Chapter 7
906 Words
"Unbelievable. Utterly unbelievable. All of you are fire breathing lizards?!" Anya shouts. Arin had gathered everybody living in his castle to confirm the dragon world's existence. Growls erupted throughout the group gathered- Anya hadn't made a first good impression.
"And why is the human girl here?" Someone shouts from the crowd.
"Yeah, Arin, why am I here?" Anya asks. The crowd mumbles in agreement some begin to whisper speculations that Anya was Arin's daughter. Anya leans close to a red-face Arin to whisper, "I told ya so. You're too old for me. Even they think you're my dad."
Arin slams his fist on the podium and the crowd goes quiet, "Because Rylee is my beloved."
Silence ensues. Eyes bounce back and forth from Arin to Anya. "What's a beloved?" Anya asks quietly.
No one hears her. Instead, the crowd erupts in happiness shouting, "The King has found his Queen!"
"Congratulations, Rylee. When are the babies comings?" People being to bombard Anya.
"Babies?" Anya's confusion alerts everyone.
"Yes, it's a Queen's duty to provide offspring for the kingdom," a woman says.
"But I'm not a Queen. I'm a human 13-year-old girl why does no one understand that" Anya mutters. Everyone continues to call her Rylee. It seems that her little lie has taken a toll.
The crowd quiets down in ominous murmurs. "Has the King forgotten about Khaleesi. Her High House will not be content."
Anya realized that Arin's face was pleased with the crowd's acceptance of her but Anya did not want it. She did not want these creatures' acceptance. Anya shoved Arin out of the way and stood on the podium, "There has been a misunderstanding. I am not Arin's beloved or whatever you people call it. I'm the daughter of Khaleesi and Arin."
Arin's face was no longer content. The crowd once more began murmuring, "She's right. She had the same dark long hair Khaleesi. Her eyes are chestnut like her grandfather and she has her grandmother's defined jaw."
Arin pulled Anya away from the crowd. The crowd began screaming, "Long live the princess!"
Arin tugged her along, brushing past doors and servants until he threw her into a room. Anya fell onto the ground and got a rug burn on her knee. "What is wrong with you?" Anya seethed.
"Do you have any idea what you've done? Now, no one will believe you are my beloved because the similarities between you and Khaleesi are immense. Even Khaleesi's High House will believe so."
"Then you shouldn't have declared me some Queen. I know nothing of this place and why dragons exist. What are high houses? What's a beloved? Why are people calling me their queen?" Anya retorted harshly.
"I curse the day I ever found you," Arin growled.
"The feeling is mutual. Why, oh, why did you have to enter Mrs. Letberg's Store?" Anya flailed her arm in the air.
"Why are you...you..so complicated?!" Arin hissed.
"I'm a teenager, a human, bought, held against her will, knows dragons exist, is in a different world, and people are calling her Queen and princess. I don't know. Why don't you tell me why I'm so complicated."
"You-You're the most irritating insufferable girl in the whole Kingdom," Arin pointed out.
Anya yawned, "So now do I call you father. Or do I refer to Khaleesi as mother?"
"None. Stop bringing her up in every conversation. What problem do you have with her?" Arin asked.
"I don't have a problem with Khaleesi."
"Are you...jealous?"
Anya scoffed, "Yeah, ok, I'll be jealous of a twenty-year-old dragon King's dead girlfriend."
Anya hated that Arin was right. She was jealous but refused to accept it. Three knocks were heard at the door. Arin replied, "Come in."
A man dressed in a fine cloak rushed in with a stumbling guard behind. "Where is my granddaughter?"
Arin threw daggers at Anya. Anya innocently turned around to face the man with wide innocent eyes. "Grandfather?"
"The goddesses have blessed High House Hydra with Khaleesi's daughter," the guard fell to one knee.
The man in fine cloak took Anya's face in his palms. She felt comforted and knew this man was one to trust, "You have my eyes. Your grandmother's jaw. You're mother's complexion," he stroked Anya's hair. "What is your name, little one?"
"Anya," she replied to which Arin scoffed.
"She's lying. It's Rylee," Aring smugly said.
"No," Anya said, "It's Anya. Anastasia Bennett."
Arin seethed, "You lied to everybody?"
"I do not trust you," Anya fired back.
Her "grandfather" looked worried. "You do not trust your father?"
"He's not my father. Only Khaleesi is my mother but I do not know who my father is," Anya secretly stuck her tongue out at Arin.
"Show me your powers, little one," her grandfather insisted.
Anya panicked, "Powers?"
Her grandfather broke into a smile, "Of course! Just like Khaleesi. Your mother's powers also bloomed late."
Arin spoke up suddenly, "Master Hydreich are you going to take my daughter back to High House Hydra?"
"Of course not! Our High House is beside the border with the fairies and Anya will not succumb to the same fate as her mother. I'll bring her to our Summer house," he announced.
Anya did not know that her little lie would take her this far. But she would do anything to be as far away as possible from Arin. Even if it meant pretending to be Khaleesi's daughter.
"Let's go Grandpappy."
- Writer
