Luminosity

by Annabelle Jay

  “It makes sense,” Blair finally said. “Your baby was the first wizard born after Merlin’s death. His spirit just slipped like a foot from one sock to the other.”

  “But… but….” Aaron looked down at his child. “I don’t want him to be Merlin. I never even liked Merlin.”

  “Don’t worry, he’ll still be your son,” King Grian comforted as he put his gloved hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “He’ll just also be the greatest wizard of your time. With the exception of the last Merlin, of course.”

  Aaron shook his head, out of words for the situation. King Grian hugged his friends, including me, goodbye, and then he walked up the ramp to the ship to prepare for departure.

  The engines fired up, and the ramp began to recede. My heart began to pound even louder than the engines, at least that’s how it sounded in my head, and my eyesight blurred. This is wrong, I thought. This is all wrong.

  What did I want? Sure, I liked Jeremy, but I had no idea if things between us would work; was I going to traipse across the universe just to find out? And what about Egret’s sacrifice? Was I dishonoring her by liking Jeremy too?

  Suddenly, I noticed something balanced on the edge of the receding ramp. A bird, or more specifically, a dove. Its head bobbed again, the way it had before, and this time I knew it was not a coincidence.

  “Wait!” I cried. Then I turned to Blair. “Please explain everything to my mother. I’ll come back as soon as I can, I promise.”

  “Come back? What are you talking—”

  I didn’t wait for her to finish. After I sprinted to the ramp, I leaped the two feet to the edge and found secure footing. After running up the last portion to the entranceway, I waved goodbye to my friends. As the last few inches of sunlight disappeared and their faces along with it, I turned and faced Prince Jeremy. He had been hiding in the shadows to watch my face disappear like theirs, only there I was, standing in front of him, panting with the exertion of the sprint.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “I can’t promise that things will work out,” I said as I stepped closer and put my arms around his waist, “but I hope that they do.”

  “You do?” he put his arms around my shoulders and pulled me in. “Well, those sound like good odds to me.”

  THE NEXT day, we arrived on Draman just in time for the sun to come up and reveal my new land. Covered in desert with the occasional mountain, the terrain was not what I’d expected of a livable planet. As I stepped off the ship, sand stung my eyes and turned my hair into a rough, dry mess.

  “This is Draman?” I asked, though of course I already knew it was.

  “This is home.” Prince Jeremy took my hand and led me the hundred yards to the castle entrance, where at least there was an apple orchard and the beautiful castle made up for the otherwise flat and lifeless backdrop. “On the other side of the castle is the road to town. Most of the buildings were destroyed when Shull, the leader of the Earth Dragons, attacked us with his metallic monster, but my fathers, King Grian and Philip, rebuilt every home themselves. It’s where they fell in love.”

  Speaking of King Philip, he emerged from the castle door as we walked the path through the apple trees and embraced first King Grian and then Prince Jeremy. King Philip had salt-and-pepper hair and a matching beard, and he wore only a thin crown that was barely noticeable—unlike the monstrous gold crown lined with yellow diamonds that King Grian put back on as soon as we got inside.

  “I was so worried,” King Philip said as he led us to the throne room. “Rumors flew across the galaxy. Incubi, Igreefee, Fire Dragons, Eads, Shayla… it sounds like a terrifying battle.”

  “It was,” King Grian said. “In fact, Lumi lost her father in battle that day.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” King Philip said as he turned his kind face my way. “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. I’m King Philip, King Grian’s husband. And you are?”

  “Lumi Hawthorne.”

  “The last Artist,” Prince Jeremy whispered to his father, whose eyes widened at the pronouncement.

  “Oh my,” he finally said. “What an honor to have you here. Grian, we absolutely must throw a ball in her honor.”

  Not another ball, I groaned in my head, but on the outside I said that I would love the experience of a proper Dramanian dance.

  “Perhaps we can give that waltz another shot?” Prince Jeremy said with a wink.

  “I’ll have to check my dance card,” I volleyed back.

