Lady Dragon, Tela Du

by Kendra E. Ardnek

  Ashley managed a smile, bouncing a bit on her toes. “I … I need to talk to Father!” And with that, the girl spun around and fled the room.

  For a moment, Petra considered returning to her pity party, but the Speech that Ashley had given was clearly meant for her, and it actually sounded a bit helpful. She followed her niece back to the library, and then used the sound of Ashley’s once again panicked voice to find the reading corner again. Laura was still sleeping on the couch, Reuben at her side. Ashley was holding an energetic conversation with her father. Well, on her end. Ritis was quite calm.

  He glanced up as Petra approached and smiled. “My daughter says that she Spoke for you. Would you mind telling me what she said? Perhaps it will shed light on the situation.”

  “She said that I need to go train with a queen in Klarand,” said Petra, shrugging. Her world was still spinning.

  “Indeed?” asked Ritis. “Were there any specific details or was it that general?”

  “Well, she said the Queen’s name was Jillian or something like that,” said Petra, not wanting to discuss the admonition that she’d also been given. That part felt private. “No, Jillina.”

  “Jillina? Intriguing. Perhaps that is to be her confirmation.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s been forty-five years since Rintaya left Klarand. She sealed the Hill behind her, so we’ve not had any communication with the island since then,” Ritis explained. “Ashna has been in your world for the last fifty years. We do not know the name of their current queen.”

  “And?”

  “Well, it means that you need to go to Klarand, meet with their king and queen, and see if her name is indeed Jillina. I’m willing to suppose that Reuben is meant to go with you.”

  “And the part about training?”

  “Klarand has received the brunt of Amber’s fury during the last fifty years,” Ritis explained. “There is no doubt that every able body there would be trained to fight when the need arises. I’m sure that since you are the Tela Du, they would be more than happy to help prepare you for your battle. Indeed, you will probably find more allies in Klarand than you would here. There they live under the fire, but we keep our peace so Amber has no cause to direct it towards us.”

  “Okay, awesome,” said Reuben, standing. “My mom gave us a bit of a crash-course before our Tying Ceremony, but even I’m willing to say that I’d like to have a few more lessons before I’m in a fight to the death.”

  “But we don’t know if you’ll be part of that fight,” Petra pointed out. “There isn’t a single prophecy about you. This has been discussed.”

  “That doesn’t mean that I will never be called to fight. I was given a weapon the same as you.”

  With that, he marched right up to Petra and took her hand. She shrunk back, intimidated by his intensity.

  I made you a promise yesterday that you wouldn’t have to do this alone so far as I can help it. I didn’t make that promise lightly. During the Tying Ceremony, I promised to protect and care for you as the priceless treasure you are. I didn’t say I do just because the script called for it. Besides, if I’m going to be a king—

  She pulled her hand from his and shook her head. She’d never get used to hearing his thoughts like that. “I suppose, when you say it like that, you have a point. It’s just that … a lot has happened today, and I’m still not sure what to make of all of it.” She glanced towards Ashley.

  “You and me both,” Reuben admitted. He let his arm fall to his side as he stared at Petra. “But panicking when life doesn’t fit into your carefully constructed boxes won’t make things better.”

  Petra gave Reuben a sharp glare and then marched around him to where Laura lay asleep, sat down on the floor beside her, and took the girl’s hand. Closing her eyes, she focused on blocking out everyone else in the room and pretending that she was back home, babysitting Laura as she used to. Perhaps the girl merely had a bad cold, rather than a case of overexertion from tearing a hole between two worlds.

  “Are we going to Klarand today?” asked Reuben, jarring Petra’s fantasy.

  “I don’t think so,” said Ritis. “There isn’t much left of today, and I don’t believe that we should disappoint Rintaya by not using the bedrooms she prepared for the two of you. I should consult the Book, however, to seek further revelation and instruction, just to be certain. In fact, I should go do it right now.”

  “I’ll … I’d like to go with you, if you don’t mind, Father.” Ashley spoke up.

  “I’d like you to come with me, It’s been far too long since I’ve talked to you about prophecy. Come along, and let’s leave Petra alone.”

  Reuben sat down next to Petra and put a hand on her shoulder. With that contact, she felt the brush of his mind. She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes more tightly closed. She didn’t want him right now, but she couldn’t bring herself to pull away.

  To her relief, he said and thought nothing.

  Perhaps thoughts couldn’t penetrate through clothing? Spiraldream hadn’t been deterred by her dress that morning. Petra frowned. Had it only been that morning that they’d met with the harandas? Had it only been the day before when they stepped into Rizkaland? Somehow, it felt like an eternity had been packed into the last two days.

  “It does, doesn’t it?” Reuben said with something of a laugh.

  “What?” Petra’s eyes flew open as she twisted around to face him.

  “It’s been a long day,” Reuben explained. “I entirely agree that it feels as though…” He trailed off at Petra’s hardening glare. “I’m sorry! You were thinking loudly.”

  “You didn’t have to eavesdrop on my private thoughts, Reuben,” said Petra, unamused. She scooted forward and turned so she could keep an eye on him. “This is what I warned you about right before Laura opened that door, Reuben. We need to be careful with these powers we were given, and not use them to pry into people’s heads willy-nilly.”

