by JManess
Sondra groaned again as Liliana tucked her in and left the room, shaking her head at her princess, who actually thought the devotion of a beautiful man was something to groan about.
Sondra didn’t have much of a rest, though, as her family descended for their daily visits. First, both her parents swirled in, enveloped her in hugs, fluffed and fussed with her blankets and pillows, asked after her health, and asked again just what she remembered about the events leading up to her ensorcelment. After many reassurances that she felt fine, grew stronger every cycle, and her arms were no longer sore, Sondra once again claimed that she did not remember what had happened or retain much memory of her time as a dragon. Her parents, dissatisfied as always with the vague and uninformative answers, left her in momentary peace.
Soon, Sarai and Sergen appeared. Sarai gave her a fierce hug before she could even speak and pulled out her embroidery, bringing a stool next to the bed to visit and chat like old times. Sergen rolled his eyes at Sarai.
“I just came by to check on you, Sondra. I’m going to the training field; Father is going to let me train with the soldiers, and Lord Derek even said he would help me with my swordplay.” Sergen nearly bounced with excited
✥ Th e Princess’s Dragon ✥
199
anticipation. Sondra smiled at his exuberance, grabbed his arm, and pulled him in to a hug, from which he promptly struggled free, and bid him hurry before Lord Derek grew impatient. He raced from the room without another word, waving as he shut the door.
Sarai visited for over an hour and it felt good to gossip with her sister again, catch up on all the petty intrigues she’d missed, and simply spend time in Sarai’s restful presence. Sondra enjoyed her visits, but Sarai always ended them by repeating the same questions her parents asked, was she certain she remembered nothing? For Sondra, every lie felt like another betrayal of her family, until she grew to dread their visits as much as anticipate their company.
There was one visitor she never expected to see but found herself greeting for the first time in rotas, only cycles after she arrived back in Ariva. On that cycle, to her shock her sister Elona stood in her doorway and for a moment Sondra could almost swear her sister appeared uncertain, but then she bustled into the room with her usual graceful efficiency. Sondra braced herself, the way she always did when confronting her sister, expecting a battle of wills that she had no chance to win. Instead, her sister took a seat beside her and rather than boldly meeting her gaze, Elona stared down at the end of the lounge where Sondra had propped her feet in jaunty little slippers.
“Are you well?” Elona asked, without a trace of her usual contempt. Sondra noted that her sister looked thinner than usual, and pale, but that only served to make her more beautiful.
“I’m feeling better. And you? I hear that I have a new nephew that I can’t wait to meet.”
Elona’s smile at the mention of her son was beatific. It was obvious she loved the child and Sondra was a bit taken aback that her sister possessed the capacity to love anyone more than herself.
“He is beautiful! When you are feeling stronger I’ll bring him by for you to meet. You will like him. He reminds me a lot of you when you were little.” Sondra glanced at her sister in open surprise. Elona still wouldn’t meet her eyes. She continued into Sondra’s stunned silence, determined to get the words out.
“You were an adorable baby and a good child. I am sorry, Sondra, about the way I treated you when we were growing up. When we thought you were gone, I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to ask your forgiveness.” 200
✥ Susan Trombley ✥
Elona finally looked at Sondra where she sat with her jaw gaping open.
She turned away again. “I know that we are very different and I don’t expect us to miraculously become best friends but I would like to have your forgiveness and a chance to know you as an adult.” Elona fell silent, waiting.
Sondra pulled herself together and snapped her mouth shut, thinking back over all the childish torments Elona put her through while they were growing up. Then she looked at her sister, really studied her. Fine lines showed around her eyes, and hollow shadows highlighted her face where her own hardships left their mark. Sondra realized that Elona had her own fears, dreams, and wishes, separate from what seemed to be her mission of making Sondra miserable. She realized that she had never, until this moment, thought of her sister as a person in her own right. She suddenly felt an incredible desire to know this woman, this stranger who shared her bloodline.
