A cool breeze blew through the palace orchard. The humid scent of the sea permeated the air, although the beach was some miles away from the Hasurei Kingdom royal palace. Tama was sitting on the east wing balcony overlooking the gardens. She was a girl of nineteen, with a dark brown ponytail and pensive brown eyes of otherworldly depth. She was leaning on the balcony balustrade, supporting her chin with her other hand, and was reviewing a letter she'd written on a small piece of parchment. A white pigeon sat with ruffled feathers by her side, cooing at her to hurry up.
The letter read:
"How are you, Mom? How's Dad doing? Big Brother Yannou and I are fine! Yannou's working out with Princess Alvina and the royal knights. They say they're heading for another expedition soon. Do you see anything about their future in your Vision? – I mean, between Alvina and Yannou! Haha, Big Brother's really into our scarlet-haired princess!
"As for me, I'm alright. Princess Amida seems a little better, although her coughs haven't passed. Dealing with curses is painful… We've been treating Amida for eleven years, and yet she's still sick! How cruel must one be to curse their king's far-off descendant this way?! That old Vizier Prudus of Hasurei was a handful! Our grandpa Carneh is the Shadow God and the king of monsters in Lunaria, but even he's not that heartless!
"On a more urgent business: I've had that dream again, with Ronna, the green dragon. Today, I discovered she lives in a swamp in the far north. My guess is Drahvelt, the kingdom of dragons, although it pains me to think so. After all, Drahvelt is our enemy! Ronna took me to the giant tree where she nests, and I saw the great volcano of Mt Belphezar right up to my nose, so I concluded that it was Drahvelt. After all, that volcano harbours their capital.
But that was the least of it. While I marvelled at Ronna's tree in the swamp, a red lava dragon came down from the volcano! Ronna told me he was her mate, Beilung. He was surprised to see me, but Ronna reassured him it was alright. A lava dragon from Mt Belphezar is bad news, Mom! What if he remembers me when he wakes up? You told me that dragons can travel through Dreamscape, so he should! Do you think Beilung might be affiliated with the people of Belphezar? I hope not! Maybe I should tell Ronna never to take me to her house again? What do you think of this dream? Please advise me!
"Love you,
"Tama"
Tama reread the letter a few times. The pigeon cooed at her and pecked her hand.
"Ouch!" Tama rubbed it. "Okay, okay, I'm finished!" She laughed at the pigeon. "Here!"
She folded the parchment and placed it in the box attached to the pigeon's leg. The pigeon flapped her wings and ascended the skies. She whirled around and headed to the north where Tama's hometown lay. Tama watched her disappear through the clouds.
A cough sounded from beyond the doors. Tama whipped around and hurried back inside. In the bed, lay a nineteen-year-old girl with blazing blonde hair and sky-blue eyes, her skin white as snow and her lips pink as a rose. She was tucked into two sets of blankets, groaning. Tama ran up to her and placed her hand on her forehead. It was burning.
"Princess Amida, why didn't you call me?!" Tama exclaimed.
She grabbed a green glass bottle from the bedside table, containing a magenta-coloured liquid, and poured the drink into a silver chalice. She helped the princess sit up and brought the chalice to her lips.
"Drink it all!" she urged. When the princess emptied the chalice, Tama put it away and helped her lie down again. She sat on the edge of the Princess' bed and touched her forehead. "You're still burning, but the fever will go down now that you've had your medicine," Tama said. "Couldn't you call me sooner?"
"But you were writing a letter to your parents!" Princess Amida replied in her meek voice, smiling. "I didn't want to disturb you."
"I can write letters at any time!" Tama argued. "Your health is important!"
"It's not like it'll get any better than this." Amida sighed. "Even the Lotus Temple's remedies can't lift this curse."
"We'll find a way! My mom's toiling hard in the temple to find a remedy through her Vision. You can't just give up!" Tama frowned. "Don't you remember how we promised to travel the world together? You must get better so we can do it!"
"Come on, Tama, that was long ago!" Amida smiled. "We were just kids."
"'Never give up on your childhood dreams', wise men say!" Tama countered with a grin, trying to cheer her up.
Amida broke into a weak laughter, covering her mouth with her hand. Their banter was interrupted by a knock on the doors.
"Who's there?" Princess Amida asked, not expecting visitors.
"Her Majesty is summoning Your Highness!" cried the gruff voice of a palace guard. "It's urgent!"
"Oh, goodness!" Amida leaned forward with the little strength she could muster, trying to get up.
"Lie back down!" Tama pinned her to the bed. She glared at the doors and shouted: "Princess Amida is ailing! Tell the Queen to get over here with whatever business she's got!"
