Maripose means butterfly in Spanish. I think it is a really cute word and works perfectly for the name of a capital.
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The sun was slowly going down in the sky as I saw the castle slowly come closer and I was glad that for once we weren’t flying through the night. Although the winter weather had always been something I enjoyed I just couldn’t feel the same excitement anymore now that I had to fly on a dragon’s back. Luckily Teixeira was way more inland and didn’t even border with the sea, which meant that the cool winds had heated up by the time they reached this Kingdom.
The capital, Mariposa, was closer to the Elfique Forest than it was to Tanah Bulan, which made me slightly worried Robin would already be waiting for us for several days. But then Zjarr reminded me that she had flown us from Emeraude to Rubis and to Tanah Bulan in probably the same amount of time it took Robin to get to Álfar. She was most likely right, which is why I didn’t mind that she was taking her time getting to Mariposa.
So the day we left Fullmåne, I went to say my goodbyes to Daniel properly this time, then my parents while I completely ignored Nolan, though Zjarr gave him a pretty clear warning. Isabelle and Edur flew with us for a bit before they turned around, saying she didn’t want to leave Daniel waiting. I thought it was cute though I wasn’t entirely sure about when Daniel thought about having an obvious interest in someone who had been dead for centuries up until recently. But that would be something to think about when everything with this prophecy stuff would be over and done with.
For the moment I tried to focus on seeing Robin soon and seeing my sister for the first time in what felt like years even though it was only one.
The problem was that I had told Robin we would meet up outside the castle. Nothing more nothing less, which wasn’t very precise. I had no idea where he would be if he was already there, although the tavern in the city would be my first guess. And also, I had no idea whether I should be looking for a pale black-haired Robin or an even paler white-haired Robin. I had already made a mental note to be more specific next time we split up.
“Where are we going from here? Where to I land?” Zjarr asked me suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Somewhere not too close to the city, I’ll walk there myself and see if I can find Robin.” She didn’t respond but I was sure she had heard me. After a while I asked, “Do you think he is here already?”
“Yes, I do. I doubt he would have spent more time than necessary in Álfar. I think he delivered the letter, made sure he knew the answer, got his potion and left.”
“You also think he took the potion? And what about his friends; wouldn’t he have stayed a little longer for them? I did for Daniel, although we didn’t really do what I think we would be doing. Reading an endless supply of books wasn’t something I thought we would ever do.”
I smiled a little at the mesmerized look on Daniel’s face when he saw the Dragon Knight library, and even more so when he opened his first book and actually understood what it said. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like, growing up and not knowing how to read. Most of my childhood had been spent reading, although not always by choice.
“I honestly don’t know whether he took the potion or not; that was entirely his choice. And even if he stayed a little longer for his friends I doubt he stayed too long. He almost lost you once because of something Anila did; I doubt he wants a repeat of that.”
“He didn’t almost lose me,” I retorted.
“Yes, he did. When you saw them together in that corridor you were ready to leave without him because you were hurt. He knows as well as I do that if he hadn’t come after us to Sablier you would still be avoiding him.”
“I…” I started before stopping. She was right, of course; for some reason Zjarr was always right. She knew me so well sometimes I forgot we hadn’t even been bonded for a year.
After that we fell silent and Zjarr kept going for Mariposa. As the city came closer and closer into view it wasn’t hard to guess why my sister had never come home for a visit since she left. Although I personally loved the fact that you could tell just by looking at Fullmåne it was a city orientated toward the sea; you could see the big ships that came and went, the smaller fishermen boats that left in the evening and came back in the morning, the fishnets hanging everywhere, the houses were mainly made of wood. Only as you got further from the water did the city change but only a little.
Mariposa on the other hand seemed to be entirely made out of a beige stone, which reminded me of sand, and all the houses, including the castle, had roofs made out of blue slate. The city was surrounded by a thin circle of trees, which probably made it easier to defend in case of an attack. Outside of the trees though, nothing was quite as organized, occasionally I could make out fields and farms but because it was winter, even here where the weather was less hostile than at home, there was no grain in the fields, making it all blend in with the rest of the greenery.
“Find a place to land and hide. I’ll head into the city and see if I can find Robin anywhere,” I sent Zjarr mentally.
She didn’t respond but she didn’t need to. Soon enough she was losing altitude before diving for the trees. She didn’t end up scaring any people but the deer eating in the clearing she had chosen all jumped off in different directions; there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Zjarr would go after them as soon as I had left.
