Awakened Beauty

by Amy Sumida

  “Are you saying that I’m a witch now?”

  “No, I’m saying that you may have absorbed some magic, basically by soaking in it for two decades,” Rune corrected. “That, combined with all of the mental exercises you’ve performed—working with your imagination to create dream worlds—may be enough to allow you to cast some minor spells.”

  “This was what you and your mother were talking about, isn’t it? The thing you told me not to worry about. The lingering thing.”

  “Yes.”

  “Minor spells like what?”

  “What?”

  “You said I may be able to do minor spells,” I reminded him. “What sort of spells?”

  “Moving objects, creating light, calling animals.” He shrugged.

  “Calling animals?” I lifted a brow and looked towards Magic in consideration.

  “Would you like to start there?”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “After breakfast. I’m starving, and I’m sure Magic probably wants a little bite to eat as well.”

  “Then my Angel and her Magic shall be fed,” Rune declared, scooping up Magic and heading toward the door.

  “Rune?”

  “Yes?” He looked over his shoulder at me.

  “Maybe we should get dressed first?”

  Rune looked down at his bare ass and smirked. “You don’t think the court will appreciate my posterior?”

  “I think several members of the court would appreciate it far too much.” I stood and headed toward the wooden chest at the end of my bed. “And then I’d have to protect you.”

  “I can fend off a group of women just fine.” Rune rolled his eyes.

  “I’m not talking about the women.”

  Rune’s face went blank then his eyes widened, and he began searching for his pants.

  11

  Two weeks later, I had conquered the ability to call small animals, with the exception of Magic, who seemed to do exactly as he pleased no matter what I did. But that’s the way of all cats. Magic was simply representing his race to the best of his abilities. Besides the animals, I could also summon a small fire to my palm—though it petered out fast—and I could make a passable breeze.

  “This is pathetic.” I sighed as I waved my hand and cut off the eddy of air I had created. “I could do this far easier with a fan.”

  “That’s not the point,” Rune chided. “You are learning. The more you practice, the more your magic will grow.”

  “I thought you said I’d only be able to do minor spells?”

  “Yes, but you can make those minor spells as strong as possible.” He opened his palm and produced a column of flame two feet high. Then he waved his hand out, adding air to the spell, and flung the flame across the empty courtyard.

  We were practicing in my private courtyard, which we had taken the precaution of warning the servants away from. It was a good thing too. If one of my maids had happened to come in with lunch right then, she would have been cooked along with our meal. As I gawked at Rune’s display, Magic gave a little kitten huff and resettled himself on the bench behind us. Nothing impressed that cat.

  “I could do that?” I asked.

  “It’s possible if you keep practicing.”

  “Ugh.” I rolled my eyes. “All right.”

  “Magic requires three things.” Rune took my hands and turned them so that my palms were facing up. “Ability, perseverance, and will.”

  “Aren’t perseverance and will the same thing?”

  “Not at all.” He shook his head. “Perseverance is the determination to keep working at something until you get the result you desire. Will is the desire. Sometimes it’s great need or great love—whatever motivates you. It will compel you forward, and often, it will even span the gaps.”

  “Span the gaps?”

  “If, say, you don’t have enough magical ability to reach your goal but your need is great, sometimes that need will amplify your ability.”

  “So if I really want it, I can have it?” I smirked at him.

  “Yes, Princess”—he smirked back—“as with most things in your life.”

  “There’s not a lot that I really want, Rune.”

  “This is what comes when you give a child everything,” he lamented dramatically. “They want nothing.”

  “There may be one thing I want.” I went over to the stone bench and sat beside Magic.

  “Are you going to tell me or just sit there, petting your Magic?” Rune crossed his arms.

  “I want a wedding.” I set my stare firmly on him.

  “What?” Rune’s arms fell.

  “I married you in a dream.” I shrugged. “Then you married me while I was asleep. I want a real wedding. I want a dress and flowers, and I want to make my vows before my family and all of my people.”

