ELENA
I found Becky sitting against the wall with her head between her legs. George crouched next to her, rubbing her arm.
“Becky,” I said and went down on my haunches in front of her.
She looked up at me. “This was your big secret, Elena. That our fathers are still alive.”
I nodded, and silence lingered around us as she stared past me. Then something in her mind went off. She looked at George with concern. “My mother. George, we have to go to my mother.”
“Will you guys…”
“Go,” I said to George and they both left. I felt even worse now as I imagined what Lucille was going through with only Rosa at her side.
I should’ve prepared them for this. They were my friends.
I clutched my hair.
“Elena,” Sammy’s hand was on my shoulder.
“I suck at this. I’m probably the worst friend out there.”
“You are not, okay? You are the princess, and we made peace with the fact that sometimes there will be things you won’t be able to share with us immediately. It was just a lot to take in.”
I hated it when Sammy did that.
“He’s really alive.”
“It’s why your brother isn’t here. He stayed with your father, to who we have to go to now.”
“So he knows.”
“Yes, he found out when we were in Etan the first time.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
We left on Sammy’s back, and she flew as fast as she could back to the Dragon League.
I slid off her wing when she landed and had to endure all the stares most of them gave me.
I didn’t care if any of them understood why we had kept this a secret. The media was going to make it sound as if it was a tactic I’d used to make Areeth fight with us, but there were many who could confirm this – a hundred and fifty people, to be exact.
I entered the door and found Emanuel leaning against the wall right in front of Sir Robert’s office.
I touched his arm gently and he looked at me.
“I’m so sorry.” It hardly came out, and he gave me a faint smile.
I opened the door and could hear the sobs coming from Sir Robert. He was sitting in his chair. Blake sat on top of his desk in front of him, with his hands on his shoulder, speaking to him in Latin.
He looked at me then back at his father.
“I’m so sorry about this,” I said to Sir Robert.
He looked at me for a few seconds, closed his eyes and shook his head.
He inhaled deeply and exhaled before he spoke. “A part of me always knew that he was alive. The worst part of it now is that for some reason,” his voice rose, “I can’t get the last time I saw him out of my head.” He got up and started to pace.
“Dad,” Blake said.
“No, son. I should’ve been there, but he forced me away from him. He used the binding spell against me!” he yelled then stopped as he remembered something else and started to smile, but it was one of those smiles you get when you just realized how stupid you were. “I taught him that, and he used it to order me away, because of you, because of what we all promised. To keep you safe no matter how hard it was going to be.” He looked at Blake.
“What?” Blake said.
“I thought about that night a million times. He knew that you would be claimed one day, and all we had to do was to keep you safe until that time.” His face hardened. He walked over to his book shelf and threw the contents to the floor. Books scattered everywhere.
I started. Blake was at his side at once trying to calm him, but he slipped past him and threw the contents from his desk too. I flinched, wanting to leave as Blake closed his eyes.
“What pissed me off the most was that he’d told nobody about her. I’ve lived eighteen years thinking he thought that I was behind his betrayal. That was why he forced me away from him that night. For fifteen years.”
“He didn’t –” I started.
“I know, you told me that, but it doesn’t change the fact that I left him when he needed me the most.”
“Dad, he used the binding spell. You just said that.”
“I could’ve fought harder. When I saw the Creepers jumping out of the ground, I knew it was something out of this world. I could’ve found a way to control the spell, use it against my rider. I gave him my oath that I would keep him safe –”
“And he broke it when he bound you, Dad. He is alive, you will see him again. I promise. When the right time comes –”
“One month, Blake.”
“Dad, we told them two moons from now.”
“One month. They are men of King Albert. Men I fought wars with for a long time. They know the signs of war. They will be ready no matter what you told them. Four weeks. Whether you are ready or not. In four weeks she will take me in.”
Well that was unexpected. To hear Sir Robert giving us an ultimatum of one month to get everything ready for war, was hard to swallow.
