On Christmas Day we left early for Tith.
“Where is Blake, Elena?” Dad Herbert asked.
“Oh, he left around three this morning to make it in time. You know how much he hates taking the elevators.”
We stepped into the office just in time to see a stack of presents on the table linked to the elevator disappearing.
It was the first time I’d actually had seen it, and Dad Albert turned around.
“Where is Blake?”
Sir Robert explained he didn’t like the way the elevator made him feel.
I plopped down into the chair next to Dad Albert. He absolutely loved this joyride from hell and voiced it all the way to Tith.
The door opened at the palace just as Queen Maggie entered.
I threw the restraints from my shoulders and hopped out of the chair.
The queen wrapped her arms around me and planted kisses all over my face. “Merry Christmas, Elena.”
“To you too, Queen Maggie.”
Outside the window snow was falling. “It’s snowing?”
Queen Maggie’s lips fanned into a smile. “No, I bought a spell for snow.”
“Did the presents make it?” Dad asked as I rushed to the window. White snow covered everything in the courtyard.
“Of course they did. You shouldn’t have, Al. Merry Christmas.”
As far as I could see it was snowing.
“They are in the living room, Elena,” Queen Maggie said.
“Thanks,” I rushed out of the room. Joyous voices came from the living room before I entered. The biggest tree filled with ornaments stood gigantically against the wall.
Blake sat in one chair at the table, with Lucian in the opposite one. They were playing some sort of Checkers game that wasn’t a Checkers game. I hunched over the chair, hugging Blake.
“Merry Christmas,” I whispered in his ear.
He bent his head backward for a kiss, and our lips brushed softly. “To you too.”
“I win!” Lu pumped the air.
Blake’s head jerked back to his game. “I was distracted.”
“Your problem, not mine.”
“Merry Christmas, cheater,” I said to Lucian.
“I’m not a cheater. Merry Christmas.” He laughed and looked at Blake. “Another one?”
“Yes, that win didn’t count.”
My eyes caught Tabitha sitting on the couch with a book. Laughter pierced through my lips as I stared at the unicorn onesie pajamas. She got up and gave me a hug.
“Merry Christmas,” I said.
“You too. You need help to unpack?”
“Yes, put her to some use,” Lucian said, and I marched the few steps that were between us and slapped him hard behind his head.
He rubbed his head. “Ow.”
“I win,” Blake yelled, lifting his arms.
Lucian protested as Tabitha and I walked toward where we would sleep for the next few days.
I climbed the steps with Tabitha. Tears glistened in her eyes.
“Hey, ignore him.”
“It won’t happen today, that is for sure.”
“I hope he is going to feel like a jerk when he is finally getting out of his impasse stage.”
She laughed, which made the corner of my lips quirk up.
Her smile disappeared as a gush of air slipped from her lips. “I don’t know. It feels as if he doesn’t even like me.”
“I told you what happened when that pillar fell on you. He will come around. Hold on to that.”
She nodded as we entered my normal room I used at the palace.
Nothing has changed.
I put my bag on the bed as Tabitha plopped into the chair that stood against the wall.
“So tell me about the colony rules. Why did they chuck you out?” I took out the first couple of shirts from my bag and walked to the closets.
“The colony doesn’t live by the Dragonian-Law. They feel dragons aren’t pets and shouldn’t be ridden. They’re very traditional and don’t even change into their human figures. Meaning that I don’t know what my mom and dad’s human figures look like.”
“Are you serious?”
She nodded. “My brother doesn’t live with the colony, but he doesn’t have a rider. They still welcome him with open arms. When Lucian claimed me, I received a telegraph that night from my mom, telling me she has no daughter anymore. She was so disappointed in me and should’ve trampled on my egg.” Tears lingered in her eyes.
I packed the pants in the closet with a bunch of underwear. “Lucian knows this?”
She shook her head.
I walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed, facing her. My hand rubbed her leg. “I’m so sorry, Tabitha.”