  “Are you asking me to marry you?” Rune started to smile.

  “We’re already married,” I huffed. “I’m asking you to marry me again.”

  “Oh, well in that case.” He shrugged and started walking away.

  “Rune!”

  “Of course, I’ll marry you again,” he called back to me, over his shoulder. “But I want no part in the planning, Princess. Gowns and flowers… I leave that to you.”

  “That’s what I wanted as well.” I smiled and stroked Magic in satisfaction.

  “I know exactly what you want,” Rune’s voice echoed back to me. “I always will.”

  12

  I was being fitted for my wedding gown when Rune’s mother came running into my bedchambers.

  “Seraphine!” Lady Bromley gasped. “Where’s Rune?”

  “I don’t know.” I stepped down from the pedestal my seamstresses had put me on and hurried over to her. “What’s wrong?”

  “We must find him,” she said, “and your parents. The Dragon Queen is coming.”

  “Meara?”

  “I saw her in a vision this morning.” Lady Bromley grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door, scraps of silk falling away from me as the seamstresses hurried to catch them.

  “Fetch my parents,” I said to my maid who’d been sitting on the rug playing with Magic.

  “Yes, Your Highness.” She jumped up and ran off.

  “Rune!” Lady Bromley was pulling me through the castle, screaming her son’s name.

  Luckily, we didn’t have far to go. Rune was in the family library, just three doors down from my bedroom. He came out with a book still in hand.

  “Mother? What’s happened?”

  “It’s not what’s happened.” Lady Bromley grabbed her son’s hand. “It’s what’s going to happen.”

  “And what’s that?” I asked.

  “The two of you must unite to face her.” She joined my hand with Rune’s.

  “Face who?” Rune asked as my parents came rushing up.

  “Meara,” Lady Bromley said.

  My mother gasped, and my father cursed.

  “I knew we should have sent an army to Tassaros!” My father growled.

  “Gather your army now, Your Majesty,” Lady Bromley said. “But they will only serve as a distraction. It’s our children who will defeat the dragon.”

  “Our children?” My father looked at me with wide eyes. “No, not Seraphine. She will remain inside the castle with her mother, safe from harm. I will not have her in the path of that madwoman again.”

  “Your Majesty, it’s the only way,” Lady Bromley started but she was cut off by the sound of shouting. “There’s no time,” she screamed above the ruckus. “Get to the tallest tower, Son!” She clasped Rune to her tightly, briefly, then pushed him away. “Go! And take your bride with you.”

  “No!” my father shouted.

  “Rune will protect me.” I kissed my father on the cheek, hugged my mother, then ran off with my husband. “This way.” I led him through the panicked people who were pouring out of castle rooms.

  By the time we came out onto the open, crenelated tower roof, Meara was already circling the castle. Ebony scales,
blacker than Magic’s fur, glinted in the dying light of day. Massive wings beat the air furiously, each slap cracking like thunder. She turned her sleek head and saw us… saw me. The sleek dragon dove, swooping up into an arch to circle back to the tower Rune and I stood upon. Her chest heaved, puffing out as she drew a deep breath, and I knew that fire would soon stream from her vicious jaws.

  But below us, in the castle courtyard, my father’s knights had rallied and were casting javelins at Meara with the help of ballistae. Like giant bows, the ballistae sent the javelins shooting through the sky at our enemy. One of the massive spears glanced off Meara’s shoulder and sent her shrieking into a tumble.

  “Together.” Rune squeezed my hand. “Mother said we must face Meara together. Add your magic to mine, Seraphine.”

  “I have barely any magic to speak of!” My eyes widened in fear and anxiety. “How can I add it to yours?”

  Meara roared, men shouted, and more spears shot through the sky. I knew we had mere minutes before Meara would cast her deadly attention back onto us.

  “You don’t need a lot of magic,” Rune assured me. “Just join it with mine; strengthen me with your power.”

  “How?”

  “Will,” he said. “Will it to me.”

