Emma
I raised my head as I awoke to the sound of someone knocking on my door. Casting my gaze over to the window, I could see where the sun was setting. It splashed an array purples, oranges, yellows, and reds over the walls of my room. It looked like the flames of hell were dancing on my wall, and in a way, it was perfect. I had been in hell since this morning or better yet, heading there rather quickly.
“Emma, its Lukas. May I come in?”
I sighed; I don’t even know why he asks anymore. He’s acting like he won’t come in anyways. As I expected, when I didn’t answer, he opened the door.
“Emma, you can’t stay in here forever. Mother and Father are asking for you down at supper tonight.”
Rolling my head to the opposite wall, I asked him, “What am I supposed to do Lukas? They shove me into this marriage, with a Scottish man no less, separate me from the man I love, and then they expect me to be the obedient and loving daughter still?” I said as I looked at him. “I don’t think so.” I fixed my eyes back out the window again.
Lukas stood by the door and gave her an inquisitive look. Emma had always been just that; obedient, faithful, and loving. Maybe their parents had pushed her too far.
“Emma, this is a rather sticky situation that I don’t know if I can fix. I was of age already when they had my marriage arranged. Not to mention the woman I loved was still a princess. You situation is slightly different. Also, there is the fact that I am a boy. Sorry,” he said as she whipped her head around and gave him a death stare.
“So being a boy means you get more of a hand in making decisions that concern your life? Must be nice to be born with that privilege,” I spat at him.
“Emma Rakel, I’m just trying to help you! You don’t have to get angry. I am not the one making you marry the Scottish king. However, if you are going to behave this way, I will leave,” he said vehemently as he turned towards the door.
Sitting up, I looked at him. “Wait, Lukas, wait. I am sorry. Please don’t leave.”
He stood at the door with his back to me and let out a breath. Once he turned around, his hazel eyes locked with mine and he stood there with his arms crossed. Oh. He was waiting for me to explain myself.
“I guess I’m just so angry at the whole situation,” I said as I stood up and started to pace. “They are sending me off to be with this man, who I don’t know the first thing about, taking Benjamin away from me, sending me to a kingdom that is infested with dragons,” my voice raised an octave, “Then they expect me to be ready to go in fourteen days, I can only see Benjamin once, and they want me to ride his freaking dragon back to Scotland??!! Have they lost their minds? I have a good notion to just run away.”
Yeah, Lukas thought to himself, she’s definitely heated. Walking towards her with his hands outstretched, he said, “Emma, you know you can’t do that. Running away will solve nothing. You will just have a whole kingdom looking for you. You know that I will always take your side, but this time, my hands are tied. When King Derick comes to get you, you will have to ride on that dragon either by choice or force. I am sorry.”
“Et tu, Brute? How can you take their side when you were in the same situation not too long ago?” I shouted. “You know how I feel about dragons; about what happened to me,” I said quieter as I sat down at my vanity.
Lukas sighed then he came and took the brush off my vanity and began brushing my hair. “Remember how I used to brush your hair when you were little?”
I smiled. “Yes Lukas, I remember. It was my favorite part of the day for sure. Especially after Mother and Father had scolded me for something.”
“Just trust me when I say this to you now, as I did when you were younger,” he said as he began putting my hair up for supper, “Mother and Father are just trying to do what is best for you. They love you Emma.” Looking at her downcast face, he added, “I tell you what; I will meet with this Derick, just for you. If he is as bad of a person as you make him out to be, I will step in on your behalf and ask that the arrangement be nullified. If I think that he will treat you well and one day come to love you, I will not intercede. Do we have an agreement?” He finished putting my hair up and placed a pearl tiara on my head.
He lowered himself on one knee, looked me in the eyes, and grabbed my hands. His hazel eyes were analyzing my green ones, his stare intense. Lukas always meant what he said, and he never went back on his word. He also had this crazy need to protect me, and I knew he needed to know I wasn’t going to do anything foolish.
I sighed. “Okay, Lukas, I will not run away. I will go downstairs and act like the lady I am. Please keep your word. I am counting on you,” I whispered.
“You know I always do,” he said as he stood and intertwined my arm with his. Kissing my forehead, he opened the door to my room and we went downstairs to have supper.
* * * * *
Supper started relatively quiet compared to most nights. The only sound was of silverware on plates and the occasional chatting of Lucas with Rowan. Mother and Father had the grace to not start another conversation about the marriage with me. My sister Lavinia, on the other hand, did not.
“So I hear you are to marry the Scottish king. How awful. I hope that the marriage that is arranged for me will be of better taste,” she said as she looked at me with disdain.
