Princess Ahira (24 page)

             
Zerah whined and he limped over to me, I had a feeling he was playing up his injuries but I ig
nored that for the time being.
“
Oh you poor thing!”
I said, scooping him up as Aaron apologized numerous t
imes. “Are you okay?”
I asked
rubbing under his chin.
Zerah glared at Aaron through my arms. 

             
“I’m really sorry!
I didn’t see him, but don’t you think h
e’s exaggerating his injuries?”
Aaron asked.

             
I had to agree with him, but still…
for
the sake of keeping Zerah a little more pleasant it was probably best if I got rid of
Aaron
.
.
I purposely p
aused and made my eyes go wide.
“Uh-oh.
Run
!
Azmaveth is coming
!”
I bellowed as I pulled Aaron up an
d pushed him down the hallway. “Hurry! He’s coming!
Run as
fast
as you
can
!”
I assured him as I propelled him out the door.

             
“Thanks for warning me!” h
e yelled before disappearing into the forest.

             
“No problem..
. There. Will that improve your mood?
”
I asked the cat
as I closed the door.
Zerah purred.

             
We quickly ate and then I spent the rest of th
e day sweeping out the hallways.
Zerah followed me or batted at whatever caught his interest for the moment
or purposely got in my way
. It was
just about
sunset when I stopped.

             
“Come on Zerah. I’m ready for a break,
” I said as I wandered into the library and sat down in
what I had dubbed my corner
.
(It was the spot where I had sat earlier with Azmaveth when he shrunk.)
The fireplace r
oared to life and I sat down in my chair before
Zerah hopped up on my lap and kneaded his paws on my legs.

             
“Ouch,”
I said as I felt
his sharp claws prick my skin.
Zerah ignored me and started purring. 

             
I smiled and
stretched
, momentarily upsetting Zerah
before I settled ba
ck into a comfortable position.
I stroked his soft silky fur and smiled as his purr grew louder.

             
I drifted off to sleep staring into the orang
e flames that danced before me.
I’m not sure how long I was asleep, but I remember hearing Az
maveth creep into the library.
For a moment t
here was a stunned silence unti
l
Azmaveth burst out laughing. I easily ignored my dragon, he wandered around th
e den laughing like this before
.
It was a regular
occurrence
really.

But Zerah
yowled
as Azmaveth rolled around on the ground in laughter.

             
There was
an
explosion and I
felt a huge weight smother me.
Zerah carefully lif
ted his giant head off my lap. “It’s not funny!” h
e snapped at Azmaveth
,
who still had
yet to recover.
Some how he had managed to undo the spell while laughi
ng. H
e must be more talented tha
n I thought.

             
“Yes, it is!” Azmaveth
wheezed
between loud, almost painful sounding, bellows of laughter. 

             
Zerah’s ears flattened against his skull as
he glared at his fellow, giggling dragon.  “Azmaveth,”
I sleepily said, unable to ignore him any longer. 

             
“Yes Ahira?” h
e asked,
still chortling
.

             
“Be quiet.”

             
“
Okay
,” h
e said, straightening up and shaking his he
ad.

             
Now it was Zerah’s turn to laugh.

             
“
Oh I give up,” I groaned. “I’m going to bed,
” I a
nnounced as I flounced out of the room,
using all the strength I could muster. 

             
“Say Azmaveth?” I could hear Zerah
ask between chuckles as I left.

“What?” Azmaveth sourly asked.

“How did you end up with that human?”

             
After that night Zerah came around more often, h
e wasn’t as rude to me either.
By the end of the month I daresay we could be considered friends! Zerah and Azmaveth ended up getting al
ong much better. Actually, they pretty much turned into
cohorts
, mutually
devising devious plans.

T
hey would
spend hours in Azmaveth’s lab.
Often times I would hear loud explosions come from the room, but I kept my curiosity in check and steered clear of
that area
.
After all I didn’t want to be the victim of their latest spell.

A Princess Outburst

About two months later,
in the cold wind of winter
, Cinders came for an unexpected and unpleasant surprise visit. 

