Chapter 11.
Princess Collyn.
Lynwood stood around in the mist, wondering what on earth he was supposed to do.
"Isn't that just like a dragon?" He muttered to himself. "Taking off and leaving me here all alone."
The thought did cross his mind to try and go up to the palace, but judging by the sky, it was around four am, not exactly the best time to go banging on doors and begging to see the prince. He finally decided to wait until a more decent hour of the morning before trying to discover a way inside.
The ground was damp and wet with dew, not something the boy wanted to sit down on, but he couldn't remain standing for several hours, so Lynwood found a secluded spot amongst a cluster of bushes and sat down. He could feel his pants soaking in the dew and shifted uncomfortably.
"Why can't things ever turn out nicely for me?" He grumbled. "Why is it that everything has to be so uncomfortable, so inconvenient?"
Heaving a long, loud sigh, Lynwood settled down among the leaves and branches and waited for the sun to start making its ascent into the heavens. His eyes started to get a little droopy at one point, but he fought to stay awake. Falling asleep, uninvited, in the garden of the king was not a good idea. He had heard enough rumors in Briston to know King Farran was a cruel and rather unforgiving person. Lynwood could be discovered and then he would be in a lot of trouble. Besides, he'd been doing quite a bit of sleeping the past few days, he shouldn't be tired at all.
Funny thing was his eyes didn't seem to agree with his logic and despite all his efforts, at last the eyelids closed and Lynwood didn't open them again.
***
It was a strange feeling, as though a hammer was struck against his side, then again and again. Lynwood shifted to try and get out of its way. There it was again. Who on earth was hitting him with a hammer and why were they doing it? When the hammer came down the fourth time Lynwood had had enough, and sat up abruptly. The light blinded him for a moment and he blinked, trying to make out the figure in front of him. It slowly began to dawn on his sleepy brain that it was a girl standing over him, and the hammer had really been her foot, which she had been nudging him with.
"Who in the name of heaven are you?" The girl demanded. "And what are you doing sleeping under the Lelus bush?"
Lynwood rubbed his eyes, trying to make sense of the question. Who was he really? And why had he been sleeping under the Lelus bush. Come to think of it, what was a Lelus bush? He slowly rose to his feet and studied the girl. She looked about twelve or thirteen, with dark brown eyes gazing at him from underneath thick eyelashes. Her skin was pale and contrasted rather sharply with her jet black hair gathered up in a bun with roses. She was dressed in a pale yellow dress, with puffed sleeves and a satin sash. A silver chain with a pendant hung around her neck and a thin chain bracelet on her arm. Her face was round, her chin delicate, her nose small and slightly pointy, and the little lips a ruby red. Lynwood had never seen anything like her before.
"Are you deaf?" she asked again, her voice was very smooth, but rather high pitched. "I thought I asked you who you were."
"I uh," Lynwood tried to come up with a good answer, but he was so thirsty, all he could think of was getting a drink. "Do you have any water?"
The girl knit her eyebrows together. "Why do you not address me properly, servant boy?"
Lynwood scowled at her. "I'm not your servant boy," he stated, crossing his arms in front of him."
"Then who are you?"
"My name is Lynwood and I am the son of a woodsman, my home is from the Northern Mountain Range. Who are you?"
The girl tossed her head back, rather offended at the question. "Impudent boy," she scorned. "What a silly question indeed. You mean to honestly tell me you do not know who I am?"
Lynwood searched his brain and finally came up with the closest guess he could. "Are you an angel?" Her looks could certainly pass for that. Though she would be a rather snobby angel.
Now it was the turn of the girl to widen her eyes. "Is that who you really think I am?"
"Well, my father always said angels were beautiful creatures who floated about and appeared when you least expected them to."
The girl let out a laugh, "I'm sorry to disappoint you but I am nothing that honorable, I suppose you, being from far away and never visiting the Arrol before, wouldn't know who you are speaking too. I am Princess Collyn, niece to king Farran." She held out her hand to him. Lynwood stared at it with raised eyebrows.
"You are supposed to kiss it," Collyn helped him out.
She wanted him to kiss her hand? Lynwood's face twisted. "Eugh, no thank you."
Collyn's eyes registered a look of total shock. She had never been so insulted in her life. "Your impudence, boy, is appalling. Didn't you father teach you any manners?"
"Sure he did, but kissing the hands of stuck up princess was certainly not one of them."
Lynwood's last sentence was more than Collyn could bear. "Horrid, horrid boy, I shall call the guards and you shall be taken away." She turned to go but Lynwood grabbed her. "Unhand me!" Collyn commanded, struggling to get free. "Unhand be before I scream."
"Hold on there, Princess," Lynwood spoke hurriedly. "Have the decency to at least hear me out."
"Decency, you speak to me of decency?" Collyn scoffed.
"You have a brother, do you not?" Lynwood was not sidetracked.
"And if I do?" Collyn lifted her right eyebrow.
