Chapter 9
Serenity woke up the following morning. She was back in her bed in the castle. She sat up and looked around the room.
"Ruby!" she called. "Ruby!" She expected Ruby to come to her side like always and she would give him a morning hug. But he didn't come, and after a few minuets Serenity remembered why. She burst into tears and buried her face in her knees. Ruby was gone, and wasn't coming back. She felt like her heart had a huge chunk taken out of it, and that it was bleeding badly. She laid back down on her pillow, still crying. She turned to face her nightstand. She saw a framed photograph facing her. It was a picture of Serenity on Ruby's saddle. They were both smiling forward. The frame was red orange, with real rubies cut in rhombus shapes. The picture had been taken shortly after Serenity's bruises went away, back when she was five. Serenity sat back up and picked up the picture. She looked at it still crying. Just then there came a knock on the door.
"Serenity, are you awake?" said Aurora'a voice. Serenity didn't say anything, she just held the picture close and sobbed harder. The Queen opened the door and stuck her head in. When she saw Serenity crying so hard she went over to her side. She gently nuzzled her. Serenity looked up at the Queen. She stood up on the bed and hugged Aurora very tightly. She buried her face into her blue scales and let it all out. Aurora draped her wings around Serenity and hugged her back. They didn't say anything for a while.
Then Aurora noticed Serenity was crying so hard she couldn't breathe. The Queen nuzzled her.
"Shhh, it's okay," she said, very gently. "I know it's hard." Serenity said nothing, but started to calm down a bit. However, she refused to let go of Aurora.
"I miss Ruby, I want him back," she said finally.
"I know you do," said Aurora. "I'm sure he misses you too. He also wouldn't want you be sad." Serenity heaved a sigh. She remembered the promise she'd made to Ruby just before he died. She told him she would go on loving him and be happy.
"How can I be happy when he's gone forever?" she asked.
"Well, you remember all the good times you had with him," said Aurora. "You can always find him in your memories." Serenity finally let go of the Queen and sat on the bed. She looked down at the picture of her and Ruby, and ran her fingers over Ruby's face.
"That's a lovely picture," said Aurora. "Do you remember the day it was taken?" Serenity nodded.
"You used something called a camera to take it," she said.
"Yes," said Aurora. "Humans will invent cameras later, but I was able to make one with my magic. What did you and Ruby do the day that picture was taken?"
"We went flying over Bluegreen," said Serenity. "Chris and Re came too. You stayed behind with Alto and made us diner."
"It was a good day wasn't it?" said Aurora. "You had a lot of fun." Serenity nodded and held the picture close to her heart.
"If you continue to remember those good days, Ruby will never be gone forever," said Aurora. Serenity let her mind wander back in time to when Ruby was alive and well. She remembered all the times Ruby comforted her when she had a nightmare. How he wrapped her up in his wings and made her feel safe. She remembered when he held her while Vitamin stitched up her face. She remembered when he took her away from her abusive family and brought her to a place where she could be happy, and have a chance at a normal childhood. And lastly, she remembered how he had saved her life just before he crashed into the thorns. As she remembered all this she relaxed a great deal. She wiped the tears away from her cheeks. Aurora pulled out a white handkerchief with blue snowflakes on it. She gently used it to wipe the rest of the tears away.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yes," Serenity said, her voice shaky. Aurora gave her the handkerchief and she blew her nose on it. The Queen used her magic to clean the handkerchief, then put it away.
"Where's Chris?" Serenity asked.
"In his room," said Aurora. "You can go see him if you want, it'll help you to feel better." Serenity looked back at the picture. She sniffed. Aurora nuzzled her, and she laid her head on the Queen's forehead.
"Okay," Serenity said. She took a huge breath and put the picture back on the nightstand.
"I love you Ruby," she said. "I'll never forget you." She got out of bed and got dressed.
She went through the castle towards Chris's room. When she got there she knocked on the door.
"Come in," Chris called. Serenity went inside to find Chris sitting on his bed reading. Chris looked up when Serenity closed the door. He closed the book and got off the bed.
"Hey, how you holding up?" he asked.
"I think I'll be okay," Serenity said. Chris dug into his pocket and pulled out a small black box.
