Dragon Diaries: Freedom?

“Mum, can I see the letter from Aunty Leiah again?” I asked as I approached the huge, lean, figure at the helm of our slightly battered boat.

“Hmm?” She said, turning around and giving me that absent stare she used a lot lately. “Oh, right the letter. Where did I put it? Oh, probably on my desk. Don’t go snooping, you know I have my ways of knowing. Run along now, Penathea, I’ve got things to consider.” She turned back to the grey ocean, watching as it tossed and shoved the small boat slowly towards the small, dark, lump that was supposedly a free country. If that was a thing anymore.

I stumbled over to the door leading belowdecks, still not used to the rolling motion of the ocean. Before I disappeared into the dark stairway, I glanced back at the grey clouds, hoping there wasn’t another storm coming. As I stepped down the first two steps, a shape came bounding up the stairs and crashed into me.

“Brian! Watch it!” I exclaimed as I pushed him off me.

“Sorry, sorry, thought I heard something, must’ve been you though. Sorry.” Brian sniffed violently, his wings jerking back with the motion. I wish I had wings, although, from what Brian tells me, they only get in the way.

“It’s ok, Brian. Hey, I’m going to look at the letter again, do you want to join me?” I said, looking him in the eye to make sure he was paying attention. He sometimes lost focus in reality for some unknown reason, so you had to look him in the eye if you wanted to get anything coherent from him.

“Oh, uh, yeah, sure.” He turned and I followed him, both of us holding onto the railings when a particularly rough movement from the boat almost toppled us into each other. Soon enough we reached the creaky door belonging to my mother’s room. She slept near the captain’s cabin, in case of any late-night emergencies. Mostly the ‘emergencies’ were ‘not enough water’ or ‘more candles’.

I struggled with the heavy door for a second and then slowly got the door open. Brian stood behind me and squeaked in alarm once he saw the statue of the leader of ‘The Resistance’.

“Don’t worry,” I said, “It’s just a statue. She’s not going to rip your head off or anything. Come on, the letter’s got to be here somewhere.” I rummaged in the drawers until I saw a small, green corner peeking out from underneath a map of some sort. I had never seen the places on the map, and some of the names looked foreign and strange. I pushed the map aside and picked up the green paper. We didn’t use green paper back on Dolor, it was all ivory-coloured, thanks to the dry reeds and light-wooded trees. Well, when you could find plants of some sort instead of ashes.

I unfolded the paper and held it out so Brian could read next to me.

“Dear Cousin Penlea, 

“You may not remember me or my father, but you helped us get safely to the quay so we could leave Dolor. As payment for that generosity, I would like to request that you leave Dolor as a lost cause and come live in the brand-new palace that the ever-beautiful and magnanimous Queen Unicorn has built. She has invited everyone who can pay a small fee to stay in one of the apartments in her royal palace, providing shelter and leisure to all of those who are staying. 

“She offers two choices: one, stay in an apartment for a short amount of time; or two, stay for life, which requires a slightly larger amount to pay. Because Queen Unicorn is so generous,  she allows the part-time tenants the option to upgrade to full-time if they wish.

“With this in mind, I have paid for two rooms, one for you and one for your lovely daughter, but it is only part-time as I had no way of knowing if you would like to move here permanently or one day return to Dolor.

“I hope you can enjoy the luxuries this opportunity offers you, and that you can make the crossing from Dolor to Leutheria safely and without much trouble.

“Your ever-grateful cousin, 

Leiah Proteker.” I looked at Brian, hoping to hear one of his ‘special’ insights into the letter. I’d had a bad feeling about ‘Cousin Leiah’ ever since the letter first turned up at our door.

I mean, why wait 17 years to repay Mother? Why not 2 or even 5? 10 would be a stretch, but 17? That’s a bit too long for me to believe. 

I often have feelings like this about certain things. Sometimes it’s as common as a path. But it’s always right. Just little things that make me stay away from something. If it is about a path, we soon find out that a mudslide had covered and killed a couple of dragons, or the Resistance hijacked a poor traveller. And this letter was giving me one of those feelings.

“Well, it sounds the same as the last time you read it to me, Thea. If you’re waiting for something, you might want to tell me what it is, because it’s probably not coming.” Brian responded, giving me a slightly bored look. I sighed and looked out of the little porthole over Mother’s desk.

“I don’t know. I’ve just got one of those feelings again.” I dropped the letter on top of the map, watching as it fluttered and floated back and forth until it came to a stop.

