by SJ West
I walked into the airship wondering what the King of Chromis would decide to do in my absence.
His feelings for me weren’t exactly paramount in my mind, and I didn’t have time to coddle a grown man.
He knew what he needed to do.
I just had no way of knowing if he would do it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I forced myself to stand at the airship's bank of windows as we left Iron City. I needed to personally survey the damage Nuala and her troops had done to my home. There was still a small amount of daylight left and the view was completely different now from when we first reentered the city the night before. I could clearly see the destruction Nuala’s dragon corps had wrecked on the infrastructure of numerous neighborhoods, factories, bridges, and railway systems. The damage seemed insurmountable. It would take a lot of time and money to repair things to get my country back on its feet.
I hoped the citizens who saw my airship leaving didn’t think I was abandoning them. I prayed they had enough faith in their queen to know she would do everything within her power to save them.
“Would your people be that fickle?” The little dragonling asked me, having read my thoughts.
“I think anyone under duress can be wary of what their leaders do,” I told her silently, not wanting Dracen and Fallon to know about my worries. I felt certain it would just add to their own.
“But you are their queen. Surely they know how much you care about their welfare.”
“People need you to show it, and they need to know their leaders are strong enough to take care of them when things like this happen. I think we were arrogant in our superiority and thought ourselves invincible. Who would have thought this could happen to the most powerful nation in the world? We should have paid more attention to what was going on around us, but instead, we hid in our bubble thinking we were safe.”
“Don’t worry,” Fallon said, coming to stand beside me to survey the destruction of our city. “We’ll drive them out one way or another.”
“I won’t accept anything less,” I said. “And if you could manage to put Nuala’s head on a spike that would be a definite plus, Marshal.”
Fallon smiled. “As you wish, my queen.”
I turned to look at Dracen who was sitting on the settee in the cabin. He wore a troubled frown on his face and seemed to be completely lost in his own little world.
“Are you all right?” I asked him.
Dracen looked at me. “I just wish I knew what happened to Nuala. She didn’t used to be this …crazy.”
“Your son said she was his aunt. So, that means she was your wife’s sister?”
Dracen nodded. “Yes.”
“I don’t understand. She doesn’t look much older than twenty-five. Was she a baby when you were married to her sister?”
“No, the Nuala you see is under a glamour spell. She was actually my wife’s older sister. Nuala has to be in her late seventies by now.”
“Late seventies?” I asked. “So mentally she’s that old, but physically she looks to be in her twenties?”
Dracen nods.
“Then I would say her mental faculties have deteriorated with age.”
“It seems a logical assumption,” Dracen agreed.
I turned my attention back to Fallon. “Well, we have one queen figured out. Now, do you know much about Queen Sora?”
“No, not much,” Fallon admitted.
“What are the Kamoran people like?” I asked. “Is there anything I need to know? Anything special about their customs that I need to be aware of?”
“They are a very formal people,” Fallon said. “They revere courtesy but also power. So, when you meet Queen Sora, don’t bow to her, or it will appear to them that you consider yourself beneath her and not her equal.”
“Good to know.”
“Dracen and I will bow to her, but you must never bow to anyone there.”
“Not even my grandfather?”
“Especially not him. When you’re introduced to the king, go up to him, and kiss him on the cheek to show your respects as his granddaughter but never bow to him. You are his equal in every way. Don't forget that.”
I nodded. Obviously, bowing would show weakness from me and that was something I had no intention of showing to anyone.
“What do you think she will ask as fair trade for her help?”
“I have a feeling she will ask for a marriage between her son and Dena.”
“No.”
Fallon sighed. “We may not have a choice, Emma.”
“I will not sell Dena to the highest bidder!”
“It wouldn’t be like that," Fallon said in a voice meant to calm me. "In fifteen years’ time, who knows what will happen? The boy could be dead by then, or Sora could make another arrangement with a different royal family that is more suitable to her needs. She may not even be in power by that time which would negate any contract between our two countries.”
“Well,” I tried to think of a loophole, “wouldn’t Dena in essence be marrying her first cousin? Surely that can’t be acceptable.”
“The queen’s first son is from a previous marriage, not one with your grandfather. They’ve had no children together so her position as queen rests solely on your grandfather remaining alive.”
I didn’t like the situation, but I couldn’t really see a way out of it either.
“Then your advice is that I agree to the marriage?”
“For now yes, to gain her support and her troops. We have years to worry about it actually happening. By then, I feel confident we’ll find a way out of it.”
“That doesn’t seem very honest. To go into a negotiation agreeing to do something but having it in the back of your mind that you will never follow through with it.”
Fallon shrugged. “That’s the way the game is played, Emma. And you have to play it if we’re going to secure their help.”
I look back out at Iron City as we pass outside its borders.
“If that’s what I have to do, then I’ll do it. Though, I want it to be noted that I don’t like it.”
“And you shouldn’t,” Fallon agreed. “But we have to be prepared to do whatever needs to be done.”