  “Oh, I like her already.” This came from a tall young woman in her midtwenties who had appeared in the throne room doorway. She was accompanied by a shorter woman a few years older than her, and they both had Jeremy’s half gold, half black hair, only theirs looked like highlights instead of a stripe. They were both equally pale, but had the same striking blue eyes as Grian. Straight out of the Renaissance, they wore long white dresses with gold trim around the necks and had their hair in long braids.

  “Yes, I agree. Anyone who can keep up with this rascal is a saint in my book,” said the older sister. She put out her hand, and I took it. “My name is Jo, and this is my sister Jade. A pleasure to meet you.”

  “Lumi,” I said as I let go. “Jeremy’s…. Uh….”

  “Girlfriend,” finished Prince Jeremy. “At least until she gets sick of me and goes back to Earth.”

  “Girlfriend?” Jade’s eyebrows rose. “From Earth? Now this is a surprise indeed. Jeremy hasn’t had a girlfriend since… well… never!”

  “Okay, okay, that’s enough small talk,” Jeremy tried to interrupt.

  “I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Jade continued, ignoring Jeremy’s dagger eyes, “all the girls in the kingdom are in love with him. Who wouldn’t be? But no one has ever been the right fit. There must be something very special about you, Lumi.”

  “Of course she’s special. Now if you’ll excuse us, I’ll show Lumi to her room—”

  “Oh, brother, don’t be silly. Let us take her,” said Jo. “After all, she’ll need help selecting her dress for tonight if there is truly to be a ball.”

  And that’s how I ended up in my new bedroom, a large chamber on the right side of the castle, as maid after maid brought in dress after dress for my perusal. It wasn’t the VAM system, but it would do. Every surface of the room was covered in a layer of gold paint, complete with real gold flecks that peppered the surfaces.

  “I’m sure Draman must be quite a shock after Earth’s luxuries,” Jade said. She and Jo, acting as comfortable as if they had known me their whole lives, had sprawled out on my king-sized bed and were waving away the dresses they didn’t approve of. Having never had a sister or even a brother, their instant friendliness was lovable and yet mildly disturbing at the same time.

  “Honestly, I still don’t know much about this planet,” I admitted. “We were so busy fighting the incubi that Jeremy didn’t have time to go into the specifics.”

  Jade and Jo exchanged a worried glance.

  “You mean you don’t know about the chamber pots?” Jo asked. “Or the lack of electronics?”

  “You don’t know about the never-ending desert?” added Jade. “Or the lack of planes, trains, or other local transport besides dragon back?”

  My legs felt suddenly weak. What have I gotten myself into, I thought as the girls made room for me and I fell back onto the gold comforter. It’s like I went back through a time machine, and King Arthur is going to ride up on a loyal steed at any moment. I’ve always loved old things, but as exhibits in museums, not real life.

  “It’s not all bad,” Jo comforted. “It just takes some getting used to, that’s all.”

  “She’s right,” agreed Jade, though I knew they were both lying to make me feel better. “Draman’s a lot like an abstract painting. It’s all about the way you interpret it, you know?”

  They waved away the maids. Apparently, fashion on Draman never changed, and Jo and Jade were still wearing styles from when their grandmother, Nimue, wa
s the greatest style icon on the planet. The dearth of clothing seemed to be their least favorite part of Draman, and they told me how jealous they were of Earth’s extensive wardrobe options.

  Painting. Drawing. Interpreting. My mind raced.

  “I know exactly what to do to make this all better,” I stated as I sat up. “Or at least start to.”

  “You do?” Jo asked.

  “It’s better if I show you. Do you have a piece of paper?”

  Once Jo and Jade found a blank page, I sat down at the gold desk next to the window and began to draw. First two figures, starting with their heads and working my way through their proportions, came to life as mannequins the same heights as both girls. Then, by using my powers to change the color of my pencil, I drew on their outfits.

