The Mehndi Prince

How uncanny?

Nero get up here.NOW! Blasts through my brain, telepathically, making me wince. I start sprinting towards the royal quarters. Dad catching my sudden movement follows closely behind. As soon as we are out of general eyesight of the public I throw open a portal to the eating area in the royal apartment, leaving it open long enough for dad to follow me through.

My eyes search the room for assailants, a natural disaster or something equally frightening that would cause my mother to demand my presence in such a way. Apart from some greens on the floor, I see nothing amiss. Using my magic I try to sense if mother had sensed a curse or malevolent magic in the surrounds, but again nothing. I glance over my shoulder at my father who shakes his head subtly, confirming he’d found nothing also.

“Mum, what’s wrong?” She’s staring intently at Neve who is sitting at our dinner table. “Come here,” she whispers, refusing to break eye contact with Neve. Slowly and cautiously I make my way over to where my mother is standing. As I turn to look at Neve my mother clasps my left forearm tightly, nails digging in slightly.

I betray myself, flinching, as I take in the uncanny scene before me. Neve’s eyes are rolled completely back in her head, no colour to be seen. The whites faintly pearlescent. Her breathing uneven and laboured. Sweat glistens on her pale skin as her dragon seems to writhe beneath. One of her hands rest on Deanna, the other is placed firmly on the table her talons making small gouges across the surface. Whatever is happening to her it doesn’t seem like it’s pleasant.

“What’s going on with her?” Deanna whispers “Should we try and wake her?”

“No, she’s not sleeping and it doesn’t seem to be a seizure. It could be she’s experiencing a vision? But I don’t know a lot about them. I suppose she’ll wake on her own?”mum already seems to be recovering from her shock. “Perhaps you should take her to her suite and leave her in the care of her father, Nero.”

“Ahh… okay,”

“He will know how to care for her properly in this state.”

Extracting mother’s nails from my forearm I move over to Neve’s side and lift her into my arms. One arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders. Her posture is somewhat stiff, with tension running finely through her muscles. She doesn’t relax into me as if she would do if sleeping. She feels cool to touch, her body temperature significantly lower than my own. Is it from the condition, is she cold or is it just because she’s a dragon from Achromatica? With a steady pace I leave our family apartment. I shrug my shoulders settling her more securely into my hold.

If she was any other woman in my arms, I’d ache to do more than just hold her. I inclined my head, my nose mere millimetres from her skin. I inhale slowly, deeply, testing. Gods! Her scent does nothing to me, a crisp mountain morning is what she smells like. Pleasant, nothing more. This is who I’m supposed to be spending the rest of my existence with. Someone I can’t even summon a sliver of s****l attraction for.

I consider my options of getting her back to her suite. I could walk all the way there but that will be time consuming. We’d also be seen by many servants, which would immediately start off the gossip mill on whether I’m already taking her to my bed. Yeah, I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. Portalling, it is then. Opening a small portal I step through and arrive outside the doors to the princess consort suites.

Juggling her weight infinitesimally, I nudged the doors open. As I stepped through I hear a soft gasp. Turning my head I see a young, small fire dragon maid, curls escaping her cap and a sprinkle of freckles across her nose. She couldn’t be any older than Deanna.

“Your highness! You shouldn’t be in here.” She bleats timidly as I strode further in the suite ignoring her dismay and placed Neve on a lounge.

“Go find the princess’s father and bring him here.” With a quick bobbing curtsy she scuttled out the door.

Exhaling sharply through my nose in frustration, I glared at Neve’s reposed form. Bloody wind dragons, all secretive and reclusive. How are we supposed to help when we know next to nothing about them. I lean against the arm of another lounge while I wait for the return of the maid with the high priest.

I wait impatiently, grinding my back teeth. My gaze flicking from Neve to the chamber door and back in a constant loop. Finally the chamber door opened. The antiquated dragon shuffled through, grunting as he saw his daughter on the lounge.

“How long has she been like this?” He asked his eyes never leaving her face. I rose and shut the door. “Approximately twenty minutes?” I guesstimate. “What triggered the vision?” He demanded sharply. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there when it started. She was having dinner with my mother and sister.” He nodded sagely while muttering “She did say she was going to attend a dinner…” his gaze still not leaving his daughter running from her face down to her legs.

“Will she be ok? It doesn’t look pleasant.”

“The vision is stressing her body. Not all visions are like this. It depends on the portent. Most everyday visions happen simply, and it looks like the Mehndi is just centring themselves. But the more significant the portent the deeper it is experienced and it takes more of a toll.” I inhale slowly, then swallow. “So, this is bad.” The old dragon nods. “The worse the outcome in the vision the more she will study it. Visions are usually fleeting. But for my bloodline we are able to relive it over and over until we fully grasp the meaning behind it.”

“Is there anything else I can do to help her?” I ask. The elderly dragon shakes his head. “She will wake when she wakes.” I hesitate at the chamber door. “Should the maid get blankets or light the fire?”

“Neve does not even know those things exist at the moment but I would appreciate them for my old bones.”

“Of course,” I nod my head towards the maid, who scurried off to fulfill my suggestion. I pick up an armchair and place it adjacent to the lounge so he can sit by his daughter comfortably. “You will inform us if her condition changes?” He nods, his eyes not leaving his daughter. Apparently, I’ve been dismissed.