Chapter Thirteen

Arabella rushed back to the tent. The only man she remembered ever eating with was Prince Lann. He ate like a dying man at his last meal.  She doubted that Denrisi would eat like that.

When she got to the tent she went to the trunk first. She set her flowers beside it and squatted in front of it. She did not know what a dragon ate. Some of the books that she had read mentioned items like gold, ashes, and maidens were in their diets.

She just did not know. She threw it open. She looked inside. She was horrified; it was empty. Denrisi said that it would hold everything that she needed. She shut the lid. She felt a fluttering feeling in her stomach. Maybe the dragon magic did not work while he was in human form. She sighed and went inside the tent.

She sat on the bed and picked up the hairbrush that she had found on the table. She brushed the tangles out of her hair.

Denrisi said that his magic was damaged, so maybe that was why the trunk was empty. She sat there worrying about her problem. What had he said? That he was magic? If that was the case then maybe since his magic was hurt that meant he was hurt. She threw the brush down on the bed.

Maybe she needed to be calm when she approached the trunk. Perhaps if she pictured what she wanted clearly in her mind it will appear in the trunk. It could be that she could not be so unsure about her needs.

Determined to make the trunk work she took two steps and felt her ankle give out. She fell into the fur rug. It might have been pleasant if she had intended to be sprawled across the soft material. She put her head down and screamed with frustration in the fur.

“Arabella,” Denrisi hurried into the tent. “Are you all right?”

He rushed to her side. He cautiously laid a hand on the back of her head.

“Yes,” she said into the fur. “My ankle gave out.”

She rolled over and sat up. Denrisi moved to her feet and very gently unwrapped you wounded ankle. It was swollen and faintly purple. Her open cuts were healed. He sat before her and began to rug it. His hands were everywhere her ankle throbbed.

As his hands moved, Arabella noticed that the pain was disappearing. He was casting a healing spell. The swelling was less and it looked less colorful. He stopped.

“Try moving it now,” he watched as she rotated her foot.

“It is better,” she said. “Thank you.” She pulled her foot out of his lap.

He stood up and helped her to stand. Holding her good hand, he escorted her to the tent entrance. Arabella thought about telling him about the trunk, but she could not talk to him. She was suddenly shy.

“I have something for you,” he said.

He reached into his pocket. He pulled out a heavy gold chain. On the end of the chain was a beautiful blue ball. It was wrapped in a think gold wire. Mist swirled in the depths of the ball. She thought she seen a grey dragon looking back at her. He was misty and hard to see, but he was there.

“It is the crystal ball,” he said. “This way you will not lose it.”

He placed the necklace over her head. He lifted he hair out of the chain. Arabella thought that she felt a light kiss on her neck. She quickly looked at him, but he was looking innocently as her.

“Your magic is back in it?” she questioned. She already knew the answer, but she felt more comfortable with him talking.

“Yes,” he nodded. “It is full of dragon magic.” He grinned very pleased with himself.

Arabella looked at him suspiciously.

“What did you do to it?” she asked.

“Oh just a little of this and a little of that,” his smile grew even larger. She could see his sharp canines. She was beginning to get annoyed with him. He was teasing her, and she did not like it.

He took her hand again, but she jerked it away. He laughed softly and she pushed aside the tent flap.

“Oh my,” she said. Her hand went to her mouth.

A long ivory table sat in front of the tent. Wrought silver candle sticks were clustered together with tall white candle burning in the middle of the table. Her flowers were scattered around the dishes. Perfectly polished plates and silverware were set in two places. A great variety of food was spread on the table.

“You did this?” she said feeling stupid for letting the words even escape her lips. Of course he did this, she thought, there is not any one else here. Denrisi had set the plate next to each other at a corner.

He motioned her to a chair that matched the table. He pulled it out then pushed it back in as she sat down. She glanced up at him.  This was new and exciting. She felt a little afraid as well. No one had ever treated her like this.

Denrisi produced a tall urn of fruity smelling wine. He filled the crystal goblets for them. He dished up her food for her as well. She recognized thin slices of ham and bread rolls, but some of the other food was odd.

He gave her a small pile of some white vegetable then poured rich brown gravy over it. There were small round green vegetables on the side as well.

Once he had dished up himself, he sat next to her. She jumped when his strong leg brushed against hers under the table. He smiled at her and then began to eat. Arabella tasted the new foods and found her self eating with relish. She had never eaten like this before.

“Do you like it?” Denrisi asked when he paused to sip at his wine.

“Oh yes,” she blurted. “I mean, everything is perfect.”

He nodded and started eating again. Once they were done, he moved the plates to the other side of the table. Arabella half expected the dishes to float away, but they did not. She was noticing a vast difference in magical styles between her mother and Denrisi.

He placed a bowl of fruit pieces before her. He spooned a thick cream over the fruit. He watched as she took a bite. The cream melted in her mouth. She felt that she melted with the cream.

“Oh, Denrisi,” she sighed. “I have never had anything as wonderful as this.”

