Chapter 9
My new freedom was like breathing fresh air after being stifled for years. It felt so wonderful that I was nearly hyperventilating off of it. Flying down, I drew up to my former master and he grinned at me.
"Is it true?" I asked him hopefully and he nodded.
"You are nothing more than my personal servant now. Will you stay with me?" he answered inside our mental link and I reached out my hand to him. He reached out and took it with a firm grip.
"I will stay with you as long as you need me. That's what I promised remember?" I replied and he let go of my hand with a squeeze. The horses were walking leisurely along and I decided that I didn't want to fly anymore. Landing softly on the ground, I looked over at Phyralis and he nodded to me.
"What am I supposed to call you," I asked him suddenly and he burst out laughing. His laughter startled the leading prince and he glanced back at us. His eyes met mine for a fraction of a second before he turned away again. The blue of them was still seared into my mind with the curiosity and I really wanted to know what he's conclusions were.
"That's the only thing you can think to ask me?" He chuckled and I smiled at him.
"It's the only question I have," I retorted and he shook his head grinning.
"You can call me Aiden, your highness, prince, Arctic, whatever you want," he shrugged and I thought for a long moment. The dragon seemed just as amused as my prince was and I raised an eyebrow.
"You're a very strange girl," he muttered and yawned. "I'm going to go stretch before I fall asleep." With that, he jumped up in the air and transformed into his true, blue form, literally. He was massive as he did a small loop before flapping away.
"You keep odd company," Lawrence's voice noted and he stopped to let us catch up.
"I keep the company that I wish. They won't attack without being provoked so I believe its fine for me to bring them along. You and your king won't mind," my prince assumed and I stiffened when the prince shifted in his saddle.
"Relax, I won't hurt your prince," he said to me and I glanced at him. A weary smile was on his face and I grinned back.
"I never doubted it," I replied and he shook his head.
"Not with the way you've been glaring at me," he snorted.
"It was the first thing I learned when I met him," I informed him and he shrugged.
"It's not a bad thing to learn since it's true. My own protector had a hard enough time keeping Argon assassins out of my room, much less the palace," he responded. I let this sink in for a moment and then turned to him as I wiped my eyes with the handkerchief from my pocket.
"I wouldn't have let you survive so easily. Be happy that my prince preferred me to protect him from your assassins," I commented and he raised an eyebrow.
"If you say so. My protector's a Selenium. What are you?" he questioned and I flashed him a surprised look and he frowned.
"A Selenium? Did he finish his training?" I looked at him and suddenly something dropped down in front of me.
Shocked I took a step back but I wasn't even able the luxury of putting my foot down. Aiden threw me a pair of knives and I caught them as the attack started to fall. Blocking it, I looked into the face of a woman who was scarred across her face and her tattoos were so black that it made the rest of her look like snow glittering in the shadows.
"How dare you threaten my master," she hissed at me and I blinked. The off comment of my skills seemed to have put me in danger. Hopefully, I would be able to use that knowledge later. Jumping back, I saw that she had a pair of swords in her hands but she was around the same age as I was so she wouldn't have learned the entire sword dance yet.
"I merely stated my opinion," I huffed and watched as my prince tried to get Lawrence to call him off. I caught his eye and shook my head, this was my fight.
"Wouldn't you try to kill my prince if you were ordered to by yours?" I asked but she didn't stop. She flew forward, her tattoos extending past her body and tried to put them around me. I refused to be caught and parried her attacks with my own tattoos.
"With every inch of my body and my tattoos," she growled and struck again. This time she sliced my arm. The metal hit my blood and I nearly choked on the sensation, heat rushed into my face and I backed up slowly. I dropped my knives and I touched my arm. Blood rushed to meet it and I brought it up to my face. That's when I knew. I knew how to dance the Sword Dance; I knew how to dance all of the deadly dances that I would have never heard of. I knew what I could do to make her stop but I wasn't going to do that. Death wasn't the answer for this.
Instead, I bowed to the Prince of Arctic in a low bend and then I bowed my attacker.
"I beg your forgiveness for both my actions and my words. It was not the right way to greet my hosts," I amended and they both looked at me startled.
"Giving up so soon?" my assailant said disappointed and I looked at her for a long moment. My tattoos had already stitched up the wound with themselves and it was on its way to healing.
"Have you ever felt that you knew every dance that ever existed?" I asked and she shook her head slowly. I picked up the daggers and tried to return them to my prince but he smiled at me.
"Keep them. You might need them one day. Just don't use them needlessly," he advised and smiled my agreement. Turning back to the Selenium, I pushed the smile back and examined her face for any trace of lying. When I didn't find any, I rushed to her and then right before she could respond, I jumped up and behind her putting my knife to her throat and gripped her waist.
"I wasn't able to do that before. I didn't know it before you sliced me. Some good advice would be to not slice me again. Who knows what I'd learn then," I replied and let her go. She whirled around to face me and what I saw in it wasn't anger or even frustration at not being able to get me. I saw awe and respect from her.
"You know the complete sword dance?" she whispered and I held out my hand for them after placing my knives in my belt. She handed them over and I took a deep breath and began. It was my favorite and most despised dance out of all of them but that was because it was the one I saw my mother do before she died. I remembered my mother in those moments of dancing and I cried while my body knew what it was doing. It was my own tribute to what my mother had given up for me and her watching over me during those long days before my prince found me. I ended with my face upturned to the sky and I let the tears fall gently down my face. I could let go of what they did to me, I was home.
Author's note: This chapter is dedicated to Supernaturalmom, thanks for not giving up on me! Don't forget to vote and comment!
