by Renee Carr
“Because you’re King,” she said. “Sure. Is there anything I specifically have to do?”
“No,” he said. “A lot of people will bow to you.”
“Right,” she said. “Of course. But if there is anything that you want me to do?”
“Just...be there,” he answered and she squeezed his hand.
Even though he warned her, it really wasn’t the welcome she expected. She expected a few people to arrive and bow to him. When the landing gear came down and a ramp came out, she was surprised to find the hanger completely filled with beings. And not all of them were human.
Ivy looked out on the sea of faces, stunned. There were giant dragons, with a wide wingspan, bending at the knee as they looked up at their King. They had green scales and yellow eyes, with wide nostrils and sharp teeth.
They were beautiful, and they were massive. Ivy had expected this, but it still completely stunned her. She stared at them, words slamming into each other, until she formed a single question.
“Can you do that?” she asked, and despite himself, he smiled.
“Yes,” he said. “I can do that.”
“Are you that big?” she asked.
“About that big,” he answered as they took a few steps down the plank.
There were so many beings bent at the knee that Ivy could see all the way to the back of the hanger. Self-conscious for the first time in her life, she reached out and took his arm.
“Are we supposed to do anything?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said. “Keep walking. We’re going to...”
He was cut off in the middle of the sentence by two tall men walking through the door, with similar coloring and features to Nathan. She knew that these must be his brothers, and stayed motionless as they gave her the once over.
“Cory. Joshua,” Nathan said. “I’d like you to meet Ivy.”
“I’m sorry it’s not under better circumstances,” Ivy said to the brothers, as she held out her hand. Both of them seemed a little bit unsure as to what to do, but they eventually shook. “How is Sarah?”
“She doesn’t have much time,” Joshua said, mostly to Nathan. He had a similar accent to his brother, and Ivy realized that this must be the accent of their native tongue. “Do you want to....”
“Lead the way,” Nathan switched to holding Ivy’s hand, which both brothers noticed. Neither of them questioned their King, and they lead them down the hallway and into an area of the grand palace that felt very medical. Ivy smelled the odor of strong antiseptic and heard machines beeping. The walls had turned from gold and shining to sterile and grey, and there was a somber feeling in the air.
“What does the doctor have to say?” Nathan asked as they slowed down.
“She has another hour, maybe two,” Cory said. “You've arrived just in time. You should go in now. She’s awake but it’s clear that...”
“And there’s nothing to be done?” Nathan asked.
“God damn it,” Cory snapped at him. “Don’t you think if there was something that could be done, we would have done it already?”
“I’m just asking,” Nathan said, looking between them. “But you two don't always think outside the box. And if John was here, he’d try every...”
“Nathan,” Ivy said, softly. She could see the hurt on the faces of the two young princes, and she squeezed his arm gently. “They tried.”
Nathan said nothing, his jaw tight. But he nodded, and Joshua felt the tension leaving his shoulders.
“She’s here,” he said, pointing to a room down at the end of the hallway. “Do you want to wait here...”
“Ivy will come with me,” Nathan said, not letting go of her hand. “We will bid goodbye to the Queen together.”
“Of course, my lord,” Joshua said, but Ivy could see that the prince thought it was strange. She knew that Nathan was grieving and she didn’t want to say anything more to set him off. So instead, she followed him down the hallway and into the medical room.
Sarah looked so different from the last time she had seen her. Before, she had a tiny bit of pink in her chinks, and her eyes had shone when she glanced to them. Now, it looked like she was mostly in the grave. She was pale, with sunken cheeks, and a sheen of sweat on her face that made her look even more sickly. She had lost several pounds since Ivy had last seen her, and her exposed arms were rail-thin. There were bones poking through her chest and she was struggling to breathe.
Ivy felt like she shouldn’t be there, but Nathan didn’t move from her side. He made a noise, low in his throat, and Sarah turned her head towards him.
“Brother,” she managed. Her voice was raspy and it seemed like a struggle to even talk.
“I heard that you weren’t feeling very well,” he said, and then switched into a language Ivy didn’t understand. She thought it was a beautiful language, that seemed to come from the throat, with a strong growl to each word.
Sarah seemed to notice Ivy and reached her hand out. Ivy went forward to take her hand, noting it was ice cold.
“Hi,” she said, softly and Ivy smiled.
“Hi,” she said. “It’s good to see you again.”
“It’s good to see you too,” Sarah said and swallowed hard. “Will you take care of him?”
It seemed such a serious statement, and Ivy paused before answering.
“Of course,” she said, knowing that it was important to promise the dying woman what worked best for her. Sarah seemed to take peace in that statement and lay back from the position she had stretched into.
“Always?”
“Always,” Ivy said. She felt Nathan’s weight on her side, and she let him lean against her as Sarah’s eyes closed.
The next few minutes passed slowly and yet quickly. Ivy had never seen someone die before, and she regretted that her first time was going to be like this, as an outsider. She felt like she didn’t belong, especially as the two young princes joined the room.
Each of them spoke to Sarah, quietly, and she seemed to have a word or two of encouragement and legacy for each of them.
