by JManess
FANTASY
Flanked by two lovely and graceful sisters, Princess Casiondra Falanell Cristalona Ariva—
Sondra to her family—doesn’t feel confi dent or beautiful. In fact, she’s an unconventional princess who spends her days trying to disprove the nonsensical ideas of magic and myth.
As she stands on the edge of achieving the life she has only dreamed about, Sondra’s handsome suitor, Derek, prepares to propose, and her poverty-stricken kingdom of Ariva uncovers a valuable resource that will change its future forever.
Everything seems perfect in Sondra’s life until she encounters a wizard who transforms her into a monstrous dragon. Forced to fl ee from the man she adores, Sondra blunders into the territory of Tolmac, a powerful and ancient black dragon.
Instead of killing her as she anticipates, Tolmac takes her under his wing, un-knowingly training the human princess in the fi ne art of being a dragon. As Sondra soon discovers, she must constantly sacrifi ce to make the right choices as she grows to love and admire her new mentor. With her homeland poised on the brink of war, Sondra fi nds herself facing an unbearable decision; she must choose between her heart and her duty to her country.
S U S A N T R O M B L E Y is an avid reader and writer of both fantasy and science fi ction novels. Now that she is no longer traveling as a soldier in the U.S. Army, Trombley dreams up new worlds in Arizona along with her husband, daughter, and a menagerie of pets.
U.S. $XX.XX
TM
Editor’s
S U S A N T R O M B L E Y
iUniverse, Inc.
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Copyright © 2010 by Susan Trombley
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This is a work of fi ction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fi ctitiously.
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ISBN: 978-1-4502-0599-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4502-0600-6 (dj)
ISBN: 978-1-4502-0598-6 (ebook)
Printed in the United States of America iUniverse rev. date: 12/31/2009
78
Y 7
CHAPTER 1
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The empty sockets of countless skulls stared down at the lone fi gure in the center of the tower room. Th e sullen afternoon
sunlight fi ltered through the stubborn miasma of dust that drifted through the chamber crammed with dried herbs, unguents, and mysterious crumbling scrolls. Much like a wizard’s workshop, the poorly lit room harbored a menagerie of the strange and bizarre, though most of the creatures there were already dead.
But this was no wizard’s room; quite to the contrary, this laboratory belonged to a princess, one bound and determined to disprove the very existence of such nonsensical ideas as magic and myth. A princess as unconventional as the chamber where she idled away most of her afternoons studying the artifacts of nature and devising logical explanations for everything even remotely mysterious.
“Steady, steady …” The young woman didn’t realize she was whispering to herself under her breath. She carefully fitted the rare and expensive clear glass disk into the twisted frame of a close-viewing apparatus.
“Sondra, why are you hiding in this dusty old room again? We have work to do.” The unexpected sound of her sister’s voice shattering the dusty silence of the tower room startled Sondra and sent the glass disk flying. Sondra shrieked and snatched at the glittering glass as it swam through the dust motes, sparkling in the meager sunlight. She fumbled with the slippery disk a few times, then managed to gain a firm grip on it and carefully placed it on the table with a sigh of relief. She turned to her sister, swiping wisps of hair out of her face and leaving a trail of dusty streaks behind.
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“Sarai, don’t sneak up on me! You scared me halfway into Morbidon’s kingdom! I think I nearly wet myself! And I almost dropped my ocular disk!
You have no idea how hard it was to come by. I ordered it last season and only just received it from yesterday’s trade caravan!”
“Sondra! That is horrifying! What would Mother say if she heard you speaking so crudely? Honestly!” Sarai regarded her sister in her filthy apron and worn morning gown with despair. Why couldn’t Sondra behave as a princess should, instead of saying and doing such outrageous things?
“Oh, you know Mother; she would probably say something like ‘I give up’ and then proceed to prove that she hasn’t by setting a pack of maids upon me like a hunted fox to fix me up and retrain me in comportment and all of the other vital necessities of life. Quit rolling your eyes, it isn’t seemly, Sarai.
Besides, you know I speak the truth.”
Sondra watched her sister struggle to form a reply that would fit within the narrow confines of propriety they were supposed to live by. Sarai gave up and changed the subject after a moment.
“I knocked and when no one answered I cracked open the door to see if you were in here. I even called your name. I finally had to enter this horrid chamber and walk right up to you and shout in your ear just so you would hear me!”
Sondra could not help the giggle that escaped her at her sister’s offended expression. Sarai could not bear her ‘chamber of horrors,’ as she called it, and claimed she would rather tour the dungeon below the castle than this tower room.
“Stop laughing, Sondra! You must attempt to be serious for tonight at least!” Sarai insisted.
“Why? What’s different about tonight?”
“Sondra! How could you forget? Tonight is the summer party! You have only a few hours to prepare and you are such a mess!”
“Oh, that! Yes, I vaguely recall hearing something about a party or some such nonsense. I’m not going.”
