Authors: Andy Holland
"That's the thing, sir; it's not a type of Dragon we've ever seen before. It was small and golden. It was faster than anything I've ever seen."
"Are you sure you didn't imagine this, Bragon? You had been flying for a long time and must have been terrified."
Crystal intervened. "I told Seth no one would be able to believe it. I was there and I find it hard to believe. It appeared out of nowhere, attacked the Blues, and then vanished. I have no idea what it was doing. But it would seem wrong to say nothing just because we're worried that we'd be laughed at."
The Headmaster paused to think about this, stroking his beard. "Yes, yes. Well, I suppose at least you're being responsible, but I do find it hard to believe. Still, no harder to believe than Arthur and Daisy's story of the gathering army. Can you corroborate that?"
Crystal was startled. She didn't expect this to be doubted, not when it came from the twins. "Of course, sir. Well, assuming that they described a vast army camped not far from the border, engaged in military manoeuvres, which can only be viewed as rehearsing an invasion. Isn't it being taken seriously?"
"Oh, when it comes from siblings to the heir to the Western throne, it gets taken seriously. Especially considering the nature of the claim. But this isn't the first wild claim to have come from you lot. First there was the claim about the Blue Dragons near your family home, so far away from the border, and now this. You can't be surprised that people are starting to question whether you can be relied on. Don't look at me like that. I'm just explaining how people are starting to see it.
"Sir, we're not making anything up!" Crystal objected. "You'd believe John if he were here, wouldn't you, sir?"
The Headmaster shrugged. "His credibility is starting to be questioned as well by association with you all. Anyway, your parents have all been notified that you went missing. They'll probably be here either this evening or some time tomorrow. You'll have to explain yourselves to them at least. And then the military council. After the twins revelation they'll be summoned to Newcastle. You'll probably have to explain your story to them. By the way, where is John?"
Crystal looked downcast. "We don't know, sir. He flew straight at the Blue Dragons that were chasing us to try and lead them off. Two of them followed him. We never saw him after that."
She avoided his eyes as she spoke, her voice wavering. The Headmaster softened a little bit and put his hand on her shoulder. "I see. Look, Crystal, John is an exceptional flyer. There's no reason to assume the worst. It wouldn't be the first time that he's outflown Blue Dragons, would it? Now, don't worry about John; just go and find your friends. They'll be worried about you. They're all upstairs."
Seth and Crystal walked up the staircase to the common area outside of all of the students' rooms. They dreaded meeting Arthur and Daisy, knowing how worried Daisy would be. When they walked in they were greeted by cheers, and a room full of over a hundred students.
"You made it!" shouted Jenna, running over and hugging her cousin. "I've been so worried. When the twins arrived without you I expected the worst."
"Well done, Seth," Daniel said, shaking his hand. "Another close one, eh?" Seth nodded. "And finally you managed to rid us of the blond one. Not a bad day if you ask me." He patted him on the shoulder and laughed with Joel.
Seth shrugged, colouring slightly, and walked away from Daniel, pushing his way through the crowd of students to join Crystal and Jenna. Crystal glared at him. "Just once, Seth, couldn't you have stood up for John?"
"What does it matter now? He's gone," Seth replied flatly. He looked down at the ground, clearly disgusted with himself.
"Seth, Crystal!" It was Daisy, who was on the far side of the room. Her eyes were wide, searching their faces for hope. "I'm so glad you made it. After they followed you we didn't think you'd make it. I felt really bad about it. I didn't mean for you two to end up facing them alone."
Seth shook his head. "Daisy, you were the only one who objected to the plan. It was my idea. There's no reason for you to apologise."
Daisy nodded, trying to give a little smile. "Have you just got back?"
Crystal nodded. "We met the Headmaster downstairs. He sent us up here."
"We spoke to him first as well," Arthur added. "He called in several of the other teachers so they all heard our news at once. They sent out teams to look for you. I guess you must have missed them."
Seth nodded. "We did meet a patrol. But they weren't there in time to help us."
"Then how did you escape?" Arthur asked. "We thought you'd have no chance. Not just the two of you, and you know, without John."
Daisy's face dropped when her brother mentioned John, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. Crystal tried in vain to ignore her expression. "You won't believe how we escaped. The Headmaster certainly didn't believe our story." Seth and Crystal told them about the Golden Dragon and their miraculous escape.
"Yes, that certainly would be hard to believe," Arthur agreed, "if it weren't for a few of the other things we've seen this year. I think nothing could surprise me now."
