I pondered a moment before asking, “When my scales first appeared, they were black. Now they are green. Why is that?”
“Because you’ve been suppressing your dragon side,” he explained. “You were raised to believe dragons were bad, that you were human. When your dragon side fought to come forward, you forced it down. You hated yourself so much, your scales came in black. Had you maintained that hatred, you would have been a black dragon with a much darker future. If they could have kept your dragon side at bay long enough, you never would have transformed at all.”
I blanched. “Never?”
Quist nodded. “Had you been raised a dragon and never transformed into a human, you would never be able to. They nearly succeeded and would have if you hadn’t been brave enough to find the solution.”
I closed my eyes. “It is my destiny, then, to destroy them?”
“I cannot answer that, for that part of the prophecy has not yet occurred. It only says you will end their reign. Your choices and decisions determine the fate of your sisters and the people you knew as family.”
“What of the faeries?” I asked. “I want to help them. I want them to have a home. I noticed … as I traveled … the abandoned cathedral looked very much like the castle. And I saw the vision with Dormir and his family in the castle.”
Quist smiled solemnly. “It is true. The humans also took the kingdom from the faeries, which is why they were exiled. When the humans obtained you, they pushed the faeries further away under the guise of Selina killing them.”
“Selina is real?”
Again, he nodded. “She’s a powerful sorceress. But she did not curse you.”
I flexed my jaw. “But if I was so important, why didn’t the dragons save me? I’m supposed to accept that I’m a dragon, fine. But you want me to accept that I’m some important person you have a prophecy about? And they just left me to be raised by humans?”
“They couldn’t.” He sighed heavily. “With the war and dangers in the world, they most likely would have been killed. Your father was gravely wounded trying to prevent you from being taken. He nearly lost his life. When the war turned in favor of the humans, many dragons fled. Many hid. Dragons are mighty but not invincible, and even with the powers of the dragons and faeries combined, they still lost.” He tilted his head. “Not to mention the humans had you. The dragons didn’t know whether or not they would kill you if they caught wind of an attack.”
Tears came to my eyes. My head felt like it would explode. “What do I do?” I asked helplessly. “There’s so much I still don’t know.”
He began to fade into the sunlight. “You have to make the decision yourself. Trust in who you are.”
“But I have more questions! What about Gerard? Who is he?”
“Like you, he was raised by darkness. He has another destiny to fulfill.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Quist only smiled and disappeared.
I blinked and found myself in the garden again. Exhaustion sat heavily on my slumped shoulders. I turned and faced Isaline, and when I saw her worried expression, my frustrations immediately melted away.
“What did you see?” she asked.
I ran to her and threw my arms around her again. “You really are my mother.”
She let out a laugh and hugged me tightly. Her tears dripped onto my head. My own tears ran down my cheeks. I didn’t know what our relationship would mean or how we could build it. I’d been raised in an entirely different life, and I longed for nothing more than a relationship with my mother. Now I would have the chance to have one.
“You must be positively exhausted.” She cupped my face as I stepped back. “You need a proper bath, warm pajamas, and a bed.”
I laughed. “I haven’t slept in a bed in days.”
She went to pull away, but I stepped forward and caught her hand. She stopped and smiled at me. “Yes?”
“What about the faeries?” I pressed. “Are they safe here?”
She nodded. “Many faeries fled here with the dragons during the war, so we are used to having them near. We used to be allies after all.”
I let go and exhaled all the tightness in my chest.
Isaline, my mother, led me back down to the main level and past the waterfall entrance to another side of the caves. I was surprised to see doors instead of openings, just like a castle would look were it built into a mountain. She stopped at one particular door carved with trees and guided me into the home.
“The shifters live on this side of the mountain, and the dragons live in the bigger caves,” she explained as she stepped in. “I imagine Rowen is helping situate the faeries but will return before you sleep.”
The room was decorated just like a home would be, with couches and a rug in the center. The stone at the back rose into a natural platform, and a large bed rested upon it. Above the bed was a tapestry depicting two dragons with their tails entwined, and I knew it was Isaline and Rowen. Other paintings lined the cave walls, depicting trees and magic.
“We have a bed over here, should you like to stay with us.” She pulled a curtain back, revealing a small alcove with a bed and a single painting above it of a small green and yellow dragon.
“Who painted all of these?”
“Your father. Rowen,” she corrected. “He’s always been an artist. He painted that the day you hatched …” Her brows pinched and lips twisted in pain at the memory. “He painted a lot as he was trying to heal from the physical and mental wounds when the humans took you.”
I reached out and took her hand again. “I do want memories with you. A relationship. The woman who raised me never treated me as one of her children. I think in my heart I always knew something wasn’t right. I just didn’t know anything else.”
“Whatever your decision, I will accept.” Isaline put her hand on my cheek. “But know Rowen and I welcome you with open arms.”
“Did you have a different name for me?” I asked.
“We called you Aura because you were our light.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “The bath is on this side.”
The room opposite the alcove was fit with a deep pool of warm water. My mother explained it was a natural spring, and they had used magic to divert the spring into the apartments for each of the dragons.
