Welcome to the Wattpad Block Party - Winter Edition III!
Round FIVE of this popular event is coming your way the entire month of February 2017 and it's going to be epic! The invites have started to roll out and everyone from your all time favo...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Hi guys,
The Dream Keeper's Dragon is undergoing a major rewrite. For now, it will be exclusive to Radish - Fiction, and titled Highfire! I thought I'd share the first chapter with you here. Hope you enjoy it.
*****
Aurelie had to remind herself that the Sproots put themselves into a lot of danger by letting her family live on their land, during every Sunday dinner. If this did nothing to curb her irritation, she pushed her fingernails into the palm of her hand, and squeezed really hard whenever Debil or his mother found a reason to brag.
Tonight, they had spicy beef stew for dinner. Debil's favorite. Everyone but Mrs. Sproot sat with their faces pointed at their plates, attempting to avoid eye contact at the risk of starting conversation. Uncle Kaiden tried to speak to Mr. Sproot earlier but the giant, glass vase that stood in the middle of the table, filled with bunches of lilac, had them shifting in their seats just to get a quick glance at each other.
Aurelie thanked her lucky stars that Debil was absent this evening. He always looked at her much too intensely, that one. As if she were a prize he had to keep an eye on in case someone stole her while he scooped his stew. By her lineage, she was a prize. Perhaps, even his family's only chance at being granted noble status. That is, if Aurelie were to lay her claim on the Highfire throne.
In Mrs. Sproot's mind the two of them were set to marry, granting Debil a queen for a wife. Neither of these two things were ever going to happen and just thinking about it left a sour taste in Aurelie's mouth.
"Nander is thinking of buying a ship," Mrs. Sproot's voice scratched through the silence. "We've invested quite a lot of gold into the Julopi fish market but their delivery is horrid, isn't it, Nander?" Her shoulders jumped in question, but the action was so forced that it looked as if she had gotten a fright instead.
"Horrid," Mr. Sproot confirmed with much less enthusiasm.
Aurelie hid her smile behind a spoonful of stew and glanced quickly in Aunt Elizabeth's direction. She cut her ash blonde hair just below her ears last week and would no doubt be the center of the Sproots' gossip when she left. It was always funny to see her keep her composure at dinner and even funnier to hear her discuss how hard it was, on their way home.
"Is that so?" Uncle Kaiden asked when neither Aurelie nor her aunt showed any sign of a response. Aurelie had her turn when Mrs. Sproot bragged about how wonderfully Debil was doing at school. Everyone knew Debil was dumb as a donkey and the only thing that changed about this was that his mother now sat squeezed into a new, bright red gown while she lied about it.
"Indeed. How much was it again, Nander?" Mrs. Sproot asked, making sure that everyone remembered they were wealthy enough to purchase a ship. The skin on her neck curved loosely like a curtain, especially when she turned her head to her husband and Aurelie saw it from the side.
