Chapter Nine
The castle of Taten came into view and Drake landed, shifting to human form and putting on the clothing Manny had packed for him, a pair of black pants with a red and gold tunic that had their crest in the center. He tied his boots and stood.
“Damn,” Elda said, smiling up at him. “I already miss flying with you.”
“Is that right?” he asked, pulling her close. “Well, I’ve been missing this.”
He quickly took her lips, smothering a gasp, while she clutched his shoulders. He’d love nothing more than to lay her down right there and taste other parts of her body, but they were pressed for time. Reluctantly, he released her, taking her hand.
They walked together out of the forest and toward the castle.
It was tall, much taller than Athera’s castle, and it had several towers in the center.
The town next to it was much smaller than his own valley, however.
Not that he was comparing their kingdoms in order to boost his ego or anything. At least, not out loud.
When they reached the castle, they crossed a short bridge then entered an open courtyard.
There were people all around, unloading wagons and a group of young boys were sparring with wooden swords in the corner.
Drake missed seeing his people like this and wanted nothing more than to restore his kingdom.
Soon, he thought. He wouldn’t rest until Athera was thriving once more.
A pair of guards stopped them at the castle doorway and asked for their identities.
Before Drake could think to lie, he told the men who they were and demanded an audience with the king.
The guards gave each other looks of confusion but let them pass.
Then a man with a trumpet in his hands played a short tune and announced to the hall, “Prince Drake and Princess Esmerelda of Athera.”
Upon entering, they found a hall full of people, some sitting and enjoying the morning meal and some standing, but all eyes were on them, and the giant room was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
A man sitting on the tallest throne directly in front of them slowly stood and watched Drake and Elda as they approached the front of the room.
“Princess Esmerelda,” King Cassidy said, nodding to her with a wary smile. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.”
“Is it?” Elda asked, reaching into her cloak and pulling out his crown, holding it up.
“Right.” Cassidy winced and took a deep breath. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“It isn’t?”
“Well… it is. But I had a good reason for it. I am happy to explain but I’m sorry, did he say you are Prince Drake from… Athera?”
“I am happy to explain also,” Drake mimicked the king.
“Lovely,” Cassidy replied, glancing around. “Let’s just move to a more private location first, if you don’t mind. Before my wife hears of this, especially in her condition.”
“Condition?” Elda asked. “Is she ill?”
Just then a blonde woman entered from behind the throne and waddled over, one hand on her rather large stomach and the other on her back. She was followed closely by what appeared to be a fairy in regular clothing. Drake had not seen a fairy in so long, he wasn’t quite sure she was at first.
“What is this I heard about a prince and pri—,” the woman began then halted beside the king and her eyes flew open when she spotted the crown in Elda’s hands. Her eyes darted between Drake and Elda in surprise before the woman muttered, “Well, damn.”
“I will handle it, Sarita,” Cassidy began, turning toward her. “You don’t need to worry. Stress is—”
“Bad for the baby,” Sarita replied, rolling her eyes. “I know. I know.”
So this was the infamous Queen Sarita that the gnomes had mistakenly brought to Athera before Elda. Drake looked the woman over and while she was beautiful, he was glad it was Esmerelda that had broken his curse. He couldn’t imagine replacing his princess with another.
“Let’s take this upstairs,” Cassidy said then stopped when his wife began to follow. “I said I would handle—”
“Cass, if you say one more word, I swear to you—,” Sarita interjected.
“At least let Emery go fetch Asher to teleport you so you don’t have to walk up all those stairs.”
“Ugh, fine,” she huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of her face.
The fairy who had accompanied her changed to sprite form and flew out of the hall. Drake and Elda followed the king up several flights of stairs and into what appeared to be a large study. The king gestured to chairs and they all sat down.
The door swung open and Sarita entered, followed by a man in wizard robes. Asher, Drake presumed. The mage took one look at Elda and cursed under his breath. Did everyone in this castle know of the crown fiasco?
“I owe you an apology, Princess Esmerelda,” King Cassidy began, then he wove a tale about a quest they’d taken to search for Stones of the Divine and when they’d visited Carroway, had realized one was inside of Elda’s crown.
Apparently, his mage had then used Cassidy’s crown to create a replica and switch it for the real thing, bringing her crown back to Taten. Then the story jumped forward to a sorceress who had lost her magic and used the stone in Elda’s crown to get her power back.
“I had no idea,” Elda said, leaning forward as she was engrossed in the story. “My crown contained a stone like our Sunstone? The entire time?”
“We were surprised as well,” Sarita added. “Wait, you know about the Sunstone?”
Drake caught Elda’s eye and nodded, giving her permission to tell them about their predicament. She launched into the story but only made it to the part about being abducted by gnomes before Sarita nearly jumped out of her chair.
