Princess Ahira (35 page)

Additionally, thoughts of Azmaveth weighed down my mind like a troll. A part of me was ready to forgive him. Zerah was right, I knew that Azmaveth
regarded
me with the warmth of friendship, not intellectual curiosity.

However, another part of me
couldn’t
forgive him. I had told Azmaveth so many things. So
many
things, things about Kohath! If he and Azmaveth were the same person…

It was mostly my
embarrassment
that kept me bitter towards the purple dragon.

Stand Tall and Pour Wine

Perhaps
two weeks after my return Jezbell made her first public appearance. (At least, her first public appearance that I hadn’t managed to wriggle out of.)

It was a court dinner. My siblings and I were arranged around my father and mother before the tables spanned out to our court.

Caspian was sitting by my father, as far away from me as possible. Unfortunately, under my mo
ther’s insistence
I was sitting next to Jezbell.

We had just finished the soup, and I was carefully playing with my charm bracelet,
the
Guardian Charms.

I guess in all of the fuss the Dragon King must have forgotten that I had it. I was idly wondering if they would ever send someone to collect it when my terrible sister interrupted my thoughts.

“So, Ahira.
I hear you weren’t even good enough to be a servant for dragons
,
so they
returned you,
” she simpered.

I slowly raised my head to meet her gaze.

Everyone was staring at us.
The music
was still echoing in the hall,
but everyone’s
attention was fastened on us.

It was no
secret that we hated each other
and that Jezbell was Mother’s favorite. She had
embarrassed
me in court before, and usually I was powerless to defend myself.

I glanced up at Caspian, hoping he would help.

He was also w
atching the two of us
, swirling wine in his cup with a graceful air while staring at me. He was waiting for my reaction. He would not help.

Mother seemed to be completely oblivious to the tension in the air. Father ignored my gaze and stared at his food.

“Well?” Jezbell asked.

I didn’t reply

“And your dragon! Ugh! I he
ar he was a beastly creature.
As ugly as they c
ome.
I even heard that he
l
oved
you
! Imagine that!
Someone was actually stupid enough to fancy you,” she chattered on.

I swallowed and bit my tongue to keep from screaming.
I
wondered why on earth I took this treatment. She couldn’t hurt me like a valkyrie. She couldn’t nearly kill me like Aaron. Exactly what was keeping me from putting her in her place?
I also searched my memory to figure
out how she heard rumors about Azmaveth’s love life.

“
Talk about exceeding the rules of nature. But it doesn’t matter, does it? In the end even he dumped you back home. Poor, poor Ahira. No one wants you. Not even your dreadful dragon.”

Jezbell cut off when I abruptly stood. I folded my napkin and placed it on the table.

“Running away are you?” Jezbell asked with an arched eyebrow. “That’s all you do, isn’t it. Too stupid to respond?”

I turned to Jezbell and placed an utterly pleasant, polite smile on my lips as I reached for my wine goblet.

“Jezbell, you sound
exactly
like a creature I ran across in Tsol. Her name was Trila. She was a valkyrie. She talked and talked nonstop about situations and events that she knew nothing about. She was ridiculously stupid, and I felt sorry for her because really she was the only one who didn’t know
how inept and idiotic she was,” I said in a pleasant, charming voice.

Jezbell flushed red with anger.

“But in the end one of the dragons grew tired of her, and now she is no more. That generally happens to people who are as annoying as she was. Perhaps, sister of mine, you should cool down and try to sweeten your temperament so
you
are not
picked off in a similar matter. Here, let me help,
” I said before dumping my goblet over her head.

Wine dripped off her face and hair, trickling down her back. “Y-you!” she sputtered.

“Good day, sister,” I breezily said before leaving the table. As I walked through the dining hall the only noises were my steady footsteps and Jezbell’s surprised huffs. Even the musicians were frozen, watching my progress as I trekked across the room.

I left, closing the door behind me, and pandemonium exploded in my wake.

I took one deep breath before heading for the courtyard. I haled a stable boy who was lead
ing my brother’s white horse. Windfall
was already saddled, having just finished being exercised by the stable master.

“I need to use a horse for a while,” I said, glancing from the small boy to my brother’s beautiful mount.

“Yes Mila
d
y
. Windfall here will carry you gently as you please,” he said, nodding his head before quickly setting about adjusting the stirrups for me.

“Um, this is Caspian’s horse. He has a ridiculous crush on it, no one can ride
it,” I corrected,
reaching out to pat the horse’s thick neck.

“Yes M
ilady, no one except for you and Prince Caspian,” the stable boy agreed.

I observed
him
with suspicious eyes. “You must be joking. I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent trying to convince Caspian to let me ride him,” I said, gesturing to the horse.

“Yes
M
ilady. Prince Caspian announced that you would be allowed to ride Windfall the day you returned. Do you r
equire assistance to mount up, M
ilady? Or would you prefer a side saddle?”

“This is fine, thank you,” I said
, taking the reins. I lightly sprang into the saddle, sitting astride. (I knew this really would give my mother a
heart attack
if she saw me.) I waved to the stable boy, who smartly bowed, before riding out of the castle courtyard.

