I was suddenly very aware that I was underwater and couldn’t breathe. Frantically, I rocketed up to the top of the pool, coughing and hacking but feeling completely and utterly alive.
“Lady Mercedes!” The Queen cried, pulling me up onto the grass where I continued to spurt up water in a poor imitation of a fountain. “Are you alright? What did you see? Did you meet the spirits? What did they say?”
I held up a hand for her to wait while my lungs continued to pump out liquid. The Queen sat back, looking wide eyed and full of curiosity, like a kid at Christmas. If you had told me when I had first met her that I would one day be telling this ancient and powerful woman to hold up a minute, I would have told you that you were insane. “Yes, I saw them.”
She gasped, and held her hands to her mouth. Tears pricked at the corners of her beautiful eyes, and I felt myself belatedly moved by the significance of the situation I had just left.
“Did they tell you their names? Was it Vainyalla, spirit of the sky? V’klos, spirit of the earth? Did they have names at all?”
“They, um, they aren’t so much a ‘they’ anymore as they are an it. As in singular.”
It was easy to see her crestfallen and confused expression. “Oh?” She murmured, voice hesitant.
“With so few of you left to offer your energy, and the humans being so adept at wiping all magic from the land, they are weak and starving. As far as I can tell, they all bundled together into one entity to stay alive. If you can call what they are alive. It’s all very biblical apparently.”
“I see. So, the spirits are dying?”
“They wouldn’t say as much, but I would say yeah, they don’t have a lot of time left.”
She was silent a moment, and I could see her composing herself. She still had a faint tinge of happiness to her tone, I guess hearing that the spirits she worshiped and remembered stories of so fondly, were alive kept her from being totally disappointed at hearing that they were close to the edge of being no more. No dark cloud, silver lining and all that.
“That is… predictable, but saddening nonetheless. Did they tell you what you should do? Any weaknesses of the humans we could exploit? Any strengths of our own that were lost to the ancestors.”
“No, nothing like that.” I stood slowly and began twisting the water from my hair.
“Then it was all for nothing.”
“No, not quite.” She looked to me with the faintest echo of hope to her gaze. “We have some sorcerers to find before the humans do. And wherever they are, Perin will be.”
“Who is Perin, and why would he be there?”
“He’s like me, and my grandmother, but he is in no way trying to help you guys. He wants the human to rule over everything and wipe the last bits of magic from this land before moving onto a new continent they’ve discovered. I can’t tell you why, or what his purpose is, just what he means to do here.”
The Queen stood as well, rising back to her over seven-foot stature. “And what shall we do with this Perin when we find him?”
“That’s the easy part.” My resolve and will bound together steeling me against the fraught journey I could see stretching out in front of me. “I’m going to either banish him, or kill him. I’ll tell you which when I find him.”
*
“So how are we supposed to find two magic users who have been hiding successfully for years that are already aligned or are going to be aligned with our mortal enemies?”
I looked at the dubious faces all looking at me. After the Queen and I had returned from the holy place, we had summoned all of our little circle to meet with us in her palace. So now I was sitting on a flat expanse of rock with Gael, Myrik, Dwyllverys, Jayne, Carva and the Queen all assembled around me.
“That’s the hard part,” I answered honestly. “I’m going to have to stake out Parin, like he did to me. Inject myself into his dreams, pull him into visions, and generally mess with his head until he reveals what I want to know without letting him know what I’m after.”
“And can you do that?”
“Well, I’m not sure.” I fidgeted as the gazes grew critical. “I think I might be able to, but I’ve never outright tried. I didn’t really even know it was possible until I read more of my abuela’s journal. She didn’t say it outright, but she mentioned that any Shepherd gift that can be used against you can also be turned to be used for you.”
“That is a very vague statement to go building a whole plan around,” Carva said matter of factly. I would have bristled with her ease of dismissing it, but she was right.
“I know. But how else do you think we’re going to stop them? We can’t exactly storm their castle and wipe them out. How many of your people are able to fly that far and launch an attack?”
“Perhaps sixty,” Gael said, impressively maintaining his neutral expression despite the madness I was suggesting. “But that is pushing it.”
“Right. So, do you think sixty of us is enough to get past the catapults, the archers, the walls, the trebuchet and all that stone?”
The golden prince shook his head. “Even if we were to risk a full-on assault, chances of being able to eradicate every nook and cranny of their stone building are slim. And then there are the lords and other militants, safe with their fiefs who will come and lay waste to us while we recover from our journey. There are just too many of them to risk a brunt attack.”