  I squeezed his hand tightly and closed my eyes. Internally, I begged the power I had—that little spark I’d stolen from the very spell which had held me hostage—into Rune. When I opened my eyes, he was still staring at me expectantly.

  “Try harder, my angel.” Rune’s voice was calm, but I could tell he was on the verge of panic.

  “I’m trying!” I shouted.

  I pushed mentally. I begged. I whined. I ground my teeth and commanded. Nothing happened.

  Then I saw his face. His gaze was set behind me, eyes wide with terror, and his lips were parting on a warning which would come too late. I saw the reflection in his glassy stare: a sinuous creature rearing up with spear-like claws outstretched. I was about to scream when Rune pushed me out of the way.

  Meara’s talons closed over Rune, lifting him and sweeping him off the tower. I screamed and surged to my feet. She flew upward, angling toward the twilight sky. Rune dangled from her grasp, legs flailing as his hands filled with fire. Fire against a dragon? It was hopeless; my husband was about to die.

  Then I saw Rune’s flames burst upward, just as Meara angled her head toward him and breathed a stream of fire. Fire met fire and burst apart. Meara roared and circled back, tossing her prize from one claw to another. Rune kicked at her and flung magic at her belly, but nothing seemed to cause the Dragon Queen any damage.

  I screamed, and the men below shouted, but all of us were powerless to do anything. The knights couldn’t shoot their javelins without risking Rune, and I had nothing at all to shoot. I heard my parents crying out to me, but I couldn’t do what they wanted. I couldn’t run and leave Rune to his fate.

  Meara veered and headed back to me. I was the prize she was after. Rune was just a distraction. The thought angered me and frustrated me. All of my life, I’d felt powerless, weak. I was tired of it. Oh, how I wished I could be a warrior. I wished I had the power I had in my dreams, where I could make anything happen. Where the world was mine to mold. If I had that power here, I would create another dragon out of the very clouds which filled the sky. A beast of mist and magic that was indestructible, one to send Meara screeching away in terror…

  I gaped down at my brightly glowing hands and then up at the sky. Clouds were gathering, pulling together into the form of a dragon. The knights below had gone quiet, and even Rune had stilled within Meara’s talons. The Dragon Queen herself hadn’t noticed and continued on a course straight for me.

  “Seraphine!” Rune shouted, stretching out his hand to me. “You still need the spark of life; I can give you that!”

  I had no idea what he meant, but I trusted him. I believed in Rune, and I believed in us. I knew that everything his mother had said was true. Together, we could defeat the Dragon Queen.

  I stood quietly, calmly, waiting for the right moment. Then, just as Meara neared the tower, just as she angled up and breathed in deeply, I jumped.

  Rune caught my hand, just as I knew he would, and that spark united us. I felt his magic shoot through me, electrifying my whole body. I roared with the power of our spell combined with my emotions… my will.

  I set the magic free.

  Another roar echoed mine, this one far more powerful. Meara let go of Rune, dropping both of us, and the crowd below screamed. But my dragon built of dreams, clouds, and my very will caught us. Rune and I fell into solid arms. The fluffy dragon nuzzled its head over us, protecting us just as Meara screeched and blew fire our way. The fire steamed into nothing, and my dream dragon set us down gently on the top of our tower.

  Then he launched himself at Meara.

  Nothing she did could hurt my dragon. Rune and I watched, holding hands and smiling as our magic defeated the Dragon Queen. Below us, the people of Hannaleigh cried in joy. His claws may not have been as sharp as hers, but his blustery strength was indomitable. He sent Meara tumbling over and over. He broke her bones with his powerful blows, wounding her enough that she began to bleed from her mouth. Finally, Meara conceded defeat and went whimpering back to Tassaros.

  My dream dragon circled the tower as I felt the magic start to fade.

  “Let go of him now, my angel,” Rune whispered.

  “No.” I frowned. “I can’t let him die after what he just did for us.”

  “He is you,” Rune said gently. “He is the both of us together. Look, my love.”

