Water Princess, Fire Prince

by Kendra E. Ardnek

  Andrew slowly shook his head, very conscious of the expectant look she was giving him. “I haven’t really seen it yet,” he admitted. “Maybe after I’ve had a chance to examine it, I’ll have an idea, but not until then.”

  She appeared to consider some retorts that she could throw at him but didn’t seem to find any. Andrew decided to take advantage of this speechlessness.

  “Clara, it has come to my attention that you don’t really like me,” he said.

  “Really?” she asked.

  “And I completely understand,” he continued. “I mean, I’m caught in the same boat. I’m expected to rule a country that I’d previously never heard of, fight a dragon who’s a thousand times stronger than myself, and, to top it all off, I’ve been paired with a girl who I would never have, in a thousand years, considered as the girl for me.” He paused and, noting the glare she was sending him, hastily added, “Don’t get me wrong, you’re a gorgeous girl and exactly the sort we need to fight the Lady Dragon, but also completely different than what I’d imagined.”

  “At least you were warned that I would fight,” she pointed out.

  “I know,” he admitted. “But being warned and actually knowing what you’re like are two very different things. In fact,” he took a deep breath as he considered his wording, “I actually was trying to ignore the fact you existed.”

  “Fair enough,” said she. “I was doing the same thing for you. Unfortunately, they kept bringing you up, especially once we got here and the next move was waiting for you to show up so that we could get into the mountain.”

  “So, since it’s established that neither of us is very thrilled about the whole Union thing, I would suggest we try to forget about it, for now, at least.”

  “I’m not sure they’ll let us,” said she, leaning against a tree and folding her arms over her chest.

  “I said try,” Andrew pointed out. “Let’s focus on getting to know each other as human beings, and try to forget where they expect us to go with our relationship. I’m not saying this will be the perfect arrangement, but we have to work with what we have. From what I understand, Klarand depends on the two of us working together.”

  “That’s what the prophecy indicates,” she admitted, her shoulders sagging.

  “I admit that I resented my new title at first,” Andrew continued. “But I’ve come to care for the people of Klarand, and I’ve seen the danger threatening them. I’m willing to do what I must to keep them safe, and I suspect you are too. You’re the Water Princess, after all.”

  She opened her mouth, and Andrew flinched, expecting a biting protest, but then she shrugged and looked away again. “You’re right,” she said. “I do like these Klaranders, probably a bit more than they deserve.”

  “And, right now, ‘what we must’ is to work together,” Andrew finished. “I – I really wasn’t looking forward to facing the Dragon, ever since I found out about her. But now that I’ve met you, and found out that you’re the Water Princess, I think with you it’s possible. We’ll have to work together, though. I’m not asking for anything more than that – at the moment, I’m not sure I want anything more.”

  She stared at him for several seconds, and Andrew had no idea what she might be thinking. At last, however, she announced, “We can start by getting you better with that sword.” And with that she ducked back into the cave, muttering, “Can’t have them waking up and finding us missing, now can we.”

  Andrew sighed and followed. He’d hoped for a better response but, at least she didn’t yell at him or do something dangerous, such as point a sword at him again.

  

  Clara again brought up the rear as they made their way back to camp. The Fire Prince let Jasmine walk a short ways, but when her ankle started hurting her again, he once more handed his backpack to Karlos and hoisted the girl onto his back.

  She was glad for the distance between them, was glad that he wasn’t in her face about the situation – and was completely upset. She wanted to hate him so badly, but he was being nice. He was as much a victim of the situation as she was, and it almost made her feel guilty. Almost, but not quite.

  It almost would have been better had he not wanted them to keep their distance. For one, it would have given her a logical reason to hate him, and second, well…

  She hated to admit it, even to herself, but there was a small part of her that was disappointed that he didn’t like her. After all, he was the Fire Prince, the guy she was apparently destined to be with. Yes, she had already determined that he wasn’t her type, but for him to out and say that she wasn’t his, well, she was almost insulted.

