Dancing Through Dreams

by S K Wee

  When Kurush first arrived at the Academy almost four years ago, his guardians made sure he knew how important it was to remain anonymous. He was the heir to the throne of Bhaelor, and they wanted to make sure he would remain safe behind the walls of the Academy. He began using his nickname Kappy, given to him years ago by Sylly’s young sister, Dianna. When she was still small she had been unable to pronounce his real name, so they came up with something easy for her to say. After that, everyone else within his immediate family began using the moniker also. When he needed to come up with a name to use at the Academy, the nickname was the first to come to mind. Everyone at the Academy knew him as Kappy and because he was always accompanied by the brothers, Dankal and Seisyll, from Briar, everyone assumed he was also from that city, even though he was actually from Port Devdan in Bhaelor. No one outside of his close circle of friends and family knew the truth.

  As Kappy trudged back to the barracks after finishing his work, he came upon a couple of the girls they were spying on—Pritha and Gina. They happened to be the two that were by far the most watched of the whole group. Pritha, of course, had the largest breasts, but Gina’s weren’t anything to dismiss. They were nicely shaped, though only about half the size of Pritha’s.

  “Well, well, look at who’s coming, Gina. Straight from his punishment too, I bet. How wrinkled up do you think his hands are?” Pritha didn’t seem angry at all, which surprised Kappy. She even smiled at him.

  “I would like to apologize for my crude behavior, ladies. I really didn’t mean any disrespect. I hope you are no longer angry with me.” Even though they smiled at him, he felt he should try to make amends.

  “Well, if you must know, I never was angry. I happen to be very proud of my body and I was just wondering how proud you were of yours. I feel I should see what you have hidden away. It’s only fair since you’ve seen what we have.” Pritha stood with her hands on her hips, her chest pushed out tightly against the fabric of her uniform.

  “Huh? You really want to see? Then we would be even, right?” Kappy wasn’t thrilled with showing these girls what he had, but if it would make them even, he would do it. He wasn’t exactly proud of his family jewels, but having been around all these other boys the past few years, he believed he would be considered well-proportioned.

  “Let’s head over behind the bushes and see what you have in those tight trousers of yours.” Pritha seemed even more excited than he had been while climbing the tree weeks past. The weather was near freezing but hopefully, it wouldn’t take her too long to check out the merchandise. She may even want to try it out sometime. This thought got Kappy a bit more excited, and he knew he would now make an even better showing of himself. Wait until he told Sylly about this. This was even better than training with Twig!

  Unfortunately, the cold weather made his presentation sag quickly, but he still saw the look of awe in their eyes. He smiled at them both and tried to picture the vision he kept handy, that last vision of Pritha coming up out of the water. “Would you like to touch it? I don’t mind.” Now proud of his instrument he held it out to them for inspection.

  “Umm . . . no . . . maybe some other time.” Pritha now seemed flustered and embarrassed. “It is interesting, though. Maybe we could see it again sometime. We need to get back to the barracks.” He heard their giggles for quite some time as they sped away, almost running from the scene. Girls!

  Satisfied with himself, he made his way back to the barracks. Though they left giggling, he had seen the interest in Pritha’s face. Somehow, he knew she would come back for more than just a peek. That thought kept him awake most of the night.

  The following week, with his punishment over, Kappy could finally go with Sylly to train with Twig. He was surprised to see a few of the other trainees there also. Dank was there and so was Quintus, another close friend. Quintus was a descendant of the royal Cassal family like Frankie. Because of his ancestry, he had received a gift from the Goddess Frieda. They trained together for a couple of years before they realized what Quin’s gift was and the only reason they discovered it was because Frankie could see his colors. Evidently, Quin could bend shadows around himself to hide in plain sight. He hadn’t even known he could until one day he shied away from one of his teachers and completely disappeared. The only one that could locate him was his cousin Frankie and she wasn’t able to see him either, but his colors were still visible to her.

