over her heart. As Bookdaughter and now princess, she was of a higher rank than this young man. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

  “Um, yes, the same for you,” said Noraeto, returning the gesture with a slight bow. His confused expression, however, was for Marno. “When you were my age? But she’s…”

  “Still young and pretty?” finished Marno. “Yes, so she is. It comes from travel between worlds, or so I’ve been told.”

  “Father!” exclaimed a woman, appearing in the kitchen doorway. “What are you doing back here? The Dragon…”

  “Will soon be put in her place by the Tela Du,” Marno declared. “We needn’t be quite so high-strung and worried anymore. A brighter day is here for Rizkaland.”

  “But she hasn’t defeated the Dragon yet,” the woman pointed out, shaking her wooden spoon. “And things are always darkest just before the storm breaks.”

  “You’ve spent too much time talking to Rintaya,” said Marno. “Enough of this talk, Linette, I’d like you to meet Ashna. Ashna, this is my daughter, Linette.”

  “And where did you find this Ashna? Wandering hapless and lost? I’m telling you, Father…”

  “She’s my daughter.”

  Ashna breathed a breath of relief at her father’s voice. She turned to see him standing in the doorway. “I had to send her away and forget her to keep her safe from Amber, but yesterday she was returned at long last. This brings me to the point of our visit. We need to send Ashna to her aunt in Klarand for training, and for some reason that I don’t fully know, Alphego says that Noraeto is to accompany her.”

  “And who are we to turn down such an opportunity for the lad?” said Marno. “He’s always wanted to visit Klarand, hasn’t he?”

  “I … suppose so,” said Noraeto, looking more confused than eager.

  As they talked, a warm pressure pounded in Ashna’s head, and she gasped as she recognized it as the same burn that she’d felt the day before when she Spoke for Petra. Her eyes unfocused, and the next thing she knew, everyone was staring at her in horror and panic.

  “Wha – what did I say?” she asked, struggling to catch the breath that seemed to have been knocked out of her.

  “Noraeto, take her upstairs and find a secure place for both of you to hide,” Marno ordered. He shook his head. “I should not have tarried.”

  “She’s likely after me,” said Father. “Now that I’ve remembered my role as Bookholder, she has surely done so as well
. Since she knows I can manipulate memories, she will surely hate me for meddling.”

  “It doesn’t matter who she’s after!” cried Rintaya. “If Ashna Speaks true, then Amber’s headed this way. Children! Upstairs now and get out of sight!”

  Ashna gasped as Noraeto grabbed her wrist and pulled her up the stairs. Amber was headed here? Perhaps for her father, perhaps for Marno? Perhaps both?

  Her mind was spinning as Noraeto shoved them both into a closet and shut the door behind them. “My gift is far sight. I can keep an eye on things,” he informed her.

  “Mine is color change,” she said. “Here.” She touched the door and willed it to blend in with the rest of the wall. It wouldn’t hide it for anyone consciously searching for this door, but it would help.

  “So, you’re a real Bookdaughter?”

  “Yes, I am,” Ashna whispered. “I only Spoke for the first time yesterday, though. I’m not even officially confirmed yet.”

  “A warning’s a warning,” said Noraeto. He tensed as the house began to shake as someone was pounding at the door. “Amber’s here. I think it’s safe to say that you Spoke true.”

  Ashna swallowed. “Do you think that they’ll be safe downstairs?”

  “It’s unlikely,” said Noraeto. “Amber … she’s inside now, talking. She’s furious with Grandfather and hasn’t taken notice of anyone else yet. Oh no…” He shuddered.

  “Did she turn him to ice?” Ashna didn’t want to believe it.

  “No, my mother.”

  “Oh, no. I … Queen Jane sent us with a bag of fire, the same one Laura had in the Legend of Through the Mountain, but Petra has it right now.”

  “It’s summer, she’s already melting,” said Noraeto. “I can’t watch anymore.” He took a shaky breath. “I’ll check back if we hear anything suspicious, and keep my eye on the other side of this door.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Such is the fate of the families of those who work for Amber,” said Noraeto, pulling Ashna closer to him. He was shaking – though she wasn’t sure if it was anger, fear, or sorrow. “It’s a wonder that Amber spared my mother so long.”

  “But Petra’s here now to fight the Dragon,” said Ashna.

  “Grandfather said your father sent you away to keep you safe from the Dragon? Does that mean that you lived before her time?” He didn’t seem to want to talk about his mother.

  “I left within the first year of Amber’s coming while four of the old kings and queens still lived,” Ashna answered as quietly as she could. “I was almost eighteen.”

  “What was it like before Amber came? It has always sounded like a glorious era to me.”

  “It was different, much better than right now,” Ashna answered. “We had problems, yes, but the problems weren’t our rulers. Indeed, the kings and queens did their best. I was a personal friend of Queen Nia. She … they all died so very young.”

  “So I’ve been told. I wish I could have met them.”

  “I only met Amber once, at Nia’s funeral,” Ashna continued. “It was scary, but there was something so … human about her, too, and a grandeur that made you want to believe her. She conquered by playing the hero, and the people bought it. They were desperate for change, thinking that anything was better than what they had, not realizing how trivial their problems really were. Not that the droughts were trivial, but … they brought something much worse upon them.”

  “They’re gone.”

  “What?” Ashna’s breath caught.

  “Everyone downstairs. They’re all gone. I just checked, and there isn’t anyone left. Hold on a moment … Amber’s taking your father and my grandfather back to her castle. I can’t find your mother.”

  “Did she…”

  “I don’t know. I’m not finding her. There only seems to be one melted statue down there, but Amber could have taken Rintaya outside. But … the house seems to be clear.”