  She’d watched him the night before, and had grudgingly come to admire the way in which he handled the situation. There was a calm about him, a sense of leadership that she lacked, and that she knew that Klarand needed. Perhaps he viewed her as the solution to the Dragon issue, but she saw in him the leader she was scared to be.

  So why did that whole Union thing have to factor in? She would have been just fine with purging that dragon for him, then leaving and letting him do the “set all to right” part of the prophecy.

  These thoughts chased her all the way back to camp. They arrived to find Abraham and Jakob talking to a few of the men, Jill Anna standing at a respectful distance, all looking very upset. Understandable, considering how the storm had washed through and that the four of them weren’t back yet.

  “They’re fine,” the Fire Prince announced, as he slid the girl to the ground and Jill Anna rushed forward to play the big sister. “Well, Jasmine has a sprained ankle from falling off of a cliff, but they both survived the experience.”

  Abraham rushed forward as well and, after sharing some stern words with his son, turned to the Fire Prince. “However did you find them?” he asked. “Even the dogs…”

  The Fire Prince gave a sheepish shrug. “You never asked me if I could track. My friend’s dad – the Cherokee one – he taught me. He’s the boy scouts instructor back home.”

  “Boy scouts?” Abraham repeated.

  “It’s a thing we have in our world to teach boys to be men, a dying art,” Clara slid in. “They tie knots and help old ladies cross the road.”

  “That’s some of it,” the Fire Prince admitted, giving her an unamused glance out of the corner of his eye. “There’s also tracking, though usually not on the scale that Mr. Eaglechaser taught it.”

  The conversation plunged into a discussion on the ins and outs of boy scouts. Clara wasn’t interested, so she slipped away and wandered off to the practice field, where she found a bow and started shooting the trees.

  “From what Jasmine tells me, your Fire Prince is a resourceful fellow.”

  Clara turned to see Jill Anna standing just behind her.

  She swallowed and shot an arrow at the nearest tree before she was able to conjure a response. “I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t refer to him as mine,” she said. “We’re business partners in the loosest sense of the word that we can possibly manage.”

  Jill Anna was quiet for several moments. “That doesn’t change the words of the prophecy, I don’t think,” she put in.

  “We’re not trying to,” Clara admitted. “But for now, we only just met each other, and our relationship has not progressed to the point where we can start being possessive of each other.”

  “I suppose I do understand that,” Jill Anna admitted. “Well, I shall correct myself. The Fire Prince is quite the resourceful fellow.”

  “I guess I can admit to that,” said Clara, “since he did rescue your sister last night and found a cave for us to sleep in, out of the rain. However, that doesn’t mean that I like him. Respect for another person’s skills and romantic interest are two completely different things.”

  “Give it time, Water Princess, you’ve only just met him,” Jill Anna pointed out.

  “I understand that,” said Clara, “and I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. However, the more people remind me about our
supposed future together, the less I’m inclined to let things progress to that point.” She sighed vigorously. “Why must the world be so unfair? Class forbids you from marrying the man you admire, while it seems that I’m trapped into something with this Fire Prince.”

  “Admiration and love are two different things,” said Jill Anna, quietly. “Besides, I … don’t think that Jakob has ever truly noticed me, not really. And it takes two to make a match.”

  In Clara’s case, it was a country against the two that made the match. “That’s because you’ve kept yourself hidden among the faceless mass of servants,” she pointed out. “Now that you’re the recipient of my prized attention, I don’t think he has any choice but to notice.”

  But Jill Anna just sighed and shook her head. “I’m still just a servant to him, and that’s all I’ll ever be. Now that you mention it, I do have things I must see to, so since you’re not interested in talking, as I supposed you might be, I’d best be going.”

  Clara glanced in the direction of her retreating friend and winced inwardly. Jill Anna had thought that she’d want a listening ear about the events of the night before and had come prepared to be one, the dear girl.