“Exactly. So, this is the best shot we have for the moment. But if I’m going to successfully get into Perin’s head, I’m going to need all of your help. If I start to visit him more frequently, he’s going to come after me more than ever. He’ll be able to see what I see, maybe even know what I know. What I’m going to need is for all of us to build a sort of… fake reality. One that he can tell to Julian to put them at a disadvantage and leave us with the opening we need to find these pocket-sorcerers before they make everything go boom.”
“And how shall we do such a thing?”
“Well, first of all, we’re going to have to find me a room with not much of a view. And then we’re going to have to stick me in it until I find out what I need to know. You’ll all need to visit to make sure that it’s not suspicious, but everything you tell me must be a lie. Assume we are being watched by the enemy each and every moment.”
“But you aren’t, right?” Jayne asked, bright eyes riddled with confusion. “That’s not how it works, right?”
“Jury’s still out on that one. I’m still kinda figuring out what are the rules with this whole influencing other worlds thing.”
“It is difficult to play a game when you don’t know what is possible or not.”
“You’re telling me.” I took in their still doubtful expression and sighed. “Look guys, I know this isn’t some brilliant plan to sweep in at the last minute and change everything. But it’s not a Hail Mary either. This is a systematic strike at something we know will affect them and could possibly put us at a greater advantage to take them down for good. I’m not promising you wild success, or the utter defeat of my enemies. I’m only promising a way to make sure that they don’t blow us sky high before we can figure out what to do.”
“Then we should do it.” I was surprised that it was Myrik who spoke.
“Really?” Gael asked, sounding pleasantly surprised. “You of all people support this plan?”
“No. It’s idiotic and relies far too much on chance for me to be comfortable. But what I do support, is Lady Mercedes. Somehow every illogical, unhinged plan she has made -either on the spot or in advance- has worked. She’s saved us all trice over. I think at this point she has earned my trust that this will turn out as all the others did.”
“Thank you,” I muttered, feeling my cheeks color. I didn’t know how Myrik felt about me now, considering that our last conversation had ended up with a door slammed in his face, but after seeing what could be, I couldn’t help but look at him in a more romantic light.
The way he had talked about his child, and teased Gael about his own son… those had been words filled with love and commitment. Not the sarcastic deadpan of someone who only saw me as a fun roll in the hay. Now, where the disconnect was between what he said previously and what he could possibly say in the future was, I had no idea. But I wouldn’t worry about that for now. I needed to find these sorcerers and get all of this squared away before I became too pregnant to do anything other than roll around and pee a lot.
“I agree,” Gael said, voice somber. “If this is what Lady Mercedes thinks is best, then this is what we will do.”
“I know I don’t really have much of a say in all this, an’ frankly, I’m not quite sure why I’m even here,” Fostra said, “but I’m on board. Besides, we got off the hook way too easily last time. This sounds like way more of a challenge.”
“You are quite strange.” Jayne said absently.
“That may be, but luckily I’ve got the pretty little face to pull it off.” She winked at me and I had a hard time not snickering. And just like that, the mission that I thought I would have to argue about for hours was approved by my small circle of trust.”
But it was the Queen who spoke next, her voice back to its honeyed, calm tone. “I know you are all excited to begin on the path of what comes next, but first we must focus on what must be done now.”
“And what is that?” Gael asked.
“Celebrate.” Her lips curled back up into that tell-tale smirk and I should have known better. Now that I was more familiar with the Queen, I realized she liked the good ol’ bait and switch just like any other public speaker. “For today is our sisters’ birthday.” She stood, and once more offered both of her hands to me. “Lady Mercedes, today is the day you are born as a dragon, and I’m sure the world will never quite be the same.”
A chorus of cheers and claps sounded from my friends, and I laughed as the Queen pulled me upwards.
“You Majesty,” Gael said, rising as well with a bow. “As I did on that day so long ago, I humbly offer my sponsorship as her family.”
“No,”
“No?” The Prince’s brow furrowed and for a moment I was worried everything would go south “But your Majesty-”
“You cannot sponsor Lady Mercedes because she has already been claimed by another house. I will be your sponsor, my child, and your banner will forever be the color of the pale dragons.”
Gael’s jaw fell open and everyone else seemed stunned as well. Except for Carva of course. I didn’t even know if stunned was in her vocabulary. “Y-your Majesty! Are you certain?”
“Of course. As sure as the wind and rock, as sure as the water that sustains us, Lady Mercedes of the Shimmering Isle is now of my line. Let us celebrate your rebirth, Lady Mercedes of the Pale Dragon..”
