Phoenix's Destiny

The King and Prince

Lilly maybe didn’t like me, but she loved her Grandma and took care of her. She helped her onto the carriage, bringing a blanket and hot tea for her on the ride there. The night was cold and humid. My Nevada bones shook to this wretched weather. I sat in the back with the bed of hay for the horses, my cloak now utilized to keep me warm.

“Now ladies, this is the plan. Phoenix your a friend visiting. I am trying to find work for you and Lilly.”

“Why do I have to be apart of this?” Lilly scoffed

“Lilith hush!” Grandma shushed her

Lilly was mumbling something to herself. “How am I supposed to fit in here though?” I asked

“Let Lilly and I talk for you. Only speak when you absolutely have to, and keep it short.”

“Okay.”

My palms began sweating to this, the idea of being social with people here not knowing what to expect. I found out I am a Dragon person, but I have to pretend to be an elf. This all too much pressure. Luckily we arrived at the tavern; there are place in Vegas called Taverns, but now I see what a real tavern looks like. It was in the middle of a valley with torches lighting a path to the entrance. Lots of horses waited outside for its owners drinking and eating out of toffs. Some tents pitched outside with snores softly whispering. It was two story large wooden taverns, all the shutters open welcoming the cool air. I could smell liquor and food coming from the inside.

Lilly helped her Grandma down from the carriage while I just walked down the back. ‘I’m an elf, be an elf’ I kept repeating in my mind. My breathing was labored again, I didn’t know what day it was or the time, but the Tavern didn’t seem busy. I could hear some voices but nothing booming.

“Bestow my heart, is that my OLDEST friend Blair?” A large belly first man walked out the double doors. His brown leather apron hanging loosely around him, thick gray beard stopping at his large chest. His voice was so loud some of the campers groaned.

“Hello, Bert.” Grandma greeted.

He strutted over to us, leaving his Tavern doors wide open, light pouring out it hurt my eyes a bit. He scooped up granny in a hug, his arms eating her alive as her feet dangled off the floor. Lilly let out a small gasp. Grandma was giggling though like a school girl while Bert swung her around like the doll she resembled. His violet eyes gleamed, with his naturally bald head.

“I have not seen you since-” He let her down and chucked a thumb at Lilly “since she was just a baby. Barely the size of a spud!” His laugh rang again causing the horses to neigh and kick their feet. His eyes landed on me, and I let out a small yelp from his intense stare. “Whose the elf?” He let out his grizzly hand “Bert, nice to meet you?”

I gulped and shook it softly saying my name.

“Her parents were a friend of mine, she is looking for work and asked for some help. Thought it would be good for Lilly to also get some experience as well. They are good help around the house but they’re young and need some more skills in their belt, don’t you think?”

He scratched his beard and hummed to himself “the only thing I have open right now is housekeepers/hostesses for my tenants. Thank you ladies can do that till I have something more meaningful open up?” He laughed again. “It’s not fulfilling work and a lot of my tenants are hard to handle. You might quit in a week but I’ll do my best to take care of you for Granny.”

“They’d love it!” Grandma beamed “right girls?”

“Yes, thank you.” We said in unison. Lilly was smiling but I could feel her frustration.

“Come on in then!” He swung his arm over his head and we followed him inside. “No tenant are here right now, but I’m sure I’ll get some soon. Let’s get some drinks in you and go over the menu, and responsibilities.”

Inside it was cabin stilled, with wooden fire light chandeliers, log tables and sticky wooden floors. Barrels behind the bar with beautiful bar maids, wearing the black corsets and puffy sleeves. I would have thought it was all possibly normal, till I saw a feline hybrid person sitting at the bar chugging from a tankard. I gasped quietly and followed my group to a booth luckily in a far corner. All three of us were very small in the booth while it fit perfectly for Bert.

He chuckled “sorry, my clientele is quit larger than most.” A waitress appeared with elf ears like me. She smiled at me and nodded, I reminded myself who I was and tried to nod back. “3 tops please, and bring the bread.” Bert asked kindly to his staff. “So, my clientele is usually travelers, with my regulars.” He rubbed his belly with both hands. “My regulars will easily come a custom to you ladies, a good amount are from the Moon pack so don’t worry, they’ll be very protective over you Lilly. But my travelers are-” he lifted his hand leaning it side to side “half keep to themselves, just want a warm meal and roof over there head, while others think my staff are harlots. But don’t worry, they act up and I kick them out.” He threw his thumb over his shoulder. “The ones that sleep upstairs, I make it very clear, I don’t run that kind of business here. You two will be very safe with me.”

