ELENA, YOU NEED to go to bed early," Becky mumbled with a toothbrush still in her mouth. "We have loads to do tomorrow."
"I've already made plans." I made my way across the room.
"What!"
"Elena, we're going to watch Doubt of Fire." Sammy's voice came drifting from the couch.
"I didn't know that you wanted me to come with you guys." A feeling of regret that I'd already said yes to Cheng emerged in my gut.
"Did you think we were just going to leave you here?" Becky said, and the way her eyes widened and her mouth partially parted told me that she wasn't happy about what I'd assumed.
"I don't know? Sorry."
"Can you call it off?" Sammy suggested hopefully.
I shook my head.
"Why not?"
"Cheng already asked me on Tuesday, and I didn't know if Lucian was going to come with you guys or not, so I said yes."
"Does Lucian know?" Becky asked.
"I'm going to tell him before he leaves, which reminds me, I have to go. I just came by to drop off my bag," I said quickly as I made a dash for the door.
If they wanted me to come they should have opened their mouths and not left it till the last minute. I went looking for Lucian and found him sitting at one of the tables outside talking to a redhead I'd never seen before.
I curled my arm around his waist as I slid next to him. "Are you ready?"
"Yes, see you later, Tom," he said, and we got up and started to walk to the lake. "I wish I could stay this weekend. Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"
"As tempting as that sounds, I'm so not ready to meet the king and queen of Tith yet."
"You scared?" he teased, tugging on a strand of my hair playfully.
"Yes. For all I know, they hang commoners just for thinking about speaking to the prince."
He chuckled and swung me around for a kiss. "Then, my dear lady, I will just have to save you. Will you meet me tomorrow?"
I cringed, knowing he was not going to be happy with my new change of plans. "About that. Cheng asked me to go with him to the museum for strictly educational purposes." I said the last part slowly so that he would understand it was not a date.
"Just as long as you promise me that I don't have to kill a dragon one day because he stole my lady," he said, looking deeply into my eyes.
"Please, Lucian, Cheng doesn't have anywhere near your charisma or charm," I told him, giving him a squeeze so he knew I meant it.
"I could get used to this kind of flattery," he said, and our lips met again. The warm kiss felt good, and I didn't want him to stop. These feelings he stirred up inside me scared the living crap out of me. I didn't know what I was going to do if he ever told me we were finished.
"You can go, but on one condition,' he said, with a smile that told me he was busy conjuring a plan that might get us in trouble.
"Which is?"
"Sunday, you're mine."
I didn't reply, too scared it would involve his parents.
He must have sensed my nervousness, because he said, "Don't worry. It won't be near the castle. I just want to spend some time with you."
"Deal," I said enthusiastically, wrapping my arms around his neck.
He laughed while shaking his head.
"What?"
"You're really that scared of meeting my parents?"
"It's not like they are the neighbors, Lucian. Where I'm from kings and queens don't approve of girls like me, especially a dragon's offspring. It's going to take a miracle for them just to like me." I stared at the ground, not wanting to meet his gaze.
He lifted up my chin gently. "That's your opinion, sweetheart. They're going to love you. But if you're not ready, I can wait."
"So where are we going on Sunday?"
"It's a surprise," he said.
"Fine, I guess I'll just have to wait then."
He looked at his watch and a frown pulled at his face. "I really don't want to go home. I hate not being able to see you every day."
"It's only tomorrow, Lucian. Besides, next weekend you're staying here with me."
"It's not the same."
"You want some cheese with that whine?" I said, rolling my eyes.
"Ha, ha," he said, and kissed me one last time before we went back to the main building.
I said goodbye as he ran up the stairs to get his suitcase. I had to agree that it was hard for me to stay here while he went home.
When I got back to my room, Becky and Sammy at first didn't approve of Lucian's decision to let me go with Cheng, but by that evening, they came around and understood the reason I needed to go. Learning about Paegeia was the only way I was going to pass this year.
I crawled into bed contemplating whether I should ditch Cheng, but he really looked excited when I told him that I would love to go to Elm with him. I didn't want to disappoint him after everything he was doing to help me pass History.
"Don't fall for Cheng, please," Becky pleaded, and I giggled, thinking of how Lucian had also said something along those lines.
"He's so not my type, Becky."
"Goodnight, y'all," Sammy said, mimicking a Southern accent, and gave a huge yawn, effectively ending the conversation.