  There were two female trainees in the group also. Sylly hadn’t mentioned this and Kappy thought he knew why. One of them was Sylly’s least favorite, Malini and the other was the elf Ha-yun. Both were competent soldiers and had already been chosen to be Whispers. In fact, all members of their small group were Whispers. The training Twig put them through was a lot harder than their usual combat training. They had to climb and run, crawl and sneak. By the end of every lesson, Kappy was totally exhausted as they trudged back to the barracks, but he felt like he had accomplished something and was happy.

  When they reached the barracks, Kappy heard someone call to him from the bushes. He and Sylly went to see who was there and found Pritha. She smiled at him and then looked toward Sylly.

  “Umm . . . Kappy,” Pritha looked back toward him. “If we could be private, I was wondering if you still didn’t mind if I touched you?” She looked shyly back toward Sylly.

  Snapping his mouth shut, Kappy couldn’t keep the smile from his face as he turned to Sylly. “Keep watch by the door, would you?” Kappy was so excited he could barely stand still. Cold or not, he felt a welcome heat spread throughout his body. Sylly smirked and walked back toward the front door of the barracks. “We were even, Pritha. Remember? Now I get to touch something of yours also. Okay?”

  “Sure thing,” She readily agreed. He barely had his trousers unbuttoned before Pritha went for him. He didn’t want to waste a moment and reached to pull her shirt up, Kappy got both hands inside when he heard a commotion over near the barracks. Pritha quickly let go of him and pulled away as she pushed her shirt back in place.

  “Kappy!” It was his sister Frankie and she sounded out of breath. “Kappy, it’s time for you to go. Hurry, get your things together.” Kappy ran over to her to see what she was talking about. He had almost another year at the Academy. “Councilman Anduras has died and you are needed back home. Hurry now.”

  Kappy’s Uncle Anduras had been filling the position as Regent for more than a decade since the death of Kappy’s deranged father, Amir Mohana. Kappy knew Anduras had been ill for months but always believed he would recover. With his death, the title of Amir would be given to Kappy, and he did not feel at all ready to take over the reins of leadership.

  *****

  Every evening they participated in extra training, Quin felt more and more part of the group. He was raised with Sylly and Dank but always felt like an outsider. Even with Kappy, who he had known for many years, he never felt truly comfortable. The last couple of months with Twig and their small team of Whispers made all the difference. Quin truly felt part of the team, part of a close-knit group.

  Kappy and Sylly always tried to include him previously, but their idea of fun hadn’t appealed to Quin. He didn’t feel right about spying on the girls. He was probably just as curious, but he was cautioned not only by Frankie but Darby and Jeffro also. He had the gift of being able to use shadows to hide—he could all but disappear from sight and spy on anyone he wanted to. Therefore, all of his family had stressed that he should never abuse this gift.

  When he first realized what he could do, he often would sneak up on people, but most of his friends were Whispers and could feel his approach. Frankie could see his colors even without seeing him. But he still had tried to go places without being seen—he snuck into the kitchen and watched Sylly and Kappy with their punishment. If he didn’t get too close to them, they would not feel the Whisper breeze. But Quin knew he would never invade the privacy of any of the girls no matter how bad he wanted to check them out. He also tried hard not to listen to any private
conversations.

  “Quin, you’ll never earn the trust and respect of your teammates if you continually lurk in the background listening in on conversations that are not meant for you.” Frankie had told him. Quin wanted more than anything in the world to be accepted and trusted by his peers.

  The gift itself made him different, but that was not all. He was the only one of the group with the dark skin tone that he inherited from his mother. His mother, Desta, was born across the ocean in Mal Ingo. Captured and sold into slavery as a young girl, Desta was delivered as a sex slave to King Felix’s bastard son. Quin couldn’t help but feel he was a bastard son of a bastard son of a bastard, which Felix certainly was. With the Whisper training and the special training Twig provided, Quin was just now starting to feel equal in the eyes around him.