“Yes, you are. You have no choice and you know it. If Mother discovered you missing she would send the guards up here to haul you downstairs by force.
Stop acting foolish, Sondra.”
Sondra heaved a sigh of regret. She despised these ridiculous parties and
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the inevitable boredom she must endure as much as her older sister looked forward to them.
“Of course, you’re right. I can’t wait to leave my newest and most exciting invention to stand around for hours in a room filled with lifeless furniture, not to mention all the chairs and settees.”
“Sondra, I hope you are not referring to the nobles as lifeless furniture!”
“Sarai, these parties are a waste of time. The kingdom is broke, we have no dowries, and we couldn’t get married to an eligible prince or duke even if one got lost and somehow wound up at our snore fest. In fact, if we did meet an eligible bachelor with all his teeth, breath that doesn’t fell entire battalions, and a face that doesn’t send maids screaming from the room, we would only be disappointed by our inability to actually e
ngage in a betrothal contract.”
“Don’t be so certain we could not find a husband. Elona married the Bladen prince,” Sarai insisted.
“Yes, that was surprising; here I had always believed Mother and Father liked Elona, but apparently they harbored a secret hatred for her.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Sondra. Elona made an excellent marriage. I envy her good fortune.”
“What? Why? I would rather cut off my own legs than walk down the aisle to a man like that. Rumor has it the real prince fell inexplicably and irreversibly ill after meeting Elona, and King Arctuor dressed up a game boar and sent it to the wedding in his stead.”
Sarai struggled to maintain her composure as she recalled the Bladen prince, Galaden, on his wedding day. “Oh Sondra, I shouldn’t laugh, but he did sort of look like a hairy animal, didn’t he?”
“He’s perfect for her,” Sondra insisted.
“Sondra, she’s your sister! I know that you don’t get along, but still, you should not speak so ill of her. Especially now that she is in such a delicate condition, she should deserve all of our good wishes.” Sarai unconsciously placed her hand over her own flat abdomen, and Sondra realized with shame that while she teased her goodhearted sister mercilessly, Sarai harbored a strong desire to have a babe of her own. It was little wonder she looked forward to these social gatherings with so much anticipation. They were her only chance to meet a future husband and be one step closer to her dream.
“Fine, I will moderate my dislike, seeing as she and her pig, I mean prince, 4
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tried for so long to have this child and have finally found success. I suppose I should wish her well in that at least.” Sondra sighed and picked up the disk again, regarding her new apparatus with a wistful glance. “I really don’t want to attend this summer party; couldn’t Mother just lock me in the dungeon instead?”
“What about Derek?” Sarai watched her sister carefully from beneath her sweeping lashes. “The Warlord will be there and Father approves of your friendship with him.”
“Hmm, ah yes, Derek … will he be there? I did not realize.” Sondra pretended a nonchalance she certainly did not feel.
“Oh, come on. Who are you trying to fool, Sondra? This is Sarai you’re talking to. You have held affection for Derek since you were a child. You know you’re aware of his every move.”
“Don’t be silly, that was when I was a child. Now he is like a brother to me.”
“Oh, good then, since he possesses wealth of his own from his days as a mercenary and Father trusts him so highly, he has spoken of granting the title of Duke of Arivale on him. That would make him worthy of the hand of a princess, and with his wealth, he won’t care about a dowry. Even better, he is easily the most handsome man in the entire kingdom, and he has all his teeth! Since you are not interested in him, I will ask Father if it would be okay for Derek to court me.” Sarai spoke thoughtfully, tapping one perfectly manicured nail on a slender finger against her full, pouty lips just touched with the slightest gloss.
“Why you—!” The glass disk slipped from Sondra’s hand and clattered to the table as she turned on her sister.
“Hmm, what was that, Sondra?” Sarai asked slyly, regarding the blush staining Sondra’s round, smudged face.
“You wouldn’t want Derek, Sarai. He is … um … very coarse and rude,” Sondra replied.
“Oh, I don’t know, he seems extremely polite and his eyes are such a lovely color of blue, just like the pond at the base of Ariva Falls. And he is tall and strong, with golden hair, though he keeps it much shorter than any other nobles.” Sarai recalled Derek’s appearance thoughtfully, pacing around the workbench in Sondra’s tower room.
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“But he’s boring, really boring. He puts me right to sleep, the best insomniac tonic I know, really,” Sondra insisted.
“How strange, I find him quite charming and amusing, and he tells the most invigorating tales from his travels to the southern lands.”
“Sarai!”
“Got you!” Sarai laughed as Sondra snarled and chased her sister around the workbench. Sondra caught her and pretended to choke her laughing sister.
Both girls dissolved into laughter before recovering their composure.
“Sondra, that man loves you; I do not know why you continue to pretend you do not feel the same.” Sarai grew serious.
Sondra laughed. “I highly doubt that; Derek is too handsome for the likes of me, even if I am a princess. I’m not beautiful or graceful and I certainly wouldn’t make a good wife for anyone. Besides, he has never expressed an interest in me.” Sondra waved away Sarai’s assurances.
