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“Ow.”
“Watch where you’re putting your feet! I’m supposed to be leading!”
Leia stopped dancing and folded her arms across her chest. “Do you want me to teach you or not?”
And then, she had the nerve to give him one of those smiles that the idiot found so charming.
“I’m sure you could find a much better partner. I’ll even ask him for you.”
Henrik looked at his sister in horror. “I will not dance with that clumsy oaf!”
“He’s gotten much better. All he had to do was think about it as a form of training. You’d know if you paid attention.”
“Why would I waste my time watching you two prance around the ballroom?”
“Because you like spying on us.”
“If I were going to spy on anyone, it would be to gain information on those infernal fae!”
Leia frowned at him. “I don’t know why you are so determined to see them as the enemy.”
“Briar Land holds many magestones, including the one that the current heir waves around in her staff.”
It was the staff she’d been holding when Henrik had first met her, years earlier.
“Why do we need magestones do when none of us in the kingdom are magic users?”
“You’re listening to that fool’s talk of pacifism again. The fae are powerful because of their magestones. The only way to truly negotiate with them is to be on equal footing!”
“You’re being ridiculous. The fae are powerful with or without their magestones.”
“Then why are they so protective of the stones?”
“Perhaps because we have no right to demand them?”
This is exactly why it was a good thing that Henrik was the first born. His sister was too naïve to rule the kingdom. There was no reasoning with the fae. They were too powerful, too haughty, and, quite honestly, too feral. The only way to co-exist with their kind was to hamper them in some way.
“If they do not wish to trade with us, then we shall take them by force.”
“Is that what Father wants?”
Henrik pinched the bridge of his nose. “Father is unwell. He isn’t in his right mind. And even before he fell ill, he was too willing to have our forces retreat. The time for diplomacy is over. Our army is more powerful now, and better trained. We know their tricks and can prepare for them.”
“Then why bother with learning to dance at all? Do you think that Queen Maleficia will allow you to waltz into Wildrose Castle and woo her daughter?”
Henrik’s look of disgust deepened. “This is not a matter of courtship! This is a matter of might!”
“Then why the dancing?”
“Have you ever heard of subterfuge?”
“I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never known you capable of it. You weren’t even able to successfully sneak a tart from the dessert table without getting caught.”
“I was five years old!”
“I was five,” Leia corrected. “You were thirteen.”
“Hold your tongue! This isn’t about some silly tart! This is about the magestone that bitch wields!”
Leia studied her brother’s face, and then she placed one hand on his shoulder.
“I see,” she said.
Henrik was afraid that she did. He clasped her hand again, and took a step forward, forcing Leia to take a step back.
“Even our weather is at the mercy of the fairies,” Henrik reminded her. “It is in our best interest to be the ones in command.”
“I disagree, and you know that—”
“I am well aware of that fool’s idealism. You need not remind me; I hear it from his own lips often enough.”
“His lips,” Leia said. “Hmm. They are pretty to look at, no matter what he says, don’t you think?”
Henrik wrinkled his nose. “You find everything about him pretty.”
“I’m going to marry him,” she announced.
Henrik had no doubt that she would. If it were any other commoner, it would be different, but his parents would make an exception in this case. The so-called ‘Knight of Dawn’ was beloved by nearly everyone.
Henrik supposed he had some uses, so he wasn’t entirely opposed to the match, either.
“I hope your children are as stubborn as you are,” he said, and then they began to dance around the room again.
Until he stepped on Leia’s foot again. This time, she kicked him in the shin. Even with the soft slippers she wore, he was sure there would be a bruise afterwards. No one would see it, but if they did, he would claim it was from training. It would be the truth; Leia had said so herself.
“Stop trying to lead!” he said.
“Stop trying to follow!”
They glared at each other, and then, Leia began to laugh. It was a warm, happy sound, one where she was obviously aware of her own role in the mishap. It was so different from the first time he’d attempted to dance with someone.
He’d been a child at the time, and he’d been eager to see the dragon. He’d heard rumors about the sightings in the area, just beyond the border of the kingdom. It had taken him multiple attempts to escape his nanny, but finally, finally, he’d succeeded!
Only to find himself lost in a sudden haze. After wandering around aimlessly for a while, he found a rock to sit on, where he planted himself and began to cry.