  Ever since he and his mother were rescued from the castle at Marcella, the healing process had begun. First, with their move to the Island of Orion with Darby and Arlie, then with his mother’s marriage to Jeffro, who was everything a father should be. Quin knew how very lucky he was to have such a wonderful family but the past sometimes still overwhelmed him and was the cause of his insecurity.

  When the news came about the death of Anduras and subsequent team reassignments, Quin was excited to be included. It seemed that Frankie and Twig had chosen their little group to remain with Kappy once he left and even though he was leaving early, the team would still be offered the choice to go with him.

  “Each of you will need to make your own choice. We planned to have this team work together for another year but we feel that you have bonded quite well already. Kappy will need personal guards, which was what we intended from this team,” Twig said to the gathered group. Quin knew he would have to discuss it with his mother but was sure that this opportunity was something he didn’t want to turn down. He felt a strong bond with all of these people and knew they would continue to work well together.

  Chapter 2

  City of Waldeburg, Seat of Duke Wagner, Country of Mandalay

  The final bell rang just as Sophia gave out the assignment for the class. The weather was turning cold, and many of the students would be staying closer to home for the next couple of months. The city children would sometimes come into the library at the school if weather permitted but for the most part, schooling would not continue until early spring when the snows quit.

  Most of the children filed out but those left behind were her young nieces and nephews. They would return to the castle with her and either cross over a bridge to their home or stay until their parents came to collect them. She loved them all and took pride in each and every one of them.

  The oldest was Pip, whose real name was Francis. He had been named after her niece, Frankie. Francis was the son of Frankie’s husband, Twig, and Henny, who at the time of his conception was a kitchen maid at the manor in Rambert. He was nicknamed Pip just as Twig received his nickname due to his small size. Twig’s real name was Jackson, but few knew him by that name. Pip was now nearly twelve years old but looked about nine, thus his name. Pip had made many close friendships through the school, and many of them would be going with him to the Academy next year. His closest friend, Archie, was the son of one of the dwarf couples. Archie, being a dwarf, was shorter than the others his age except for Pip. Sophia knew that Pip would grow like a weed in a couple more years and would certainly be much taller than Archie.

  Next in line was Dianna. Though not technically Sophia’s niece, she was raised by Sophia’s nephew and was considered family. Dianna’s birth parents were murdered over ten years earlier. She had no recollection of her birth parents but the elf, Huhana, tried to keep their memory alive. Huhana was an aunt to Dianna’s birth father and tried to teach Dianna what she could about elfin culture and traditions. Huhana and her husband, Rhiver, ran a winery and eatery in the city and Dianna would spend a lot of time there helping out.

  The other students were Lysette, her brother Darby’s daughter, almost eleven, with the beauty and grace of a princess. Frankie and Twig’s children also attended the school. Their daughter, Ellinor, was nine and their twin boys, Rohan and Riley, were seven. Last but certainly not least was the Prince Ulrik, son of Sophia’s nephew, Vendan and his elf princess, Willow. Ulrik was now seven years old and soon would have another sibling as Willow was once again pregnant and due at any time. Even the Elfin community welcomed this news even though most of them had fought against the union of Vendan and Willow. Having seen the result of their marriage, it was hard not to see the wisdom of the choices that were made. It didn’t hurt that the two were madly in love and probably would never have married anyone else anyhow.

  It was on this sunny but cold afternoon that Sophia and her crew made their way toward the castle. All the children were bundled up against the cold, but the strong north wind from the mountains would steal your breath away and it took a fair amount of time to traverse the winding roads to the castle.

  As they made the last curve, she saw her husband, Duke Wagner, was approaching to meet them. “Hello, beautiful. I’ll help you get these little imps inside. Frankie and Twig will be here soon with some news that didn’t sound good. I couldn’t get any details from my son, though.” Wagner’s son was Twig, and therefore Pip was his grandson who he doted on. Though Wagner and Sophia tried for years to have children, Goddess Frieda did not bless them with any of their own. Sophia was happy to have all of these treasures to make up for the lack.

