Secret Dragon

Chapter 4

Wyvern

I have no idea what was in that milkshake but it was delicious. I chugged it like it was my last dessert. Oh, wait I don’t even remember the last time I had dessert… but it made me sleepy. I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that Charming has at least attempted to make things a little easier for me. A little luxury of a small pillow, a blanket that could cover me and keep me decently warm, food that actually tastes delicious. Maybe he’s not so bad after all. When I woke up the sun was high which meant that it was late morning probably close to lunch. Charming is outside my cell as usual, but must’ve fallen asleep too.

“Charming?” I try calling out to him but he seems so tired. “Charming?” I call him a little louder and nothing. Then I try poking him with a stick that was randomly in my cell and he jolts awake.

“What? What happened!?” He gets up and unsheathes his sword and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Nothing happened. Just plain old me. So scary…” I smirk at him as he walks over to my cell.

“There’s nothing plain about you.” He grabs my hand through the bars and smiles at me like we’ve been doing this for a long time.

“Um… I’m sorry??” Didn’t expect this to happen

“Nothing, I’ve spoken to the king, and he says that you’re truly innocent, and there’s no need for you to be here. I vouched for you saying that you were a first timer, and he says not to do it again.”

“That’s wonderful! What else did he say?!” This is the best news I’ve heard in over a year! He hesitates as he tells me what else the king said.

“That he’s working on your paperwork and you’ll be out tomorrow!”

“Oh thank you! I could hug you!” He obviously wasn’t expecting that response since I see a slight pink color form on his cheeks.

“So…” Ok now this has turned awkward…

“So…” He shuffles his feet, kicking a small piece of straw on the ground. “What are you going to do with your freedom?”

“First things first I’d like to see my parents again! I’ve missed them so much! Then I’d like to apologize to the meat merchant that I stole from and figure out a way to pay him back for the meat I took or trade him with something, and lastly and this may be crazy, but I’d like to find my mate.” I flush at the thought of finding my mate. I thought of him often during my time here.

“You would?!” He seems surprised at that.

“Yeah? I’ve thought of him many times as I sat here. Wondering what he’s doing, how his day is going, if he's a dragon or human?” I smile. Our moment is broken when I hear some noise coming from outside. “What’s that noise?” I ask him, confused.

“I’m not sure I’ll go check it out.” He heads outside and I go back to sit on my cot… it always feels… empty when he’s not around and I’m not sure why.

Charming/Cadmus

“What the heck is going on here??” I shout to the main lobby of the castle.

“Princess Kindra Sunswirl is arriving!” I look at the maid confused. I thought she was already here. Also, what kind of name is Sunswirl??

“Isn’t she already here?” I asked the poor, terrified maid.

“No, her luggage arrived before she did, that’s usually typical for princesses.” The maid curtseys to me and scurries away.

“Uh, thank you?” I mildly shout at her and she curtseys again. The name sounds familiar, but I don’t recognize this princess’s name, and I’m at least familiar with the royals of different kingdoms. The noise of a carriage comes from outside and I open the doors to greet this mysterious princess. Fiery red hair, a cherry blossom pink day dress that hugs her nicely, hazel eyes that I could get lost in and her fair complexion seems like she barely does any work.

“Welcome to Galvan, your highness. I am prince Cadmus, and this is my family’s kingdom.” I give her a polite bow, but she gives me a fake smile.

“Charmed, I’m tired from my travels. I'd like to see my room.” Ok… so that’s how it’s going to be.

“Sure, this lovely maid here has made it lovely for you and will show you the way.” I point out the maid that was just talking to me and she looks so nervous. Poor thing. She politely curtseys to the rude princess and shows her the way. This is going to be a long visit. I sigh to myself and find my mother since this has her written all over it.

“MOTHER!!” I shout to her from the halls. I know it’s rude, but man did it feel good. It was like I could hear her cackling from the hallway, and I found her in my father's office.

“Yes, you’ve found me. NOW what do you want?” She crosses her arms across her chest.

“Who the heck is this princess??” 

“She’s the youngest of the Volaha royal family. The other four children have already been betrothed to other kingdoms.” She looks at me with a smirk on her face.

“Uh huh… and she’s the only princess left out of all the other kingdoms? Also, what if I find my mate?” Mates are rare, even more rare for royalty. That’s why we have these arranged marriages.

“No, I suppose there are others out there, but a colder dragon wouldn’t handle these warm temperatures.” She looks at me like she’s won the argument.

“Suppose I found my mate. What then?” I’ve had this theory since I met Wyvern, but I’m not sure. There’s a spell around the entire jail that blocks any emotional connection. Once the prisoner is outside, they can let out their emotions again.