Once she had lowered herself as close to the ground as she could I flung one leg over her spike and slid down her side, bending my knees a little to catch my fall as I landed. I told Zjarr to stay hidden and not come looking for me unless I called her or if she left I was in danger; there was no need to scare people uselessly. Then I made my way out of the trees and searched for a road that would lead me to Mariposa. I could only hope that it was nearer than Sablier had been when I decided to walk there; I was pretty sure I wouldn’t run into Kevin here who could give me a ride.
It turned out the walk to the city wasn’t too long. Soon the first houses appeared, the smaller ones hiding the taller ones that we more toward the center of the city. And after asking around a little, the people pointed me easily toward every tavern there was in the place. The first one that I went in and asked for either a young man with pale skin and black hair or a young man with pale skin and white hair come up empty. The second was so noisy and crowded and unpleasant that I couldn’t imagine Robin ever staying there.
In the last one though it was easy. I had barely walked through the door and was taking a look around when two arms wrapped around me. At first I froze and was ready to struggle against whoever was holding me but there I noticed the brownish green shirt and the pale skin and I knew that it was Robin. I hugged him back for a moment before taking a step back, wanting and needing to see how he looked.
To my surprise, and honestly to my satisfaction, he still had his almost colorless blond hair and pale mirror-like eyes. He looked like an elf and I wasn’t the only one to have noticed; most people inside the tavern were looking at us but he didn’t seem to notice. He seemed just happy to see me again and the feeling was mutual. Grabbing my hand he pulled me through the crowd of people toward a table.
“So, you finally made it,” Robin said with a grin.
“Finally? We left Fullmåne this morning; I think you should be glad we even made it before dark. But how long have you been waiting?”
“Not that long really. Only two days.” I felt my eyes grow wider; only two days. I would have been at least a little angry if I would have had to wait for two days before he would show up. “Well, I didn’t exactly stick around in Álfar. I gave your envelope to the Queen and explained a little about how you were inviting all royals. Of course Haizea accepted right away but Anila didn’t want to at first. Her mother forced her a little so she will be joining us as well. I’m sorry about that. But once that was done I went to Svadilfari to tell him I had decided not to take the potion. I left the next morning again.”
“Of course you were waiting for me if you didn’t even stay a day! I went to the archives with Priam and we found a guard there. He was still alive, but he was the only one. Priam took him with him and said he not to worry. Maybe he can tell Priam what happened there once he wakes up, the place was filled with shadows. It was a little scary. Those shadows are apparently what we will be fighting.”
“Didn’t we already know that?”
“Well, yes, but I never actually understood just how creepy they were. When you burn them with normal fire they turn into this sticky stuff and if dragon fires burns them you get a pile of bones. I guess it would be better to ask any of the lost Knights once we are back at Istana Pasir.”
“Anything else happen on the way? How was home?”
“Well your father was wondering where you were and would have liked to see you but seemed to understand once I explained. I also had to tell them all about the past few months, and then I had to tell my parents, and I told Daniel and I swear if I have to tell it one more time I’ll scream! But guess what is the worst about it all? While we were away, trying to turning me into a real Dragon Knight and figure this prophecy stuff out, Nolan has been invited to the castle by my father’s advisors. They are considering making him heir.”
“What? Why? I didn’t even know they could make that kind of decisions.”
“They can’t. And not all of them are for it; it is just some of them that don’t think a Dragon Knight wouldn’t be good as Queen for the kingdom, which is completely ridiculous. But they advise my father, in the end it will still be my parents who make the decision. And I guess Nolan isn’t getting the throne now that he has shown what kind of a coward he is.”
“How did he manage that? He has been hiding it for years now. I remember how he always used to criticize everyone in the arena but never had the guts to come down. But the moment your father would show up he would fake a pain.”
“I invited him to come to Istana Pasir and it sort of escaladed from there. It would have been funny to witness I guess, hadn’t I been angry about him stealing my throne.”
“I’m not saying they should take your title as heir away from you but don’t you even see it from those advisors point of view?” All I could do was look at him questioningly; they thought that as Dragon Knight I would lead other Knights into the country or something like that. How could I see things from their perspective if they thought something so ridiculous? Didn’t they know me at all? “What I mean is, now that you have Zjarr, do you honestly think you will spend the rest of your life in Fullmåne? All you have every wanted was get out of there and travel. Can you honestly tell you that when your father is ready to pass on the throne that you will go back and do what you have to do?”
