Lady Dragon, Tela Du

by Kendra E. Ardnek

  “I think it has to do with trust,” said Reuben. “I don’t think that we’re supposed to have an actual locked door between us, or that either of us should have the power to shut the other out, but by locking this door, well, it can be a quiet way of saying, ‘I’d rather not,’ and the other can choose to respect it.”

  Petra arched her eyebrow. “Like you didn’t?”

  “Petra…” He reached over and took her hand, and she felt a wave of frustration pour out of him. “You’ve been pacing for well over an hour. It’s been keeping me awake. I came as an act of self-preservation.”

  “Oh.” Petra pulled her hand out of his and took a step back. “I’m sorry. I’ll … pace quieter. Are these walls really that thin?”

  “It wasn’t the noise.” Reuben shook his head. “Honestly, I couldn’t hear you. In fact, I was almost asleep, but then my head suddenly filled with frustration, worry, and tension.” He waved his arms wildly. “There wasn’t any actual thought, but I still knew with absolute certainty that it was you. I tried to block you out and go to sleep anyway, but I couldn’t, so I realized that I had to come over here and turn it off at the source.”

  “You were in my head, and we weren’t even touching?” She took another step backward.

  “More like you were in my head, but … yes.” Reuben turned his palms upwards with an expression of desperation.

  “Well … Spiraldream said that our powers are similar to theirs, and they can talk without physical touch.” Petra turned away from him and started pacing.

  “To be fair, it didn’t happen until my mind was basically blank, and as I said, there weren’t any full thoughts, just your general emotion,” Reuben pointed out.

  “Then why can’t I do it with you?” asked Petra, turning back to him with an arched eyebrow. “Why can you hear me and not the other way around?”

  “Um, maybe because your mind isn’t blank, and I'm not being loud?”

  “Good theory.” Petra closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind and see if she could feel his.

  “I think you also need to be relaxed,” Reuben mentioned.

  “Hush. I’m trying to hear your thoughts, not your voice.”

  “Petra, I’ve never seen you so tense in my life, and that’s saying something.” He gave an exasperated sigh. “I thought you were the one who didn’t want to experiment with our new powers.”

  Petra rolled her eyes despite her closed lids. “Reuben, I asked you to be quiet.”

  “Look, we can experiment later. Right now, we need sleep.” She felt his hand slide around her waist, and she opened her eyes to see that he stood right in front of her.

  What’s wrong, Petra?

  She sighed, unsure whether she wanted to pull away or lay her head against his shoulder. “A lot of things. We’re expected to fight and kill the Lady Dragon. It was bad enough when it was just those elves who expected it of us, but did you see all those people tonight? All of them, looking to us to save them. If we fail, they’re stuck with Amber forever. Reuben, she killed my sister! Today she took Marno and Ritis captive, turned poor Linette to ice, and who knows what she did to Rintaya! How can we possibly stand against her?”

  “We could try standing together, with Alphego behind us,” Reuben suggested, pulling her closer to him.

  The desire to lay her head against his shoulder won out, as awkward as it was since he didn’t have a shirt. They were Tied now. They’d been given rooms with a connecting door that couldn’t be locked. She was willing to guess that this wouldn’t be considered inappropriate behavior if someone heard about it.

  Her hair had already been done in a braid for the night, but Reuben still held it tightly, even wrapped it around his wrist. She smiled slightly. Sometimes, his obsession with her hair was amusing.

  “Look, Petra, I don’t pretend to have answers, but I do know that we’re here and that we’ve been given weapons and a way to train. Worrying so hard that you can’t sleep is for certain not the answer. Sometimes you just have to learn how to trust.”

  “I know,” said Petra. “But sometimes, it’s just so hard to let go of the worry. So, um,” she lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him, “when do you plan to return to your room?”

  “When I can be certain that you won’t keep me up,” Reuben answered, releasing her hair. “And I, unfortunately, suspect that means that I’m going to have to make sure you’re asleep, yes?”

