Chapter 21: Day 28

It was supposed to be a happy day. That one day of the week when Rainbow could have had a rest and visit her grandfather. But somehow, she dreaded this day to come.

In such short week, she had ruined everything. Her job, her relationship with Turtle, and her grandfather's hope. All of them washed down into the deepest trench. To add salt to it, other servants and princes were against her too. They were either trying to disassociate with her or rooting for her demise. The worst of all was having a councillor on her tail. The power and resource he had over her was so astronomically huge that she couldn't even think to fight back. She must have been one of the worst servant the Deep Palace had ever employed.

But everything would be alright. Soon, all of these did not matter any more. Once she convinced her grandfather to leave the palace. They could put all of these behind and live out the rest of their lives.

More like, rest of his short few weeks…

Rainbow had taken a long roundabout way to get here from the Deep Palace. To avoid giving anyone clue of her destination. If Mako was working with Whirlpool, surely there were other servants were watching her movement too.

When she finally reached within the vicinity of the garden, she did not dare to meet her grandfather. She knew she was going to have an earful from him, but more importantly, she had to figure out how to tell him to leave the only place that he have a chance to be cured of his disease.

Grandpa, we have to leave. A councillor is out to get us because I got caught sneaking into his room. And now, he is using you as a leverage against me. Also, sorry about your only chance of getting cured. But the healers were mostly helpless too, right?

Rainbow shook her head in disappointment. That would not work. Maybe she could take a couple few swimming-strokes around the garden and figured out a better way to say that.

She could already imagine how her grandfather would react. He would assess the situation by asking her more question regarding the situation. Give from none to a few lectures in between, depending on the urgency of the task. Then start doing stuff. It was one of the things she admired him of. A dragon of cool mind and action.

Strange. Her mind racing as she looked through the cracks of the coral from outside. The bed which was supposed to be her grandfather's was empty. Whirlpool would not have already made his move without any provocation from her side, would he? She looked around trying to find a dragon with jade green scales and decided she would have asked a healer regarding his whereabout.

"Oh, that old dragon?" said the first healer she was able to get her claws on. "I saw him just a day ago. I'm sure he was here somewhere. I'll let you know after I talked with the others."

So much for being secretive. Rainbow gave a courteous bow before swimming deeper into the garden.

There was her grandfather's bed. Empty. Except for the seaweeds that formed the bed. Its rough edges allowed few strains danced to the tune of the currents. Maybe he went out for a swim, he once told her that the healers had advised that…

Someone beside her was flashing towards her, trying to catch her attention. It was a green SeaWing with an injured wing laid on a bed behind her. He beckoned her to come.

"You're Bony's granddaughter, right?" She nodded and he continued. "He's a real good dragon. You probably already know that, but to know a genuine good dragon such as him, even in times of war, is like finding the diamond among the pearls." He raised his injured wing to her and said. "Look at it. Those injuries? It was \torn and shredded. Healers told me that there isn't much chance for it to fly any more. Needless to say, I find myself a new low with that news. There would be days when I didn't eat and just stare at the sky. Imagine I could fly again…

"Then he came. Pull me aside and said: 'As a dragon, being able to fly is a gift of nature like no other. But great things are often achieved on the ground, not castle in the air. Eagles may soar high, but their nests are still built on solid ground.' By the time I noticed, he was already gone. Swam to a high reaching boulder, watching the corals. In my talon were seaweed crackers. I took a bite of it, and it was the tastiest food I have ever ate.

"Since then, my wounds were healed, and I have been doing physical therapy with the healers. Extending and contracting my wing muscle ever so slightly until-" He winced as he extended his wing joints a little furthermore. "Until one day I managed to open my injured wing to its fullest extent. The healers were shocked to find that my wing is still within my command. Now, even they had to admit that the possibility of flight is within my reach." And he gazed upon the surface.

"I'm happy to hear that. Never knew grandpa had made a friend here. But do you happen to know where did he go?" She said.

The green SeaWing shook his head. "I was about the asked the same. I haven't seen him since I had woken up today."

Before she could ask anything more, she saw the healer, from the previous, swam towards her and gestured her to follow. She swam beside the healer and followed until they were outside the garden.

"Where is he?" she finally asked.

"We received words that he was transferred else where to continue his treatment." The healer said.

"Transferred? Where?"

"We… don't know. Most of us were not part of the process. We were just merely informed about it. Orders from above."

Orders from above. That could only mean…

"He ordered it, didn't he?"

"Who's he-"

"Tell me, where is he? Someone must know where he had been taken to. Ask the head of healer. Your supervisor. Anyone!"

"I already did for some of them. Others were on the next shift-"

"You should have told me before making such a decision!"

"Like I said, orders from-"

The rest of the healer's flashes came as a blur to her. It was only much later, she recalled, that she had grabbed the healer's shoulder and shook it hard under her talons. Other healers must have been alerted and pulled them apart. She later found herself to be dragged much further away from the garden, while the poor healer who she harassed was led back to the patients.

Crushed and nowhere left to go. She went back to her room for the rest of her day. Feeling utterly empty for the days to come.