The monitors she was attached to started to beep and the numbers began to drop. Ivy took a tiny step back, a hand to her mouth as she watched the life leave Sarah’s body.
Her skin was turning scaly, and her eyes went yellow before they closed for the final time.
The monitors beeped and then beeped again before they went to zero.
No one moved for the longest time. They seemed frozen in grief and disbelief.
It was Cory who made a noise first, a small sob. Tears were running down the youngest Prince’s face, and Ivy felt her heart break as she looked at him. Nathan stepped forward, placing a hand on Cory’s shoulder. Joshua seemed very tense, and when he took a breath, his nostrils flared with sparks.
“Joshua,” Nathan said, with a warning tone in his voice. “She’s at peace. She’s with John.”
“John would have wanted better,” Joshua said. “He would have wanted her here with us, not in isolation in some...”
“She wanted to be there,” Nathan reminded Joshua. “She didn’t want to be here, with a memory of him at every corner.”
“Can’t imagine why she wouldn’t want that,” Joshua said, although it was clear he was heartbroken.
The medical facility had clearly seen that the former Queen had passed. Ivy could hear a few whispers and the sound of broken hearts. After another few moments, she heard a strange sound come over the PA system. It sounded like a trumpet, and then another one.
A voice spoke in another language, and all three of the dragons put their hands to their hearts, bending their heads.
“It’s a grief announcement,” Nathan said, quietly to her. “It plays throughout the Kingdom when a high ranking member of the country dies. The entire country will now go into mourning for her.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ivy said, struggling for words. Nathan leaned over to kiss her head, closing his eyes as he buried his face in her hair.
“It’s ok,�
� he whispered, into her ear. “I’m glad that you are here.”
“I’m glad I’m here too,” she said, which warmed his heart.
He offered Ivy her own room that night, but she chose to share with him, snuggled up against his warmth. The rest of the day felt exhausting, and Ivy’s head hurt from the built-up emotions.
“How are you doing?” she asked, as she lay her head on his shoulder.
“I don’t know how to answer that,” he said. “I want to say that I’m alright, but...”
“I think it’s ok to not be alright,” she said.
“No,” he replied. “At least, not to the public. Tomorrow, we have to have her funeral and.... “
“That’s fast,” she said. “At home, we normally wait for a few days...”
“From fire, we came and from fire we will return,” he said.
“It’s a funeral pyre, then?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “At dawn, tomorrow, we will burn her, on the edge of the palace stonework. The people will gather, from above, over the large cliff. It’s a traditional royal funeral. It’s the way we ...”
She knew he was going to reference his brother, and she lay a kiss on his cheek, drawing him close.
“It’s ok,” she said, softly. “It’s ok.”
“I didn’t think it would be this hard,” he said, after a few minutes. “Have you ever lost family?”
“I don’t really talk to my family,” she said, which surprised him.
“At all?”
“Not really,” she said. “I mean, I call home once a year or so, and they have my number, it’s not like we’re estranged or something dramatic happened. I just...”
“Don’t you miss them?” she asked.
“I’ve just always been very independent,” she said. “And my family is very nice and always offers help, no matter what it is. But we don’t...mesh well together. I’d rather freeze on the side of the road some days than ask them for help.”
“Are they supportive?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “Very. It’s nothing...bad. I’m just...my own person.”
“You’re so different from anyone I ever met,” Nathan said. “So different.”
“Well, they say opposites attract,” Ivy said. “So perhaps that’s why we get along so well.”
“You will stay for the funeral?” he asked. “You aren’t planning to leave in the morning?”
“Of course, I’ll stay,” she answered. “Why would you even think I'd leave you like this?”
He rolled over, putting his arm across her taut stomach.
“You’re a wonderful person, Ivy,” he said and she smiled.
“I’m not running a universe,” she said. “I’m just doing me.”
“Well, please,” he said. “Keep doing it.”
“Will Devon come?” Ivy asked him after they fell silent for a few moments. “As wolf King?”
“The notice will go out to all the royal families,” he said. “However, because we burn our dead so fast, there isn’t a lot of notice. Devon will know by now, but I don’t think he’ll be able to get here fast enough.”
“Which other royals are there?”
“Lion shifters, bear shifters,” he said. “And there are cat shifters, but they are very rogue and unorganized, so it’s hard to even contact them.”
“Cats?” she said. “Like...household cats?”
“Most of them enjoy posing as pets,” he said. “As long as they have the freedom to roam.”
“Wow,” she said. “The world suddenly makes sense to me.”
“You don’t have a cat , do you?” he asked.
“No, I travel too much,” she answered. “But now I’ll be more careful, in case my cat turns into a person in the middle of the night.”
He chuckled at that, and she ran a hand over his hair.
“Thank you for changing my world view,” she said, grateful that his soul was not completely broken.
“Thank you for changing mine,” he mumbled, already falling asleep.
She was confused by that statement and prompted him to explain. However, her requests seem to fall on deaf ears, because he was already asleep.
Ivy waited a few moments, and then gently shifted his sleeping form off her, curling into him instead.
