by Sarah Noffke
Azure rolled her eyes. “Myrtle, will you please just tell us how to free Bob? He’s a real pain in the ass, and I can’t imagine punishing another with his service.”
The witch stared down at the lizard, probably having a silent conversation with him. She finally nodded and said, “Yes, I’ll tell you how to free the genie, but first you have to do something for me.”
“Of course,” Monet said, throwing his hands into the air.
“You are going to Lancothy, and there you will find—”
“How did you know that?” Ever asked, cutting her off.
The witch regarded the Light Elf with an impatient stare before saying, “If you bring me back a scale from a weredragon, I will tell you how to free Zingamobobfren.”
“Zingamobobfren?” Azure asked, nearly laughing. “That’s your full name, Bob?”
The genie cradled his head in hands, gripping his turban. “No! Now they know and will make fun of me.”
“’Zingamobobfren’ is a much better name than ‘Bob’ for a genie,” Ever said.
“I agree. I think I’ll call you ‘Zingy,’” Monet said.
“My name is Bob,” the genie said. His face was red when he looked up from his hands.
“Okay, Myrtle, we’ll bring you a weredragon’s scale,” Azure said, thinking she’d just signed up for an impossible task. How was she going to do that?
The witch regarded the crystal ball on the counter and shook her head. “The odds are against you, but give it your best shot. It’s important that you don’t use your last remaining wish, or Zingamobobfren will move on and your chance to free him will be lost.”
“Okay, don’t use the wish. Got it,” Azure said, turning to look out the shop window. They needed to get going.
“Oh, and one more thing…” Myrtle said.
“Let me guess. We’re all going to die?” Monet asked, singing the question a bit.
Myrtle shook her head. “No. I’m pretty sure that you, Monet Torrance, go on to invent the elixir of life.” She turned her dark eyes on Azure and grabbed her hand. The woman’s bony fingers were icy cold and hard, but Azure didn’t pull away. “Tell my dear cousin she’s chosen well.”
CHAPTER SIX
Obviously Azure wanted to know what Myrtle had meant when she said that Mage Lenore had chosen well, but the crazy-ass witch disappeared and they all felt pushed to the exit. As soon as they opened the door they were tossed into the street by an invisible force, and Myrtle’s Collectibles disappeared.
Azure found herself pacing back and forth in the carriage as it rode through the streets of New Egypt. How was she going to get a dragon scale? Was it worth potentially offending a weredragon to free Bob? He was an ungrateful asswit who got her in more trouble than he prevented. Well, besides helping her escape from the vampires—but he had also almost gotten her caught.
Getting a scale from a weredragon would be difficult or Myrtle would have just gotten it herself, Azure assumed. There were so many questions running through her mind, like Monet’s…
He was on the other side of the carriage teaching Laurel how to play the card game Elements. Someone should probably warn the werecat that Monet cheated, and she was probably going to get soaking wet or scorched. Azure smiled a little when she spied Manx in raven form sitting on the sideboard, peeping at Monet’s cards from behind his back. The pooka flapped his wings and flew up, and when he was over the table he landed and changed into a bunny, then hopped over and settled down next to Laurel’s elbow. The whole lot were just a bunch of cheaters.
Azure stumbled when the carriage took flight and fell hard into Ever, who was standing next to the grand piano. He caught her and kept her from falling to the floor and she secured her balance by holding onto the piano, but it was a challenge while the carriage was gaining speed and elevation.
“Hold on,” Ever said, gripping her shoulders tightly. “You know, you really should sit down for a takeoff, unless you’re a flight attendant and used to sudden altitude changes.”
Azure pressed her back into the piano and looked up at Ever in confusion. “What’s a ‘flight attendant?’”
He smiled at her ignorance. “I’ll take you on a plane ride on Earth sometime and show you firsthand.”
“You keep promising to take me on all these adventures on Earth. When are we going to have the time?” she asked.
