A Fifth Daughter [Book 1: The Dragon Rider]

Seems like back some time ago a woman came to my house, in fact I think it was the night before I left for Legend. Mom had called her ‘Mom’ then. And that woman had said something about me being a successor or something like that. She’d sounded powerful, if I remember correctly, and she had those following shadows that in my fuzzy memory appear as long, feathery wraiths.

My memory probably isn’t correct on the long, feathery wraiths part, but it’s not off on the woman being my grandmother.

“Why is she here?” I pause mid-step, remembering something he said on the flight over. “Is she one of those bad, classified things you talked about earlier?”

Cai scoffs. “No. She’s Queen of Fantasy.”

Oh? Is that all?

I blink. “Wait! What?!”

He chuckles. “Ah… humans. So cute and amusing.” I kind of hoped he’d add ‘gullible’ or ‘easy to deceive’ to his list, but he doesn’t, and I’m left realizing he might not be lying.

“My… my grandmother is… the queen… of Fantasy…?”

“Yes.” He answers impatiently. “Do I have to spell it all out?”

“But that’s not… she can’t… that doesn’t… no… wait… how?”

“Geez woman, think before speaking, please.” He seems to realize that he can hear all my thoughts and shakes his head, sighing. “Never mind. Just… come on. She can explain.”

I nod slowly, and move to follow until another thought comes to me and I stop again. “Wait, how do you know she’s my grandmother and that she’s queen?”

Cai frowns down at me and the answer becomes obvious. Right. He’s in my head.

“But, I didn’t – don’t – know my grandmother is – could be – queen, so how do you know?”

“You’ve known.” He says thoughtfully, “It’s just buried so deep under all those fears and memories that you disregarded it. Besides, you were like… three months old when you first met her – which was also the last time you ever saw her until a month ago – so it’s understandable that you don’t remember.”

I nod slowly and we start begin walking again, finally getting somewhere.

Aside from the desk in the middle of the small, dark, burnt pine smelling room, there is a fire blazing in the hearth and a woman flicking through papers at the desk, along with two armchairs set before the large desk. No one else appears to be in the room but the woman – excuse me, my grandmother (the queen!) and I.

“I was told something very interesting on the way over here.” I say, shutting the door. Cai said to enter without knocking, so I did, but now my stupid mouth has decided it’d like to talk about some interesting information without considering to be polite first.

The queen looks up from her mahogany desk and meets my gaze. She has the same violet eyes freckled with gold, the same long, black hair, and the same sharp jaw. All characteristics that I got from my mother and she seems to have gotten from this woman. She smiles and it’s sweet, but on the verge of almost venomous.

Nagging thoughts and ideas spiral around in my head, yelling at me that I’m an idiot. I agree. If this is really the queen, then there is no way she’s related to us. She owns a castle and lives high above the world, while my family struggles through life and lives in the Burrows of Folklore. If this queen is somehow related to my mother – to us – then she has some explaining to do.

“Hello, Smoke.” The queen’s honey toned voice smooths over my thoughts and pulls me from my staring contest with her desk.

I smile tightly. “You have some things to explain.”

“Straight to the point, you and your mother are quite alike.” She pauses and I feel like glaring, but refrain. “Sit, please.” She indicates to one of the two leather armchairs facing her. I relax my stiff back and move to sit, although I have the urge to sit on the arm – to be as annoying and as rebellious as possible – but control the teenager inside me.

She stares, her grey-black hair pulled back in a braid and violet eyes assessing me like a skittish animal, which I might be. My knee begins to jump up and down, as my muscles wish to stand and pace; I feel caged. After a moment she leans back. “My name is Rayn. It’s nice to officially meet you.”

I raise an eyebrow. “I am so over formalities.”

She grins lightly and straightens the papers on her desk. She’s fidgeting, as if uncomfortable – which makes two of us. “Yes, I guess you have a few questions.”

I hold in a scoff. “I’m not sure “a few” begins to cover it.”

She nods slowly. “Of course. Well,” she waves out, giving permission for my assault.

