The Crimson Dragon

Chapter One

Ada awoke screaming.

Her older sister, Elise, groaned from her bed across the room, but didn't bother getting up. Instead she rolled over and pulled her blanket up over her mop of thick brown hair.

Their hair was one of the many ways they looked alike, along with the tall, lanky figures, deep brown eyes, and dusting of freckles over their olive skin, though Ada's hair was even thicker than her sister's and had auburn highlights through it, and Elise moved with a grace that Ada could never hope to match.

"Sorry." Ada's voice was still hoarse from screaming, and she wondered if she would ever get used to it.

It wasn't as if the nightmares were a new phenomenon.

Her sister groaned again, burying herself even further. "Go back to sleep."

Ada shook her head, despite the fact that her sister couldn't see.

She knew that getting back to sleep was impossible now, so she slipped out of bed, putting on her shoes so that the cold wooden floor wouldn't bother her.

She wasn't looking forward to summer in the crowded capital city, but she also hated the cold that had lasted well into spring that year.

Her sister said that she complained too much, but Ada was sure that the temperatures simply affected her more than her sister. Their father had always said that their grandmother had been the same way, but Elise never liked to be reminded of their parents, so Ada never brought it up.

Ada headed through to the back room of their little home. It had once been their father's work space, but now it was mostly Ada's.

Not that her sister wasn't vital to the continuation of their parents' herbalist business. Ada might be the one who actually made the remedies for their customers, but Elise was the one who talked to them.

Ada had never really liked people.

She made her way through the room, checking on the concoctions she had left overnight as she grabbed a small strip of dark fabric that she kept in her pocket, and tied her hair back out of her eyes. It was such a nuisance that she had chopped most of it off on her twentieth name-day, but she had been so often mistaken for a boy, given her penchant for sensible trousers and shirts, that she had let it grow back out again over the past year, even if it meant keeping it constantly tied up.

She smiled as she examined her work. Everything looked perfect, as always.

Ada got to work bottling everything.

She didn't look up from her work until her sister knocked on the door.

Ada blinked as she saw sunlight streaming in through the tiny window.

When had that happened?

"I assume everything is ready for delivery today?" Elise asked as she looked over the space, frowning. "I don't know how you can work with so much mess in here."

"Everything is where I need it. And yes, everything is ready."

Her sister yawned. "Then I'll take it all into town later. Madam Celeste and her troupe arrived in the city this morning, so I'm going to pop by now and see if they need another dancer while they're here."

Ada looked away, knowing that her sister would rather spend all day with her friends than making deliveries. "One of these is for Mrs Drake. I can take that one, and then there are only a few more. They shouldn't take more than a couple of hours."

Elise smiled. "Okay, I'll be back for lunch and then take them this afternoon." She sighed as she nervously brushed her hair back, over her shoulders. "I hope Celeste has something for me..."