Promised to the Dragon King

Chapter 4

“Oh, that’s just a couple of steps.” They reached it, and he told her where to look.

“Sixth row, third from the right… Oh, a black rose. How interesting, but there is no name on it. This doesn’t prove anything, Phillipe.”

“It does. I will show you there is a book…” He grins at her and it's enough to make her roll her eyes at him.

“Another book. Can’t I just go and eat the sheriff and you get your home back, so I can have peace?” She interrupted him.

“No, we made a deal. You agreed. You can come back and eat the sheriff after we find the black rose.”

She rolled her eyes at him, and they returned to the castle. She helped him down, feeling bad for killing his fire. He went through a lot of trouble to make some kind of shelter to stay in. He ran to the cellar to grab a couple of bottles of rum to make up for the cold night without fire, and while he was away, she decided to fix his house problem.

Taking a couple of pieces of a broken wall, she buildt him a type of shelter, cave thing. At least it would keep most of the cold out, and that way he would be where he wanted to be.

“What happened here?” He looked stunned when he returned with arms filled with bottles of rum.

“I felt bad for killing your fire, so I built you a house.”

“Thank you, Kaida. I like it. It’s open enough for me to see you, and close enough to keep the cold out. Ah, Kaida! I knew you cared!”

He teased her.

“Oh, stop it and tell me what you found in that stupid book.”

He made himself comfortable on his new bed, opening a bottle of rum, and opened the book. It was not as expensive looking as the other one. It was leather-bound and the pages had also turned yellow with age, but there was no special stitching.

“This is the Family Tree of the Royal Family of Elderwood.”

“Then it starts with a bunch of names.”

“That is usually what a family tree is.”

He looked up from the book.

“You know, sarcasm doesn’t look good on you.”

“Wow! Where did that come from? Phillipe isn’t such a pansy after all!” She thought to herself.

“What else does it say… What is so important that you found?”

“The part that I found that links the grave.”

“The Queen had two daughters, Vanora and Black rose. Vanora ran after being turned into a dragon, leaving Black Rose as the sole heir to the throne.”

He kept quiet, looking at her as if she had to say something.

“Who names their child Black Rose? Also, the first book you read said the King and Queen only had one daughter.”

He turned the book around for her to look at.

“Yes, but this handwriting is the same. It was done by the official scribe. The Queen must have ordered that it be put in the family history. I think it’s the Elizabeth girl. There is no date of birth noted.”

“Okay, I see what you are getting at, but are there any other names after that?”

“As a matter of fact, there is… One.”

Oh crap! He found the one thing she thought he would never find.

“Celeste, daughter of Black Rose, born and raised in the castle by the Queen after the disappearance of Black Rose. The Queen mourned the disappearance of her daughter, never knowing where she was taken to, or who had taken her.

After many years of searching, a memorial service was held and a gravestone was put up in the royal graveyard, carrying the black rose seal.

After the Queen’s death, Celeste left the town and was never seen again.”

“Okay, so the original girl who killed the King disappeared.”

“Yup.”

“How? All I heard was that the Queen thought that she disappeared. If she was such a great warrior assassin person, how could she have been abducted?”

UGH! He pulled out another book. How did he get all this done while she was away? She wasn’t gone that long!

“The Queen was concerned when Rose didn’t show up for their morning walk through the rose garden. She went to her bedroom to see if she wasn't sick, and found her bed had not been slept in, but the rest of the room was a mess. Things were thrown on the floor, chairs overturned, and her screen was flat on the floor.

Her one window was open, and Rose never slept with a window open. The Queen’s chambermaid found a cloth near the face wash basin, covered in blood, and the water was a red colour.

The Queen walked up to the window and found blood in the windowsill. Crying out for the General of her army, she had them leave immediately in search of her daughter. Fearing for her life.

Searching for months without any sign, he returned to the kingdom with the news that Rose was gone. There was no sign of her. Forcing the Queen to accept the fact that she probably died on that night that she was taken.

Everybody in the castle and the town had been questioned. All the houses and shops had been searched, but there was no sign of her anywhere.”

“Okay wait a minute!!! Who says that the girl Elizabeth is the same referred to as the queen’s daughter Rose? And I can’t believe that someone with such training could just be abducted like that. Why would she leave her daughter behind? No, I think you are making all of this up.” She waved her paws in the air and shook her head.

“You can read it if you don’t believe me.” He held the book for her to read.

“Phillipe, if you are lying.”

“I swear on my rum that I’m not.” He hoped that she didn’t, because she might just recognize his handwriting in places where he worked hard to make the story up.

Some of it was part of the true history, he just had to make it interesting enough that she would wish to go with him to look for this imaginary Black Rose. So, he had to think fast! Not all of it made perfect sense. What was a guy to do when you had to think on your feet??!