"Tama, don't be so rude!" Amida clutched her hand, frightened. "Mother can't stand insubordination!"
"I don't belong to the Queen but to the Lotus Temple!" Tama countered. "You hear me?" she shouted to the doors again. "Tell her to get over here and_"
The doors burst open. Several guards walked in and made way for a twenty-year-old man with blond hair and sky-blue eyes like Amida's. However, his eyes exuded arrogance and guile, contrary to Amida's sincere spark. He was dressed in a white suit with golden epaulettes and carried a navy blue cape of pure silk. At the sight of him, Tama's innards churned with disgust and her nose turned up.
"Prince Ishgal…" She gritted through her teeth.
The visitor was Ishgal Blackthorne, Amida's older brother and the heir apparent to the throne of Hasurei. Just like Amida, he was Tama's childhood friend, but for Tama, that friendship ended years ago when she was thirteen and Ishgal – fourteen. Tama vividly remembered that day, getting lost in the woods with only Ishgal for company, drenched in the rain, looking for shelter before the search party would find them. The boy whom she looked up to as a brotherly friend turned out to be a beast lusting for her body. The search party arrived just in the nick of time. Ever since then, Tama made sure never to walk alone, for the shadow of Ishgal lurked after her in her worst nightmares. The sight of him brought chills to the back of her neck.
"Oh, hello, Tama!" Ishgal grinned. His eyes blazed when he saw Tama's breasts, but he quickly averted his eyes from her. He turned to Amida and faintly bowed as was the royal custom. "Your Highness is requested by Her Majesty for an important audience! It concerns our kingdom's future."
"Our kingdom's future?" Amida asked. "What does Big Brother mean?"
"Princess Amida, as you might know, we're at the brink of war with the neighbouring kingdom of Drahvelt, and unless an important diplomatic step is taken, our people will suffer," Ishgal answered. "Our mother, Her Majesty Queen Eclaire the Illustrious, has consulted the Drahian officials and come to an agreement: since the current king of Drahvelt, Gerart the Bloodthirsty, is unmarried, you're offered as his bride."
Amida covered her gaping mouth with her hand, speechless from horror. Tama widened her eyes too. The innocent Princess Amida was to marry a man who slaughtered his whole family upon ascending to the throne?! She jumped up and blocked Amida's bed with her arms stretched.
"Princess Amida can't marry that beast! It's madness!" she shouted.
"With all due respect, Tama Raveene, this isn't a handmaid's concern," Prince Ishgal scoffed at her. "Just get the Princess ready and bring her to Her Majesty's chamber!"
He turned around, clicked his heels and walked out with his guards. The doors shut with a thud behind them.
"Ugh, that bastard!" Tama snarled.
She heard shuffling from the bed. Amida had sat up and grabbed a bell from her bedside. She clanged it and two stout maidservants rushed into the room, ready to dress and prepare her.
"What are you doing?" Tama cried to Amida. "You can't go now, you still have a temperature!"
"It'll go down now that I've drunk the medicine, won't it?" Amida weakly smiled. "It's Mother's summons, so I must go."
She wore a placid expression, but Tama could tell her soul was in turmoil. She'd also be devastated if she heard she was to be married off to some brute in an enemy kingdom! She imagined the brute having Ishgal's face and gagged.
The maidservants put a white-to-blue dress and blue shoes on Amida. She sat in her golden wheelchair and Tama pushed her out of the chamber through the golden corridors. A young guard stationed near Amida's room followed them. They walked to the highest tower of the palace and stopped at heavily guarded doors. When they were given admittance, Tama pushed Amida's wheelchair into the room.
The chamber was richly furnished. The windows looked onto the other parts of the royal settlement so that the movements of all residents were visible. Beyond the palace, blue roofs of houses, churches and other towering buildings shimmered under the sun. It was the city of Vienrose, the capital of Hasurei. At the edge of the city, glimmered the blue sea, and far on the horizon, loomed the tiny silhouette of a grey volcano – Mt Belphezar, the capital of the enemy kingdom of Drahvelt.
Near the windows, stood a golden bed with a crimson canopy. Above a fireplace, hung a portrait of the founder of Hasurei, King Arthur Blackthorne, holding a green sword with the golden hilt of a lotus petal shape – the Lotus Sword, the strongest of the legendary Flower Swords. Near the fireplace, in a crimson armchair, sat a woman in her mid-forties, her hair blonde and her eyes sky-blue like Amida's and Ishgal's. She wore a crown a red silken dress with black sleeves. She was sipping dark coffee from a porcelain cup.
"I've brought Princess Amida, Your Majesty!" Prince Ishgal bowed to her.
"Greetings to Your Majesty Queen Eclaire!" Amida bowed from her wheelchair too.
