22Author's Note – just as not to confuse anyone, I wanted you all to know that Llulshad is neither male nor female (faerie dragons in this world are asexual) and is thus referred to as "it," instead of "he" or "she." I don't mention this in the story becasue I just could not figure out a proper place for it that didn't sound odd, but I figured I should present it as a note. Trust me, it's hard to remember all the time that Llulshad is not a "she" makes me groan every time I edit and see that I've slipped up! And I hope I caught any of those instances in this chapter. Hope you all continue to enjoy! And, please, review me!
Chapter #2 – What a Dragon Teaches
It had always been a tradition for a child's faerie to decide what that child was to learn, since the godmother was supposed to know what was best to teach the child when it came to preparing them for their future. Queen Malaise did not know what a dragon would be teaching, though. She had been taught etiquette and protocol, as well as dance and a little bit of politics. She went to the dragon within months after its arrival to inform it of these points.
Llulshad nodded to the queen and smiled a toothy smile that had made the queen gasp. "I will take those things into consideration." The dragon was in the library, scouring books for information. This was all terribly new to it. "But there are many more things to consider, as well, I think. I must get to know your daughter much better before I determine the full course of her lessons."
That did not set well with the queen. She had a feeling that that little beast would teach her daughter things that princesses had little need for, like magic and the intricacies of politics. She paled at the mere thought of it. She argued much with her husband over his choosing the dragon but he remained firm in his belief – at least to begin with – that this was for the best. If their daughter did, indeed, call this dragon to be her faerie godmother, then there must be something to it. Malaise still did not like the thought of it at all.
Yet Llulshad did, indeed, teach the young princess what all girls of noble birth should know, starting at a younger age than most even. She learned to sing and some later bards would say, in their poetic way, that her voice was like a rainbow of sound. She learned to dance and was, by the time she was six, one of the most skilled dancers of the court. She learned to play the flute and harp, and Llulshad said she would teach the princess piano and violin as well. And though her faerie goddragon did not know anything about embroidery and sewing, an elf known for her skill at needlework named Yogenara was summoned to the castle to give weekly lessons to Kassha.
The princess learned to read and write quite early and indulged herself with histories and documents. Llulshad made sure she read a great deal of legends along with her study of history, for this was one this that the goddragon believed the young princess would need to know. But as Kassha's interest in reading grew, the princess started studying the things her mother had been worried about from the very beginning – politics and debate. Then, after reading a history about a historical female solider, Kassha presented her parents with the most abhorrent request…
"Father," the seven-year-old Kassha looked up at her parents with hopeful eyes, "I want to learn to fight with a sword."
Her mother had gasped. Her father blinked in surprise. Llulshad was standing just behind the princess in the king's study, its gentle, loving eyes on the top of the princess's head.
"It is most unseemly for a princess to learn to fight like a man," King Runik said, trying to be gentle as he refused his daughter this. His belief in the dragon's teaching methods had begun to wane of late and this was one more thing against the beast.
"Unseemly?" The queen looked at her husband with disgust. "It is more than just unseemly! It is detestable and unladylike and…"
"But Lady Brengest learned to fight!" She was actually clutching the book with the story of that noblewoman in it to her chest. "And I'm not asking to join the guards or anything!" She looked at her parents pleadingly. "I just want to learn to do some simple stuff. I may not even be good at it. Please, please, please, Father?"
Against his better judgment – and in opposition to the queen's arguments – the king relented. Llulshad had almost immediately taken her to the castle's weapon master. He grudgingly accepted to teach her to hold a blade and shield. As soon as her brothers heard of this, the three of them happily accepted to help her. They thought it was very cool that their little sister wanted to learn to swordfight. She was reasonably sufficient for a female, as everyone was quick to point out, and sometimes she and her brothers had little sparring bouts – but they nearly always won.
As she started into her second decade of life, Kassha was quickly becoming a very bright and well-educated young princess. Yet, because she was the baby and only girl and, of course, a princess she was often pampered and, well, babied – when she was not being overlooked, at least. Her mother, though, continually complained about her less than ordinary education and her less than common godmother. Llulshad ignored it, but Kassha was growing tired of it.
"We should send it away and summon a true faerie godmother for you," the queen said distastefully one day when she caught her daughter discussing the taxes and expenditures of the kingdom with her goddragon.