  Though Jo and Jade both wore plain dresses, they had decorated them differently; Jade wore a blue, beaded belt around her waist, and Jo wore a more conservative pearl necklace. Therefore, as I crafted their gowns, I tried to reflect these styles in the designs. Jade’s became a seventies-inspired gown with bell sleeves and loose skirt, while Jo’s was a high-neck lace gown with long lace sleeves and a tight skirt that fell right below her knees.

  “It’s all about the way you interpret it,” I quoted. “I just have to think of Draman as my canvas. With Grian and Philip’s permission, I could add a few key things to this planet that would improve without overpowering. Some more trees, perhaps, and a few desert flowers. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

  Jo and Jade were too busy trying on their new dresses to hear me. The joy on their face as they looked in the floor-length mirror was enough to make me forget all about missing Earth—at least for a moment.

  Chapter Sixteen

  AFTER JO and Jade left to have their hair done by their royal stylists, I sat back down at the desk and thought about my own outfit. However, with the two chattering girls gone, the room seemed suddenly empty and sad. All I could do was doodle.

  “Your fashion should reflect your heart,” my sewing teacher had always said as we sat, hunched over our machines, trying to create something from the mess of fabric and buttons and zippers.

  But my heart felt scattered, like a broken plate with pieces all over the floor. A piece on Earth, a piece with my old life in California, a piece with my father, a piece with Egret, and a new piece here, with Jeremy. These shards did not glue together into a whole, but were mismatched and differently patterned.

  Putting my pencil in my pocket and tucking my notepad beneath my arm, I rose from the desk to take a walk in the apple orchard to ease my mind. My closet had been filled with clothes my size in the first few minutes since my arrival, so I selected a light yellow shawl and wrapped it around my shoulders—not to keep me warm, since on Draman heat was no issue, but to protect my unaccustomed skin from the sun—before sneaking out the door and down the stairs to the great wooden doors.

  According to a plaque at the entrance, the apple orchard had been planted in the beginning when the Artists gave Draman to the Bone Dragons. A place of reflection, the plaque explained, where Dramanian rulers had walked for centuries. Nearby, a bench had another historical plaque drilled into the back: “The Kissing Tree.”

  I sat on the bench and then lay down so that my head was on one of the armrests. Now that I was protected from the sun by the branches, my shawl became a pillow beneath my head. I propped my notepad on my legs and removed my pencil from my pocket, then pressed the point to paper.

  Your fashion should reflect your heart.

  Carefully, I began to draw. First the top, a one-shouldered sleeve, with vines like those the Igreefee grew, tricking off the shoulder to the chest of the dress. Then across the chest an outline of ribs, resembling the bare body of a Bone Dragon, and below that a yellow belt with a sun in the center. The front of the full skirt became an icy lake, and the other side a blazing fire. Last but not least, I added a necklace with an Earth pendant that hung just above the neckline of the dress. Closest to my heart, I thought, though farthest away.

  The dress would be waiting for me in my bedroom, but I did not rise. I wanted to enjoy that moment, when everything came together like the pieces of a quilt, before it vanished into the strangeness of this new planet.

  Only when the sun set did I leave that magical place. In the half-light, the red apples turned from beacons of hope to blazing orbs that resembled the eyes of a thousand vicious incubi. Despite the heat, they sent a chill down my back.

  AFTER I changed into my dress, I followed the music wafting through the hallways like a scent and found the ballroom. Prince Jeremy, dressed in the traditional Dramanian attire he had worn at the Mansion, waited at the entrance.

  “Look at this creation,” he said as he spun me around and admired my work.

  “You like it?”

  “Of course. Especially this part right here.” He brushed a hand over the Bone Dragon ribs and then to my back, where he used his grip to pull me into a waltzing step.

  “Isn’t the point to dance in the ballroom,” I said, “not outside the doors?”

  “The point is to dance with you,” he replied. “Where that happens doesn’t matter much to me.”

  “Well, I’ll bet it matters to Philip,” I said. “He did put this all together for me.”

