Royal vs Dragon

Chapter 19

Kaylee:

It's been two months since the last dragon incident occurred.  I would have to say that these were the best two months of my life since I was a child and my parents were still alive.  I wish they were alive still.  There was one thing that bothered me still.  My dream of my parents and those strangers who called me "Delilah".  I wanted to discover what they were trying to tell me in my dreams.  I hoped that they were just dreams and nothing real, but ever since the dragon entered the castle and I passed out, I've been having some weird incidents.  Let me explain them to you.

When I was a child, I used to have these incidents occasionally, but ever since the whole dragon incident, I've been having these more and more frequently.  Honestly, I'm pretty sure that most people have started to think that I'm nuts, or wrong in the head.

The incidents I'm talking about are my special ability that I consider a "curse" to see spirits or ghosts.  I discovered early on that this isn't normal for most people.  I remember going into town to buy food at the market with Mother when I noticed someone walking slowly down the street.  I stopped and pointed out to my mother the person walking down the street, noticing that he was hurt.  It was some young boy in raggedy clothes and blood pouring out of a wound on his head, some sticking to his harshly cut yellow hair.  I looked up at her and she looked at where I was pointing and she told me that no one was there.  I looked back at the boy and still saw him.  He was walking towards us.  He was trying to say something, but I didn't hear anything.  I wondered what he was trying to say.

"But Mother, he's right there!" I pointed him out yet again.

She looked down at me and said, "There's no one there, Kaylee."  I think she was just trying to be patient with me.  She might have thought that I was making this up to get attention, but I wasn't.  I was super confused.

When he saw that I wasn't going to do anything, he just bowed his head and slowly walked away.  My eyes followed him as he walked around me and slowly made his way around the corner, my Mother pulling me forward as he went.  He was about my age at the time, around maybe two or three.  I didn't know what was happening at the time, and I never saw him again after that.

I admit, I probably acted weird a few times before that, too, but my parents probably thought that since I was an only child with practically no friends at the time, I had made an imaginary friend to play with.  I just want to tell you, I DID NOT!  I probably will never meet someone who experiences seeing what people probably think of as imaginary people, like me, but now I realize that they aren't imaginary people at all-they're ghosts, or spirits!  All my life I've been able to see them, I just didn't end up seeing them all the time.

Before the dragon appeared in the castle, I didn't have any incidents when I saw ghosts in the building, but apparently that's changed quite a bit lately, since now I'm seeing them about every day now.  I don't particularly like this, but it's something I have to deal with in life.  They're such a joy to be around (not really).  But they're the only friends I've had until now.  Well... I take that back.  Until I met Prince Devon.  He was my first real live human friend.  I'm talking about ever here.

"Man, my life is so sad!" I said thinking about my friendship history in my past.  "I should be thankful that I wasn't hunted down and accused of being a witch or anything.  I wouldn't be surprised if that would have happened to me.  Me with my strangeness."  I bowed and shook my head with hands an my hips as I walked down the long hallway.  I'd been walking down the hallways for hours, exploring the castle on my day off.  I've gone up and down stairs several times, opening who knows how many doors in my wake.  "How big is this place anyways!" I said with an exaggeration of my arms.  I didn't think too much about why most of the doors were unlocked this time compared to the last time I tried to explore, but I figured that it was because of the maids jobs to clean that they were unlocked this time.  I checked room after room and finally ended up finding the first Prince, Prince Ian, in the final room I checked that day.  He was lying in his bed reading a book.  I couldn't read, well... not that well since I grew up in the village.  Actually, I lied.  I can read, just not in a certain language that I need in order to read the book I want to read called "Families of the Past" that my parents told me to read.

I wondered what Prince Ian was reading so I asked him.

"What are you reading?"  I asked, inching closer with a finger touching my lip and a curious look on my face.

He seemed startled, jumping a little at the suddenness of my voice.  I guess he was so far concentrated in his book that he didn't hear me open the door and approach.  He looked up at me with a freaked out look on his face.

My expression changed immediately.  "Sorry," I had my hands clamped together, one hand on top of the other.  One hand grabbing a hold of the back of the other hand, arms stretched out, pushed against the front of my body.  I had a sad look on my face.  "I didn't mean to scare you."

He shook his head and his expression changed to one of acceptance and understanding.  "It's fine.  You just surprised me is all," he replied as he closed the book he was reading, closing his eyes and bending his head for a little bit before lifting his head and opening his eyes again.  He scooted towards me on his bed on all fours and smiled at me.

His expression turned serious all of a sudden.  "You shouldn't be in here.  You should go."

I was taken aback.  I didn't know what to expect, but this wasn't it.  I didn't want to be told to leave.  I didn't want that at all.  "I refuse."  I stood my ground, folding my arms across my chest and staring him down.  I wasn't about to leave.  I was sick of being told what to do.  It was my turn to take action.

He looked taken aback, like he had never been told "no" before, which he probably hadn't, or not that often.

"Alright," he sighed and gave in after about a minute or so, and I gave a cheer and ran up to him and started blabbing like crazy to him, and we talked for hours.

Devon:

I entered the door to my father's room that afternoon only to find him with his girlfriend or whatever she is.  I was still mad at my father, but this couldn't be helped.  I needed to talk to him.  It was about the dragon.  A messenger arrived with a letter stating that the dragon has attacked a nearby town, and we needed to act fast.  I needed my father's permission to use every abled soldier armed and ready for war.  We were running out of time, and the dragon had taken another two women with him before he left.  One a mother and another a spinster.  This couldn't continue.

"Father," I interrupted their kissing and they jumped apart quickly, reacting to my voice.  They both turned to look at me, shock and embarrassment written on their faces.  Father opened his mouth ready to say something but I cut him off before he could.  "This is important." I didn't wait for them to say anything and just plowed on.  "The dragon has attacked again."  My father's and his lady guest's faces turned shocked and worried.  "They attacked a nearby village this time.  We need to act quickly.  We need to stop the dragon now!" I stomped for foot for emphasis to pronounce the seriousness of this fact.  "Father, I need every abled soldier armed and ready for war.  Hopefully, we can at least do some damage to it.  If not, we'll die trying."

My father got up and came toward me pointing his finger at me saying, "Oh, no you don't!  Not you!  You're a prince and heir to the throne after I'm gone.  I won't be alive much longer anyhow, and I need you to be well and able to lead this country.  I need you to lead it.  I-" I put up a hand in front of his face, effectively cutting him off.

"This is exactly why I need to go into battle.  I need to help lead the people of this kingdom to victory, so we can survive!" I moved my arm horizontally in an arc while saying, "I can't just stand here and do nothing!"  I brought my arms back up, fingertips touching the center of my chest.  "I need to lead them in battle!  They need someone experienced in battle tactics, and I'm pretty good at that!  I can adapt to my surroundings good enough!  Just let me go and guide these people to victory!" I really didn't want to talk to my father right now, since he was having an affair when he was already married to my mother.  I don't know if I'll ever forgive him of that. I suppose I'll have to eventually, since being angry can be so tiring.

My father didn't seem to budge from his decision.

"No," my father told me with his arms crossed over his chest, and I knew it would be his final answer due to the tone of his voice.

I turned around and left through the giant doors, thinking of a plan of attack.  I'll just have to do this without his permission then.  In secret.