  They emerged from the closet. Everything was still and quiet as they crept downstairs. They found no signs of a struggle. Father and Marno must have gone peaceably. Only a puddle showed where Linette had stood. Noraeto stopped and just stared at it, his face a perfect picture of horror.

  “I’m so sorry,” Ashna whispered, approaching his side and putting her hand on his arm. “If Father and I hadn’t come today, Amber would not have come here, and Marno most certainly would not have tarried in returning to work. But how were we to have known? We were only doing what we were told by the Book.”

  “Alphego must have a reason,” said Noraeto, not looking at her, his voice little more than a growl.

  “She killed my mother.” The words fell before Ashna could think of anything else to say. “It was the last thing that happened before the Doorkeeper took me away. But it was poison, not ice. I have no hope of ever seeing my mother again, on this side of life.”

  Noraeto turned to face her. “Your mother? But Rintaya…”

  Ashna shook her head. “Father didn’t marry Rintaya until after I left. In fact, if I hadn’t left, she’d only be a year or two older than me.”

  “Oh.” Noraeto glanced towards the puddle again. “You said that the Tela Du was given fire by Queen Jane?”

  Ashna bit her lip and nodded. “But she’s in Klarand. And we’d have to have winter happen first so that she can refreeze.”

  “Then it seems that we’ll just have to join them. It’s where we’re supposed to go anyway, isn’t it?”

  “But without Father, how are we going to get there?”

  “With the Hill like they did in the Legends, like I’m told they used to do before the Dragon came,” said Noraeto, “how you’d planned to make the trip anyway, right?”

  “But without Father?”

  “Come on,” said Noraeto. He took her hand and pulled her out of the house. “I’m of age, and since you can Speak, you obviously are too. One of us should have the power to unseal it. You’re a Bookdaughter, after all. And my father … Ashna, can you keep a secret?”

  Ashna bit her lip and slowly nodded. “I guess so.”

  “I wouldn’t tell just anyone, under any normal circumstance, but my father isn’t an elf. He’s human and the son of King David and Queen Michelle at that. He has a gift – disguise, that’s how he can pass himself off as an elf – but he’s quite human. Mother and Grandfather don’t know. He only told me because he gave up his right to the throne in my favor and he wanted me to know about it.”

  While he spoke, Ashna’s step slowed until she stopped walking altogether. “You’re half-human, too?”

  “Yes, I am. Wait – what do you mean, too?” asked Noraeto, turning back to face her.

  “My – my real mother, Sarah, the one Amber killed – when I came home yesterday my father informed me that she was the daughter of Queen Jane and King Ralph and the Tela Du’s own twin sister. Your father’s the son of … is his name Richard?”

  “No … Robert.”

  “Robert? Robert is your father?” Well, that was unexpected. “But Robert is still back at home. He didn’t disappear like Sarah did. I talked to him just yesterday morning. Perhaps that means that he survives, like my mother didn’t. But that would make Reuben your uncle. Robert and Reuben are twins.”

  “Really? Wow. Father didn’t say anything about that. Though, he did seem to already a sense of familiarity with Reuben and Petra when he met them last week. And you’re the granddaughter of Queen Jane and King Ralph? Did your mother have a gift?”

  “Yes, teleportation, and that’s why I never suspected that she was human. I was completely shocked when Father told me.”

  “Can I see your box?”

  Biting her lip, Ashna withdrew her box out from under her shirt. It was like any other box owned by any other elf: wooden and carved with a beautiful, unique pattern. Since she was a Bookdaughter, the carving included a representation of the Book.

  “You wear it on a chain like I do.” Noraeto drew out his own box to show off its chain. “Not like most who wear them o
n leather cords.”

  “When I was a child, Father always told me that it was because I was special,” said Ashna. “I learned to wear it under my shirt, out of sight, so people wouldn’t ask questions.”

  “You’re special because your mother gave up her claim to the throne and passed it to you instead,” Noraeto explained.

  “But … but I’m a Bookdaughter!” Ashna protested. Her world was spinning again. “I have to go to Klarand and take over for my aunt as an advisor. I can’t be a queen!”

  “Then let’s hurry to Klarand, and maybe your aunt will have more answers for us,” said Noraeto, taking her hand again. Then he frowned. “My grandfather said that you were a friend of his sister’s, but … the way he looked at you.”

  Ashna closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. “I hadn’t had my eighteenth birthday yet when I left, so he couldn’t ask my father for permission to court me yet … but it’s very likely that, had Amber not come, I would be right now preparing to be Tied to him on my twentieth birthday in a few weeks. Or I would have been forty-eight years ago. It’s complicated.”

  “Oh.” He stared at her a long moment, before he glanced away, clearly self-conscious. “I could see why he … you’re very sweet and pretty.”

  Ashna glanced down in an attempt to hide the blush that her color-changing gift only made worse. “I…”

  “I’m not my grandfather,” Noraeto continued. “And maybe I’m speaking too soon, but you and I are the only two half-humans, half-elves in existence. I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Ashna. Now come on.”

  With that, he pulled her along.

  They practically ran the rest of the way to the Doormat and then through Loray’s halls until they reached the Hill. They drew up short, however, when they saw the figure standing on the Hill.

  “Alphego,” Ashna whispered in awe, recognizing the Being of light from descriptions and pictures.

  Alphego spread His wings and gazed piercingly upon them. Ashna felt as though she would melt.

  “Children,” He said, his voice surprisingly gentle. “Draw nearer. I see questions in your eyes – questions in need of answers.”