A commotion over at the entrance to the room distracted them.
"What's going on?" Daisy asked, trying to hear over the cheers. They moved towards the crowd, to see what was happening, and the students parted as they approached to let them through.
"Hello, Daisy," John said calmly, paying little attention to the students patting him on the back and clapping him. "How was your flight here?"
"John!" she screamed, running across the room to meet him. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around to further cheers from the other students.
"Surely you didn't doubt I could escape just two Blue Dragons did you, Daisy?" he asked. She pulled back from the hug to kiss him to yet further cheers.
"No, I never doubted you," she said with a smile, wiping the tears from her face.
"There goes any chance of maintaining her reputation," Arthur said shaking his head, clapping John on the shoulder. "Glad to have you back."
"Thanks, Arthur. I'm glad you all made it back as well. Seth, Crystal, I've heard about your little encounter from the Headmaster. He didn't sound too convinced."
"Forget the Headmaster, John. What do you say?" Crystal asked. "Golden Dragons. Ever heard of them?"
John shrugged. "I heard there were just seven types of Dragons, and Golden wasn't one of them."
The others laughed with him. "Today, we relax," John told them. "Tomorrow, chaos will reign. They'll be holding a military council here, and they'll try to tear our story apart. Its years since this country has been to war, and they won't want to believe it's true. They'll imply that we're liars, that we're fantasists, that we're silly children who are just looking for attention. It doesn't matter what family you are all from; they'll try to undermine us all. But it doesn't matter. There are enough voices of reason in there, combined with those itching for a fight, who will be willing to listen. They'll come around. Don't worry about convincing them, even when they're making you feel wretched. No, what we need to worry about is how they respond when they finally believe you. Unless they agree to my suggestion, unless they agree to reach out for help, we're doomed. Without the Browns, the Blues will win. Tomorrow, when your families arrive, that's the one thing you need to convince them of."
Seth shook his head. "John, forget the Browns. You didn't see this thing fly. We don't need the Browns. We need Golden Dragons. That one this morning was unstoppable, and it seemed to have no problem helping us fight the Blue Dragons. Please, tell me you know something about them."
John laughed. "Golden Dragons. I'd like to see you present that suggestion to the Military Council. At least they believe Browns exist. Come on, Daisy, let's go for a walk. I feel we've earned some time to relax. See you at dinner, everyone."
Crystal watched Daisy and John leave the room together. Arthur shook his head disapprovingly.
"Give it up, Arthur," Seth told him, patting him on the back. "She'll never leave him now. You may as well get used to it. Come on. Let's get lunch. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."
Lord Lance's home was not a very welcoming place, having being designed with security rather than comfort as the top priority. The children were led to a rather cold hall near the entrance, where they were to await the arrival of the military council. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long till others began to arrive. Their relatives were the first, ahead of the Members of the Council. News of their disappearance in the storm had been swiftly communicated to them, and everyone was anxious to see that they were all alright—everyone except John, of course. Daisy noticed that John sat all alone reading while her family fussed over her and Arthur. She beckoned for him to come over, hoping to introduce him to her mother as her boyfriend. Arthur noticed and gave her a furious look, shaking his head silently. John looked at her and smiled while shaking his head.
"Don't say anything about him being your boyfriend," Arthur whispered in her ear. "Not if you want to stay at school."
Daisy looked at him in surprise. "They wouldn't take me away! Not over something like this."
Arthur stared at her in disbelief. "If they believe us about the invasion I wouldn't be surprised if they take us back home anyway. Announcing that you're going out with him? I don't think this is the best moment. Besides, I thought you agreed to keep it quiet. Why tell them now?"
"What are you two whispering about?" their mother asked. "Come on now, you're with family. You should have no secrets."
Gerald laughed. "Families always have secrets, mother, especially from their parents. Although in Daisy's case, I doubt she has many." He shot Daisy a quick warning glance.
Daisy lifted her head defiantly. "I was wondering if you would like to meet our friends, Mother."
Her mother brightened. "Of course, dear, that would be lovely. There were three others with you, weren't there?"
Daisy nodded. "Come on, I'll introduce you to them."
Seth had just walked in, and was crossing the hall when Daisy intercepted him.
"Hi, Seth. Would you like to meet my mother? This is Princess Charlotte."