The three large drinks appeared in front of us, I smelt a proud perfume of wine. Wine back home didn’t smell like this. The bread was piping hot with a thick glob of butter, melting on top. I realized I never finished eat that dinner.

“Eat up Phoenix, all meals are on the house on your shift.” I cut a piece for me and popped the slice in my mouth. The bread eased some of my nerves, while Bert went over the rules at his Tavern. Basically Lilly and I stay up stairs, we can come down for breaks or to pick up drinks at the bar for the guest while they are in their rooms. We do their laundry, clean their rooms, feed their horses, shine their shoes. Whatever they ask we do, but if the guest give us trouble we just let Bert know. Bert showed us around, there were no guests at the moment so he showed us the rooms upstairs and were we will mainly be.

The upstairs had 4 guest rooms, a laundry room, a clean supply room, a dumbwaiter that connects to the kitchen, a stair case that leads to the outside were the guests horses stay over night, Bert’s office, and our own little corner for us to keep our stuff and rest. The rooms had two beds, a private toilet, a closet, a claw foot tub, and a sink. They were not supposed to be nice or long term, just a night and that’s it. I wanted to know when the next possible refuge will be by, how long will I be doing this job, what if no refugees come by? What’s plan b?

The job was hard, and trying to break down Lilly’s walls was almost harder. We’ve been working there for almost three days now, and Lilly barely speaks to me. She’ll speak for me when necessary, help me when I ask, but she avoids eye contact with me, barely says hello, she mumbles the whole way to Bert’s Tavern and mumbles the whole way back. Our co workers down stairs have greeted themselves and I try my best to introduce myself telling the story Grandma instructed me to give, but Lilly just sticks to herself. The first night we had no customers, so we cleaned, and dusted most of the night. We tried things on the menu, I love drinking but the alcohol here is stronger than back home. Grandma said that witches are known for their wine. The menu is simple, ‘soup of the day’, ‘meat of the day’, ‘fish of the day’.

The second and third night we had guests. I had some troubles figuring out how things worked, like the laundry but since Lilly had magic she had all their clothes cleaned and folded in minutes. The customers even tip us, the money here which didn’t surprise me were coins, they had a very easy system for money, they tipped me with copper coins which I knew was a cheap tip, but I was somewhat proud of it. I had to get use to who I see though, some people looked human that came by, but others looked out of my realm of normal. I had to just bite my tongue, and hold the gasp of surprise. Our few guests though were no trouble. They just wanted clean clothes and a warm bed.

Night four was our last night till we were off and I learned also that it was Saturday. I guess they had the same standard week days here like my world. There world is called Cosmos, Grandma showed me a map when we got back from Bert’s tavern. It looked a lot similar to earth if the countries never separated and became their own. I was learning a lot but I felt like if I wasn’t going to meet me “my people” I was going to need to start thinking of plan b soon.

Bert stays closed on Sunday and Monday off. All the Moon witches do, they hold their witch services on every full moon. Grandma asked me to attend this one, I actually did want to go but was scared if the other witches would even accept me. I tried not to go anywhere but to Bert’s and back.

We were cleaning out the rooms, our last guest were very messy. I had someone who tracked mud everywhere. No matter how many times I washed the sheets the stains just wouldn’t come out. Bert rang the bell to our floor letting us know we had an over night guest. Lilly and I worked most in the evening to the night, the sun was just now out of the sky and the Tavern was actually busy now. Lilly answer their wall phone, I heard her confirming while I was now soaking the sheets in bleach.

“Two travelers, sharing a room. He said they are special and don’t want to be bothered. They also want food, soup of the day and water.” She said behind me “I’ll go down and get them.” I heard her frolic down the stairs. I assume they are going in room one, so I opened the door to check over and see if it was ready.