Lavinia had always been such a spiteful person, even when we were children. Being that she is only two years younger than me, we always were with the same group of people, including men who were vying for our hand in marriage.
“Well, Lavinia, I hope that you make yourself more of an affable person, then, because at current time, I fear no prince or king for that matter would want your hand,” I said as I smiled at her.
Lavinia looked at Mother and Father who seemed to be all of a sudden finding the entire conversation very entertaining at the moment. Lukas, Rowan, and Sebastian were all snickering, while Demetri was enjoying his meal.
Lavinia’s face turned beet red as she rose from the table, “May I be excused, Father?”
“Absolutely not. If you are going to say such things to your sister out of spite, you may sit here and listen to what she has to say. Continue eating. You may leave when the rest of us do.”
Lavinia immediately looked at her mother who now had a look of disappointment on her face. She sat back down without another word or look to anyone and suddenly found the food on her plate very engaging.
Clearing his throat, Lukas looked to me, “Em, if you would like, after dinner I would like for you to meet me at the dragon quarters. Just to do some basic training so that when King Derick arrives, you will at least know how to mount.”
I could immediately feel the chills rise on my arm when he spoke of coming in close contact range with the dragons. The last incident had been so close. Knowing that I could not show a sign of weakness after the fiasco with Lavinia, I answered, “Sure. I will meet you. Only to learn how to mount. Nothing more or nothing less.”
He smiled and winked at me as he nodded his head. “Excellent. I shall meet you down there in about forty five minutes time.”
Leaning over he whispered something into Rowan’s ear which she found humorous because she smiled. He then kissed her and they continued to eat. Why could Mother and Father not see that that was the kind of relationship that I wanted?
Sighing, I stood, and addressed my father, “May I be excused please, Father. I would like to go prepare for this dragon training.”
My father gave me a knowing look. He was not stupid. He knew why I wanted to leave. Thankfully, he said, “Yes, you may. I hope your training goes well, darling.”
I walked over and kissed his cheek followed by my mother’s, and then I headed up the grand staircase.
* * * * *
After I had all of my riding gear on, I turned and looked in the mirror. The dress I was wearing was just below my knees and was made of a silver material. It clung tightly to my torso, and then became looser after my waist. I had on eggplant colored pants beneath that covering the rest of my legs in case I was to fall. Not to mention, I could imagine my mother’s face if I were to go out there with nothing covering my legs. My face burned bright red.
Turning in the mirror, I looked at my hair that was put into a long braid down my back. The arm coverings that I had on covered my whole forearm and on my legs were greaves. I looked like I was going off to train for battle or something. In a way, I was. I shuddered as I remembered my last experience with dragons.
I was six years old. I remember running through the castle corridors and not being able to find anything to entertain myself with, so I decided to look for Lukas. Being that he was eight years older than me and a boy, I knew he would be training in the dragon quarters with the dragon knights. I skipped down to the training grounds, and I was amazed by what I saw.
High fortresses that looked like they touched the sky were everywhere. There were obstacles of every sort to teach your dragon how to land, take off, take turns sharply, breathe fire in a narrow or wide range, and that was just what I saw in one area.
Looking around me, there were also many stables and tents, each with a different colored flag on the top. There were red tents, blue tents, violet and orange. At the time, I did not know what each one stood for. I walked up to the red tent because it was the biggest and went inside, thinking that Lukas might be in there.
Little did I know, this was the tent where the kingdom kept dragons that had been taken from seized lands. As I opened the flap of the tent and stepped inside, I ran my hands through my wavy hair to lay it back down. Once I focused on where I was, my eyes widened when I saw the dragons. They were all magnificent in their own individual way. Some were purple, some orange, some blue, black, and red, all with beautiful gleaming scales and sparkling eyes.
There was one dragon in particular that grasped my attention. I walked to the end of the stalls and there was a royal purple dragon on the inside of the last one. It was lying down and looking at me through the bars of the stall with intelligent eyes. The scales on the dragon started off a dark purple, but they slowly started to ombre into lighter purples until it was almost a lavender color.
I opened the door and walked up to the side of the dragon and let my fingers run along its scales. They were rough to the touch, but to the eyes they sparkled like diamonds. Its eyes were of the deepest blue, the color of the darkest part of the ocean, and they looked like they could read into the inner most part of my soul. Its talons were the size of my leg and its tail was so long that it wrapped around its body one and a half times.