Becky ran to switch off the light and tripped over something, probably her saddle that was too big to be chucked into her cupboard like all the other things she owned. She cussed like crazy, and her dark silhouette hopped in one spot. Sammy and I tried very hard to suppress our laughter, but failed miserably.
We settled down not long after, and I started to drift away. I dreamed that night about the mysterious woman again. She kept pointing at the forest, and I wished I could ask her what the hell she wanted from me.
* * *
The next morning Cheng and I stood in front of a large brick building that had two huge stone dragons framing a gilded door. There was a warning written in big bold red letters demanding that everyone who entered must remain silent right at the entrance.
It looked like any other museum I had ever visited. Thick red carpet lined the path through the building, and a strong antique smell lingered inside. Parents pointed out objects to their children, whose eyes grew wide with wonder.
"Come, this is the starting point," Cheng whispered, and took the path closest to the entrance. The brass plate read VIKINGS in big golden letters. It reminded me a lot of the Madame Tussauds museum Dad had taken me to once.
Vikings carrying huge weapons were trapped behind glass, frozen in time. Most of them were big ogres with long beards and messed-up hair. Pantene would have done wonders in those days. A small description on another brass plate explained the era and the people who lived during the time. The activities they did mostly consisted of gathering food and making weapons to slay dragons.
"The Viking era is quite boring. The only thing they did was drink, eat, sleep, slay dragons, and have plenty of sex."
I giggled and blushed simultaneously.
"C'mon Elena, does the word sex bother you?" He bumped into my left shoulder.
Why does everyone keep bringing it up? I shook my head, feeling like an idiot.
The next exhibit displayed a badass dragon, and I couldn't figure out if we had covered it in Anatomy or not.
It was dark, a mixture between a red and a purple-black. Red eyes were set deep in its sockets and the dragon had huge nostrils that I imagined emitted fire. Thick catfish whiskers covered its whole head like fur, which really made it look like pure evil. Its tail resembled a big tree stump that had been whittled down into a spear end. Webbed feet and huge claws told me it was a swimmer, and wings that looked as if they had been shredded protruded from its back. Pointy, vicious talons were displayed on the edges of each wing and I couldn't make up my mind if it was beautiful, ugly, or just plain deadly.
"His name was Quito," Cheng whispered. "He was the Rubicon before Blake."
"That's the Rubicon?"
"One hell of an ugly bugger, isn't he? Only a mother can love that mutt," he joked. "The total opposite of his human form."
Right next to the dragon, a tiny figure reached up to his knee. The sign read that it was an average human male. Goose bumps made my skin crawl as I realized it was the human-dragon ratio.
"Does Blake look like that too?" I asked, thinking Lucian must be crazy to try to claim him.
"Not quite there yet, but he is the biggest of all the dragons at Dragonia. They grow bigger as they reach their milestones."
Milestones? It must be similar to birthdays.
"Where would I fit on him?"
"Oh, about up to here." He crouched and showed at least half the human figure's size.
"I'm so glad I'm not Lucian."
"Me too, but size isn't everything," he explained.
"Do you have a Dragonian?"
"Yes, his name is Andreas, but he's only ten years old."
"Ten years old?" I looked confused. That seemed too young to have a dragon.
He nodded and a huge smile lit up his eyes.
"How did you know he was your Dragonian?"
"A dragon knows."
We moved on. Knights with jousting sticks and wearing heavy armor came next. They even had Yorkshire and some of the Eastern Europe countries displayed with model dragons soaring through the air breathing fire down on unsuspecting villages.
Cheng sighed. "The Sun-Blast and Moon-Bolt made it really difficult for dragons to be considered tamable in the old world."
"You mean the world before the wall?"
"Ah-uh."
"How long has the wall been up now?"
"Oh, for the last nine hundred years," he explained.
"Did you ever visit the other side?"
"I really want to, but they say it's hard for a Metallic dragon to return. We like humans and feel more appreciated on the other side. It's the reason my mom's scared to give her consent," he explained.
"So your guardian has to give permission?"
He nodded.
"Until when?"
"Forever."
"That sucks,��� I said, and he chuckled.
"Yes, you humans have things so much easier."
"You humans? That's not nice," I said, teasing him.
"Elena, you know what I mean."
"I'm just joking with you, Cheng, and yes, I do know what you mean." I felt sorry for him, not having a chance to follow his heart without his mom's consent.
