I said goodbye to Blake when the last bell rang. I couldn’t believe I was going to take the elevator trip alone, since Lucian was still in recovery. The queen had moved him to the castle a few hours after Constance took him to the infirmary and she deemed him stable.
I hoped he was awake.
Blake came with me to Master Longwei’s office.
My expression must have told him how much I looked forward to this fantastic ride. Even my thoughts had a snide feel to it.
He rubbed my back. “You will be okay. Just remember to take a deep breath.”
“Why can’t I fly with you?”
“One, I’m not going back. The museum is in Etan. It’s a waste of time.”
“I hate how I feel after this ride.”
“You’ll be okay. Just take a deep breath when it stops.” He cupped my face and brushed his lips against my head.
The door opened and Master Longwei stared at both of us.
Blake’s lips disappeared from my head and turned his head to look at Master Longwei. “Just saying goodbye.”
“You will see her tonight.”
“Hours feel like days.”
Master Longwei’s eyes flickered to me when Blake walked with my bag into his office.
I traipsed behind Master Longwei. I hated this ride.
Blake helped to strap me in and my heart pounded like crazy. “I’ll hit the library tonight to find out everything I can about the Vastech.”
“I’ll do the same, and then on Monday we can just check all our facts.”
He kissed me quickly. “Remember, take a deep breath.”
“The breath doesn’t help.”
“Stop sulking. Princesses don’t sulk.” He tipped the top of my nose and stepped aside as the doors closed.
It took a few seconds before the drop came and it felt as if I was going to throw up my stomach.
When it stopped, I took an extra deep breath and the force of pulling forward brought on that crushing feeling that seared through my body. The elevator slowed down and finally ended as I edged forward. The pounding in my heart and my clammy skin was a reminder of what a horror this ride was. I left out the breath, breaking deeply into the darkness. The elevator opened and Dad waited for me. My bag sat on the ground close to him and he strapped me out of the seat.
“You are getting better and better at this.”
“It doesn’t feel right.”
He chuckled as he strapped me out of the chair and helped me out of it.
“Is Lucian okay?”
“He’ll be fine. He woke up yesterday and wants to go back to Dragonia with all his might.”
“Already?”
“That is apparently the Prince of Tith for you. Don’t even give himself a proper chance to recoup.”
It sounded like Lucian. “Can I go see him?”
“He is on the porch.”
“Thanks.” I rushed out with my bag and quickly dropped it off at my room. I rushed through to the porch, greeting the staff I passed while texting Blake.
“He lives.” My hands shook dramatically in the air, like Jeff that day in the elevator.
“Some of us actually have to tame them.”
“How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve fought with a dragon.”
A chuckle escaped my lips. “No, but seriously, you okay?”
“I breathe, and it’s only the side of my torso that is stiff. Constance healed most of it, and Ben healed the rest daily. So I’m okay. How is the snow dragon?”
“Sulking big time.”
“Of all of them, I get stuck with Tabitha.”
“Hey, she is your dent, relax.”
“That is even worse, Elena. I’m not even in love with her.”
“She is your dragon. Things can change. Thank heavens you don’t have to marry Arianna anymore.”
“Yeah, when I prayed for anything other than that, I didn’t imagine they would replace it with another hopeless situation.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Elena, she is more hard-up on Blake than what you are.”
“No, I’m pretty hard up on him.”
“Multiply by a thousand, and you know how she feels.”
“Why? Because I’m human and she is a dragon. We feel and love just as deeply, Lucian.”
“It’s not the same.”
“You are her dent. She will come to her senses quickly,” I said, thinking that I would make her come to her senses somehow if she didn’t.
Lucian’s lips quirked.
“Just give her time. She still irritates the crap out of me, as she appears ungrateful.”
“Of course she does. All of them do after a claim.”
“You’ll be fine.”
“Elena.” Queen Maggie’s voice came from the door and I got up to hug the only mother figure I had behind the wall. Okay, Tanya was one too, but I hardly saw her.
She’d said she would try her best to be at the revealing. I hoped she could make it.
I loved her stories, and how close I felt to my mother whenever she was here. Tanya had the most amazing stories about my birth mother. Even though Dad still struggled to say more than a paragraph to her.
Their daughter still rushed through my thoughts now and then. How did she die? I was too small to remember her and Dad didn’t like it very much to talk about her. I guess a part of him still misses her.
