Chapter 4: Into the Dragons’ Den
NOW that Princess Patricia was to be wed to the Prince of Vaxwald, arrangements had been made for her to leave the country in just ten days. No sense in dawdling now that the engagement was official, I suppose.
Naturally, this meant that I, too, had just ten days to prepare, and I couldn’t afford to waste a moment. First I had to pack, then go and explain everything to my parents, then say goodbye to everyone I’d be leaving behind here in Myulan.
Unlike Patricia, however, I was by no means fated to remain in Vaxwald for the rest of my life. The Princess herself had told me she didn’t want to tie me down permanently. “Just until I feel comfortable there,” she’d explained. “I imagine it won’t take more than a year at most.” So that was my plan: to live there for a year and see where it took me.
Near the end of our final days in Myulan, I was summoned to the throne room, where the King and Queen personally beseeched me to look after their little girl.
Then, finally, it was the day of our departure.
On that fine summer day, a massive crowd of commoners and nobles alike (as well as the King, Queen, and Prince) gathered to bid the Princess farewell as she climbed into a splendid horse-drawn carriage. I quietly followed her into it.
From there, the royal cavalcade was organized as follows: two rows of horseback knights at the front to serve as bodyguards, our passenger carriage in the center, and then five more carriages behind us carrying Her Highness’s dowry items as well as a handful of servants who would be traveling with us to the border and no further. Lastly, another two rows of horseback knights brought up the rear.
Patricia had been tearful all throughout her final farewells to her parents and for some time afterward, but her sobs finally dried up about an hour into the journey.
“Feeling any better?” I asked as I rubbed her back reassuringly.
“Not at all,” she sniffed. “The thought that...I won’t be seeing my parents again for who knows how long... Oh, I just can’t stop crying...”
“There, there. You’re going to have so much fun in Vaxwald, I just know it,” I said, hoping to cheer her up a bit. “Aren’t you excited to see how all the ladies wear their hair over there? Judging from the knights that came to visit us with Prince Dario, it seems short hair is the standard for Dragonkin men. But what of the women, I wonder? Perhaps they wear their hair long and tie it up, like we do in Myulan. Aren’t you curious?”
“No,” Patricia replied flatly, glaring at me with puffy red eyes. Strange... I thought she’d be more enthusiastic. Guess I’ll have to use my trump card.
I held my hands out in front of me, cupping the empty air, and envisioned a bright orange gerbera daisy. Then I focused my mana into my hands—poof! A single flower appeared out of thin air, identical to the one I had imagined, and I promptly offered it to the Princess.
“Here. I hope this flower makes you feel better.”
Unlike the Dragonkin, whose bodies were built for combat, or the Treeborn and Shadowkin, whose mana capacity made them adept at magic, we Flowerfolk didn’t really have any talents...save for this one small special trait.
Unfortunately, one measly flower didn’t seem to have much of an impact on her dour mood...so I kept on making daisies in every color until her lap was covered in a rainbow of blossoms. Soon they spilled over to the floor, and by that time, the entire carriage smelled like a garden in spring.
At last, Patricia finally smiled.
“Hee hee... Look at all these flowers! They’re so pretty.”
“There’s more where that came from!”
I kept on producing bloom after bloom until the carriage was carpeted in petals of every hue—at which point my mana finally gave out. Oh well. At least I managed to make her smile.
“The pink ones are so cute,” Patricia mused as she plucked one from the pile. She brought it to her nose to smell its fragrance, then turned to the window. “How much longer until we reach the border?”
I checked my pocket watch. “Not for a while yet, I’m afraid. At our current pace, it will take five hours to go from the castle to the border...and we’ve only been traveling for an hour and a half.”
And once we made it to the border, it’d take us another six hours to reach the Vaxwald castle proper.
“We’ll be stopping to have lunch at some point during the journey, but let me know if you’d like to hop out and stretch your legs before then. It’s a sunny day, so be sure to stay hydrated.”
It was the end of August, and while Myulan’s weather was generally mild, it couldn’t hurt to stay cautious. Besides, Patricia’s other servants were riding in the carriages behind us, and once we crossed the border, a number of Dragonkin servant girls would be joining us for the second leg of the journey.
“I will, thank you. Goodness, is traveling ever exhausting,” Patricia sighed, spinning the daisy between her fingers.