Page 19 of Enchanted Queen
“Or burned,” I reminded him.
“Piece of cake,” he returned.
John opened his mouth and then closed it before finally saying, “Who am I kidding? I am both terrified and excited for this.”
One of the guards coughed to hide his laughter.
Soon enough, we were at the tall white doors again. A guard gave a double knock. “The guests from Wylan.”
At least he sounded less annoyed today. That was an improvement.
“See them in,” Amory called.
The guard held one of the doors open for us. We found Amory in the same chair she had sat in the day before, and the queen was there, half of her enormous body out on the balcony, as she laid on the floor next to Amory.
We gave both the dragon and Amory slight bows. The queen didn’t bow back, but I wasn’t sure if that mattered. Could she bow in her dragon form? Or had she not wanted to? Either way, it was the least of my concerns.
Deciding that I should begin trying to get in the queen’s good graces immediately, I strode for her. I didn’t want to touch her head, as that seemed too close to her rather efficient looking teeth. So I crouched down and touched her arm, or arm of sorts. Did dragons even have arms?
“Thank you for seeing us today. Truly. I meant all that I said yesterday. If there is a way to fix this, I will find it.”
Amory’s voice rang out, “We have tried everything already, but since your Enchantment works differently than ours, it is worth working together and exchanging information to see if anything can be done, right, My Queen?”
The queen just blinked at me. It appeared she was not in a talking mood, so I quickly headed for the couch. Emric gave me a subtle shrug.
“Before we get started,” Amory began, her facial features going sad a moment. “There is something we need to be upfront with. You passed our tests for you and were upfront with us yesterday, so it is only fair we do the same.”
“What tests?” Emric asked, unable to help himself despite John’s glare.
“The horse stalling at the stream and the downed tree,” Amory explained with a sweeping hand motion.
“Those were tests?” I asked.
“Yes. We had one Enchanted spook your horse, and another knock down a tree. Just to see if you would help or hide away in your carriages. We also may have intentionally taken you a longer route to watch you.”
“I assumed you wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave us ten on ten,” I admitted.
The dragon behind the couch snorted.
“Because of your prince’s bravery yesterday,” Amory continued. I noted another snort from the dragon. “We feel it pertinent to explain more of what is going on in the castle.” She paused. “The previous king and queen of Dra Skor, both in their human forms now, have decided that at the ten-year anniversary of the disease, which we now understand may have been an intentional act against Dra Skor, they will be giving the throne to the queen’s brother, who is also in his human form.”
“What?”I snapped.
Amory continued, “So there is a tension here that you are not privy to, which is why I tried to explain that it isn’t the best time for a visit. Knowing the information you now bring, it is worth it, but please understand that there are those in this castle who are rather tired of waiting for things to change.” She paused. “There is now sadly a separation among our people which has never before been. Those of us stuck in our shifted forms, versus those of us stuck in our human forms. For that reason, very few people will be brought in on the real reason you are here.”
John voiced what we were all thinking. “Because you do not want their hopes up or for our own safety?”
“Both,” Amory said immediately. “Absolutely both.”
“When exactly is the ten-year anniversary?” Emric asked.
“In less than a year’s time,” Amory admitted. “But we have even less than that, six months or so, before the former king and queen of Dra Skor start making plans. At that time, My Queen will be forced to give the throne to an heir who is in their human form and can speak more... readily.”
I strode back over to the queen, dropping down to a crouch to touch the skin above her talons. Surely this would be seen as a form of almost bowing, stooping down to the level of her talons. “I am so sorry, Queen Estalena. None of this is your fault.”
I gave her time to respond, but she didn’t so I let go and moved to stand behind the couch.
Why do you insist on touching me?the dragon demanded.You must be either brave or foolish, so which is it?