Chapter 12- Exploring Anamar
Kyor landed far to the north, at a castle abandoned long ago.
"This is a guy's home," the dragon explained, lumbering into a large hole in one wall. We were inside a vast ballroom. Kyor lit a campfire to chase the draft from the air near us.
As I wandered the hall, looking at the paintings, I realized that the people depicted in them were my ancestors. This was the abandoned city of Anamar, Kyrria's first capital. As I walked back into hearing range, I heard Merry ask Kyor if he had heard a howling noise.
"It sounded like a bobcat," she said, looking out into the darkness.
"Where's a cat named Bob?" Kyor asked. I giggled as I sat down on one of the two makeshift beds that Merry and Kyor had set up near the fire. After he had calmed, the dragon bid us good night, and turned three times in a circle, before settling down with his head resting on his tail, like one of the palace cats.
Merry and I talked late into the night. We didn't stay on any particular subject, just talked about anything that was on our minds, from stars to dragons to Gavin.
The next morning I awoke to Merry's voice. She was trying to convince Kyor to accompany her while she scouted the nearby woods for food.
"I don't know, lost of things live in the forest: spiders, mice, creepy little mushrooms…" With each word Kyor's voice conveyed more terror.
"Its okay, Kyor," I said. "Merry will protect you."
"Hey Lela-lady, aren't you coming?" Kyor asked, moving his face close to mine.
"No, I think I'll just stay here and explore. My ancestors lived here, you know? That was before Frell was established, thought." As I vaguely explained Kyrria's history to Kyor, Merry strapped Blood-biter at her side and climbed on his back.
I watched them take off, waving. Then I followed a passage out of the ballroom. Most everything had been removed from the palace during the Great Transition from Anamar to Frell, over a century ago. The city had been forgotten after that, vanishing into legends and history.
Many of the rooms left were bare, and what was still there had decayed years before. Finally I climbed a flight of stairs that wound around and around to the top of a high tower. The room had once been locked, but the wood around the lock had corroded with time, leaving an empty hole for me to step through.
A small chandelier hung from the ceiling. There was a little dressing table with a mirror to one side. A silver comb lay on it, along with some very fine jewelry. I gently fingered it, marveling at the quality, the likeness of which I had never seen.
I turned around to examine the large bed that was behind me. Golden gossamer curtains draped gracefully down the sides. The spread was made of quilted satin, crimson as blood, with elaborate pictures of balls embroidered with gold thread.
As I ran my fingers over the smooth fabric, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Merry.
"Boo!" she cried, laughing. I smiled, and gently loosed my grip on the chair leg I had picked up in one of the downstairs chambers. "Oh, Lela," Merry said, continuing past me. A dress of lilac silk hung on a peg beside the mirror. Merry picked it up and held it before me, beckoning for me to try it on. "It looks to be just your size."
I changed into the dress. When I stepped back into her view, Merry giggled.
"Does it look that bad?" I asked, smoothing the fabric over my rib cage.
"No, it looks beautiful," Merry said. "Just like the princesses we were born to be." Now it was my turn to smile. Princesses? In boys' clothing? Merry bowed to me, placing the silver comb in my hair. "May I have this dance?" she asked, deepening her voice.
"I would be honored." We spun in circles until I collapsed on the bed. Laughing, I looked down at Merry, who was sitting on the floor. She was laughing as well. After she had caught her breath, she reached inside her cloak and pulled out an apple. She tossed it to me, and I caught it in my right hand, too lazy to sit up. I brought the crimson fruit to my lips.
Just after I heard the crunch, all my breath left my body. My blood felt cold as it ran through my veins. As I blacked out, I saw Merry standing above me, laughing. Her face changed, and I saw the red-haired head of the Fairy Rebecca, Lady Lucinda's daughter.
…..
As Kyor approached the castle, I put the small pouch I held in my hand into the pocket in my cloak. I did not want the dragon to see the 'creepy little mushrooms' that I had been snacking on.
'A guy' and I had found enough food to last us several days before returning to the castle. As Kyor landed, I shifted my thoughts to try and figure out how to talk Lela into returning to Frell. I looked up just in time to see a barefoot Gavin run into the entrance of a spiraling stairway.
A frightened shout from Kyor caught my attention. I looked out our entrance to the castle, and saw a hunting party. Rapion Howltt's men were mixed with palace guards from Frell. They were placed so that they wound protect three men in the center, King Charmont, Rapion Howltt, and my father.
Rapion gave a signal, and several of his men played a low, steady tone with their pipes. The dragon below me was mesmerized by the sound. He stood still, staring straight ahead. Archers were posed below us. I scrambled off of the dragon's back and ran to stand in front of him.
"Stop!" I shouted. "Don't hurt him!"
A/N: Was that confusing? It started out in Lela's perspective, and then changed to Merry. The next chapter is going to be told from Gavin's point of view.
Whimsicality- Tefaw was not my idea. Darn. He was in Gail Carson Levine's "Princess Tales", in the story called "For Biddle's Sake," a mixed-up version of the frog prince. Thanks for reading.
Arwen Veancawen- Thank you for the nice things you said. That was greatly appreciated.
Sadly, there was no squirrel- in this chapter. Will Kyor live? What will happen to Lela? Stay tuned for chapter thirteen of "Happily Ever After." (And please review!)