SWNOVELS Frostbite: Chapter 36
FOR THE PAST couple of months I’d gone back to my old schedule. The one I’d had before I turned into a dragon.
Everyone at Dragonia knew the verdict of my outcome. It was plastered all over the papers. I was a fraud. At least that was what most of the headlines said. I wondered if my father knew about this.
Tabitha finally left me alone and there were no more threats or glares whenever I saw her.
Arianna was a different story. She told everyone how she was deprived of her dragon. Tabitha didn’t like that one bit and I absolutely loved the fight they had right in the middle of the courtyard.
It was funny how Arianna could wield her fire without a dragon, and I couldn’t even muster a puff.
I still had so many questions, new ones that I didn’t know how to get answered without Blake. I forced it from my mind. He wasn’t my dragon anymore. Would he still turn dark? That was the one question that lingered on my mind.
Summer break came faster than we’d all hoped for. My exams were a walk in the park now that I could speak and understand Latin fluently. The words looked foreign but they changed to English the minute I wanted to read them and it would come out as Latin even though I still heard English.
If Blake wasn’t my dragon, then why could I speak Latin? I smiled. He was still my dragon, it didn’t matter if the Ancients stripped me of him. We were part of a dent and nothing would ever break that.
I decided to stay the first three weeks of break with Sammy and the last few weeks with Becky. One day my Pappi sent a message via a crow. It scared the living crap out of me the first time I found Muffled inside our room at Sammy’s house. He was trained and danced on his one claw with another one in the air. It was only then that I saw the band across his leg. A small note scrolled up into a tiny holster was hooked on the band. I took it out, and to my surprise he waited.
The note said that Pappi would visit me the last week before school started again. He wanted to show me something.
“I think the crow wants something, Elena. He is still waiting.”
I turned the note around, and saw in my Pappi’s handwriting. “Give the crow a note and a cracker.”
I laughed. “He’s waiting for a reply and a reward. Can I have one of your crackers?”
“Sure,” Sammy said and I scribbled a note. A crow, really, owls aren’t trained. I laughed at myself while I rolled up the note into a tiny scroll and put it back into the holster.
The crow grabbed the cracker with his beak and flew off.
Sammy cleaned her hand on her shirt. “Humph, that’s something I didn’t think I’d ever see in real life. Who sent you post by crow?”
“Post by crow,” I laughed
“It’s something they did in the old days. They usually spoke the message because they are really easy to train to speak.”
“Crows can speak?”
“How didn’t you know that?”
“Probably because I didn’t grow up with post by crow.”
They both laughed. “Neither did we,” Becky said, “but we learned about it in primary school.
I wondered on numerous occasions if mom had any other relatives I didn’t know about, who were still alive.
I could have an entire family for all I knew.
Sammy and I took a carriage to Elm around three. She still treated me the same, just a tad more special as she truly believed I was King Albert and Queen Catherine’s daughter. She tried to tell me so many stories but most of them were what she’d read in history books. I’d read all of those myself.
During our first couple of days of break, Dean was there every day. He spoiled us rotten and George and Becky would always come with. I still missed Lucian and a small part of me even missed Blake’s mutt.
When was he going to come back?
Later that week, we spent the entire day at a theme park. There was nothing magical about it, just ordinary fun.
After our day of fun, Dean dropped us back off at Sammy’s around five.
We all entered Sammy’s house and found a man with brown hair and glasses having tea with Sir Robert and Isabel. She gloated as we walked in and the smile on her face made me curious.
“Someone win the lottery?” Sammy asked.
Isabel got up and came over to me. “Something like that. We might finally have proof that you are the princess, Elena.”
“What!” I looked at her and back at the man who sat on the couch. He stood up and walked right over to me. He took a deep bow. “My name is Borgen Haulster. I’m a banker and a dragon living on the other side. I’m so sorry that I haven’t come sooner.”
“It’s fine, what does this have to do with me?” I looked at Sir Robert who just stared into space with a cup of tea in his hands.
“Sit, please. We have much to discuss.”
“Mind if we stay?” Becky asked Isabel.
“Make yourself at home.”
