Chapter 12: The Decision  

  

“Come on, Jeanne, stop being such a baby and open the door for me right now!”

 

Evangeline was pounding on the front door of Princess Jeanne’s quarters. Jeanne had locked herself in there shortly after my private audience.

  

“I had no way of knowing she’d be there! I would’ve woken you up, but she left as quickly as she appeared! Come on, sis, stop sulking!” Evangeline pleaded.

Jeanne finally opened the door. Her face revealed an emotion... well, I think so. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if she were struggling with her own body to look annoyed.

 

“Do you think she’ll come back?” Jeanne asked her in a soft, almost vulnerable voice.

“Um… I’m not sure about that, maybe?”

Jeanne sighed, lowering her head. Evangeline made her way into the princess’s quarters. Princess Jeanne’s quarters were spacious, the walls adorned with layers of gold in floral patterns. The entrance hall featured a row of furniture arranged all around the room. Wooden dressers several feet tall, featuring flowers carved directly into the wood. The floor was covered in brambles; they moved and tangled together, scratching the walls and severely damaging the room’s red carpet. 

  

“Ouch! Good heavens, Jeanne! This place is a mess!” Evangeline exclaimed, tiptoeing across the room.

 

“I was just practicing, I’m sorry,” Princess Jeanne apologized as she sheathed her sword.

  

“You have an entire training hall for that!”

“Yes, I’m sorry. It’s just that the entrance exam is coming up, and I want to make sure I’m ready. I don’t want to disappoint Father.”

  

A nervous grin spread across Evangeline’s face:

“Don’t worry, you’re not going to disappoint him,” she replied in a whisper.

  

Evangeline remained silent for a few moments before continuing:

  

“Speaking of the entrance exam, I came to tell you that... I’ve decided to take it too!”

  

Jeanne raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Really? Are you sure? But Father will surely...”

  

“I was on my way to tell him too; I just wanted you to be the first to know,” Evangeline cut in. “No matter what he says, he can’t stop me, I’ve made up my mind.”

“But, big sister, it’s extremely dangerous for you; your training is far from complete. And besides...”

  

“That’s all I had to say to you, little sister,” Evangeline cut her off again sharply, “I won’t go easy on you during the exam, so be ready!”

Evangeline turned around and headed for the exit.

“Well, in that case, big sister… I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you’re eliminated as soon as possible. For love’s sake, I’ll go that far! I won’t let you lose your life like this!” Jeanne exclaimed, her voice trembling.

  

Evangeline didn’t answer her; she merely smiled before leaving Jeanne alone in her room, which had been ravaged by brambles.

***

Commander Lancelot was tearing his hair out as he left the throne room. He was accompanied by Ella-Jane, who watched him with a worried look.

  

“Don’t rack your brain over it, Lance! We would have closed that fantastical rift if we hadn’t stumbled upon that artifact! It’s the legendary sword, Excalibur! Even you couldn’t pull it from its pedestal without being the Chosen One.”

  

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s just that I feel like I’m messing everything up lately. And then that stuck-up Athena got into my head! Ugh! She really gets on my nerves!”

  

“Do you think the king is going to send her in our place to finish the job with the dwarves?” Ella-Jane asked.

 

“I don’t know, I doubt she could do anything with it herself. No, I think the king is going to ask the dwarves and the elves for help in extracting the pedestal that holds Excalibur.”

  

“Then we’ll have done all this for nothing! The elves will want to keep the artifact for themselves after we took Durendal from them.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly the problem!” Lancelot sighed. “Unfortunately, we’re not nearly done with this mess. Ugh! Where is Arthur Pendragon when we need him?!”

*** 

Dod had woken up a few hours ago. At first, he struggled greatly to get out of the bed he’d been placed in. He was in a small, sunlit blue room in Evangeline’s quarters. As for clothing, he’d been covered with a long white cloth that reached down to his ankles. He wore nothing underneath; it was the kind of garment given to patients in hospitals during the pre-symbiotic era.

Dod felt weak, extremely weak. He stumbled as he set his feet on the floor, then tripped over the corner of the bed. He fell hard, face first. My friend was dazed; he lay on the floor for a few minutes before managing to get back up.

He made his way, with some difficulty, toward the bathroom, the room directly to his right as he left the bed. He clung to the small sink in front of him before lifting his head. Looking at himself in the mirror, Dod thought he didn’t recognize himself. His arms and legs were covered in bandages; he looked like a mummy. Yet that wasn’t what shocked Dod.

No, it was when he looked at his face. He looked pale, abnormally pale. His dark skin seemed to have faded slightly, and perhaps for the first time in his life, Dod looked pale. He looked terribly ill, and he felt terribly ill.

  

A searing pain gripped his stomach, causing him to fall to his knees. Dod rolled around on the tiled bathroom floor, wracked with pain. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, and his stomach cramps turned into intense heat. Dod felt his insides burning from within. He couldn’t help but let out a cry of pain that echoed in his own ears. Dod leaned his head forward, so that his mouth was now just a few inches from the floor. Saliva poured from his mouth in a torrent, and he began to choke. He coughed repeatedly for at least five minutes. His temples throbbed like never before, ready to explode. His eyes were blurred with tears.

 Dod’s cheeks puffed out as if he were about to spit, or rather, vomit something.  He had to pound his chest at least three times to spit out what was in his mouth. His fantastical mist flared up momentarily. In disbelief, Dod leaned toward the thing he had just pulled from his body.

   

“What the... what the hell is that?!” He said, out of breath.

  

The object rolled across the room before coming to rest against the nearby wall. Sitting in the dim light was a cracked, grayish-black egg, about twenty centimeters in diameter. This was no ordinary egg; it was a dragon’s egg...  

  

 TO BE CONTINUED...