Here There be Dragons: Testing the Waters

Aella turned the page of the book as Egaz snuggled into her. After Alejo had read to him he had started to calm down, but the poor lad was in a mood. Truthfully, she understood. She knew this was Nereida’s home, but to the rest of them it was a cage. Aeljo, at least, had found a friend. One of the stable boys was his age, and given that the King actually cared very little for his sea-born grandsons, Alejo was allowed to play with “lesser” children. Egaz, however, had not come out of his shell, but instead hid away unless doing the lessons that were demanded of him. He seemed a perfect little heir; serious, quiet and contemplative. But in reality, she knew he was just frightened.

“I miss my friend,” Egaz whispered to her. She paused the book and looked down at him. She pulled him onto her lap.

“Arbmos?” she asked, keeping her voice as low as possible. The little boy nodded sullenly.

“He ran away with the ship. I think he will keep her safe, but no one else can hear him.” He sniffled. “I want Uncle Basi back.”

“I know, sprout. Me too.”

There was a knock on the heavy wooden door, and one of the servants appeared out of nowhere to open it. A young man in royal purple livery stood in the doorway.

“The Crown Prince requests an audience with Grand Admiral Countess Aella immediately.” The pronouncement was finished with the young man blowing into his horn. Aella curbed her instinct to sneer and tell the dragon where to shove it. Instead, she kissed Egaz’s head.

“I’ll be back,” she promised him. “Go play in your room.” He nodded and took off.

She followed the herald through twisted corridors until she stood outside an unfamiliar wing. She had never had either need nor reason to come this far. She could feel magic through the door, humming along her skin.

“Through here?” she asked, glancing at the herald. He bobbed his head once. She stood outside the large, heavy doors. She placed her hands on them to push, and felt the burning power through the wood. The Stars Dragon was doing magic actively. She took a breath, pushed open the door, and went inside.

Basiano stood in the entryway to greet her. He wore a grim expression.

“Moonlet,” he greeted, the Dragon clearly in control. “This way.” He led her to another set of doors that were wreathed in flame. She turned to look at him.

“You want me to walk through fire?” she asked. “You gone mad?”

“The fire is there to protect the castle,” he replied with a shrug. “I will lower it for you.”

“Why did you drag me over here?” she asked, refusing to move forward without some kind of answer. He flushed red, and the yellow in his eyes flickered and then was gone.

“Admiral,” Basiano’s voice was strained, worried. He took a step forward, but did not reach for her. “We need your help.”

“You’re working with him?” she demanded, anger gripping at her heart.

“In this, yes. He asked… he asked Ocean something and she is… she is upset. She won’t let Nereida go. Please.”

It was the please that broke her resolve. She sighed. Up until then she had almost been willing to ride it out a while, let the Ocean break a few bones and egos. She knew the goddess dragon would not kill Nereida.

“I will help,” she said softly. “But you, Basi, and your dragon, you need to get your shit together. Stop treating us like prisoners. Get the King off our backs.”

“I’ll do what I can.” He made a face as if he had eaten something sour. “The Dragon wants the body back.”

“He can shove it,” she snapped. “It’s your bloomin’ body, and Nereida will want her brother when she wakes.” Basiano chuckled nervously, and looked as if he worried that she would be burned alive for her remark. Nothing happened, and so Aella turned her back to the ornery dragon and her brother-in-law.

She went into the study when the flame fell away. Nereida, or more accurately Ocean, was in dragon form. She was smaller than usual, only about the size of a large horse instead of a large house. The dragon looked at her with silvery eyes that had a cat-like shape. There was nothing human about them or her as she unwound herself from around the desk.

“Great Dragon of the Ocean,” Aella said calmly, respectfully. “Might I have my wife back?”

“He had the gall to ask about my son. He wanted to kill my son!” The dragon roared out, her sounds not words, and yet Aella understood everything perfectly. She pushed that thought away, and decided she would worry about why she could understand dragons later.

“I know,” she said softly. “But this isn’t the way to peace.” She grimaced as a flash of the vision of a kingdom in ruins overtook her senses. It was hard to keep the frustration from her face. Now you help?

