The Dragon' Son (35 page)

A flicker of gold hair flashing by on the dance floor instantly attracted Keegan’s eyes to Erewhon. She was beautiful, dressed in a dark red velvet dress trimmed in gold, her hair was pulled up and twisted around a circlet, and her face glowed with a smile as she danced with a man Keegan had never seen before. Keegan narrowed his eyes and studied the man carefully, feeling a strange, angry twisting of his gut as he watched the two dance together. The man was tall and muscular with dark, short-cropped hair. He was dressed in a very fine green tabard with a short blue cape draped over his broad shoulders. A gold ring glinted on his right hand, which held Erewhon’s left hand carefully.

“Huh. That’s interesting,” Saul remarked to Keegan. “I wonder who that is dancing with Princess Erewhon?”

Keegan knit his brows and refrained from jabbing Saul in the ribs. “Come on. Let’s find something to eat,” he said, though his appetite was slim to none at the moment.

He and Saul moved from the doorway and looked for a place to sit down.

“Oh! Oh! Keegan! Saul! Up here!”

Keegan looked up at the pavilion to see Annaka waving at them, motioning them to come to the pavilion. The Queen patted Annaka’s hand and motioned for the girl to sit down, which she did hesitantly. Keegan followed Saul, and the two of them wound their way around stewards, maids, and other people, finally making their way up the steps and onto the pavilion.

The King stood and nodded to the two men as they approached “Ah! My friends! Please sit with us.” He motioned at two empty chairs. “Tell me, Saul, did you enjoy your time in the city? I heard that Keegan took you for an outing.”

Saul bowed slightly. “I did, Your Majesty. It is a beautiful city.”

The King nodded and sat back down. “Why, yes, it is. I am glad to call it my home.”

Keegan sat down in the empty chair next to Annaka, and Saul took the empty chair next to Keegan. Keegan looked out over the crowd and noticed a few envious expressions as well as interested looks thrown his and Saul’s way, but his eyes flitted up and found Erewhon and the young man still dancing together gracefully.

Saul cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, may I inquire who it is that dances tonight with Princess Erewhon?”

Keegan looked at Saul then turned to look at the King.

The King smiled. “Of course! That is prince Derek, son of Darth, King of the southern country, Gilidar. He has come all the way from Richem to court Erewhon.”

Keegan looked back at Erewhon and the prince she danced with. His heart fluttered for a moment then just seemed to stop, and a strange numbness filled his chest as he watched the smiling Princess dance with the prince of Gilidar.

“Here! This is amazing. You really must try it,” Saul said suddenly, plopping a large pastry onto Keegan’s plate.

Keegan looked at Saul. Saul glanced at him, raised his eyebrows, and motioned with his eyes at the pastry on Keegan’s plate. Keegan looked at the pastry and realized that he was not in the least bit hungry.

He was about to say as much when Annaka cut in, gripping Keegan’s hand. “Oh, Keegan! You must dance with me,” she said, bouncing in her seat. “I have instructed the musicians that the next song they play should be the one that I taught you to dance to.”

Saul choked slightly as he took a drink from his goblet. “You learned how to dance?” he coughed, looking at Keegan.

Keegan nodded slightly. “Yeah. Don’t kill yourself laughing about it,” he said glumly.

Saul smirked and took another bite of meat. “Don’t worry. I won’t laugh. I’ll just sit here and watch,” he said.

Annaka patted Keegan’s hand. “Oh, do hurry! The end of this song is approaching.”

Keegan looked at Annaka apologetically. “I’m sorry, Princess, I don’t feel like dancing tonight,” he said.

Annaka’s merry face fell and became filled with bitter disappointment. “Oh, but I taught you how to dance to the next song coming up, and it is Erewhon’s very favorite.” She stopped and seemed to catch herself, then she grabbed Keegan’s hand imploringly. “Please? You are going to leave tomorrow, and I would like just one last dance with you.”

Keegan stared at the Princess for a long moment before sighing, torn between pleasing her and wanting to just go back to his room.

Saul slapped Keegan on the back. “Oh, go dance with her already!”

Keegan looked at Saul suspiciously. “Why?” he asked.

