Aurelie waited just outside of a large archway while one of the guards announced her presence to the King. White ceramic pots surrounded the two columns that supported the arch. Thick vines grew out of them and crawled up, covering the entire arch in bright green leaves that sprouted deep-pink flowers. Aurelie picked a flower from one of the vines and spun in between her fingertips.
"What?" she heard the King ask surprised.
"The Princess, Majesty, she insists on seeing you."
Aurelie didn't remember insisting. The long pause in the conversation was weighing on her confidence. She was almost inclined to leave when the guard, narrow-eyed and block faced, fetched her from outside.
"Ah, Aurelie," the King stood and held his hand out toward the nearest chair that was occupied by a man with bushy, grey hair and a mustache that stuck out far past his cheeks. "Come, sit."
The other men stood too and bowed their heads. A servant in a finely crafted, black suit pulled the chair away from the man that was ordered to move and waited for Aurelie to come around and take her seat.
The long mahogany table was packed with food and every chairâthere were about twenty of them, the wooden backrests twisting over the heads of the guestsâfilled with people. The old man stopped before Aurelie and smiled, his faded blue eyes sparkling at the sight of her. "Princess Aurelie, I never knew I'd see the day," he said, took her hand and pressed his wet lips against it. "You are magnificent."
"Pleasure to meet you, sir."
"No, it isn't," he said, winking.
A chair had been arranged and the guests moved up an inch or two to make room. Aurelie sat next to her father. Overwhelmed by all the strange people at the table, she snuck a nervous glance in his direction. Who knew what they thought of her? The King was aware of the curse and why it had to be broken, but to them, it must have seemed like she just started a war.
"How have you enjoyed the castle, Princess?" a man in a golden cloak asked. His nose was long and sharp and his hair pitch black. His skin was a few shades darker than that of a native and with an interesting shade of green thrown into the mix. He was definitely a foreigner and certainly a handsome one. A prince, perhaps. Aurelie wondered if the King was planning to marry her off already.
"I haven't seen much of it yet. Though, I'm sure I will love it." She smiled.
The man opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted. "There's no finer castle in all the lands," a man on her side of the table interjected.
She turned to him and froze. Fire filled her eyes. The wizards that killed Kirin, he was one of them. He had the same red markings and wore the same dark cloak. She stood, her eyes watching his every movement. Rage stormed within her. It felt as if he flipped a switch within her.
All the others fell away. Inside the room, she just saw his face and the nervous quiver of his thick lips. Whether or not he was a part of the group that took Kirin was irrelevant. She would kill them all. All those who had a part in taking him from her.
"You," she mouthed, her voice buried somewhere in her shock and rage.
A hand touched her shoulder. She pushed it away.
"I'm sorry for your loss," he said, holding his hand out defensively.
Aurelie's pushed her chair aside. "What did you say?"
With his hands raised, the man approached her. "Princess, please. I have heard the news. I am here to help."
"Your people have helped enough." Aurelie smirked. "Let us step outside, witch. I don't want to ruin breakfast for the others." Fire churned beneath her fingertips.
A strange presence made itself known within her mind. Valice, wherever she was, saw the man before Aurelie. She felt the dragon's heart hollow out with anger. For a moment, Aurelie's back extended as if to open her wings. She saw the inside of a dark cave. Large bones scattered all around it. Dragon bones, hundreds of them.
The scene disappeared and she saw the witch again. Aurelie smirked, cocked her head and jumped onto the table. A nervous gasp sounded. Plates and food flew in all directions as she took three large strides to get to his place at the table. Before she knew it, she was in his lap, and her fiery hands were around his throat. "You won't get me so easily!"
The chair rocked backward and they fell with a nasty thump.
She realized how animalistic it was the smell of his melting skin hit her nostrils.
"Aurelie, stop!" the King shouted and pulled at her fingers, trying to pry her hands off the man's throat.
Her grip was too strong, and blood had gotten through the witch's wounds, making the King's grip slippery. Aurelie would have killed him then and there but there was one factor that she had not accounted for, the witch didn't fight back. He clenched his jaw through the pain and watched her without winking but dared not lift a hand. It would have been easier to kill him if he fought back.