“Are you really the Queen of Fantasy?”

“Yes.”

“Are you really my grandmother?”

“Yes.”

“What happened between you and Mom?”

She pauses as her brow shoots up. “What makes you think something happened between us?”

Now I do scoff. “Observation.” I lie. There’s no need for her to know about my accidental eavesdropping the night she came over. “I didn’t even know you were alive – let alone queen – which means you and Mom must have had some sort of falling out.”

“I could have died, like all the citizens of Fantasy believe I did.”

Funny, I’d never heard she was dead, just that she liked to stay indoors.

“Considering you’re not dead, and my mother doesn’t ever talk about you, I’d say you had a falling out.”

Her lips twitch. “Very perceptive – also just like your mother.” She steeples her hands, looking thoughtful. “Allied has always had an eye for things, always been able to see even the smallest of details, and as she grew older those little things – little details – turned into her seeing the future, or at least glimpsing into it – she is, after all, a Knowing One. She tried to warn me of things that were to come, but I didn’t listen and so she left and we barely speak, except for some special occurrences.”

I bite my lip to keep some questions at bay, others are more important right now, like; “Why am I your successor and not your oldest child, or Mom?”

She blinks. “How do you know that?”

Whoops… so much for lying. “I’m perceptive.”

She smirks. “My great-grandmother enforced a law that any fifth daughter of her line would automatically be named queen once they hit coronation age of twenty-one, and since then a fifth daughter has been born all the way to you – the fifth Pure One in our blood line. But… after some things that your mother did, she was disowned and now the title has been passed to you.”

“Is there any way I can get rid of it?”

She shakes her head. “Not unless you can have five daughters before you turn twenty-one.”

I shoot her a glare.

So, not only do I get the title Dragon Rider, but also Crown Princess. And all in the same day. That’s just wonderful news!

NOT!

“Why does everyone think you’re dead?” I ask, nearly snapping it out.

She glances me up and down, obviously not approving of my tone. “Supposedly, I died at birth and my aunt is ruling Fantasy.”

“I have a feeling she’s actually the dead one.”

Rayn nods. “Yes.”

I bite my lip. The shock is slowly settling in as the adrenaline of a fight drains. I’m next in line for the throne!

“What–” I clear my throat. “What did Mom do to get disowned?”

Rayn fidgets again, this time moving around in her seat and staring at the ceiling. “Allied first showed signs of Foresight when she was four, around that time her three remaining sisters died in war and she became distant, hiding behind fake smiles and laughs, and weeping alone. She finally stirred when her younger brother, my last child, was born. My oldest son, Castor was thirteen and Allied ten, when Damitri was born.” She pauses from her recount and frowns at something.

Shaking her head and clucking her tongue, she continues slowly. “When Damitri was a few months old, she stole him from his room and tried to drown him in the bath.” Uh… what? “She didn’t succeed in killing him, but continued to demand that he would end the world and should be drowned for the safety of Fantasy. We didn’t believe her. Two years later she tried again, but once again failed. She continued her preaching of his coming to power and the world burning, but we still didn’t listen. She warned me time and time again, until the day she finally left and was disowned from the throne, passing the crown down to her children.”

She breathes deeply, closing her eyes. “I didn’t hear from her again until six years later when a messenger arrived to tell us she was getting married and that we were invited. For a while afterwards we stayed in contact, especially when she had Carma. Allied still loved her father, and for his sake, dealt with me to come to family holidays. It wasn’t until you and your brother were born that our friction exploded and she moved away from Fiction to the Burrows, hoping to start again without my overbearing presence.” She looks at me, her eyes a flash of dark gold. “Does that answer your question?”

I nod slowly. So much information is bombarding my brain; I feel as if it will explode. So many questions – and answers. Why did she try to kill her brother – twice? Why has she never told us any of this herself? Why did she keep from me the fact that I’m next in line for the throne?

I frown. A stray thought occurring to me. “What was Damitri’s full name?”