Seth looked a little surprised. "Um, alright, Daisy. Of course." He turned to Daisy's mother, looking a little intimidated. Daisy noted that her mother often had that effect on men; she was as tall as Daisy, and had a striking appearance, looking not that much older than her daughter, but with a harder, more determined look about her. "Seth Bragon. Pleased to meet you, your highness."
Daisy's mother beamed back at him. "Bragon, that's a familiar name. Very pleased to meet you. Are you a good friend of my daughter's?"
"Well, I know Daisy through Arthur, really. I sit near Crystal, so I am friends with her, and Crystal is Jenna's cousin, and of course Jenna is going out with Arthur."
"Oh," the princess said, turning to Arthur with an irritable look on her face. "This is the first I've heard of Jenna. When were you going to mention her?"
Arthur blushed furiously. "Thanks, Seth. It's not particularly serious, Mother, I hadn't thought it worth mentioning."
"Why the blushes then, Arthur?" Gerald asked, feigning ignorance. "For a not particularly serious relationship, you two do seem to spend a lot of time together."
Arthur glared at his older brother. "Sorry, Gerald. Maybe I should follow your example and choose a different one each week."
"Gerald!" his mother scolded. "Arthur's just teasing me, isn't he?"
Gerald nodded. "Of course, Mother. I change them
daily
."
His mother slapped his arm and shook her head. "Well, it's lovely to meet you, Seth. Although of course we'd have preferred to have met under different circumstances. I expect your parents were terribly worried as well."
Seth shrugged. "I guess so. Not enough to fly here though. They know I'm alright though. Hardly the first scrape we've been in this year, is it?"
Princess Charlotte shot a startled look at Arthur and Daisy. "What's he talking about?"
"Oh look, Mother, this is Crystal," Daisy said brightly, grabbing Crystal's arm and pulling her towards her mother. "Crystal is Jenna's cousin."
Princess Charlotte gasped upon seeing Crystal. "Wow, your hair! I've never seen anything like it."
Crystal blushed and looked down at the ground.
Princess Charlotte apologised quickly. "I'm sorry, my dear. I spoke without thinking. I've just never seen hair like that before. Is it dyed?"
Crystal shook her head, pushing her hair over her shoulder.
"Oh, don't do that, dear," Princess Charlotte objected. "You should be proud of your hair, it's absolutely stunning. Does your cousin have hair like yours?"
Crystal shook her head. "No, just me."
"Oh, shame. Oh, that boy over there. Is he related to you? He has hair just like yours."
Crystal glanced over at John. "He does, but he's no relation. He's the first person I've met with hair like mine. He just happened to be in the same class."
Princess Charlotte was staring over at John. "So, is he the fifth member of your little group? Did he get swept away with you as well?"
"No," Crystal replied. "He's the one who came looking for us."
The princess turned back to her quickly. "What? In Blue Dragon territory? He flew in to find you?"
Crystal nodded. "Found us and brought us back."
Princess Charlotte turned to Arthur and Daisy. "Come on, twins, introduce me to this one."
Daisy called, "John, come over here." Crystal excused herself and followed after Seth.
John looked up from his book and rose to his feet, approaching the princess cautiously, bowing as he approached. "Your highness, it's an honour to meet you."
Daisy giggled. "Mother, this is John. John, this is my mother."
"So, John," Princess Charlotte began. "I understand you flew into Blue Dragon territory to look for my children."
John nodded. "That's right. The direction of the storm and where Jenna told me that they had been sucked up led me to believe that they could only have been taken eastwards into Blue Dragon territory."
Princess Charlotte nodded, smiling to herself. "Yes, John, I wasn't really commenting on how you worked out where they were, although I'm guessing that finding them was quite a feat in itself. No, I'm more interested in how you summoned the courage to fly into Blue Dragon territory on your own looking for your friends."
John shrugged. "Well, I guess I assumed that they wouldn't have much of a population living near the border, so I'd have a good chance of looking around without being noticed."
The princess shook her head and laughed. "What absolute nonsense. Still, I guess you have your reasons. Do they involve a pretty young girl with golden hair?"
"Mother!" Daisy objected in horror. "You can't ask John that sort of question!"
"I'm just curious," the princess replied innocently. "It's a pretty big risk to take; I was wondering what would motivate someone to do that."
John smiled. "Friends are important to me, your highness. I'd have taken that risk for any one of these four."
"John was the one who saved Crystal's father," Daisy told her mother proudly. "You must have heard about that. When there was the raid on Furnace last term?"