Fallon raises a hand to his mouth as he tries, rather unsuccessfully, to stop a yawn.
“Have you slept at all since we returned?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. I haven’t had time.”
“Go lie down on my bed then. I need you rested for what’s to come.”
Fallon shook his head again. “No, I’ll sleep out here.”
I turned to fully face Fallon. “I’m sorry, but did I just hear you refuse a direct order from your queen, Marshal Fallon?”
Fallon crossed his arms in front of him. “It’s not proper etiquette for the Queen’s Marshal to sleep in the queen’s bed, your majesty.”
“I’m barely queen of anything at the moment,” I told him. “Please, Fallon. I need you rested. Go take a nap in my chambers. If I get tired, I’ll be sure to kick you out of my bed before I lie down on it.”
Fallon tries to prevent another yawn but fails miserably.
“All right,” he relented. “But if you get the least bit tired, wake me up.”
“I will. Now go!” I said, pointing a finger to my bedchamber, feeling as though I was speaking to a child.
After Fallon went to my bedroom and shut the door behind him. I sat down with Dracen. I needed some answers from him, answers only he could provide me, and I had a feeling he knew more about the truth of who I was than he had let on thus far.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked him directly.
Dracen’s expression didn’t change, not an eye twitch, not a parting of the lips, nothing.
“You’re Queen Emma Vankar. I dare say everyone over the age of two in Vankara knows who you are.”
“But, you know who I really am, don’t you?”
Dracen swallowed hard but said nothing as he looked at me.
“Ho
w long have you known I was a shifter?”
Dracen shrugged. “Does it matter?”
I think about the question. “No, I suppose not. But, why haven’t you said anything?”
“What would be the point?”
“You could have told Isabelle and had me arrested as an imposter.”
Dracen lets out a harsh laugh. “Like I said, what would be the point?”
“So you’re fine with a shifter posing as the Queen of Vankara?”
“Queen Emma is dead. Vankara is under siege. The people of this country need someone to rally behind. And from what I’ve seen thus far, you’re as good a candidate as anyone left available. Better than most, I would dare say. So, no, I see no reason to tell anyone. I suppose Fallon knows the truth?”
“Yes. Queen Emma thought I might need Fallon in case of war,” I told him, realizing the queen had planned ahead far better than any of us could have thought at the time. “But, I would really like to know how you and I know each other.”
Dracen looked at me as if he didn’t understand what I said. “You and I?”
“You and the queen,” I said. “I have memories of you, Dracen. Memories that can’t belong to anyone but Queen Emma. What was your relationship with her?”
“What kind of memories?” Dracen asked, keeping his feelings close to the cuff.
“I have a memory of us playing chess together.”
“Anything else?”
“There was also one of me standing on top of your mountain. A man came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.”
“I see,” Dracen said, weighing what I said carefully. “Well, I hate to inform you of this, but I never met Queen Emma face to face while she was alive.”
“That’s not possible,” I said. “There’s no other explanation for the memory I have of you playing chess. It has to be one of the queen’s memories.”
Dracen shrugged. “Perhaps it was simply a dream. I swear to you. I’ve never met the real Queen Emma.”
"He seems sincere," my little dragonling told me. "I would know if he were out right lying to you."
“I was awake when the memory of you playing chess surfaced,” I informed him. “It wasn’t a dream.”
Now, I’m the one left confused. If they weren’t Emma’s memories, whose memories were they? Certainly not April Pew’s. She was adopted as a baby. I seriously doubted Sarah Harker would have ever made it to Ledmarrow Mountain in her short life.
Dracen shrugs. “Perhaps the stress of the situation is causing you to have hallucinations. I am a rather handsome fellow, you know. I can’t say I blame you for fantasizing about me.”
I sat there for a moment before I started to laugh. Could Dracen be right? Was the vision I had simply a hallucination and not a memory? The one concerning Dracen did happen while I was still awake. That was something that had never happened before.
Dracen smiled. “You have a nice laugh. You should really do it more often. Now, why don’t we just forget about what you think you know because I believe we’ve just gone through why it’s an impossibility.”
“But,” things still weren’t adding up for me, “how was I able to open the portal into your mountain with just a touch?”
Dracen shrugged. “I’ve always had it so any Vankar could come see me. Why would I make royalty stand out in the cold?”
“And when we came in and you were speaking with Gabriel, you said he was never supposed to bring me there. Why?”
“Ahh, that,” Dracen said looking embarrassed. “I have a confession to make there. When you were born, I knew exactly where you were. There are very few shifters born into the world, you know.”
“Gabriel once told me that someone sent him to me, to look after me. Was that someone you?”
“Yes, I’m afraid it was.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would you care what happened to me?”
“Because I know how confusing being a shifter can be. Plus, when I learned you had been adopted by the Pews, I knew you didn’t have anyone to tell you what you were or to protect you from yourself. What if you had been two years old and someone died while you were touching them? It was as much for your own safety as for the safety of other shifters. I didn’t want people to find out about your kind like that.”
