Trying not to squirm with discomfort, Alashiya replied, “Ah, please don’t call me that.”
“Why not? It’s what you are.”
Alex hummed in agreement as she began to gently peel up the edges of Alashiya’s mask. “You’re the big man’s Chosen, which means you’re the Emand to his Isand. And not to scare you or anything, but as of eight AM this morning,everyoneis required to call you that.”
“What?” She winced as the mask gave way, along with some of her eyebrows. Wiggling her nose to chase off the ticklish feeling, “What are you talking about?”
Alex dropped the rubbery mask onto the coffee table with a flick of her manicured claws. It landed with a wet smack, the mouth hole spread in a comically wide smile. “The announcement went out this morning that Taevas is back — all thanks toyou,our new Emand, Alashiya Ardz, who’s also an embroiderer of some renown, apparently. It’s been splashed across all the news feeds pretty much non-stop.”
Alashiya, who’d just taken a sip of coffee, choked. “Hewhat?”
“Look.” Hele replaced the cap on her nail polish before snagging a glossy black device from the cluttered coffee table. A few taps of her glowing finger changed the show on thetelevision to what she recognized from glimpses of Debbie’s tablet as a popular news program.
She stared, gobsmacked, as two attractive people spoke to the camera with Alashiya’s government ID photo superimposed between them. A rapidly scrolling reel of information ran across the bottom of the screen, displaying truncated details about Taevas’s return and her mysterious role in it.
A wave of nausea rolled up from her gullet to burn her throat as she listened to the newscasters relate what few details about her were available to the public, like her age, her hometown, and her family.
“Why… why does anyone care about who I am?” she breathed.
Hele shrugged. “You’re a hero.”
Alashiya didn’t feel particularly heroic. She never had. Staring in bewilderment at the screen, she said, “I didn’t do it to be a hero. I didn’t want anything to do with Taevas at first. And then after— I just wanted to save my husband. That’s not heroism. That’s just… loving someone.”
Alex slung an arm around her shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “Don’t worry about all this attention, okay? We’ll protect you and make sure you feel safe here.”
Eyes stinging, she swung her head around to give Alex a panicked look. “I— I don’t know how to do any of this. I don’t know how to be an Emand. I barely know how to be a queen of a grove. What if I fail? What if I embarrass everyone? What if?—”
Hele switched off the television. “Alex, hand me a blanket, please.”
“Good call.” The dragon passed the soft gray blanket to her sister, who immediately wrapped it tightly around Alashiya’s shoulders.
The squeeze, as well as both women’s arms wrapping around her, brought an instant comfort. It was a bit like being held by her husband and also hiding in the deep greenery of her forest, except it came with the added benefit of the easy acceptance of two remarkable women.
Hele held Alashiya’s waist and pressed her cheek to her blanket-covered shoulder while Alex tucked her head beneath her purple chin.
“This world is very overwhelming,” Hele whispered in a soft, knowing voice. “But clan makes it better. You have nothing to fear, Emand. We’re here to help you and explain when things are confusing or scary.”
“Taevas told me all about you,” she whispered, breath hitching. “I hoped I’d get to meet you. So… please just call me Shiya, okay? That way we can be friends. I think I’m going to need those.”
“We’re not friends,” Hele announced, matter-of-fact. “We’re clan. This is better.”
Alex and Alashiya shared a small burst of laughter.
Pulling back a little, Alex offered, “Hele’s taken the clan thing pretty far. Did my cousin tell you she’s been running around the continent adopting elementals?”
Alashiya wiped her eyes. “Yes, he did. It sounds amazing. I wish we had someone like you.”
Hele tilted her head curiously. “We?”
“Nymphs,” she answered. “We used to be connected kind of like one big clan, but we’ve been cut off from each other for a very long time.”
“Why?”
“Because we drifted apart. And no one has had the resources to bring us back together, I guess.” Alashiya tightened the blanket around her shoulders. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she and Taevas discussed her “terms” but it had only been a few days. She’d barely had time to even consider what she could do with what he offered her.
But sitting there, surrounded by the warmth of a family that was now her own, she couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to weave those old threads together again.
Alex and Hele shared a look. Speaking slowly, the dragonreplied, “Well, you know who has a lot of resources? The Emand of the Draakonriik.”