I sent a message to the kitchen making sure their order was in while, Lilly came up with two hooded figures. My nose tickled to a peculiar smell, like camp fire, and pine. One was clearly taller than the other, and neither of them looked my way. Lilly showed them room one and asked if they needed anything else before shutting the door.

She motioned me to our little hidden corner by the laundry room. She grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in close “they are part of the dragons, your people. You need to show them who you are.”

“How do we know if they’re refugees?”

“Trust my instincts, we are far, far away from the dragon islands. They don’t seem like they are suspicious just, lost and longing.” realize this is the first time she’s been nice to me since I have gotten here.

“I’ll let them settle in for a bit.”

“Good, plan what you’ll say. They leave in the morning.”

I waited till they placed their dishes out to be picked up. I didn’t know what to say other than ‘I don’t belong here, help me.’ I thought it over, and over, and over. I was happy Bert left us alone, probably because they were dragons and wanted to protect their identity from whatever threat is out there. I swallowed my courage, and gingerly knocked on their door. It cracked open exposing a burning hazel eye with dirty blonde hair cute boyish features answer, he only showed me half his face- but I could tell he was smiling.

“We don’t need anything miss, we are probably going to turn in for the night.” His voice, was young but deep. He had great manners, but I could tell wanted me to leave.

“May I come in please sir, It’s urgent.”

“Axel, who is it?” I heard a deep guarded voice come from behind him.

“One of hostesses.” I like that he didn’t say maid. He whispered something behind the door, and I heard a short conversation. “Do you need to come in, sorry we are very tired from traveling miss, I don’t mean to come off rude.”

“Yes, it’s very important.” I pressed.

He opened the door more for me to enter. I see the rooms barely touched, their bags are small and rested by the window. The beds don’t even seem touched. The other gentleman sat on the window seal with it open wide, letting the cold air in. The two men you could tell were related, both had dirty ash blonde hair combed neatly into full combovers with burning hazel eyes, warm tan skin and strong bodies. But one was obviously older, than the other. The one who opened the door was more around my age while the taller one by the window could be around thirty.

“Hi, I’m Phoenix.” I was nervous and it was obvious. The door shut, and now they stood side by side. The tall one was glaring at me, while the younger one smiled politely. I realized I was a defenseless girl in a room with two men. Great start. “I ne-need your help. I kn-know who you are, and-”

Their eyes both opened, the nice one frowned. The taller one walked up to me, towering down while his emotionless expression switched to something else. “What did you say?”

“I-i need help. I’m-” I took off the cloak showing my true self. My tattoos shown on my arms, and my natural face appeared. “I’m not from here, I’m from another world-” He grabbed my shoulders and threw against the wall, pain shot through my back.

“If you were sent here by that fucker I swear to god I’ll-”

“Jace! Stop, let her finish!” The other yelled.

“We can’t trust anyone Axel, the General knows we are alive.” The door slammed open with Lilly running in.

“Stop! Shes not dangerous!” She said throwing her hands up in the air. “I can vouch for her please!”

“Who are you witch?” Jace said in a threatening tone.

“I’m Lilly, shes been staying with me, and my grandma for a week now. We found her lost in the woods after living in the tunnels for weeks. She knows nothing of our world or what she is, I swear.” She dropped to her knees “she’s innocent. She needs help.” Lilly begged.

Jace let me go “let’s go,” he motioned to his brother “this isn’t safe.” He went and grabbed his bag, preparing to leave.

“No! Please help me. I want to go home.” I begged.

Axel looked at me with sympathy in his eyes “Jace, let’s hear her out?”

“Hear what? We’ve heard it before! She wants to leave, then before we know it she will be another little minion of the Generals. If she wants to go home so badly let her figure it out on her own.”

“She’s one of us Jace.” Axel walked over to me, looking at me with pity. “Where’s your egg Phoenix?”

I looked at him confused “what?” I asked

“She has no egg, she’s not from here. She’s not a dragon. She’s a lost soul.”

“We stayed behind for all that time watching our friends die for what them? We stayed behind to save the other dragons. We stayed behind to point our fellow people in the right direction to safety. She needs safety, or else her egg will never come. I’m helping her.”

“They’ll never let you into camp with her.” Jace said sternly.

“Unless the king says so.”

“I’m no king Axel, I’m not dad.” What? I looked at Lilly who now was off the floor.