It made sense, in a way.
“But why didn’t you want me to come to the mountain? You seemed upset that I was there. And…you’ve avoided being too close to me ever since.”
“I’m sorry if it’s appeared that way,” he said sincerely. “It was never my intention to disrespect you like that. I hope you can forgive me. I would like to become your friend and possibly a confidant in time.”
“He’s still hiding something from you,” my little dragonling said. “Yet, his motives seem pure. There is a great sadness in him every time he looks at you, Sarah. I simply can’t seem to put my finger on why. I fear I may just be too young still to read his emotions clearly.”
“I don’t think he will tell me anything more,” I told her. “We will simply have to bide our time. If he’s sincere in wanting to become my friend…”
“Oh, yes, he is sincere in that offer. That much I know for certain.”
“Then, perhaps in time, he will be completely honest with me.”
"Do you play chess?" Dracen asked hopefully. "It's been a long time since I had a decent chess partner."
"Yes, I know how to play."
Dracen gathered up some small items from around the cabin and brought them back to the small table in front of the settee.
He waved his hand over the odd collection and said, "Ludus latrunculorum."
Instantly, what I considered a pile of junk turned into a chessboard with black and white marble pieces.
"How did you do that?" I asked. "I mean I know it's magic, but how do you turn one thing into something completely different."
"It's simply an illusion," Dracen explained. "They are still what they were, but to anyone looking at them or touching them they appear to be regular chess pieces and a board. Now, do you want to be black or white?"
Dracen and I spent a good hour playing chess with one another, and I found him a formidable opponent. Oddly enough, I could see his moves coming ahead of time and countered them effectively to finally win the game.
"Well played!" Dracen said at the finish of our game. "It's been forever since I was out matched."
I lifted a hand to my mouth and tried to stifle a yawn.
Dracen noticed.
"I believe it might be time for you to kick the good Marshal out of your bed," Dracen said to me. "You need to be rested for your meeting with Queen Sora too."
"He just laid down a little while ago," I argued. "It doesn't feel right to ask him to wake up and leave now. I will simply leave the door open and you can act as our chaperone while I lie down on the other side of the bed. I sincerely doubt either of us will accidentally fall into each other's arms while we're sleeping."
"I will keep watch," Dracen said. "I don't require very much sleep anyway."
I stand. "Then I bid you goodnight."
"Sweet dreams, Emma."
When I walked into my bedchamber, I saw that Fallon was lying on my bed with just his pants and white undershirt on. His boots and jacket were by a nearby chair. I walked to his side of the bed and looked down at him. In such a relaxed state, I couldn't help but find Fallon even more handsome than when he was awake. I felt an urge to trace the side of his face with the tips of my fingers but fought against it. I assumed that I was feeling a lingering affection from Queen Emma. I shook off the impulse and walked to the other side of the bed.
The dragonling hopped off my shoulder and curled up at the top of my pillow.
After I laid down and closed my eyes, all I could hear in the room was Fallon's even breathing. Strangely, I found comfort in the sound and soon drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER NINE
I’m awoken with a start. Somethin
g heavy was lying across my waist, and I heard the little dragonling hissing close to my ear. When I looked down, I saw Fallon's arm around my midsection and realized the dragonling must have noticed the breach in etiquette as well.
She hissed louder and more forcefully. I felt Fallon slowly extricate his arm from my person.
"Emma," I heard Fallon say to me in a low voice, "call off your dragon."
I sat up on the edge of the bed and turned to see that my little dragonling had her nose so close to Fallon's that she could have bitten it off before either of us could have stopped her. As she continued to hiss, puffs of white smoke billowed from her nostrils effectively demonstrating just how irate she was about Fallon's unconscious show of familiarity while we slept.
"He meant me no harm," I told the dragonling. "Please, back away from him."
The dragonling did what I asked, somewhat reluctantly, and walked over to me with her head held high.
"Perhaps next time," she said to me, "he will be more careful where he lays his body parts. He's lucky I did not burn that handsome face of his off!"
The dragonling clambered up my arm and hopped onto my shoulder. I immediately noticed she was heavier than she once was.
"You've gained weight," I told her. "You won't be able to ride on my shoulder for very much longer."
"I won't need to," she assured me. "My wings will be stronger by then, and I will be able to fly for a longer period of time."
"Is she a fire dragon?" Fallon asked in what sounded like amazement as he sat up.
"Yes," the little dragonling said, sounding rather proud of herself, "I am."
"Apparently, so," I answered.
Fallon stood from the bed and said, "I thought you were going to wake me if you became tired. I can't say I blame her for her reaction to what I did. We should never have been lying in the same bed with one another in the first place, Emma."
"I didn't want to wake you," I told him. "And I am the queen. I can bend the rules as I see fit."
