Chapter Seven
Valora
Once more, I awakened from my nightmares, unable to contain the cry that escaped. I could feel the gazes of the others piercing me like a knife and turned so my back was to them. Tears escaped again at the horrific memories. Everyone ignored me, eventually falling back asleep, but I was wide awake, knowing that I would not sleep for the rest of the night.
Soundlessly, I slipped out of bed, and before I knew it, found myself back in the cave where Lord Dracul’s golden hoard was kept. I grabbed my discarded polishing cloth and got back to work. If I could not sleep, I might as well do something useful. My mind was busy as I polished, thinking about the other Maidens. Vimery was the only one that openly antagonized me, but the rest had not talked to me after I returned from seeing Lord Verhorn. They clearly did not think too highly of me either. I was sure that if the nightmares continued, they would continue to ice me out.
I had to acknowledge that I had hoped the others would help me stand up against Vimery’s actions, but right now, as things were, I could expect no support. And while it was clear that Alonsa was the de facto leader of the group, it was obvious that Vimery would not follow Alonsa’s instructions if they did not suit her. Based on how Vimery had acted over the past couple of days, it seemed that when it came to me, she would do what she wanted.
My hands stilled over the plate I was polishing and a tear fell. “I just want to go home,” I whispered quietly, wishing not for the first time that I was back home with my parents and Ronan. I sniffed, wiping away the tear and continuing with my work, pushing down the despair as far as I could. Right now, I just had to survive.
Before the others awoke, I returned to the cavern, pretending to wake up with them. Vimery did not get a chance to push me out of bed again and she seemed almost disappointed by this. I paid her no mind and got ready with everyone else.
I was surprised that I was not exhausted as I continued to polish throughout the day. My arms were sore, but it was a kind of pain that I could deal with. I focused on it, using it as a distraction from my depressing thoughts.
Each night for the rest of the week, when the nightmares woke me, I snuck back out to the hoard to polish. I painstakingly worked piece by piece, bit by bit to finish this task that I had been assigned. Seeing the progress did give me a bit of satisfaction.
Finally, on the last night of the week, I only had a little bit left. I got to the final piece of Lord Dracul’s hoard, a golden chalice, and polished it. This past week, I had gotten more done than I had thought possible, my nighttime escapades helping. I placed the chalice down and surveyed my work: a glittering, gleaming room of gold. The weight of the task lifted from my shoulders and I could feel the tension immediately draining away. I sat on the ground to rest, feeling my eyelids grow heavier and heavier. My last thought before they closed completely was that I should probably head back to the cavern.
* * *
“My Lord, she is completely out of line. She should not be here unsupervised.” I could hear one voice above me, angrily growling.
Lord Dracul’s voice came next. “She finished polishing my hoard in less than a week. No other Maiden has finished such a feat.” Even in my bleary state, I could tell that he did not sound upset. Almost… proud?
I blinked my eyes and looked up from where I laid on the floor. Two dragons—Lord Dracul and a dark-green one matching Lord Verhorn’s hair color—stood above me. The green one’s nostrils were smoking while Lord Dracul looked completely unbothered.
“She has shown complete disregard for our rules,” the other dragon insisted. He definitely sounded like Lord Verhorn. “She is not fit to be a Maiden.”
At his words, steam began to escape from Lord Dracul’s nostrils. “I will decide whether or not she is fit to be a Maiden,” he said, his voice dangerously low. “And if she’s to be my Maiden, what difference does it make to you? She won’t be touching any of your hoard; you have nothing to fear.”
“But if she is so blatant about breaking this rule, how do we know how she will treat the other, more important ones?” Lord Verhorn’s voice began to rise further in volume. I had not noticed it earlier, but he had a small tufted beard sprouting from his chin. It waggled with his anger.
“I didn’t know about the rule.” The words quietly escaped before I could think about them.
The two did not react at first, and I thought they had not heard me until both their heads tilted in unison towards me.
“What do you mean you didn’t know? How could you not know that you aren’t allowed to be in the hoard after curfew? Wasn’t it explained to you?” Lord Verhorn’s voice dripped with scorn as he looked at me.
I shrunk away from him, backing up until I brushed up against Lord Dracul’s leg. I flinched as I looked up towards my Lord, afraid of his reaction. He was not even looking at me, his attention fixed on Lord Verhorn.
“Verhorn, just let it go,” he said tiredly. “I’m sure the rule slipped the other Maidens’ minds to explain. If I’m fine with this, you should be too.”
“But, my Lord—” Verhorn began to protest.
“I will hear no more of this. Go eat your breakfast,” Lord Dracul growled.
At his words, Lord Verhorn bowed before strutting out of the cave. After he left, I looked to Lord Dracul, trying to judge his unreadable expression.
Slowly, I shifted away from him and knelt in contrition. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t know,” I said softly.
“You should go back to the others to get your breakfast. Come back here afterwards.” He turned to leave the cavern.
The pit that had been in my stomach when I awoke grew, and I bit my lip, afraid that he was angry. What would happen to me now? As if sensing my fear, he turned back and flashed a smile before disappearing, the knot in my stomach lessening slightly.