  And the sad thing was, Clara did need someone to talk to, but not the sort that Jill Anna had meant to be. Jill Anna had assumed that Clara wanted to talk about a newly kindled love. That was the furthest thing from what Clara wanted.

  

  Andrew explained boy scouts, tracking, and everything else that the men wanted to know about, the whole time looking for a way out of the conversation.

  As hard as he tried to not think about her, he couldn’t get the Water Princess out of his head. Every time he closed his eyes, there she was, glaring at him. And yet, then again, there was also the image of her sleeping form, so young and innocent.

  At last, he found an opening and took the opportunity to escape. He wandered off, he wasn’t sure where. Away from people. He found himself headed back towards the tree line, quite lost in thought until an arrow whizzed by, nearly taking off his ear.

  Jumping to the side and spinning around, he saw the Water Princess standing a few feet away, bow in hand, with a wild look in her eyes that reminded Andrew of an Amazon princess.

  “This is an archery range,” she informed him. “Beware wild arrows.”

  “Ah, yeah, I think I noticed,” said Andrew, deciding it would probably be safer if he was closer to her. Bows weren’t as effective in close quarters.

  She snorted. “You’d better be glad that I wasn’t aiming for you. I don’t miss easily.” She tilted her head to the side, and a thoughtful light came into her eye. “You had a bow yesterday.”

  “Ah, yeah,” said Andrew, running a hand through his hair, “we were hunting.”

  “I see,” said the Water Princess, nodding slightly.

  “No, you don’t,” Andrew countered.

  She turned to him with a confused expression which quickly hardened into a glare.

  “Well.” Andrew almost regretted contradicting her. “You didn’t see me hunting; you scared the rikka away.”

  She snorted, and he suddenly found the bow and an arrow in his hands. “There’s hope for you yet,” she observed. “Now, let’s see you actually shoot something.” She pointed to a nearby tree with a very distinctive knot. “Let’s see you hit that.”

  No use protesting. She had a right to assess his skill, after all. He carefully fitted the arrow to the string, aimed, and let it fly. It sank soundly into the knot.

  “Not bad,” the Water Princess admitted. “But you should have had that arrow in that tree about twenty seconds sooner – possibly thirty.”

  “I had to aim,” Andrew protested.

  “Fair enough,” she acknowledged, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. “But while you were aiming, that rikka that you were going to shoot just hopped away into the bushes, never to be seen again. And you expect me to believe that you can hunt?”

  She had a point there. “You were watching,” he amended. He was making excuses, he knew it, but there was some part of him that wanted her to be impressed with him and wasn’t admitting defeat. “Do you know how hard it is to shoot well when you have someone watching you that critically?

  “I compete,” she informed him, clearly not impressed. “Panel of judges watching your every move, eager for you to make just one mistake, whether it be in form or aim, so that they can disqualify you. I’ve got an idea. Thing is, you can’t let your audience get to you. You have to ignore them. Otherwise, well, for you, it’s bordering into the life and death sort of stakes here.”

  Andrew swallowed, wishing she was wrong, but she wasn’t. “You compete?” he asked, deciding to change the subject.

  “Yep,” she said, popping the p.

  “And let me guess. You win?”

  “Well, not archery,” she admitted. “Not when Kath or Rich are also competing. Understandable, though, since it’s their dad who taught us.”

  “Oh,” said Andrew. “So, some of your friends back in your own world?” Something in the way she said their names made him uncomfortable.

  “Kath’s one of my two best friends, Rich is her older brother,” she explained. “Our parents co-own a fitness center, and each of them teaches something. My dad teaches Tae Kwon Do, my mom, fencing. As you can probably guess, I’m usually the one to win when we attend those competitions.”

  “Ah,” said Andrew. “Makes sense, I guess.”

  Without warning, the bow was out of his hand, and five seconds later, there were two more arrows sticking out of the same knot as his.