“Good,” he smiled. “Wait until you get to the berries. Make sure you take a bite of the cream with them.” He began to eat his own creation.

Arabella thought that she would have never imagined that a dragon would eat like this. If she had set up the dinner, it would have been much different. She would have set out some meat and bread on the little bedside table. She would have probably served milk or water.

She wondered what else was out in the world that she had never experienced before. Why did her mother not serve berries and cream for dinner? Did sure even know about it? She was sorry that it was gone, but she knew if she ate any more she would be sick.

“That was lovely, Denrisi,” she said satisfied. “Thank you.”

He half bowed while sitting down.

“You are welcome,” he said. “It is not often I get the pleasure of entertaining someone for dinner. Would you like some more wine?”

Arabella looked at her glass, it was almost empty.

“Yes,” she said embarrassed. “I was so involved with the new food that I do not remember drinking it.”

He laughed and poured her some more. He sat back with his own full glass.

“So what would you like to talk about,” he said between sips.

Arabella frowned at her glass. They were going to talk. This was the part she did not know about. All her studying and living isolated did not prepare her to make small take. Denrisi looked at her expecting her to start a conversation.

“Ah do you think it will snow?” she could not believe she said something so unintelligent. This was the topics that an etiquette book would advise her to speak about.

“No I do not,” he smiled at her again. She thought that he knows that she did not know what to say. “Eight years ago, all the snow disappeared off the mountains in the middle of winter.”

“Oh,” she said. “I am afraid that my mother did that. It was gone the next morning.”

“That is because I summoned it back to my mountains,” he looked at her. “I wondered were the snow went.”

“Yes,” Arabella looked down into her wine. “I was so disappointed when it was gone. I love the snow.”

“Hmm, how about I wrap you in fur and take you to the top of the mountains tomorrow,” he said. “You could see the snow again.”

“I would love that,” she said. “I would need shoes. I seemed to have lost mine.”

“I will conjure up fur lined boots,” he said.

“Not weasel fur,” she shyly smiled at him.

“No, I promise on my dragon heart, no weasel will ever come to harm at my hand,” he put a hand on his heart.

“Denrisi,” she said. He looked directly at her. “Can we talk about the Koaner Rhakan?” She could tell he wanted to know why she wanted to talk about that dragon. “I think I seen him in one of my dreams. He was burning my home.”

Denrisi put his glass on the table and sat forward. His mood had changed. He looked serious now.

“Koaner Rhakan in a fire dragon,” he said. “We do not like each other.” He shook his head. “We actually hate each other. Our feud goes back centuries.”

“You are not related are you?” she asked.

“By the mother dragon, no,” her swore. “Nothing good will come from Koaner Rhakan. His evil will just spawn more evil. He already has.”

Denrisi leaned forward.

“Her seduced the current Queen’s mother, Queen Gitta” he said intently. “He got her with child and then slunk off to his lair to bide his time. She had his child and never told her husband, King Burhardt, what happened.”

Arabella opened her mouth to speak, and then quickly shut it. He was talking about her grandparents.

“What happened,” she whispered.

“The child they produced would have had great magic,” he said, “dragon magic and an evil heart. One day that child will appear and threaten the world.”

“How can you be sure that the child would be evil?” she asked quietly.

“After knowing Koaner Rhakan, I know he would make sure that his child would cause as much chaos as possible,” he said. ‘One day I will mingle my blood with his when I kill him,” he said it so violently that Arabella sat back in shock. Arabella’s head spun. If Denrisi was right, then her grandfather was a dragon – an evil fire breathing dragon.

“You look tired,” he said. “As much as I enjoy your lovely company, I can not have you getting ill from the lack of sleep.”

He helped her up from the table and led her to the tent. He held the flap open for her. He stepped inside with her.

“Arabella,” he put a hand on her arm. “I want to tell you that I love you.”

Her head snapped up.

“But you have not known me for very long,” she said loudly.

“Yes, but our magic has known each other for a long time,” he said.

He pulled her into his arms. He held her in a tight hug. Her sunburn flared. Her mind was swamped with pain.

He leaned down and started to kiss her. Arabella pushed him away as hard as she could. It was too painful to be held.

‘No, stop,” she shouted. He abruptly let her go. His arms fell to his sides. She took a step back, panting from pain. She wanted to tell him that she still hurt. She wanted him to take the pain away.

“I see,” he said. He looked incredibly sad. The centuries of loneliness shone out from his eyes. Arabella’s eyes watered. She had not meant to hurt him. “Good night,” he whispered and left.

“Denrisi,” she stepped forward. She was suddenly afraid that she would never see that beautiful smile again.

Her body started shaking with sobs. Tears streamed down her face. She could not go after him. She threw her self on the bed and cried. She tried to quiet her sobs, but they slipped out. She felt like when she learned that she would never be able to fulfill her dream of becoming a powerful fairy like her mother. In fact, she thought, it felt worse then that.

Her heart felt like breaking. She fell asleep crying and sobbed in her sleep.