Eight weeks was doable. Four weeks was a suicide mission.
Blake nodded, and I knew we had no choice.
I went back to the Academy without Blake, who wanted to make sure his father was really okay with all of this and wasn’t going to do something stupid the minute we left. He would never reach my father in time. He would die in the Creepers.
Media crews were already waiting for us in the courtyard. I could see Constance and Master Longwei trying to get rid of them, but the minute we got near, flashing lights bounced off Sammy’s scales.
They bombarded me with questions.
“Princess, you said that you promised your father is still alive. Is that a tactic to get Areeth to fight?”
“No comment,” I said. No matter what I said, they would turn my words around and use them against me. I had nothing to prove to them that I was telling the truth. They either believed me or they didn’t.
Sammy and Dean followed after me as more reporters yelled questions.
Professor Pheizer was waiting inside for all of us. “We will get more guards here in the next few weeks, Elena,” she said. “I’m so sorry that you had to keep that all to yourself for so long.”
I smiled. She had always been kind, and it was hard to imagine what Blake had gone through when he’d discovered that she was on to him a few years back.
“I’m sorry. I know I still have a lot to learn, and it feels like I’m doing everything wrong.”
“That is what will make you a brilliant queen one day. It’s knowing you are not ready, when you are.” She winked and left as we climbed up the stairs to our rooms.
The rest of the night I watched reporters questioning the families whose names I’d mentioned today. I even saw them bombarding Becky as George landed with her close to her home.
“Rebecca Johnson, how does it feel knowing that your father is alive?”
“Show some respect!” she yelled. “You just don’t know when to stop, you scum.”
George, who was buck naked, was pushing her through the door that Rosa was keeping open.
I lowered my head into my palm and just shook my head. She was never going to forgive me.
Then I listened to the interviews they had with random people, how many of them questioned Just Kev’s interview today. They were completely pulling me to shreds because I said no comment.
A knock sounded on the door and Sammy switched off the TV. I got up and opened the door.
It was Master Longwei.
“The Council wants to see you, Elena.”
“Now? It’s almost ten o’clock.”
“I’m sorry but as you can imagine, today’s revelation…” He didn’t have to finish.
I nodded and left with him.
The ride to Town Hall in Elm was silent. Master Longwei didn’t say a word. He didn’t ask any questions. He just stared out of his window.
We landed at the palace in Tith. Everyone was waiting for us in King Helmut’s meeting room. I was glad it was just the Council and not the Ancients too.
I walked in and found the long, oblong table. Master Longwei and I sat on the only two chairs left way at the end.
“Thank you for joining us on such short notice, princess,” King Helmut said by way of starting the meeting.
I nodded.
“So this morning with Just Kev,” he asked. “Elena, is that the truth?”
I stared at him then shook my head. “You’re seriously asking me this?”
“We need to know the tactic behind this revelation you spewed all over us today,” King Caleb started.
“I’m not lying. I didn’t make any of that up. If you don’t believe me, ask the hundred and fifty people I brought out.”
“Easy to –”
“Stop interrupting me. I’m so tired of your constant belief that I’m trying to fool you or trying to trap you into fighting a war you absolutely do not believe in. I didn’t lie in order to get Areeth to fight. I never wanted to tell anyone the truth about my father, but it wasn’t just my destiny. Blake was the one that said I had to tell the truth. He’s carried this knowledge, along with me, for a couple of months now, and if you think that it was easy keeping it from everyone, you are making a huge mistake. Fight if you want to fight, don’t fight, but know that I will free my father and then all of you will have to look him in the eye. And I hope you’ll have a really good reason of why you didn’t want to help him. I’m really not doing this for me. I’m doing this for my father, because he deserves to be free.”
I got up.
“I’m done begging. Those of you who want to fight for my father, fight. Those of you who feel that I’m lying, don’t fight. Nobody is forcing you.”
I turned around and left.