As I walked around the dragon, it watched me with intent eyes. Leveraging myself, I threw my body onto the back of the dragon. Straightening my dress, I smiled. I was sitting on a dragon. Ha. The naiveté of a child. The dragon took off into the air and raced out of the opened stall. It flung me off its back and then turned towards me. Taking its giant tail, it knocked me down in one swoop.
I remember lying there, barely able to breathe. The dragon came and stood over top of me, smiling like I had just done it the greatest favor in the world. It kept swatting me back and forth, back and forth. Just like I was a ball to be played with. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t find my voice. So I opted for death. Anything would be better than this pain and torture that I was enduring. My breathing was ragged, my clothes tattered, and my vision was waning. At that time, First Knight Jon and Lukas came barging in.
Jon hit the dragon with an arrow in the throat which caused it to stumble back. He continued to launch arrows until finally one hit the dragon in the heart, and then another. Lukas had been shooting arrows also, glancing at me every now and then, worry etching his face. The dragon was furious. It blew out a large flame towards Lukas and Jon, who dodged it respectively, and then took its talon and seared it down my chest. I found my voice with that and screeched. The last thing I saw before I passed out was the dragon falling to the ground and laying still. Finally I could rest.
Looking in the mirror, I wiped the tears from my cheeks. The memory still was sore, like it would never close. I pulled my dress down and ran my finger along the scar on my chest. It would be there forever to taunt me. I ran my hands along my braid then let it fall back over my shoulder. This one memory could not dictate my life forever, but for now it would. I squared my shoulders, lifted my head, and made my way to the dragon quarters.
Lukas watched me as I entered the grounds. His eyes looked weary but, he smiled at me. I smiled back, glad that he was here.
“Come over here. I have the perfect dragon picked out for you.”
I slowly walked towards the dragon he had hand-picked for me. It was also beautiful. I was starting to think that there was no such thing as an ugly dragon. This one had aquamarine colored scales and emerald eyes just like mine. It had a graceful and calm appearance about it, not spiteful like the last one I had encountered.
“This dragon is already familiar with you, Em. I have been bringing it something with your scent for the past 5 years. I thought that one day, you might have to ride a dragon, and so I located and purchased this one particularly for you. His name is Evrae.”
I walked over to Evrae and stood in front of him. He leaned his head down and sniffed. Then he lay down and waited for me to mount him. If it was this easy, I would not have to worry about this at all.
My hands were shaking as I climbed on top. I just sat there for a second with my eyes squeezed shut, waiting to be flung off his back. He huffed once, twice, but still just sat there.
“See Emma? That was not so bad. When you mount the king’s dragon, he will lift you up, so it will be twice as easy. You have nothing to fear,” Lukas said as he smiled. “But know that all dragons will not be like this. Some will require you getting to know them first. Be patient and all will work out.”
Easy for you to say, I thought. But I sat there like I was a queen and then I thought, I’d like to learn a little more. It was now or never. With Lukas was better than without.
“Lukas can we do this again? I mean, can you teach me to do more things with the dragon?”
He smiled at me, “Of course. I was hoping you would ask.”
So we spent the next week working on mounting, grooming, going through loops, and fire techniques. The only thing I had left was the actual flying part.
“We should wait for that until next week, Em. You’ve learned a lot over this past week. I am proud of you.”
“Thank you, Lukas. I feel much better. I am still afraid, but not with this dragon at least. Right, Evrae?” I said as I smiled and stroked his head.
Evrae looked at me and winked. It might be crazy, but I think more and more that dragons communicate to us in their own way. Smiling I slid down his back and headed to change for supper.
* * * * *
Today is the day. This is my shot. I was trying to be as quiet as possible as I crept down the corridors. My dress was wafting behind me as my hair swung in the loose braid I had placed it in this morning.
“I don’t care what Lukas says,” I mumbled out loud, “I will ride Evrae. We are ready.”
Finally, I made it to the dragon quarters. The warm sun caressed my back and warmed my hair. I stood there for a moment taking it all in. It was now or never. I could not let this fear run my life, especially with having to move to a dragon infested kingdom.
I went over to Evrae and ran my hand along his scales. I crouched down next to his ear. “Are you ready, Evrae? Today, we fly,” I whispered excitedly. Evrae opened one eye and looked at me curiously. Like he knew we were not supposed to be doing this. Hmp! I’ll show him too.
I mounted Evrae and balanced myself on the top. “Revia,” I shouted. Maybe I wasn’t ready. Maybe I should have waited for Lukas. Maybe I shouldn’t have shouted. However, all of these were after thoughts as I dangled from Evrae’s claw two hundred feet in the sky and screamed