Girl of Iron and Magic

30.

30.
PRESENT DAY

Maloru paced back and forth in front of them on the tan-veined marble floor, biting his nail. Lotte looked around the massive hall. For a place that was never supposed to have visitors, the Dragon King saved no expenses. Just the walls, which looked to be made of mother-of-pearl, would've cost the same as the entire Sullivan tower in Raidox.

There was gold leaf on the ceiling fixtures and Lotte actually recognised some of the art pieces that hung on the walls.

Not that she had any complaints, the velvet armchairs in the waiting hall were actually quite comfortable.
"Doesn't it strike either of you as suspicious that everything went so smoothly?" Maloru asked, then launched into an imitation of the conversation they had with a very, very surprised border control officer.

Apparently, the visa had been on the back of the invitation letter the whole time. The officer had even looked surprised when they told him about losing the visa and said that Serades only issued visas on paper.

Had Lotte been her usual self, she would've laughed. But her every thought was still on yesterday. Fintan had never been their visa, it was all a misunderstanding. He had been Blue all along.

"Maybe it was only the journey that was a mess," Lotte said. "Things will be better now that we're here."
She didn't actually believe it.

Nor did Rowan.

Only Maloru looked thoughtful. "Well, I suppose if you look at it from a goal-oriented perspective, we made progress." Maloru pointed at Rowan. "You're getting closer to finding your brother." And then at Lotte. "You're still alive and going to do a lot of enchanting. And I've grown seven years in seven days."

"How does that feel?" Rowan asked.

"Like I'm ready to,"—Maloru put his hands on his hips—"take a break."

Footsteps echoed from the far end of the hall. The tiny, bearded border control officer ran in. Lotte wasn't sure what he was. He had the body of a human child and the head of a goat. "Madame Enchantress!" he bleated, with an exceptionally wide grin. "The Dragon King himself has sent a royal escort. They're waiting outside."

Lotte's shoes sunk into the lavish carpeting as she hurried after the officer towards the exit from the immigration office. Massive oak doors were pushed aside, revealing a countryside under a blanket of cottony snow. Two rows of uniformed foot-soldiers stood waiting outside.

Her heart gave a tremendous jerk. They were, all of them, virata, like Blue. Each quite uniquely different. No two virata had a similar skin-tone or hair colour and texture. They all had jewel-like scales in different colours and patterns on their faces. They were breathtakingly beautiful, every single one of them, but none were as beautiful as Blue had been.

In their midst was a gigantic floating golden ball with a door at its side and a few windows. It looked like a round carriage suspended in mid-air.

One of the virata, the chestnut-skinned one with the lime hair and a pattern of stars on his cheeks in tones of orange and purple, ran up to them. "Madame Enchantress," he said with a bell-like voice and a heavy accent. "I am Captain Lacier Dev of Valiu and we have been given the honour of escorting you to the palace."

"Thank you, captain," Lotte said.

"The weather conditions are not optimal," he continued. "So we expect some turbulence. Fortunately, the journey is short."

The captain offered her his arm.

Lotte stared at it. It was like in human plays that depicted the olden times which she had seen as a child.