Page 9 of The Sapphire Dragon Prince
I couldn’t hide anything from Azurus, though. I could see from his expression that he knew the darkness still had me in its grip. His smile faltered for a moment before he pushed it back into place.
“Never mind,” he said, taking one of my hands and leaning in to kiss my lips softly. “We’re here now. Mother will know how to make you better.”
My heart and throat squeezed with hope and doubt together. I wanted nothing more than to be healed from whatever was wrong with me, I just didn’t know if it was possible.
“Azurus,” the musical voice of Queen Gaia greeted us from the center of the garden. “Misha. How delightful to see you this morning.”
Azurus and I turned to find the enigmatic figure of Queen Gaia seated on a grassy mound in the center of the garden that seemed custom-shaped to be the most comfortable seatin the world. It was alive with flowers and growing things, and everything from butterflies to happy bees flew and swirled around her and the flowers. I spotted a few small, furry creatures playing around her throne as well, and a handsome, red fox was curled on her lap, sleeping peacefully.
I felt a quick pinch of longing to be that fox, so safe and secure and happy. It was as if nothing in the world could bother the creature which was so often vilified and hunted.
“Mother,” Azurus greeted the Queen, walking forward and escorting me with him. “I’m so glad we were able to find you today. We need your help.”
“Oh?” the Queen asked, settling her kind, compassionate gaze on Azurus at first before turning to rest it on me. “How can I help you?”
Queen Gaia was the personification of magic and goodness. It was hard to say whether she was tall or short, old or young. I’d seen her appearance change before my eyes that one time I’d met her before. She had the form of a beautiful woman, but at times it felt as if she towered over you, and at others it was as if she were as lithe as a child. The only consistent things about her were her long, flowing, white hair, the diaphanous gown she wore, and the kindness in her eyes, which seemed to always be changing color.
“Misha is suffering,” Azurus began. “He?—”
Queen Gaia held up her hand gently, her eyes never leaving mine. The way she studied me filled me with the most extraordinary sense of beingknown. I wasn’t inclined to bother someone so wonderful and so important with my small problems, but the way Queen Gaia seemed to caress me with a look and to embrace my entire soul, like a mother comforting a child who had tripped and skinned their knees, left me feeling breathless and invigorated.
The care I felt from Queen Gaia was so powerful that it brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me of my papa’s love, which I sorely missed. I felt miserable because I wanted to be good and whole for her. I didn’t need words to tell her everything that was in my heart, about the fear and worry my father had scarred me with, about the hopelessness and panic that Father would win and that we would all be doomed, about how much I missed my papa. I didn’t need to form those thoughts and emotions into words, and I couldn’t hide or downplay the truth either.
After a long time of feeling that magical embrace, Queen Gaia let out a long, mournful, hum. “My poor child,” she said. “You have been grievously wronged. No son, no omega, no living creature at all, should be subjected to such harshness and pain.”
Tears streamed down my face as her words enveloped me. I’d heard people say similar things, but no one had ever truly made me feel and believe that the things that had happened to me were not my fault.
Queen Gaia stood, the fox waking and jumping off her lap and the other creatures swirling around her keeping a wider berth, and came close to me. When she rested a hand on the side of my face and smiled, I shivered with emotion.
“I can feel how deeply you are hurt, my love,” she said as if she were speaking directly into my soul. “But I must ask you an all-important question.”
“Yes, Mother.” I blinked at the words that came out of my mouth. I’d intended to call her “Your Majesty”, but “Mother” came out instead as if it were the only right thing to call someone so powerful.
Queen Gaia smiled as if she could sense what I was feeling. She grew more serious and stared directly into my eyes before asking, “Do you want to get better? Because there are peoplewho live their entire lives this way. Do you want to heal from the wounds that were inflicted on you?”
I swallowed, my heart swelling to the point of bursting, and gusted out, “Yes! I want to be whole again. I want to live and be happy and make my mate happy. I want to go into heat and please him and bear him children and make a beautiful life for our family.”
The words came spilling out of me with full emotion before I could rein them in. Instead of feeling ashamed of my outburst, though, it felt as though cracks had formed in the wall surrounding me and keeping me prisoner within myself. I could also feel Azurus’s love and pride as he stood beside me, almost as if we were bonded and could sense each other’s emotions.
Queen Gaia laughed, not to make fun of me, but with fullness and joy. She stepped back, regarding me and Azurus together. “You have a delightful mate, my son,” she said, stepping so that she could rest her hand on the side of Azurus’s face for a moment as well. Even though I knew Azurus was hundreds of years old, when his mother touched him, he looked like a boy barely out of the schoolroom. “The two of you will be happy together.”
“Will we?” Azurus asked, his brow lifting with hope and questioning.
Queen Gaia smiled and stepped back once more. “Yes,” she said, looking at both of us. “As long as this spell that has you in its grip is broken.”
“How can I break the spell?” I asked with a sudden rush of energy. “I swear, I’ll do anything. Yes, I want to get better. I don’t want to feel like this anymore.”
Queen Gaia looked at me with such compassion that it made me want to throw my arms around her and hug her like a child seeking comfort in his mother’s skirts. “I know a counter-spell,” she said. “I will happily perform it for you.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Azurus said, blowing out a breath.
Queen Gaia smiled at us both and said, “In order to perform this spell, I will need you to bring me three things.”
“Anything,” I said. “I’ll bring you anything you need.”
The Queen smiled and nodded. “The first element I will need is a pit from a cherry taken from the one hundredth tree.”
My hope and enthusiasm instantly faltered. A cherry pit? The one hundredth tree? I didn’t understand.