Of course he misses her, Elena. She was his daughter.
Queen Maggie laughed as she stared at me. “You share the same fading away into the distance look as your mother had. Where were you just now?”
“Sorry, I just had a lot of things on my plate. The revealing.”
“It’s going to be flawless.”
My lips fanned out into a smile as I sat back down on my chair where the staff was busy bringing out lunch.
Dad, King Helmut and Emanual strolled out of the door.
“Elena, welcome back.”
“Thanks.”
“So, when is Blake going to join us?”
“He’s not. Said it’s a waste of time to fly all the way to Tith and back to Etan. He hates the elevators more than I do.”
“Great, you need a bit of distance.”
“He is my dragon, Dad, and a dent. Soon you’ll have a snow dragon practically living here.”
“Over my dead body,” Lucian mumbled.
“Snow dragons are mighty dragons, son.”
“It’s Tabitha, Dad. I’m not protesting because it’s a snow dragon, I’m protesting because it’s Tabitha.”
“The girl is gorgeous, Lucian,” the queen said.
“And hung up on the Rubicon. Do I have to remind you she tried to kill Elena twice because of him?”
“She is your Dent. It’s going to change once she goes through the process,” I said, not knowing what would make it sunk into that thick skull of his.
“I doubt that.”
“We will speak again,” Emanual said his first word since I got here.
“Shut up.” Lucian chucked a napkin at Emanual.
“I agree with Blake. Sulking does not look good on royalty,” I said.
Everyone laughed at my comment.
Lucian’s lips curved into a smile as he shook his head.
***
That night, Lu helped me to find everything we could on the Vastech.
“Sir Edward taught you this.”
“The class was actually about the Dragon clans and the Vastech popped up. Did you know my mom and dad had one?”
“A Vastech.”
I nodded and told him how my grandfather annulled it, as she was a commoner.
“They were so snobbish back then.”
I laughed. “I saw the recordings. My dad wasn’t snobbish.”
“I’m not speaking about our dads, I’m speaking about our grandfathers.”
The facts were quite interesting. You need either the king or an Ancient to perform this one. Some priests could, but it was rare, as they did not see the Vastech as a traditional wedding. It sounded more sacred, and there were formalities.
We finished in now time with Lu’s help and he gave me his sleeve of written facts I put with mine. With Blake’s sleeve, it would be enough for this essay due on Monday.
I spoke for more than an hour with Blake that night as he told me how romantic the Vastech sounded.
I gasped, making a joke that the Rubicon said romantic, which he found funny.
We said goodnight around eleven and he couldn’t wait to see me tomorrow.
When we ended the call, this utter loneliness spread through my body and I hated being away from him. I was so pathetic, feeling that I couldn’t function without him. I didn’t like this feeling as if they attached us to the hip.
The viden’s words slipped through my mind again. I wanted to cry every time I thought about it. Blake wouldn’t rescue my dad if he found out about what she had said to me. I had no choice but to take it to my grave.
The next morning, I slept late, and we had brunch around eleven.
A team of specialists came and queen Maggie insisted they should eat with us.
They were part of the top in their league of make-up artists and know the best of the best designers.
They all looked smart, wearing suit pants or beautiful knee length dresses, as if it was an invitation to high tea with the queen and not to get the royals ready for tonight.
When I finished eating, the blonde woman in her thirties ordered me to go take a shower in the nicest way.
I took a fifteen minute shower, washed my hair and felt refreshed as I walked out of the bathroom.
A beautiful golden satin dress waited for me on the bed.
“The best of the best. Ralph Drench made it especially for you tonight, Elena,” Sukie said. She really knew how to do her makeup and I found her really beautiful with her thick eyelashes and dark eyeliner on her smokey eyes.
“As long as it’s not a magical dress that is going to make me fly.” I plopped on the chair in front of the dressing table with the enormous mirror.
She didn’t use any appliances to dry my hair, but her lips worked overtime with the enchantments that left them.
My hair instantly dried as each slant of hair curled. They bounced on my shoulders and then bounced into some sort of bun. Half the curls hung loose on my shoulders. The only thing other than the magic being spoken was adding a beautiful flower diamond hairband to my head.
The make up was even faster. Her fingers slid over my eyes, face and lips, and when she finished, she smiled. “Perfect.”
