I tried to make a sound but was still panicking too much. Annebel came closer and kneeled before my bed. She lightly touched my forehead. I looked up at her.
“Normally, you’re awake early. I thought you were tired and wanted to rest because you hadn’t gotten out of bed yet. But I started to worry. You don’t seem to be sick.”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t say anything because I didn’t have a voice and also didn’t have the energy to make signs or to shrug.
“Maybe it’ll be better if you rest. When you get hungry, you can get up and come downstairs,” Annebel finally said after a while.
She stood up and left the room. I stayed a bit longer in my bed, but eventually I got hungry. I was starving. I made an effort to get up and go downstairs. I instantly went to sit down on a chair in the kitchen. A plate of food was already ready on the table. Annebel patiently waited while I ate and cleaned my plate up when I finished. She went to sit across from me.
“Do you want to know what will happen tomorrow?” she asked, and I nodded. “Well, there’s one tradition where you receive something from your own family and something from the family of the person who you’re getting linked to. You need to either wear or carry those things during the ceremony. That’s why Lena has made that bracelet Jon gave to you yesterday.”
I directed my attention to the bracelet which was still on the table in the same location. So, that was my present from Jon’s family I would have to wear during the ceremony.
“I know I’m actually also part of Avalon’s family, but I’ll officiate as part of your family because you live in my house. I’ve made a dress for you. It made sense, seeing as I’m a seamstress,” Annebel continued.
Oh, so that was what she had been hiding from me. She had been busy making a dress for me. I grabbed the chalkboard, the chalk, and sponge from the table.
Thank you, I wrote and wiped it away when she had read that.
“There’s another tradition where you’ll normally be transferred by a male member of your family to the person you’re getting linked to. A female member of your family will transfer you if you don’t have any uncles or brothers and if your father’s dead.”
Will you transfer me?
“No, Corneel seems to like you, so I’ve asked him to do it so a man will transfer you.”
I wasn’t certain if that was a good idea. I had prevented his sister from becoming engaged to Jon. She hated me. She had fought with me the previous day. Wouldn’t it be better if he watched her instead?
Can he even do that? I wrote.
“Yes, he has agreed to it. He’ll be here tomorrow evening. The ceremony will only take place during the evening, so you’ll still have time to get dressed and prepare yourself.”
I wondered why I was free today. Shouldn’t I prepare today then? Annebel seemed to hear my thoughts.
“If you’re wondering why you’re free today when you’ll also get a whole day off work tomorrow, today is a preparation day as well but it’s more about rest. A linking is very heavy, and you must be well prepared and well rested. Tonight, I will put the dress in the bathroom so you can put it on tomorrow after taking a bath.”
I was actually very curious to see the dress. I told myself to only look at it when I put it on the next day.
I kept that promise. I didn’t look at the dress that night. I didn’t even try searching for it. And I didn’t even look the next morning when I was in the bathroom. I waited until I had taken a bath in the afternoon and was ready to get dressed so the dress wouldn’t get dirty or wrinkled.
With my skin clean and the dress on, I examined myself in the mirror. The dress had a dark red – almost maroon – colour and reached to my knees. It suited my hair colour well.
Someone softly knocked on the door of the bathroom, and it opened slowly. Annebel entered carrying a chair and some other things. She had changed into a long, emerald green dress that reached to her feet. She had also curled her hair a bit because it waved over her shoulders.
“I wasn’t sure if you got dressed already but decided to risk it. Sit down. I’ll put your hair up nicely.”
She put the chair down, and I sat. I tried to sit as still as possible while she was busy but was curious to see the result. I immediately jumped up to check the mirror when she finished. She had pulled all my hair back and had made a braid at the left side and then put it up at the back of my head. It might have seemed a bit untidy and simple, but I liked it. I thought it looked beautiful and graceful.
“Do you like it?”
I wasn’t sure if she could see me, but she probably could, so I nodded.