  “I—” Petra began, as he suddenly scooped her up, threw her onto her bed, pulled back the covers, and tucked her in.

  “This morning you managed to pull me awake,” he explained, sitting down on the bed beside her. “I wonder if it works in reverse.”

  “Reuben, it’s easy to wake up!” she protested, sitting up before he could try anything. “And I did it by accident. Falling asleep is an entirely different issue. I’d prefer it if you didn’t experiment with that. I don’t want to be mentally scarred because of this. Who knows? You could accidently put me to sleep in such a way that I then never be able to wake back up again.”

  “Mm, perhaps a good point,” said Reuben, folding his arms over his chest. “So, do you have a better idea? I personally enjoy my sleep.”

  “Well, you said that I started spilling into your head when your mind was blank,” said Petra, thoughtfully. “Maybe if we stay in complete mental contact, we could fall asleep together?”

  “Mental contact requires physical touch,” Reuben pointed out, leaning back.

  Petra blinked. “Oh. I didn’t realize that you would have a problem with that.”

  “Well, I … I was thinking you, since, you know…” He glanced down. “I mean … I … but you…”

  “You don’t think I want to do it,” she realized. “Reuben, I was the one who suggested it.”

  “Well, yes, but it’s not that simple, Petra.”

  She reached over and took his hand. She’d been in his head. She’d felt that same recurring thought float to the surface more often than he liked whenever they touched. She’d been in his dream that morning.

  “Do it,” she told him.

  He blinked.

  “Kiss me.” She pulled him closer to her. “Make good on that raincheck yesterday. Get it out of your system and find out if it’s as wonderful as you’ve always imagined. Just do it. Don’t worry if I’ll like it or not, I’ll learn to if I don’t.” She let go of his hand. “I made a vow yesterday to care for you as my own flesh. Marriage means making sacrifices to ensure the other’s needs are met. I appreciate you holding back for me, but let me make—”

  She couldn’t get any further because his lips suddenly crushed into hers. The next moment, images and other forms of memory began to pour into her, memories of her, from an image of her at two and in pigtails, to the smell of her hair just a few moments ago. And so much love. She’d tasted his the night before while exploring his mind, but now it was pouring into her, and it seemed even greater than before.

  Reuben, if it’ll help us sleep, then I honestly don’t mind. We’re Tied now, she whispered into his mind as she pulled away. The Klaranders gave us a room with a connecting door. They obviously expect us to do stuff like this.

  All she heard from his mind was a repeating, I love you, I love you, I love you…

  She grinned and pulled out of his arms. “Come on, Reuben. Let’s go to sleep.” Then she frowned. Even though she’d broken physical contact, she still heard the repeating I love you.

  She almost said something about this new development but shook her head again. It was a way out of the offer she’d just made him, an offer that she knew he was looking forward to. She didn’t want to disappoint him. They could explore this new development in the morning, perhaps after they spoke with the harandas.

  Leaning forward, she clapped her hands in front of his face. “Reuben! Back with me! Let’s go to sleep!”

  He shook his head, and his emotion shifted to sheepishness. “Um, sorry? I wasn’t expecting you to … you love me.”

>   “Yes, I believe I let you in on that secret last night,” she told him, ducking her head. “So, was it as amazing as you’d always dreamed?”

  “Well … I … it was real,” he said, running a finger along her cheek. “You were there and … you love me. It was a lot to take in, to be honest.”

  “It was, wasn’t it,” Petra agreed, then put up a hand between them as he realized that he was coming in for another kiss. She almost lost her nerve at the wave of disappointment that rolled off of him. “That’s enough experimenting for one night,” she told him, sighing. “We need to sleep. You can kiss me again in the morning.”

  With that, she pulled out of his hold, scooted over in the bed, and lay down with her back to him.

  Saying nothing, yet thinking everything, he climbed in with her, wrapping an arm around her and pulled her close to him like she was his giant rag doll. It was perhaps a bit more physical contact than she had meant, but she hadn’t the heart or energy to tell him to roll over.

