by Serena Rose
Suddenly, a servant shouted out,
“Long live the queen!”
Every servant, and even some within the dragon clans, bowed low and shouted, “Long live the queen!”
Soon, it became a soaring mantra, and then finally Rogan stood, wine glass in hand.
“With such a strong queen, we will surely be great and triumph over our enemies. To the queen!”
Everyone raised their glasses and then drank deeply. Hildevar came abreast of Bella and bowed so deeply that her hair grazed the floor. She came up and shot Bella a look of admiration before leading her back to her seat next to Rogan. There was long bit of scraping, bowing and looks before the mood lightened and the music began again.
Rogan was staring at Bella with a look she couldn’t decipher. She stared back, unable to think of something to say. Finally, Rogan broke their silence.
“You sing like a trill bird. Light, lovely and strong all at once.”
Bella was touched for some reason. “Thank you.”
Rogan nodded and then took a sip of wine. He glanced at her a few more times, and Bella looked down to see that her plate had been replaced with a dessert. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she dug into the light, flaky layers and enjoyed the smooth, velvety crème.
Before long, the heads of the dragon clans were bidding their adieu, but not before they graciously greeted Bella, with even the most hostile amongst them giving Bella a bit of grudging respect. Hildevar then came to lead Bella back to her chamber, and she turned to Rogan, who nodded at her.
“We will meet in the library,” he told her, and Bella followed Hildevar. As they walked down the corridor, Bella was trying but failing to figure out the significance of her singing. Hildevar was leading her into her chambers when Bella whirled around.
“Hildevar,” she began.
“Yes, my queen,” Hildevar said with a slight bow.
“Why—why is my singing such a surprise?”
HIldevar took a deep breath, closed the chamber door and walked deeper into the room.
“You do not yet understand how magic works here, I assume?”
Bella shook her head. “No. I mean I’ve been here what? A day and a half.”
Hildevar chewed her lip thoughtfully before answering. “You have deep magic, my queen. Deeper than any we have seen in many ages.”
“What does magic have to do with this?”
“Perhaps it is different in your world. Most do not sing here. It is a gift. A rare one. To sing is to be able to command great magic, to warp and change spells at will. It is powerful and highly sought after. Rich lords and barons have paid much to try to teach the skill to their daughters, and still, the gift is only given, not bought or stolen.”
“Wait, so you all don’t have singers? They’re all over my world.”
Hildevar’s eyes widened comically. “Your world must be powerful indeed!”
Bella guffawed. “Nope. Not even close. There’s nothing special about a singer these days.”
Hildevar stared at Bella with disbelief. “People sing in your world and no one reveres them?”
Bella chuckled. “Some of them. The famous ones, at least. But even some of them can’t really sing.”
Hildevar seemed at a loss for words. “But--I—How--”
Bella walked over to the full-length mirror. “I’ve been asking myself that question for a long time.”
Bella was trying to undo her dress and making no progress when Hildevar snapped out of her trance and rushed over.
“I will get Alannah to assist us. I apologize, my queen. I just—I am just surprised by the things in your world.”
Bella was pulling at the fabric of the dress and the corset beneath when Alannah seemed to appear out of the air beside her.
Startled, Bella looked over at the young redhead. “How did--,”
Alannah didn’t answer but expertly wove her hands beneath the silky fabric and slipped the gown from over Bella with ease and loosened the corset’s grip.
Relieved, Bella took in a deep breath. She examined her bruised ribs with irritation.
“Women wear this every day?” Bella asked, and Alannah nodded.
“They do, but it is hardly practical,” Alannah snarled.
“It is tradition,” Hildevar rebuked her softly, and Bella shot Alannah a grin over Hildevar’s bent head. Alannah’s face lit up with glee.
Emboldened, Alannah continued, “I heard you sang today, my queen.”
“I did. I didn’t see you there, though,” Bella remarked as Hildevar began unraveling her hair. “You heard about that?”
“Yes, my queen. I couldn’t attend. I was charged with laundry duties,” Alannah said, her face wrinkling with distaste. “But it’s all over the castle. All the servants from the clans were talking about it. You are the first queen to sing since—well, I believe you may be the first. You have powerful magic. I have never been so proud to be of the Tuatha-Muin! Every clan was jealous of us all. They say you could be powerful enough to break even the Alautha-De--”
“Enough!” Hildevar shouted. Both Alannah and Bella were startled. Alannah dropped her head.
“Go and see what the kitchens need.”