"After you." He showed me the way, and we moved to the next exhibition. It was some sort of obstacle course that reminded me of First Knight, a movie featuring Richard Gere and Sean Connery. Richard's character had to complete an obstacle course just to get a kiss from the lovely Guinevere. The obstacles were scaled down, and I gawked at the detail of the hammers sliding past one another and huge boulders crashing down. Logs with swinging balls attached to them rotated at very high speeds. Even the surface where the contestant walked to get through the obstacle was moving.
"It was entertainment in the old days," Cheng said.
I imagined me, super tiny, trying to get through in one piece. I was smashed by the two rocks colliding on top of each other.
The next exhibition was a cave. "The Sacred Cavern." The detail they used to display the replicas was amazing.
"What is it?"
"A cavern only the brave or the desperate will enter."
"To do what?"
"To retrieve the most prized possession in all of Paegeia—a millpond so magical that it can show you anything you wish to know. Whether it's past, present, or future, it will reveal all to whomever gazes into its surface."
I looked at him.
"It's not that easy though. The price is high. If you can't face whatever the cave is hiding, then it claims your life."
"Has anyone ever made it out alive?" I asked. I couldn't take my eyes off the detail. The million steps made me think of a Chinese temple. The steps led to huge doors molded into a cave, surrounded by a forest.
"Yes, but only a small number. The funny thing about it is that all of them were women.��
I could feel another one of his theories coming, but had too many questions on my mind.
"What's inside?"
"Besides the millpond, no one knows. The five women that did make it out never revealed what they saw or did. No one knows why. It's very mysterious."
"Wow." I was fascinated by his story, but we had to keep moving.
As we moved further into the exhibition we came to a room that explained the sports that the knights used to compete at. Some were jousting on horses and the others were battling one on one. The last one looked like some sort of a team battle.
"It is said that all the soldiers were forced to compete to keep them fit for war. In those times, the war was between your kind and mine," Cheng narrated.
"Humans can be so horrible," I said, moping. "Was it any different after the wall?"
"No. The only time things changed was when King Albert's father, King Louie, took over. He fell in love with a dragon, but never knew that she was one. They killed her in the end, but it also revealed one of our secrets, that we could take a human form. King Louie knew from then on that Metallic dragons posed no threat. When he became king, he studied the Metallic dragons and learned a lot from us. He discovered another secret, that we could be ridden. My mom said that these were exciting times, but he still killed a lot of the Chromatic dragons. It was only when King Albert claimed his dragon that things really changed for all of the dragons. He taught the others that the Chromatic ones weren't different from the Metallic ones. I know they look a little scarier and are a bit fiercer, but deep down inside, dragon is dragon."
"You guys really loved this king, huh?"
"More than you'll ever know. I wish you could have been here when they ruled. He believed that Chromatic dragons could be rehabilitated by getting the right nurturing. I guess it's why he started Dragonia."
We went through a few more individual exhibits. The first one was a blond guy with the most beautiful green eyes with a shade of blue around the iris. The era was right after the Vikings. I thought they were a bit more civilized, but still needed Pantene.
"King William," he announced. "He was the first bloodline of the royals. The sword he carries is none other than the King of Lion's sword." He smiled. "His queen was the fourth daughter of one of your French rulers." I looked at the woman standing next to him with dark hair. She almost resembled the woman in my dreams, but not entirely. The women before me had larger eyes, higher cheekbones, and thinner lips.
We kept walking and moved past a room featuring all the important figures that had been a part of King William's council. Surnames like McKenzie, Abbott, Johnson, and Smith had been there since the beginning. I wondered if some of them were Becky and Lucian's ancestors.
We exited King William's era and moved to a section that had to do with famous foretellings. The first figure was none other than the beautiful woman living in Rapunzel's tower. They weren't lifelike and some features were way off. The wax doll's eyes in the exhibition were incredibly warm and friendly. Hers weren't.
"Is she really three hundred years old?"
"Yes, still young for a dragon," he said.
"Was she always into foretellings?"
"Those days it was more like fortune-telling or cup-gazing."
"What, no crystal ball?"
He laughed. "I think hers is only used for decoration." He went back to telling me the story about how humans used to seek out Moon-Bolts to tell them their futures, but that sometimes they didn't like what they heard so Moon-Bolts were killed for no reason.
There was a book on a wooden pedestal right next to her that some young girls were flipping through. I smiled. "Is there really stuff written in that book?" I asked, still skeptical.
"Elena, that book is the real deal."