Dragon Dust

Three

"How sweet. Prince Charming, setting out on a quest to break the evil curse he's under," a dark voice chuckled. The old gypsy woman transformed back into her young and beautiful self.

"Do you think he will take the potion you gave him?" another voice asked.

"Yes indeed, Nimali," the fraud answered. Nimali came further into the room with interest. She sat down in the chair Prince Dorian recently occupied.

"Tell us, Thysadine, does he look edible? How youthful is his blood?" another voice asked. She emerged out of the darkness of the emporium. She bared her teeth ravenously.

"Down Damiese! There will be plenty for all three of us soon enough. We just have to plan carefully," Thysadine explained.

"Yes Damiese. Perhaps his lust is as good as his blood," Nimali jested. The two shrieked into laughter. Thysadine became slightly agitated.

"HUSH! You two whiney hyenas!" she growled. They stopped their laughter at a slow pace. They couldn't help themselves though and went on cackling.

"Silence!" Thysadine demanded. The two shut up finally and listened and waited for instruction. Thysadine continued to gaze out the door for a few more moments. Her vision allowed her to watch Dorian ride his horse back to the castle from this far away.

"He won't be so easy to kidnap. He has extraordinary power. That's why we need to lure him to us ... kidnap the girl, Bianca. Toy with his heart and he will come to us. Imagine when we possess all that magic. I've almost forgotten he has just a touch of fairy magic too! When he was just an infant Queen Artemis hired fairies to protect him. Their dust got in his eyes and stayed there," Thysadine went on. Nimali began to laugh again. She was thrilled by this plan. The young girl who had posed as Thysadine's granddaughter appeared from the shadows out of her corner.

"It's no use being wicked, Thysadine. Vengeance doesn't end in satisfaction," she said. Thysadine turned toward her direction in a rage and scoffed in disgust.

"Isolette," she sneered. Isolette glided toward her, attempting to preach again. At that moment Thysadine rose from her seat and hit her across the face with the back of her hand. Isolate winced, then Thysadine grabbed her face and turned her back.

"You're going to keep quiet and do what you're told," she demanded. A tear escaped Isolette. In all her years under the imprisonment of Thysadine, she'd been abused. Thysadine turned back to Damiese and Nimali.

"Now my lovelies. How shall we humiliate the prince before taking his magic for our own?" she asked. They let out dark and evil little giggles. Isolette sank into the nearest chair sad and defeated.

"I could come up with so many spells and schemes to trick our handsome prince," Nimali mentioned. The three of them huddled while Isolette watched in disgust. She quietly stood up from the chair and left the room.

In another room, away from her antagonizers, she escaped into her thoughts. She invented a good-hearted gentleman who would rescue her from these villains. Isolette would sit and imagine what her lover might look like. He would be brave and strong. Whenever she was being abused by Thysadine she imagined he was there standing up for her. He would sweep her off her feet, carry her away and take her home. To a real home where she would truly feel that's where she belonged. He would kiss her gently all along her neck and her arms, etcetera. How she longed to be free of the Mistwalkers and have the confidence that they could never hurt her again.

Dorian quickly unsaddled his horse and corralled him into his stall and rushed out of the stables. He avoided the party in the ballroom and ventured to his room. He closed the door and crossed over to his bed. There were three marble steps leading up to the king sized bed with a cherrywood headboard. The comforter was royal blue with gold lining and it was wool material. The pillow cases and the sheets were white silk. He put Amethyst down on top of his comforter.

She curled up and closed her eyes to snooze. She began to purr in her sleep. Dorian rolled his eyes and shook his head. He looked out the balcony. The drapes around the windows matched the bedding, as was the fabric on the couches in front of the pedestal his bed sat on. An end table sat within the horseshoe set up of the couches. Behind the sitting area in the center of the room was a desk against the wall. To the right of that was his bathroom. Dorian walked across the room to the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom was a large throw rug. Once again the same royal blue with gold trim around the edges. To the left was a sink and other necessities. To the right was a large mirror over a marble vanity. Across from him was a bathtub. Dorian took a deep breath and took out the potion and put it on the marble vanity. He rested on his fists and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He stood there for a while, thinking to himself. After he had paced the floors non-stop he looked out the window again and realized it was getting dark.

He stopped dead in his tracks and he stood there in the middle of the room, scared. He waited for a moment, but a moment too long. He let out a groan of pain as he felt the transformation begin. He wrapped his arms around his middle and fell to his knees, trying to control his screams. Dorian desperately crawled back to the bathroom. Amethyst was awakened by the sudden commotion. She picked her head up and watched over her guardian. Dorian finally reached the marble vanity. He groped around for the potion bottle. He pulled it down and he leaned against the vanity, twitching. He removed the cork, now panicking from the pain. The skin on his back began to burn. Wings were coming in. Dorian quickly chugged the potion and collapsed to the floor. He whimpered, trying to resist the agony.

After a little while, the transformation reversed, which was even more painful. Dorian froze in the position he was laying in. He was afraid to move at the moment. Every inch, every muscle twitch, was agonizing. At last the throbbing died down and Dorian rested on the cool marble floor. The agony wasn't through yet. Suddenly he felt a throbbing in his head and a bad feeling in his stomach. Dorian cringed and rushed over to the sink. Something in the potion did not agree with him. He bent over and vomited.