  “Very well, we’ll join the others. But I want the first dance.”

  Two servants opened the ballroom doors. Prince Jeremy took my hand and led me into the room, packed with governors in more modest versions of Jeremy’s royal attire who stared at their new visitor with curious gazes, and up the stairs to the thrones. Princess Jo and Princess Jade stood up and kissed me on both cheeks before exclaiming how much they loved both their dresses and mine.

  In the background, musicians played the traditional music of Draman. Their instruments were similar to string instruments still played occasionally on Earth, but had flat backs, ten strings, and an upright playing position.

  “I have a surprise for you,” said Prince Jeremy. “Come with me.”

  He took me onto the dance floor and moved my hands into the proper Dramanian dance position, slightly different than that of Earth because it involved clasping both hands as equals instead of having a leader. Then he nodded at the musicians, who had apparently been waiting for his cue, and they launched into Brahms’ “Symphony No. 4.”

  “You brought classical music from Earth?” I asked, astonished, as we moved around the dance floor.

  “I wanted to bring something that would remind me of you. As a parting gift, I asked the Council to find me copies of all of the classical sheet music they could find, and this was one of them. I’d planned to play them at balls and sulk on my throne; never in my wildest dreams could I have guessed we’d be dancing to them together.”

  I could have cried from happiness.

  Around us the other Dramanians followed our lead. They seemed to enjoy the music, and after Brahms, the musicians moved to Beethoven and then Vivaldi. These songs may have been classics on Earth, but on Draman, they were contemporary.

  “My sisters told me what you said about adding flower beds and trees to the landscape,” Prince Jeremy whispered. Apparently, the girls had been listening. “I think it’s a great idea. We Dramanians like to keep our culture pure, free from the trappings of Earth’s modern age, but a few trees and flowers would do more to lift our people’s spirits than anything else probably could. I spoke to my fathers, and they think it’s an excellent plan as well. This afternoon, they decided to put you at the head of the Draman Beautification Committee, which will journey to all of the towns on Draman and work with them to rebuild parts of their landscapes and fields.”

  “Do you mean that?” I asked, astonished at how quickly things were decided on Draman. Then again, it was a monarchy.

  “Absolutely. And my sisters want to help too. I think they’ve taken a liking to you.”

  We looked at Jo and Jade, who waved at us from the throne.

  “Thank you, Jeremy. I was feeling out o
f place earlier today, but I think I may fit in here once I get the hang of things.”

  “Good. Because I want you to stay for as long as you can… or forever.”

  “Forever?” My pulse quickened. “How can you know that? I’ve been your girlfriend for all of six hours.”

  “I’ve known from the minute I met you. In fact, before that, even.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Prince Jeremy became suddenly interested in something behind me.

  “Jeremy, just tell me. You know I’ll get it out of you eventually.”

  “Okay, fine. On a planet near here there’s a place called the Cave of Secrets, and there lives a sorceresses called Nyneve, also known as The Mother. When I was a child, I got very sick from an unknown illness. My father took me there to stand in the water and ask The Mother for a cure. She gave me one, but she also told me my fate: to marry an Artist and have a child with her who was destined for greater things than even her parents.”

  “But I’m the only Artist left.”

  “I know.”

  None of this made any sense. If I was destined to fall in love with Jeremy, why had I fallen in love with Egret first?

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, keeping the other question to myself.

  Prince Jeremy looked back at the thrones, where King Grian and King Philip held hands as they watched their people celebrate. “Because King Grian was told his destiny was to find his soulmate, an Earth Dragon named Caden who was his original lover reborn. But things didn’t work out between them, and Grian fell in love with Philip instead.”

  “So you thought that if you told me, things wouldn’t work out?”

  “No. I thought that they would. But I didn’t want to fall in love with someone because an old lady bobbing around in a lake told me I should, and I didn’t want her prophesy to influence you either. Besides, you were in love with Egret, and I wanted you to be happy.”

  Just hearing her name brought my elevated mood crashing down.