Chastised, Alannah dropped her head in shame, the first time that Bella had ever seen such an emotion from the proud young woman. Alannah rushed out the door, her shoulders slumped and heavy.
Bella rounded on Hildevar. “What was all that about, Hildevar?”
Hildevar swallowed and looked at Bella unwaveringly. “Alannah should watch her tongue, my queen.”
“And you should watch yours!” Bella told her.
“Yes, my queen.” A look of hurt flashed across Hildevar’s face, and Bella felt guilt well up inside her.
“Look, I don’t know how this whole world works. You’ve actually been the only one to ever give me any real help with this. I’m sorry I yelled. I just—it’s nice to be looked at as a normal person, you know. It felt kind of good to just gossip like a girl. But, Hildevar, promise me you won’t hide anything from me. I need to know everything, even the dark and dirty bits, okay?”
Hildevar looked into Bella’s face with an intensity she had never seen before. “My queen, I give you my solemn oath of loyalty, servitude, trust and respect. I will always tell you the truth, no matter how hurtful or dark.”
A glow surrounded the both of them and suffused Bella with a feeling of something soothingly soft, like fur rubbed on bare skin. Bella shivered.
“What the hell was that?!” Bella exclaimed.
“I just gave you my complete fealty, my queen.”
“Is—is that a huge deal?”
Hildevar smirked a bit. “Servants who have offered fealty to their betters often died alongside them in battle. It is a very huge—deal.”
“But why me?” Bella asked, puzzled, as Hildevar eased a soft but comfortable gown onto her frame.
“You will change things for the better. I am sure of it.”
Hildevar said nothing more, but led Bella to the library where Rogan sat, waiting.
CHAPTER FIVE
Rogan was dressed casually in leather trousers and a soft cardigan. He was thumbing through a book and looked up at her, his expression unreadable. Bella fidgeted with her sleeve and sat down beside him.
“So,” he began, and Bella shrugged.
“So.”
“I suppose Hildevar filled you in a bit on the singing?”
“Well, only just a bit. I’d rather hear what you had to say about it.”
Rogan smiled. “Smart girl.”
“So, no one sings here?”
Rogan made a face and then shook his head. “They try. But they do it terribly. Singing is connected to the magic here. The things they sing create warped magic, useless things.”
“I can do magic with my singing?”
Rogan looked at her a moment. “Yes.”
“But I’ve seen Hildevar do spells and things already. What’s the difference?”
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“Those spells are good, yes. Powerful, no. There is something about how the voice blends words during a song that makes spells ten times, maybe even more, powerful. Kings would have singers at their side during battles to sing them to victory. Singers were somewhat common many millennia ago. Now, they are very, very rare.”
“Why? I mean, why would they be rare?”
“I don’t know. Some say that the magic of this world is leaving us. To look at the number of us dragons, I would say that is so.”
“You think dragons are dying off?”
Rogan thought a moment. “Yes. I don’t understand why, but we are. I knew when I was a young boy I would probably be marrying a human female. There are not as many female dragons--”
“But Hildevar and Alannah and--”
“They are all promised. Have been since they were very young. There are more males than females. Some male dragons die before spawning. That is why my ancestors saw fit to put in the clause.”
Bella narrowed her eyes. “Your ancestors did that?”
Rogan looked down at his hands and didn’t answer. Bella knew then what the answer was. His ancestors saw the disaster coming and prepared something just in case.
“They knew!” Bella shouted angrily. “They knew your numbers would decrease. Why didn’t they do something about it then?”
“If they knew how, they would have. Dragon magic is a very—strange thing. To tamper with it, one would have to understand a whole host of things. But it is all unknowable, is it not?”
“Not if you have science.”
Rogan chuckled. “Is that one of your earth things?”
Bella sucked her teeth and crossed her arms. “For your information, science is very useful. My people have no magic.”
Rogan sat up at attention at this proclamation. “None?”
“Not one bit. We have made ways of navigating the world that have nothing to do with magic. There are people who CLAIM they can do magic, but it has never been proven. For the most part, we depend on technology.”
Rogan looked utterly confused. She began trying to explain cell phones and televisions. It all seemed like magic to him.
“That is magic!”
“No, it is science. Rooted in deliberate inquiry. It can help where magic hinders.”
“Impossible!”
“It is true. We fly through the air using machines. The machines are based on what we observe in our world. I am studying to be a scientist of a sort myself. Well--” Bella dropped her gaze, “Was.”
