Princess Ahira (26 page)

             
“What?” Kohath asked when our hearts finally stopped pounding. 

             
“I was sleeping on your lap! EWWWWW Now I have to go take a bath!” I exclaimed as Tuggles s
norted
before waddl
ing over to me to shove his
little muzzle in my palm. 

             
K
ohath rolled his eyes. “That’s not what you said while falling asleep,” he smirked
as I ran my hand through Tuggles’ creamy mane. 

             
I ignored him and picked up my blanket
, throwing
it over my shoulders like a cape before storming out of the room, Tuggles on my heels.
I walked straight into silver-
blue wall. 

             
I rubbed my smarting nose and looked up
at Zerah
. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

             
Zerah scoffed. “What, do you think the Keeper magically plunged through all of that snow?”

             
I
huffed and p
ushed my nose up into the air.
Zerah lowered his
muzzle, gently butting me with it, and breathed in.
My cape and hair flew over my head
,
disrupting my appearance
.

             
I glared a
t Zerah from under my blanket.
“What was that for?” I shouted while straightening my hair and clothes. 

             
“You smell like Kohath,”
Zerah informed me. 

             
“Thank you cupcake,” I snarled.
“
Way to use your nose,”
I added before storming past him and into the kitchen.

             
Kohath came out of the library and the dragon and steward exchanged glances before chorusing. “Women.”

             
W
hen Azmaveth
finally
returned home
he and Zerah
teased me nonstop about
Kohath’s scent.
I was most irritated, mainly because before Azmaveth arrived I
had taken two baths
.
I endured much teasing for the next three days, so when the doorbell rang it was a welcome break.

             
“I’ll get it!” I screamed as I bolted from the kitchen where Zerah and Azmaveth were currently seated and snickering. (Correction, Azmaveth was
snickering. Zerah was doing his scary, threatening jokes again.)
I scrambled to the door and carefully opened it
. The visitor was a prince.
I groaned and slammed the door shut

             
“Ahira? I have a me
ssage for you from your brother,
”
he called through the wooden door.

Instantly I was outside, inquisitive and quite friendly. It
was then that I noticed
Princess Lesha sitting on the prince’s horse.
Apparently the girl had smartened up and
finally
stopped
yodeling about her beaus.
She
shyly
wave
d
as her newly acquir
ed prince dug into his pocket.
“He ga
ve it to me about a month ago.
Sorry I can’t save you…” He trailed o
ff before glancing at Lesha
with a happy grin.

             
I smiled,
“No,
no! You have done a far greater favor for me by delivering this.”

             
The prince gave me a grateful look b
efore swinging up on his horse.

             
Lesha leaned back to speak with me, and to duck the prince’s foot as he mounted. “Thank you Ahira. I’m not convinced
all
my stories are boring, but I shall certainly keep what you said in mind,
”
she graciously stated. As I watched the duo disappear into the snowdrifts I wondered if m
aybe Lesha wasn’t more princess-
like than I thought. Perhaps one day, if she could be convinced to stop babbling, she would make a fine queen.

             
I anxiously ran inside and scurried past
the giggling Azmaveth and
rigid Zerah
as I made a beeline for my room
.

             
When I reached my living quarters, I
jumpe
d on my bed and started reading. I
f I hadn’t been so excited I would have heard the giggling stop and the soft padding of two nosey dragons wal
king down the hallway.

             
I ripped open the cream colored envelope
, revealing
a letter written in my brother’s familiar handwriting. 

             
I know, I know that you’re terribly disappointed that I haven’t come for you yet!
.
I want to co
me and rescue you, really I do!
However
, mother won’t allow it.
She’s extremely angry that you have not returned with a prince yet, but t
ales of you and the dragon who enslaves
you
have come as far as our lands.

Father has been skipping out on his King duties, but I think I can arrange to come pick you up at during
the Autumn Festival. T
hat festival is
just shy
of being
three seasons away.

             
The tales I hear of you make me wonder Ahira. A
re you happier
over there then you were here? Will I ever see you again?
Please
,
Ahira,
please remember that dragons are dragons.
They are wonderfully intelligent creatures, but deceptive all the same.

