Secret Dragon

Chapter 14

Wyvern

Home… I honestly haven’t thought of that in a while. I mean, my home for a long time was my little cottage in the woods, then it was my little cave in the woods of Flurris, then my jail cell, then a castle… but really, home is where Cadmus is. Ever since I met him in the woods in that net, he may have been a cocky, arrogant prince, and he still is a prince, but not as cocky or arrogant anymore. We both fly home as our dragons and it’s nice to let Hayle stretch her wings. As we soared through the sky, our wings glimmered in the setting sun, casting shadows over the capital below. Some people who were out doing whatever it is they were doing waved to us as we made our way down. We land on his balcony, and he visibly looks more relaxed. His dad landed on his balcony, and I’m sure he’ll deal with mom. If only I could be a fly on the wall for that conversation. We put our heavy winter stuff away for now, and it may be childish of me, but I can’t help myself. I giggle quietly to myself and go into the hallway and just sit on the floor and hope I get to hear something about their conversation.

Ario

“Where have you been!? No note, coat gone!” She stands in front of me like a child being scolded for leaving the house.

“You’re not my mother, heck you’re supposed to be in prison!? How the heck are you not in a cell?”

“I told a guard that I was back on house arrest and the guard was new enough not to question me.” I facepalmed myself, note to self to let all guards know that Adelinda is to remain in a cell. “Now I’m waiting! Where the heck were you!?” Her hands were on her hips, waiting impatiently for my answer.

“I was with Cadmus and Wyvern. I met her family and they are lovely folk.”

“Ugh, you met her family!? How can you even stand her? Just being around her makes my skin crawl, let alone her parents!” She fakes a shiver down her back and paces the floor.

“Actually, we’re helping them rebuild their home.” I said to her proudly. Little does she know.

“Ugh, let me guess it was a tiny one bedroom?” She says with disgust.

“Actually, it was two tiny bedrooms and two baths. It was comfortable for what they needed.” She screamed again, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. Technically, I’m not wrong. That’s how they lived before rebuilding their castle.

“Yuck…” She made a disgusted face and I couldn’t help but tell her.

“Don’t forget, you still have a trial for what you did to Wyvern, and that could be your fate.” She let out the most pitiful cry.

“But I didn’t even do anything wrong!” She kept on crying and I facepalmed myself. I’m not going into that argument again.

“Kindra doesn’t get a trial? Ugh, rude…” She rolls her eyes at me and I just shake my head.

“You will go back to your cell until your trial, now!” A guard who was outside came in and grabbed her arm.

“Unhand me, I’m still the queen!” She shouts at the guard, but keeps his grip on her.

“For now, I’ll decide whether you still deserve that title or not.” She gasps at me in shock and they both leave the room. I’m so mentally exhausted every time I deal with her. My dragon and I are both fed up with her. I sit down on the bed that I’ve shared with her for 20-plus years. I wonder how life could’ve been if I had found my actual mate instead of Adelinda… Cadmus would’ve had a supportive mother throughout his life, and we wouldn’t be in this mess with the two of them. I ran my fingers through my hair, wondering what I was going to do with her. Formally, rejecting her would be awful, but I think it’s necessary. I wonder what she’s doing… if she’s thinking of me. I let out a deep sigh and made myself comfy and changed clothes to relax.

Adelinda

I tried to squirm out of the guard’s grip, but he surprisingly had a forceful grip. He slams the jail door and I’m back in this horrible cell. They couldn’t have even cleaned it up a little?! I’m a queen, damnit! I hear fellow prisoners cat-call me and it’s absolutely disgusting! The guard shoves them back into their own cell as he leads me towards mine. I sit down on the small bed, if you could even call it a bed, and wait for something to happen. I felt uncomfortable in the dreadful thing, so I had to change out of my beautiful nightgown. The soft touch of the silk, the warmness of my robe that I wore many times before. Now I’m just in a cotton peasant dress. Yuck… I heard the servant’s door heading towards the kitchen opening. It must be dinner.

“My lady. It’s me! I almost didn’t make it.” Oh, thank gosh, someone who’s helpful!

“Well, what’s going on!?”

“I was able to make it to Flurris! They’re rebuilding the castle and the royal Blizzard family has returned!”

“That’s impossible! They should’ve died years ago!” I was told when I first started that they had died.

“Well, apparently they have been in hiding for the past 20 years.”

“Really?! Where?”

“In the woods near Flurris, but couldn’t go near it since they had a young child, and it was chaos.” I contemplate her words… it can’t be…

“It can’t be…”

“Be what, your Majesty?”

“Nothing… thank you for this lovely thing…” I looked down at the tray of food in front of me, and it was so pitiful. “Tray of food… great. Well, I suppose it’s better than nothing.”

“I would’ve gotten you more, but I almost got caught on my way down.”

“You may go now. I’ll see you around.” I took my tray and sat on my pitiful bed, eating in peace.

Elena

I gave her Majesty updates when I could. She paid me well to see what was going on in her absence, and I was her head maid while she was in the castle. I took up the food tray to the kitchen when I bumped into someone.

“Your highness! Is there something I can do for you?” Crap… I’m in trouble.

“Yeah, you can tell me what you were doing in the dungeons.” Both Cadmus and Wyvern had caught me.

“It was my turn to bring food to the prisoners.”

“Well, you were down there for a while just bringing food.” Both of them crossed their arms and eyed me carefully.

“There were a lot of prisoners to feed. At least five, including her Majesty.” I’m trying to sound confident, but I know I’m in trouble.

“You didn’t stay down there to talk to her, did you?” Cadmus sounds angry, and I suppose he has a right to be.

“Why would I do that? There’s nothing to report.” I put the empty tray on the counter, trying to keep myself busy.

“Uh huh, and the sky is green. Spill it Elena.” Wyvern had gotten to know me pretty well when we were in prison together. It felt like a dream when we were there together, but it was almost a year ago, maybe longer. I let out a sigh and told them everything.