I rode through the city and popped out of castle, heading for the edge of the field where Zerah had dropped me off.

I dismounted, patting Windfall as I reflected. Tomorrow would be my
seventeenth
birthday. It was a year from tonight that I was taken to Tsol and met Azmaveth.

Azmaveth. I was starting to register his name with less anger and more regret. I shouldn’t have been so harsh. Really, it wasn’t completely his fault. I wasn’t mad at
him
per say, I was mad at myself. I had tol
d Azmaveth things about Kohath, like
the fact that I thought he was handsome.

I groaned, my cheeks turning red as I thought of it. No wonder Kohath always seemed so smug. Azmaveth
knew
what I thought of him, I told him myself!

Windfall nickered, calling me back to reality as an animal stumbled through the underbrush. I started to shy away, but Tuggles popped into view.

He was breathing heavily, his nostrils were wide and red and he had a wet rasp to his breath.

“Tuggles
?” I whispered.

The little unicorn tried to walk towards me. I broke away from Windfall and
hustled
to his side. “Tuggles, what’s wrong?” I asked as I approached him.

I broke off in a gasp.
A huge gash was
taken out of Tuggles
.
Bloo
d
dripped
down his side
, s
pattering the grass below him.
His face was filled with weariness
and I could feel his small body
leaning against me for support. 

His heaved,
gasping for air
as I cradled him close to me.
“Tuggles! What happened?” I demanded. 

The little unicorn
tried to breath
e
harder as his body trembled and collapsed.  “Tuggles? Tuggles!” I screamed petting my small little friend as he took in some last shudderi
ng breaths.
The Keeper was dying.

“No, no! AZMAVETH! ZERAH! SOMEONE!” I screamed. Surely they wouldn’t allow the Keeper to venture over to
Somnio
alone. Surely they needed him for the
battle!
“Tuggles, hold on!” I pleaded. “Come on Tuggles. You’re a unicorn, you can survive this,” I said, tears leaking out of my eyes, blurring my vision.

Tuggles’ throat hitched and his breath caught.

“NO! TUGGLES!” I screamed. The Guardian Charms on my
wrist clinked together, and
wind suddenly blast through the field.

I shut my eyes and leaned back against the onslaught.

Just as quickly as the wind came, it disappeared.

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked before panicking. Tuggles was no longer there.

I scrambled to my feet
and I ran smack dab into a grey wall
.
I rubbed my smarting nose and I looked up to see what I had collided with. 

It was a huge
,
dapple gre
y unicorn that had a long, thic
k, creamy white mane and tail.
His eyes were a
brilliant blue color,
and he blinked
in a strangely familiar way before nickering
.

I stumbled backwards as I stared open mouthed at the giant unicorn. Behind me, Windfall neighed.

The lar
ge unicorn caught sight of me
and started crooning.
He walked over to me and rubbed his head against my shoulder in a familiar manner as I stiffened. 

His eyes were b
lue, yet he seemed so familiar. It
couldn’t
be.

“Tuggles?” I asked. 

The unicorn happily
nickered
.

That’s when Rose’s words returned to my mind.

“
He is utterly useless unless he can break his blasted cu
rse and return to his real form
.”

“
You were cursed?” I asked.

Tuggles nodded.

“And now you’re not?”

He proudly tossed his head.

“What is going on?” I asked.

Tuggles snorted and looked west, towards Tsol. The sky was blood red.

I bit my lip, my previous thoughts still flickering in my brain. The dragons wouldn’t freely let Tuggles go. He was necessary in the battle with the valkyrie. But why would they send him here?

There really was only one way to find out.

“Take me to Azmaveth,” I said.
Tuggles
pranced over to a fallen stump that I hopped on before sliding onto Tuggles’ back. I near
ly
slipped off his glossy
fur. H
e had to crow-hop to keep me in place.

As I adjusted for a death grip of Tuggles’ name, Caspian called out.

“Ahira!” he shouted, zooming towards us on the back of a black gelding. Windfal
l happily greeted his owner
as he stuffed his face with grass.

Caspian pulled his horse to a halt. “So you’re leaving then?” he asked, his eyes briefly resting on Tuggles’ pearly horn.

“Yes. I need to be in Tsol for just a little while longer,” I said.

“So it is true, that dragon, Azmaveth did fall in love with you.”

I
did not reply and instead asked,
“How did Jezbell find out?” 

“A
rose red dragon came here two nig
hts ago while you were off, trying to avoid seeing Jezbell,” he paused.  She explained to father and I
that she had made a horrible mistake and she was h
ere to correct it. We said you were unavailable. She
told us everything and
asked that we give you this letter,”
Caspian said handing
me a crumpled piece of paper
.

“
And you waited until now to give it to me?” I harshly asked.

“I
love you Ahira.
You’re my
sister and best friend. I didn’t want you to go, again,” he said, staring down at his saddle.

I felt the hot flash of anger instantly leave me. I smiled and pushed Tuggles along side Caspian and his mount so I could properly embrace my brother. It did my heart good to know
he
still cherished our friendship.