“What kind of magic were you studying?” Rogan asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
“I told you. It isn’t magic. It’s--”
A servant flew into the door, her face tear-stricken and her voice near hysterical.
“Please, my king! You must help her! I know she is the last born child and a girl, but she is my child! My husband does not want to waste his magic on saving her. But I beg of you to try!”
A look of concern passed over Rogan’s face before it smoothed out.
“I suppose I could try. I am—in need of something interesting this eve.”
The servant fell to her knees. “Thank you, my king!”
“Where is the girl?” Rogan asked, and the servant pointed to outside the castle walls.
“The lake, your highness.”
Rogan, the servant and Bella made their way quickly to the small lake and saw a huge crowd of servants surrounding a young girl. Many of them were trying to utter something, but it was futile, and the girl remained inert.
“What happened?” Bella asked sharply, and a young boy, who looked no more than 13, squeaked when he saw who was addressing him, but he bowed all the same.
“I dared her to go in, your majesty. It was my fault. She—she drowned.”
“How long was she under the water?”
The boy shrugged and began to cry. “I don’t know, a few moments perhaps.”
Bella went to her knees near the girl. She pried open the girl’s mouth and covered her mouth with her own. A collective gasp went up. The girl’s mother tried to yank Bella away, only for Rogan to stay her hand.
“Let her do what needs to be done,” he commanded, and the woman reluctantly agreed.
Bella pumped her chest and alternated with forceful deep breaths. Her CPR training was quickly coming back to her as she worked. Soon, the girl was sputtering up water. Bella rolled her onto her side.
The girl sat up, saw everyone staring at her and burst into tears. Bella soothed her with soft cooing, and the girl’s mother ran to get her, thanking Bella profusely at the same time.
Rogan ordered everyone back inside, and the crowd dispersed. Everyone bowed deeply at Bella, and a few reached out to touch her gently. Bella followed Rogan back into the castle. They returned to the library. Bella resumed her seat opposite Rogan’s. The fire near them had been stoked and slippers for Bella’s feet had been placed near her chair.
Rogan laughed. “My people are already warming to you,” he said, indicating the slippers.
Bella moaned as she took off the dreadful heels she had been forced to wear and pulled on the plush, warm shoes.
“Thank goodness for that,” she said and then leveled Rogan with a serious look. “That girl--”
“Yes,” Rogan replied.
“Would you have let her die?” Bella questioned.
Rogan didn’t hesitate. “She is my subject. Her life is valuable. I would have stepped in if you hadn’t. But if the spells everyone used did not work, I doubt mine would have.”
“But you would have tried?”
“Yes.”
Bella became pensive, and the silence stretched out long between them. “The servant—the mother of the girl—she said something about the child being the last born and a female. Why didn’t the father want to save her?”
Rogan sighed. “I don’t want you to think ill of our world, but women have slightly less importance than men here.”
Bella folded her arms angrily. “Big surprise there,” she muttered.
“And as the last born child who is not male, she cannot challenge a man for land, fight in a battle and win a title or many of the things that can move a person from one social class to another.”
“But you need women to procreate. To bring life into the world--”
“And that is primarily what they are used for, but other things they are not.”
“Do you agree with how the world works?”
Rogan sensed something deeper in her question, and he sat forward.
“What are you asking?”
“I’m asking—are you a dirt bag who believes that women are inferior to men just because they lack an appendage?”
Rogan furrowed his brow. “If you are insultingly asking if I think women are less than men in general then the answer to that is no. I think my mother is far smarter than my father. If she’d been a man, she would have been extremely powerful. As it stands, she is powerful in her own right and holds sway like no other woman.”
“But--”
“But the dragon world, and even the world outside it, is rife with politics and tradition. I can’t side step those in one fortnight. I can only change attitudes a bit at a time. It is hard to stamp out ignorance and hatred.”
“If I hadn’t come along to help that girl, her father would have just let her die? He wouldn’t even have tried to help her?”
Rogan sighed and, for a moment, looked very, very old and weary.
“He most likely wouldn’t have, and that would have been his right. She is his property until she marries.”
Bella stayed silent for a while. She listened to the fire as it crackled and to the night breeze as it carried the damp coolness from the outside with it. She could see clearly now why her mother ran. It was oppressive to be a woman there. But yet, something burned inside Bella for the first time she could remember. She wanted to be a doctor to help people, to forge a path to the future. But what if she could make some kind of
tangible change there, right in that world filled with so much ignorance and intolerance?
“I—I have some things to think about. I’m going to my room.”