I glanced in the mirror and didn’t even look like me. My eyelashes that were non-existent for my taste were thick and long and I had the same smokey eye with perfect eyeliner shaping my eyes.
My lips were darker and had a gloss to it, and the foundation was flawless, with a smidge of a rosy blush to my cheeks.
I didn’t even recognize the woman in the mirror and couldn’t stop staring at how something as significant as eyelashes changed my entire look. Blake wasn’t even going to recognize me.
I got undressed behind the divider in my room and put on the golden dress. It almost had a copper glint to it. It was stunning.
She helped me zip it up.
It hugged my boobs perfectly, and the straps sat on my shoulders. Nowhere did it nip at skin.
She showed me the heels, and my eyes grew. They were gold and had a dust-glint effect, but the heel was way too high. I was going to fall tonight trying to parade in them. “You want the tabloids to reveal the color of my underwear tomorrow?”
Laughter poured out of her, getting my meaning. “Put that dragon of you to use for once.”
“These heels are way too high.”
“They come with the dress, I’m afraid.”
I took them from her. “Fine, but I’m wearing my pumps until I’m in public.”
“Anything as long as eyes see them.”
“Thanks, Aliana. I look stunning.”
“Of course you do. It’s all I know how to do. And you are welcome. Usually royalty doesn’t say thank you.”
“I’m not that kind of royalty.”
“That you aren’t. You are a true Malone.” She turned around and left.
I walked with my high heels in my hand and as I neared the elevator that would take us back to Tith, Lucian whistled. “You look beautiful, Elena,” he complimented, and I was thankful for this makeup that hid the heat in my cheeks.
Lucian grabbed my hand and kissed it. Dad cleared his throat, coming from inside the room.
“What? I can’t do this in front of Blake. He would tear off my limbs.”
Everyone chuckled as I walked in, and then they gasped.
“You look stunning, Elena.” Queen Maggie stepped forward, wearing a white two pants suit with high heels.
“The same, wow.”
She smiled and winked.
Dad walked closer, wearing a very elegant tux. He cleaned up nicely since he came home. Looked as majestically as his dragon form.
He gave me a hug. “You look breathtaking, Elena. Very grown up. I’m proud of you, Bear. Everything you’d accomplished, and you did everything I asked without a tinge of any protesting.”
“Now you are lying?”
He grinned. “Well, not the amount I expected. Enjoy your evening. We all need it.”
I nodded.
I took an elevator with Lucian. I feared for my hair.
“All this hard work is going to get ruined now.”
“It’s magic that put it together. Magic will fix it too. Don’t worry.”
“Are you serious?”
“Wicked, right?”
I smiled as we got strapped in.
“Mom!” Lucian grabbed my heels and gave it to the queen before the doors closed. “Just in case you drop them.”
The darkness overpowered us, and then the drop came. Lucian enjoyed this way too much.
Then we stopped, and I took an extra deep breath as we whisked away with such a force that I knew my hair wouldn’t be okay, even if magic was involved.
We slowed down, moved forward, and came to a halt. The doors opened into the same private building the last time we came here for our fitting.
“Why doesn’t the museum have an elevator?”
“Because of all the artifacts inside. There used to be one on the roof, but it has been out of order for a long time.”
We waited for everyone,and Lucian helped keep my balance as I exchanged my shoes.
“Please don’t let me fall. I told Sukie that I’m going to break my ankles tonight.”
Lucian chuckled. “So glad I’m not you.”
“What does my hair look like?”
“Perfect. I told you magic would fix it.”
“Are you serious?” I looked around for a mirror and the room had an entire mirror wall. Not one strand was out of shape or place.
Dad and Emanual were on the second elevator trip.
They got out, and the doors closed as Dad walked toward me. “I got her from here. We don’t want the Rubicon to devour you,” Dad said with a tinge of a joke as Lucian let me go.
“These heels are going to kill me tonight.”
“They won’t.”
The elevator door opened again, and the king and queen got out.
We all went outside, and camera lights bounced off us. The king answered almost every question as we walked through the line the security held for us.
I prayed not to slip and fall, but Dad kept his word. The second my heel slipped, Dad handled my weight, and I walked straight again.
Outside, a limousine with red and golden flags waited for us. Lucian held the door as I climbed in, and I prayed that tonight would be a success.