I didn’t take too much time to soak in the bath in spite of the comfort the warm water offered me and my sore muscles. I wanted to sleep away the headache clawing at my mind. I climbed out of the bath and pulled on the nightgown my true mother had given me.
My mother.
My real family.
My true home.
I would face Gerard, save my sisters, and help get the throne back for the faeries.
I felt lips kiss my forehead and peeled my eyes open, not realizing I’d fallen asleep on the couch. Mother had given me some tea and a warm blanket while I waited for my father to return.
Rowen gave me an apologetic smile. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
I stretched and sat up. “I wanted to speak with you before we turned in for the night. So thank you for waking me.” I smiled back.
He was incredibly handsome. His long brown and green hair was tied up in a ponytail, and his brown eyes reminded me of chocolate. He had a square jaw and a terrible scar on his left jawbone and down his forehead above his right eye. I realized that eye was a little foggy.
“The scars … are they from when you tried to protect me?” I asked.
His brow pinched, and he nodded. “I did try,” he sighed.
I hastily got to my feet and took his hand. “I know. I saw. Quist showed me when I pricked my finger. He showed me when he told you and … Mother that I would come. And the faeries being forced from the castle. He answered questions.”
“Quist did?” Rowen’s brows lifted in surprise. “No one has seen him since the
day he spoke with us about you. What did he tell you?”
“Not much, I’m afraid.” I sighed and let go. “Only that he had the prophecy, but it’s my decision how I fulfill it.” I looked around at their home. “Nothing will be the same no matter what I choose. Is everyone actually ready for that?”
“Elisa, we will follow you into death, if that is what it will take to protect our people.”
I wasn’t so sure.
Twenty
“We’ve waited seventeen years for her return. I could watch her all day.”
“But she can’t, darling. You know she has pressing matters.”
The grogginess in my mind didn’t want to subside. I wanted to stay in the peacefulness of sleep without any responsibilities or “pressing matters.” I just wanted this all to be done. But I forced myself out of bed, reluctantly dressed, and met my parents at the table behind the couch for a hearty breakfast.
“Dormir has been asking about you,” my father said with a little chuckle. “I can’t help but think the boy likes you.” He twitched his brows, though there was stiffness to his right one due to the scar.
“Rowen! Don’t tease her about that,” Mother scolded.
I giggled, my cheeks immediately burning pink in spite of myself. The parents who had raised me never would have teased like this. “I will have to find him after breakfast. Does he know I’m okay?”
Father gave me a knowing grin. “I made sure to tell him.”
I would have been content pretending all was right with the world, and I even considered proposing it to my father and mother at breakfast. We’d talked about little things, like how Mother was part of the border guard and Father helped maintain the structures of the mountain passages. When he wasn’t doing that, he took his own turn patrolling. They insisted they didn’t want to bore me, but I wasn’t sure I could have a boring conversation with them. Everything was so new.
When I’d had my fill, my mother ushered me away. “I’ll clean up here, you go meet with Dormir. I’m sure he has a lot to ask you.”
I stepped out into the sunlit meadow beyond the waterfall and took a deep breath of wet earth and nearby flowers.
“I don’t think I’ve seen that big of a smile on your face since I’ve met you,” Dormir said as he approached. His purple eyes glittered bright. He was garbed in the royal blue of his people. “Is everything …” He shifted his weight.
“It’s fine,” I replied. “I’ve already forgiven you.”
His smile stiffened. “Elisa—”
“I feel right at home here,” I continued before he could add anything. I began walking without direction. Dormir rushed to stay at my side. “It’s … perfect. I could stay forever. My real mother, Isaline, she took me to the garden of roses.”
Dormir’s brows shot up. “Isaline and Rowen are your parents?”
“You know them?” I asked.
He nodded. “Those that hide behind the waterfall are all the dragons who remained after the war. Isaline and Rowen have always been two of my favorites. They’re fearless and completely devoted to each other and their people.”
“Are they royalty as well?”
He leaned his head to the side. “Dragon hierarchy doesn’t work the same way as it does with us. They don’t have just one leader, but a small group.”
“Nicholia is also one of them,” I added.
“You’re catching on fast.” He grinned. “Quist was the greatest of them, but … no one has seen him in many years.”
“I saw him last night,” I said proudly.
Dormir leaned forward. “Actually saw him? Or just a memory?”
I shook my head. “He spoke to me. He confirmed that Isaline and Rowen are my true parents, didn’t offer any help about Gerard other than he was raised in darkness, or something dramatic like that, and told me whatever I choose from now on is my decision to make.” I rubbed my arm, feeling the weight of those words. “I’m not even eighteen yet and it’s up to me to make a decision that will affect three different races.”
Dormir stepped closer and nudged me with his arm. “If anyone is to do it, I’m glad it’s you.”
“And not the prince of the faeries?” I teased with a grin.
He stopped and took my hand. “Elisa, I do feel horrible for what happened with Gerard. I didn’t leave you to abandon you either. You were alone in prison in a place you didn’t know with people you trusted. Me.”