“I’m not interested in peace! I want my family!” She slammed her large tail down, shattering a wooden chair as if it were made of glass. Aella brought her hand up to her face defensively.

“Great One,” she tried again, stepping ever closer to the very angry dragon. It was, she reflected, not a good life choice. But she didn’t see any other. “Great One, Damara is here. In this castle. If you bring it down around her head, she won’t survive.”

This gave the dragon pause. She lowered her tail slowly, carefully, and brought her face up to Aella’s. The snout of the dragon was so close she could have leaned forward to kiss it. While she expected the dragon’s breath to feel warm, she was surprised that her exhalations smelled of the sea on a rainy day. A wave of homesickness washed over her. The blue scales glimmered in the light from the hearth.

“Where is my daughter?” she asked.

“In my room, with the nursemaid.”

“Fetch her? I want to hold her. Then I will give back your wife. But let me hold my baby.” Her voice broke, and she sounded near tears. Aella closed her eyes and let out a long, slow breath.

“As you wish.”

She stepped out of the study, carefully closing the door. Basiano eyed her worriedly.

“I need Damara. I will return. She won’t break anything else if you leave her alone.”

“Father might hear about this, I’m not certain that he doesn’t have spies.”

“That is your passenger’s problem to deal with, not mine,” she snapped. “I don’t even want to be here.” He stepped back at that, throwing his hands up in surrender.

She hurried back to her daughter, only getting lost once, before she returned to the wing with the sleepy infant in tow. Damara fussed slightly, not liking the sudden warmth, and likely picking up on her mother’s mood. Aella ignored Basiano, not bothering to find out if he were prince or dragon, striding into the study.

“My daughter!” the dragon cried, sounding terribly sad. “What did they do to you?”

“Kept her safe. The world is not ready for her. It is not your world.” Aella placed the human-looking baby in the curve of the dragon’s body. The dragon licked at her with a long blue tongue, and Damara settled, soothed. The dragon rumbled something else, some finger-wiggling nonsense, and the magic on Damara ebbed, revealing her draconic form. She wiggled about, flapping tiny wings and mewling like a newborn kitten. She began to chew on one of her mother’s scales, which made the Great Ocean Dragon rumble with laughter.

The doors burst open, and Basiano burst in, looking terrified.

“Hide!” he cried. “Father is coming!” The Great Ocean Dragon growled.

“I fear no human man.”

“Our daughter needs to hide,” Aella said, trying to keep calm. She had to weather this storm or they’d all be lost! “And then you. There are ways to kill you still.” The Ocean Dragon grumbled, but returned the glamour to Damara. Aella scooped her up, holding her close. The Ocean Dragon began to shrink away, leaving Nereida to her siren form. But before she reverted, the King and a half-dozen soldiers burst in. They saw, mouths hanging open in astonishment, the Dragon’s form change and shift into that of Nereida. Aella backed away, her first priority being her daughter. She had no sword, no weapon of any kind.

“I always knew you were a monster,” the King sneered, his face becoming an unnatural shade of purple as his anger rose. Nereida, now fully herself, shrank away.

“Father,” she started, but he called up a flame in his hand.

“You are not my daughter,” he spat. Tears sprung to Nereida’s eyes and she looked as if she had been slapped. “Did you kill her, hollow her out and use her?”

“No! Please, it's not like that!” she protested, reaching her hand toward him. He answered her by throwing fire toward her. Basiano jumped in front, taking the fire full in the chest. He should have been injured, but only his clothing burned away. Aella stared at all that was happening, and wished that the old man’s vile heart would stop. He clearly didn’t use it.

Are you sure? The thought was not hers.

“I wish his heart would stop,” Aella repeated in her mind, watching it all unfold. The soldiers had raised their pikes at their Crown Prince. Granted, my Scion.

“Don’t hurt Nerry,” he said, drawing to his full height and glaring at his father.

“Throw them- argh!” The King yelled, his face full of fury. He stopped mid word and grabbed at his chest.

