by Sariah Skye
“But what?” I asked.
Evie fumbled in a cabinet below she counter she was working on, and pulled out a small, black vial. “A small sample of the Shadow residue in Castle Danger. I just wanted to make sure nothing surprising happened.” She thrust it towards me and I gingerly took it, pinching the top in between two fingertips. It was now, up close I could see the vial itself was actually clear glass, not black; the black came from the Shadow itself.
“Are you sure she should be touching that?” Kiarra grabbed the vial away from me, in complete surprise.
Evie waved her off, dismissively. “If she can’t handle a tiny little tip of a Shadow tendril, she definitely shouldn’t be working with the Shadowtouched.”
Reluctantly, I held my palm out towards Kiarra. “She’s not wrong.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. If anything happens, I’ll absorb the tendril myself,” Evie explained.
“Isn’t that dangerous for you?” Kiarra asked, surprised.
“This little amount? No. It’ll just pass through me like a breath; I’ll just feel cranky for a couple of hours,” Evie explained, with a nonchalant shrug. “Unless I go over willingly, it won’t do much…but too much could make me quite powerful, in the wrong way. This is why vamps generally are useless for fighting them. Effectively, we are Shadows, in a way.”
“That is…alarming to think about,” I replied. I sighed, holding the vial in front of me. “Shouldn’t Gabriel be here for this?”
Evie considered this, as she scratched at her black pixie with a finger. “For something this small, you’ll be fine on your own. I heard what happened with the flowers in Castle Danger. This should be no problem, especially if the pregnancy hasn’t compromised your light and healing magic in anyway.” She gestured towards the vial. “Whenever you’re ready.”
I glanced at it hesitantly, setting it carefully at the end of the gurney. I took a deep breath to relax myself before closing my eyes, holding my palms over the vial.
The magic inside, in the spot under my heart, tingled slightly. I called for it and felt it seep up and outwards, like the sun warming your shoulders on a chilly day. I pictured the Shadow inside—gone—and the clear, glass vial before me, totally empty.
My shoulders twitched lightly and I ignored the sensation. For this amount of Shadow, I didn’t need protecting, and I didn’t need stronger magic. Still, I poured the magic into the vial slowly—as slow as I could, feeling my hands heat and my fingertips burn as the magic emanated outwards.
A crack and a shatter interrupted my concentration, followed by a squeal. My eyes flew open to see the vial before me—completely obliterated, pink mist trailing upwards from the pile of sand that now lay before me. I glanced quickly at Kiarra nearby, who brushed off small shards of glass from the front of her robes.
Frantically, I grabbed her hands and inspected for any injuries. “Shit, Ki! Are you okay?”
A little shaken, Kiarra forced a confident grin. “Just fine, silly—more surprised than anything, though.”
Evie pushed me aside and looked over Kiarra’s hands and arms for wounds or embedded glass, then grabbed mine and inspected me. Shaking her head in amazement, she grinned.
“Well, that was a surprise,” she chuckled. She stared into space for a moment, and I knew she was doing her vampire thing. “Heartrate barely increased.” She motioned to the spot where the vial once sat. “Shadows are clearly gone. I think you’re just fine to heal, Leo.”
I felt relieved. “That’s good.”
“Was a bit of overkill though, wasn’t it?” Evie asked, turning to my lab tests nearby.
“I barely did anything!” I protested.
“Hmm. Perhaps the baby is amplifying your magic. Bet she’s a spirit user for sure,” Evie added under her breath.
“She?” I asked, surprised, swallowing down the nervous lump in my throat.
Evie patted my shoulder. “Sorry. I don’t really know yet. But…” she glanced in a black microscope briefly, before switching slides again. “Your levels and everything are just fine. You are fully cleared for healing. Good luck, Queen Leo,” she said with a wink.
“Yay!” Kiarra clapped her hands together and threaded her arm with mine. “Let’s get this thing started, huh?”
“Please,” I said. “The sooner this is done, the sooner I can take a long nap and get shit done before the next storm blows in or worse.” We bid the vampire a quick good-bye and we joined Braeden outside.
