Sacrificed to the Dragon

9. Plans in the grand library

Katherine thinks about the story the man has told her. It gave her an idea. If the royal advisers staged a coup and overthrew the King and Queen, maybe she can stage a getaway and free her fellow Loredanians from the dragon. They managed to kill two dragons, she won’t even kill one. The dragon doesn’t have to die, she will find a way to free her people without bloodshed. They might be treated well, but they are not free. She misses her horse and walks in the garden. She was never cooped inside the palace for so long. The few glimpses of the sun and the sky she gets in the small graveyard and on the balcony are not enough. She wants to be able to go outside when she pleases. She thinks that nobody accepted their fate as easily as they make it seem. Some of them must miss their family or the people from their village or just the plain freedom they had before.

She browses the books in the history section and finds nothing on Queen Anthea, but there are a few books that predate her. She finds a lot of information on other dragon Kings and Queens. It seems the man was right. There were dragons ruling Loredan a long time ago. What else did her family keep from her? Do others know or did they erase a few hundred years of history so easily? Was the man right? It only takes three generations to forget something?

Whatever wrong was done to the dragons, she thinks that holding people captive here is wrong. Maybe those who were born here don’t know better, they have never seen the vast fields of Loredan, the forests and lakes. The freedom of riding over endless roads. She knows that some men even came up here by their choice, but nobody asked the girls. Nobody asked her. She was sacrificed just as all the girls before her.

Her browsing and thinking got her in a different section of the library. Here, there are no books, but large scrolls. She looks for inscriptions and finds out they are the schematics of the castle. Floor plans, garden plans, the houses and the fields. She even finds the plans for the mines, but not a single access road to the castle Eiry. It is in the mountains, placed here as if by magic. Not even one path leads down from the mountain. Even a goat couldn’t escape from here. 

Is all her planning in vain? Should she just give up? Or maybe, a change of plan? If she can’t lead the people from here, maybe she should try and sway the dragon to release them? She did study politics and negotiations. And the dragon is just a huge black beast, he can’t distract her with good looks. He might eat her, but that is a risk she is willing to take in order to free her people. Can she even think of them as her people? Is she really a princess or just a descendant of a traitor? Who even sets the standard for titles? Is she a princess because she was born into the right family who just runs the country at this time? What about the people here? Are they better off with the dragon? Or would they rather be in Loredan and free?

Oh, the gods! She will drive herself crazy with all the questions and nobody to ask about them. What should she do? Just accept her fate and let everything go? Or try and free the people of Loredan? Maybe she should take the words of the man and help the dragon take the throne from her own father? Where did that thought come from? Why? Is her mind just spewing one treason after another? Is it right to think of betraying her father if she is thinking of betraying the dragon lord? Are the betrayals of the same magnitude? She knows her father, but she never met Lord Cellan and she only saw the dragon once. 

Katherine sits on the stairs of the library all alone and is lost in her thoughts. So many things to think about and she is not even sure if all the thoughts are really hers or just a reminder of the story he told her. Oh, she wishes he would tell her his name. Even thinking about him without a name to call him is weird and hard. She doesn’t want to degrade him by calling him the handsome man or the golden boy, even in her own mind. She was raised better.

And her mind comes up with another idea. One she has not thought about or explored before. What if Lord Cellan and the dragon are one and the same? Is he a relative of Queen Anthea? A descendant of hers? How long do dragons live? Could he be her son? Could it be that there is just one dragon for the last hundred years? Is that why he knows about her and nobody else does? That would explain the emotional response she saw from him as he was telling her the story.

Oh, my! Was she talking with Lord Cellan all this time? Is that why he didn’t tell her his name and what he does? Is that why he doesn’t want her asking questions? Did he tell her the story of Queen Anthea to give her a clue? Is he testing her wits? Is this a riddle or a game? What is it that he thinks to gain for him? Yes, he is flirting with her, but she will not fall for that. She was raised to see the games of men and to guard her heart and body.

“You know, you’re thinking too loud. Dragons can read minds and you are screaming inside.” She hears a voice but can’t really see any one.

“Who said that?” Katherine asks and turns in all directions to see who is there.

“The dragon.” The voice comes again and she thinks it’s above her somewhere.

“Show yourself. I want to see who I’m talking to.” Katherine demands.

“Hmm. I don’t know.” He says and his voice echoes in the open space of the library.

