The Dragon and His Rider

Chapter 31

"So, what you are saying is, you want to get me pregnant?" Jovena asks, now completely in shock.

"Yes, my dear. And twins run in the family, just to warn you. I'm not one, but my younger sisters are." The King says cheerfully.

"B-But I-I'm sixteen!" Jovena stammers, standing up.

"Yes. What about it?" The King asks, seeming confused.

"What is your age?" Jovena asks, standing up straighter.

"I am going to be forty-six in about a month or so, my dear." The King answers, finishing the last of his food. Jovena stares at him as if he was insane, speechless. Then, randomly, she picks up her dress and runs back to her quarters as quickly as she can.

"Jovena?! What's wrong?!" King Melech shouts after his wife. Ignoring him, Jovena runs quicker.

Closing the door quickly behind her and locking it as well. Making a decision like in her nightmare, she hurries over to her wardrobe and pulls on a peasant's dress that looks quite similar to one of the maids works dresses and changes into it. Jovena then pulls her hair up into a neat bun as some of the maids do. Tapping her fist along the walls, she listens for the echo of a hidden door, until, at last, she hears it. She discovers a hidden knob hidden in the wallpaper pattern and opens the door, and it is very noticeable than the tunnels have not been used in a long, long time. Grabbing the hidden Daithi from under her mattress, she walks into the dark tunnel, closing the door snugly behind her.

Jovena walks further and further through the tunnels, through the darkness, without anything but Daithi. No torch holders line the walls as much as Jovena knows, so she just continues straight, running into cobwebs along the way. Then, startling herself a great deal, Jovena walks head first into a wall. She falls back onto the stone stairs and rubs her forehead in frustration. She stands again and starts running her hands over the walls, looking for a hidden knob like in her room. But, instead, she finds a small button in the corner of one of the stones.

She presses the button and the wall sinks into the ground, allowing Jovena to pass. She looks around and finds herself in an older part of the dungeon. Picking up her fallen courage, she begins walking through the maze of bars until she finds her mother's cell. Walking over to the warrior guarding the cell with dignity, she comes up with a small plan inside her head, and begins to carry it out.

"Sir, the king has ordered for you to open up a new cell." Jovena says in a false voice. "A few other men will be bringing in a new prisoner in a bit."

The man shrugs and unlocks the cell across from Clarine's cell without caring to look at Jovena. When the man goes into the cell to check that nothing is broken and everything is clean, Jovena slams the door behind him and locks the door.

"Hey! What do you think you are doing, girl?!" the man shouts, rushing over to the door. "Put those keys back in the door!"

"Do you not mean 'Queen Jovena'?" Jovena says sarcastically.

"Oh, am I ever so sorry!" The man exclaims, then bows.

"It is fine. Now don't yell or talk until the man you are to change shifts with comes. That is an order." Jovena says sternly. Following his orders, the man bows and goes and lies down on the bed, as silent as can be. Jovena then takes the keys and lets herself into her mother's cell, finding her asleep on the bed. She shakes her mother awake, scaring her half to death.

"Jovena! What the hell are you doing!" Clarine exclaims, holding her heart.

"Where is Cytherea located?" Jovena asks in a whisper.

"Well, it takes some sea travel. But, first, you have to go through the Ice Mountains, then through the Desolate Plains. When you get to the cliff where the twin oaks grow upon it and where the sea crashes into the rocks below it and where the sun seems to rise from it, follow the angle of that cliff until you come upon land. It will take many, many days, but never give up. But best be warned, you will be unliked there. It was law that only men could be Riders. I do not know about now." Clarine tells Jovena in a whisper as well.

"What is with all these rules and laws against woman!" Jovena exclaims suddenly, making everyone jump. But, worst of all, the echo comes after it.

Eyes wide with fear, Jovena exits the cell quickly and leaves it unlocked. "Thank you, mother. You can come with me if you want." Jovena says

"Oh, no. I want to stay here and explore the culture and ways of the elves. and maybe go back home to that expensive house in Guerin." Clarine says with a tone of peace in her voice.

"Okay, mother." Jovena says with a slight smile. "I-I love you."

"I love you, too, Jovena." Clarine says.

Then, picking up her dress again, Jovena runs away from her mother and her cell and back to the old tunnels, tears pooling in her eyes.