The woman in the armchair, Queen Eclaire of Hasurei, swung her hand at the attendants and the guards, making them leave. Only Tama remained with the royal family.
"Tama Raveene, Her Majesty meant all handmaids!" Prince Ishgal rolled his eyes.
"I'm a healer from the Lotus Temple, assigned to Princess Amida by the Lotus Priestess," Tama retorted. "I can't leave my patient's side under anyone's orders but only when I deem it acceptable!"
"Leave her alone, Ishgal!" The Queen's mild but stiff voice echoed throughout the room. "The Lotus Temple might dwell in our territory but they're an independent entity… and then, there are things Tama needs to hear too."
Tama smirked at Ishgal, who snarled with defeat but tried to maintain his princely demeanour.
"So then," Amida addressed the Queen, clutching parts of her dress in her lap, "Big Brother mentioned something about my marriage?"
Queen Eclaire sighed, putting the half-empty cup down. She stared at the coffee, her eyebrows rising in the inner corners. But this display of anxiety didn't last long. She regained her cold expression.
"I've talked with some officials from Drahvelt," she said. "Their king, Gerart the Bloodthirsty, is planning another war. This time, he targets our kingdom, Hasurei. That beast has no remorse, his dragons can burn his enemies without the need of a single soldier from Drahvelt! For him, people's lives are worth nothing!" She slammed her fist on her armchair. "I… I had to find a diplomatic solution. With our unstable economy, a war against dragons is out of the question!" She looked at Amida, her forehead wrinkling with anxiety. "The officials from Drahvelt said King Gerart is unmarried, so I proposed a marriage alliance in exchange for peace. Alvina is the eldest, but I can't send her since she's one of the twelve Flower Knights. If the worst happens and the dragons invade us, the Flower Knights are our only hope for survival! So, I told them I'd send you. I explained the details about your ailment, but they said it was alright. However, they asked me not to send your attendants along, because they don't accept foreign staff. They reassured me they have suitable servants to wait on you. Your healer needn't worry!" She looked at Tama, who'd opened her mouth, about to object. "I was told King Gerart is a powerful healer, being the late Dragon Priestess' son. The Dragon Temple's reputation is on par with that of the Lotus Temple, so Amida will be in good hands."
"Good hands?!" Tama exclaimed, unable to hold herself even with the Queen. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, that man is titled 'Bloodthirsty'! He slaughtered his whole family upon ascending to the throne, and I won't even mention all the other blood he shed in his sixteen years of reign! How can you send your ailing daughter to him?"
"Tama, you and I may both agree that fighting one's family is a sad course of action, but it's a sure way to solidify one's power," Queen Eclaire said. "As for Amida, she may be born with a curse, but she's still a princess. With her title, come responsibilities." She turned to Amida, her lips forming a bitter smile. "As royals, there comes a time when we must sacrifice our hearts for the greater good."
"But_" Tama began.
"I hear and obey!" Amida's meek voice echoed, interrupting Tama's speech. She bowed to the Queen, clinging to her wheelchair with her feeble arms. "I'll become the Dragon King's bride!"
"Thank you, my dear!" Queen Eclaire's sorrowful smile deepened. She took Amida's little hands into hers and squeezed them. "You'll depart after tomorrow. Until then, we'll make sure you look your best!"
"Yes, Mother!" Amida bowed again.
The audience was over. Tama and Amida returned to their quarters, while Prince Ishgal remained with the Queen. His lingering behind made Tama think he had a say in the matter of Princess Amida's engagement.
That bastard! She thought, clutching the handles of Princess Amida's wheelchair. He's willing to sell even his sister for his ambitions!
With the political marriage scheduled for after tomorrow, neither Princess Amida nor Tama had the enthusiasm to speak or do much that day. They sat in the Princess' room, each sunken into her sorrowful thoughts, until night fell upon them. Tama helped Amida go to bed as usual. After checking her temperature again to make sure she was well, she moved to the neighbouring room to sleep but the Princess' soft voice stopped her.
"Tama?" Amida called through the darkness.
"Your Highness?" Tama ran up to her bed. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine!" Amida blushed, not having intended to agitate her. "It's just… I know this may sound silly, but… would you mind sleeping here tonight?" She tried to muffle her whimpers, but some of them slipped through. "I… I don't want to be alone."
"Oh…" Tama's eyebrows rose with pity. The Princess was crying! She sat on the edge of Amida's bed and embraced her. "Of course, Your Highness! I'll stay with you all these two days!"
"Thank you, Tama!" Amida sniffled, smiling through her tears. She took a handkerchief from her bedside and blew in it. "You're a true friend!"
Tama went to bed in the Princess' room that night, offering her company before her departure in two days, which would separate them forever.