“You’re the Dragon King?” She asked, her face looking in awe

“The dragon king is dead, and has been dead for a while now. We are his kids, the last of his name.”

“And Dad and Mom, in their last breath told us to save our people Jace. That included Phoenix.” Axel stood his ground for me, it broke my heart that I was causing this between two brothers who already were wearing their own baggage.

Jace took a deep breath, he crossed his arms as a memory flashed over his face.

“She is our-”

“Mom would have helped her, no matter what Phoenix is. A dragon, a stranger, a witch, mermaid, fairy, wolf- What ever, mom would have helped.”

Jace squared his jaw, and Axel did the same. Besides the height difference and the years Axel was just a mini Jace.

“We will take you to the camp, we will keep you safe along the way-” Jace walked back up to me, Axel staying between us. “But if the camps rejects you, then it is out of my hands. You are on your own.”

“Th-that seems fair.” I agreed, nodding my head.

We took them to Grandma’s and Lilly’s. Obviously Lilly and I told Bert something happened and we had to quit. He gave us some knowing look and said he understood. I wanted to ask Axel and Jace so many questions, about their people and everything. But Jace had this vibe that asking questions right now were off the table.

Grandma answered the door ushering us in as fast as possible, already having a hot pot of tea ready. She smiled sweetly at the new guests, like she already knew who exactly they were.

“Welcome, sorry if the house is small, I didn’t expect such big Dragons to be here. Please help yourself, you traveled far.”

She shut the door and whispered a soft spell causing the wind to blow in the closed off home. “She’s just casting a safety charm so the pack doesn’t smell you.” Lilly said shaking while pouring the guests tea, I’ve never seen her nervous before. She was cute.

Axel grinned at her, and took his cup. “Smells great Lilly, thank you.”

Jace sat across from his brother, Lilly offered his glass and Jaced mouthed thank you. “So, um-” Jace started

“Grandma.”

“Grandmother,” he cleared his throat “thank you for letting us settle here. I know the wolves are very protective of their lands. You must have great magic to protect outsiders like ourselves.” The pack they speak of are wolves?

“Nothing great my graces, just old. Nothing old is great.”

“You don’t need to use such proper terms for us Grandmother. We are not in charge of anything right now.” Jace said sipping the tea cup.

“Mind filling in Phoenix and us on what happened. We don’t know much on the outside.”

Jace looked at Axel “The General was in our forces. They weren’t even in charge of anything from what we heard. They were actually causing a lot of problems in the side and got kicked out until suddenly people like Phoenix showed up. They trained the new kids, and then suddenly the new kids started following them around calling them General. Weirder things just started happening after that.”

“No one remembers what General looks like, what they sound like nothing, they only know that the Generals dragon is...” Jace trailed off.

“It’s the most powerful dragon anyone has ever seen. Their dragon killed our parents, our friends, anyone that has defied the General and stayed true to our family.” Axel sipped his tea

“Who speaks to the General then?” I asked

“They have a collective. They all act like dumb bimbos, robots. Spitting out orders, telling them all what to do and when to do it. It’s not even home anymore, it’s a dictatorship.” They both sat still like statues, looking lost in their tea cups

“I’m sorry.” I said feeling pity for them, I lost everyone but at least I know they are alive in my world.

Axel looked at me and mouthed thank you “we stayed back, collecting any free thinking individual to save. Pointing them in the direction to the camp in our first lands.”

“What’s a first lands?” I asked

“Where the first ever dragon rose.” Axel said with some excitement.

“It’s safe. Only our family knew of it, only we had the map to get there. Now we have our refugee camps there.” Jace added “We’ll leave for it tomorrow, since you don’t know how to fly or have all your strength yet we will have to ride horse back. It’ll take a while, maybe three days minimum.”

Axel looked at me with a bright smile “it’ll be a great way to get to know you!” My heart flutter at his smile. He must be popular with the ladies, besides being a prince. They both must be…

“You can take my horses, and my carriage if that will bake things easier.” Grandma offered. “I know how hard travel may be. I’ve done it a few times in my life.” She said sipping her tea.

“Thank you for your generosity. It will definitely help, we promise we will pay you back when we can,” Jace promised.