Crossed Storms

s e v e n

Ashelyn now, fully dressed, stared at her dirty feet. The dress fit her body well, except instead of touching the floor, it hung half way down her shins. Her fever was already going down after just taking a small sip from the bottle left by Madam Zerine.

A light knock on the door drew her attention from her feet to the door.

"Are you done, deary?" Came Madam Zerines voice, slightly muffled.

"Yes, I am." She replied soon after.

The door creaked open as Madam Zerine pushed it. She admired the dress now worn by Ashelyn.

"It looks better on you than it ever did on me," she says with a kind smile. With a clap of her hands she continued, "Time for the rules, number one..." Madam Zerine pauses while holding up a finger, "Do not, and I mean do not leave my side. You'll will be noticed immediately if you wander. The second rule is to keep that hood up, your hair is a dead give away when it comes to dragons." She laughs at that, "We don't get redheads. Now the third and final rule. No speaking. Someone speaks to you? Do the rude thing and don't answer." Her humorous smile quickly disappears to a dead serious expression. "Do you understand my three rules?"

Ashelyn's eyes, now wide from Madam Zerines sudden change in expression, blinks once before she nods to the given rules.

With a look of approval, Madam Zerine gathers the discarded cloak off the floor and puts it over Ashelyn's shoulders, clasping the cloak around her neck with a gold pendant.

"Tuck all that hair away from view."

Ashelyn slipped the hood over her head and neatly tucked her hair away. The hood covered most her head, ending by her eyes.

"Is this okay?" She asked, looking for Madam Zerine's approval.

"Perfect, now let's go." She grabbed a basket and walked off.

The walk out of the castle was uneventful and they were stopped by no one. The main entrance was a huge wooden door that was opened from the inside by two dragon guards, both with different shades of red scales.

"Why are both those dragons red?" Ashelyn asked curiously.

Madam Zerine glanced behind her to the two dragons, now disappearing behind the closing doors. "Scales are a way of showing ones status, for example, red scaled dragons are usually guards or maybe a farmer if they prefer a more... calm life."

Ashelyn nodded in understanding, before firing another question. "What colour are your scales?"

"Mine are a brilliant green," Madam Zerine replied fondly. "They're slightly faded now. They unfortunately dull with age."

"What about the other colours? I have seen a yellow while passing over the village, and a black was the one that carried me in."

"Yellow dragons are extremely helpful though they are not good for war, and the black you mentioned was Nathan. He got his scales from his mother, but usually the royal family has blue scales that vary with each generation. The king has scales the colour of the sky, it's a magnificent view when he goes for a fly."

Ashelyn had been so engrossed in Madam Zerine's words that she hadn't noticed when they had wondered into the village. "Ah, we're here! Now keep that trap of yours shut." She said with a wink.

Ashelyn opened her mouth to say something but was quickly cut off, with a wave of a hand in her face, "Not a peep!" Madam Zerine said.

Finally nodding, Ashelyn pulled her hood further down her head and walked behind Madam Zerine as she greeted almost everyone she passed.

The village was cleaner than she thought it would be. There was bright green grass under her feet and it continued to grow all over the village. Even the market, slightly ahead of them, had the same grass growing. The buildings all around her were made of the same wood that was polished and clean.

"Zerine!" Came the voice of a youngster as he sprinted to catch up with both of them.

"Now boy, what have I told you over and over, it's Madam Zerine! Not just Zerine." She said with a grumble whilst coming to a halt and turned her attention him.

Ignoring her scolding, the young boy continued, "Zerine, why have you got a new apprentice?!" He looked at Ashelyn's covered face with faked anger. "You very clearly stated about..." he paused and counted to four on his fingers. "Four days ago!  That I could be your next apprentice."

"I did?" Madam Zerine replied with a chuckle, "Old age must be getting to me. Go pester your sister now, I have things to attend to." She gave Ashelyn a knowing look as the boy sprinted away, yelling at someone in the distance.

"I am quite surprised," said Ashelyn in a hushed tone.

"How so?"

With a slight frown on her face, she replied, "Well, I never expected this place to be so happy and friendly. Everyone just seems to know everyone... it is quite confusing compared to the normal behavior of the Fire Kingdom."

Laughing at her words, Madam Zerine began to walk again.

"Oh deary, you could be very useful for a section in my book that I've been working on since I began writing. My knowledge on the Fire Kingdom and it's citizens is extremely limited for the reason that I'm not welcome there. Such a pity."

Madam Zerine scrunched her eyes together as she noticed someone in the crowd, "Hush now Ash, remember, not a wo-"
She was cut of by a loud voice from the bustle of people.

"Madam Zerine! It's been a while since I saw you last, what brings you to the market?"

A young man emerged with a wide smile on his face. His hair was pulled back into a small ponytail resting at the bottom of his head. It was an unnatural colour of blonde that almost appeared white from the distance that separated them. As he steadily grew closer, his height almost took Ashelyn's breath away, standing a whole head and a half taller than her but compared to Madam Zerine, he was a giant.

"Ah Will, are you getting taller?" She said, avoiding Wills question.

"I don't know, are you getting shorter?"

"Hush now," she said laughing loudly.

His observant green eyes caught sight of Ashelyn's covered face. "Who's this? A new apprentice already?"

Sparing a glance at Ashelyn she replied, "You know me, I like to share my knowledge."

"What's your name?" He asked, directing his question at Ashelyn.

"Her name is Ash, shy one she is. Best to get going Will! You have duties to attend to, am I right?"

He hesitantly replied, still staring at Ash, "Yes, but-"

"Good good, now along with you." with a quick smile at him, Madam Zerine tugged on Ash's cloak, indicating that she should follow.

Madam Zerine kept chatting to Ash as she carried on walking like nothing had just happened. Feeling a set of eyes burning at the back of her head, she turned and saw Will suspiciously looking back at her with a small frown on his face and a crinkle between his brows.

As soon as his eyes caught Ash's, he turned around and stalked off.