Elona waited for her to say something, only a slight tick in her right eye betraying her apprehension. Sondra didn’t answer; instead, she cautiously wrapped her arms around her sister and then the two women embraced, laughing and crying at the same time, relief and regret overwhelming them both. Elona visited with Sondra until sundeath that cycle and continued to visit as often as the rest of Sondra’s family.
This cycle Elona spent over an hour speaking of the condition of the kingdom since the battle at Ulrick Pass and what news she’d gleaned from conversations in the throne room about the state of the chasm and the enemy troops that still camped on the other side. After she updated Sondra, she finally left her to rest.
Sondra wondered at Elona’s amazing interest and perception of matters of state. Her eldest sister really seemed to care about the state of their kingdom as well as the political struggles taking place elsewhere. It was a subject Sondra rarely ever concerned herself with, always trusting that her father did an excellent job as king. It appeared that Elona felt strongly about the matter and had many of her own ideas and plans for the kingdom. For Sondra, the more she grew to know and understand her sister, the more she realized how blind she’d always been about her family, those she always thought she knew best.
She’d spent her entire life wrapped in illusions that gave her comfort, but kept her understanding superficial and her loved ones at a distance.
Another ten cycles passed with no sign of Tolmac. Sondra walked the curtain wall everyday, sometimes with Derek or Sarai, sometimes alone, but
✥ Th e Princess’s Dragon ✥
201
her eyes always searched the horizon and the massive Thunder Mountain at the center of Terroc’s Ring. Since the Warlord’s return to Ariva, riders came and went from the castle with news and updates from all over the kingdom, primarily from Passton, where messengers brought news of the now-cooled surface of the chasm they began calling the Black River. The enemy soldiers finally decamped, many fearfully searching the skies as they retreated, leaving their dead behind to feed the carrion birds.
Barselor issued an official apology and Queen Isa made veiled references to the way Halidor tricked them and misrepresented their new “guardians” as threats to all of the southern lands. No word came from Halidor, but neither did their soldiers come, once Ariva’s engineers completed a bridge over the chasm.
Derek ordered that the mercenaries receive their payment and released them from service. They promptly headed south, eager to spend their new fortunes as they saw fit. Ariva’s army built a new and permanent garrison at the Pass and the first unit of soldiers attached to the Black River fortress started serving their term as guards at the new outpost.
A Blade’s Edge representative arrived to inform Princess Elona that her husband died during the conflict and King Arctuor demanded she return his heir to Blade’s Edge immediately. The messenger left Elona’s presence pale and shaking, returning to his king and informing him that the youngest Bladen Pprince would remain in Ariva until all threat of war and unrest had been settled and a new and irrevocable treaty with Ariva signed to guarantee the safety of any Arivan citizens passing through Bladen territory.
Sondra used her time reacquainting herself with her family and found that she continued to grow closer to Elona, who proved to be a brilliant, charming, and engaging raconteur. They began riding out on the royal grounds in the mornings, and Sondra spent many of her evenings cuddling her precious nephew under th
e watchful and doting eye of his mother. She also spent a great deal of time with Sarai and Sergen, and offered them both the opportunity to take whatever they wished from her workroom. She found she no longer had interest in the study of logic.
During her times alone she often contemplated going to the Woods and seeking out the wizard. She wanted to beg him to make her a dragon again as each cycle that passed insulated her memories of that time, freeing her to live again but leaving behind a feeling of dissatisfaction. She saw no sign of 202
✥ Susan Trombley ✥
Tolmac, despite the fact that she constantly searched for him, and she could no longer feel anything but the faintest whisper of a bond where his spirit had once lodged comfortably. That was why she didn’t seek out the wizard, the reason that held her back. Tolmac didn’t want her; he’d made it quite clear when he’d disappeared and failed to return or even contact her through their bond. The rejection ripped her apart, then it ached, then it stung, and now, after some time to heal, it rankled. She wanted to confront him, to demand he listen to her side of the story, but she didn’t think she could bear another rejection. So Sondra didn’t hunt down the wizard and she began to suspect that the happiest moments of her life were destined to fade into memory.