Saul spiked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Why? For my own pleasure of watching,” he said sarcastically then cocked his head. “And because you are going to make the little princess cry.”

Keegan looked back at Annaka and stared at her depressed face for a long moment before sighing and nodding his head. “Very well. Just for you,” he said, shooting a hard glance at Saul.

Annaka’s face lit up instantly, and she clasped her hands together. “Oh, good! Thank you!” she squeezed Keegan’s hand then pushed her chair noisily away from the table and stood to her feet.

“Annaka! Let the stewards pull out your chair for you,” the Queen said.

Annaka curtsied. “I am sorry, Aunt! I will remember next time.” She turned and grabbed Keegan’s hand. “Come on!”

Keegan stood, bowed to the King and Queen, and then followed Annaka down the pavilion and out toward the dance floor. Keegan noticed a look of bemusement cross Walneff’s face at the other side of the room, but he tried to ignore it. Several people bowed gracefully at Annaka as she pulled Keegan onto the dance floor, and she smiled brightly at them, never letting Keegan’s hand go.

“Ah! Young Princess Annaka! I am so glad to see you joining us!” Prince Derek said as he and Erewhon paused dancing and looked at the twosome.

Keegan saw a mixture of surprise and confusion wash over Erewhon’s face as she looked between him and Annaka. “How delightful,” she commented. “Annaka, you did not tell me that Keegan could dance,” she said with a smile at her sister.

Annaka’s eyes widened. “Oh, my! I am sorry, Erewhon. It must have completely slipped my mind.” She looked up at Keegan and a sparkle of extreme mischief flashed in her blue eyes. “Well, to make up for it, I will let you dance with Keegan.”

Erewhon’s mouth dropped open slightly, and she looked at Annaka with the same look of horrified shock that Keegan felt rippling inside his stomach. Before Erewhon or Keegan could protest, Annaka dropped Keegan’s hand and grabbed Prince Derek by the arm, pulling him away. “Derek, you must dance with me. I am eager to learn if your footwork is as light as it really looks. You simply seem to glide across the floor!”

Derek nodded at Keegan with narrowed eyes then smiled at Erewhon. “Please enjoy yourselves,” he said, glancing at Keegan once more before Annaka pulled him away into the crowd of dancers.

Erewhon and Keegan stood and stared at each other, dumbfounded and speechless as the song ended and the dancers around them clapped and prepared for the next song. Annaka chattered delightfully to Derek, saying something about how she just adored the next song and was so glad that he was dancing with her through it. Keegan looked down at the floor sheepishly. He should have known Annaka was up to something. He looked back up at Erewhon to apologize but instead became lost in the beautiful green eyes that stared back at him softly, almost tenderly.

The next song began with the touch of a harp and soft pipes to follow afterward. Keegan slowly reached out his right hand toward Erewhon then paused, staring at her. She stared at him for a moment, her face impassive, then she reached out and took his hand. Keegan recalled the steps that Annaka taught him, and soon he and Erewhon were gracefully moving across the dance floor, hand in hand.

Erewhon conducted each step of the song like a swimming swan. She was smooth and perfect in every spin and step. Her green eyes rarely moved from Keegan’s, and they stared at him with a soft, gentle light shining behind them, like she was in a dream. Keegan felt like he was in a dream, stepping in time with her, holding her small, fragile hands in his and gazing untiringly into her eyes. Breathing did not come easy to Keegan for some reason as he stared into Erewhon’s eyes, but he hardly noticed. He felt like he was flying, stretching out a pair of his own wings and dancing in the bright clouds of the sky above.

There was a slight pause in the song as it neared the close, and this somehow affected Erewhon. She blinked and color rushed to her cheeks as she looked down. She looked back up at Keegan, but this time her eyes held extreme conflict in them. They both stopped dancing as she removed her hands from his and stepped away from him. She stared at him, her eyes glistening with sadness.

Keegan stepped back, gasping as if he had not taken a single breath while they had been dancing. His hands tingled and burned, and his heart raced as sweat formed into beads on his neck and back.