“Please.” Katherine asks nicely. “I heard dragons can take human form.”

“I’m afraid you might judge me on the way I look.” He teases her and she hears faint laughter from above.

Katherine runs up the stairs to the top level of the library and finds nothing. Where could he be? Sound travels differently than light, so he could be anywhere. Think, Katherine, think. She turns and walks slowly back down the spiral stairs. He is probably below her and only makes her think he is above.

“I don’t judge people on how they look.” Katherine tells him.

“I’m not a person, I’m a dragon.” He answers with more laughter.

“Are you the black dragon that brought me here?” She inquires.

“”Presumptuous!” His voice booms around her. “What makes you think I’ll answer?”

“Well…” Katherine thinks hard what to say. “I thought the dragon was magnificent. And he was careful and gentle with me.”

“And now you want to see how I look as a human?” He says and steps out from behind a shelf on the ground floor of the library. Right next to her.

“Oh.” Katherine whispers. He is the man that she has been talking to all this time. The golden haired, blue eyed, gentle man, that kept her awake at night, because she can’t stop thinking about him. She stands there frozen and lost in his deep blue eyes.

“Good night, Katherine.” He gives her a slight bow and leaves her there.

“My, my my. I was right about something. What else was I right about?” Katherine murmurs to herself once he leaves her all alone again. She thinks that it’s a part of his game to vanish when he pleases. He gives her crumbs and questions, but rarely answers. It is a huge puzzle that she needs to piece together. She has only five and a half months to do it. The next sacrifice is at the winter solstice. If she can get her people free and reunited with their families, she will accomplish a great deed. 

But free of whom? The dragon? The lord? Are they better here or back in Loredan? Is this place a part of Loredan or is it something else? He said it was a summer residence. Does that mean that a resident of Loredan is holding the country at bay and her father knows that? What is really going on here? Does anyone else, but the dragon, know that? Who could she even ask?

“Hello, Katherine.” An older man smiles at her. “Agneta told me I’ll find you here.”

“Hello.” She answers and tilts her head sideways.

“Oh. I’m Ariston.” The man smiles at her. “Agneta’s husband.”

“Oh, yes. I think I saw you at dinner with her.” Katherine nods to him.

“She said you’re interested in history?” Ariston asks her.

“Yes. I can’t find anything about Queen Anthea. Can you help me with that?” Katherine smiles at the man.

“You won’t find anything about her. We don’t have a historian up here. Nobody wrote anything about her and she is long gone. My grandmother used to tell me stories about her.” He tells her.

“Did your grandmother know her?” Katherine wonders.

“She was the keeper of castle Eiry in her times, so was my mother later on.” Ariston explains. “I was born here. My mother never met the Queen, she was born just after her death.”

“Are Queen Anthea and Lady Anthea the same person? Because Agneta said that the second story library belonged to Lady Anthea.” Katherine wants to know.

“I heard you have privileges to be there.” Ariston smiles. “Be careful with the books there. And, yes. They are the same.”

“Don’t you miss the outside world? Have you ever seen it?” She asks carefully and hopes for him to answer. She has no idea if that was too intrusive or maybe a sore topic for the people living here.

“I can go out. I visit the mines and the fields. I have even gone to trade down in Lorren.” Ariston shrugs. “There is nothing I miss.”

“Oh! I just love Lorren. It’s the most picturesque village ever.” Katherine exclaims. “But how did you get down?”

“With the dragon.” Ariston laughs. “I know what you’re thinking. It won’t work. There is no way down.”

Katherine sighs and shakes her head. She is so disappointed to have the one thing confirmed that she hoped is wrong. She really wants to get out of this castle. She hates to be locked inside all the time. She misses the freedom of riding and she misses the clear sky over the lakes of Loredan.

“I want to go out. I want to go home.” She whispers.

“I can’t do anything about you going home. That has never been done and Lord Cellan would never allow it.” Ariston tries to cheer her up. “But, I can take you with me on my next visit to the fields. You do know how to ride a horse?”

“Yes!” Katherine jumps and gives Ariston a hug. “Oh. Can you tell me if the dragon and Lord Cellan are the same person?”

“I’m not saying a word. That is not something I want to be involved with. That’s for you to figure out.” Ariston laughs at her. “Come find me tomorrow after lunch in the castle’s courtyard.”