"Fight," she said through clenched teeth.
He closed his eyes.
She released his throat.
The man touched his neckâhis trachea bloody and exposedâgurgled and drew his hand away, wide-eyed.
"He had nothing to do with it."
"I don't care!" she shouted. "He is one of them!"
"Get him to the infirmary," the King ordered the guards, "and by God do it quickly!"
The guests cleared out before the blood on Aurelie's hands began to dry. They walked circles around her, afraid to look either her or the King in the eye.
The King paced back and forth, his hand occasionally reaching but staying quiet. With the guests cleared, he could speak his mind but it seemed that he struggled to gather the words. How mad she must have looked to him. The fire in her eyes had yet to calm. She sat on the cold, grey stone of the castle floor, her hands violently shaking in fury.
"Listen to me now!" he said in a stern voice. "That man..." He pointed toward the door and pursed his lips. "He is an asset to us." He shook his head, his eyes facing up toward the high ceiling. "I've given you timeânot muchâbut you must know that we could scarcely afford even that. I've seen you go through this in the visions the Keeper showed me and I know that I should be patient, but Aurelie I cannot afford you going mad in front of our guests. They could turn against us at any given moment and we need their grain, men, and gold. That man you attackedâthe shamanâis part of a very powerful clan. There is a rift between them now that has split them between our side and that of the new Iceland King. By God," he raised his index finger into the air, "if he lives, you will be at his bedside on your best behaviorâif not on your kneesâbegging."
Aurelie nodded. "I understand," she said.
The King's expression softened. "What happened this evening does, in fact, have a silver lining."
Aurelie raised a brow. The King still had no idea how to handle her. Bless him, he tried. Letting her get away with such an incident so easily wasn't going to sit well with his guests. Having them realize that his influence on her was nonexistent would point to his weakness.
"You released some of your rage toward, well, not quite an enemy, but one that you perceived as one." The King paused attempting to gather his words to make proper sense. "You needed to let your anger outâ taking it out on the Ki'frey shaman was certainly unfortunateâbut it happened and hopefully now you can begin to heal." The King walked to the table and poured himself a glass of wine. "If he lives," he took a large sip, his eyes widening, "I'm hoping he can help us with news of the boy."
"Have you heard anything?"
The King sighed. "We think he's being held at the castle. No one knows for sure."
"Can weâ"
"We don't have the strength to take them on alone. Who knows what my father arranged. Which of our allies switched sides. We'd be marching into strange territory and calling upon allies that could stab us in the back. My father is not a noble man. He won't fight fair."
She stood. Pouring herself a glass, she looked up at her father. "You should punish me," she said and took a sip of the wine, nonchalantly resting her hand back down on the table. When she picked her up, a bloodied print was left on the white tablecloth. "How?" He looked surprised by her statement and utterly out of his depth.
"Force a marriage." The wine was bitter and hard to swallow. It left her tongue feeling dry and her throat hot. As for the marriage, that was bitter too, but she had her eyes set on a victory. Whatever needed to be done would be done. It was a very quick way of gaining allies. She didn't much care about what happened afterâifâthey rescued Kirin and the marriage to whomever they chose proved to be a sham. All she wanted was to have him back safely.
"You would marry?" he asked, lowering his glass and leaning down to get a better look at her.
"Why not?" Aurelie shrugged. "We both know that sooner or later that has to happen."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "You will be happy in your marriage. We can wait. What happens when he's set free?"
Aurelie stared into the distance, past the large glassless windows of the King's summer breakfast room. A blackbird flew in the distance. "Gather those that are willing. It is not up for debate."
"Of course it is!" he said.
Aurelie turned to him and smiled without it affecting her eyes. "No, it isn't. I want us at our strongest. My mind is made up."
"Aurelie," the King sighed, "what happens when we get the boy back? No one will grant you a divorce."
Aurelie looked down into her cup and swirled the drink before looking up at her father. "There are other ways to end a marriage."
The King frowned, the lines between his brows indenting. "Give it a month, if you still feel the same."
Aurelie would argue if it were not for the flutter of wings that sounded from outside. Aurelie turned slowly, expecting to see a large bird near the open window. Instead, she was faced with the silhouette of Valice in the distance. She shot up from her chair and ran to the window.