“I’m glad. Will you come down in a bit? Corneel will arrive soon and you still need to put on the bracelet Lena has made for you.”
Once I was downstairs, I went straight to the kitchen and grabbed the bracelet. It was too small to put on, but it would fit if it were around my wrist. It was only too small to pull it over my hand. I held the bracelet with both hands and concentrated on manipulating the twigs so I could pull them looser and make the bracelet become wider. I pulled the bracelet over my left hand, so it was around my left wrist and held it with only my right hand. I manipulated the twigs again, tightening them, so the bracelet became smaller.
“I guess that’s not difficult for you but it’s still pretty impressive to see,” Annebel suddenly said.
She had startled me. I had been so focused I hadn’t heard her. I noticed she was smiling wide when I looked at her.
“Don’t you want to sit down? Don’t worry; your dress won’t become wrinkled quickly. We just have to wait until it’s time.”
I did as she had suggested and went to sit down on one of the chairs in the kitchen. It didn’t take long until Corneel arrived. He knocked on the front door and entered the kitchen a bit later. He stopped for a short moment and stared at me. He had combed his hair back and wore dark green shirt and dark brown trousers.
“You look beautiful,” he finally said.
“Corneel, sit down please. I hope you can reassure her a bit. She’s nervous.”
Honestly, Annebel was more nervous than I was now. Yes, I was nervous, but I had been more nervous the day before. I had had a panic attack, but it was better now. Corneel went to sit on a chair next to mine and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.
“You know Avalon is a good guy, right? He won’t even touch you if you don’t want that. You’ve been friends with him for a while. You’ve even risked your life for him and Lena. You’ve pretty much sacrificed your life as a dragon, even after going through all that effort to become one. This will actually be a very close friendship. It doesn’t need to be anything more than that,” Corneel told me.
“It’s a bit more than that though. It’ll be more than a friendship emotionally and mentally. You’ll be able to feel Avalon’s feelings after a while. You’ll be able to hear his thoughts. In the future, your thoughts will begin to mirror his. You’ll feel physically drawn towards him. You’ll always want to be close to him,” Annebel added.
I knew all of that already. She hadn’t told me anything new.
“Good, I’ll leave now. It’s almost time. Support her please, Corneel.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t drop you,” Corneel reassured me when Annebel had left the house.
We needed to wait a bit longer after Annebel had left. Corneel didn’t say another word to me while we waited. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence but the tension in the air was noticeable. Not because it was quiet but because something big and important was about to happen: the engagement of Jon and me.
Twenty-five
Finally, Corneel got up and left the room. He still didn’t say anything, but I knew it was time. I got up as well and walked towards the front door that Corneel held open for me. He let me go outside first, following behind me. I stopped and looked at him expectantly. He extended his left hand to me and I accepted it. He started walking and gently pulled me after him. He guided me, which I permitted. I had no idea where we were g
oing but we left the borders of the community. We were probably still in the territory of the wolves, but there weren’t any houses surrounding us. We walked over the grass as we got farther away from the buildings.
Shape-shifters had gathered together in a gigantic circle a few feet away from us. They all stood together, but there was a small opening in the circle where Corneel and I could pass through. He led me inside the circle, and I tried to keep my gaze as low as possible. I didn’t want to look at the wolves around me, and I was certain I wasn’t allowed to look at Jon before Corneel transferred me. It was also dangerous to look at Corneel because I could trip over my own feet. I had to keep watching them to see where I was walking.
Finally, Corneel stopped. He slightly rocked my right hand back and forth. I took one step forward, and he released my hand. Two more steps and I was standing next to Jon. I felt his presence beside me. He took my right hand in his left hand. Corneel had disappeared to join the circle around Jon and me. I had been transferred.