After a couple seconds, I raced back to the Dragon Maiden cavern, where the others were waiting. From the looks on their faces, it was obvious that they were angry.
“How stupid are you?” Vimery was the first to speak as soon as I entered, her tone scathing. I flinched at her volume and my face flushed.
“Hush,” Alonsa said, holding up a hand. She took a few steps towards me. “Valora, why did you leave in the middle of the night?” Although her tone was much kinder, I could sense the steely undertone underneath it. Her brown eyes gazed at me with a coldness I had not seen from her before and a shiver ran down my spine.
My mouth ran dry and I swallowed, trying to come up with the words. “When I couldn’t fall back to sleep, I decided I should get some work done. Usually, I come back before everyone wakes up, but last night, I dozed off after cleaning.” I bowed my head slightly to show my remorse. “I’m sorry if I got you in trouble.”
“We never ever leave the cavern after lights go out,” Alonsa said firmly. “Now that you know, there won’t be an excuse for next time. It is forbidden to leave at night.”
I picked up a plate of strawberry-topped pancakes, my curiosity piqued. “Why?”
The expressions of the other women told me they were tired of my questions so I began to eat my breakfast.
“It’s just one of the rules,” Gwen said, not offering an explanation. “But if you break the rules again, you will be cast out, and those consequences aren’t pleasant.”
“Just be careful next time,” Hyacinth added. “It’s always a shame to lose a Maiden.”
My stomach churned and I finished my pancakes, chewing more slowly to try forcing the food down. The others once more scattered around the cavern, eating and talking amongst themselves. Vimery looked over at me from time to time, a withering expression on her face.
After breakfast was quickly consumed, Alonsa clapped her hands. “Get dressed everyone. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Today, I changed into a pale-green long-sleeved dress before hurrying back to Lord Dracul’s hoard. He already waited for me, inspecting the polished gold. Seeing his back to me, I paused in the doorway, unsure of what to say. I already knew that despite what he’d said previously, I was in trouble.
“You did an excellent job polishing,” he said, still facing away from me. He must have heard me coming.
“Thank you.”
When he turned to face me, I bowed my head, keeping my eyes downcast. The other Maidens always did so. It seemed like a rule—if not an unspoken one—when talking to the Dragon Lords. I could not afford another mistake, not today.
“Valora, look at me.” His voice was gentle.
I gulped, looking up, hoping he would not yell at me. Instead, his silver eyes shone with kindness, a small smile across his lips.
“I do not want you worrying about what Verhorn said today, am I clear? I understand the rules were not fully explained to you and probably won’t be completely explained until you do something wrong again.”
I felt my expression fall. Did he want me to fail before chastising me again? If I made a big enough mistake, I could easily be killed. And he was just willing to gamble my life away on that chance? I clenched my jaw, trying to contain the rage I felt building inside of me.
“I am the High Dragon Lord, the leader of all the dragon clans. Nothing will happen to you without my permission, do you understand?”
I nodded silently, not trusting myself to speak.
“I have found that you are a quick learner and work hard, so I’d like to see how quickly you learn the rules.” The smile on his face grew wider.
Hot anger bubbled up inside of me and I knew I would not be able to contain myself. “What sort of game are you playing here?” All worry from earlier quickly disappeared, replaced by fury.
“Excuse me?” His expression faltered, his smile slipping.
“First, I am torn away from my life and told I have to stay here to be your servant .” The words spat forth, releasing a cork on the pain and anger I had felt over this past week. “And now you’re gambling with my life as to whether or not I can learn these stupid rules on how everything is run here. I had something important I was going to do, something that meant everything to me, until I was picked up by your winged follower and brought here. I didn’t ask for this, so don’t treat me like I was specially chosen or anything. You may be the High Dragon Lord, but that means nothing to me.”
During my outburst, he looked taken aback, obviously not expecting my venom. After I stopped, I realized that I breathed heavily from my rant, gasping for air. He remained silent for several moments, and I broke the silence.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” He was now unreadable, his tone cool. I was unable to ascertain anything from it. My heart began to sink. This was it. I had finally pushed his patience too far.
“Aren’t you going to roast me or something for talking to you like that? For being out of line?”
He was quiet once more, and I felt the need to fill the silence.
“That’s not how Dragon Maidens are supposed to talk to the High Dragon Lord.”
Lord Dracul’s cheeks puffed out before erupting into laughter, echoing throughout the cave. “None have certainly tried before,” he said.
“What’s going to happen to me now?” I fidgeted as he stared at me, contemplating his answer.
“Nothing,” he said. “You are certainly different from the other Maidens.” His expression sobered. “But you are not to talk to me that way again, do you understand? Especially in front of the other Lords. I will be forced to punish you and that’s not something I wish to do.”
His answer surprised me, and I felt my body freeze. He did not want to punish me? “I understand,” I said, bowing my head once more.
“Good. Now follow me. I have another task for you.” He led the way out of the cave, and I followed closely behind.