I took a seat next to Borgen as Becky and Sammy took a seat next to her father. Dean and George made themselves comfortable on the floor.
“Before my father died he spoke to me in private. He told me about a sacred vault. One that belonged to the king and queen. He never said why the king had a vault in Elm, he only told me that when the day came, I would know when to tell. Also, that I should forget about it, until that day came. I tried to keep tabs on what was going on inside Paegeia and I apologize for the four-month delay. I only learned about you a couple of days ago, and I knew immediately that this was the day my father spoke about. The vault is located below a theme park in Elm. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the squeaky old vampire tree?”
“What!” Becky said excited. “That tree almost chomped my finger up.”
“What?” I asked.
The others started to laugh. “Becky is being a Drama Queen, Elena.” Sammy rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t chomp you, it pricks your finger for blood.”
“It’s not a vampire tree, it’s the vault’s lock,” Borgen said. “The vault operates on DNA. It’s your chance to prove you are the princess, Elena.”
“I don’t understand.”
“A drop of your blood can open the vault,” Becky said with huge eyes.
I jumped up and paced up and down.
“I thought this was what you wanted?” Becky asked and Isabel came to me.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
“What if it doesn’t open?” I said.
“Then you aren’t who you say you are,” Borgen said.
“Don’t you ever insinuate anything like that,” Sir Robert said.
“I’m just answering Elena’s question.”
“I am who I say I am.” I rubbed the inside of my palm hard. “I’m just scared, it’s been almost eighteen years.”
“It will open, princess,” Borgen assured me.
“Don’t call me that, please.”
“Did you tell anybody else about this?” Sir Robert asked.
“No one, yet.”
“Elena,” Isabel looked at me. “There could be something in there that only your parents want you to see. Something tells me your mother knew exactly what your future was going to be like. She knew this day would come, and you would need the chance to prove to everyone that you are their daughter. Not just for them, but for Blake as well. He needs to dent still, Elena. He can’t do that if you are not his Dragonian.” She gave me her motherly smile. “That vault will open.”
I nodded and she gave me a hug.
“Make a fuss, and I mean a huge one, so that everyone that ever doubted her will be there,” Isabel spoke with a slightly harsh tone.
“Consider it done,” Borgen said and stood up. “Will you excuse me? I have a lot of people to see.”
OVER THE NEXT few days the buzz around the secret vault of King Albert and Queen Catherine was plastered in every newspaper and every magazine with my face right next to it. King Caleb even spoke a couple of times over the TV, putting everyone at ease that the vault would not open.
“What if it does open, your highness?” one of the reporters asked.
He just lifted up his chin higher and smiled. His left eye twitched a bit. “I promise you, it won’t.”
Sir Robert switched off the TV and stomped out of the room.
“Hey, what’s wrong? This is good news.”
“I know it is, I’m just scared.”
“About the vault not opening?” Sammy raised her eyes.
I shook my head. “About what will happen if it does. I’m not princess material Sammy. I wouldn’t know what to do with the title. I’ll be in the newspapers and magazines all the time, people will print bad things about me, and I don’t know if I can run a country.”
“Then you can thank your lucky stars that my brother is amazing when it comes to the press.”
She made me giggle.
“Besides, you’re going way too fast, you need to slow down. Each day at a time. They won’t shove Paegeia inside your hands and say ‘there you go’.”
I giggled. She sure had a funny way of saying things.
“You are not alone, Elena. We are here, and when Blake comes back…”
“If he comes back.”
“He will come back. Then everything will be different.”
I huffed. “He despises me Sammy.”
“He’s just scared, Elena. He wasn’t always like that you know.”
“So I keep hearing.”
She huffed and I found her staring into space.
“What is it?”
“You know there is a foretelling about a love so strong that nobody will ever break it.”
Lucian told me about this and I saw it that day when I was at the museum with Cheng.
“My mom thinks it’s yours.”
“He will never love me, Sammy.”
“Don’t say that. You don’t know the Blake I do. He’s quite the charmer when he wants something, Elena.”
I giggled again.
“What if he never wants me?”
“I never met a dent or heard of one that doesn’t. Besides stop thinking about tomorrow and live today.”