“Phillipe, I swear, if you try and confuse me so that you can win this argument…”

He looked offended.

“I would never!”

His tongue was starting to slur a little. He got up from his makeshift bed and walked over to her.

“You know, Kaida, we might even find the lost princess.”

“I thought that you thought that I was the lost princess.”

He swayed back and forth a little… How did he get this drunk so fast? She would never understand humans. He rested his hand against her snout again.

“Oh yeah. Yesss, you are the lost princess. We are going to prove that.” He had even confused himself, and tried his best to remember which princess was which.

Removing his hand, he looked disgusted and rubbed it dry on his shirt.

“You know, Kaida, if you weren’t so fussy, you could have married a knight by now.” He tried to change the subject, falling flat on his face in the snow, as usual, the bottle survived the fall, and she couldn’t help but laugh at him.

“I’m okay! I’m okay!” He shouted when he got up.

“You know, Phillipe, if you left me alone, you could have been married by now.”

“Euw, yig! What a horrible thought!” He looked utterly disgusted!

“Oh, and why? You want me to get married, but you think it’s disgusting!”

“Well, yes, girls have to be married. It’s their duty. Ush men… We have wild seeds to seed… No, that doesn’t sound right. Something like that.” He waved his free hand in the air.

“I don’t think that’s fair; you know.”

There was no use in fighting with a drunk, she knew, but he could be so funny sometimes. If she had to deal with him, then at least he was entertaining.

“It doeshn’t have to be…” Hiccup:“fair.” Hiccup.

She blew a snowball right in his way, while he was on his way back to his bed, his arms out trying to keep his balance.

“Duck! Vampires!” He shouted, falling on his ass.

She couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“How did you come up with vampires? There are no vampires around here!! I don’t even think they exist!” Tears ran down her cheeks as she laughed.

“They do to exist.” Hiccup.

“One just flew past me. Didn’t you shee it?” Hiccup.

“You must be getting old if you didn’t see it, or only I could see it with my shuper fasht vishion.” He got up and walked over to his bed, but she was still laughing till her belly ached.

“I’m telling you. Vampires don’t exist.” Now, she was in a bit of a bind there, if she told him, it was she who threw him with a snowball, she would be a bad friend who was abusing her power, especially while he was drunk. But how else was she going to prove that vampires didn’t exist?

“And I’m telling” Hiccup: “you they do.”

“I think you need to take a nap. I can’t hear a thing with all the hiccupping you are doing.”

“You know, Kaida, I think I need a nap. All these hiccups are making me tired.”

“That’s what I just said!” She watched him slowly fall back onto his bed, bottle in hand. Grabbing the bottle before it all spilled over him, and she had to deal with a rum-flavoured popsicle Phillipe in the morning.

Holding onto these small human items could be tough when you had claws like hers. She put the bottle down on the roof of his house, and pulled his blanket over him. It was going to be one of those very cold nights. She better put another wall in front of his house before he froze.

She was not a fluffy dragon where he could curl up when it was cold…

“What the f@ck, Kaida! All this princess talk has gone to your head!! You are suddenly worried about what happens to the town drunk!” She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

She had been fighting not to be his friend for years, and in a question of a day, he had taken over her castle and her time! Tomorrow she was booting him out, sheriff or no sheriff!

But she made a promise… No, she agreed, there is a difference… No, there isn’t…

“Oh cr@p! I hate myself!”

Dropping her head down on the ground, making his house shudder, she waited for him to shout at her, but everything was quiet. Was he still alive, or did he drink himself into oblivion this time? What if he was cold, and it was all her fault because she killed his fire? She did build him this little house to keep out the cold…

“Stop it, Kaida!!” She got up and turned around, her backside towards his little house.

Who could be in that grave if the Black Rose disappeared, and who could have taken her if they didn’t ask for a ransom? Why would she leave if she loved the Queen so much, and her daughter was there? Surely, she would be strong enough to fight off an attack if someone wanted to take her?

There were signs of a struggle, according to the book, and blood. Maybe she was injured and unable to fight. Maybe she died before they could ask for a ransom. What happened to Celeste? Why did she leave, if she was the officially declared heir of the kingdom?

UGH! Stupid Phillipe! Now she wouldn’t be able to sleep, while he was blissfully asleep unaware of the fact that she was wide awake because of him. She got up again, turned around to look at his little house, and fell on the ground, making his house shake… Still, no reaction.

What if he was dead? She opened the wall she put in front and peeked in, but she heard nothing. Closing it again, she didn’t want the cold to rush in and disturb his sleep.

She couldn’t wake him.

She was not going to. But what if he was dead? What if he couldn’t breathe in there? She opened the wall just a smidge, and tried to listen if she could hear him breathing, but she couldn’t hear anything because of the winter wind blowing around her, and his puny body being so far from her ear.