"But I don't want a true godmother!" Kassha was only eleven at the time, but she knew how to stand up for herself already, considering all the times she had had to do it before. "I want Llulshad to stay. I like the way I'm being taught! I'm happy. Do you want to take that away?"
Malaise seemed to puff up like an indignant bird then stormed out of the library without another word to either of them. The princess stuck her tongue out at her mother's back as she whipped out of sight. That made Llulshad laugh lightly. Kassha turned to her goddragon and smiled. She had grown fonder of her teacher than of anyone else in the court – but that could just have been because Llulshad treated her like a normal person.
Kassha particularly liked taking her lessons in the private garden that Llulshad had requested for its quarters while it was there with the princess. Llulshad's magical energy made everything in that garden green and colorful with flowers year round. The dragon had brought many of it favorite plants to the garden – many were exotic and had never before been seen in Geyshal. It had been her interest in the plants that spurred her goddragon to start including botany and herbalism in the princess's lessons.
When not in her lessons, Kassha was usually found either in the library pouring over a new book she had discovered or sitting with her goddragon playing her lap harp while the dragon made things grow with its magic. She did not bother much with her family, except for her brothers when they sparred. Her brothers had taken lately to dramatically letting her beat them then collapsing to the floor with some horrible line from a play or some such that always made her laugh. But, typically, she just stayed out of everyone's way since she had come to find that most people in the castle thought she was a bit strange. She avoided her mother whenever she could since her mother would always seem to complain about something regarding her when they were near one another.
Yet, despite her unusual education, Kassha could still be considered a "normal" princess. She was graceful and, for the most part, quiet. She knew all the things that other princesses and noblewomen were supposed to know. And, even though she had some quirks in her education, as Llulshad called them, there were rumored to be dozens of young men of the blood that were planning to seek her hand once she came of age. But the princess did not bother herself with this talk. Indeed, she did not at all seem interested in thinking of her future – which was the one thing that truly annoyed her father.
When she was thirteen, Llulshad decided it was time to start teaching the princess other languages beyond those requested by the king and queen for her to grow up knowing as they were spoken in neighboring kingdoms. Most of the ones that the dragon wished to teach were obscure languages that only magical creatures and sorcerers tended to know. Yogenara had already taught the princess the three different dialects of the elven people with much joy. Kassha had a knack for language – both written and spoken. But none of the languages did she pick up so as faeriespeak and dragonspeak, which were two of the abilities she had to naturally possess for her to have called a faerie dragon to her to be her godmother.
The princess was turning into an even lovelier, and more cultured, and more intelligent young woman with every passing day. She had let her light brown hair grow long but usually wore it up in either a bun or a crown of braids to keep it out of her way while she read or helped Llulshad garden. Her figure was forming well and she had just a little muscle to her arms. She was very tan, which contrasted with what her mother expected of her still further…
"You're getting too much sun!" Like her mother even knew what sun was, her skin was so pale. "Your skin is a delicate thing, Kassha. You need to spend more time indoors."
"Yet the female servants that work the gardens are never admonished for having tanned skin," she said under her breath, but her mother heard her anyway.
"The servants are not princesses!"
Kassha rolled her hazel eyes. "Fine, then I'll spend more time in the library and read that book I've been wanting to." She smiled slyly at her mother. "I think it was called Feirgris's Conquests."
And her mother squealed as she blushed furiously and then proceeded to tell her that such books were not for her to read. Malaise then immediately went off as she muttered to herself that she needed to tell off the librarian for having such a book in the library anyway. The queen left a laughing Kassha and Llulshad behind her. That would hopefully keep her mother away for a few days, at least. She usually did not come to complain about something to her daughter or the goddragon but once or twice a week. Her mother just did not seem happy unless she could find something to criticize periodically.
Then, one day, her father came down to the garden where his daughter was taking her embroidery lesson with Yogenara. This was an extremely rare occurrence. Llulshad was tended to one of its flower bed and greeted the king upon his arrival. For a short while he watched his daughter's lesson and listened to the conversation being carried out in Yogenara's native elven tongue. After some time, he turned to the dragon, who was fluttering quietly at his side like a hummingbird, waiting for whatever the king had come for.
"Llulshad, my daughter's fourteenth birthday is next week." His tone made it evident that there was something in that statement that a normal faerie godmother would understand.
"Yes, I know." The dragon looked at the king expectantly. "I hear her party preparations are nearing completion." It paused, waiting for something more. When there was not, it felt a little abashed. "Is there something that the princess needs to be able to do before this time?"