If someone had told her that she would be lying with a Dragon King a year ago, she would have told them that they were crazy. However, now, it seemed like the most natural thing in the whole world.
The room was large, and the breeze was blowing through the open window. The air smelled fresh, and there was some sort of comforting bird singing in the moonlight. She clearly wasn’t on Earth.
Ivy eventually drifted off, her hand in her hair and her body relaxed in his presence. She dreamed of fire and soaring through the sky with her dragon lover. She dreamed of him watching her from the back of a concert, his yellow eyes approving of her several octave range. He was certainly the most exciting audience member she had ever met.
Chapter 13
Ivy didn’t know what to make of a dragon funeral, especially a royal one. It felt like something out of a movie. She was in disbelief that such a thing actually existed.
They were told to gather on the stone patio on the roof. There were white stones that stretched for what seemed like a mile on the top of the palace, ending in a pointed tip at the end of the structure. The palace was actually in a valley, which surprised Ivy, as most Earth palaces were in a mountain or on top of high ground. They were surrounded by mountains, and she could see what felt like thousands of Dragons gathered on the cliffs above, overlooking those gathered on the rooftop patio.
At the edge of the stones, there was a funeral pyre. Sarah’s body was wrapped and motionless, ready to be returned to the fire.
The Dragon princes had remained in human form to save space in the crowded area. However, Ivy could see that Cory’s neck had scales on it, and Nathan’s eyes burned yellow as they stared straight ahead.
Ivy had suggested she stand at the back of the crowd, but Nathan would not hear of it. He insisted she stand beside him, with the rest of the family and the other nobles.
“Nathan,” she heard Devon’s voice and turned around. Nathan’s face reflexed surprise as he reached out his hand. Devon was flanked by his two princes, all of them in solemn black.
“You made it,” Nathan said, shaking Devon’s hand. “You must have made amazing time.”
“We left while you were still in the air,” Devon said. “Joshua notified us that the end was certain and so we decided to leave. I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you,” Nathan said. “Support is always appreciated.”
“Although we weren’t sure we would get in,” Devon said, looking around. “She was so well-loved.”
“It’s the end of an era,” Nathan replied, as the priest took to the altar they had placed at the front.
Ivy did her best to remain solemn and silent as a Dragon priest stepped forward, to read the funeral rights. Ivy had been given a translator that she put in her ear so that the Dragon tongue became English as the priest started to speak.
“We meet here today to honor the life of Sarah, Queen of Knorpp. We give thanks for her life and wish her well now that her time in this world has come to an end.” His voice bounced through the mountains, amplified by several speakers. The crowd above remained stone cold silent, as they listened.
“For Sarah, Queen of Knorpp, the journey is now beginning. But for us, there is loss, grief, and pain. Every one of us here has been affected - perhaps in small ways, or perhaps in transformative ones- by Sarah, Queen of Knorpp. Her life mattered to us all.”
Beside her, Nathan remained solemn, but Ivy could see the color draining from his face. Behind the priest, on several wide screens that had been set up, there were videos of Queen Sarah’s reign. For the first time, she saw Nathan’s brother, John. The similarities were striking, showing a man slightly older than the brothers standing beside her. He seemed hap
py, although she was sure that they had carefully picked clips to show that. The videos showed John and Sarah on the throne, swirling on the dance floor, and then to Ivy’s amazement, transforming into Dragons and soaring through an open sky. They looked content, excited and full of life.
“Do you remember that?” Joshua said, quietly, to Nathan. “That was right after they were married. We thought they were crazy but they had the time of their lives.”
“I remember,” Nathan said. “I remember asking John whether he was going to celebrate his anniversary every year like that.”
“Look at the way they are looking at each other,” Ivy said, softly, as she joined the conversation. “My goodness. They must have been so in love.”
The video ended and the priest began to speak again.
“It is important for us to collectively acknowledge and accept that the world has fundamentally changed with her passing. We are all grieving. Life will not be the same - nor should it be. Together, let us open our hearts and commemorate the impact that Sarah, Queen of Knorpp, had on us. Today, we will return her to the fire from which we were all born.”
Ivy stepped back as three men stepped forward, with lit torches. They handed one to each of the brothers, who then stepped forward. When the priest nodded, they lit the wood underneath the funeral pyre and then put their torches in, letting them burn as well.
Ivy watched, mesmerized, as the funeral pyre began to burn. Something about the fire seemed to trigger the emotions that people had been keeping at bay. There were sobs, and gasps, as the body began to burn. The ashes rose up into the air, gold and yellow swirling together.
“Sarah, Queen of Knorpp, has safely crossed the barrier and is now free to experience another reality, along with all the joys which await there. For us, however, it is important to say this final farewell to her body as we commit Sarah, Queen of Knorpp’s physical form to its natural end.”
The fire caught to other parts of the pyre, and soon, it was completely engulfed in flames. Ivy could feel the heat from where she was standing and took a tiny step back as the wind picked up. She was surrounded by sounds of sobbing. The crowd was grasping at each other; Ivy watched a single tear slip down her boyfriend’s face.