The Last Dragon Riders (Part One)

Hunting

"Hey, Hey, wake up,” Ralem woke to being shoved by an excited dragon. “Lauri wants you to wake up. She says she’s going to show us around Baroke. And she says she’ll give me some cherry pie if you get out of bed now. So hurry, hurry!”

Ralem groaned and pulled the pillow over his head, “Later. I was having the greatest dream of not having a pushy dragon…” It wasn’t until he had said it that he realized how mean it sounded. “I was joking. I didn’t mean that,” he shoved the pillow away and jerked upright but Jaydon was already gone. “Ugh…” Ralem slumped in the bed. Then resignedly, he stuffed on his clothes and shoved his feet in his boots and walked out the door. The welcoming breeze greeted him with the promise of breakfast and the enthralling melodies of exotic birds. Does it ever rain here? He thought. Redfield. his hometown, had always been a warm climate, but rain seemed to always be falling. Here, the weather seemed perfect. He wiped his eyes and continued down to the Grand Dining Room, hoping to make amends with his sensitive dragon with his haste. He vaguely hoped his hair didn’t look too crazy and tried aimlessly to smooth it down. Finally he slid into the doorway and walked sleepily into the Grand Dining Room. Everyone was already almost done breakfast. Once Lauri spotted Ralem, she shoved a small pie in Jaydon’s direction. He latched onto it greedily and started digging in. Relieved that he had been forgiven, Ralem sat hard into the seat across from Lauri and offhandedly nabbed some eggs. “So- you wanted me?”  

“Yes. I’m rather impressed at how fast you got up,” –Ralem patted his hair down- “Today I’m going to show you around Baroke and give you some background to this place. We haven’t had much time to talk about your background so we have much to discuss.” Ralem nodded and got to work eating.

He was nudged by Arianna, “Hey, you didn’t wish me good morning,” she teased.

“Sorry I’m still half asleep,” he replied, “Good morning, your majesty,” he teased back.

She blanched, “How did you find out?”

“Find out wha… WHAT?”

Daemon nearly choked on his wine, “You mean you don’t know?” He looked at Ralem, then to the other members of the table. “No wonder,” he muttered. Arianna glared at him intensely, but he avoided her gaze, “People of Baroke, Hail Princess Arianna Ritaldi-Yvanna Lillian Shiron of Grunde, the Glittering Isles of the North.” Forks clattered onto plates and jaws dropped. Several bowed their heads respectfully. Ralem was too shocked to do anything and Jaydon was too interested in his cherry pie to notice or care. “Wait… so you were a princess all this time and you wouldn’t tell me?”

“You don’t understand!” Arianna sputtered, her face red, “I couldn’t tell you! I was on the run! If you knew-“

-“Wait- on the run? The King and Queen don’t know you’re here?” Daemon said, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.

“No! They don’t! I ran away, okay!” Arianna was on the brink of tears. She abruptly stood up and her chair slammed on the floor. “I need to go,” she turned and ran out of the room. Daemon watched her go and hesitantly started after her, calling her name.

“You should leave her alone for now,” Lauri said, her voice commanding yet gentle. Daemon stopped, but didn’t head back to his seat. His jaw set, he marched out of the room and sped the opposite direction that Arianna had fled. Fraylon slowly followed, his head lowered as if he was a dog that was afraid of getting sharply reprimanded by his master.

Ralem was stunned. His mind was still trying to process the fact that he had been with a princess this whole time. Suddenly everything made sense- the guards that had been following her in Vulnaire, her composure in public, the stories she had shared about the palace. Why hadn’t he discovered it earlier? At the same time, it seemed like a small hope he had had for her had been doused with water. He had no business even liking a Princess. She was out of his league by a billion. His breakfast now seemed like a hard lump in his stomach. He pushed his plate away.