“How are things?” my brother inquired.
“Just fine. Good to go,” I replied triumphantly.
“That’s good,” Braeden said, with a brief shiver as a gust of wind blew over our shoulders. The sun was peaking behind heavy, white clouds and the snow was gone, revealing brown remnants of grass under our feet but being October, the snow could return anytime—hopefully not as bad as the blizzard yesterday but without the weather department’s constant vigilance, in another week we could easily be snow-covered. I was about to call to Maxxus to leave, but he was chatting intently with the sweet dragon family from Dreka, the boy running around at his feet and the little girl standing nearby her mother, clutching a long, silver necklace in her hand. I squinted to see closer, and I noticed the silver charm was of a small, crescent moon and I could swear, it had a very faint, white glow around it. Maxxus knelt to eye level, touching the charm lightly, speaking to her with a pleasant expression as he beamed at her with happiness. The little girl nodded before wrapping her arms around Maxxus’ neck, catching him off-guard.
My heart swooned a little at the sight. Without realizing it, my free hand drifted over my stomach, feeling a sense of contentment, knowing soon, that would be Maxxus’. Maxxus and our child, girl or boy…and he’d be fantastic.
“I told you it’d be okay,” Kiarra whispered to me. “The stress will all go away once you get to hug that baby in your arms and see that everything is okay.”
I smiled at her. “You’re right. It’ll be a long road getting there, but…”
“But it will be worth it.” Kiarra gave me a brief hug before calling to Maxxus. “Hey, your highness.” She waved at him catching his attention.
Maxxus said his good-byes to the dragon family and joined us. “Well, how are you?”
“Cleared to heal,” I said, smiling widely.
He let out a sigh, the tension melting off his shoulders. “Oh, that is good.”
“How are we going to do this? Going to bring them here, or…?” I asked.
Maxxus shook her head. “Nope, this is an official function. If you don’t mind, I wanted to make it public, in the throne room so everyone can see that it’s no big deal. I figured we’d start with Lorusto’s parents—as you requested, Leo, of course—and it makes sense since they’re part of the meteorological area. Then we’ll ask for a couple of volunteers, depending on how easily it goes for you. I figure might as well get to as many as possible before you get worn out.”
I swallowed nervously, feeling a veil of nausea wash over me. “In…front of everyone?” I gulped. “I figured we’d do one at a time, in private or something.”
“Yeah, with Evie watching. And Esmé. Just in case anything goes wrong!” Kiarra protested, narrowing her almond-shaped eyes at him into angry slits.
He held up his hands, pausing our protests. “They will be there, promise. But, I really think it’s important for everyone to see it’s harmless. The more willing they are, the easier it’ll be, right?”
I groaned reluctantly. “Yeah…you’re right. Dammit. But after this—one at a time, in private. Okay?”
Maxxus nodded in agreement. “Deal.” He looked upwards momentarily at the sun. “It should be almost noon I think. Let’s grab some lunch and I told the Court to meet in the throne room at one o’clock in the afternoon. Anyone who isn’t there gets demoted to portal guardian.”
I shuddered. “That’s terrible.”
“Tell me about it,” he said with a laugh. “Shall we?” Maxxus switched in
to his dragon form, followed by Kiarra and Braeden. He knelt down on his haunches and spread his wings to assist me to climb on his back. “Unless you want to use your human wings?”
I frowned, reluctantly agreeing to be flown back to the castle. “Hold still, dragon boy,” I said, as I climbed on as skillfully as I could. I didn’t want my wings to tear my favorite Harry Potter t-shirt I wore under my warmest pink robes. “Let’s go,” I ordered.
Maxxus adjusted himself under my weight, slight on his massive dragon form and took off after Kiarra and Braeden, and we rode back to the castle. I tried to focus on the landscape below instead of the incredible anxiety I suddenly felt, cramping my stomach, churning at me inside at the thought of healing in front of everyone.
I was glad for everyone’s confidence, but a vial of Shadow was one thing…healing an actual dragon was another and if I screwed it up…
…I shuddered to think.