I finally dared to look up. Anton stood in front of us and held a pure golden goblet, decorated with diamonds: the legendary engagement goblet. Well, the druids actually had several of these goblets, which they lent to the shape-shifters for the engagements. I had never seen such a goblet before. I had hoped that when I saw one for the first time, it wouldn’t be me who had to drink from it. I couldn’t see the contents of the goblet, but I knew it was filled halfway with a magical elixir. I noticed the transparent dampness coming out of the goblet.
Holding the goblet with one hand, Anton pulled a knife out of the back pocket of his trousers with his other hand. I noticed he wore white trousers and a shirt as red as fire. I quickly glanced sideways towards Jon. He was dressed in the opposite colours of Anton’s: white shirt and dark red trousers. Wolf families had their own colours. Jon’s family had red and white, and Annebel and Corneel had chosen green and brown, the colours of the earth because they were officiating as my family members. I wore a maroon coloured dress because I needed to wear something of the same colour as Jon’s family. Since the bracelet Lena had made was made of twigs, it had a dark brown colour; this way I also wore something of the colour of my own family.
Jon extended his right arm with the palm of his hand facing upwards. Anton used the knife to prick the palm of Jon’s hand. Jon clenched his fist and held it over the goblet. Blood dripped into it and made a soft hissing sound. Jon pulled his hand back, and Anton directed his attention towards me; it was my turn now.
I extended my left arm, with the palm of my hand facing up. Anton didn’t prick my palm as he had with Jon; he made a huge cut in it instead. He knew I healed quickly, but it would take a while before this healed. I clenched my left hand above the goblet and let a few drops of my blood fall into the fluid. It was orange, but it coloured bright red when my blood touched the liquid. The hissing sound became louder. A drop jumped out of the goblet.
No. No, please don’t, I thought internally.
This was risky. I had originally been a lower shape-shifter but now I was a dragon. Jon was a wolf, which meant he was a higher shape-shifter. There was a risk the goblet wouldn’t accept us, but instead would reject us and therefore wouldn’t want to connect us to each other. I had never taken this possibility into account. It had always been a legend that a goblet might reject an engagement. I had never heard of it actually happening. Even the engagement between my parents had been accepted despite my dad being a Higher and my mom a Lower. More drops jumped up, and the substance started swirling. Anton’s mouth became a narrow, small, grim line. The goblet was getting hot; it was rejecting my engagement to Jon.
Please. Accept this engagement, please. Please, I begged the goblet internally.
The fluid stopped swirling and became calm again. I closed my eyes, fearing the goblet would be so hot right now that Anton would drop it. It also wouldn’t take long until the substance exploded. But he didn’t drop the goblet. There was also no bang.
I carefully opened my eyes. The fluid had calmed and become a clear, transparent green colour. Smoke as white as pearls came out of the goblet. Unbelievable. It had accepted the engagement. Was it always like this? Did the stories only exist to frighten the shape-shifters? Had the Capital druids enchanted the engagement goblets so they would always threaten to reject an engagement? Funny. Very funny. But that was more the type of joke the mountain druids would enjoy. The Capital druids didn’t have a sense of humour and would never do something like that.
Anton waited for the fluid to become fully transparent. When it was ready, he first offered the goblet to Jon. Jon released my hand and held the goblet with both hands. He drank from it and gave it back to Anton who then offered it to me. I carefully took the goblet and held it tightly with both hands. The metal still felt warm, but it wasn’t unpleasant. I wouldn’t burn myself.
When I placed the goblet against my lips to drink, I smelled it. The fluid had the smell of the forest and the earth. I also smelled the scent of a wolf and of Jon. Had the element earth been the reason why the goblet had eventually accepted the engagement? Jon was closely connected to the earth as a wolf. I in turn was also closely connected to the earth as an earth dragon.