His face was full of amusement. “I assume we’ll have time. I plan on living a long time and I’m guessing that my life will be spent protecting yours, so you can join me on all the adventures.”
Azure choked on a sip of air, now realizing how close Ever was to her. Since the embrace the night she’d escaped from Cordelia and Hamilton she’d been much more sensitive to their dynamic, which had shifted—or maybe her understanding had. She didn’t look at Ever the same way she looked at Monet, and he didn’t look at her as a friend either. There was longing in Ever’s stare, a strange poetic look that she’d never seen when anyone looked at her. Most had reverence for her as queen, but this was different. This was something she didn’t understand.
The carriage leveled out and Azure worked her jaw back and forth to pop her ears. Flying definitely took some getting used to. Feeling unbalanced, she found herself pushing away from Ever, but realized that there was nowhere to go with the giant piano at her back. Wait, where had it come from?
“Has this piano always been here?” Azure asked, turning to face the sleek black instrument. She ran her hand over the top, enjoying its smoothness.
Ever shook his head. “Oak added it when he created yours and Laurel’s bedroom. He said that the guys didn’t deserve their own sleeping quarters, but we could have something that made us more refined.”
Azure laughed. “He’s trying to culture you to subdue your boyish ways.”
Ever joined in, laughing too. “What’s strange is that I play the piano. I have since I was a child.”
“Why is that strange?” Azure asked.
“Because when I proudly informed Oak that I was refined enough to know how to play Frederic Chopin’s Scherzo Number 2 Opus 31, he nodded and said he was well aware.”
“He’s a very interesting man,” Azure mused, thinking of the strange carriage. Then, as if her memory was finally catching up with her, she turned abruptly to Ever. “Did you say you play the piano? Is this Chopin piece from Earth?”
Ever nodded, a lopsided grin on his face. It produced a small dimple on his left cheek which she’d never noticed before. “It’s one of the most famous pieces, and if I do say so myself, incredibly challenging to play.”
“Well then, I must hear it,” Azure said, pushing him toward the piano bench. He pushed back into her, not taking the seat.
“I’m not so sure I’m in the mood to play that just now,” he said, and motioned to the bench. “Why don’t you take a seat and I’ll teach you some things?”
Azure had never learned to play a musical instrument. Her hours had been spent in art, history, literature, and practical magic lessons. Her mother had always said that a queen must know where they’d been in order to know where to lead the people, so her education had heavily involved history and learning the laws of the kingdom.
She shrugged and remained standing. “I’m not really the musical type.”
Ever frowned and tapped a few of the keys, his fingers gliding across them effortlessly. “Oh, that’s not true. We’re all musical. You just have to know the notes to play.”
He rhythmically ran his fingers over the white and black keys, producing a beautiful melody.
“Keep that racket down,” yelled Monet. “I’m trying to hear these two, since they are whispering.” He swept his hand toward Laurel and Manx. The cats had stayed back while they went into the Sphinx, and seemed to have achieved a bonding of sorts.
Ever pulled his hand from the piano with a playful grin on his face. “Maybe another time, then,” he said to Azure.
“If I catch you two cheating I’ll have the queen behead you,�
� Monet threatened.
“What do you make of the Torrance business?” Azure asked, gazing across the room at Monet.
Ever glanced over his shoulder briefly before turning back around. “I’m not certain. I suppose he’s related to a powerful lineage of witches and wizards. Maybe even Mage Lenore, since she’s cousin to Myrtle.”
Azure sighed. “I wonder if the old witch will tell us anything?”
“Perhaps,” Ever said, his eyes low. He was clearly thinking.
“’Perhaps.’” Azure repeated his word with a different inflection. “I like that word. ‘Perhaps.’” She smiled inwardly.
“It does have a nice sound,” Ever agreed.
“I like words. The sounds they make, and the things they mean,” Azure said.
“’That only led to a lonely life accompanied by the last words of the already dead, so I came here looking for a Great Perhaps, for real friends and a more-than-minor life,’” Ever recited from memory.
