Veiled Dreams

by Gill James

  They all listened, but at first heard nothing. Then there was a faint rumbling in the distance. The noise grew louder, until it was heartbreakingly familiar to Christina. It was the unmistakable sound of a motorbike!

  ‘An electric dragon!’ exclaimed Imigriana. ‘Yes! It is! It’s Leonis!’

  The sound got nearer and nearer. And then Christina laughed and laughed. She couldn’t stop. The rider was wearing a helmet that looked like something a Roman soldier might wear. His face was covered in grime. The exhaust, instead if pointing to the back of the machine, come up just in front of the rider’s face and was shaped like the head of a dragon. The whole machine was decorated in shiny scales. But otherwise, it was no more or no less than an ordinary motorbike. A fairly mediocre specimen compared with Jan’s.

  The rider stopped the machine and stepped off.

  ‘Christina, this is Leonis.’

  But Christina was too helpless with laughter to greet the smutty-faced rider.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Leonis

  ‘Aha!’ laughed Budela. ‘I see it begins. Well, I must away. Have fun, young people!’

  Budela heaved himself up into the carriage. ‘Forward!’ he cried.

  The horses pulled away and within seconds were galloping. White dust flew up from the road and soon they could see nothing of the carriage but a great cloud. The two girls turned back towards Leonis. Christina started giggling again.

  Leonis looked uncomfortable. He tried to brush the smut from his nose, but he only made it worse.

  ‘That will never do,’ she laughed. ‘Why have you got the exhaust pointing towards your face? You should have it so it trails behind you!’

  ‘Well, it wouldn’t be a dragon then, would it?’ Leonis was hot and sweaty and looking more uneasy by the minute. He shuffled from foot to foot. He held the helmet under his arm.

  ‘Why does it have to look like a dragon? What does it matter what it looks like, as long as it goes from one place to another quickly and safely?’

  ‘Well…I suppose…’

  Imigriana was frowning slightly.

  ‘How do you know so much about electric dragons?’ she asked. ‘Anyway, Leonis is right. It won’t be a dragon if the head doesn’t come up like that.’

  ‘Well, call it something else, then,’ muttered Christina between her teeth.

  Leonis was looking even more tried. He flopped down on to the ground.

  ‘It would be nicer if you didn’t keep getting smoke in your face,’ he said.

  ‘But then the smoke would come over the person at the back! It would ruin my clothes if I was riding behind you!’ Imigriana face was getting redder and she was beginning to shout.

  ‘It wouldn’t actually,’ said Christina calmly. ‘When you’re going along, the exhaust goes out in a line behind you. It’s only the people behind who get it. And it doesn’t look to me as if there would be too many people following you.’

  ‘How do you know? How do you know?’ said Imigriana. ‘Have you ever been on an electric dragon?’

  ‘No! But I’ve been on a motorbike. Remember I told you about Jan. Now that was a real machine. Makes this look like a battery operated push bike. And he wouldn’t turn up with muck all over his face. Or a stupid imitation roman soldier hat. He wears a real helmet – smooth and black and shiny. And hard as a rock! Christina felt the lump in her throat that always came whenever she thought of Jan, even now, after all that time.

  ‘Ah, but Jan isn’t here. At least Leonis is, even if his machine seems pathetic compared with your so-called boyfriend’s!’

  Redder still, Imigriana turned on her heels and marched into the palace.

  Christina wanted to shout back. But she couldn’t. She sank down to the ground and buried her head into her arms. She did not want Leonis to see the tears which she could not stop running her cheeks.

  There was a long silence. Then she heard Leonis clear his throat and stand up. He walked over to her, and gently put his hand on her shoulder.

  ‘Show me,’ he said. ‘Show me how to make my slow, dirty electric dragon into a powerful, clean motorbike.’

  Christina looked up into a pair of kind brown eyes set in a handsome face. Now another lump came into her throat.

  My god, that Imigriana’s lucky! she thought. She swallowed hard. She stood up and went over to the bike.