She saw Derek nearly every cycle and he continued to charm her from her ennui and depression. He didn’t attempt to kiss her again, nor did he speak of their previous relationship; instead, he allowed her time to relax, to simply enjoy his company and his friendship. The more time she spent with him, the more Sondra recalled why she’d fallen for him in the first place. Under his handsome and charming surface, Sondra sensed the steel that he so rarely revealed. The knowledge of his inner strength and seriousness used to make her feel safe and secure; she doubted he’d ever encountered a situation he could not handle. She knew he would be a devoted and loyal husband and father, protecting her and their children to the death if it ever came to that.
She realized that she wanted children, and that she didn’t want to spend her life locked in the castle as an unmarried princess watching her youth and vitality fade. She wasn’t going to pine away for a love that didn’t love her back.
She would find a way to love Derek again, but even if she couldn’t, she decided that she could still be the perfect wife and show him all the loyalty and devotion he showed her.
Once she’d made up her mind to accept Derek’s proposal, she realized she needed to convince him to propose. What if he didn’t want her anymore either?
Then she remembered his kiss, the barest pressure of his lips brushing hers and the way his own eyes glazed over immediately afterward. No, she decided, he did still want her, but he was being noble, allowing her to reacquaint herself with him and her life. She appreciated it, but now she was going to let him know that she wanted a new life, with him. If she had to be so bold as to actually tell him so, she would.
She pushed her love for Tolmac into a corner of her heart, locking it away, aware that she would never truly be free from it, but determined to move on
✥ Th e Princess’s Dragon ✥
203
anyway. She spent the remainder of the cycle planning her seduction of Derek, anxious to move forward now that she’d made her decision. That evening she made her way back to her chambers, her guards close behind.
When they reached her chambers she proceeded inside, leaving them to guard the doors. She imagined they were grateful to be away from her. Though her family accepted her transformation with remarkable calm, the rest of the citizens of Ariva, including the guards, soldiers, and servants, regarded her with mingled fear and awe. They appreciated what she had done for them but they feared her and no one had completely forgotten the black dragon that followed her, though he certainly forgot Sondra easily enough. She answered no questions about him and no one dared push the issue, but it left many citizens casting fearful glances at the sky though they tried to hide it from her.
Inside her room, Elona’s chambermaid waited for her with a message from Elona. Apparently her sister had something she wished to tell Sondra, but she didn’t want anyone to overhear it. She had devised a plan to sneak Sondra from her chambers by dressing her up as the maid. The guards never really looked at the maids, only at what they carried with them. The chambermaid brought with her a uniform and said she would meet Elona around the corner of the hall to take her to where her sister waited. She urged Sondra to hurry, and then slipped from the room.
Sondra thought the whole situation was a little bit silly and childish but the constant presence of her guards, the way she felt imprisoned in this castle, and the hunger for a new adventure to distract her saw her slipping awkwardly out of her own gown with Liliana’s disapproving assistance and into the maid’s uniform. She tucked her long braid under the maid’s cap, ducked her head, and snatched up the tray she’d finished eating from several hours before.
That was another unfortunate side effect of her new reputation—servants did not respond with the same speed as before. She imagined that they drew lots belowstairs to decide who had to serve as her chambermaid that cycle. Her old chambermaid had been reassigned after her funeral. Fortunately, Liliana, her lady’s maid, was returned to her from the post she had been assigned to assisting one of the lesser noblewoman that served as ladies-in-waiting to Sarai.
Liliana was the only servant who didn’t cringe or cower from Sondra, but that was hardly surprising since she was really more sister than servant.
