Shadow of the Moon [A Dragon Prince Fanfic]

Chapter 2 | What is Done

Y/N felt conflicted. So conflicted that she had spent the better part of an hour alone in her room, staring at the bookshelf opposite her bed, making faces at the small mirror that sat alone on an empty shelf. Save for a single flower that accompanied the wooden frame. She pouted. She stuck out her tongue. She puffed out her cheeks. All in an attempt to make herself feel better about the trials that were about to befall the human kingdom of Katolis. 

Once she had given up on using the mirror to make herself feel better, she flopped down onto the bed below her, her h/c locks splaying out like a muddled puddle, a few strands even daring to flop into her vision. One lock landed in her mouth and she coughed, spitting out the strand as she felt it slip into her throat.

"Ugh," she grunted, forcing herself to sit up again. Sitting around and moping wasn't something that Y/N did. Ever. And this was precisely the reason why. She hated it. With a passion. Her skin crawled every time she sat still in her room for longer than ten minutes without doing anything productive. Her mind would become foggy and shadows would emerge, scolding her to do something. Even read a book! Draw, doodle, practice her magic, whatever she needed or wanted to do. Sitting on her bed doing absolutely nothing but pouting about the unfairness of life was not something that her mind deemed productive. And therefore, decided to punish her for it. 

A beam of light caught the leather band on her wrist and she frowned at it, pulling back the maroon-coloured fabric that was concealing her wrist. Even during the warmer days in Katolis, Y/N preferred to wear long sleeves. Most everyone in the kingdom did. 

Katolis was one of the colder kingdoms, with Duren only slightly warmer, and Del Bar almost freezing compared to Katolis. Y/N was perfectly happy to be around the middle range. She had been to Neolandia a few times, as she had for most of the kingdoms, and she could never stand the heat for longer than an hour before being forced to return to her quarters within the castle. Thankfully, Prince Kasef was always kind enough to accompany her back to her chambers and entertain her with his childish tales. For a nineteen-year-old, then sixteen, he could be rather... immature, though immature might have been too graceful a word.

Pulling back the edge of the fabric, ensuring that the ivory-coloured fabric beneath came with it, Y/N smiled at the sight of the familiar leather band. A small strip decorated with six small stones. One for each pure source of magic. The sky, the moon, the stars, the sun, the earth, and the ocean. No one but Y/N knew how she had come to attain such a wonderful treasure. A bracelet that allowed her to conjure any spell she wished, providing her with the energy of all six primal sources. It reminded her of home. 

As she sat there, gently rubbing her thumb over the band, there was a soft knock on the door. Y/N frowned and rose to her feet, brushing off the silky fabric covering her legs, and crossing her room. With a grunt of effort, she pulled the door open, blinking owlishly when she saw none other than the young prince standing on the other side of the door. He seemed somewhere between upset and worried. His hands were fiddling with the strap of his sketchbook, wringing the fabric out as his feet shuffled from side to side.

"What is it, Prince Callum," Y/N asked, stepping out into the hall and shutting the door behind her. 

Callum's eyes searched the door behind Y/N wildly, taking in everything from the number of wooden panels (there were eight on each door) to the small embellishments and engravings set in the bronze plates that kept the planks together. He even seemed more interested in the hue and shade of the wood rather than speaking with Y/N.

"Prince Callum," Y/N asked after a moment. "What's wrong?"

Callum jumped at the sound of his tutor's voice and he froze. "Uh... Y-you know a-a lot about Xadia, right?" He rubbed the back of his hand nervously, a few strands getting caught between his fingers.