"She is nearly a woman, Llulshad!" But such a statement was far too obvious to be what he actually meant. Again, the little dragon felt like there was something someone had failed to mention to it.
"You must forgive me, your majesty." The dragon did a cartwheel in midair, its way of bowing, as a way of showing respect. "While I have tried to accomplish my task of being her godmother to the best of my abilities, I know I am not what other faeries would be to her. Please forgive me when I say that I know there is something you are trying to tell me that I do not understand."
King Runik gestured to his daughter. He seemed very irritated. "She is still acting like a child. It is time for her to start preparing for her future. Soon she will be ready to be courted and to be married and to have her own children. I expect her maturity to begin to reflect her impending future. Stop indulging her with fantasy and begin teaching her things that actually matter."
But, thought the faerie dragon at the king's side, isn't that what I've been doing for all these years? "I'll do my best, your majesty." It did its bow again. "But give me some time for this. I am unused to how humans mature, so I will need time to understand this better. Forgive me for not doing it sooner."
The king said nothing more. He watched his daughter for a little longer then left without another word. The dragon felt as irritated as the king had seemed. Granted, it was partly due to the fact of the subtle tings the king had done to show he had no respect, even after all these years, for the dragon – especially noting he had not at all given a proper greeting. In the end, though, it resigned to the fact all people that lived in the castle treated it that way and decided to go interrupt the lesson.
"Dear Yogenara…"
"Yes, dear dragon?" At least the elf had respect for her kind…
"I must ask for the lesson to cease. There are things that I must discuss with this princess that seem most pressing."
"Oh?" The elf sensed a bit of the dragon's feelings and stood. "Then I shall take my leave." She looked down at the princess and smiled brightly. "Finish that if you can. I will return next week as usual." She bowed to them both then strode out of the garden with the grace that befitted her race.
Kassha, though, was a bit upset. She had been talking with the elf about elven folktales, like they usually did. "What is this pressing matter?" She emphasized the word only because she knew it was something her father had told her goddragon.
The faerie dragon understood her feelings completely. "Your father seems to think you are not maturing the way a normal princess should. He wants you to start preparing for your future."
And the look the princess gave was one that the faerie before her agreed with also. Had they not been preparing her for her future her entire life? What were all her lessons about if not for that? She looked down at her lap at the very detailed bird she had been working on. "So, again, someone is finding fault with my education."
"It seems to be a hobby of theirs," Llulshad agreed.
The princess sighed deeply. "And what is it that my father sees as my future?"
"Courting. Marriage. Children. Your duties as I've read." The dragon knew some of what the king talked about at least but it was harder for her to understand the transition from child to adult. Growing up, for humans, had always seemed like such a sudden thing at times yet very gradual in so many ways. It had long been confused over this matter. "This is what all women must do to be considered a proper part of society."
"Then I guess I'm not going to be a proper woman, am I?" She tossed the embroidery away into one of the plant beds.
"I have long known this to be so." The dragon went to retrieve the thrown cloth. "But it would seem that no one truly cares what is best for you except me."
Kassha buried her face in her hands for a long time. Llulshad just waited in front of her with the embroidery wheel held in its front hand-like feet. Finally the princess looked back up and took her embroidery back with thanks. The dragon sat down in front of its charge and looked caringly at her.
"I have dreams and desires of my own, Llulshad." She was looking down at the bird she had made with her needle and thread, running her hand over it gently. "Getting married will just dash them to bits."
"And I'm not going to discourage any of your dreaming, Princess. Find some way to fulfill them. I will be right there with you helping you to accomplish them." But the goddragon sighed. "We just need to make your parents see what is best for you. You're not a normal princess. If you were, I would not be here, now would I?" The faerie took the princess's hand in its. "But I'm still going to have to at least appear to be training you for the future your father wants, you know that, right? Otherwise he might do the unspeakable and send away your faerie godmother."
It took the princess a long time to respond to that statement. She looked nearly on the verge of tears when she looked away and finally spoke. "It's not fair."
"No, it's not. We will deal with the events as they unfold, though. And you must start acting more of the proper princess that your father – and I'm sure everyone else in the castle and the kingdom – wishes you to be." It gave the best smile it could, being a dragon and all. "I promise, though, that all your dream are going to come true if you continue to believe they will. Even if they are not the standard dreams a princess should have."