  By the time they got all the children inside and coats and boots off, Sophia heard squealing from them when they saw Twig and Frankie arrive. All the children loved Twig especially. He could make illusions with his magic and spent hours entertaining them.

  “I’ll take the children to the playroom,” Twig announced. “Frankie can fill you in on the news. Come along, children, I have a new tale about a certain fire-breathing dragon on the loose.” The children all screamed with excitement. How they loved the stories Twig would create.

  They settled into the study and Sophia’s maid, Emma, served them some hot tea and biscuits. Sophia dismissed Emma and turned to Frankie. “Okay, let’s hear the news.”

  Frankie had barely enough time to take a sip of tea. “Anduras has passed away. I’ve already sent Kurush back to Port Devdan, Sylly demanded to go with him for support. Dankal and Quintus have gone back to their homes for now. We must wait to hear from Rosaline about the funeral and eventual crowning ceremonies. Poor Kappy was not at all prepared for this. He feels quite inadequate for the job, but I know Rose will help him out and I feel that even though he is not quite ready, he will do just fine.” Frankie leaned back into the chair with a heavy sigh.

  “Oh dear. I should go to Rose and see how she is doing. I know she and Anduras didn’t have quite the love match, but she always felt a strong respect and maintained a strong partnership with the man. I have not doubt she will be feeling that loss. I should go to her and help where I can.” Sophia looked at her husband. “What do you think?”

  “If that is what you think best. We’ll all be following, I’m sure. I should get in touch with Finn and he can see you to the Palace. Arlie will also want to be there for her sister.” Darby’s wife, Arlie, was Rose’s sister. Both the sisters were like sisters to Sophia and she could feel their pain.

  Frankie cleared her throat, and all eyes went to her. “I could take my three children along with Lysette to Orion. I’m sure Quin has filled them in on everything by now.” Frankie would be a great help to Arlie. Sophia was sure Arlie would want to go to her sister’s immediately, but would be worried about the children. If Frankie were there, she wouldn’t need to worry about anything.

  “That’s a very good idea, Frankie. You can watch over Arlie’s children so she can be with Rose. What about Pip? Should we send him home or bring him along?” Pip’s parents would probably not attend the funeral or coronation, as they didn’t really know Anduras or Kurush.

  “I’ll ask Twig what he thinks. I would love to bring him along to Orion. H
e has been there often and loves the island. But we would need to get in touch with Gavin and Henny to see if it is all right with them. With her three other children, I doubt if she will mind, though.” Though Pip was Twig’s biological son, he was raised by his mother, Henny, and Twig’s cousin, Gavin. The couple was blessed with three more children of their own and never kept Twig or any of his family from seeing Pip any time they wanted to. As a result, the friendship between the couples had grown through the years. Their other children got along with Frankie and Twig’s three children and they were all raised as cousins.

  Around her neck, Frankie had a communication device she used to stay in touch with her Color Guard teams stationed throughout the country of Mandalay. The pendant lit up which was an indication there was a message from one of her team captains. She activated the etched rune on the device and held it to her ear.

  “It’s from Bolten in Briar,” Frankie stated after she finished listening to the message. “Dank arrived back home and told Conny and Ekky what has happened. Conny wants Dianna to come home for now, and she is quite upset that I let Sylly go to Port Devdan with Kappy. I sure didn’t mean to upset her, but it was obvious that Kappy needed a friend. He was very close to Anduras and I could see the shock and pain of his passing. Kappy didn’t expect this . . . none of us did. I knew Anduras wasn’t well for a while but I never considered it was serious. Twig might have been able to heal him if we had known.” Frankie was trying to hold back her tears. Sophia knew Frankie had gone through a lot the last few hours and needed some support.