CHAPTER 5: Nothing Left to Lose

  “You okay hun?” Madeline, my maid and companion said.

  Madeline was a tough girl, but built with the delicacy of a fairy, with sweet strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes. She spoke her mind, and often didn’t care what others thought of her. I loved her for it. There was a peace in her honesty, I didn’t have to guess what she was thinking most of the time.

  I was opposite, ever following orders. Always keeping quite, and careful. I didn’t find it as horrible qualities. It taught me patience and thinking before I spoke. I gained trust that way. People looked up to me, and felt they could speak to me freely without being judged harshly or criticized. A quality I felt fit for a kind queen.

  Though there were definitely pro’s and con's to both of our personalities. It made us a perfect match.

  With Madeline I could talk to her. I trusted her to keep things said between us confidential. She was loyal that way.

  “I leave in two weeks…” I huffed and sat at my vanity. The sun was setting, painting my pale features with orange and pink hues. My blue eyes, becoming more vivid against the warm tones of the sky.

  “Will you be coming with me to Thule?” I sighed and let Madeline remove my tiara in preparation Damien’s homecoming festival. She undid the pins and my hair, and brushed every knot carefully.

  “You couldn’t keep me away your Highness,” Madeline said, “I cant imagine you all alone over there…” She added.

  I nodded once in response. Madeline was five years older than me and not married. She had courted half the men in the kingdom, and dropped them because there was always “something wrong.” I didn’t judge her for it, most of the time the reason was pretty serious. And I had only ever loved one man, so what did I know?

  “What if I marry the king, but bring Damien along, maybe he could grow a beard as a disguise?” I looked at her with an unsure expression in the mirror.

  She sighed heavily. We had spent countless hours trying to configure some way out of this mess with Archibald. And every idea always came up with some worrisome variable.

  “If Archibald found out, he would have your head,” she gave me a warning look. “And Elsinora can’t afford a Queen-less kingdom, especially when it would be completely ruled by Archibald if you died.”

  “I’m nauseous just thinking about him,” I said covering my mouth with my hand.

  Madeline giggled and brushed a particular knot for a moment. “Maybe throwing up on him will be enough to persuade him out of the marriage.”

  I took a sip of the water next to me, “Should be easy enough. I’m already loathing our wedding night.”

  “It’d be better to have a Dragon as your lover than that old man,” Madeline set the hairbrush on my vanity and fiddled with the latch on my necklace to switch to my festival jewelry.

  “A dragon would be easier to love,” I mumbled.

  “Cuddlier too, they probably smell better,” Madeline chimed in, her skilled fingers started braiding. “Which dress tonight?” She continued.

  “The pink one, I think,” I said putting in my pearl earrings.

  “Speaking of Dragons, any luck with your research?” She pinned a braid. I reached for the journal I had been drowning myself in about the dragon legends. For a brief moment as I felt the leather in my palms, Ares passed through my mind. The yearning in his eyes, his warm palm on my cheek. That subtle wind brushing at the butterfly wings inside my stomach. It was like I was seeing him, truly seeing him for the first time.

  “Jade?” Madeline said, my mile away gaze flicked to hers, afraid like she saw what I was thinking on full display.

  “Oh- Nothing out of the ordinary, until Ares found this today,” I showed her the pages that spoke of what happened if you saved a dragon. Madeline read intently and stopped doing my hair as the words sucked her in.

  “Interesting,” she said and kept reading. “Save the dragon?” she scrunched her brow. I followed her expression at her words.

  “Promise to keep this a secret? I wouldn’t want this information in the wrong hands.” I said and pulled the book over for me to read. She crossed her heart.

  “I don’t know anyone who has heard of this…” I trailed off to a whisper.

  “To think there was a time where there was peace, can you imagine?” Madeline shook her head. “Andrew Blackwood is the author... Hm.”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  I bit my lip and chuckled while I thought for a moment “Do you think if its been this long, that its still true? And how would you get to that point with one? Dragons can be vicious, and cold creatures,” I looked up at her through the mirror. “Perhaps they would rather die then be subjected to this…”

  Madeline shook her head no, “So help me, do not take me dragon hunting with you,” Madeline sassed. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

  “Well, its like Ares said, the odds of this even happening are a million to one,” I shrugged as I turned the page. “I simply don’t want to fight dragons anymore under my rule. This legend is a good lead, I’m keeping it in mind,” I added and dusted my cheeks and nose with pinky rogue.

  “That’s a lot to chew,” Madeline said pinning another braid. “But I know you can do it. Not many can say they touched a dragon and survived. So if it would be anyone M'lady… It would be you.”

  I smiled softly, “I’m glad someone doesn’t think I’m insane. Well, you and Ares.”

  Her smile faded instantly at the sound of his name.

  “Speaking of Ares,” I raised an eyebrow.

  “Did he finally grow out of puberty?” Madeline curled a strand of hair with a hot iron rod. “Sorry, I’ll stop,” she swallowed a laugh, by clearing her throat.

