The Dragon Bond

Chapter 22

She met Alan the next day on the training grounds. When he saw her, he hurried over to her side, a grin on his face. "You muted his tongue?" he exclaimed.

Her mouth dropped. "How did you know?" she asked. She had told no one of what she did to Jordan. Not once did she think anyone would find out. Never had she considered any repercussions.

Alan could not contain his deep laughter. "The king informed me. He told me I should keep an eye on you, that you were trouble. I can't get over it!"

She laughed along with him. The king thought she was up to no good! She should have been worried but the thought was too ridiculous for her.

"Unfortunately," Alan said, "The king gave Jordan his speech back. It only took four hours to accomplish!"

"Four hours?" Ariana exclaimed. She was giddy with how well her magic had worked. She tried to picture the king sitting in a room with Jordan, both of them frustrated as they tried to undo her magic. No doubt, Jordan had been mortified. His ego may have even been lowered a notch.

"Where did you learn that trick from?" Alan asked her, clearly impressed.

She shrugged as if it were no big deal. "I read it in one of the books on magic. Thought I'd try it out."

"I've never been more proud." They continued to laugh about the situation for a couple minutes. Then he took hold of her hand and they started their training.

Because she won the race yesterday, she was allowed to choose what to do for their training session. In her books she had read up on controlling some of the elements with magic. For that day Alan taught her the basics of how to manipulate the elements; how to shift the breeze and create strong winds. She learned how to move water, though it was tricky to levitate water without it turning to mist. The hardest was controlling fire. It was so wild and unwilling to be tamed.

To keep things safe, they decided to hold off on the fire. Besides, Fuego could produce the element if need be.

When she returned to her room she was surprised to see her maids being roughly escorted out of her bed chambers.

"What's this about?" Ariana shouted.

Alexia was in tears and Lizabeth was trying hard not to show her fear. They looked at her with sorrowful eyes.

One of the guards answered, "These two maids committed a crime the other day at the ball."

She was shocked and could hardly believe it to be true. "And what would their crime be?"

The other guard replied, "Maids are not allowed to attend any sort of formal event. Their presence was highly unauthorized and completely against the law."

"But they were my guests," Ariana argued. "I was the one that told them to go, I even let them wear my dresses."

The first guard shook his head. "Jordan told us you would try to defend them. I know they're your maids, but you do not have to lie to keep them. You will be given two new, law abiding maids tomorrow morning."

She shook her head. They thought she was worried she would have to clean her own room? She was worried for her friends! Then she suddenly realized something. He had mentioned Jordan. Everything made perfect sense. This was his way of revenge, by taking away her two best friends. He had probably informed the king as soon as his tongue was working again. She should have cut it out.

No doubt he had been a convincing liar. Telling the king that her maids had stolen her dresses and gone to the ball, intentionally breaking the rules. For good measure he had probably said that Ariana would try to defend them.