I drank the rest of the fluid still in the goblet and then gave the empty goblet back to Anton. So, this was it, the ceremony had ended. An outsider would think this ceremony didn’t mean that much, but it was so very important. The effects and consequences following it were drastic. There was no turning back now. I was connected to Jon. I would be able to sense his feelings and emotions and thoughts after a while. I would be able to communicate with him telepathically. I would always want to stay physically close to him and I would be physically drawn towards him. I would just begin loving him after a while. That was the result of this engagement; we were connected to each other now. Even if I weren’t close to him or near him, I would be able to sense him and know where he was.
Jon found my right hand and held it again. We waited until everyone left. Jon pulled me towards the trees and the forest when we were alone. I went with him but still resisted a bit. I wasn’t sure if this was allowed.
“It’s alright, Tat. As long as we don’t go too far, there won’t be a problem. This is part of the ceremony. Well… Kind of,” he said.
I looked up to his face but couldn’t judge his expression. He released my hand and dropped to the ground when he thought we were at a proper distance. He went to lie fully on his back. I sat on the ground, next to where he lay. I looked straight at his face and frowned.
“What?” he asked.
I sighed at first. I wondered what we were doing here, but it’d be difficult to sign that question. I just drew a question mark in the air. He was acting weird. Everything was one big question mark.
“Oh, they never told you this part, did they?” He grinned, which caused my frown to deepen.
“You should normally mate in wolf form after the ceremony. It’s tradition. It causes the bond to develop faster and to strengthen. Oh yeah, remind me to kill Corneel if he follows this tradition when he becomes linked to Lena. Don’t worry though. I’ll warn him first.”
I was taken aback by what he had said. Not because he’d want to kill Corneel if he followed this tradition. I understood that, after all Lena was Jon’s younger sister. I was shocked mating was a real ritual and tradition.
“You’re not a wolf and you’re not allowed to transform into a dragon. It would also be a bad idea if you transformed into a dragon to perform the ritual.”
I hit him right in his face. I didn’t want him to talk about this topic anymore.
“Sorry. Does the bracelet Lena has made you fit?”
I moved so I could hold my left arm above his face. The bracelet fit perfectly, with the twigs just touching my skin. I directed my focus to the twigs and grew small leaves at their edges.
“Oh, right. Sorry, I had forgotten you’re able to manipulate that. So it doesn’t matter if it fits or not. You can make the bracelet wider or
smaller yourself.”
I nodded. He suddenly sat up, which startled me. I shuffled backwards; I needed some distance.
“Do you think Annebel has gotten enough time to move?” he asked, and I looked at him in a questioning manner. “She had said we can live in her house and that she’d move into Anton’s. She already moved a lot yesterday morning and I packed my suitcase this morning. I still need to move some stuff because I only packed the most important things. But I only need to go to the house next door.”
Oh? Had she really decided to give her house to Jon and me? It might have been a little too big for her to live in alone, but it was still a very generous gesture. I also felt sorry for her. Now she must live with Anton.
“What? Why are you looking like that?”
“Poor Annebel,” I answered without making a sound.
He frowned. “Poor Annebel? Why? Ah, because she’ll live with my father now. She’s perfectly capable of standing up for herself. I’m actually glad she’ll be able to protect Marc and Lena and watch out for them.”
I wondered if Jon’s dad hurt his children.
“Actually… You should see it.”
What should I see? He moved so most of his back faced me and then pulled his shirt over his head. I was startled. I gasped when I saw his scar-covered back and his left side. Some of them were very old and barely visible, but other scars were more recent. He also had a huge bruise on the lower part of his left side. He pointed at the bruise.
“That’s the most recent one. That only happened the day before yesterday. The rest of the scars and bruises are older. It has been a long time since my dad last hit me with his belt. He has been hitting me since I was very young, but he only started doing that after my mom passed away. I wasn’t much older than eight when it began. A belt leaves such long marks,” he told me.
“Lena?” I asked without making a sound.
“He has hit Lena a couple of times as well. I think she’s traumatised because of that and I think that’s the reason why she’s still very childish. He hasn’t touched Marc as far as I know. I’ve always made sure he hit me instead of them.”
Dragon Dream Page 18