"I need you to take this letter to him." Lynwood let go of Collyn and reaching into his inside pocket, pulled out the envelope.
"What is in the letter?" Collyn became suspicious again
"I wish I knew, but I don't, I was only told to deliver it. Please take it to him, you have no idea what this letter has cost me. Just promise me that you will give it to your brother, put it in his very hands."
Collyn narrowed her eyes as she studied the young messenger. "How did you get in the garden past the guards?"
"Uh," Lynwood wasn't exactly sure how to answer, "you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Oh really?" Collyn cocked her head to the side. "Try me."
"Sorry, but I can't. You just take the letter to your brother."
Collyn pulled her lips together in a thin line. "Listen, you are trespassing in the garden of the king. At any given moment I can call the guards and they will drag you away to the dungeon, so you either tell me a little more about yourself, or I start screaming."
Lynwood grit his teeth. What a spoiled, demanding creature she was. Nothing close to an angel, that was for sure. "Fine, if you really want to find out how I got here, then at midnight you need to be in the garden."
"You are going to hang around here till midnight?"
"With your permission," Lynwood gave a mock bow.
Collyn gazed at him with disgust. What an ill mannered peasant this boy was. A voice told her that she should probably turn him in, but curiosity was louder than reason and she gave in. "My brother is not in the palace," she said, reaching out and taking hold of the letter. "We expect him to return in a few days time and I shall be sure to pass it on to him." She tugged at the letter, but Lynwood was in no hurry to let it go.
"Promise?" He slowly said.
"I give my word, on my honor as a princess," Collyn replied, holding his gaze. Lynwood slowly released the letter.
"I supposed you would want something to eat," Collyn said as she studied the envelope, annoyed to find that it was sealed shut. "And you mentioned being thirsty, so I guess you'd want me to bring water."
"I suppose I would."
"I thought as much. Don't touch anything in this garden and I'll bring you something."
"Fair deal." Lynwood settled back down under the bush. Collyn shook her head at him and ran off.
Lynwood was sure that Collyn would fall asleep long before midnight. She was a princess after all and needed her beauty sleep. He hung around the garden the entire day. Collyn brought him some food and after that he didn't see her at all. Lynwood congratulated himself with how he had worked it all out that she agreed to keep him a secret and she was sure to be asleep when Caderyn came for him.
The sun set and darkness fell. The moon rose and the stars appeared, though Lynwood noticed that they were not half as bright as back at home. He lay on the ground, staring at them and trying to make out the different constellations. A dark shadow appeared next to him and Lynwood heard Caderyn as he landed next to him. Lynwood joyfully jumped to his feet, very glad to see the dragon. He discovered that he had actually missed his new friend, and he didn't hesitate to show it.
"I knew you'd come back as soon as it was dark," he whispered, giving Caderyn's head a pat. "Everything turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be. I met the princess and she agreed to—"
Caderyn suddenly became tense and alert. Lynwood paused his talking and glanced around. The full moon cast a white light over the entire garden and he easily made out the petite figure of Collyn, who stood frozen to the ground, eyes staring in horror at the dragon.
She opened her mouth to scream, but it never came out. Lynwood had sped to her side and clamped his hand firmly on her mouth. Collyn looked at him with fear and struggled to get loose, but Lynwood held her firmly.
"Calm down, Your Highness, calm down," he whispered. "There is no need to get so upset."
Collyn gazed at him, her eyes filled with fear.
"Now I am going to take my hand off of your mouth, but you must promise me that you won't scream. Promise?"
Collyn nodded, Lynwood slowly took his hand off of her mouth. As soon as he did Collyn opened her mouth again, and back Lynwood's hand came on it.
"I thought you told me you weren't going to scream," he scolded. "Now we'll go through this again. Promise me you won't scream and I'll let you go." Collyn nodded again and Lynwood slowly took his hand off once more. This time Collyn was silent
"That's better," Lynwood smiled. "Now, you wanted to find out how I came here, remember? Well Caderyn, that's the dragon's name, dropped me off and has just returned to get me. I must get going, for my sister is waiting for me. I would of course appreciate your discretion on this matter, what the king doesn't know won't hurt him, eh?"
Collyn's eyes widened even more, and breaking free from Lynwood, she started running back to the palace, crying, "Uncle Farran, someone, anyone!"
"Oh you have got to be joking," Lynwood sighed and ran after the girl. Catching up, he threw himself against her, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Quickly he covered her mouth again.
"For goodness sakes, what on earth is your problem? Girls, can you ever trust them!" He shook his head. "Alright, come on, I don't see any other option." Grasping Collyn he dragged her to the dragon, making sure to keep his hand clasped over her mouth. Collyn struggled as best she could and the two of them fell a number of times. Lynwood was stronger than Collyn and managed to drag her to Caderyn, despite the fight she put up. Once he got to the dragon, he hauled her onto Caderyn's back.
"Alright, Caderyn," he commanded, "Let's go, we need to get somewhere where no one will hear this princess."