  And now, let’s relax, thought he.

  Petra, unfortunately, still found herself incapable of doing just that. If anything, his arms and intense mental presence only made it harder.

  Noraeto’s father is your brother. What do you think of that? They’d not had a chance to talk about the new developments of that day, thanks to the ball. Perhaps discussing them would set them to rest and allow her to sleep.

  Him: Yes, so Noraeto claims. So that’s why Robert has been acting strange this last week. A wife and son. This world.

  Her: You think it has only been a week?

  Him: Well, it lines up properly, from what I can tell. We’ll have to check with him when and if we see him again, but it feels right. Maybe Laura would know. Noraeto said that his father had already gone out with their herds for the day and that Amber probably didn’t capture him, but he’s not sure where he is. Noraeto’s gift is Farsight, but he told me that it doesn’t always work on Robert because it’s partially based on physical appearance and Robert’s gift is disguise.

  Her: Maybe he’ll join us here soon. What do you make of Karyn? Something seems off about her to me.

  Reuben seemed confused. The woman with the strange hair color? What do you mean? You can’t judge a person based solely upon their hairdo.

  Her: No, I’m not talking about her looks. We’re in a world with telepathic, teleporting unicorns, and yesterday we spoke with a guy who was half-horse. Hair the color of a watermelon is run-of-the-mill here. What I mean is … her story doesn’t quite feel right to me.

  Him: The part about how she knew your sister, or how she’s from another world?

  Her: I don’t know. It just feels … off. And I’m not sure she likes me. There’s a definite animosity whenever she speaks to me, especially when Sarah or Sylvia was the subject.

  Him: Maybe she’s just not sure what to make of a girl who resembles both her old friend and the Lady Dragon that is plaguing this world. Anything else you need to set to rest so that you can go to sleep?

  Her: I suppose there is one more thing. When you kissed me, I saw … I’m going to guess all of your memories of me. Did you…

  Him: Yes, I saw your memories of me. There were quite a few. We spent a good deal of time together while growing up, didn’t we?

  Her: It’s no wonder you fell in love. Although, I noticed that in your memories … Reuben, I’m not that pretty.

  Him: You are to me. Always have been and always will. Now hush and go to sleep. We begin training tomorrow.

  Part 4

  The

  Final War

  Chapter 1

  It was Petra’s turn to read while Reuben sparred against King Brent.

  Reuben had done something – they weren’t sure exactly what – while experimenting with their new powers the week before, and now whatever one read was transmitted into the other’s head. Neither could figure out how to undo it, as it didn’t seem to be connected to sight or even spoken language, which were easy to meddle with. Harandas didn’t read, so Greenhorn and Spiraldream had been no help.

  Needless to say, Petra had not been impressed when it had first happened. Still, it was convenient at times, even if it meant that they couldn’t read different things at the same time. They didn’t have to waste time reading the same thing twice, information wouldn’t be lost in translation, and one could do something productive while the other read.

  Today, King Brent had decided to take advantage of this during training and use it to teach them how to focus on a fight despite distractions. That had been interesting, to say the least. During Petra’s spar against Jillina, Reuben had read one of the Legends. Petra, in turn, chose a hefty tome of Rizkan laws that they would need to know if and when they became king and queen.

  Reuben didn’t seem to appreciate her foresight, however, and he was complaining – telepathically – every few minutes. She sighed and rolled her eyes as he interrupted an intriguing law about property rights.

  “You’re supposed to be fighting. Not talking to me.”

  She spoke aloud for King Brent’s benefit.

  King Brent took a step back and raised an eyebrow at Reuben. “I rather suspected that you weren’t giving me your full attention.”

  “Of course not,” Reuben growled. Reading law had apparently not put him in a good mood. “She’s reading.”

  “That is precisely the point of this exercise,” said King Brent, shaking his head. “Trust me, Reuben, when you face a real battle, it will be filled with many far greater distractions.”