“That is only because he was in no position to offer for you, but according to rumors, things might be different now,” Sarai insisted. Sondra just shook her head, not daring to hope.
Sarai sighed in frustration and looked around for a change of subject.
“Sondra, why do you spend all day in here? What is this mess anyway?” Sarai delicately flicked a crumbling scroll peeking from beneath a clutter of rodent skulls and shed animal claws. She shuddered when the gruesome artifacts jiggled in response to the sudden movement.
“I’ve already tried to explain to you several times, Sarai. I’m studying the natural world in search of logical explanations for the things people don’t understand and so attribute to magic.”
“But magic does exist, Sondra.”
Sondra cast her sister a long-suffering look of pity.
“It does, and you used to believe in it too,” Sarai insisted.
“Of course I believed in it, I was a naïve child. Now I’m grown and I realize that all questions hold perfectly logical answers and all mysteries can be solved without the aid of some charlatan waving a wand around and mumbling nonsense. Think about it, Sarai. Have you ever actually seen magic worked?”
“Well, no, but we do live far from the southern lands, and anyone with talent must travel there to the Academy of Magic for training.”
“More like the Academy of Trickery. How many people from Ariva have attended this so-called school of magic for training?” 6
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“No one from Ariva needs magic. We are peaceful people; we don’t war on our neighbors or live on the border of the Changing Lands. We don’t need magic, so we don’t use it.”
“Ah, yet another myth, the Changing Lands. Funny you should bring that up, because I have a theory about the myths that surround that blasted land, but I know you don’t wish to hear it.”
“No, I don’t. You and your theories are dangerous. Just think what might happen if you angered the dragon of Thunder Mountain or the faelins of the Woods.”
Sondra scoffed, “Dragon? Faelins? Seriously, Sarai, neither fantasy exists; I promise you there are logical explanations for all of it. Have you seen any dragons?”
“Of course I haven’t seen him,” Sarai rolled her eyes, “because he is trapped within Thunder Mountain, by Ulrick the Clever’s spells. But everyone can hear him when he growls, and the obsidia that we craft with and use for trade throughout the southern lands is a product of his rage. Legends say he repeatedly encased the valley beneath its darkness before Ulrick defeated him.
If he hadn’t grumbled a warning beforehand, no one would have escaped his wrath.”
“Legends, Sarai, that’s all they are,” Sondra sighed, knowing her next words would fall on deaf ears “There is no dragon. Thunder Mountain is not the birthplace of storms, it is not the top of the world, and there is no dragon trapped beneath it waiting to break free and bury us in black glass. Obsidia is found in other regions as well. Look, Sir Pilphragm describes it in this manual.
It’s simply molten rock from beneath the ground that pours out of a hole in the mountain and then cools to a black glass.” Sarai turned away and headed for the door. “I don’t care what your manual says. Magic does exist and I wish we had never played that s
illy prank on you or you would still believe in it too. Now go get ready for the party. I’m sure Derek will be there. You should ask him about the southern lands. He has seen a great deal more than you or your Sir Pilphragm has, I’d wager!” Only her ladylike restraint kept Sarai from slamming the door behind her as she left.
Sondra thought back to the childish prank her eldest sister Elona perpetrated on her when she was still a gullible little girl. Elona had told her that if she caught a magic faelin and gave it a kiss, she would get her dearest wish. Her sisters, Sarai included, sent her off on a fool’s errand to catch the
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flashing fairylights in the meadow. She finally did capture one, only to discover a horrible insect instead of a beautiful faelin. Worse, she found herself lost in the Woods, a place that frightened grown men and absolutely terrified a young child only five rotas old. She had wandered aimlessly, imagining herself pursued by all manner of dreadful and ghastly creatures. In the end, frightened by her nursemaid’s tales of the dreaded dragon Sarai believed in so strongly, a common owl spooked her and sent her careening through the trees where she felt a claw grasp her dress. After she recovered from her swoon, she discovered the monstrous grip was only a broken branch.
She had spent the remainder of the night weeping and cursing all foolish fairy tales and their lies. Better that she be eaten by the dragon she believed chased her than feel so completely crushed by her disappointment. That cycle, she learned that magic didn’t exist in the world and all the tales were nothing but a grand hoax. She remembered the old man, the so-called Wizard that everyone spoke about with awe and fear. He happened upon her in the forest and escorted her back to the castle, and she learned that he was nothing more than a kindly but senile hermit that made the Woods his home.
Sondra studied her insect box, her lip curling at the light bugs pinned within. They still looked as grotesque as she remembered them, only when she’d caught them this time she hadn’t made a wish; instead, she had gleefully impaled the revolting creatures with her pins, just another mundane insect for her to catalogue and study.
She shook her head at the folly of those believers like her sister and the commoners in the city. She would never again fall prey to such foolishness.