“Dormir,” I tried.
“Please let me finish.” He looked into my eyes. “I didn’t leave you to cry alone. I was speaking with my mother, begging her to listen to you. I told her I trusted you, that you could help us. I was trying to convince her to use you as a partner. I even volunteered to do what you suggested, be an ambassador. That’s why I left you.” Dormir’s eyes searched my face and worry lined his brow.
My heart jumped. “I had hoped that’s why you left. I was so afraid—”
“I know.” He grimaced and tucked my hair behind my ear. “I should have told the guards to put you in the guest room.” He dropped my hands and ran his fingers through his hair.
I reached out and took Dormir’s fingers. “We can’t change what happened. I believe that you were trying. All we can do now is move forward. Will you come with me when I go to the castle? I need—I mean, I don’t need you”—I let go of him—“I just mean I need someone I know. There. With me. To, um, to make sure I don’t do something stupid.” I nervously played with my fingers. My excitement overtook my brain and I suddenly felt foolish. “Because I tend to do a lot of stupid things. If you haven’t noticed.”
The corner of Dormir’s mouth pulled in a crooked grin. Gerard used to do that, and it always made my heart flutter. Dormir’s grin made my heart melt. “You aren’t worried that a narcoleptic fae will ruin everything?”
“Of course not. I saw—” I bit my lip.
He arched a blue eyebrow. “Saw what?”
“I saw the day the faeries left the castle. Your mother put you in your father’s arms and gave you the spring stone. She was evacuating the castle, and your father ran with you.”
Dormir’s face softened. “What else did you see?”
“An explosion, but that was it. What happened?”
He walked to a nearby flower and touched the edge of a bulbous flower petal. “My father died that day. That’s also when I got this curse of sleep.” He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes. “I was just a child and still remember how much my head hurt. And how much I felt betrayed by the spring stone. It was supposed to keep us safe, yet my father was killed and I received a terrible head wound.” He sighed, his shoulders rising and falling. “I haven’t taken any royal responsibilities because I can’t bring myself to touch that stone again.” His hands were tucked behind his back, but I reached out and slid my fingers into his hand, causing him to drop them at his sides.
“I know so little about the stone or it’s magic. But perhaps the magic isn’t what you believe it is? Perhaps the magic has another purpose that isn’t protection at all?”
“I suppose that could be,” Dormir relented.
I smiled up at him, then looked around the meadow. “I truly don’t want to leave this.”
“What if I lose you?” Dormir’s unexpected question broke the companionable silence we’d fallen into.
I met his gaze.
His cheeks flushed, and he cleared his throat. “I just mean I don’t want you to die.”
I grinned. “You won’t lose me that easily. Oh, one more thing. I learned that your people are the true holders of the throne. What if we put your family back on it?”
Dormir stared at me with wide eyes. “You truly think you could do that?”
I shrugged. “It wouldn’t hurt to try. I’m going to have my mother and father teach me some battle techniques before we go since I’ve never exactly be
en a dragon before.” I turned, but Dormir didn’t let go of my hand. I stopped and faced him.
He stepped forward in a fluid motion, slid one arm around my waist, and entwined the other in my hair. His lips caressed mine. Dormir felt like a blanket on a chilly night under a sky of bright stars. He smelled like warm rain on a hot spring day. He tasted like fresh berries.
I rose up on my toes and threw my arms around his neck. A shiver ran through my body as if I were standing on the edge of a cliff about ready to fall. But I took the plunge and never looked back. His tongue began a dance with mine.
I held on to his shoulders, never wanting him to pull away.
But he did, reluctantly tugging my bottom lip between his teeth.
I gasped a breath and settled back on the ground.
Dormir ran his thumb over his bottom lip. “My apologies, Your Highness.” His voice was a sunrise warming me to my core.
I knew he didn’t mean the apology.
I laughed silently and gave him another longing kiss. “I feel like I’ve known you forever,” I said against his lips.
He put his hand on my cheek. “We were supposed to, you know. Had you been raised a dragon, we would have at least met each other a few times.” Dormir laced our fingers together. “You should go learn now as much as you can. I’ll travel with you whenever you are ready.”
“Every moment we waste is a moment Gerard is closer to his goal.” I sighed. “He could already be on the throne.”
Dormir took my chin. “Or your family could be putting up a fight. Learn what you can.” He kissed my forehead, and a wave of electricity ran from my head to my toes. He stepped back and slid his hands in his back pockets.
I danced on clouds the whole way back inside the cave, looking back at Dormir more than once, and he watched me with the same big, dopey grin on his face.
I skipped down the hallway until I found my parents’ home and walked in. “Mother, are you busy?”
Her eyes lit up, and she set the book down she’d been reading. “Not at all.”
“Can you help me learn how to fly? I mean, I made it here all right, but I’ve sort of missed out on a lifetime of practicing.” I ran my fingers over the soft leather sitting chair I stood behind.
The Dragon Princess: Sleeping Beauty Reimagined (The Forgotten Kingdom Book 1) Page 17