             
With
Love,

             
Caspian

             
The letter fell from my hands. Was I happier here? W
hy was Caspian waiting so long to come and get me! I knew during the summer he would not be missed
.
What wa
s happening?

             
A frown passed over my lips and tears oddly stung my eyes. Caspian’s harmless letter for some reason raised a lot of emotions in me.
Tears started to roll down my cheeks and I turned around to see Azmaveth’s giant eye in my doorway. For on
c
e I was not mad and instead I walked out of my room and hugged his nose,
taking a calming breath.

             
Zerah took that
as his cue to leave. Azmaveth stayed put
and curled up like a cat, allowin
g me to be cradled between his head
and chest.
 

             
About a month later Kohath found me in the kitchen doing u
p some dishes. The snow was
just barely covering the forest floor, and spring was just around the corner.

             
“
Hello,” he greeted,
eating a dried apple as I cleaned the last dish.

             
“Hello. And to what do I owe this unpleasant surprise
to
?”
I asked.

             
Kohath snorted. “Gnomes. I have to go speak to a
g
nome elder and Azmaveth said
that I should take you along.
He said it would be a ‘learning ex
perience’ for you.”

             
“Gnomes?” I asked, wrinkling my brow.
“Aren’t they really short and fat
and look like little old men?”
I asked. 

             
“That would be them,
” Kohath s
aid while finishing his snack
. 

             
“Why do you have to speak to them?” I asked as I wiped up my counter, which he ha
d just gotten dirty
. 

             
“Azmaveth needs me to give them a message abou
t our battle plans against the v
alkyrie.”

             
“I thought the v
alkyrie left when Tuggles went back to doin
g his job!”
I exclaimed.

             
“Nope. They left the forest, not
Somnio
,” he replied after licking his fingers.

             
“Fine just let me get my cloak
,”
I said walking toward the den entrance, Kohath slowly ambling after me.

             
“What? Y
ou don’t
want a repeat of our cozy library time?” h
e asked.

             
“No,” I said while whipping my cape
on.

             
He chuckled and gently took his hand in mine
, again.
Sadly I was pretty used to it by this point. Kohath opened the door and t
ogether we walked, Kohath leading
us
deep into the forest.

             
After a thirty
minute walk we reached a huge tree that was sur
rounded by five smaller trees.
Kohath released my hand for the moment and rapped on the wood.

             
“Who goes there?” a
tiny
,
gruff voice asked.

             
“Kohath from Azmaveth.”

             
“Oy, Brother T
en, do we
know an Azmaveth?” t
he rough voice questioned.

             
“I am not sure Brother F
ifteen. Perhaps you
should be asking Brother E
ight,” a
similar voice answered.

             
Kohath rolled his eyes. “They are very eccentric,” h
e said before reaching the bottom of the tree and
flipping a switch.
Instantly a hole big enough for a tall man to fit through, if he crouched down, appeared in the tree.

             
Kohath beckoned for me to follow hi
m before he disappeared inside.
I
dutifull
y followed
and stifled a scream as I s
lid down into the e
arth
. After a wild ride of twenty seconds
I fell
on my rump on a patch of moss.
I peered around and spotted Kohath about ten feet away from me, standing up. 

             
“Sorry, I sh
ould have warned you about that,” h
e said, giving me a hand up. 

             
“
Yeah, that might have helped,” I grumbled
. 

             
The room was just tall
enough for Kohath to stand in.
It was dim, but magic
al
torches were
fastened to the walls,
illuminating
the room.
Hundreds of tunnels left the room and weaved all around, going nowhere in particular, or so Koh
ath told me.
The floor was covered in a soft moss, and the sides of the room (as well as the roof) were made of
glistening
, damp stone. 

             
I felt a tugging on my skirt and
I looked down to see a little gnome pulling on my dress.
He came just to my knee, but his pointy little hat reached up to my waist. 

             
“Who is
you?” he asked. “I is Brother Thirty F
our.”

             
“I’m Ahira,
” I said. 

             
“So you two is
being
from Azmaveth?” the little g
nome asked.

             
“Yes, we need to speak with the elder.”

             
“Brother O
ne is expecting you that he was,” the gnome grunted. “Follow,” he beckoned,
waddling into one of the tunnels
.