BOOK TWO
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
After he had changed her, the Prince made the mistake of showering Sasha in affection, hoping the new her might warm to him and his unconditional love. After all, the new Sasha was in many ways the same as she always had been: clever, playful, direct, determined...but now it was all warped by smoldering resentment and rage, plus something else beneath the anger – a jittery fear, like what a caged animal might feel. In truth, she reminded him of his mother. Her memory of their relationship was completely absent, and lest the Prince look for solace in her familiar features, the scar across her face declared her new persona loudly. He asked her over and over to pick up her lute, hoping that if she did, it might rebirth a love of playing in her. Instead, she smashed the instrument against a tree.
One night during that tumultuous first couple months back in the Valley, she came to his room in tears. She told him how hard it was for her, how everyone kept telling her that she was broken, but she didn’t feel broken. He had never seen her so vulnerable, even before the change. He hugged her and she kissed him, and for a moment everything felt right again, until Jove appeared and pulled Sasha away, restraining and disarming her. Orion had heard her violent intention, and sent Jove to curtail it. The Prince wondered why she bothered going through such a deception; he would never best her in a fight, even if he could raise a hand to her. The look in her eye convinced him, though, that the woman he loved was gone. After this incident, her attitude towards him became even more hostile. Despite this, when the vote for her fate came to him, he chose to keep her in the Valley, to keep her near him, discontinuing his courtship except for the occasional anonymous present or covert nicety. He needed to get the North Star; he had to have his love back in full, selfish though it may be.
The Prince brought her to a meeting between Orion, Jove, Cicero, Flori and himself. Sasha, whom they had convinced to act as something of a battalion leader this last year, hated these meetings, though Flori’s weird companions promised to make this one interesting. The two other-worldly children gave each other a significant look when Sasha came in the room. She disliked them immediately.
Flori addressed the group. “Friends, it’s wonderful to see you all again, or rather, for the first time with real eyes. My trip to the Underworld gave us exactly the advantage we needed. Allow me to introduce the Twins of Atropos. They possess the power to suppress the queen’s mastery over the North Star, which will enable us to remove it from her person without fear of falling under her control. That is, of course, if we can get them to her. According to them, the only individuals we need to accomplish this are in this room.”
“Except for him,” said the boy.
“We don’t need him,” the girl stated, pointing to Orion.
“What are you talking about?” Sasha asked. “He can read minds. That’s invaluable.”
“The Twins know the future,” Orion answered. “More valuable than my little trick.”
“Then why don’t they just tell us what happens?” Sasha said, her voice raised.
“Relax, Sasha,” Jove shot back. Sasha’s temper always provoked the Blue Dragon’s own short fuse.
“She has a point,” the Prince said as he came before the twins. “Why are you helping us?”
“That’s what we do,” the boy said.
“Don’t you have a choice?”
“No,” said the girl.
“So, you must already know what happens, can you tell us?” The children looked at each other.
“It’s complicated,” said the boy.
“How so?” asked the Prince.
“We disagree,” said the girl.
“Does that happen often?”
“No,” remarked the boy.
“Never,” warned the girl.
“I see. Well, what do each of you see?” the Prince asked.
“She thinks we all die,” said the boy.
“He thinks we all live,” said the girl.
“We’re very excited to see what happens.”
“We’ve never had to wonder before.”
“I hate to mention this,” Cicero chimed in sheepishly, “but we don’t have much time between now and the Detego. Will you know what happens by then?”
“What’s the Detego?” Flori asked.
“The Detego of Olympus. Constellation Day.”
“The Queen’s endgame is a tad more ambitious than we knew,” Jove explained. “There’s a lot to tell you.”
“You don’t have time,” interjected the twins...as the alarm sounded.
Everyone exited the meeting hall. All over the Valley, explosions were injuring people and dragons alike. In the center of it all, Demetrius, the Green Dragon landed, the Queen on his back. Everyone tried to make a run for it, but a wave of energy blew through the area, petrifying anyone in her vicinity.
“The escape tunnels. There’s one inside. Use it!” Orion ordered the others. They obeyed on reflex. Orion showed them the door. Flori and the twins went through first, followed by Sasha, the Prince and Cicero. Jove turned to let Orion through next, but it was too late—Demetrius stood in the doorway. He pointed a clawed finger at them, and Jove disappeared just in time to live.
In the tunnel, the blast knocked the escapees over. Flori cried out in pain. Behind them, rubble barred the way back, so they moved forward.
“I don’t understand,” Sasha fumed as they ran through the escape tunnel. “Demetrius? How is he not dead? How did he know to come here? Moriandra said he broke off from the other dragons early on.”
“When we found this place we sought out every dragon we could and invited them back to the fold,” Cicero explained while carrying Flori who had suffered a head injury from a flying piece of rubble. “We gave them this location in case they ever changed their minds.”
“What?” Sasha yelled. “How could you be so careless? Why didn’t you go get him?”
“We went to find him shortly after Holder’s Deep, but the mountain where you left him was all caved-in. We thought he had died.”
