“So what do we do?” I begged, my eyes fixed on the dragon, drawing ever closer to us. “What do I do?”
“Don’t let him find the rest of the relics that I’ve hidden. Stop him and stop Fate once and for all. Destroy any monsters that they put in your way, and don’t let them find a way to get into The World That Is.”
“But how?” I asked.
“That…” Esmeralda bowed her head and I watched in horror as she began to fade away. “I do not know.”
“Esmeralda!”
She looked up at me again, her eyes glowing constant even as her body started to shimmer like a heat mirage.
“Don’t.” I held out a hand to her. “Don’t go. Stay and help us defeat him. Then we can all be free. All of us.”
“Oh, Your Majesty,” she sighed. “I am always with you.”
The cat disappeared then, and I heard the beat of the dragon’s wings as it flew closer.
“This world, Nerissette, is mine,” the Fate Maker’s voice taunted from inside my mind. “And I’m coming for it.”
Instead of fleeing I stood my ground, waiting, terrified but holding my head high as the dragon swooped lower. He veered toward me as if to tackle me to the ground. No matter what happened, though, I knew I wouldn’t move. I was firm, steady, and this—this—was nothing more than a dream.
“Your Majesty?” A soft voice sounded next to me, and I felt a touch on my shoulder, jerking me out of my nightmare. The small, smiling maid was leaning over me. “Your Majesty, you were screaming in your sleep. Again.”
“Right.” I swallowed and then sat up. “Sorry. It was just a dream. Just a very, very bad dream.”
“Of course it was, Your Majesty,” the maid said absently. “Now come on, up you get. You’ve got your Great Hall after breakfast.”
The Great Hall. That was today. The one day a month where I sat on my throne and allowed my subjects come to me so that I could pass laws and judge disputes and basically rule them. Otherwise known as the worst day of the month since I’d become the Golden Rose of Nerissette, the rightful queen of the World of Dreams.
“Thank you.” I studied her face, trying to remember her name. There had been a lot of new faces around the castle since my coronation three months ago, and I still couldn’t keep everyone straight.
“Brigitte,” the maid replied. “From Sorcastia. I’ve only been here a week.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “So how is it? Working in the palace? Do you like it?”
“Much better than working on a farm, Your Majesty.” She smiled. “That was what had been in store for me, but once you came, I knew that I could do better and, well…”
“Here you are.” I couldn’t help thinking that if war came again Brigitte, and all the others who’d flocked to Neris, would have been better off if she’d stayed put. They still believed the lie that their lives were controlled by the invisible, nonexistent, Goddess Fate.
“Here I am.” She laid out a brilliant sapphire-colored dress with silver vines embroidered on it and placed my sword beside it. “Maid to the Golden Rose herself. Dressing her for her Great Hall.”
“Right.” I rolled my eyes at her. “The Great Hall. Yay. Bring on the Great Hall.”
She giggled lightly. “Master Timbago said that you might say something like that. So he told me tell you that the cook is making eggs in honor of your big day.”
“Because that’s supposed to make everything better.” I rolled out of bed and started tugging off my nightgown.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” she said and then smiled at me.
“Come on, let’s get me ready to go administer some justice. Deal with some land disputes and maybe argue about a pig or two.”
“I heard about your decision on the pig,” Brigitte said. “It was particularly inspired. Telling them that they had to split the pig exactly in half or they both had to forfeit their land in repayment? That was brilliant.”
“Yeah, who said Shakespeare didn’t occasionally come up with a good idea or two?” I shrugged.
“Who?” she asked.
I picked up my dress from the bed and slid it on before turning so that she could do up the laces. “Never mind.”
About the Author
Andria Buchanan is the pen name for Patricia Eimer, a small town girl who was blessed with a large tree in the backyard that was a perfect spot for reading on summer days. Mixed with too much imagination, it made her a bratty child, but fated her to become a storyteller. After a stint of “thinking practically” in her twenties she earned degrees in Business and Economics and worked for a software firm in southwestern Germany, but her passion has always been a good book.
She currently lives in Pittsburgh with her two wonderful kids and a husband that learned the gourmet art of frozen pizzas to give her more time to write. When she’s not writing she can be found fencing and arguing with her dogs about plot points. Most days the Beagle wins but the Dalmatian is in close second. She’s a distant third.
http://www.andriabuchanan.com/
Get tangled in our Entangled Teen titles:
Conjure by Lea Nolan
When a mysterious eighteenth-century message in a bottle surfaces, revealing a hidden pirate bounty, Emma, her twin brother, and her secret crush Cooper discover the treasure. But then they unwittingly unleash an ancient Gullah curse that attacks Emma’s brother with the wicked flesh-eating Creep and promises to steal Cooper’s soul on his approaching sixteenth birthday.
A Tale of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris
Alessandra D’Angeli is in need of an adventure. Tired of her sixteenth-century life in Italy and homesick for her time-traveling cousin, Cat, who visited her for a magical week and dazzled her with tales of the future, Alessandra is lost. One mystical spell later, Alessandra appears on Cat’s Beverly Hills doorstep five hundred years in the future. How will she return to the drab life of her past when the future is what holds everything she’s come to love?
The Summer I Became a Nerd by Lea Nolan
On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blond cheerleader. But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies. When she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop’s counter uncovers her secret, she’s busted. The more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become…and the more she risks losing Logan forever.
The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding
Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?
Tremble by Jus Accardo
Dez Cross has problems. She’s almost eighteen and on the verge of losing her mind thanks to the drug Denazen used to enhance her abilities. People close to her have turned their back on the underground and are now fighting for the wrong side. And then there’s Kale... Things couldn’t get any worse. Her father is willing to throw everything he has to keep Dez from getting the cure--including the one thing that might tear her apart from the inside out.
Out of Play by Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry
Rock star drummer Bishop Riley doesn’t have a drug problem. But after downing a few too many pills, Bishop will have to detox while under house arrest in Seldon, Alaska. Hockey player Penny Jones can’t imagine a life outside of Seldon. Penny’s not interested in dealing with Bishop’s crappy attitude, and Bishop’s too busy sneaking pills to care. Until he begins to see what he’s been missing. If Bishop wants a chance with the fiery girl next door, he’ll have to admit he has a problem and kick it.
ria, Everlast (The Chronicles of Nerissette) (Entangled Teen)
Everlast (The Chronicles of Nerissette) (Entangled Teen) Page 27