Chapter 28
As Maxxus and I gathered with the rest of the group for lunch at my parents’ home, Kiarra and Daniel fussed over us, making us look royally presentable for the official healing function.
I refused to take off my Star Trek t-shirt of course, claiming it was good luck (and it made me comfortable) much to Kiarra’s irritation but with protest, Gabriel pointing out that my wings might decide to come out no matter how much I tried to not let them, I relented and agreed to a black corset tank, with my black pants and dark brown gladiator-style sandals that tied in bows at the ankles. A set of pink robes was altered to purposely look presentable—and not torn—if my wings emerged, with dark rose embroidery down every seam, and fastened in front with an emerald broach.
Kiarra brushed my hair gently and placed a circlet on my head, touching up my face with lilac eyeshadow, nude gloss and a swipe of blush and mascara before she deemed I was presentable enough.
Maxxus of course was gorgeous as is and required little primping; though Daniel did insist on his changing out of his gray t-shirt into a white linen shirt, underneath his emerald robes.
All the while we ate a lunch of beef stew, thick, sourdough bread with butter and strong coffee.
Even Gabriel and Daniel, the resident mytho-humans, appeared presentable in their own sets of robes, in black and deep brown respectively. The sleeves of Gabriel’s were slightly pushed up his arms, exposing his tribal-patterned tattoos that adorned his arms; Daniel’s fastened around the waist with a thick leather belt. I chuckled to myself, seeing that, thinking, He sure does like his leather.
Even Finnian dressed for the occasion, combing his unruly curls in place around his ears and wearing a set of brown linen robes, that made him appear more monk-like than Loremaster God-like, but I assumed that was the look he was going for.
“You ready for this?” Gabriel asked me, as we began to make our way in the brisk afternoon air of autumn to the castle. We opted to walk, not fly, allowing for time to relax before we arrived and digest our meals.
I nodded uncertainly, choking down the bile that rose in my throat. “Yep. So ready.”
Gabriel grabbed my hand tightly and held it against his side. “We’ll be fine, you’ll see. And then things will go back to…well, more normal, and you and Maxx can have some time together to enjoy being a couple, hopefully before…” he straggled to finish his sentence, not wanting to speak of what we were all dreading. The Shadows.
“You two all right?” Maxxus asked, walking with haste to catch up to us. I could almost detect a twinge of jealousy in his eye but he quickly shook it off.
“Yes, just a bit nervous,” Gabriel replied, with an awkward laugh.
I nodded vigorously. “Just nervous.”
Maxxus clasped us both on the shoulders, a surprising platonic gesture that caught us both off guard. “You’ll be fine, and if anything even remotely dangerous happens, I’ll stop everything then and there.”
Gabriel gave him an appreciative look. “I know. Thank you. It’s not me I’m worried about…”
“I know, me too,” he agreed, giving me a sidelong glance. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit; I need to talk to Finnian. Okay?”
“Sure,” I said. “Why should I care if you talk to Finn?”
Maxxus shrugged. “I don’t know, really.” He chuckled as he tenderly kissed my cheek, before pushing passed us and taking long strides of his tall legs to catch up with Finnian at the front of the group.
“He’s so weird sometimes…” Gabriel mused, as we watched him saunter forward.
I snorted. “You have no idea.”
I felt another hand on my shoulder. I looked back to see Daniel, looking solemn. He exchanged a look with his brother, who nodded, and stopped in his tracks, allowing Daniel and I to walk together in solitude.
“What?” I asked suspiciously, feeling uneasy at his seriously expression.
“I had a vision. This morning.” He appeared unsettled.
“Oh no…about what?” I asked, dreading what he was about to tell me.
“It was…unclear. But there was…darkness. And…” he shuddered violently, and I could almost sense the churning of his stomach, and the despair in his heart.
My heart sunk into my midsection. “Shadows.”
He nodded slowly. “I don’t know what it means but…we need to be prepared. They’re coming, and they’re closer than we think.”
I inhaled an unsettled, shaky breath. “How long do you think we have?”
“I don’t know. But…just…please be prepared. For anything.” Daniel’s eyes trembled with the onset of tears, and I couldn’t resist wrapping myself around him for a comforting hug: for both of us.