She wiped the tear away. “I thought I was going to spend Christmas alone, but then the queen’s invitation arrived. She phoned me and asked me what I was doing for Christmas and if I would like to join them. It felt as if a huge weight was expelled off my shoulders.”
“I can imagine. Queen Maggie is amazing.”
“She is.” Her lips fanned into a smile. “She is so kind and so fierce at the same time.”
I laughed at the way Tabitha’s eyebrows raised.
“Run when she tries to teach you about how to be gracious and royal.”
Laughter bubbled out of Tabitha.
“She is passionate about being royal, but a hard ass when she drills it into you. There were a few times I wanted to strangle her.”
“Strangle who?” Queen Maggie’s voice entered the room and walked toward Tabitha.
“Sammy,” I said and got up to put the last few things that were still in my bag in the closet.
Tabitha’s laughter sounded like chimes.
“I love your laughter. You are so beautiful.” Queen Maggie touched Tabitha’s face. “Lucian is an idiot.”
“Tell me about it,” I replied.
“So you are settled?”
“Busy getting there.”
“Breakfast will be served soon, and then we just have to wait for everyone else. We still have a lot of presents to dish out. So finish up here and come join us in the dining room.”
“We will be there soon, promise.”
“Do I have to get dressed?” Tabitha asked.
“Preferably before the other guests come, sweetheart.”
She growled, and Queen Maggie’s laughter followed her down the hallway.
“I guess I should go get ready. See you downstairs?”
“You bet.”
She left and went to her room. Lucian was a jerk.
I found all of them in the dining room. Tabitha had exchanged her onesie for a pair of tight jeans and and a fashionable knitted shirt.
She always looked so beautiful, but at the same time, so alone as she sat way on the opposite side of Lucian and Blake.
Isabel was hugging Blake from behind and laughing at something he’d said. Sammy rushed over to me. “Merry Christmas, Elena.”
“To you too.”
I motioned with my hand for Tabitha to come sit with us, and she got up. I tried to ignore Lucian’s foul mood as Tabitha took a chair next to me and opposite Blake. The feast that was put in front of us released all the aromas. Butter rolls and salty bacon caressed my nostrils, and my stomach grumbled.
Dad said grace, and afterwards we dished up. Chattering bombarded my ears as we all reached for the different dishes.
I made a mental note that tonight I was going to have a talk with Lucian about Tabitha. My two fathers sat with the grown-ups on the other end of the table. They were in such high spirits as Christmas was all around us.
It hung from the ceiling and draped around the windows. Red bells and artificial snow were everywhere. I didn’t recall if I’d ever celebrated Christmas like this.
When we finished our breakfast, we excused ourselves, and we all left for Lucian’s simulator.
Blake whistled and looked over the railing that looked down on the green obstacle room. “I didn’t think it was this big.”
Lu chuckled. “You should try it. See from the Dragonian perspective just how awesome it is to tame a beast.”
The two of them rushed down the steps. The girls and I took our time getting downstairs.
“Have you been inside?” I asked Tabitha, and she shook her head.
“Do you want to go?”
“It’s okay.”
“I would love to try it,” Sam said.
When we reached the bottom, Blake was already suited up.
Lu toggled the arms that hung from the ceiling onto his suit as Blake put on the head gear.
We slipped past him into the control room, and I couldn’t help but swoon when Blake’s figure popped onto the screen wearing the same gladiator attire all the others had worn.
“Who did you choose?” I asked him over the mic.
“The Rubicon.”
Sammy’s hyena laughter overpowered ours as Blake chuckled from the simulator.
“You ready?” Lu asked.
“Bring on the big guy.”
The door opened, and Lu rushed in.
He pulled a chair closer and plopped onto it as the simulator started.
Blake laughed as the Rubicon stepped through the gates.
“I don’t walk like that.”
“You can’t see yourself walking. It’s very similar.”
“You would make a kick ass Dragonian,” I said.