"I had this made for you yesterday," he said. "I hope it will help." Serenity took the box and opened it. Laying on a black velvet cushion was a locket hanging from a gold chain. The locket was the size of her hand. Looking closer at it Serenity realized the locket was made of two red orange dragon scales cut in the shape of a heart and hinged together. A small ruby stone, cut in a rhombus shape, was set into the middle of the heart.
"Dragons shed their scales," Chris said. "Those are some of the scales Ruby shed last year, I had them made into a locket. Open it." Serenity gently pulled the locket off the the pillow and put the box on a nearby table. She then pried it open with her fingernails. Inside the locket was a small photograph of Ruby, the other slot was empty.
"There's an engraving on the back," Chris said. Serenity closed the locket and turned in over. A single sentence was engraved into the other dragon scale.
'In loving memory of the dragon who changed my life'.
Serenity couldn't help but smile. Then she looked up at Chris.
"Thank you," she said, as she hugged him. He hugged her back. When they separated Serenity put the locket around her neck and secured it at the back. It felt like a Bandaid over her bleeding heart.
"So what do you want to do today?" asked Chris. "I'm open to anything."
"What book are you reading?" Serenity asked.
"King Arthur and the Nights of the Round Table," said Chris. He went back over to the bed and picked up his book. "I haven't read it yet." He handed it to Serenity and she looked at the cover. It showed a picture of a round table with men sitting around it, covered in shiny armor. One man was standing up and holding a gleaming sword triumphantly. He wore a golden crown with gems set into it. Sitting on his right was a woman, also wearing a crown.
"Is that my round table?" Serenity asked.
"The very same one," said Chris. "And that's the very same sword hanging on your wall." He pointed to the sword in King Arthur's hand.
"Hey I have an idea," Serenity said. "You have a book about The Round Table, and I own The Round Table. How about we read this one together, sitting on top of it."
"Mama won't like it if we scratch the surface," Chris said.
"What if we took off our shoes," Serenity said. "I'm sure the table won't suffer too bad. Besides, King Arthur must have slammed his fist on the surface plenty of times and put a dent in it or two."
"Good point," Chris said. "Okay."
The two kids left the room and went back to Serenity's room. When they got there they found the Round Table waiting for them. They both took their shoes off and climbed onto the table. Then Serenity got off the table and went over to where Excalibur hung. She stood on a chair and open the box. She carefully removed the sword from its hooks.
"Careful with that, it's heavy and sharp," said Chris. Serenity lifted the sword with both hands.
"It's not that heavy," Serenity said. She got off the chair and put the sword on the table. She then gathered a few pillows and a blanket off her bed then climbed up onto the table with Chris. They laid the blanket out and laid down on it, with the pillows all around them. Serenity pulled Excalibur over to them and held it by the handle. Chris opened the book. He read aloud while Serenity followed with her eyes.
They felt like the two luckiest kids in the world; reading about the Knights of the Round Table, on top of The Round Table. Or reading about all the battles King Arthur fought with Excalibur, with Excalibur between them. They read the book until they fell asleep, after dark. Re and Aurora came to check on them. At first Aurora disapproved of the Table and the Sword being misused.
"Now why would these two have Excalibur?" Re wanted to know. "I though you made it clear that sword wasn't to be touched."
"Re, the first friend Serenity ever had is gone," said Aurora. "I think we can forgive her this once." She went over and picked up the book that was resting on the pillow.
"Besides," she said, holding it up. "I think it's appropriate." Re smiled when he saw what book they were reading.
"That does kind of make sense," he said. Aurora put the book on the table. She then nuzzled both children and the two dragons left them in peace.
"I reckon Serenity will have a really hard time without Ruby," Re said as they went down the hall.
"Yes," Aurora agreed. "But we can make things easier and less painful by being there for her, just like he was." Re nodded in agreement.
"I suppose the Round Table's hers now," he said.
"As long as she takes care of it," said Aurora. "But I can foresee that the table is in good hands. It will play a big roll in her young life, same goes for Excalibur." Re chuckled.
"It's not everyday a girl seven years old gets The Round Table," he said. Aurora smiled at the thought. They continued through the castle towards their room.