The Queen of Bones and Daggers

жжжЖ Chapter 2 Жжжж

Damyan's eyes darkened, he looked furious. He wiped the spit off his face with a cloth. Then grabbed my arm. The whole room tensed, and my guards drew out their swords.

"Let ... go." I said sternly.

He only tightened his grip harder and dug his nails deep into my skin. As soon as he did I slashed his arm with the dagger I was hiding between the ruffles of my dress. Causing him to let go which gave me enough time to get back to Klaus.

I've never done anything rash in my life before. I've never been taught to fight. All my scholars deemed it unnecessary. I see now that was foolish of them. Or maybe they wanted me to be weak. No... that can't be right. They would never betray me. . Not to some prince. Would they?

Just as my doubts started to cloud my mind, a dark fog began to envelop the room. Swirls of black and dark blue swished around the room as a silhouette appeared. The silhouette appeared to be walking ... no ... running towards me! As if I didn't have enough people trying to kill me today!

The ominous fog seemed to have distracted Damyan. The silhouette became more defined and took the form of an old man, with a long white scruffy beard that reached just above his waist. He began to run slower, as if he had run out of energy.

"CZARINA!!" The old man yelled at me.

"What is your business here?" Klaus spoke.

"Business here?! I'm trying to save her life, boy!"

He then took a coconut out of his may monotonous robes and hurled it across the room at Damyan. Which caused an explosion of color erupting from the coconut. I wish I could have painted the face Damyan had made from pure shock. But alas I wasn't there long enough to see much more. For the old man had  thrown another coconut and pushed me into the swirls of black and inviting blue.

The swirls transformed into a room and started to form into the structure of a house made entirely of wood with a tree at the center. Filled with piles of books and wooden furniture. There were also liquids of all sorts of colors including more coconuts. The ceiling seemed to be made of palm leaves weaved together. I could hear the sound of waves and smell a tinge of salty sea spray. Then it all clicked. This old man is the famed professor Ringi who was thought to be lost at sea.

"Where did you take us, Ringi?" I wanted to test my theory.

He replied with his high pitched, aged and raspy voice. "I take it, you are the smartest of the lot." I turned to look at the other side of the room and realized Klaus and Chester had jumped through the portal as well. At least I'm not alone. "You are on Ostroff an Island that borders the dragon lands and Orozev territory." Ringi spoke.

"Why did you bother to save me, if my parents were the ones who had you banished from Durshava?"

"Because, I know you are not like your parents. I've seen the fire inside you. How you rule with compassion and morals and you exact justice on those who are cruel and merciless. Czarina, you are the last bit of hope Durshava has. We can't have you dying when we need you most."

"But, how did you know what was happening in Durshava if you were here?"

"The winds speak, you know. They see and feel everything, and they travel far with news. You can learn their language if you listen hard enough." He said.

Klaus took me aside. "This is madness! Czarina, how can you trust him? Your parents banished him for good reason. He's insane!"

"I know he sounds crazy. But I think he might be able to help us. Just look at how we traveled between places in mere seconds."

Ringi then spoke at that," I know you think I'm insane and untrustworthy, but I did just save your lives." He smiled at Klaus, a smile that I knew all to well.