Firedrake the Firelord

Chapter 29

Willyn smirks at our joined hands before pulling me up and shoving me into Firedrake's arms.

"Take her to her room," she tells him.

Then, she turns to Finnick. "Get one of your men and take the boys back to their cells."

He nods and walks out the door.

"You said you would set them free!" I shout at her.

"I will," she replies calmly. "After you complete your training."

My jaw drops. Tears stream down my face as Firedrake pulls me out of the room. As soon as he pulls me out of the room and into a stone corridor, he talks to me.

"Quiet down," he says gently. "If she hears you crying it will just encourage her to keep Ethan and Shane longer."

This makes me want to cry even more, but I choke back my sobs and quiet down. After I have complete control of myself, I ask him a question.

"Why are you working for Willyn?" I ask him.

A pained look crosses his face as he leads me to the right down another stone corridor.

"She promised me power over the Waterlord villages," he replies.

This strikes me as extremely odd. He already has the Firelord villages to watch out for. Why would he want the Waterlord villages as well? I voice this to him.

He takes me left down a stone corridor.

"I don't technically have control over the Firelord villages," he replies.

"Why not?" I ask. We take a left.

He takes a long while to say anything. I don't push him, even though I probably should. By the time he says anything, we have taken a right, left, and two rights. We have arrived at a wooden door. Firedrake unlocks the door and opens it.

"This is your room," he shoves me in. "I will escort you everywhere you need to go. When you are not needed somewhere, you will stay in here. The door locks from the outside so there is no escape."

Firedrake turns to go and shuts the door behind him. I can hear the lock click. Sighing, I turn to look at my room. It is actually quite nice.

The walls and floor are stone like the rest of this place. On the left wall their is a wooden door that is half open. It looks like a bathroom. Next to the door is a bed. It has four posts and the most beautiful blanket I have ever seen. It is gold, silver, and a light pink. There are swirls and designs all over it. On the wall directly in front of me there is a window almost as big as the wall. There is a window seat under it that is lined with pillows and blankets. On the wall tithe right is a desk and chair. Next to that is another partially open door that must be the closet. It is full of beautiful dresses. Next to the door is a dresser and a full-length mirror.

I guess I can get use to this. Since I have been in the same clothes since the beginning of this adventure, I decide to wash and change my dress. I choose a purple dress with pink lace. While I wait for Firedrake to pick me up hopefully soon, I sit on the windowsill. Outside the window, several stories down, is a village. I assume that it must be the Northern Water Village, and that I'm in the palace.

What must be several hours later, there is a knock at the door. I get up and leave the beautiful view to answer the door. On the other side of the door is Firedrake.

"Time for dinner," he motions for me to follow him.

I wordlessly follow him. We walk a long ways before making it to two double wood doors. This place must be huge because I feel like I've walked miles today. Firedrake pushes open one door and holds it open for me. I nod to him as I pass.

The room I walk into is a dining room. It is painted a beautiful gold and has a diamond chandelier above the dark wood table. Willyn is at one end of the table. There is another seat at the opposite end. I walk over to it. Willyn stays standing, so I do as well. She sighs when I don't sit.

"Your first lesson is on dining, and I see I clearly have my work cut out for me," she mumbles the last part. I refrain from rolling my eyes because I'm sure that is most likely frowned upon. "First lesson is that whoever is holding the dinner, or whomever it's for, will walk in last. When the door opens, all the guests stand and wait for their host or hostess to take a seat before they do. While we are practicing, all the meals will be in your honor. Any questions so far?"

I shake my head no.

"That's another thing," she says. "You will answer yes or no. There will be no head nodding, yeahs, or nopes. Got it?"

"Yes," I reply.

"Good," she says.

The first course is immediately brought out.

"The first course is always soup," Willyn tells me. "The spoon on that looks different than all the others is for soup. When you eat soup, you scoop the spoon away from you. Got it?"

"Yes," I answer.

We finish the soup, and the salad is brought out.

"The fork on the outside is the fork used for salad," she instructs. "Try not to stab the lettuce, but to gently impale it."

"Yes, ma'am," I say fighting off a giggle at her words.

"That is another thing, Elliot," Willyn says. "I would like you to address me as Aunt Willyn. No matter what happened in the past, I'm still your aunt."

"Yes, Aunt Willyn," I reply while cringing at her words and what she did.

We go through the rest of dinner like this. Each time a new course comes out she instructs me on what to do. I am not scolded much because I am afraid of what she might do to me if I do something wrong. When dinner is finally over, Firedrake comes to get me.

"How was dinner?" he asks me once we are a good distance away from the doors.

"Not as bad as I thought," I reply honestly.

Firedrake laughs. "What did you expect?"

"A mean old grouch," I reply shrugging.

This makes him laugh harder. Soon I am laughing as well. His laugh is contagious. We laugh together as we continue down the hallway to my room. I stand at my door and wait for him to unlock my door. Firedrake unlocks my door and holds it open for me.

"Thank you," I tell him still smiling.

"You're welcome," he replies. He begins to shut the door but turns back before it shuts. "You look pretty tonight, Elliot."

He shuts the door, and I stand there speechless. Did he just call me pretty? What is going on with the world?

I change into a nightgown, climb into bed, and fall asleep with thoughts of confusion swirling in my head.

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Hey, guys!

Merry Christmas! What did everyone get? I got a typewriter and I am so excited to use it!

Also, yay! Longest chapter ever!!! This is my favorite chapter. I don't know why though. It's not a particularly good chapter. Oh well!

I have some sad/happy news. I think the story might almost be over! There will probably be four or five more chapters. There is definitely not more than seven or eight left. I've had the ending planned out for a while now. It's a pretty sucky ending and I don't think anyone is going to love it. Oh well!

Thanks, guys!