  He glanced down, shaking his head. “I wasn’t trying to pry. You’re hurting, Petra, and I want to help you. You don’t want to talk about it, I can tell that, but I still want to let you know that I’m there for you. Petra, please, if that’s not it, just tell me how to help you – I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  “I—” Petra began, then she shook her head, narrowing her eyes at him. “How would you like me to barge in and listen to your thoughts without permission?”

  “It wouldn’t be without permission,” he said, raising his chin to stare at her straight in the eye again. “Because I’m telling you right now that you’re welcome to come in and listen to my head whenever you want. In fact,” he held a hand out to her, “come on in. I’d like to know our limits.”

  “Reuben, what are you…”

  “I’m not afraid to let you know me,” he continued. “I get that you’re protective of your thoughts and I don’t blame you. I’m not going to pry into your head if I can help it – in fact, that’s why I said something – I wanted you to know that I heard you. But you and I both know that I’m not like you. Petra, there’s no one else in any world that I trust as much as I trust you. I want you to test our limits with me.”

  “Reuben, I’m not sure…”

  “Look, Alphego gave us these powers, and I don’t think He’d give us the ability to do anything He doesn’t want us to do. Petra, you’re my best friend, I love you, and now we’re Tied to each other. I’m not afraid to let you know any part of me. I want you to know every part of me.”

  “Reuben…”

  “Are you afraid to know me?”

  “Reuben, you’re my best friend, I already know you, you’re almost always so open, so easy to read. If you want me to know you better, why don’t we just go about it the way normal people do? By you talking?”

  He didn’t answer, just continued to hold out his hand, his expression calm and determined. He had his heart and mind set on this. She honestly doubted that she could distract him from it, apart from kissing him, a
nd she certainly wasn’t ready for that just yet. Taking a deep breath, she took his hand, closed her eyes, and plunged into Rueben’s mind.

  Chapter 5

  Reuben hadn’t prepared himself for the sheer force of Petra’s mind inside his, examining his thoughts, his feelings, everything that made him him. He hadn’t expected the instinctive desire to draw back and block her out, but he had told her to do it – begged her really. He couldn’t, in good form, rescind the offer, especially since he really did want her to know him. He could hear her in his head, at first reluctant, but then with rising curiosity. It was really strange to have someone else in his head, yet the more comfortable she became, the less painful the experience was.

  He still gave an actual sigh of relief when she finally pulled out. When she withdrew her hand from his, however, Reuben was surprised at how hollow he suddenly felt. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes.

  “You want to kiss me.”

  Reuben opened his mouth but quickly shut it again. Of course, of all the things in his head, she would comment on that.

  “Well, of course I do,” he finally said. “I like you, you’re beautiful, and you’re awfully close to me right now.”

  If only she were just a bit closer…

  She rolled her eyes and scooted back a few more inches, much to his chagrin. “Anyway, that was an interesting experiment. I … I’m not sure I found anything that surprised me. As I said, I already knew you pretty well. I couldn’t find your memories, though.”

  “Interesting.” Reuben ran a hand through his hair. “So … was it as bad as you thought it’d be?”

  She shrugged and stood up, stepping away from him towards a bookshelf. “I’m not sure anyone is supposed to know another person like that. It was very strange, and yet … somehow I don’t mind knowing you like that.”

  “Yeah,” said Reuben, standing. “As much as I trust you, it was harder than I had expected to just sit back and let you explore.”

  “I know,” she said, glancing back at him as a grin pulled at the corner of her mouth. “I was in your head. I could hear your every thought.”

  “Ah. Yes.” Every thought? Well … he had given her permission. Still, he hadn’t expected to feel so exposed.

  She put a hand on his shoulder and Reuben gave a sigh of relief as her mind filled the hollow that her absence had created. He could feel amusement rippling through her, though he didn’t hear any formed thoughts. “Have I ever told you that you’re absolutely adorable at times?”

  “Um … I don’t know.” Usually, she only bothered to tell him that he was annoying.

  “Well, at times.” Then, without any sort of warning, not even a mental one, she pushed herself up on her toes and kissed his cheek.

  At that simple touch, an image exploded in his mind – a picture of him carrying Laura through the halls of Loray just a little while ago. He blinked as she drew back.

  “That … was interesting.” Reuben’s world was spinning again.

  “You didn’t think I was capable of that?” she asked, almost laughing. “Reuben, you were the one who wanted a kiss.”

  “Well, true, though that wasn’t exactly what I meant by a kiss,” Reuben admitted. “It was more than I expected right now, that’s for certain, but … that was interesting.”

  She was grinning, broadly. Reuben wasn’t sure when he’d last seen her smiling like that. Whatever she’d found in his head, he was glad he’d let her in, even as violating as the experience had been. It was a welcome change from her state of near-panic since they’d come to Rizkaland the day before, and her near-depression for the last two years. Now if the world would just stop spinning.