“What brings you here, human?”
The voice, coming from somewhere in the fog, caused the hairs on the back of his neck to rise. He quickly wiped at his tears, fear warring with excitement.
“Are you the dragon?” he asked.
There was a deep chuckle, and then the voice replied again. “Yes.”
“Can I see you?”
“You would dare command me to show myself to the likes of you?”
“I’m just asking,” he replied sullenly, too young at the time to full comprehend the insult.
“I am feeling generous,” the voice said, “and my friends are late, as usual. I shall allow you a few moments of my time.”
The fog began to dissipate, and there she stood, like a princess in one of the picture books the nanny used to teach Henrik to read.
She was magnificent, and beautiful, and perhaps Henrik fell just a little bit in love with her.
Magnificent…but not a dragon.
Dragons did not have human faces and human limbs and carry staffs. Not even if those staffs had brilliant gemstones embedded in them.
At the time, thought, Henrik was more concerned with her proclamation than her accoutrements.
“You’re a liar,” he said with a scowl.
And then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he glanced down, sure that it would be his nanny, finally catching up to him, he saw it was the tip of a tail. A long tail, covered in shining scales. He ran his hand over the scales, amazed at how smooth they were.
“Do you often touch others without permission?”
He snatched his hand back, and the not-dragon began to laugh.
“What are you?”
“I am a dragon,” she said. “Or, perhaps to your feeble human mind, I should say that I am a dragon fae.”
“Fae?” Henrik asked, his eyes as wide as saucers. He’d been foolish, so foolish, to wander away from his nanny this far.
“Cease your wailing,” she said in a tired voice. “Your cries irritate me.”
“I’m not crying!” he said, angry at the hot tears flowing down his face and angry at the fae who had caused them.
“You accuse me of lies, and yet, you utter them yourself. Typical.”
She turned to leave, and she could not do that! He sat up and rushed after her, grasping a fold of her cloak.
“Oh?” she asked. She seemed amused. “You are either very brave or very foolish.”
“I’m brave!” Henrik stated. “I’m going to be king one day.”
She tapped her finger against her bottom lip. “I see,” she said. She extended her hand.
“Well, then, Your Highness, I will grant you a dance.”
She didn’t bow—weren’t people supposed to bow when they met a prince?
“Why?”
Her eyebrows lifted slightly. “Why? I offer you this gift, and you react with ingratitude?”
Henrik looked around to see if she was holding some sort of parcel, and then he realized that by ‘gift’ she meant this stupid dance.
“But I don’t love you.” She was fascinating, but she was also rude and a dirty fae.
“Nor I, you. I fail to see the relevance.”
He wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but it was clear she didn’t understand the problem.
“So we can’t dance,” he explained.
She laughed. “You truly are just a babe to believe such a thing.”
“I am not!” Henrik said, stomping his foot.
She wrinkled her nose. “Such unpleasant manners,” she said. “I am no longer amused by your antics.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and used her tail to poke him in the belly, causing him to take a step back. Another poke, and another step back. And then she circled around him, prodding him to move this way or that with her tail.
When he stumbled over a tree root and fell, she loomed over him.
“I withdraw my earlier statement,” she said. “That was entertaining. It is also the closest you will ever get to a dance,” she said. She reached out her arm, stretching out her cloak, making it look like a great dragon wing.
And then, she wrapped the cloak around herself and…
Disappeared.
“Henrik!” the wailing voice of his nanny rang out, shrill and annoying. She dropped to her knees when she saw him on the ground, fussing over him. After helping him to his feet, she inspected him from head to toe, swatting at the tails of his coat.
“Is it a beetle?” Henrik asked, an edge of panic in his voice. He hated beetles and the way they clamped onto his clothes, refusing to let go.
“It is nothing, Your Highness,” she hurried to assure him. “I am just relieved that you are uninjured. You have wandered into Briar Land territory, and we must return to the castle at once.”
It wasn’t until they’d made their way back, and his nanny had removed his coat for him and folded it over her arm for laundering and repairs, that he’d noticed the singe marks on the hem.
That bitch had tried to set him on fire!
She would be sorry when Henrik was older and stronger and in command of his father’s army of soldiers.
Then, she would see a real dance.
"Just you wait," he promised out loud. "Just you wait."