“You sound like Lucian now.”
“Well, he was bound to rub off on somebody.”
I giggled again. “I love you so much, Samantha Leaf.”
“And I you, princess.” She shook her head in a mocking way.
“Now I know why Lucian hated that so much.”
She giggled and we went to her room.
I still slept on the mattress on the floor. I giggled, what type of a princess was I going to be. One that sleeps on the ground and falls over her own feet, one that has absolutely no idea what a princess should be like. I wondered what was in the vault. It couldn’t be much. I sighed. It didn’t matter, just as long as I could get my dragon back and become who I should’ve been a long time ago.
“You’ll see, tomorrow is going to be a walk in the park.” Sammy spoke in her sleep and I shook my head with a slight grin on my face. If only I had her confidence.
I DIDN’T DREAM LIKE usual that night. I understood a couple of my dreams but why I’d dreamt about me turning into the dragon that killed Brian was still a mystery. Isabel thought it had to do with the fact that I felt responsible for his death. She sure had good theories and I thought maybe I should go with that. I still dreamt about Cara though, dreaming about being a dragon. I missed her so much. I missed the sky, the wind soaring through my wings and against my scales.
The next day we took an elevator to Elm. The protesters were there once again. This time their posters read “Proved you wrong once, we’ll do it again”. I didn’t answer any of the questions the reporters yelled at me.
At Elm it was ten times worse, but closer to the theme park I had more support from people who did believe that I was who I said I was. An old lady put a necklace made of flowers around my neck. “You look just like your father, but you have your mother’s grace,” she said in a sweet tone and smiled a crooked smile.
“Thank you,” I replied and was led away by Sir Robert. We met Borgen who spoke to the media in front of the themepark.
My heart was thumping as I dreaded the moment we would have to open the vault. That vault hadn’t been opened for eighteen odd years, what if it never opened again? Would I be able to live like a normal person, to never feel the wind in my face or to glide through the air again?
Lucille held my hand tightly in hers. “It’s going to be okay,” she whispered as we were led into a private area to wait for Borgen to finish with the press.
Queen Margerite and King Helmut were waiting for us inside with Constance and Master Longwei.
Lucian’s mom gave me a tight hug. “The vault will open, you’ll see.”
I nodded and took a deep breath. It’d better open.
King Helmut and Sir Robert spoke softly to one another but I could hear every word they were saying.
King Helmut was apologizing to Sir Robert about so many things.
Sammy’s eyes glistened with tears as she just stared at them and she couldn’t help but smile. Isabel went over to her daughter to give her a hug. I wished Blake was here to see this.
When all the media’s questions were answered Borgen came to fetch us and took us to the vampire tree.
We came to a clearing and found a huge oak tree. There was a huge opening and many bystanders watched, mostly press and friends of mine with their families stood around.
Borgen even asked a couple of people to move away from the clearing. “We don’t want you to get hurt when the vault opens up.”
Gasps filled the air as they moved further and further away until Borgen was sure they would be safe.
“How big is this thing?” Becky whispered.
“Shush,” her mother scolded.
My heart thumped louder and louder. “Please open up.” I mouthed fast with closed eyes.
I could feel a pair of hands rubbing my arms and embracing me in a hug. By the smell I knew it was Lucian’s mom. “The vault will open,” she whispered in my ear.
Becky and Sammy were right next to Lucille and Isabel. Sir Robert stood close to me. Constance took the spot next to her sister and they both gave me their identical motherly smiles. It was so creepy seeing them together.
“Elena, this is it,” Borgen said and reached out an arm for me to come closer to the vampire tree. “Put your hand in the mouth.”
I looked at the tree and saw the face of a dragon carved out.
I glanced at Becky. “Does it hurt?”
“Elena,” Sammy said. “Don’t listen to her. She’s overdramatic, remember?” She wiggled a finger and I laughed at how Becky bumped Sammy playfully.
“Only a little bit,” Borgen said with a smile.
“Elena who knows what is down there. Pain should be the last thing on your mind.” Becky finally gave her two cent comment and everyone laughed.
The cameras stood ready and even the media was standing close to document this great event. I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and I turned my head to see who was behind me. Isabel smiled. “It will open, Elena.”