The Rubicon stopped in front of him and roared. Blake laughed, yelling back at him, and then it was game on. We kept watching with gaping mouths.
Lu laughed when I discovered him staring at me.
“He makes it look so easy.”
“It’s only because he knows which part of himself is weak, Elena. See how he goes for all of them?”
“Still, I doubt the Rubicon in the simulator knows he is fighting against the person inside of him.”
“A visual fight with your inner self,” Tabitha said, and Lucian chuckled.
She smiled as I bumped into her.
Blake found his gap and got onto his back. It was downhill from there.
The beast submitted and went down with loads of moans and groans.
The word ‘record’ flashed on the screen, and Lucian voiced his disgust that Blake’s record was at the top.
Blake cajoled with his fists, pumping the air.
“Ha-ha, you know yourself, you had the upper hand,” I said over the microphone. “You always have to be first, don’t you?”
“Always,” Blake replied without a hint of shame or anything.
Sammy went after her brother. It was hilarious. She was so gentle and when things got too rough with the Sun-Blast she faced, she fell onto the ground and curled into a fetal position.
Tabitha waved it off when I asked her if she would like a chance.
Lucian didn’t even offer. I wanted to kick him, but Tabitha would be so upset if I did.
Blake helped Lucian put the gear away as they spoke about stats and the pounds the arms could hold.
Once we got upstairs again, we ran into Becky and George.
A smile adorned George’s face as he slap-shook Blake’s hand.
“Elena,” Dad Albert called me, and I walked to him. He hugged the guy that stood next to Lucille, with Becky at his side.
“First Christmas with loved ones,” Dad said when I neared.
“Never thought this day would come, Al.” The guy pulled Becky to his side and gave George a side-glare.
Dad Albert laughed. “She is a Dent, Etienne.”
“Didn’t think I was going to share her this fast.”
Lucille slapped her husband on the chest. “I like him.”
“See, one parent giving slack.” I looked at Dad Herbert, who also came over to say hello.
“I’m giving Blake loads of slack, sweetheart,” Dad Albert said.
“Oh, the creaking floorboard is showing me just how much slack, Dad.”
Laughter broke out.
“That was your other father’s idea, not mine. I trust you both,” Dad Albert said.
Dad Herbert cleared his throat, staring at Dad Albert. Lucille questioned the creaking floorboard as Dad Albert laughed and changed the subject.
“I want you to meet one of my bravest men I have ever served with. Etienne Johnson.”
I let out my hand to the blond guy with the blue eyes. Becky has nothing of her father’s features, but then again, she looked like her mother. “Nice meeting you, Mr. Johnson.”
“Etienne is just fine, princess.”
“Elena will do.”
Dad laughed as he pulled me into a hug and kissed me on the temple. He then dragged me to a couple of his other friends who had been prisoners with him.
They all carried smiles now as Dad called them by their names, introducing me. It was weird how they all stared. One whistled. “She is the spitting image of Kate.”
Laughter burst out as Dad agreed in a dry sense of tone.
“I’m going now. Nice meeting you,” I said and grabbed his last friend’s hand with both of mine.
“Likewise, princess.”
“Elena, please.”
“She is a Malone, all right.”
More laughter elicited as I rushed back to Blake and my friends.
Becky kissed her father on the cheek, and I smiled at the playful protest that her dad displayed.
“I’m around the corner with Elena and Sammy, Dad.”
“Okay, enjoy.” Etienne glared at George again.
George kept quiet until we reached the door. “He will never give me slack.”
“I can hear you, I had a dragon,” Etienne yelled, and we all sniggered at the way George cringed.
“How many times must I tell you that?” Becky hissed at him as we left for some outside fun.
Blake thought it was hilarious the way George and Becky bickered like an old couple.
I buried my hand inside Blake’s hand, and he squeezed it tightly as he bent down and pressed his lips on top of my head. He smelled divine today, and I didn’t want this day to end. It was going to be the best Christmas ever.
