Firedrake the Firelord

Chapter 19

I tear my eyes away from the heartbreaking scene, to one of a castle. A beautiful castle that looks very expensive.

Sam walks toward the gate at the front and it automatically opens. I stand there gawking. Shane nudges me to walk forward. In a trance, I begin to walk. Everything is so beautiful. The flowers out front, the blinding white, the animals. It's all too much. I run to catch up to Sam.

"You're a prince?" I exclaim.

"Of course," he says like it should have been obvious. I guess it should have.

We walk in the giant doors and Sam leads me up the stairs. Shane goes the opposite way. I'm surprised when this makes me sad. Sam brings me to a set of double doors. He slowly pushes open the doors to reveal an enormous bedroom.

Really, it's two or three rooms. In one, there is a bed pushed against a wall. On the wall next to the door I'm at, there is a dresser and a desk on the left. To the right, against a different wall, is a bathroom, another desk, and a mirror. In the center are chairs and couches. Next to the bed is another door.

"Where's that lead?" I ask Sam, pointing to the door.

"That's the closet," he answers.

"Wow," I breathe.

"You like it?" he asks, moving past me and jumping on the couch.

"It's amazing!" I reply, walking into the room and carefully sitting on a chair.

"It's yours," he says.

I shoot up. "It can't be! We have to find my friend!"

"About that," he starts.

"No!" I exclaim. "No 'about that'! You have to help me!"

"I'm a prince, Elliot," he replies smugly. "I can do whatever I want."

"Well, guess what?" I reply. "I don't have to listen to you!"

I sprint out of the room with tears in my eyes. I pay no attention to where I'm going.

Whenever I cry, it's because of boys. I always travel with boys. Not men, boys. I need to get away from them.

Eventually, I realize that I have no idea where I'm going. I begin to wander around the castle. Every corridor I look in, there are many paintings. Some of them are quite peculiar.

After wandering around for a while, I begin to feel hungry. I smell food and try to follow it. The smell gets stronger as I walk. I can almost taste it. I am about to turn down another corridor when I hear my name.

"Elliot?"

I slowly turn. "Shane!"

He walks toward me. "Why are you down here? Shouldn't you be up with Sam?"

At the mention of his name, I begin to shake with fury. I answer with a curt 'no.'

"Why not?" he asks slowly.

I sigh and recount to him what happened. When I finish, all he does is nod. That's when an idea comes to me.

"Shane?" I ask. He raises an eyebrow at the sweetness of my voice. "Would you be so kind as to excite me to find my friend?"

"No," he answers right away.

"Please?" I beg.

"No," he replies again.

"Please?" I try once more.

He doesn't answer for a long while. Finally, he lets out a breath. "Fine."

"Thanks you! Thank you!" I hug him.

He clears his throat, and I back away in embarrassment.

"Thank you very much," I say.

"Right," he nods. "If-um-if we are going to leave, I have a plan."

I nod, "Go on."

"Ok, so what we are going to do is..." Shane tells me the plan.

At the end, I smile, nod, and follow Shane's directions back to the room I was previously in.