Master Longwei was still sitting in his chair when I opened the door. Flashes went off in my face as I stormed into the castle. They hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. How had they known about all these private meetings?
The guards kept them at bay, but the palace was a free for all. It served as a sort of sanctuary, so the gates were open until midnight.
“What do you want from me?” I yelled at them and as one by one they all stopped and lowered their cameras.
“You want me to tell you that I made all of that up so that Areeth could fight? That’s clearly what you keep on reporting.” I stared at all of them. None of them had expected this, and I was done being this proper princess.
“Well, I can’t tell you that, because it would be a lie. I never wanted anybody to know the truth, because my father loves his people more than his own freedom. That is the kind of man he was, and I respected that, but then I started thinking. Why do you get to have that man give his life for you? What makes you so special and not me? So I told the truth because my father is a great man. Is, not was. He is alive. I swear on my mother’s grave that he is alive. How much longer he’ll stay that way, well that is up to you. Fight if you want to fight, don’t. To be honest, I don’t care anymore, but my father will come home. That is a promise.”
Queen Margerite put her hands on my shoulders.
I didn’t want to go back inside, and I nodded. “I’m fine. I just want to go back to the Academy.”
She nodded toward one of her men and they pulled up in a royal carriage with a dragon at the front.
I got in as cameras flashed once more. They still yelled questions that sounded more directed at what my father said during my ascending, how I’d discovered he was still alive, yada, yada, yada.
The minute I closed the door, the dragon started to run and lifted off as fast as he could.
It felt as if I could breathe again. Regret over what I’d just done filled my gut. Queen Margerite told me that it was okay to lose your patience with one or two at the most, like she had with Stanley that time. But a crowd? They would never let me forget it as long as I lived.
I FELT THE carriage land and I opened the door. I thanked the dragon and watched him lift off again as another one pulled in.
I didn’t want to listen to Master Longwei’s advice about how I should never handle the council like that. He would see tonight as a learning experience, so I walked as fast as I could to the front door of the Academy.
“Elena,” Master Longwei called me back. “Hold up.”
I stopped. I felt so drained. Today hadn’t been as easy as everyone thought it would be. I wanted my bed; I wanted to go sleep.
He reached me in no time and stared at me.
“I’m telling the truth. My father is alive, and nobody believes me. It’s like they forgot what he was to all of them.”
I wiped away an angry tear.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. Believe it or not, I don’t doubt your word. I just struggle to imagine what it must have been like for him all these years.”
“I…” I wanted to argue my actions from tonight and only just then realized what he’d said. “What?”
He smiled. “Congratulations, I’m proud that you finally stood up to all of them questioning you.”
I looked at him, aghast. He smiled and I closed my mouth.
I sighed. “If nobody wants to fight…”
“Don’t. Let it sink in first. Let them make up their own minds about what is true and what isn’t. You may be surprised at how much your father was loved and respected. I’ll get word out to the other side, gather all the other Metallics. It might take a month or so –
“We only have four weeks,” I interrupted.
“What?”
“Sir Robert is pushing us. He wants my father to come home.”
“So he believes you?”
I nodded.
Master Longwei smiled. “If his dragon believes his rider is still alive, then he’s alive. People will believe. Just give them time.
THE NEXT FEW days we watched and listened to so many TV shows and radio stations talking about my father and whether he was really alive. Then, finally, Just Kev did an interview with Sir Robert. It was held at the Dragon League, in his office.
“So, what did you feel when Elena told everyone that her father was still alive?”
“The same as you, Kevin. I was shocked for a few seconds, but a part of me always knew that he was too magical to die by the hands of a lowly piece of scum like Goran. I know he is fighting every day for his life, and Elena might not plead anymore, but I will. Remember the Great War, the one where all the dragons won their freedom? It was the crown prince, fighting against his own father. Many crown princes, and their dragons, fighting their parents. That is the man that none of you want to free. We need all your help, but if you are not willing to stand with us, we will do this by ourselves, and we will succeed.” He looked down. “I just don’t want to be the one that has to tell him that this person and that person didn’t want to fight because they didn’t accept the princess’s word. That would be devastating for him, especially if it’s someone he used to see as one of his greatest friends.”
