Queen of the Moon

Part 15: Dragon

The next morning boasted of another delicious breakfast. An herbal tea this time with honey and it tasted like peppermint and sage. More meat, various fruits and bread. We found Jacob and Erica in the morning and sat with them, all of our eyes questioning each other for what we may or may not have done last night. We all seemed to want to ask the questions but then no one really did.

"Sleep well last night?" Jacob finally asked after the moments of silent eating and staring accusatorily at each other.

"Yes, no bad dreams," I said with a shrug. That seemed to dissolve all awkwardness or tension and then Isolde came over to ask us all how we were doing and then to offer us a full bodied spiritual cleanse that would clear out all of the black magic that the Darkseas had done to me. It was the third day since I'd seen shaman, I was a bit eager to get back to see what he'd come up with. But at the same time was really enjoying myself in this tribal setting where me and Andrew were allowed to be together without curious eyes and mutters of how too close we were for a betrothed couple.

The symbols that were drawn onto our hands last night were still there, except now stained blue into our skin. I wondered if it would wash off. Part of this cleansing ceremony involved being buried in the ground, then a salt bath full of crystals, afterwards I was oiled up and then saged while drums beat, and I was prayed over. And then I was given a poultice and an amulet that they said would protect against future attacks.

The entire ceremony only took a few hours so we were able to head back to Weirwood palace by noon. During a pissbreak I stumbled over a dragon egg. It was beautiful, an iridescent blend of colors over a shiny silver scaly egg shape. I brought it out victoriously to the guys.

"No, absolutely not!" Jacob was saying, "Dad will not let you keep it."

"We won't know until we try," I said, shoving the egg into my knapsack, Jacob hung his head.

"Taking on a dragon is a huge responsibility, for the first five weeks you have to feed it constantly and keep it warm. You won't have access to dragon's milk in the Moonlands," Erica was telling me, "You'll have to keep it here and raise it here. So that you can form a bond with the dragon. You can't let anyone else raise it or it'll resent you."

"So, I can stay here for five weeks," I said.

Jacob looked to Andrew to talk some sense into me.

"You already have a leopard and a really annoying fairy," Andrew tried.

"Can you imagine me having a dragon? No one would ever mess with me again," I said. He shrugged as if saying I had a good point.

"C'mon man, talk some sense into her. Dad will not let you keep it," Jacob said. He hated dragons, part of the reason he was so against it.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing? That you'll be able to raise it?" Andrew asked.

"Of course, I've raised hundreds of dragons. Literally all I did while in Weirwood, raise, tame, and feed baby dragons," I said.

"Dad's not going to let you keep it," Jacob said again.

"She can keep it at Blackmoon, we have wide fields, I don't see why not," said Andrew.

"Are you nuts?" Jacob asked.

"Just let her have the dragon. She's been through a lot. If this makes her happy, then she can keep it, I don't care. But if it becomes a problem, we'll have a discussion," said Andrew.

I gave a triumphant grin at Jacob who looked literally terrified, his face draining of all color, but he made no further comment.

Once we got back to the palace, we'd discovered shaman was delayed a few days and could not come sooner. So then I regretted leaving the tribe as early but I was in high spirits and hopes that everything we'd done will work. I couldn't wait to show Max my dragon egg as we'd raised tons together when we were kids, and I'd never seen a dragon like this before. But when we found him in the throne room, he took the egg, and tucked it at his side.

"I have news. And I'm not sure how you're going to take it," he said his brow furrowed.

"What is it?" asked Andrew.

"I received a letter from the Moon Palace. The Darkseas have been in contact with your father," said Max. Andrew gripped my shoulder and we were all bracing ourselves for what that meant.

"They want to talk compromise, possibly a truce, a way to avoid war. So your father wants you back as soon as possible as the Darkseas are on their way to your palace as we speak," said Max. We all looked around blinking at each other. I didn't know what to think about this.

"This is good, right? Maybe we can avoid a war," I said with a shrug.

"I don't want to avoid war, these people need to pay for what they did to you," said Andrew.

"Agreed," said Jacob.

"Who knows what your father will come up with? Maybe he'll decide on war after all," said Max.

I started chewing on my nails in nervousness.

"Either way we have to get back to Moon Palace as soon as possible. So we should pack up and head out now," said Jacob.

Our mood dropped back to mellow, I almost forgot about the dragon.

"Did you find this?" Max asked me as I headed back to my room, holding up the egg now.

"Yeah, I wish I could raise it, but now I have to head back. Have you ever seen a dragon egg like that before?" I asked.

"No, it's beautiful though. I ask around for what sort of dragon it is. It looks magical," he said.

"How will I raise it?" I asked.

"You have about two weeks before it hatches at least, you can either bring it with you, or leave it here and come back for it," said Max.

"How will I get dragon's milk?" I asked.

"Well, you don't necessarily need dragon's milk. We've found goats milk to be just as useful. The number one thing you need to focus on is keeping it warm, near a lit fire at all times," Max said. We were in my room now, I was going to pack my belongings but someone had already sent a servant up to do it for me. All that was left to do was make sure they got everything.

"Remember when we used to raise dragons together?" Max asked. And I grinned and nodded.

"I wish we could raise this one together too," he said in a longing sort of way. Looking at me dead on with his dark blue eyes. I sighed.

"Are you sure, it's Lord Andrew you want?" he asked, hopefully for the last time.

"Very sure," I said, making sure to emphasize that I was.

He swallowed hard, his cheeks flushing a bit.

"Why not me? I need to know," he said. I groaned.

"You never pursued me. I never knew where I stood with you. I always know where I stand with Andrew. It's something as simple as that. It's too late now anyway. My hearts already invested in him. I can't even see anyone else. No other man exists to me. So, I'm sorry, but it's not going to happen. Though, I really hope we can stay friends," I said.

"Of course, I'll always support you. You'll always be that mud-covered little girl I used to raise dragons with," he said. And we left it at that. Back on our horses within the hour, we headed back to the Moon Palace to face the Darkseas.