More whoops and hollers sounded from my crew but I was feeling more than a little baffled. “What does that mean? Why does it matter who sponsors me?”
But the Queen was as patient as ever as she gently ran her nails through my hair. “It means, that as my child you are most likely to succeed me when one day the earth collects my bones. It is not set in stone, as our monarchies are not based in genealogy, but there is a faint pattern.”
My mind was so boggled that I couldn’t think of what to say for several long moments. “What? You think me, a human, could rule all of you?”
“While I am not sure you actually are as human as you think, I am certain that --should our people choose to have you lead -- you will serve as faithfully and fiercely as any monarch I’ve known.”
“I-I don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything at all!” Gael cried, sweeping me up in another crushing but very welcome hug. “Welcome to our kingdom, Lady Mercedes of the Pale Dragon!”
“Let us celebrate,” The Queen said, clapping her hands. “It has been many a year since I’ve had something to be so jubilant about. Our stores are meant for a population five times our size, so it is not as if we must worry about supplies.”
“I guess there’s an upside to everything.”
“Yes, although it can often be hard to find. Come, children, we have some food stores to raid.”
Carva laughed and pushed herself up to her feet. “Now you’re talkin’ my language, your Majesty. Any of you lot ever had a good meat pie?”
Dwyllverys smirked slightly. “I have a terrible history with pies, but I’d love to buy yours.”
“Maybe I will if you ask nicely enough.” Another wink and I was suddenly wondering how strictly Carva was interested in the crimson dragon beside her.
It didn’t take long until we were all on our feet laughing and bantering. It felt strangely disconnected from the reality that I had just seen with Julian, but I was more than glad at the pleasant transition. We walked in masse out of the Queen’s cavernous home, and although I didn’t know where we were headed, I took the moment to sidle up to Myrik’s side.
“You like me.” I said, a coy smirk on my face.
He almost jumped and I felt a bit proud that I had managed to startle him. Sneaking up on the great, suspicious advisor was not exactly an easy task. “What are you talking about,”
“You like me.” I repeated quietly. “As in you have feelings. Soft, squishy, warm feelings. For me.”
“And what makes you say that?”
“I just came from a super sacred commune with the spirits of your people. Obviously, I saw some things.”
“Things that tell you that I have romantic feelings for you?”
“More than you will. Right now, they’re probably just at annoying crush level, but trust me, it gets worse.”
“And what then of your prince in shining scales? Are you going to leave him for the ardent love that you’re so sure I’m going to one day profess?”
“No.”
He was quiet a long moment and my gaze flicked to the others to see if they were staring or something and that had silenced him, but they were all involved in conversation and planning amongst themselves. “No?”
“It’s probably hard to understand right now, or even envision, but it will all work out between us. Provided we survive the aggressive plot to end all of our existence.” He didn’t say anything and kept his gaze focused forward. I waited for several moments before I realized he wasn’t planning to respond at all. “What, do you not believe me?”
“I do. I just have decided not to worry about whatever you’re talking about until we survive the next hurdle. After all, if we die, why waste my energy worrying about what you have supposedly foretold.”
“Not romantic, but I’ll take it.” For a moment, I felt guilty that I was keeping my condition a secret from him. But telling him that I was with child -or children, possibly- would force me to admit something that I wasn’t quite ready to say.
That I was keeping the strange, crossbreed lives inside me.
My breath hitched at the thought and I had to calm myself with several deep breaths. Myrik gave me a strange look, but had the courtesy not to say anything.
I hadn’t officially made that decision for myself, and yet I knew that I couldn’t drink whatever Dwyllverys had left for me in that little canvas bag. I liked to think that I wasn’t manipulated by the happy visions that the spirit had showed me, but rather my own inclinations. I knew it was impossible to say, but I chose to believe that I was making the decision that I wanted to.
It would undoubtedly complicate my life. Maybe even completely negate my chances of going home. But I truly believed that this was what would make me happy in the end. After all, hadn’t I always complained at home of being disconnected with the busy nine to five world? Of feeling detached and uninterested in so much of that life that was supposed to be so enrapturing? Perhaps this was my solution. Perhaps it wasn’t. Perhaps this had been meant to happen since the moment I almost drowned in that pond just to be spit up on the shore.
Either way, it didn’t matter.
I was reborn, as a dragon, and now as a mother. And I would fight tooth and nail to make sure I got to enjoy both of those new identities.
Perin needed to watch out, because I was fighting for so much more than a ticket home now.