The Dragon's Princess

10.

                                                                ~ One Month Later ~

I walked into the dining room and took my seat next to mother like I did every morning. Neither of us said a word, we just started eating breakfast. For the next twenty minutes, the only sound that was heard was the sound of forks and knives hitting the plate and the occasional mug being set back down on the table. When the plates were cleared, we both sat for an extra moment. I prepared myself to hear the question that I heard every morning and give the same response.

"Have you thought any more about breaking the connection?"

"No. I'm going to keep pursuing something with Amadeus."

She abruptly rose from her chair and walked out of the room. Each day she walked out more aggravated than the day before. She's been frustrated, not just from my daily response but because Zara has hit a bit of a...hiccup. A hiccup caused by me, not that she needed to know that. Indigo had been in contact with her and informed her on what's been happening. As Indigo predicted, she didn't want to stop the spell completely, but she was willing to adjust to the best of her ability. Despite whatever mother was offering her, she didn't want to risk killing the Dragon King or his fated one which is the only reason she agreed to it.

I finished drinking my coffee and headed outside to get my carriage. My first stop of the day was the vet's area to catch up with Blaire and pick up Semoda. I breezed past the front counter and into the back where Blaire was going over some things with one of the nurses when I walked over. She quickly finished up talking to him and turned her attention to me. She led me into an exam room where Semoda was chewing on a chunk of watermelon.

"How is he?" I asked.

"Perfect, as usual. His powers have gotten stronger since last time." She answered.

"I've been getting him to train with me so It's nice to hear that it's paying off." I smiled.

She got quiet for a second hesitating on what to say next, then she asked the loaded question. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

"We all know what you want to do, why not do it?"

"You know it isn't that simple," I answered. "This whole thing is bigger than just me. It's whole Kingdoms, it's hundreds of thousands of people, years and years spent training and learning."

"But none of that is yours yet, you still have a choice." She argued.

"It's a reputation thing. If I go run off to the most feared Kingdom, then people will talk about how Litha must be worse. Mother and I might not get along, but I don't want to ruin this Kingdoms reputation in doing it."

"I understand that, but you're still a human being and you can still make your own decisions. Sure, you're a Princess but that title doesn't control your choices."

In my head, I knew she was completely right. She was being the logical one as she always was, but there was still the Royals way of thinking that had been ingrained in my head since the day I was born. Turning my back on everything that I was trained to know wasn't something I ever thought about doing. Litha and being the Queen of Litha has always my future. Yet, here I was standing at the road where a mysterious and tempting path had materialized out of nowhere.

Blaire and I said our goodbyes and I took Semoda to walk around the Kingdom. We didn't have anywhere in particular to go, we just walked around and did some window shopping. We stopped in to say hello to Indigo and a few other people along the way when we were by their shops. It was around lunchtime when I decided it was time to head home. I was getting hungry and I knew Semoda had to feel the same.