             
I was walking out to get the
mail (digging was more like it. T
he snow
drifts were well over my waist.)
when I wal
ked by one of my prince traps.
It was the pit, and it looked like
the magic grid had collapsed.
I peered down into the pit
, trying to see who it was. I mean
come on, what kind of a nutty p
rince would travel in this weather?  Azmaveth currently was
no
t
at home, but Zerah was. (
Since the kitten episode h
e
practi
cally lived at Azmaveth’s
den.
I didn’t mind so much. H
e was neat, unlike Azmaveth.
)

             
So after retrieving the mail I went and got Zerah
. H
e reached into the hole and pulled ou
t a spitting, babbling Cinders.

I groaned.

             
“Do you know this…thing
?” Zerah asked while holding Cinders
by the very fringe of her dress, between two claws
.
Just because he liked me didn’
t mean he
accepted humans.

             
“I wish I didn’t,”
I groaned
as Zerah eyed the screaming pile of petti
coats
“We
might as well take her indoors,
”
I said.
“It would be the polite thing to do.”

             
“We don’t
have
to be polite,” Zerah suggested
said as we entered the den
.

H
e droppe
d Cinders on the marble floor. The silver dragon
could still be such
an icicle.
It’s very
hard to tell when he is teasing. U
nlike Azmaveth he can keep a
straight face and not giggle.
It’s also difficult to tell because his jokes
generally
sound like threats.

             
Cinders stood up straight and glanced at Zerah before huddling next to me
.  “Listen very carefully,” s
he urged. Her breath
smelled like
onions and garlic
.
“I am here to see the Prince.”

             
“The Prince?” I asked before
remember
ing
her fascinati
on
with
Kohath.
“Oh, you mean Kohath, Azmaveth’s steward!”

Luckily
for Kohath, Azmaveth had sent him on another wild goose chase to hunt down Snow Flower petals.

             
“He’s not
a steward!” Cinder’s scoffed.
“He’s a Prince.
Or at least
he will be when I rescue him!” s
he continued with a dreamy sigh.

             
I glanced up at Zerah and saw a rev
olted look pasted on his face. “Absolutely disgusting,” he muttered
.

             
“My thoughts exactly,” I dryly replied
as Cinder prattled on.

             
Unfortunately for Kohath
and rather
fortunately
for Zerah and myself, Kohath finished his errand and entered the den, pushing the large wooden doors aside long enough to allow himself to slip in.

             
“I’m back!” h
e called out.
He gave me a charming smile, which I sweetly returned and pointed to the dripping mess
of
Princess Cinders. He followe
d my gaze and instantly paled.
“
No I’m not,” he amended before bolting
for the door.

             
His words confused Cinders for only a moment before she brushed them
off and leaped at him. “Albert!” s
he cried, wrapping herself around his leg.

             
“Albert?” Kohath asked.

             
Zerah and I shrugged. “She thinks you’re a prince,”
I
smirked. T
his was pay
back for eve
rything he had ever done to me.

             
Kohath groaned
and stomped around,
tryi
ng to pry Cinders off his leg. “Any bright ideas?” h
e asked. 

             
“Perhaps you could
get rid of her…
permanently
,”
Zerah
graciously offered.

             
“That’s not very nice,
” I scoffed, although deep in my mind I had pondered the thought before.

             
“It’s
not like anyone would miss her,”
Kohath snorted.

             
“No
ne the less it is wrong to kill,”
I firmly said.

             
“We wouldn’t have to kill her,” Kohath coyly said.
“We could just drop her
off on the other side of
Somnio
!
She was their problem to begin with.”  

             
I rolled my eyes.
“Well, I’m sure Behemoth would love
you for the rest of your life,
but I choose my sanity over you,”
I said pushing Kohath, complete with Princess Cinders, o
utside
. “Bu-bye!” I
cheerfully
wished
before shutting the door.

             
“Ahira! I demand that you open up this door instantly!” Kohath shouted as he pounded his fist on the doors.

             
“Make me
!” I yelled back.
Zerah looked most amused.

             
“Don’t leave me alone with her!” Kohath pleaded. 

             
I stayed silent and I heard Kohath mutter something, which was followed by th
e sound of uncorking a bottle.
There was a loud explosion, and seconds later Cinders
screamed bloody murderer.
There was another explosion and I opene
d the door to behold
a smoldering Kohath watching Cinders run down the
road
, getting
caught in my traps
as she fled
.