This night she made her opinions quite clear; she wasn’t happy with this arrangement. Something didn’t seem right. Sondra waved away her reservations 204
✥ Susan Trombley ✥
and slipped out the door laden with the tray, trying to carry herself as she felt a servant might. Sure enough, the two guards chatting outside her door barely glanced up as the short maid hustled by, plates and covers rattling. She heard one whisper something to the other, and they both broke into laughter behind her. Her cheeks burned as she tried not to imagine what they could have been discussing, and she started missing the layer of invisible armor that royalty afforded its women, protection from the lewd comments and actions of men, that servants and commoners did not have.
She met Elona’s maid around the corner and quietly set down the tray before hurrying after the girl. They moved away from Elona’s chamber and toward the servant’s stairs, and the girl only urged her onward at her whispered inquiry. Soon they moved through the same shadowed corridors that Sondra had once snuck out of on a night that seemed so far away, a night that had changed her entire life. She followed the slender girl down the stairs and out to the kitchen gardens. Just outside the door in the shadowed garden sheltered from the heat and chaos of the kitchen, the maid turned and took one last look at Sondra before hurrying off.
Sondra looked around for her sister and was just turning back to the kitchen, obeying the slight tingle of fear caused by the maid’s strange behavior, when a rough, filthy hand clapped over her mouth, cutting off her scream. She struggled in terror, kicking and trying to bite, her hands clawing at the heavy coarse fabric covering muscular arms that closed around her like bands on a barrel. The man knocked her out with one punch to the side of her head, and Sondra fell limp in his arms. He trussed her up and loaded her into the secret compartment on the smuggler’s cart, finished unloading the barrels he was ostensibly at the castle to deliver, and then hopped in the driver’s seat and slapped the reins. The horses kicked into a trot, pulling the cart, loaded with the princess, away from the castle.
That same night, Lord Derek received a note from Princess Elona to meet in the library. He debated ignoring the missive, with its single and uninformative line: I must speak with you about a matter of grave urgency. Still, Derek’s survival had often depended on him obeying a hunch and now he had a hunch that this message and this meeting were very important.
He made haste, throwing on a tunic and overcoat, and pulling on his boots before he raced from his chamber. He reached t
he royal library only a short time after the servant delivered the missive to him at his. He knocked softly
✥ Th e Princess’s Dragon ✥
205
at the library door and entered at Elona’s call. He was surprised to see her in a dressing gown, her hair bound up. He was even more surprised and increasingly alarmed to see the two guards he’d personally set on duty at Sondra’s room that day waiting with Elona and Sondra’s lady’s maid, Liliana. His alarm turned to full-scale panic when Liliana explained that Sondra had snuck out of her room to meet Elona but when Liliana bravely sought out the eldest princess with her concerns it was to discover that Elona had never sent her chambermaid with such a message. The guards knew nothing, and Lord Derek sent them to search the castle for the chambermaid, the traitorous bitch who was no doubt counting her gold and planning her escape.
It took until sunbirth to find the girl, and she was indeed planning on escape. She’d already reached the city gates when the guards there, stopping everyone who went through, discovered her. They locked her in the castle dungeon, interrogated her, and it was discovered that she knew very little save that a rough-looking man approached her on the previous cycle while she was out shopping in the city. He promised her gold to perform a simple task for him. She swore tearfully that she didn’t know the princess would be in any danger and believed she led the princess to a secret assignation.
Lord Derek wanted the girl executed, but the king and queen chose banishment instead. The gold the girl received in payment provided them with the best clue, as it displayed Halidor’s priest king on the front and an image of Morbidon’s skull helm on the back.
Lord Derek set out that very same day in the hopes of catching up to the kidnappers before they reached the border, but it seemed hopeless; he had no idea who they were or how they would be traveling. He could only pray to the gods that the thieves would make a careless mistake and leave behind a clue.
He added that prayer to the others for Sondra’s safety and well being. The images of what might be done to her haunted him on his lonely ride. Worse, he had failed her a second time after vowing to protect her, and this time could be her last.