“You too!” the queen said. “The gnomes took you? You met the dragon?”
“I… did,” Elda said. “He’s a dragonite, actually. And he’s sitting right beside me.”
Silence settled over the room like a thick blanket.
Everyone stared at Drake, to the point that he wanted to disappear.
Was this how people were going to react to him every time he met them?
He knew people had been magically forced to forget about the existence of him and his people, but the Taten residents looked like they were staring at a ghost.
“Perhaps,” Drake said, clearing his throat. “I should start at the beginning. The very beginning.”
He told them of his kingdom in the Blackfoot Mountains, his parents’ voyage and the curse that hid them all from the realm.
He explained that he had been stuck in dragonite form until Elda had kissed him, setting him free and revealing a new part of his kingdom.
Then he mentioned the reason they had come to Taten.
“Your Sunstone was stolen?” Sarita asked. “How did anyone even know it was there? I mean, other than us, but that’s because we had the Songs of Everealm book.”
“Don’t even mention that damn book,” Cassidy grumbled. “We buried it. Let it stay buried.”
“We hoped you would know where to get another one of the stones,” Elda said. “Any stone would work, but we just need to find one and in a hurry.”
“We found three of the four stones, and all were used by someone to gain magic already. We have two of them here but they’re useless to you now.”
“Have you tried to recharge them?” Drake asked. From the blank stares on their faces, he knew the answer. “Which stones do you have?”
“Elda’s Moonstone and the Ice Crystal,” Sarita replied. “You can do that? Recharge the stones?”
“Sure. You just need a divine creature to do it for you. The Ice Crystal belonged to the nymphs. Do you know of any nymphs nearby?” When everyone shook their heads, Drake shrugged. “The Moonstone is easy. That’s the mage’s stone.”
“How can it be recharged?” the wizard in the room finally spoke.
“You need to open a terra circle with the stone inside of it.”
“Wait,” King Cassidy said, shaking his head.
“Let me make sure I have this right. You are a man who can shift into a dragon and there are others like you inside of your mountain. You want us to recharge one of those stones so you can wake the rest of them up? How do we know you won’t exact your revenge on the rest of the realm after you’re all free? ”
“Cass—” his wife began but he held up a hand to stop her.
“I am not about to hand over a stone they can use to grow an army to bring to our front door, Sarita. I will not put you, my kingdom, and my future children at risk. How do we know this won’t lead to another war?”
Drake shifted in his seat. He was both annoyed and impressed by the king’s protectiveness over his people. He felt the same way toward his own. He would do anything to rescue his siblings and the other dragonites that he hoped were frozen in the valley they couldn’t access.
“I understand you don’t trust me,” Drake said, carefully.
“I’m not sure I would either, if someone came to my door with this same story.
In fact, we are very cautious of visitors to my own kingdom.
Dragonites were once as much a part of this realm as mages and fae.
It’s still a shock to me that no one alive has even heard of us until now.
Yours is the first kingdom I have visited, and I wouldn’t have come if my mate hadn’t insisted you were to be trusted.
“My people are vulnerable right now,” he continued, “being trapped by this curse. I want to free them, not for revenge but for justice. I would like to think that fate has led us to this moment. The Moonstone being in my mate’s crown, your stealing of said crown, and my mate bringing me to the few people in all the realm who have knowledge of the very stones we need.
It’s as if fate has made us allies, whether we wanted it or not. ”
Cassidy considered Drake’s words for a moment, then stood. He walked over to his desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a small, dainty crown. Elda perked up the moment she saw it, realizing it was hers. The king carried it over and handed it to Sarita.
“It’s yours to do with what you will, my queen,” Cassidy said.
Sarita took the crown and nodded. She held it for a moment then said, “I almost threw this into the sea on the return voyage from Carroway. I even considered burying it with the book, but I had a feeling it needed to stay in our possession, even if I didn’t understand why.
I suppose now we know. You were meant to come here and retrieve it. ”
Elda took the crown when it was handed to her and rubbed the stone at the top. The Moonstone. To anyone else, it might look like a typical stone. It was, however, the answer to their problem.
“Will you be staying?” Sarita asked. “You are welcome as long as you’d like.”
Drake replied, “We can only afford to spend the night. We would need to leave by sunrise.”
“We understand,” Cassidy replied. “One of my mages will recharge the stone for you tonight. In the meantime, we would love to hear more about your kingdom.”
Drake gave a nod and sighed in relief. Then he remembered something that had been on his mind. “Actually, King Cassidy, there is something I would like to discuss with you. I am in need of a crown of my own and I’ve heard that yours happens to be the kingdom to speak to about it.”