Rei Sol, the Crown Prince

Rei Sol had, as a child dreamed about dragon wings. He had never told anyone of these dreams because as a child, he had learned that there existed not one person in the world who could keep his secrets. He was the Crown Prince after all, anyone who he took into his confidence went around speaking to others about it, losing the sacred trust he had placed within them. Even as a child, even when he was eleven and his father had died he learned this lesson with surprising clarity. Do not trust anyone, not even yourself because no one wants to be the friend of the Crown Prince. Not a true friend, any way.

Well, that was not true. There was Chiaki.

He had met Chiaki when he was thirteen years old for the first time. They had been in the same hallway, and he had remembered the way she had held his gaze for one moment, with the stubbornness and the will of some off land stranger until she had slipped behind that shy, demure mask.

He still could not believe his mother had sent her away.

“Rei?” Pronounced Ree, aye, like a girls name. There was only one person who called him that, and he looked up to see Glory watching him with a laugh. “Are you thinking about her again? I’m going to be insulted soon—here you sit in my company, the company any man would love to keep –except for yourself- and I am being ignored!” she was pale and dark and beautiful, the twin sister to his trusted second and he loved her in a different way. He knew his mother had wanted him to fall for her, to marry her because she and his shadow second came from a very influential family.

So did Chiaki… he wondered why she didn’t like her…

“See? Again. Avander, see if you can knock some sense into this body.” Her tone was rueful, and from the side Avander had looked up with a snort.

“If you cannot knock some sense into his head, how can anyone?” his tone was teasing as he said this, and Rei had rolled his eyes. These two were his childhood companions, and while in the view of others they treated him with the utmost respect, in private he often felt like the younger brother.

He had always wanted, to be the younger brother.

“I was thinking.” He said quietly. “Only thinking of why my mother dislikes her so.”

The two brothers exchanged looks as if they were thinking of something, hearing something and Rei looked between the two suspiciously. “What is it?” he asked, and they had jumped, as if stung by some bell. They looked so guilty he almost let it go…. But it had been years since he had seen her, and he wanted to know everything. “What?” he pressed.

“It’s just that.” Glory began. “Your Highness.”

Ah. When ever they said these words he knew it was going to be something bad.

“Your mother is a jealous over protective fop.” Avander said quite cleary.

“Avander!” Glory protested, but she did not protest against what he had said. “The way he said it.” She muttered softly, and looked up.

Rei sighed. He understood at times, that his mother could be a trifle neurotic. He said so outloud, and Avander snorted.

“Your mother only started to like Glory, and let her spend time with you when she figured out that Glory was gay.” He said simply. “That not say how possessive she is? She does not want you around anyone who can steal your affections from her. She thought you were still young,, and so that what ever you felt for Chiaki would disappear by itself—when she saw it was the real thing, she locked you up in this tower and sent her away and left us two as your companions and that was that.”

Rei had never heard his shadow say so much in one moment, and it showed on his face as he stared at him.

“Exacty.” Rei echoed. “Just what he said.”

“She’s only looking out for my best interest.” He began, and paused. “She’s only…” He gave up. “Okay, say that you are right. What am I supposed to do about it?” He demanded this as if they would somehow come up with the answer, except the twins only continued to stare at him blankly. “Forget it.” He said, frustrated. “I’m going to sleep.”

At night he dreamed of dragon wings.

Again.

In the dream he was flying over the desert on the back of something large and warm, and he knew only a sense of joy and delight as he did so. He knew, more then anything a sense of peace and love because he was heading towards Chiaki, and he knew that when he reached her that everything would be okay. He dreamed of dragons, one and two and several flying behind him, and he knew that life would never be so grand again.

Once, someone had told him that in the White Stone line, they had the line of prophecy, that sometimes the truth came to them in dreams. But Rei knew he could never leave the court, that deserts did not exist in the Eastern Empire, so how could he dream of something so grand?

That was all it could be, in the end. A lovely dream.

He never spoke about it to anyone, but days passed and he found his face lining with gauntness, and he had trouble smiling.

“Are you okay?” Glory asked him, concerned. “Do you miss her that much?”

Yes, he did miss her but that was not the point. “I dreamed of dragons.” He admitted quietly.