"Oh, that's who's Crystal's father is!" the princess realized, noticing that Crystal and Seth were both speaking to Lord Robert on the other side of the hall. "Not much of a family resemblance. And you're the one who saved him! I see, John. You're a bit of a risk taker, aren't you? I hope you're not going to be leading my twins into taking silly risks."
Gerald burst out laughing at this comment. His mother turned to him and glared. "I don't see what is so funny, Gerald. First I'm brought here and told that my twins have both disappeared because they were silly enough to fly through a terrible storm. Then that boy Seth tells me that this sort of thing is normal for them. I want to know exactly what he meant by that. They were never getting into trouble before they came to this school, and I want to know whether it is because they're associating with the wrong people."
"Hey," Daisy objected. "John isn't the wrong sort of person. He's very respectable. The Headmaster has appointed him as our flying instructor."
Her mother eyed her suspiciously. "Really. I remember being contacted about that. I had no idea it was one of your classmates. I thought it would at least have been someone in the year above you. Anyway, no one has answered my question. What was Seth referring to?"
Gerald shrugged. "Perhaps he was referring to their weekend away to the south. They had a spot of bother there. Did the twins not mention that?"
His mother turned to him and glared at him angrily. "No, and you know they didn't. That's your job to tell me about these things, although I now suspect that you've been doing your best to hide things from me. I still can't understand why you've let them wander around without their guards all year. I don't care if that is what they want; they're children and need to do as they're told."
"Perhaps I should leave," John suggested. "This seems like a private discussion."
The princess regarded John suspiciously. "You were on this trip to the south as well, weren't you? And you saved the Commander? You do seem to be involved in every situation. Are you the one who gets them into these messes in the first place?"
Gerald intervened before John could reply. "Mother, John is many things, but reckless is not one of them. I can assure you that he never takes risks with anyone's lives but his own. He's the one who gets them out of trouble."
"They're safe now, your highness," John added. "Surely that's the most important thing."
The princess glared at him. "Thank you very much for bringing my children home. But right now I want to find out how they got there, and whether being friends with you is not putting them in more danger in the first place."
"Mother!" Daisy objected. "John would never put me in danger. And he's not reckless at all. If he'd been with us we'd have never flown in that storm. He wouldn't have let me do something like that."
"Wouldn't have
let
you?" her mother asked suspiciously. "How would he have influence over what you do?"
Gerald quickly intervened again. "Arthur, I think it's time to tell your mother about the camping trip."
Arthur's eyes widened in disbelief. "Gerald! I can't believe you brought that up. You promised you wouldn't mention it."
Their mother turned to him. "Not another word out of you, young man. Gerald, you're to tell me everything at once. I don't want to have any more surprises from their classmates. What's this about a camping trip? Since when has Daisy taken up camping? I've never been too keen on Arthur wandering off on his own, let alone his sister."
"Excuse me, your highness," John interrupted. "I doubt I can add anything here, and I expect that you'll want to discuss this in private. It was nice to meet you. See you later, Gerald; Arthur; Daisy."
Princess Charlotte turned back to her children. "So, Gerald, this camping trip…"
John spent the next couple of hours reading outside, until Daisy came out to find him.
"Hi, John. I was wondering where you were." She sat beside him and kissed him on the cheek.
John glanced around, checking that no one was watching them. "Not worried that your mother might see you kissing me?"
Daisy shrugged. "Not as worried as Arthur is—or you for that matter. You didn't want to meet my mother earlier, did you?"
John shook his head. "I was pleased to meet her, but I didn't want to intrude when she first arrived. But I think your brothers are right, I don't think it's best for her to know I'm your boyfriend. Not now anyway. I don't think she was too impressed with me."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Daisy replied. "Gerald and I did a great job of singing your praises after you left. We told her all about how you risked your life to rescue you us in the valley, as well as coming to get us after the storm. We've assured her that you're very sensible and respectable."
John looked at curiously. "How much did you tell her?"
Daisy sighed. "For all his bold talk, Gerald was no keener to tell mother about us than Arthur. We told her about camping in that valley, about the weekend away at Crystal's and everything about the last couple of days. Everything except us."
John nodded. "How perceptive is your mother? Does she suspect anything?"
Daisy shrugged indifferently. "I don't know. I think she was pretty shocked about the year we've been having. I wouldn't want to be there when she catches up with Arthur."
"He was with you, wasn't he?"
Daisy shook her head. "Seth rescued him, saying the headmaster wanted to see him. Apparently he's stayed behind for the meeting. I thought he had left us here after we arrived."