The Dragon Prince The City of Smoke and Night

Chapter One An Unordinary Day

Present Day
Naima tossed and turned in her sleep. She was having that nightmare again. She dreamt she was fleeing her burning house. She tried to put the fire out by using water from a well, only to find it drying itself out whenever she heaved the bucket at the fire. Then a pair of soulless black eyes glared at her and a suave voice softly whispered her name. "Naima." A rooster crowed. Naima sat up straight in her bed and sighed in relief to find it was all another bad dream. A fire fox nuzzled her comfortingly. "Come on, Redpaw," she said, jumping out of bed. "It's time to start another day." After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she studied her face in the mirror. She was amazed over how much she had grown over the last sixteen years. She was the spitting image of her elegant Sunfire Elf mother with an unblemished chocolate brown complexion, and her cinnamon brown hair was in a chin length bob of box braids. The only features she did not inherit from her mother were the pointy ears and horns and her soft spoken voice didn't even have a hint of the beautiful African-French accent the Sunfire Elves had. She inherited her father's ocean blue eyes and dainty nose. Another feature she inherited from her mother was a small heart shaped birthmark on her right shoulder while her mother's own birthmark was on her left cheek. Naima delicately touched her scar on her right temple that reached her eye socket. It was small, thin, and misty pink. She had had it for as long as she could remember. She didn't particularly care about her appearance but whenever she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she would see her scar and it would remind her that her parents were gone forever. They wouldn't be around to celebrate her sixteenth birthday, which was only three days away. Her sadness disappeared when she realized that it was nearly eight o' clock, her working time at the Honorable Pub. "Oh no, I'm going to be late!" She closed the bathroom door behind her and went downstairs to get an apple from the kitchen. She stepped from her godparents' farmhouse, she smiled at what a beautiful morning this was. She waved to Hanan and Elinora, who were busy tilling the fruit and vegetable garden. "Morning," she called. "Don't forget to come back to do your chores," replied redheaded Elinora. "I won't. And I'll see you after my morning shift." Naima petted her fire fox's head and went to the pub. Faint whispers echoed through house lanes as she breezily passed adults on their way to nearby markets or heading to work, teenagers who started their morning jobs or meeting up with each other in their hangout spots, and children who were helping their parents, playing with their older siblings or pets. When Naima was a child, grownups remarked how well mannered and responsible she was and her parents must have been proud to raise such a thoughtful girl like herself. As she grew older, some people claimed that she was a psychic due to her free spirited, perceptive nature or she was a descendant of a naiad due to her nymphlike beauty. They even claimed that she was the daughter of a royal due to her refined, princessly mannerisms. But she refused to let those rumors get her down because her parents had taught her to be true to herself and not become what others expected her to be. Today the townspeople were talking about how much Naima had grown and how she should be making friends her own age and enjoy being young like a normal teenage girl should instead of constantly pushing herself to work harder every day in her life. She had made a modest name for herself as a town healer who tended sick and wounded villagers with the skills of healing and herbalism her mother had taught her. Every morning, Naima would jaunt off to the Honorable Pub. After work, she'd help Hanan and Elinora with chores around their farm. Reading, practicing her Ocean magic, and picking flowers and herbs to make natural beauty treatments were her favorite pastimes. She possessed a melodious singing voice that started off as ethereal and lilting when she sang the lullaby that her mother used to sing to her when she was a baby from unwaveringly vibrant when she reached a high note. Once she had won first place in the talent show at the county fair by singing an ode to honor Queen Aanya's deceased mothers. The judge had told her she had the makings of a true stage actress. Flattered, she'd humbly said she only saw singing and acting as hobbies for her to distract her from her grief of her parents' death. Her life in Duren was regular as clockwork. Naima entered the pub to find the pub's cabaret singer, Aerwyna Oceansong, waiting for her. "Sorry I took so long, Aerwyna," she said breathlessly as she put her usual white apron on. "Am I late? How busy is the pub?" "Not as jam packed as yesterday," she assured her. Aerwyna was a slender woman with light skin, whitish pink eyes, and black hair that she wore in a shoulder length braid. She was wearing a blue gown with matching shoes studded with seashells. On her ears were pearl earrings and a necklace of pearls was draped around her neck. Naima had learned that the flamboyant singer was once a sea goddess who had given up her immortality to start a quiet life in Duren. She had been good friends with her parents before they passed away and she had shown Naima the ropes of working in the pub she had enjoyed performing there. "You had that nightmare again?" She nodded. "Don't worry, Naima. I'm sure things are going to turn around for you." "You think so?" "I know it." Aerwyna smiled. Naima spent the morning serving patrons, clearing tables, and doing dishes until she headed to the farm. On her way home, she could hear a rumble of voices. "Okay, go to the left," a voice ordered. She followed the commotion to see three boys who were struggling to lift a heavy crate of fruits and was surprised to see one of them was a Sunfire Elf with short red hair with parts of his head shaved and a gold diadem on his forehead. She recognized him as Prince Karim, the brother of Queen Janai of Lux Aurea. "Wait, Callum, my left or your left?" asked a blonde man. The third boy, whose name was Callum, groaned in annoyance. "Ugh, it's the same left, Soren." The crate was beginning to slip away from their hands. "Please don't fall," Callum said. But Naima stepped in and caught the crate before it got smashed. "Got it." She handed the crate to Callum. "Hey, thanks for catching that crate," he said to her. "I was worried the fruit would get crushed." "Well, personally, I would've preferred mashed fruit," Naima said lightheartedly. She gave out a sweet sounding laugh. "I'm Naima, by the way." She held out her hand. The brown haired, green eyed boy shook her hand. "Callum. And this is Soren and Karim." He pointed to the blonde Crownguard who was helping Karim up. "Nice to meet you," Soren said with a flirtatious wink. Naima rolled her eyes. "Likewise. Are you okay, Your Majesty?" she asked Karim. "I'm fine. I just pulled a muscle in my shoulder," he replied, clutching it. "Maybe I can have a look at it. With your permission of course. I know what you think of humans after what Lord Viren did to your city but not all humans are evil like him." Karim could see that this human girl, despite wearing the austere clothes of a common farm girl, gave off an aura of benevolence and empathy. Her eyes shone with perception and quiet strength. Just looking in those eyes could make anyone feel reassured in her presence. "Do I have your permission, Karim?" Naima's voice gently snapped him out of his trance. "Oh, yes. Sorry. It's just the way you talked to me about not all humans are evil. You reminded me of my grandmother, Queen Aditi," he explained as she

