The Dragon Knight; The Awakening of the Legend

The Awakening of the Legend (Chapter 33)

Zjarr had made it just time for Queen Lagina to go up to my room.

I didn't know why but when Queen Lagina finally left the tree with a smile on her face I was surprised how well Zjarr had done during the conversation they had had together. Maybe I had thought that she wouldn't do so well because she was bonded with me and I didn't do the serious talking so well. And I wasn't the only one to see her leave, not that she was kind but she made me feel uncomfortable, one wrong move and I could cause another political disaster.

Robin was also glad when she left. He didn't say it but his relieved sigh told me enough. He had been quite tense the entire time she had been here. He had had another cup of tea to calm down completely before going up to bed. I, on the other hand, had been sitting on the bed, wide awake talking to Zjarr about all kinds of things for several hours before my eyes began to drop close.

It hadn't been a great idea to stay up so late because Robin woke me up at the crack of dawn.

The next three days we didn't go to the castle again. We had breakfast in the little kitchen the tree had but we were often joined by Haizea. She talked a lot and seemed always happy. And she was never alone. Every morning there was another one of Robin's friends, forcing me to learn their names and find a way to distinguish them from the others. Usually quite easy.

Whenever three elves were around our table I had the feeling I was just part of the decoration of the house but I was perfectly fine with it. I listened to their conversation but paying more attention to how their voices sounded instead of what they were saying. Robin could make some of the same soft, melodically sounds as the others but often just sounded different. I guessed it must have had to do with all the years he spent away from the Elfique Forest.

It was interesting to watch them as well. Their movements were graceful but not in a forced way like some of the noble men from Tanah Bulan often did. On the first morning I knock over my empty cup and before it even came close to the ground Ortwin had caught it before going on with their conversation as if nothing had happened.

Then the morning Robin and Alwyn would do some sort of training with me but I guessed that it was just warming up and in the afternoon, Oberon and Darwin would do some sword training while Haizea and Ortwin were sitting on the sidelines with Robin and Alwyn. Haizea would comment about all sorts of things, Robin was back to his "footwork is important" speech, Alwyn laughed at me every time I was thrown toward the sand and Ortwin would usually catch me.

After just three days, my body was aching and hurt, covered with bruising. I think I had fallen more often that I had when Robin was training me and had flown more miles than I had done on Zjarr's back. And on top of it all, Cheveyo didn't want to help me out any more. He kept telling me that I needed to learn how to do this on my own. It was pretty darn hard to learn it on my own, and pretty tiring to keep falling.

It wasn't until the fourth morning when Haizea and Oberon where late for breakfast that something different happened.

There was a knock on the door and all elves looked around at once but none moved. They just stared at it as if it would open by magic. Maybe if they looked long enough it would; I wouldn't be surprised. But I decided not to wait that long and go and open in myself with a sigh.

Outside, standing with his back to me was an elf I hadn't seen yet but I wasn't surprised by that. He turned around when the door opened and bowed when he saw me; I hated it when they did that. Princess or no princess, dragon knight or no dragon knight; they didn't have to bow for me. It made me feel awkward.

Before I could say anything he handed me a letter and was off again. Looking at the letter after the elf had disappeared out of view, I went back inside. Robin's name was the only thing written on the outside in a neat, curling handwriting. Since it wasn't for me I gave it to Robin and went back to eating my olive bread.