  “Do you think he has feelings for me?”

  Madeline pressed her lips together like she was holding back the flood gates of secrets.

  “Its been blatantly obvious, and I’ve been oblivious havent i?”

  “Yes, and yes,” she glanced up at me. “It was easy to over look I’m sure, especially with Damien in your sights… But why do you ask?”

  I watched the trees sway in the wind outside my window. Mulling over Ares proposal, his… Touch. I swallowed and shook myself awake from my thoughts.

  Why was I feeling this way towards Ares when I had Damien? I think the truth I wasn’t entirely ready to admit was that Damien and I had slowly been fading since the news of Archibald. Damien and I argued more over the last few months, than our entire lives together. My greatest fear of losing him was, slowly coming true.

  “Ares- uh… Proposed.”

  “He proposed and you are questioning if he likes you?” Madeline said loudly. I immediately shushed her.

  “Stop! Someone might hear you!” I chided.

  She tucked her lips into her mouth, eyes wide with realization.

  I brought my volume down to a slight whisper. “Yes. I-...” I closed my eyes tightly, then peered at her continued stunned expression. “He claims that his money could save Elsinora if we marry. But it doesn’t fix war with Thule. Not in two weeks at least.” I said.

  Madeline opened her mouth to say something, but I could tell a million thoughts swarmed around in her brain like bees in a beehive.

  “Why didn’t he propose earlier?” she finally managed out.

  “Damien,” we said in unison.

  “If Ares even hinted he liked you, he’d be beaten to a pulp. I think he was waiting for the opportunity for Damien to be gone to say anything.”

  “Well its too late now.” I looked down at my fingers and slid new bracelets onto my wrists. “It would be cruel to break us both with so little time.”

  Wait! No! I-

  Madeline stopped short of doing my hair, a sign she wanted my attention.

  “Jade,” she said sternly. I slowly looked up at her. I was met with a glare I thought only my mom could give. “Break you?... You- Jade you’ve never liked-" she stammered, putting her weight on one leg.

  I felt heat flood my cheeks. I didn’t mean to say that! I had tried so hard too keep these feelings in, bottled tight. Why did I say anything at all? I wrestled with my thoughts for a moment, I had to be honest with myself. There was something there for him.

  “Madeline, I'm worried this mess runs so much deeper.” I blinked several times, avoiding her eyes.

  “Ares?” She whispered. I barely gave her a nod yes in reply. “What about Damien?” she asked, finally going back to fixing my hair.

  “I don’t know…He’s been getting so angry when I talk to him about us now. When I saw him earlier, his whole demeanor was off, and-” I wiped the tear that escaped quickly before it landed in my cheek. “I know he just went through the test of his life, but this was happening before the test… Its like I don’t know him anymore. Everything with Damien has been strangely empty.”

  “Jade… I’m so sorry.” Madeline said, her hand gripping my shoulder to show her empathy. I raised my hand to hers to hold it.

  “I can’t make any sense of what is going on inside me… I feel horrible that all of this is happening.”

  “Hey,” she shook her hand gently to get my attention. “I've seen it too. Damien has been distant… Maybe for your last festival of freedom, flirting with Ares might not hurt anyone. You deserve to have that full heart, even for a moment before we leave.”

  My eyes went a little wide “I couldn’t. This would hurt them both. Ares doesn’t deserve this, neither does Damien.”

  She sighed loudly. “Jade. You need to live a little.”

  “Madeline! This isnt-”

  “Jade… What I’m trying to say is, you are a beautiful, stunning, smart, kind princess. A princess forced to marry a perverted old man in two weeks. So tonight, make Damien a little jealous.” She batted her eyes. “Give your heart some comfort in Ares if you so desire. And if we don’t dance till our feet fall off, it will be a night wasted. Okay?”

  I laughed airily, clutching my necklace nervously at the thought.

  “Okay? Because when are you going to be able to do that again? You think Archibald throws balls like they do here?” She egged on with a smile.

  “I’ll think about it…” I chewed on the inside if my lip.

  “Maybe, instead of the pink dress… We let that one dress make all the trouble?” Madeline raised an eyebrow, daring me to challenge her. I knew exactly what dress she was talking about.

  The sleeveless, periwinkle, a-line gown. It had something of a sweetheart neck line but with large flower petal like lace at the bust, it was intricately beaded from top to bottom with tiny clear crystals, making any movement I made shimmer like starlight.

  Where the dress came from was a mystery. It had been passed down from my own grandmother, to my mother and now to me. As a girl I had dreamt of the day that I would fill the dress, and now it fit like a glove. The designer must have loved women, simply by the way it laid on my figure. My own mother was a bit lethal when she wore it too, so I’m told.

  My father disliked it because of the reaction it got, but my mother, of course, loved it for that reason. This dress kept Damien glued to my side the last time I wore it.

  Tonight, in that dress, I would certainly cause some trouble.