The angry, bitter old man dropped to the ground like a puppet with cut strings. The guards now looked torn between helping the old man and keeping the others at bay. There were suddenly more soldiers at the door, who couldn’t enter. They were dressed in black and purple, and were far less opulent than the six who had arrived with their king. Aella froze, wanting nothing more than to be invisible.

“Let me help him!” Nereida cried, trying to move to her father’s side, to heal him. But when she moved forward, two pikes interposed themselves between her and the king.

“Move!” Basiano commanded. One pike fell, but the other didn’t. The other four moved to point at him. Aella quietly slipped to the back corner.

“If you are there, Moon,” she thought, “I will let you take my body to hold your baby tonight, if you just help.” She felt a wave of coolness over her skin, and she let the force do what it would. She wiggled her fingers, while everyone was distracted, and one of the six, the one who still held his pike a Nerieda, began to babble.

“She’s a dragon! A dragon! The prince too! And the baby! Everyone is a dragon!” He looked at the one who had dropped his pike, and yelled “Dragon!” before he decked the unsuspecting man. The madness spread through the six, each babbling about dragons, fighting amongst themselves. One, in his mad delusions, declared that the king, who still breathed, still fought to live, was a dragon. And without warning, he brought his pike down into the King’s chest. Nereida screamed in horror.

“Father!” But Basiano held her back, and did not let her get close to the six madmen. The other soldiers, torn, looked to Basiano for orders. Basiano’s face hardened.

“They killed my father. Kill the traitors.” It was not Basiano who spoke, but the Dragon, though the moment the words were out of his mouth, his face changed and he went back to soothing Nereida. She sobbed into him.

“I could have saved him.”

“No one could,” he whispered. “Sh, Nerry… it will be alright.”

Aella might as well have been made of glass, so many people looked right through her. The soldiers ended the lives of their mad fellows. Aella refused to move, to cry, to grieve. This was her fault. All of it. How would she ever tell her wife what she had done?

“The king is dead,” said one of the soldiers. “Long live the King.” And they all looked up toward Basiano. The Crown Prince hugged his sister, and then stepped away as the Dragon took over.

“Bury the traitors,” he commanded. “Send for the surgeon to see to my father. We will do a proper state funeral. I will go tell my mother. Go!” And the soldiers dispersed, some carrying remains, though none would touch the king.

After a moment, there was only the four of them in the room.

“Drop your magic, Moonlet,” the Dragon said, stepping over the King as if he were trash. “I know you didn’t flee.” Aella closed her eyes, and realized she was cloaked in her own magic. The cloak tore at his words, and the soft feel of moonlight on her skin lifted. “Quite the trick.” He blinked at her, slow and lazy. “Droplet, take the baby from here, go lay down and rest. I will send your wife along shortly.” Nerieda, still in shock, took her daughter in her arms, and, crying, fled the room. Aella took a step to follow her, but the dragon placed his hand on her shoulder.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for months,” he said, his tone hard. Aella froze.

“What?” she asked, feigning stupidity.

“Kill that horrid excuse of a human. I’m impressed. And the guards going mad? Sheer genius.” He smiled at her, a dark, predator’s smile. “But I doubt your wife would feel the same way.” She swallowed, and tried to hide how her hands shook behind her back. “So, as of now, I own you. You will do as I want, and I won’t tell your beloved wife that you murdered her father and six other men.” He patted her head like she was a dog. “Say it, Moonlet. Say that I own you.” She opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came. She turned away, staring at the floor as shame nearly drowned her. Her voice was small, barely a whisper.

“You own me.”

“Good little pet.” She felt rage roar up over the shame. “Now, you will not say anything to your wife about what happened here today, at least the parts we both want kept secret. You will be by her side as she mourns. You will both stay until your marriage is blessed by me, in courtly magnificence, and before her mother. Give your wife that, at least. And then you may leave with your princess if you like. Or stay. But until then, you are my ally, and will do all I ask, you will support me vocally with your wife, and you will encourage her to mend her relationships with the other princes. It is poor optics that she fights with her siblings.” He looked down at her. “Do we have an understanding, pet?” She shuddered but nodded. “Oh, answer with your words. I know you have them.”

“Yes, sir.” He laughed at her petulant tone.

“Off you go, pet.”

She fled.