“That’s a beautiful string of words,” she said, liking everything about that sentence.
“It was written by an author on Earth named John Green. He writes like we breathe,” Ever said.
“Effortlessly?” Azure guessed.
Ever nodded. “Yes, and with a rhythm to keep your heart beating.”
Azure felt she’d just fallen into a conversation that she never wanted to end. It, like the words of this John Green, was effortless, and just as fulfilling as breathing. “I had no idea you were a renaissance man who played the piano and was well versed in Earth literature.”
Ever leaned in and spoke from the corner of his mouth. “I’m also well versed on literature from Oriceran, but I don’t mean to brag.”
Azure reached out and playfully slapped his arm. “You do too.”
Finswick jumped onto the surface of the piano and strolled over to them. “I hope I’m interrupting. I have an idea for you.”
Azure slid her gaze to her black and white familiar, who was licking his paw and looking at her with his usual calm superiority. “I’m all ears.”
“Bob told me you have to find a scale from a weredragon,” Finswick began.
“Yes. I guess I’m going to have to ask one in Lancothy. Laurel said that there is an ancient family of them there,” Azure said.
“Then she probably also informed you that they’ll scorch your hair off for such a request,” Finswick said, lowering his paw.
“Yes, she said it was pretty much like someone asking me to shave a section of my head,” Azure said, feeling the doubt creep back over her thoughts.
“And while you might look all right with a shaved head, I don’t think it’s worth being torched to secure Bob’s freedom,” Finswick said.
From the lamp on the side table Bob spilled out into the room. “If the queen wants to endanger her life to save mine, that’s her business.”
Finswick resumed cleaning himself with his paw. “You could use your last wish to ask for the protection of Virgo from threats and be done with this buffoon.”
“Who you calling a monkey?” Bob asked, brandishing a fist at the cat.
“’Buffoon,’ not ‘baboon,’” Finswick corrected.
“Oh, well, I don’t get out much,” Bob said, throwing his hand in Azure’s direction. “I blame her. She never takes me anywhere and she never lets me do anything. She ruined my life.”
Azure thought of reminding Bob that she hadn’t even known him very long, but what was the point? She rolled her eyes, catching the grin on Ever’s face.
“Can I just say my life has gotten very colorful since meeting you and your cast of characters?” Ever said.
“You’re one of these circus freaks, so just keep that in mind,” Azure responded.
“And per Section Twelve, Sub-point Q of the Genie Bylaws, I’m unable to offer forever protection to a land,” Bob said matter-of-factly.
“Useless,” Finswick said. “He’s absolutely useless.”
Azure shook her head. “He has helped. And regardless, no one deserves to be trapped in a lamp all their life.”
“Which feels endless,” Bob complained, pretending to sob into his hands.
“You are immortal, so…” Ever said.
Finswick brought her back to the subject at hand. “Anyway, if you won’t listen to reason, then I have a solution for you.”
“Yes, what is it?” Azure asked.
“Oak appears to have a way with dragons. Have you thought about asking him for help?” Finswick asked.
Azure tilted her head to the side. She hadn’t thought to ask Oak, but he did have four tame dragons. It was reasonable that he might know how to get a weredragon scale.
“You’re a genius, Finswick!” Azure said, grabbing the cat and giving him a hug.
“I’m the one who told the cat about my dilemma, because I knew there had to a good solution,” Bob said, now blowing his nose on a handkerchief he’d grabbed from nowhere.
Azure lifted her head from Finswick’s fur. “You’re a genius too, Bob.”
“Genius.” Bob coughed. “The Genius Genie. I like the sound of that. I’m changing my name.”
“Oh, hell no you’re not, Zingamobobfren,” yelled Monet from across the room.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The carriage began to descend an hour later. When they landed in a grassy clearing surrounded by lush trees and sprinkled with lavender, Oak informed the parties in the carriage that the dragons needed to rest before continuing the trek.