"What is she thinking?" she said.
"She?" he asked surprised. The King summoned a ball of fire between his two hands. Aurelie had never seen him frightened before. He tensed and stood behind a wall, leaning over slightly to see. "Get back!" he ordered.
"She will not harm me," Aurelie said and climbed on to the white mosaic tiles that decorated the window sill.
"Aurelie!" The King grabbed her around the waist and pulled her from the sill. "Get out of here! Call the guards!"
The guards had already gathered behind them. One took off his helmet to get a better look, mouth open and eyes wide.
"No!" She pulled herself out of his grip. "Father, extinguish the flames. She's a black dragon. That's our magic. The fire will only anger her." Father was used to weaken his angst. So desperately he clung to a bond between them, that it worked. He extinguished the flame and let her climb back onto the window sill. His hand firmly gripped onto her dress, in case he had to pull her away.
Aurelie's hair fluttered in the wind made by her winds as Valice neared the castle. Archers gathered and took their positions on the wall to her left. One breath of fire and theyâalong with the wallâwould crumble. "Hey!" Aurelie shouted. "Hey!"
They could not hear her over the sound of Valice's wings. Aurelie summoned fire into her hand and threw it past the archers to get their attention. One of the men looked in her directions. Aurelie hurled her hand backward and moved her lips to sign a clear, "Get back."
Valice, in all her magnificence, stopped and hovered in the air. Her eyes darted back and forth to look through the windows of the breakfast room. She must have sensed Aurelie's despair when her magic connected the two of them.
Reaching her hand out toward her father, Aurelie said, "Hold tight." She stepped onto the very edge of the sill. Valica couldn't get any closer without destroying the wall with her nose. She had to meet her halfway to talk. Keeping her body straight and her hand firmly in her father's grip, Aurelie hung as far out of the window as she could manage. Her fingers were just long enough to touch Valice.
A golden light shone out of her fingertips as they met the stony scales of the dragon. "I'm fine, sweet guardian," she thought. "Fly back to the cave. I will send the guards with food this very evening. They won't harm you."
The image of fenced land appeared in Aurelie's vision. A flock of sheep stood below a tree. Valice already had plans for dinner. Aurelie would just have to figure out a way to deliver it.
"As you wish." Aurelie simpered.
Valice landed and turned. Her tail cut through the right wall of the castle like a hot knife through butter. Stones flew into the castle fields, knocking into trees. Aurelie heard a scream. The golden light between the two of them remained intact without physical touch.
"Be safe, Princess." Aurelie heard a soft voice inside her head. Her lips parted.
The dragon flew, leaving Aurelie stunned.
The King pulled Aurelie back so that she stood straight on the window sill. She turned to him. "She can speak," she said, amazed.
"You can speak to the dragon?" He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. Though, after a dragon, a ghost didn't seem like a fair comparison.
"Yes," she said, trying to settle her excitement. "I knew that. But she can speak back!"
The King leaned out of the window, looking at the damage done to the lower part of the castle. "Normally girls just want little dogs."
Aurelie turned to him in surprise. "She's not a pet," she said, shocked that he would even think to suggest it. "And I still want a dog."
The King's head jerked back a little in memory. "I almost forgot. I have a gift for you."
Aurelie paced around the room. "That can wait," she said. "I need, at least, twenty men on guard at the old dragon cave. No one is to set foot inside it without my permission. And we need to send her some sheep."
"Sheep?" He winced. "Is she that direct?"
"Oh yes!" Aurelie nodded thoughtfully. "Fascinating, isn't she?"
"Indeed."
Aurelie picked a piece of bread off the table and took a bite. The tabled was set with at least three different kinds of egg dishes, bread and meat, but Aurelie craved something sour and failed to find a single dish that would sate her. "Send a servant down with pickles," she told her father. "And salted biscuits. Oh! Perhaps, a piece of apple pie."
"Where to?"
Aurelie held a piece of bread between her teeth while she broke off another. "My room. I'll be there shortly." She made her way to the arch. "Also, have someone make a list of husbands. The weather is perfect for a wedding and it won't be for very long. I don't want the guest to dry out in the sun."