That was a good question. Robin was right; now that I had Zjarr I didn’t plan on staying at home for the rest of my life. I wanted to see things and go places; I wanted to do things and discover places I had always admired on a map. But what if my father decided in two or three years that he didn’t want to be King anymore, that I would have to take over; would I want to go back home and just leave it at that?
“That is probably not what they were thinking but it is something to consider, isn’t it?” Robin added after a while.
“Can we not talk about this now?” I muttered a bit annoyed, leaning my cheek on my hand.
Robin just shrugged. “Excited to see your sister again? And do you want to head to the castle today by the way?”
“No, I want to surprise them tomorrow morning. My sister never was one to appreciate my unplanned visits to her room; I’m sure she’ll love it when I come dropping in with a dragon.”
Robin laughed and soon we fell into a light conversation that could easily keep us busy all night. A lot had happened since we had separated back in Emeraude. But as the sun started setting, the sky outside the window became darker and darker. Zjarr was urging to me either stay in the tavern with Robin or get a move on and go back to the clearing where she was. Given that I was planning a surprise visit for my sister early the next morning I decided to go back to Zjarr. I would see Robin again tomorrow.
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“Are you sure you just want to drop in there without as much as a warning?” Zjarr asked.
“Sure, why not? Anne-Belle won’t hold it against me; she doesn’t know any better from me.”
Zjarr flew high in the sky, a few scattered clouds drifting lazily below us, the sun shining brightly above us. No matter how often I sat on Zjarr’s back while she flew through the endless blue sky. I loved the wind going through my hair, watching the trees and farms below us that were suddenly so small, and the people who were miniscule. How could anyone not love this?
And by anyone I meant Robin. But of course, he was an elf and elves were known to love their trees and to prefer keeping their feet on the ground. And I didn’t hold it against him that he preferred a horse to a dragon; everyone had their own preferences.
Like how Robin preferred me to Anila.
The thought was there before I could stop it. I didn’t want it to be there, I didn’t want to think about that. It would mess with my mind; it would distract me from what I needed to do.
“Let’s go Zjarr, no more idling!” I told my dragon in the hope of keeping my thoughts from drifting off any further. Zjarr didn’t change course for a second, and I could feel her mind close to my own, ready to ask a flow of questions, but she remained silent and instead veered to the left before spiraling down to the castle.
She gracefully dropped down through the open roof of the Dragon Knight quarters and landed lightly on the floor, or at least as lightly as she could with her massive size, which wasn’t lightly at all but she could still try. I bended my knees as I landed on the ground and looked around; the place was deserted and looked like no one had been up here for years, a bit like it had been back home. It was only a matter of minutes before someone would show up; someone ought to have noticed a dragon landing on the top floor.
And soon enough the door burst open and a troop of soldiers barged in brandishing swords and spears. But they all came to a stop when they saw the big red dragon that had landed in the castle they were supposed to protect. I glanced at Zjarr, amused, “We always seem to get the same welcoming. Maybe we should send a letter ahead next time?”
“That would be a good idea. But you love scaring them, don’t you?”
I grinned sheepishly before turning to the men. “Hello. I am sorry that we dropped in like that but I have a message for the King. And of course I would love to see Anne-Belle.”
They looked at each other until one of them stepped forward and decided to speak up for them all. “And if I might ask, who wants an audience with the King, and who wants to see the Princess?”
“Blanchefleur, Anne-Belle’s younger sister, though I am here as a Dragon Knight and thus independent from Tanah Bulan.”
Again they looked at each other before one of them ran back the way they had come from. With a sigh, I glanced at Zjarr, noticing that she had already lain down and decided to sit down with her. Maybe it was still too early for the King to be out of bed. Maybe Anne-Belle and Cyril were still sleeping as well; no one was going to wake them up for me simply because I had decided to come early. And with the look on those guards’ faces I doubted I could go down into the castle. Tien forbid a Dragon Knight might roam through the corridors.
We ended up waiting for almost an hour before someone of the royal family came up to meet us. By then I was pretty annoyed, ready to throw them my letter and the move onto the next place. But I guess someone must have anticipated that move on my behalf because the person who appeared was my sister. Sure it took a while for me to recognize her but once I saw past her large belly I could identify as Anne-Belle.
I pushed myself up slowly, still staring at her, and she was obviously taking in me and Zjarr. You could almost see her thinking; is it really my sister? But then a smile spread across her face and she walked closer with her arms open. Naturally the guards didn’t find this a particularly good idea and stayed close behind her; as if they would stand a chance against my big red dragon.