I wasn’t going to pass this feeling off as a silly fantasy, I knew what could happen if I did. And I was going to find out who Leiah is or was, and why she chose now of all times to contact us. And I was definitely going to talk with my mother, who had left it until we had boarded the boat and was a day’s journey out to sea to mention that this new country we were going to DID actually have a queen and wasn’t just a bunch of dragons running around doing what they pleased. And I was going to find the flaws of the kingdom and protect myself from whatever they may be. After all, that’s why I’m a Protector dragon.

~~~

I woke up to a gentle bump, the lamp on my bedside table toppling over the edge and falling towards the floor. Quick as a flash I reach my arm out from underneath the covers and encase the lamp in an energy field. It stops inches from the floor. I sighed in relief and gently moved my hand, making the lamp come to a gentle stop on top of the table again. 

I pushed the covers back and swung my legs out of bed. My curled tail followed and I stood up, yawning and stretching. There was the sound of running outside of my door, and I opened it a crack to find out what all the noise was for. Two of the four crewmembers were running up and down my little corridor, fetching things and then running back to the stairs and depositing them at the top. One of them, a boy Wind dragon about my size was frantically flapping the smaller set of his four wings, getting them tangled in everything from nets to cargo boxes. There was also a breeze in the corridor and as a shout came from above deck, it turned into a gale, slamming my door shut with the force of it. I jumped back quickly, making sure my tail wasn’t caught in the door and returned to my bed. I sat there for a while until I heard the noise in the hall desist. 

I cautiously opened my door and made sure no one was about with a quick glance in each direction. I gingerly stepped out of the doorway, making my way slowly over to the stairs. I placed my hand on the rail, but still no one was around.

When I peeked my head out of the door, the only person on the boat, as far as I could see, was the captain.

“Ah, there you are, little miss! Your mother told me to tell you she was off to do some exploring and that you were to stay on the boat. Your little Healer friend went off in search of food, probably he was just glad to get off me boat! What a strange dragon, who had ever heard of a Healer getting seasick? Ha! I’d better get back to me cabin, just in case you happen to want to wander off and find your mother or your friend. See you later!” And with that, the captain strode past me, stomping down the stairs.

“Wait!” I called after him, “Where’s the crew gone?!” I strained my ears for the muffled reply

“They disappeared as soon as we docked! Ha! I know I’m not the most agreeable person to work under and frankly, I don’t blame ‘em!” Then his voice faded off into the most horrible shanty about things that should NOT be discussed. 

I spotted the gangplank leaning precariously on one side of the ship, looking as though it might fall into the sea if a big enough wave came along. I decided not to wait for that wave and took my chances with the tilting gangplank.

I stumbled onto the stone dock, grateful to be off the unstable boat and gangplank. When I stood up, I ventured around the big cargo boxes blocking my view and almost got knocked over by the Wind dragon from earlier. 

He stumbled back, gasping and apologising, his back set of wings flapping wildly.

“Calm down, it’s OK. My name’s… Thea. What’s your’s?” I asked, trying to be nice. I looked at him in what was probably a slightly intense way, but eventually, he looked me in the eye.

“Uh, my name’s Whitewing. I know, creative, right?” He said, waving his two front wings, which were both white. The smaller back ones had little patches of sky-blue scales, just like the rest of his body. To be perfectly honest, he looked like a patch of sky had fallen and was walking around.

“Well, I think it’s a lovely name. Where were you hurrying back from just now?” I said peering over his shoulder to see if I could spot anything out of the ordinary.

“Oh, well, I was told by the harbourmaster to deliver a message to Captain Brine. Apparently, we have to pay some sort of tax or something to even dock here. Usually, you can expect a little fee if you’re staying a couple of days, but just to dock? That’s a bit rude. Not that I’m complaining, this is one of the best markets I’ve seen in a while. And no Resistance plundering innocent dragons!” He smiled a bit at the last comment, and I smiled with him. It was nice to know that there weren’t any obvious thieves about, but based on Whitewing’s explanation, there might be greater scoundrels to watch out for.

“Yes, it’s a nice change. I’ll let you deliver the message to the captain. Good day!” We parted, him running towards the boat and me walking purposely towards what I had hoped was freedom.

As I came to the first market stall, I noticed a strange-looking silver dragon staring at me. I frowned at her once and returned to looking at the delicious fish the stall owner was trying to sell me. Unfortunately, I had no money with me, not that they were likely to take carved pebbles as worth much over here anyway. I shook my head politely when the kind-looking, black-scaled dragon offered me a lowered price. 

I wandered over to another stall, still feeling the eyes of the silver dragon on me. I glanced over my shoulder but saw no one there. Odd, I could’ve sworn she was standing right there… I turned around and jumped. She was standing right at the opening of the alley next to me. I shied away, worried that she was going to try and mug me. Instead, she stepped towards me, placing one gold coin on the counter of the stall I was standing in front of. The stall owner handed her a small cake, and then the silver dragon handed it to me. 