“Was that aimed at the King of Areeth?”
Sir Robert smiled. “You might have forgotten about him, Kevin, but I haven’t. Albert treated everyone as his friend.”
Sir Robert got up. “Now if you will excuse me, I have a war to get ready for and I only have three weeks.”
“Three weeks?” Kevin asked.
“My rider is coming home in three weeks.”
I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, Kevin had nothing to say, he was speechless.
“Guess there is a time for everything,” Sammy said. Now that Becky wasn’t here, she was the one leaving her two-cent comments in Becky’s place. I laughed. I missed Becky. I’d tried to phone her so many times but she hadn’t accepted my calls or returned the.
Sammy’s hyena laughter filled the room as Kevin finally showed the cut sign and the show went to a commercial. I couldn’t help but to join her.
When our laughter quieted down she looked at me. “You think they will fight?”
“I don’t know. Master Longwei said that he will try to get word over to the dragons on the other side. So let’s hope.”
“I know this sounds strange, but I’m ready for this. It’s exciting, it’s new.” She looked ready, and I grabbed her around the neck and hugged her tightly.
“I wish I had your confidence.”
“You do, you just don’t know it yet.”
I shook my head. “Becky.” I couldn’t finish my sentence.
“Give her time, Elena. She has to digest a lot.”
“None of them are returning my calls. How am I supposed to say sorry for everything if they don’t return or pick up when I call them?”
“Some people need time, especially the Johnsons. You know she always wants to know everything. Just give her time.”
Just Kev started again, and he carried on with his interview but this time Blake was sitting in his father’s spot.
My stomach fluttered. I missed him too.
“So, Blake. You’ve obviously known about this for a long time?”
“Yes, Kevin. I have.”
“And what were your thoughts about it the first time?”
He smiled. “To be honest, it wasn’t Elena that told me the truth. It was the people of Etan. Goran is guarding King Albert with his life, so if you want to know if I have seen him.” He shook his head as an answer. “But I’ve seen all the others. They are alive and they are only alive because of their king. If he was dead, they would’ve died too. So yes, I believe with all my heart that he is still alive.”
“Is it true that Elena didn’t want the people to know about her father still being alive?”
“Yes, because he made her promise not to tell anyone. He loved his people, something a lot of people seem to have forgotten. He loved them so much that he would give up meeting his daughter, so that they could live in peace for as long as they lived. But I say screw that. I want her to meet the man her father is, the man who all of us had a chance to know and she has only read about in history books. And I will find a way to free him. I will bet my life on it.”
Kevin had nothing to say though Blake had just cussed on live TV.
Tears welled up in my eyes when he said it. One of us would die if Louie’s berries weren’t the missing ingredient.
He ended it with a plea again. “Everyone should fight, not because they are scared, but because of the person that is behind those Creepers, for all of the families still trapped behind Etan. It is time to stand together again, like we did a long time ago when the other side wanted everything for themselves. Nothing will be able to touch us ever again if we can just learn how to stand together.”
“Thank you, Blake, for giving us the time and for those words of encouragement.” He cleared his throat. “And I really wish you all the best on pushing this forward.”
“Thank you, Kevin.”
“Only he can cuss on live TV and get away with it,” Sammy said.
“Yeah, just imagine what type of king he will be,” Dean peeped next to Sammy.
“King?” Sammy and I both said.
“Well,” Dean said, “if you think about it, he will eventually marry you one day, and your father is not going to live forever. Blake and you will take over this world, together.”
I looked at Sammy, whose expression had gone blank.
“My brother is going to be a freakin’ king one day!”
“And not just any king, a dragon king.” Dean smiled.
We all laughed at his comment. I would give anything for that to become true, anything.
