JEREMIAH

The party would be tomorrow in the early evening. We would finally meet the Princess. Everyone in my family had traveled from their various manors and castles to make it to this event. I silently cursed the princess for giving Lunette and Grandle an excuse to visit. They were the worst of my extended family. Being twins, they were put on a pedestal from a young age. Malachi told me stories of when they were growing up together. Even though he was a crown prince, he often had to cave to their demands. Mother already made it clear that we’d have to tread carefully when they were around, especially with the Princess here. I couldn’t wait for all of this to pass. I wanted things to be back to normal.

I wanted to ask Malachi about the two blessings, if he had heard anything. He was conveniently missing though. I had a good idea of where he was. If I was feeling stressed, I could only imagine the kind of anxiety that was running through him. I had a good idea of where he was, but I wouldn’t bother him. When he went outside, he needed to be alone. And the state he would come back in made me not want to see what he did out there. He would be covered in blood and dirt, twigs stuck in his long hair. It was gross, to put it lightly. I shuddered at the thought of trying to hunt him down. I wouldn’t dare.

Instead I would capitalize on his absence. I snuck into his room and started looking through the mess for my dragon egg. I knew he probably put it somewhere in his bedroom. He had a stoic countenance but he was predictable. I walked into his sleeping chamber, trying not to step on anything along the way. It was harder than you would think. Every spot had junk on it, whether it be clothing or a stray paper. When I stood at the foot of his bed, the old carved wood trunk caught my eye. It had iron inlays on the corners and was painted much darker than the other furniture in the room. I went over to it and tried to lift the lid but it was locked. I sighed and peaked through the skeleton keyhole. I could see the softest glimmer of the egg inside. It irked me he didn’t even bother covering it. Did Mother realize how careless he was? She would’ve been better leaving the egg to me.

I stood once again. I knew he wouldn’t have taken the key with him. It had to be around here somewhere. I pulled open drawers and looked through papers until finally I found it among the sheets of his bed. I frowned at the state of his room. He really needed to let the maids come in here. I can’t believe I was related to someone so sloppy. I shook my head and unlocked the trunk. The mechanism made a very satisfying thunk and I lifted the lid. I carefully placed the egg in my silk lined bag and clicked the clasps shut so no one would see it. I made sure to return everything in Ky’s rooms to how they had been before. For being as messy as it was, he would notice if anything was even a centimeter out of place.

I headed right to the kitchens afterwards. It was chaotic in the staff areas. A bunch of people ran back and forth, scrambling to ready all the food for tomorrow. Everyone looked tired, worn from the longer hours than they were used to. I tried my best to step out of oncoming traffic. I didn’t want to inconvenience the staff that worked so hard for us.

“Hello, Young Prince,” they would greet me as I walked by. I smiled and nodded as they passed.

Eventually I made it into the bakery. Kenneth was preparing a large ball of dough. His lanky arms braced and pressed down on the dough with quick efficiency. I assumed he was making cheese bread. His cheese bread was almost as good as Julie’s. Almost. I came over to him and knocked on the table. He almost jumped right out of his skin. He gave me an annoyed look. “Don’t you know some of us have jobs,” he sneered.

I laughed and he gave me a smile. “How is everything going?”

My friend sighed and continued to knead the dough. “It’s been hectic. But tomorrow some of this will settle. I hope the Princess likes fish.”

“Are there a lot of seafood dishes?” I asked, my mouth watering. I loved fish much more than beef or pork. We often had red meat far more than anything else. It would be a refreshing treat.

“Plenty of it,” called a cook from behind me. Vernon leaned next to me, holding out a platter of fresh sweet rolls. “Not often we get to prepare a course mainly for human palettes.”

I chuckled and plucked a hot roll from the tray. Most of my relatives turned their nose up at dishes that weren’t exceptionally bloody. Since I hadn’t even tasted blood yet, I was still satisfied with lighter foods. My fangs haven't even come in yet. “I’m glad. Steak gets boring,” I replied. I picked a piece off my roll and blew on it before eating.

“You can say that again,” Vernon mumbled. The round man pushed himself off the table and weaved through the people who passed by. He disappeared into the next room over, probably taking the rolls to a cooling rack.

“You should go find the Queen. She was looking for you not that long ago,” Kenneth told me.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “I’m sure she was,” I grumbled. I brightened when I remembered why I came. “But wait, I have something to show you.”

Kenneth lifted the dough ball and put it in a large metal bowl. He looked back at me while he reached for a cloth. “What?” he asked.

I opened my bag and leaned over so he could peak inside. He almost dropped the cloth right on the floor as he gasped. His eyes widened, reflecting the light glow of the shell. “Is that-”

“Shh, it’s a secret,” I interrupted. I gave him a proud smirk as I clasped the bag shut once again. “I want to try to hatch it.”

“How would you even do that?” Kenneth whispered. He leaned close to me and looked around to make sure no one took notice of us.

“A few books I read talked about the fire of a mother dragon. Seeing as there isn’t a mother dragon, maybe we can make a fire hot enough?” I raised my eyebrows at him pointedly.

Understanding passed through his eyes. “I can get fire salts, but if anyone finds out I’ll be dead.”

I rubbed my hands together excitedly. “No one will find out! Meet me in the old courtyard the night after tomorrow?”

He sighed and nodded. Kenneth might act like he was uninterested but I saw the glint in his eye. He wanted to see the dragon hatch just as much as I did. Who wouldn’t want to take witness to such a miracle? This dragon egg was the last one in the kingdom, I was sure of it.

With that I spun around to leave. In my haste though, I ran into someone. It was a younger girl, probably the daughter of one of the cooks. The apples she was carrying in a basket all tumbled out and rolled everywhere. She cried in surprise and paled when she saw it was me. She bowed low and her voice shook while she spoke. “I’m so sorry, Young Prince.”

I bent down and grabbed her basket. “I’m sorry!” I replied quickly. I started picking up the apples that were probably all bruised now. The girl frantically started picking up the fruit with me.

Kenneth shook his head at me. “Get out of here before you get in any more trouble.”

I handed the girl her basket and frowned at him. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll see you later!”