He bowed. “I- I’m sorry. Good evening, My Lady.” And without looking back up, he turned and practically bolted for the courtyard doors. However, he managed to restrain himself just enough to assume a fast walk. He didn’t slow down when he made it outside but kept the same fast walking pace all the way across the stone yard, into the dark corridor, up the stairs, and down the corridor to his room. When he was in his room, he shut the door and slumped against it, feeling more relaxed now that he was enveloped in the darkness of his room, but his heart and mind still raced with anxiety.

What had happened? He didn’t understand what was affecting him or why. Why had dancing with the Princess elated him so? Why had being with her and breaking away from her frightened him so badly? All of those sensations were numbed as he ran the image of the prince and the words of the King concerning the prince through his memory: “Prince Derek…here…to court Erewhon.”

Keegan slid down the door and sat on the floor, the numbness he felt in his chest touching every part of his body and senses, just like it had after he had buried his father and mother. He stared into the darkness of his room, trying to understand. He had lost something, something that he held dear, and he didn’t even know what it was he had lost or why.

Chapter 18: Dark Mysteries

As he placed his things onto Ardor’s back, Keegan let a yawn escape his mouth. Saul walked up with a saddle in his arms and paused to look at Keegan.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Saul asked.

“Yes. I slept fine,” Keegan lied. He had not slept well at all. He spent half the night awake, trying to stop thinking about Prince Derek and Princess Erewhon, and when he had finally gotten to sleep, he had another nightmare about the woman Demitreah. Saul seemed to study Keegan for a moment then shrugged and moved on to his horse’s stall.

Keegan stroked Ardor on the neck and let his mind wander to his nightmare. The witch had been hunting for him, searching for him and chasing him, but she never caught him. She then turned her attentions to Erewhon, forcing Keegan to come out of hiding to save the Princess. Three times it happened. The first two times Keegan was able to prevent the witch from taking Erewhon, but the third time, no matter what he did or how hard he tried, he was unable to save Erewhon. He chased after them and tried to fight the witch, he tried to rescue the Princess, but then a horrible dark shadow, like a dragon, swept over Keegan, and everything disappeared and went completely black.

Keegan felt a shudder starting to crawl up his spine, and he fought to keep it away. The darkness in his dream had been so great that he thought he would never be able to wake up. The shudder in Keegan’s spine turned icy hot, and a feverish feeling began to race up and down his back. At the same time, a glow in his chest began to pulse and ache as a strange sense of urgency washed over him. Ardor sensed the change and nuzzled Keegan gently then tossed his head up and snorted loudly as he began to paw the floor.

“Pharrgon,” Keegan gasped silently under his breath as he put a hand on his chest, the glow inside of him aching badly at the thought of the dragon.

“Keegan, are you all right?”

Keegan turned to see Walneff standing on the other side of Ardor’s stall, staring at him with a slight hint of concern showing in his diamond blue eyes.

Keegan shook his head. “I don’t know,” he answered in a shaky voice. “Something’s wrong.” He turned back to Ardor and began to stroke the tense muscles of the stallion’s neck. “Easy, Ardor. Easy,” he said, trying to console them both. He turned to look back at Walneff, but found the old man gone.

“Are you ready?” Saul asked as he led the big draft gelding out of his stall, redirecting Keegan’s attention. “The King wanted to see us off and wish us well. We had better not keep him waiting.”

Keegan nodded, feeling the ache in his chest beginning to dissipate. “Yeah. Ardor and I are both ready,” he said as he gripped Ardor by the reins and led him out of the stall. “We’ve been ready for a while now. We were just waiting on you,” he said, forcing a smile to his face.

Saul smirked, but his brown eyes did not sparkle with the normal merry light that they usually did when he or Keegan made a joke. “Well, there’s one in every crowd, I guess.” He seemed to study Keegan carefully for a moment, then he patted his big horse as it bobbed its head up and down impatiently. “Steady, Tormad! We’ll be gone soon.”

Just then, Walneff walked by them both, leading his dapple gray gelding behind him, saddled and packed. “Come now. We haven’t all day to just stand around.”

Keegan and Saul exchanged glances then quickly began to follow behind Walneff.