“We’ll be okay. Right?” I asked, needing as much confidence as he probably did at this point.
“As long as we stick together, yes. But…please be careful. Please,” he pleaded, his normally playful voice wracked with worry.
I nodded once. “I will. Promise.” We clutched hands and walked together silently, the trepidation unsure between us as we reached the castle.
The throne room was all set and ready upon our arrival; every Court member in attendance, taking their seats on the floor and upwards into the balcony. Normal citizens weren’t invited this time, but they milled about outside the castle walls, awaiting any news of successful healings.
Even the delegates from visiting kingdoms were in attendance, taking spots in the rear of the room, congregating in silent curiosity along the walls. My eyes fell on Esmé and Evie, who stood unnoticeable in a corner; they both nodded slightly at me and I was relieved by their presences.
Valessia was standing at the entrance to the throne room, ready to announce our arrival. I assumed my grandfather was already at the dais, with the first dragons ready to be healed: Lorusto’s parents.
“Announcing, head Loremaster and official Loremaster of Anarach, Finnian of Castle Danger!” Valessia announced his entrance, and Finnian regally sauntered into the room, taking his place on the floor next to the dias.
“The brothers O’Donnel, Daniel, the Seer and Gabriel, Knight of the Queen!”
I nudged Gabriel who struggled to stop rolling his eyes at the fanfare, and followed Finnian through the throne room, taking a spot next to Finnian beside my throne on the floor, my grandfather guiding Daniel to a spot nearby Maxxus’ throne.
“Baroness Kiarra, attendant to the Queen!”
Kiarra, looking ever the part with her sophisticated updo, practically glided into the room, avoiding the gaze of everyone and taking her place behind the thrones on the dais.
“Announcing, the King and Queen of Anarach, their majesties King Maxxus and Queen Leorah!” Valessa motioned our entrance with a wide sweep of the arm, before lowering to her knees.
Maxxus pulled my arm into his, quickly prompting my chin upward with a brush of his finger, with a sideways wink. I knew what he would say, “Be proud.”
Stifling the smile, I entered the room with Maxxus, leaving my brother behind at the doorway to guard. The Court parted as we made our w
ay officially the thrones, bowing lowly as we passed them.
Maxxus assisted me—unnecessarily—up the stairs and to my throne. I gave him a smile of acknowledgement as I sat, and he took his seat as well, motioning for everyone to rise from their bows and sit in their seats.
“You all know why you’re here. The queen’s official nurse has cleared her for healing, and while we intend to achieve the rest in private, or in your homes, we wanted you all to witness the miracle of the Shadow healing between pink dragon and a knight of Ord na Draconis Dianthus, to show you there is nothing to fear. I solemnly promise no one will be harmed in today’s process.”
A murmur undulated over the quiet crowd, but no one dared to speak up.
“Lord Kereck and Lady Omande, please step forward.” Maxxus opened up his palms to the onlookers, as two silver-haired dragons stood in the middle of the crowd. Lorusto was nearby, hugging both of his parents with concern but he urged them forward, following closely behind.
Lorusto’s parents were average looking, but clearly unwell by the deep, dark circles embedded under their eyes and the worn lines in the skin around their faces. Lady Omande, was surprisingly the spitting image of her son, with small, black eyes and narrow shoulders under her white robes that coincidentally matched the color of the long braid that trailed down her back.
Lord Kereck was surprisingly shorter than his mate, with a stockier build. He was pale skinned, with light blue eyes and long gray hair that was bunched raggedly at the nape of his neck. He seemed to squirm uncomfortably in his deep green robes, and his eyes darted all around us nervously as he muttered silently to himself.
Lorusto’s once irritable face looked upon us with pleading as he spoke. “Your majesties, please do what you can for my parents. They have been deeply… troubled since the attack.”
“We will do what we can, Baron.” Maxxus didn’t sit, but motioned with his hand for me to step forward.
Trying to hide my nervousness, I aimlessly reached for Gabriel’s hand. He found it and we stepped forward.