“You’re not from around here either, are you?” She asked, her voice rich and smooth like honey. I frowned and she nodded to a figure further into the market. A figure that had the familiar dark rowan scales and grey wing webbing of Brian. He thrust his hand into a paper bag he was carrying and pulled it out, some sort of beige seed clutched between his claws. He shoved the whole handful of stuff in his mouth, the crunch reaching my ears even through the crowded street.

“I’ve had the pleasure of meeting your charming friend Peanut over there. Apparently, you don’t have peanuts where you come from, and he was pleasantly surprised to find how crunchy they were.” The silver dragon looked as if she was trying not to smile, the sides of her mouth twitching and creasing.

“You must be mistaken, his name’s not Peanut, it’s Brian.” I said, trying to understand this strange dragon. She merely laughed, steering me away from the eager ears of the stall owner.

“I decided Peanut fit him better, seeing as he’s eating them with their shells on and still enjoying them. I did try to fix his mistake, but he said he preferred to eat them that way. That’s why I called him Peanut. What’s your name?” She studied me as if I was the strange one, her head tilting ever-so-slightly to the side in a questioning way.

“I’m um, Thea. Who are you?” I asked, giving her a once-over.

“You can call me Galactic. I can tell you’re a bit uptight about something, but I can also recognise a questioning spirit in you, Thea. Maybe we can talk sometime. Where are you staying?” I frowned, suspicious of her openness. Wasn’t it dangerous to tell a stranger your address? And even if I knew exactly where I was staying, how would she know I was telling the truth?

“Um, I’m not entirely sure about where I’m staying exactly, but it’s somewhere in the new palace.” I replied, looking at her expression and trying to see any changes or twitches.

“Ah. The Sun Palace. Well, I guess we’ll be seeing each other often. I’m staying there too. I’m guessing you’re here for the grand opening? There’s going to be a big party two days from now. Queen Unicorn will introduce herself, or well, the announcers will, and then she’s going to host a big party in the ballroom. You’ll be there right?” Galactic said, smiling.

“Uh, yeah, probably. My mother will make me go whether I want to or not, as long as it helps her image.”

“Oh, she’s THAT type of dragon. I know them well, unfortunately. I’m sure we’ll find time to talk though. I can tell you and I will get along nicely. See you at the party.” And with that, Galactic turned around and disappeared into the shadows of an alley. I took a bite of my almost-forgotten cake and smiled at the sugary crunch. It tasted like lavender and sunshine, and I quickly decided this was my new favourite treat. 

I wandered further into the market, quickly getting lost in the crowd.

***

“Penathea! Are you ready yet? It’s been half an hour! Come on, I don’t want to be late!” My mother’s muffled yell came from behind a heavy mahogany door, her knock sounding solid and fierce.

“Yeah, um, I’m almost done, just getting the last touches ready!” I said nervously, hoping she didn’t have any way of knowing what I was really doing. 

I had spent all of yesterday exploring the Sun Palace, poking my nose in every nook and cranny. So far I had found three secret passages, one of which led outside to a small ledge hanging over the cliff the Palace was balanced on. I had also seen the Elephantain Wing, for all of the bigger types of dragon, the Petite Wing, for the smaller types, and the Royal Wing. 

As far as I could tell, the Royal Wing had more rooms that were empty than full, and no one except VIDs (Very Important Dragons) or the actual royal family was allowed in. Well, them and the servants. One of the secret passages I had found led into there from the kitchens, so maybe Queen Unicorn liked midnight smacks or something. 

Therefore, I spent the last half an hour trying to make a map of the place, making sure to mark the entrances and exits of the secret passages. So, I was nowhere near ready for the Grand Opening party, but I had finished my map. 

I quickly threw the doors to the closet open, searching for an acceptible dress. This was a formal event and Queen Unicorn had requested everyone to wear something appropriate. There was a beautifully made, dusky pink dress that went with the little tassels on my tail, so I pulled it out, careful to not rip it and slipped it over my head. It fits perfectly. I had wondered why they took our measurements when we first arrived two days ago.

I rushed out of my room, tripping over my tail, and bumping into Mother. She frowned at me and strode away, her steps three times the size of mine.

When we entered the ballroom, I was almost stepped on by a dragon closer to the size of Mother. I jumped to the side and wove my way through the crowd, spotting a table full of food and drinks. I sagged against it, grabbing one of those cakes Galactic had first introduced me to. Then the fanfare started.

“INtroducing Queen Unicorn, King Comet, Princess Galactic, and Prince Sky. ALL RISE for the Queen!” Then a beautiful gold dragon stepped onto the stage at the far end of the room, followed by a handsomely dressed Midnight dragon and then the silver dragon I had met at the market. She had another Midnight dragon at her side, and their heads were bent together, probably talking about something important based on Galactic’s face.

After the introductions, Galactic appeared by my side.

“Look, I know I didn’t tell you I was a princess, but I hope that won’t hurt our friendship.” She looked at me with hope in her eyes, like she really needed me to say I’d be her friend forever.

“Well, first you’ll have to tell me what’s going on. I’ve heard whispers from the servants and I’ve seen the secret passages. I want to know what’s happening.” Galactic sighed.

“I promise I’ll tell you. But I can’t say it. Not here, not now. Come to my room after and I’ll explain everything I know. I promise.” She was staring at me intensely, her mouth set in a grim line. I nodded once and she smiled tightly, walking away to rejoin her family. Finally, I was going to figure this all out.