“That’s unlikely.” She huffs at me. I roll my eyes at her and look to father for support.

“If you have, then we’d like to meet her. Is she a dragon or human?” I don’t want to endanger her by saying she’s a dragon, but she mentioned that her mother was human.

“Human. I think she hasn’t talked about her dragon if she is.” I try to keep my composure, but just thinking of her makes me smile.

“How can a human be the future princess of a dragon kingdom!” Mother looks disgusted. I let out a deep sigh since this has been a problem for a while. Families who come from dragon backgrounds look down on the humans since they think they’re weaker because they don’t have one.

“Well, maybe she’s what this kingdom needs, otherwise I wouldn’t be chosen for her. Now we don’t want to upset Delphyne or Typhon, now do we?” Delphyne and Typhon are dragon gods. Supposedly the first dragon couple. Any dragon mated couple is a gift from them.

“Of course not…” Mother grits through her teeth.

“So stop setting me up like I’m some prime piece of meat!” I leave the office and go back to the jail cell. Talking to Wyvern always makes me calm. I go back and it’s like taking a breath of fresh air. She’s just daydreaming, the way the wind blows her platinum wavy blonde hair falls to her lower back. It makes me melt a little. My dragon, Volt, almost sounds like he’s… purring?

“Volt, what are you doing?” I asked him through our mindlink.

“This dragoness calms me… she’s nice. She doesn’t deserve to be here! Let her out!” He was demanding of me.

“Why? What’s so special of her?” I’ve been wondering this question since we met a year ago.

“She just is… haven’t you felt it over all this time?” I have felt it. Every time I came down here was like a break from reality. I could be myself with her. I’d usually tell her about my day, and she wouldn’t judge me on anything.

“Yeah… I have. I like her, and you’re right she doesn’t deserve to be here. I think I’m going to get her out!”

“What about waiting for the paperwork from your father?” He had a point, he was in the middle of it when I had that… inconvenience with mother.

“If father isn’t done with the paperwork by tonight then I’ll spring her out myself! It doesn’t matter if I go to jail, they practically have with this parade of princesses every other week.” Mother was getting desperate for me to settle down and start a family to carry on the royal line. That’s pretty much all she cares about. The wind picks up again and her scent fills up the room like an expensive perfume. Spruce, applewood and snow. She looks up and finally notices me.

Wyvern

Charming had been gone for a while, and I’ll admit I kind of miss him. He’s been my only company and maybe even my friend. I’m lost in thought as I stare out my small window. I wonder what people are doing? I wonder what my family is doing? Do they miss me? The wind picks up and I smell something. I thought it was from outside, but it gets more and more noticeable. A mountain mist, almost a storm in the mountains, smoke and embers. It smells so heavenly like I could just bottle it and sell it as my personal perfume! I slowly turn around to see Charming again. He’s just standing there, smiling at me. I grab onto the bars of the door trying to reach out to him and he runs to me. 

“So did you find out what the commotion was?” I was curious about it myself.

“Some princess from the island is here to visit the prince, but he’s not too pleased about it. He thinks he may have found his mate.” It looked like he was happy and sad at the same time.

“Oh, I’m so happy for him, I’ve heard they’re rare.”

“Even more rare for the royals. The king was working on your release paperwork, when the prince and queen were shouting at each other.” 

“Oh… I hope there’s no strife on my behalf.” I didn’t want to break a family apart.

“Oh, no it’s not your fault, the prince is just optimistic about finding his mate, but he’s not sure about it and he doesn’t want to frighten the poor young lady that she may be a future princess.” Oh, I hadn’t thought of that…

“Yeah that’d probably be a little frightening if she’s not royal.”

“I don’t think she is, but she’s my princess… I mean his princess.” That was an interesting slip up…

“Right… so how soon am I getting out of here?” Soon there’s a sound of a knock and footsteps at the door.

“I guess we’ll find out.” An older man probably my father’s age comes in, Charming bows to him out of respect which is no surprise. I guess this is the king! Oh shoot! I curtsey before he notices my delay.

“Good day Miss Wyvern Tiamat I’m happy to tell you that because of a truthful testimony and good behavior, you are set free!” I couldn’t hide my tears of joy. A whole year wasted because I wanted to feed my family.

“Thank you, your highness! Your kindness and generosity is appreciated! I’d like to go home and see my family, please?” I try not to sound desperate but I guess I couldn’t help it.

“Of course you can, your guard can take you there.” He opens the heavy metal door and I walk towards sunlight for the first time in a year.