  ‘Well, you see…that piece of pipe really needs to turn round and face the other way…Then there are things you can do to the engine – I don’t really know about that, but Jan was always twiddling about with bits and pieces, and that made the bike go faster.’

  ‘Oh, yes, we could make the engine work faster, but we never have done because of the fumes being too strong. But let’s go over to the smithy and see what we can do.’

  The sweat poured off Leonis as he worked on the bike. Christina had to keep fetching water to bathe both of them. The old smith kept making discouraging comments.

  ‘It’ll never work,’ he said. ‘And if it does, it’ll be blooming dangerous.’

  Christina handed Leonis bits and pieces. She found she remembered more about how to tune the bike than she thought she would.

  ‘Fancy letting a woman do that sort of work,’ grumbled the smith. ‘This is man’s work.’ He folded his arms across his chest.

  Christina felt herself going red again. She was about to give her opinion on what the smith had just said when Leonis interrupted.

  ‘Yes, usually.’ Leonis pointed at Christina. ‘But this lady knows more than we do, or we would not be defiling her honour.’

  ‘How can working on a motorbike defile me?’ muttered Christina savagely.

  ‘Oh, because women are so superior. That is why we work for them, to honour them. And we don’t usually let them do physical work, because they are the thinkers, the inspiration. Women are the wise ones!’

  The smith scowled at them. He walked out and slammed the door behind him.

  Christina was about to retort angrily, when she saw those serious brown eyes locking into hers again. It hadn’t been said as a joke. Leonis seemed to think that women were more important.

  But it didn’t make sense. They were kept cooped up all the time, and were not allowed to make important decisions. And all this nonsense about the veil.

  As for having your husband chosen…

  ‘Well, why don’t they let them choose their own husbands, then? If they’re so clever?’

  ‘So they don’t have to bother vetting them. So that they find something that is good enough for the precious one.’

  ‘So, how come King Tutoralph helped to find you?’

  ‘He didn’t really. He just did all the negotiating. It was Queen Benelov who did the research. She knew my mother well.’

  ‘Yes, but Imigriana’s lucky.’ Christina paused. Leonis had put down the spanner that he had been holding. He lips curved into a half smile and his eyes twinkled.

  ‘Lucky? Luck doesn’t come into it! Mothers do these jobs with a lot of care.’

  ‘No, I mean, you’re nice-looking and good fun and…’ Christina felt herself blushing again.

  Leonis was now grinning. His eyebrows were raised.

  ‘You mean Queen Benelov chose well?’

  ‘Yes! You could have been old, and miserable, and…well, anything really. If you had been rich, they might have made her marry you just because of that…’

  ‘No point! They’re the richest family in Ixeria. And you see, Queen Benelov knows what her daughter would like.’

  Leonis stood up tall and looked down at Christina.

  ‘It seems you and Imigriana don’t just look alike…’

  Christina‘s heart was beating fast and she was finding it hard to breathe. She hadn’t felt like this since she had been with Jan. Leonis put his hands on her shoulders. She looked down, not daring to look him in the eyes. He gently tilted her chin so that she had to look at his face.

  There was a noise at the door. Leonis pulled away. The smith had just
come back in and stopped in the doorway.

  ‘So, your motorbike is ready. Would Madam care to try it?’ said Leonis.

  ‘What? Ride on the back?’ Christina blushed with excitement. ‘But you have no other helmet!’

  ‘You can take the lining of mine, like Imigriana does,’ he said, pulling at the inside.

  ‘Is it really safe, though?’ asked Christina.

  ‘Are you saying I am not a safe rider?’ There was an edge of something in his voice – anger or pride – which made Christina know that she dare not refuse him. And of course, she dearly wanted to ride again.

  ‘Of course not!’

  ‘Come on then,’ he said, handing her the helmet and pushing the bike outside.

  ‘Are you sure this is wise, my Lord,’ said the smith. ‘The princess, the queen…they would be…’

  ‘We’re only going to try out the new form of dragon. And as Lady Christina has given me so much good advice it is only right that I should reward her.’

  And with that, he mounted the bike and revved the engine. Christina slipped on the helmet and climbed on behind him and they were away.