The tunnel let out deep in the Forest of El. Jove sat waiting at its mouth, emanating an uncommon stoicism. “Where’s Orion?” Cicero asked, grasping the answer as he spoke. Everyone shared the realization that Orion was dead and mourned him for the few seconds they could afford it. The Prince tended to Flori’s bloodied scalp, and when he finished, she quietly performed a spell to shield them from unfriendly eyes. Soon every dragon captured by the Queen would be looking for them. To think, one person and one dragon took their home, their allies, and their leader from them all in the span of a few minutes. They trudged deeper into the forest, putting as much distance between themselves and the valley as they could.
One night during that tumultuous first couple months back in the Valley, she came to his room in tears. She told him how hard it was for her, how everyone kept telling her that she was broken, but she didn’t feel broken. He had never seen her so vulnerable, even before the change. He hugged her and she kissed him, and for a moment everything felt right again, until Jove appeared and pulled Sasha away, restraining and disarming her. Orion had heard her violent intention, and sent Jove to curtail it. The Prince wondered why she bothered going through such a deception; he would never best her in a fight, even if he could raise a hand to her. The look in her eye convinced him, though, that the woman he loved was gone. After this incident, her attitude towards him became even more hostile. Despite this, when the vote for her fate came to him, he chose to keep her in the Valley, to keep her near him, discontinuing his courtship except for the occasional anonymous present or covert nicety. He needed to get the North Star; he had to have his love back in full, selfish though it may be.
The Prince brought her to a meeting between Orion, Jove, Cicero, Flori and himself. Sasha, whom they had convinced to act as something of a battalion leader this last year, hated these meetings, though Flori’s weird companions promised to make this one interesting. The two other-worldly children gave each other a significant look when Sasha came in the room. She disliked them immediately.
Flori addressed the group. “Friends, it’s wonderful to see you all again, or rather, for the first time with real eyes. My trip to the Underworld gave us exactly the advantage we needed. Allow me to introduce the Twins of Atropos. They possess the power to suppress the queen’s mastery over the North Star, which will enable us to remove it from her person without fear of falling under her control. That is, of course, if we can get them to her. According to them, the only individuals we need to accomplish this are in this room.”
“Except for him,” said the boy.
“We don’t need him,” the girl stated, pointing to Orion.
“What are you talking about?” Sasha asked. “He can read minds. That’s invaluable.”
“The Twins know the future,” Orion answered. “More valuable than my little trick.”
“Then why don’t they just tell us what happens?” Sasha said, her voice raised.
“Relax, Sasha,” Jove shot back. Sasha’s temper always provoked the Blue Dragon’s own short fuse.
“She has a point,” the Prince said as he came before the twins. “Why are you helping us?”
“That’s what we do,” the boy said.
“Don’t you have a choice?”
“No,” said the girl.
“So, you must already know what happens, can you tell us?” The children looked at each other.
“It’s complicated,” said the boy.
“How so?” asked the Prince.
“We disagree,” said the girl.
“Does that happen often?”
“No,” remarked the boy.
“Never,” warned the girl.
“I see. Well, what do each of you see?” the Prince asked.
“She thinks we all die,” said the boy.
“He thinks we all live,” said the girl.
“We’re very excited to see what happens.”
“We’ve never had to wonder before.”
“I hate to mention this,” Cicero chimed in sheepishly, “but we don’t have much time between now and the Detego. Will you know what happens by then?”
“What’s the Detego?” Flori asked.
“The Detego of Olympus. Constellation Day.”
“The Queen’s endgame is a tad more ambitious than we knew,” Jove explained. “There’s a lot to tell you.”
“You don’t have time,” interjected the twins...as the alarm sounded.
Everyone exited the meeting hall. All over the Valley, explosions were injuring people and dragons alike. In the center of it all, Demetrius, the Green Dragon landed, the Queen on his back. Everyone tried to make a run for it, but a wave of energy blew through the area, petrifying anyone in her vicinity.
“The escape tunnels. There’s one inside. Use it!” Orion ordered the others. They obeyed on reflex. Orion showed them the door. Flori and the twins went through first, followed by Sasha, the Prince and Cicero. Jove turned to let Orion through next, but it was too late—Demetrius stood in the doorway. He pointed a clawed finger at them, and Jove disappeared just in time to live.
In the tunnel, the blast knocked the escapees over. Flori cried out in pain. Behind them, rubble barred the way back, so they moved forward.
“I don’t understand,” Sasha fumed as they ran through the escape tunnel. “Demetrius? How is he not dead? How did he know to come here? Moriandra said he broke off from the other dragons early on.”
“When we found this place we sought out every dragon we could and invited them back to the fold,” Cicero explained while carrying Flori who had suffered a head injury from a flying piece of rubble. “We gave them this location in case they ever changed their minds.”
“What?” Sasha yelled. “How could you be so careless? Why didn’t you go get him?”
“We went to find him shortly after Holder’s Deep, but the mountain where you left him was all caved-in. We thought he had died.”
The tunnel let out deep in the Forest of El. Jove sat waiting at its mouth, emanating an uncommon stoicism. “Where’s Orion?” Cicero asked, grasping the answer as he spoke. Everyone shared the realization that Orion was dead and mourned him for the few seconds they could afford it. The Prince tended to Flori’s bloodied scalp, and when he finished, she quietly performed a spell to shield them from unfriendly eyes. Soon every dragon captured by the Queen would be looking for them. To think, one person and one dragon took their home, their allies, and their leader from them all in the span of a few minutes. They trudged deeper into the forest, putting as much distance between themselves and the valley as they could.
To Chapter Eighteen...