Her eyes narrow, becoming an unnerving glare of ‘watch where you step.’ “Damitri Damien Hays was his given name, but before he left to pirate the waters, he changed his last name Davenport, saying he wouldn’t disown our family, he just wouldn’t associate with us while he pillaged the seas.”

I suck in a harsh breath through my teeth. “My uncle is Damitri Damien Davenport? The pirate Recluse and the man that started the Demon War sixteen years ago.”

She nods. “Yes. He happened to die on your day of birth.”

Okay… morbid.

“What made him do all the things he did?”

Rayn shrugs. “Could be one answer, could be millions. I’m afraid I was not a very good mother. I didn’t have any parent figures at all through my life and when I came home to claim the crown, I didn’t really expect to be shoved into a marriage and have a child, let alone seven.” The clock chimes on the wall interrupting my thoughts and Rayn makes a surprised sound. She stands slowly, straightening out her clothes. “Lunch is prepared if you’re hungry.”

My stomach growls at the thought of food. Yes. I’m very hungry.

I sit cross legged in my chair across from Rayn with a small table between us covered in a variety of fresh fruits and cooked meats. Cai breathes down my neck while sitting as close as he can get to me. He watches my every move, as if memorizing how I eat. Soon he might start eating like me if he keeps up the stare analyses.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” He scoffs, and I feel his eye roll.

All I can do is smile. Smile because out of all the things I could be doing today; I’m sitting with a person I never knew existed (figuratively speaking), I have a dragon (creepily watching me), and I’m eating lunch with the Queen of Fantasy (who happens to be the person I never knew figuratively existed and my grandmother) in the caverns of Dragon Island (which, according to the dragon creepily watching me, we “lesser creatures” don’t know as much about as we should). Aside from learning that my mother tried to kill my uncle (twice) and that said brother died trying to take over the world, I am feeling pretty care-free at the moment. Although I am worried that at any moment my stomach will clench and I’ll throw-up.

“Couldn’t–” I stop with a wince. I don’t like being whiny, but this is just one thing I do not need added to my life right now – or ever.

“Yes?” Rayn asks cautiously.

I swallow. “Is there any way to change the law so that I don’t have to become queen?”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “Does becoming queen really sound that awful?” I cringe at her bewildered – on the verge of outrageous – tone, staring down at my plate to gather my thoughts. “At least you have a five year warning. I came home and the crown was dropped on my head immediately.”

I frown. That’s the second time she’s said that; came home, as if Fantasy isn’t her home. “Where were you, if not at home?” I ask, glancing up and hoping to drive her punching gaze somewhere else.

She mulls it over, gnawing on her bottom lip. “I was born in Hunt Castle, but on my third birthday the estate was attacked. I’m told my brother and I were the only ones to survive and we were sent to Earth for safety. I didn’t come back – or have any knowledge of Fantasy – until I was twenty-one and the crown was ready to be handed from the Council to me.”

I fiddle with my fork, thinking things over and separating them into categories and drawers to be pulled out later or forgotten about. I have to process all this new information and add it to my list titled Things I’ve Learned Today: it happens to be a very, very long list mind you. It’s like pretending everything I’ve been told before today has been a lie, and then I learn the truth and my world becomes blank and begins to reconstruct itself as things become clearer and glaringly vivid.

Cai shifts, lying down, his head curling toward my chair. I eye him grudgingly, not sure what to think about him at the moment.

“I see you have strange feelings toward…” She gestures absently at my dragon, who flares his nostrils as if his name should be remembered and he feels insulted.

“Well, of course I feel insulted.” He says, “There’s only one black dragon around you know.”

“Cai,” Rayn finally remembers, “Do you not enjoy having a dragon?” Cai locks a challenging eye on me.

“Well…” His eye narrows. “I’m not sure. I never really expected myself to become a Dragon Rider and have to be schooled on how to protect the world.” Or becomes princess, is the part I don’t add.

Rayn nods. “That’s understandable. Dragons are something you have to get used to. Especially their voice in your head – sometimes it’s annoying, other times helpful.”

I frown thoughtfully. “Did you have a dragon?”