  It was good to feel the saddle between her legs again and to cling on to a strong rider. It was good to feel the speed of the wind against her cheeks. The helmet was a little flimsy compared with what she was used to and so she could feel her hair being pulled back from her face and trailing behind her. Soon her veil had slipped down. But it didn’t matter. There was no one to see her. It was not quite as fast as Jan’s bike, but it was still lovely. The excitement built as Leonis changed up through each gear change. It was like a type of release and she felt as if she were floating. Oh, she had missed this. She smelt the exhaust fumes and the leather. The scenery rushed past. Faster and faster they went. The road curved round to the north and they could look back at the palace and feel the sun on their backs.

  ‘This is great!’ shouted Leonis. ‘It’s going faster, and my face is staying clean! What a great idea! See, women are cleverer than men!’

  The road curved round again, until they had almost gone full circle. Then Leonis turned off into a side road. The road rose up steeply and the bike had to go more slowly. Christina was suddenly aware of how nice it felt to be holding on to Leonis. She felt guilty because of Jan and because of Imigriana.

  ‘I have something to show you,’ shouted Jan as he slowed the bike right down, and turned it off the road towards a small piece of woodland.

  He stopped the bike altogether and they both got off. He gasped as he turned to see her.

  ‘Your veil,’ he whispered. Christina hastily adjusted her veil. Leonis grabbed her hand and led her through the woodland. The path came out at the edge of a steep cliff. Beneath them was the palace, gleaming gold in the late afternoon sun.

  ‘It’s beautiful,’ whispered Christina. A breeze caught her badly adjusted veil and once more, revealed her face.

  ‘But not as beautiful as the girl who keeps removing her veil for me,’ replied Leonis, his voice hoarse and his hands trembling.

  And Christina now wanted him to kiss her passionately. Like that one and only real, passionate, romantic kiss that Jan had given her. Suddenly, she was in the arms of the tall stranger, his lips crushing hers and she was kissing him back as hard as she could. She wanted more from him but she wasn’t sure what. She pulled him closer and held him tighter. She loved the feel of his strong arms around her but wanted to be even nearer to him. He groaned softly as the kiss had to end when they needed to breathe. ‘Oh how much I want you, sweet girl,’ he murmured. He now pulled her closer and she felt tingles where he touched her. Please carry on, she thought.

  Then Leonis pulled away a little, but still held her gently in his arms. ‘Oh, who are you, and where do you come from precious, precious girl?’ He kissed her forehead sweetly. Then he pushed her away a little and held her by the shoulders. Those serious brown eyes looked into hers.

  ‘You know this makes no difference, don’t you? I shall still marry Imigriana, and this will never happen again.’

  Christina nodded sadly. Then he hugged her tightly. ‘Oh, but if we were in your time and your place.’

  ‘Have you ever kissed Imigriana like that?’ she asked, suddenly curious.

  Leonis laughed.

  ‘Just once,’ he replied. ‘Or, rather she kissed me and I had to tell her to stop, because it was getting dangerous.’

  A lump formed in throat as the familiar words reminded her again of Jan.

  ‘Come,’ said Leonis, tapping her nose. ‘We should get back to the palace before the smith spreads nasty rumours about us. And you should put your veil on properly.’

  He helped her to adjust the veil again and they set off. He drove more sedately now, and she asked herself if he wanted to stay a little while longer with her, or whether he didn’t want to face Imigriana because he’d done something he shouldn’t have. But then so had she. And there had been that quarrel.

  Even though they rode more slowly, and even though Leonis had made a good job of fixing her veil, by the time they arrived at the palace, it was down again.

  Queen Benelov stood waiting, the gentle Queen Benelov, looking stern and angry, and behind her Imigriana, her eyes red and puffy from crying, and Lydia, smirking. Christina wished something would happen to transport her into another world again. Or even one of her attacks would be almost welcome now. Oh this must be the worst day of her life – worse, even, than when she had seen Jan with Susanne. Worse than when she had been about to have her hand chopped off for theft. She had cheated on two friends, and got a third into trouble.

