Dream of Dragons

to the castle with her, and told me of her insane idea. Truly, Your Grace, she wanted Ma’trii, my friend the wolf, to search for the missing Beastman prince. In exchange for our help, I would not be sent to the dungeons. That’s what she told me.” Kae said with a shrug.
King Jorrne sighed and rubbed at his eyes. Without another word, he mounted his horse. Before spurning his horse on, he looked back at Loren. “Your mother will not be pleased with this.” He said simply. He gave orders to the captain and the other soldiers to take Kae and Ma’trii with them, and hold them in the dungeons.
“I thought I wasn’t going to end up in the dungeons, princess.” Kae said as she was roughly brought to her feet and made to follow the captain’s horse, hands bound behind her back. She never sounded any different to Loren, but the princess knew the huntress’s words were pointed. Ma’trii followed slowly behind Kae, arrows trained on the back of his head.
Loren was speechless. She could only share her father’s saddle for the return trip home, looking back at her new friends silently. They felt betrayed, and the princess had betrayed them. Loren could only hope that her mother would be more lenient.
Loren’s mother was not pleased with any of it.
The queen was holding court when the king and Loren arrived. Various lesser lords turned their heads as they passed, walking up the long hall to the throne. These nobles, heads and heirs of houses under the rule of Aldoran came to court dressed in their finest embroidered gowns or gleaming suits of armor. They clamored and boasted of their achievements and wealth, hoping for the queen to cast an approving eye at them. Queen Katarina had no patience for proud, greedy vassals, she saw that their shining armor only hid cowardice.
The queen had even less patience, once her daughter stood at the foot of the dais.
King Jorrne ascended the short steps of the dais and took his seat at his throne beside the queen’s. He leaned over and whispered to her, explaining what had happened in the forest. The queen exhaled sharply, and turned her gaze on Loren.
The princess flinched. It would have been better if her mother yelled at her instead, in front of all the court, the servants, and the guards. But the queen’s stare was like Lind’s; watchful and piercing. Queen Katarina said nothing, and dismissed Loren. The princess knew this meant she was to stay in her chambers till the queen came. And when she did, the two of them would have a long talk about what happened.
Loren left the throne room, head down in shame. Both of her parents used to yell when they were mad. King Jorrne would swing his sword, and destroy furniture in a rage. The queen would scream and hurl hurtful words. Both were hot headed, yet somehow managed to keep their wits about them before the court, even in the face of bad news. But the queen became cold, as hard and silent as ice, when her rage was beyond a simple outburst of anger.
The walk back to her chambers was long and dull, and as Loren walked, she passed the same hallway she and Kae walked several hours before. A shadow flashed by the window, and Loren smiled a little. The sight of Lind in the air always cheered her up. The dragon was free to do whatever he wanted, and had no responsibility for anything. He wasn’t tied to Aldoran, he simply lived in the cave under the castle. He could just as easily make a home for himself in the Kilrough mountain range, but he stayed close to the human family that protected him for generations.
Loren found herself looking out the window, and her dreamy smile at the thought of flying through the air on the back of the blue and gold dragon slowly vanished. Lind’s silhouette grew bigger. The dark shape of his wings grew too big to see completely through the window. Lind was flying towards the castle.
Loren’s name was called in an urgent, female voice. She was roughly shoved, and as she fell to the ground, she saw the queen’s face. Behind Queen Katarina was a familiar man Loren had met earlier that day. She watched as he slammed a dagger into the queen’s back. It seemed like hours passed in the span of the second it took Loren to remember who this man was. It was the stable hand, Arion.
Lind crashed through the castle wall, his large head ramming through the stone and mortar. He snapped at Arion, and the man’s arm up to his shoulder disappeared into the dragon’s mouth. The queen fell forward onto her daughter, with the dagger jutting out of her back. Dumbly, Loren looked away from her mother’s shocked face, as plumes of flame began to spread over Arion’s body, emerging from dark markings circling his wrist.
He screamed, and was a pile of ash by the time the Warmaster made it down the end of the hall. It was all a blur to Loren, as shock took over. There was the scent of blood, her mother’s weakened and worried face asking if she was alright, and Lind’s curious, bright gold eyes. Then Loren fainted.

Chapter Seven
Loren woke several hours later. She found herself staring dumbly upward, following the gaps in the stone of the ceiling with her eyes. It took a minute or so to collect her thoughts. She was to be scolded, and so was sent to her room. On the way, she was distracted by Lind. And then her mother-
The princess jolted upright, heart racing in a panic. She was about to vault right out of the bed and find the queen, when a heavy hand held her back and gently guided her back down. Loren looked,