  “I seemed to be holding my own well enough,” Reuben countered.

  “I was holding back for your skill level,” King Brent informed him. “In the battle to the death that shall be the Final War, I don’t think that Granite will be as considerate of your lack of skill.”

  Petra chose to comment telepathically. Even if he isn’t evil like his wife, he surely has respect for his own life.

  Reuben drew back, holding up his staff defensively as his eyes narrowed. “Maybe I don’t need you to ‘hold back’ for me!”

  “Reuben, the two of you have made remarkable progress with those staffs of yours, considering how long you’ve had them,” said King Brent, “but the fact remains that you’re still only beginners. Maybe you should try focusing on what I put in front of you and learning instead of showing off.”

  “I could focus better if the voice in my head wasn’t droning on about proper protocol for when heavy storms remove fences and people can’t tell where their property borders are anymore.”

  “There’s actually an interesting story behind that particular law,” said King Brent, grinning slightly. “I’ll have to tell it to you some time.”

  “At least I’m reading something boring,” Petra pointed out, tilting her head back to glare at him. “Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to concentrate while you were reading Winter’s Warrior?”

  “I thought that a book with fighting in it would help you! Didn’t it?”

  “Elroy used a sword. We use staffs. The techniques are very different – especially since Jillina was using attacks that weren’t anything like the ones that Elroy’s opponents did. All it did was confuse me,” Petra pointed out. “But I managed to focus on the battle despite my brain screaming for a different attack every single time. Why can’t you do the same? I’m only reading law for crying out loud!”

  “Okay, rub in the fact that you’re better than I am,” said Reuben.

  The last time they’d been allowed to duel each other, she’d given him a nasty bruise on his leg, which he was still sore about and wasn’t helping his mood. Still, he shouldn’t have given her an opening to give him that bruise.

  “It’s called strategy,” said Petra, rolling her eyes again. “Honestly, Reuben, you have more potential than I do, if you’d only focus and pay attention to your opponent. You have strength on your side, after all. Also, try banishing all those misconceptions you’ve gathered through reading fantasy novels back home and
listen to Brent. He knows what he’s doing.”

  “He’s the one who thinks that it’s a good idea to read and fight at the same time,” Reuben retorted.

  “So, you wish to prove that you know better than I do in a true fight?” asked King Brent. “Very well. That can be arranged.”

  An actual wave of panic rolled off of Reuben. “Wait … I didn’t mean…”

  “Oh, but I think it will do you good, and now’s as good a time as any,” said King Brent. “Petra, you’re now dismissed for the rest of the afternoon. Perhaps you can run and catch up with Jillina? I’m sure she’d love some company. All I ask is that you abstain from reading for the next thirty minutes or until Reuben lets you know that we’re done.”

  “Thirty minutes?” Reuben repeated. The panic had made it to his voice now.

  “We will probably finish early,” said Brent. “I’m just giving her an exaggerated estimate to work with.”

  Petra smiled as she snapped her book shut. “I don’t mind at all. Break a leg, Reuben.”

  No kiss for good luck?

  Petra shook her head. You don’t need luck. You need me out of your head so you can have about ten percent of a chance to win this fight rather than none.

  But—

  You know I can’t put up a decent block if I’ve just kissed you. Now try your very best not to die. I don’t want to face Amber by myself.

  With that, she left the training hall. She put up a mental block, a trick that the harandas had taught her, so she wouldn’t accidentally distract him with her thoughts.

  She retreated to her room to change into a proper dress and allow her assigned maid to take down her hair and put it back into its typical braid. Then she decided to just wander through the Kastle’s halls. She was not in the mood to listen to Jillina’s chatter, so Brent’s suggestion to catch up with her was not very appealing.

  Petra and Reuben had been given a tour of the Kastle the day after arriving in Klarand, so Petra knew her general way through the twisting hallways. There were always servants who she could ask for directions if she got lost.