A Crown Prince could not have friends, because they would use him in their end for their own glory. But at the moment, at the rate he was feeling, as if the secret would burst from his chest all he could feel was a sense of… frustration. He had to share this story. He had to somehow share what seemed to be causing him all this tension.

“I dreamed of dragons.” He repeated, at a louder tone at Avander perked up from where he had been sulkily hanging around the shadows.

“Dragons?” Avander asked, and whistled. “Pretty things, I’ve always thought.” He said, remembering the pictures Chiaki and the others had bought back.

But the Crown Prince was watching Glory’s expression, and the way she paled as if she had heard some terrible news, and the way her eyes seemed to fly to his, with a look of horror.

“What?” he asked, too sharply.

“Your Highness.” She started. Ah, back to the Highness thing again. But he did not say so, because what ever he saw on her face stopped any of his jokes. “That is where Chiaki is.” She licked her lips as if her life depended on it. “With dragons.”

She had to be joking…

They did it all at night.

IT was actually quite sneaky and simple. He didn’t know how the others hadn’t thought of it first. They ran away, dressed like beggars and took the first cargo ship out of the country. They went en route to the Vella Crean, where they exported most of their silk and from there had a dragon rider take them to a world with a desert. With dragons. He had known immediately.

Dragon Tears.

Even the name would have made him weep, except he did not want to look weak in front of anyone.

“you’ll be seeing her soon are you nervous?”

“They’re taking you to the desert first thing because you dreamt about it.”

The two voices collided and he looked up to see Glory and Avander watching him with large eyes.

“Yes, and fine.” He paused. “Me? What about you too?”

The two had the grace to look sheepish as they explained to him that yes, they two had been searched and they were going somewhere else.

The Crown Prince arrived alone on the desert, to find no young woman by the name of Chiaki. Hell, no young woman from a foreign world had arrived to the Veryi desert, and he had found himself both stung and depressed at the same time. If he could not find her here, where was he going to find her?

“Maybe you’re early.” The rider offered with a slide smile.

“Maybe.” But there was clear doubt in his tone. Still, he was prepared to take anything and the rider nodded, as if this made sense to him.

“Yes, you are early. Why don’t you wait here?”

“Where else would I wait?” he asked, and the rider had chuckled. True. He didn’t belong to this world, and he didn’t want to break it to his two close companions that he had to leave. After all, they would feel duty bound to protect him and leave with him, except they themselves had something major coming up. Candidates. He sighed, a wistful sigh.

“That’s good. I’ll tell the dam of the clutch.”

“The dam of what?” he looked up, confused. The rider stared back at him just as confused.

“The Clutch?” he made it a question. “You know, while you wait as a candidate for your friends to arrive?”

Rei shook his head. “But I’m not a candidate.”

“You don’t want to be a candidate?” it was this time he who sounded fed up. “How can you not—“

“No, I meant I haven’t been searched.” He interrupted. The rider blinked.

“Didn’t I search you?” he asked, and shook his head. “My mistake. I search rider, you candidate. Finished happy now?”

Rei blinked. He was not used to being treated so casually… but he liked it. “I guess.” He started.

“Then wait here while I go tell the dam I found a candidate for her clutch.” He grinned. “She’s been nervous that we might not be able to find anyone.”

“What dragon?” Rei asked.

“Good point…” the search rider conceded. “Come with me. You should meet the desert dragon mother.”

Things still didn’t make sense for the Crown Prince, but he followed anyways.

“Oh, that dragon.” He breathed, and there was such awe in his voice that the search rider laughed.

“Yes, this dragon.” He said, snickering as he did so. “Do you like?”

He stepped forewords, and hesitated. “A candidate?” he repeated, and the search rider nodded.

“Fiery, noble beasts are Desert dragons.” He chuckled. “Of course, I might just be saying that because I’ve bonded to one myself… but you’ll like them.”

Rei looked up. “In another language, my name means the sun.”

The search rider smiled a wry grin. “And desert dragons like the sun.”

Rei remembered his dream, the way he had been flying over the deserts, and he wondered, if instead of pointing him into the direction of Chiaki, if the dream had instead been pointing him here, to find the dragon who he had loved so much in his dream?

That night Rei Sol, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Courts dreamt of dragons.