  “Well, I did momentarily consider a kiss that was a bit more … intimate, but I thought that we’d done enough experimenting for one night. I only just decided that I return your feelings, so give me a bit of time.” She wrapped her arms around his chest and laid her head against his shoulder.

  “Yeah, that’s … probably a good idea.” He folded his arms around her and closed his eyes as he rested his cheek against the top of her head.

  “But I wanted to thank you,” she continued. “I know it wasn’t easy for you. I know I’m not ready to return the favor … but I … I still wanted you to know…”

  Her swirling thoughts finally hardened and crystallized into one: I love you, Reuben.

  And with that, Reuben’s world stopped spinning. “Oh, Petra,” he whispered. “I – you…” He thought of the image that had sprung into his mind when she’d kissed him. She needed to know about that. “You know how you said you couldn’t get to my memories?”

  “No, I couldn’t,” she admitted, her mood shifting as she realized that he didn’t share her good humor. “Couldn’t find even one.”

  “I saw one of yours when you kissed me.”

  She drew back, no longer smiling. “You saw one of my memories?”

  Reuben opened his eyes and nodded. “Well, I can only assume that’s what it was. It was like a photograph in my head, and it had to have been through your eyes because it was of me.”

  She slowly nodded. “That is … interesting.”

  “Here, let me show you,” said Reuben, on impulse. Before she could react, he kissed her forehead.

  She staggered back as soon as he released her, pressing her fingertips to her forehead. Was she in pain?

  “I’m so sorry!” he said, regretting the impulse. As she so often informed him, he had to learn to think things through…

  She shook her head. “No, no, don’t be. That was interesting and enlightening. Reuben, I … I really think we ought to stop experimenting for tonight.”

  He nodded. They’d only had this telepathic power for less than a day. They weren’t likely to lose it anytime soon. They could afford to take it slow, tempting though it was to just barge through and explore the whole array of their power immediately.

  And it was so very tempting, as Reuben stared down at her, at the grin quirking the corner of her mouth. He wondered…

  “So, you’ve decided that you return my feelings?” He snapped himself away from that thought, hoping she hadn’t heard it. He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her over to a couch and sat down with her, reluctant to break physical contact. “May I ask when you realized this? I don’t think you had actually come to such a decision when we were being Tied. You still seemed reluctant.”

  “I was,” she admitted, looking down at her lap. “I think part of me still is. But I was just in your head. I saw the whole of you, your hopes, your dreams, your passions. I’m not sure anyone could come out of an experience like that without either loving or loathing that person.”

  “And you decided that you love me?” he asked, fidgeting with the end of her braid.

  “Reuben, you love me a lot,” she answered, meeting his eye. “I’ll admit that I find it almost frightening and that it borders on an unhealthy obsession, but it’s also so incredibly comforting to have a rock, an anchor, something to be sure of when everything else is slipping away. You’ve always been there, and I know that your love isn’t an idea that you woke up with three weeks ago and you’ll forget about in three more weeks. Honestly, I’d expected you to give up and move on years ago. I – I think I was even a little scared that you would. But you didn’t. Now that I’ve felt your love full on, plunged in and nearly drowned in it, I can’t help but return it.”

  “I couldn’t imagine not loving you, I…” Reuben couldn’t think of anything else to say, and what he could think of, well, she’d been in his head. She probably already knew everything in his heart.

  She laid her head against his shoulder, and he felt her relax. Today has been a very long day.

  Him: Indeed. We’re back to that?

  Her: I’m not sure we ever left. I…

  He felt her mind drifting away from him and back to the terrible news that Ritis had broken upon her, starting her major freak out.

  Him: I’m so sorry about Sarah.

/>   He sent every ounce of comfort he had with that thought.

  She stiffened. It feels so unreal.

  Him: I know. Makes me fear the conditions we’ll find Richard and Sylvia in.

  Her: I don’t want to think about them right now.

  He quite agreed.

  Him: What are you going to do about Ashna?

  What he felt in response was confusion, a pure question mark.

  Him: Sarah’s daughter, Ashna. Ritis had to forget her real name while she was in our world in order to protect her. She’s your niece. I know you’d much prefer to have Sarah back, but, well, you told Ashna that she ought to give Rintaya a chance before she judged her. It’d be only fair if you gave her a second chance now that you know that she’s Sarah’s daughter.

  Petra took a deep breath. Reuben … I know I was wrong, but I’m not like you. I can’t change my opinions on a passing whim. I’m going to try, I really will. As you said, she’s Sarah’s daughter. She’s the only part of Sarah I have left. You’d better believe I’m not going to throw that away.

  Reuben decided that he’d take that answer.

  Laura stirred, letting out a small moan. Petra immediately sprang out of Reuben’s arms and rushed to the girl’s side.

  “Alyce, are you all right?”

  Reuben stood and joined Petra just as Laura’s eyes fluttered open. The girl let out another moan and squeezed them shut again.

  “Alyce – I mean, Laura – are you all right?”

  Laura rolled into the back of the couch.

  “Well, I think the fact that she’s moving is a good sign,” said Reuben, putting a hand on Petra’s shoulder. “She appears to be conscious, and consciousness is better than unconsciousness, don’t you think so?”