“Flying to the Mountain of Truth is an exhausting trip for them because of the magic they have to break through,” he told Azure when she exited the carriage into the bright sunlight outside.
“They will be able to find Mage Lenore’s house, won’t they?” Azure asked.
Oak pulled his pointy hat off his head, pushing his bluish-silver hair out of his face. He looked like an old wizard with his long beard, but his eyes were full of youthful energy. “You’ve been to Mage Lenore’s house, isn’t that right?”
Azure nodded as the rest of the group filed out of the carriage to stretch their legs. Manx flew to the tree line in raven form. “Don’t go too far,” Azure called.
“I’m just going to catch a mouse for supper,” the pooka told her, and disappeared.
Azure shivered in disgust.
“Yes, mademoiselle,” Oak stated, withdrawing a pipe from his robe and lighting it with the tip of his knobby wand. “All one needs is to have visited Mage Lenore’s house once to be able to return, I do believe. I’ve never been there myself, but you have. That should be enough.”
“That must be how Gran is getting there. She’s going with Gillian, who was with me,” Azure mused.
“Your gran is an incredible woman who could get to Mage Lenore’s all on her own,” Oak said, puffing on the pipe.
Azure smiled. Gran was by far the most incredible person she’d ever known, but she couldn’t tell the old woman that. She’d probably barf at the sentiment.
“Oak, I have a question for you.” Azure stared at the Baltic Long-tooth dragons, which were stretched out in different places, fast asleep. Micky, the dragon who had defended Monet and Ever against Cordelia, lay closest, her spikey tail thumping the ground loudly.
“Your tone suggests that you’re riddled with uncertainty regarding this question,” Oak said, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Well, I need something in order to free Bob from the lamp, but I don’t know how to get it,” Azure said. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t just ask him directly, but it felt like a conversation that deserved a bit of lead-up.
Oak held out his hand. “Do you mind if we walk, mademoiselle? The dragons need to rest, and I need to exercise. We tend to need opposites. Such is the relationship of dragons and their master.”
Azure nodded, since she wanted a chance to walk in nature as well. Being in New Egypt was nice, but she missed trees and plants. They strolled through the clearing, the long grass caressing Azure’s robe. “My question is actually reg
arding dragons.”
“Yes, I figured as much.” Oak blew out a cloud of purple smoke. “Most come to me for my knowledge of dragons, but don’t underestimate this old wizard. I have been able to tame the legendary creatures because I’ve mastered many other things.”
“I think that makes sense. You appear to be an incredibly wise wizard.”
He turned to face her with a spark in his bluish-silver eyes. “Wisdom is one thing, but a wise man can still be a fool. I’ve mastered my own heart, which is one reason I’m talented enough to tame the dragons. These wickedly wonderful creatures trust me because I have proved myself to be true. It is a pure man who can tame a beast. It is the one who knows himself who can master others.”
Azure didn’t know what to say to this. It sounded as though her education wouldn’t offer her anything unless she knew who she truly was. That was a strange concept for her to contemplate as such a young witch.
“Of course, it all takes time,” Oak said, seemingly hearing her thoughts. “We cannot know our own heart without the experiences to learn its music.”
Azure continued walking. For some reason the mention of music and hearts startled something deep in her bones.
“Now, you have a question for me. Please, no pretenses, mademoiselle,” Oak said, striding next to her. The sun was shining overhead, but was quickly making its descent. Azure enjoyed the glow it sprinkled onto the grass and treetops.
Azure explained what Myrtle needed to help her free Bob. When she was done, Oak took a long pull on his pipe, his eyes focused on nothing.
“You’re right to be hesitant with your question,” Oak began. “You are a powerful and lovely queen, respected for your bravery as well as your compassion, but you stand no chance at all of securing a scale from a weredragon. It’s just not something they would offer to a person like you.”
“Because I’m not one of them?” Azure asked.
Oak thought on this for a moment, then shook his head. “No, it’s not a matter of being like them, but rather of relating to them. Could you imagine being neither human nor a dragon, being something in-between?”