  Chapter Fifteen

  A Falling Out

  Christina studied her appearance carefully in the mirror. This was not going to be easy. She must find Imigriana as soon as possible. She would apologise to her, assure her it would not happen again. Explain that it was just something that she had brought with her from her world. Tell her exactly what Leonis had said, about Imigriana being the only one for him. And tell her, of course, that Jan was the only one for her – gorgeous as Leonis was. Yes, that was it, tell her how great Leonis was, but not meant for her. That should do it. She was sure Imigriana would come round soon. Queen Benelov was a different matter.

  Hence, the plain gown and scarf she had decided to wear. She must look as unimportant as possible. Well, it seemed to be working. She looked totally uninteresting. Neither Leonis nor Jan would find her attractive now. She was suitably pale, as if she hadn’t slept. Surprisingly she had. It had been a type of escape, and she’d been glad of it. She dusted another layer of talcum powder over her cheeks. Even the sun won’t be able to put any colour in my cheeks now, she thought.

  She quickly made her way to the terrace where they always had breakfast. The table was laid as prettily as ever, but Christina was surprised to see that there was only one place set.

  ‘Her Majesty is taking breakfast in her daughter’s quarters,’ said the servant who was carrying in a tray a fresh fruits. ‘The young princess is ill. She says you are to enjoy your breakfast. She will come to see you later. You are not to disturb the princess.’

  On no, though Christina. I must see her. ‘Actually, I’m not very hungry,’ she said to the servant. ‘I’ll just take one of these back to my room.’ She took one of the pomegranates off the plate.

  ‘But missy, you must eat properly. Her Majesty will be concerned if you do not,’ replied the servant.

  Eat, Christina. Christina could suddenly hear Mona’s voice.

  ‘I can’t,’ she said aloud. ‘I have to find her.’

  ‘Missy,’ called the servant.

  Christina turned away and began to run. Within seconds she was outside Imigriana’s room. It seemed very quiet. All of her energy suddenly disappeared at the sight of the closed door. She’d wanted to rush in and blurt out that she was sorry, that nothing like that would ever happen again, that she was too precious a friend to lose, that she still loved Jan, that Leonis was a real babe and Imigriana wa
s lucky to have him but she, Christina, was not interested in him.

  Now, though, she could hardly move.

  It was the quietness, probably, that stopped her. Was there actually anybody in there? She put her ear to the door. She could just make out their voices. Queen Benelov was talking softly. Imigriana was still sobbing quietly. She couldn’t make out what they we saying though.

  Christina bit her lip. She felt slightly sick. She really had not meant to hurt her friend like that. She swallowed hard. She really wanted to creep away and hide but she knew she mustn’t. Her hand trembled as she raised it to knock on the door, and then she surprised herself by knocking very loudly.

  The soft noises from inside the room stopped.

  ‘We can ignore them,’ Christina heard Queen Benelov say.

  Imigriana sighed. ‘No, no, see who it is. He might have sent someone.’

  Christina’s heart started pounding as she heard the soft footsteps coming toward the door. She thought she would pass out as the door clicked open.

  ‘Ah. It’s you,’ said Queen Benelov.

  She could not read the queen’s face. She didn’t look exactly angry, but her eyes seemed cold. She hates me, Christina thought.

  ‘I think it would be better if you didn’t come in,’ said the queen. ‘Now is not the time. You can see Imigriana later.’

  ‘No!’ shouted Imigriana. ‘I never want to see her again. Get her out of the palace. Now!’ Imigriana’s face was red. Tears fell down her cheeks. ‘Go away, go away,’ she cried. ‘They should have cut your hand off. You are a thief.’ Imigriana was pulling at the skirt of her gown. Suddenly she tore it. ‘That’s what you’ve done to me. You’ve broken me.’ Imigriana leant forward and picked up a metal bowl from one of the small tables. She picked it up and threw it at Christina. ‘Go! She shrieked. ‘I never want to see you again.’

  The bowl caught the side of Christina’s forehead, just missing her eye. For a few second there was a searing pain and her vision blurred. She thought she was going to faint. The world swirled around for a few seconds and then cleared.