  “That’s all the better that I can do,” she admitted. “Kath or Rich might have split your arrow.”

  “Rather Robin Hood of them,” said Andrew.

  “They don’t do it very often,” she added. “Arrows are expensive, after all.” She handed the bow and an arrow back to him. “Within the next three minutes, I want to see ten more arrows embedded in those trees,” she informed him. “I don’t care which trees. In fact, I recommend that you don’t put them all into the same one. However, you’ll be the one to go fetch any arrow that doesn’t hit a tree.”

  “And you’ll get any that does?” Andrew asked.

  She actually punched him. “No, you’ll be fetching all of the arrows. It’ll just be easier for you to find them if they’re in a tree, rather than hopelessly lost in a bush.”

  Andrew wondered if “all the arrows” included the two dozen or so that she had already shot. It probably did. No use protesting. He raised the bow and did as she asked. Every time an arrow was out of his hand, her hand was there offering him a new one.

  “Not bad,” she said after he was done. “As I said, there’s hope for you. Only one went into the forest, and two fell short, but again, not bad.”

  “I’ve been practicing,” he informed her.

  “I can tell,” she agreed, taking the bow away from him. “Now for the sword. As nice as the bow is, I’ve a suspicion that our battles will be hand to hand. Us getting swords, unlike the Leaf Princess and Wind Prince who both received bows, is not such a subtle hint. So, I’m going to focus on that with you. You’re fair enough with the bow so that you can use it in a pinch, like I am, so we need to focus on that sword of yours. I don’t want to lose you the first time we head into battle.”

  “I’m glad to hear that you care so much about me,” Andrew noted, drawing his sword.

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s not you; it’s the fact that Klarand needs you. You might be worried about facing the dragon herself, but I’m not looking forward to the ruling that comes after that. So, I have vested interest in keeping you alive.”

  Andrew took a step back as he processed what she said. She expected him to do the ruling? “Aren’t you going to draw your sword?” he asked, deciding that he would rather not ask questions and get confirmation that she meant what he thought she did.

  “No,” she said, a dangerous light in her eyes. “I don’t need it a
gainst you. I might as well handicap myself and give you an advantage.”

  “But you…”

  “Come on, just attack me. I assure you that you aren’t going to hurt me.”

  She looked pretty serious, so Andrew went ahead and swung his sword towards her. Not too fast, of course, since he didn’t want to hurt her.

  At the last second, she ducked down, and at the same moment, reached up and grabbed his wrist. Then, while he was still processing what was happening, and off-balance from the swing, she knocked his legs out from under him. Next thing he knew, he was on his back, his own sword pressed against his throat, her knee digging into his stomach, and her free hand pressed against his shoulder to hold him down.

  “Move faster next time,” she warned him, letting go of his wrist, and pulling herself off of him. He removed his sword from his throat, sat up, and stared at her. She sat with her legs tucked under her and hands on her knees, gazing back at him expressionless.

  “How did you…”

  “Didn’t I mention that I did martial arts, that I’m a black belt in Tae Kwon Do?” she asked, standing up. “My dad teaches it, and my mom teaches the sword. Naturally, I know how to fight one against the other. I also know how to use martial arts on a bow, though not from a distance.”

  “Oh,” said Andrew. He regained his feet and readjusted his grip on his sword. “So, I’m guessing that you’d like me to try again?”

  “If you would,” said she, actually drawing her own sword. “That was just a warning by the way, so you know what I’m capable of. I’m going to do my best to improve your skills, but you have to know what you’re working with, too.”

  “Eh, no problem,” said Andrew. “Abraham used to knock me down a lot, too.”

  “Good for him,” said she, smirking. “You’re shorter when you’re on the ground, and I think I like that better.”

  And then, without warning, she launched into another attack. Andrew managed to meet her blows, though it was difficult, she moved so fast. At least she wasn’t throwing in gymnastics this time.