A pained wince passes over her features for a moment and then vanishes. “Yes. Ransom. He was the last black dragon and died six years ago.”

Cai’s ears twitch, but he stays quiet.

“So…” I start probably a little too loudly, but we need to get off of all these dreary topics. “Is my grandfather or uncle still alive?”

“Wow, Smoke.” Cai scoffs. “That’s not dreary at all.”

Rayn releases such a long sigh that she might faint if she doesn’t breathe in soon. “Smoke, please don’t. I can’t answer those questions. Your life is already complicated enough without me adding more to it.”

“No,” I say a smidge too quickly. “My life’s completely normal, well…” I eye Cai, “Aside from a few anomalies.” He glares but says nothing.

“Well, then I guess I’m about to complicate it.” She swallows. “Your grandfather, Esston has been missing for quite some time. He disappeared around the time your father died, I’ve been searching and still haven’t found a clue of where he could be.” She smiles tightly “You uncle, Castor, lives in Graceland as the Council’s way of getting ahold of me. Of my two remaining children, he’s the only one that still willingly talks to me. He has a son a little older than you, and I hope someday you’ll be able to meet him.”

I smile sweetly, and realize that for once I don’t have any boiling over questions demanding to be answered – or, at least, none that come to mind right now.

Rayn clears her throat. “I’m afraid I must get back to work. You’re welcome to spend the night and return to Legend tomorrow morning, I’m sure Alex won’t mind.”

I smile, “Yes, that’d be nice.” Besides, I do not feel like flying right now. Not that I’ll feel like it tomorrow, but I definitely don’t feel like doing it right now. So I’ll avoid it for as long as possible.

Cai is staring from his spot beside me as we sit high up on a ledge overlooking Dragon Island watching the sun set on the horizon. I can feel my fear grabbing at me from all angles, but for once I’m overcoming it. The beauty of the island below is unknotting all the stress and strain I’ve felt for the past two days.

Dragon Island – a blob in the ocean that has a bazillion trees, a long beach bar, one mountain that shoots into the sky like a fat stalagmite, and a tremendous amount of dragons inhabiting it – is actually a quiet place, excluding the random roaring you can hear every now and then. The island has been left to nature, almost completely untouched by humans.

“What?” I finally ask, eying Cai as he cocks his head to the side for a better assessment of me.

“You are by far the most interesting human I’ve ever met – and believe me, I’ve met plenty.”

“Well, thanks for the compliment, I guess.”

“You see.” He continues, ignoring me. I roll my eyes. “Most creatures would be flipping out that they’re the Rider of a black dragon – and I know that for a fact because plenty of the creatures that I’ve met have tried to claim me as theirs – but all you’ve done so far is realize you have a dragon. And then today you were told you’re next in line for the throne, and I mean aside from quietly freaking out you took that pretty well too.” His gazes travels over me, a strange thoughtful frown curving the scales above his deep blue eyes. “You’re your own race.”

I’m not exactly sure what to think about that, so I shrug. I haven’t had much time to actually think about what all has happened today – let alone time to freak out properly. “I guess I’m not especially used to being special or anything like that, and I just don’t see why anything should be different now that I’ve got you.”

“Hmm…” He eyes me slowly, but then shrugs and curls around me as he lies down, his head resting against my thigh. “You’re very strange Smoke Green, but I’m glad you’re mine. And besides I don’t mind protecting a princess.”

I grumble and he chuckles, causing me to smile.

I smile at all the things that have happened since Cai and I met. I don’t particularly smile at the flight over to Dragon Island or the princess bomb dropped on me, but I do smile at our conversations – no matter how strange they seemed.

“I have to warn you though.” Cai starts, “I’m not particularly known for making life easy: that is I’m punctual and blunt, but also enjoy speaking in riddles and seeing if I can out-smart most everyone I meet. I guess I didn’t think to stop and see if you were even listening.”

“Well, that makes two of us. As long as you don’t completely freak me out, I think we’ll be fine.”

“Don’t worry,” he coos, “I won’t drop you… maybe.”