All those thoughts were out of my head the moment my sister’s arms wrapped around me. It had been so long since I had seen her but in that moment it felt like it had only been a few days instead of years. I had to admit, though, it was a little weird because my feet weren’t aligned with the rest of my body as I hugged her back.
“Anne, you really shouldn’t eat so much,” I told her with a happy smile. She only laughed softly; she was always the more delicate one of us two. “How long until I am going to be an aunt?”
“Another two months.”
“Wow, you must really hate me right now for stopping by to deliver my news. Do mother and father know?”
“Of course they know? I wrote them about it a few months ago. I would have thought they told you; it’s not like them to keep something like them for themselves.”
“I haven’t exactly been home these past four months or so.” I saw her glance over at Zjarr before her eyes came back to me. “Yeah; a lot has happened the last few months. How about…”
Before I could finish another guard came marching in and headed straight pass the group to me and my sister. He was out of breath, which I could most definitely understand; the Dragon Knight quarters were always high up. He took a moment to catch his breath before he straightened up and finally said, “The King has requested the presence of the Dragon Knight and the Princess at breakfast. And also there is a young gentleman downstairs waiting for the Dragon Knight. He said you knew who he was and why he was here.”
“That must be Robin.”
“Robin? Do you mean Sir Jamshid’s son?”
“Like I said; a lot has happened over these past few months. You have a lot to catch up on. Shall we go down?” I asked her with a smile. While my sister looked more and more worried I couldn’t share the feeling the slightest. Now that Robin had met up with us again and we would be doing the rest of the way together. Maybe I felt better having him around because of the prophecy, maybe it was because I know that I could count on him, and maybe it was just the fact that he always remained so calm and I didn’t really have anything to worry about with him.
Anne-Belle gathered up her skirts and went for the stairs and I followed her, feeling very glad that I was wearing pants instead of those unhandy dresses. The moment we reached the stairs I felt the floor shake and I knew that Zjarr had taken off but that was okay; she didn’t need to stay in here while I took care of business.
Downstairs Robin was waiting like the guard had said. There was a bag on his back but aside from that he looked like he had just come down for breakfast; in fact, he looked like he had literally just rolled out of bed. Maybe it was too early for anyone to be awake.
But I wanted to get this envelop delivered, get the explanation over with and move on as soon as possible. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to stay for a few days and catch up with Anne-Belle or enjoy the King’s hospitality; this travelling and being forced to stay for a few days was long, too long for my liking. There wasn’t really anything to do for me in all those Kingdoms. Sure I could answer questions the royal families might have, I could explore the library; however, I didn’t feel useful. Sofia had all those Dragon Knights out looking for information while I wasn’t doing anything.
My part in this all would come later, I knew that, but whenever we stopped I felt like I was at the wrong place, like I was needed elsewhere. The feeling was always there and I couldn’t explain it, I couldn’t place it nor make it go away. All I could do was feel it.
“Princess Anne-Belle,” Robin greeted, adding a graceful bow. Could it be that the spell that had hiding his really features had also hidden his natural grace? I didn’t remember him being this graceful. Then again, Anne-Belle probably didn’t remember him looking like this so his grace really was the least of things.
“R-Robin?” She stammered before turning to me. “A lot really has happened since I left.” Robin first looked confused behind her until a look of understanding crossed over his face.
“A lot. How about we go and meet the King so that I only have to explain once,” I suggested, knowing that I would scream if I had to tell it more often than needed.
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There it is! FINALLY!!
So I know this was really short and kind of crappy for how long it has taken me but the last sentence felt like the right place to end it. Otherwise you would probably have had to wait longer. I'm already working on the next part, which won't be very long either. I don't really know what to put in these chapters so if you have an idea, let me know and I'll see if I can squeeze it in.
Furthermore ( <-- I don't I have ever used that word in my life before xD) I just want to complain a bit about my philosophy teacher so you can just skip this part. He might be a nice person, and I think the subject of some crushes in my class (we already conclude that he isn't married, no ring, but he might have a girlfriend, which explains the occasional hickeys), but I personally hate him just because I have 8 hours of philosophy every week with him. And his class is not only the cause of many headaches but also very time consuming outside of those 8 hours of class. Which is one of the reasons why I haven't been able to post this earlier.
I'll try to get the next part up this week and get some writing done during my holidays, which starts on Friday. YAY!!
~~ Bye ~~