walked up to him. "I'm sorry for your loss. She was a truly great queen to the Sunfire Elves. Your people must be lucky to have your sister trying to keep her memory alive." She lightly tapped his shoulder to sense the pain. "Take off your cape, please." He did as he was told and she took out a small stone bowl and filled it with turmeric powder. Then she said, "Dulcis aqua." A gush of water magically filled the bowl and she mixed the conconcation together to make a turmeric paste. "You've just performed ocean magic," Callum breathed in amazement. "How did you do that?" Karim asked, sounding both surprised and impressed at the same time. "Did someone train you?" "I'm a self taught Ocean Mage. I never had any formal training," she explained modestly as she applied the paste on Karim's shoulder and wrapped a bandage around it. "Now, leave the paste on for thirty minutes and wash the affected area when it's dry." "Thank you." "I better go. I told my godmother I would help out at her farm. Maybe we'll see each other again. It was nice meeting you." She waved to them before leaving. When she returned home, she told her godparents all about her day as she helped them milk the cows, collect eggs from chickens, and feed both the pigs and horses. When the chores were done, Naima handed Hanan and Elinora towels to wipe the sweat and hay off their weather beaten faces. Elinora was a beautiful woman despite her dirty farming clothes with tan skin, bright red hair, and chartreuse green eyes, while her husband Hanan was tall and muscular. He had a jovial, ruddy face with canary yellow eyes and his light brown dreadlocked hair was bleached in his time in the sun. They were her father's best friends and they had been so good to her and she felt that she wanted to repay them for taking her into their home after she lost her parents. They had been grateful for her help around the farm but they told her not to overwork herself and it was important to relax once in a while. When she was done cleaning herself up, Naima decided she'd stretch her legs and pick some flowers and herbs. As she was walking to a field of flowers, one of the local village girls, Humaira, thanked her for the honey and cinnamon mask she'd made the day before to cure her acne breakout. Naima enjoyed making natural beauty treatments because she wanted to make people not only look good but to feel good so she would remind them that inner beauty was more important than outer beauty. As she started to fill her basket, she thought she would use the dandelion greens, fennel leaves, and dahlias to make a salad for Elinora. She knew dahlias were her favorite flower. Naima put the last flower in her basket, which was brimmed with herbs and flowers. Redpaw took a whiff of the flowers. She smiled. "That should be enough." Just as she was about to leave, she heard someone cry out. "Help! I can't get my ankle out!" Naima immediately went to see what was going on. She went to Berylgarten to find Queen Aanya, along with Karim and another Sunfire Elf, standing at the edge of the lake. "What seems to be the trouble, Queen Aanya?" Naima asked. "One of the Six Horn generals, Miyana, is drowning," she explained worriedly. "Queen Janai and her brother Prince Karim tossed her a rope but we can't pull her out because her ankle is stuck between some rocks." "I'm a good swimmer, Your Majesty. I can swim over and remove those rocks," she said. "All right. But be careful." "I will." Naima ran straight to the lake and dove. She swam toward the general and pulled the rocks away from her ankle. They rose above the lake's surface to breathe. "Lean on my shoulder," Naima told Miyana as she grabbed the rope and gave it a tug. Janai, Karim, and Aanya pulled them out of the lake. Naima laid Miyana down onto the lakefront. Then she used CPR on her until she opened her eyes. "Miyana, thank goodness you're all right!" Karim said as he rubbed her back while she coughed up water. "Janai and I are truly indebted, Naima." All she could do was shrug humbly and smile shyly.