I gave her an unsure smile in return and closed my eyes as my hand touched the rim of the dragon’s mouth.
If you made this to prove I’m who you say I am, then let it be.
The prick came faster than I thought and I pulled my hand out. A drop of blood ran down my finger.
Isabel’s soothing touch healed my bloody finger and I wished that I could fly away and not be here to witness what would happen next.
We waited for what felt like an eternity. My eyes found King Caleb. Arianna and he had a smirk on their faces.
“I don’t understand?” I looked at Isabel.
“It doesn’t matter, Elena.”
“No, I know what I saw. He was there. This should open.”
“It’s alright, Elena. You don’t have to be here.”
“See, what did I tell you. The girl is a fraud.” King Caleb addressed the entire crowd and the cameras where all on him. Some even took pictures of me.
“Let’s go,” Lucille grabbed my hand softly and she started to lead me away.
“Her father isn’t…”
A huge clicking sound made all of us stop. Even my heart stopped. Everyone sucked in a breath and I turned around. Sir Robert started to chuckle.
The earth started to shake softly as a biggest split I’d ever seen appeared in the middle of the clearing. It started to move apart and the opening grew bigger slowly. Becky and Sammy just stared as cameras flashed.
My heart finally started to beat again, faster and faster and then it felt as if I could breathe again.
“It’s opening, Elena,” Isabel finally said with tears in her eyes. I started to laugh as I looked at it myself and finally believed it with all my heart. I was their child. I was the princess of Paegeia. The bloodline of the Malone’s, not the last though.
The opening finally stopped and it wasn’t as big as Borgen thought it would be, but it didn’t matter. I’d gotten what I needed. To prove I was theirs and that was all that mattered. Another clicking sound echoed and steps started to appear inside the hole in the ground.
Tears filled my eyes and I wiped them away. I’d never felt so overwhelmed and happy in my entire life. I never had to prove myself to anyone ever again.
“Guess it was just a bit old?” Borgen said and went down on one knee. He was followed by the rest of the onlookers all bowing down. Sir Robert went on his knee too and so did Isabel, Lucille and my best friends.
What are they doing? My voice was gone as a million goose bumps crawled over my skin.
King Caleb went down, Queen Gizelle and Arianna gaping as he pulled them both down too.
It was a surreal moment. “Please, stand up.” I finally found my voice and lifted Lucille and Isabel who were closest to me up. “Please, rise,” I begged and all of them did.
Constance and every woman who had been a mother to me had tears in their eyes.
Queen Margerite found me and she hugged me tight. “Your mother was my best friend, Elena. I knew the minute I saw you that you belonged to her.” I looked at her with huge eyes.
“Why—”
“Princess,” Borgen interrupted, “The key is yours.” He handed me a huge copper key and my hands trembled as I took it from him. He kept his hand over mine. “A princess doesn’t show fear,” Queen Margerite whispered inside my ear. It was the first royal lesson I learned.
I took a deep breath and gained control over my shaking hand. “Thank you,” I smiled.
“So, you guys want to see what my parents put down there?” I looked at Becky and Sammy.
“You’re damn right, I want to know,” Becky said and everyone laughed again.
I nodded at Sir Robert and he took the lead down the stairs. I followed with my two best friends and Lucille with Isabel and Queen Margerite with King Helmut behind them.
It was dark but Sammy lit up one of the handmade torches and the entire passage glowed. I found a huge door and Sir Robert and Borgen wiped the webs away that covered it.
“Please, whatever is inside there, can we move it to a not so creepy place?” I begged.
“I’m sure that won’t be a problem, princess.” Borgen laughed. It was followed by a couple of other laughs and I pushed the key inside.
It would be just my luck if the thing didn’t want to turn.
But it turned easily and clicked open. More locks opened and shifted out of place. My heart was beating like crazy and I blew out a deep gush of air waiting for the opening process to finish. Air released and the door opened slightly. I looked at Sir Robert and he nodded. I didn’t even have to ask him and I watched as he opened the door. I closed my eyes before I could see the contents. It didn’t matter what they’d left me, it was mine, mine forever