  The dragon’s eyes flashed, first green like Rune’s eyes, and then gray like mine. Then, that rascal winked at me.

  “He’ll be waiting right there”—Rune waved to the night sky—“among the stars. If we need him again, our cloud dragon will appear and defend us.”

  “Puff,” I said.

  “What’s that?”

  “His name.” I smiled as I released my magic dragon. “His name is Puff.”

  Puff faded into the clouds of the Kingdom of Hannaleigh, smiling and rolling playfully as he went. Thunder rumbled—a joyous sound—and the clouds rolled out to the sea.

  13

  “They’re dead,” Rune said with a shocked expression as he strode into our bedroom.

  “Who’s dead, darling?” I asked.

  “The dragons.” He sat on the bed beside me and Magic. “Queen Meara, King Malcolm, and Prince Saunder. They were all killed by some princess and four brothers.”

  “What?” I blinked in surprise.

  “Tassaros is without rulers.” He nodded. “They’re holding a Crown Tournament, and the people are delighted.”

  “That’s wonderful,” I whispered.

  “We don’t have to worry about Meara ever returning.” Rune smiled.

  “Not that we were worried.” I smirked.

  “Still,” Rune said. He scooped up Magic and deposited him on the floor while he slid his other hand up my dress. “I think we should celebrate.”

  “Celebrate the death of royal dragons?” I teased him. “Why would we do that?”

  “Celebrate the death of our enemies, as true warriors do.” Rune grinned wide and flung my skirts up, around my waist.

  “I don’t think true warriors celebrate like this.” I jumped from the bed and raced away.

  Rune caught me at the window just as I leapt from it. He fell with me, still fumbling with my dress. Clouds condensed below us, cushioning our fall. Then they lifted slowly, taking us higher and higher into the sky above our kingdom. Rune’s hot hands blazed lines over my flesh, feeling even hotter in the cool air. I lay back and languished in the luxury of being with him in the open sky. A bird flew by, cocking its head at us in surprise, and I laughed.

  “What exactly do you find funny?” Rune asked as he tossed my bodice over the side of the cloud.

  “Hey, I’m going to have to send someone to fetch that.”

  “You shouldn�
��t have laughed at your husband.”

  “I was laughing at the bird.” I grimaced.

  “Right.”

  Rune’s mouth descended. I was just about to say more when it covered my breast, sucking sensuously. I moaned instead and clutched him tighter. He growled, tearing away the remaining clothes between us, and soon, my bare legs slid along his muscled thighs. I reached for the thick length of him, but he rolled away from me. I went with him, right off our cloud. We fell only a foot before the clouds shifted and caught us, but the free-fall was thrilling, especially when Rune used the momentum to slide inside me.

  I screamed my pleasure to the heavens as Rune started a delicious tempo. He pushed me back, farther and farther, lifting my legs above his shoulders until he had the perfect angle. Not that he needed it. His magic was already caressing me everywhere he couldn’t reach. But the position set my head over the edge of our cloud, my hair trailing into the mist, and I had the most beautiful view of Hannaleigh.

  As Rune ran his stubbled cheek across my thigh and kissed the sensitive flesh there, I lifted my hips to him and dangled my arms back behind me, into the open air. Just as I was cresting the rise of pleasure again, I looked up and caught Rune’s eye.

  “I love you,” I said.

  “And I love you, my angel,” Rune vowed right before he joined me in ecstasy.

  14

  I was finally going to have a real wedding. And by that, I meant one in the waking world, with my parents in attendance, before my people and without the haze of dreams to fog my memories. I was slowly remembering all of my experiences from my twenty years of dreams, but they were like echoes in a vast cave: mere ghosts of what they once were, fading into a true death. Even my dream wedding was being lost to the echoes. Today, however, would be unforgettable.

  My parents had rejoiced in the opportunity to redo my wedding in the proper manner. Royals from neighboring kingdoms and all of the people within our kingdom were invited. A special invitation was sent out to the princess who had slain Meara.