The Dragon's Kiss

"I'm not the person you're looking for."

Kel meant it. Regardless of what kind of blood flowed through her veins, she would never be the person they wanted.

Lila shook her head. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

No. Kel was sure.

It's true that she didn't really know who she was or where she wanted to go with her life now that Mevani had abandoned her, but she still knew who she wasn't.

The blue birds sang sweetly throughout the rest of the morning as Kel was left alone again. She'd been docile up until this point, mostly because she didn't fully understand her situation, but now she knew she had to make a move as soon as possible.

No matter how many times she thought it over, she was certain The Yellow Marguerite wouldn't willingly let her go, even if she convinced them she wasn't the next great ruler they were looking for.

The best course of action might not be trying to escape on her own, either. If this was truly an underground community, surely the exits would be few and heavily guarded.

Her only real chance now was to somehow let the emperor know her location. If he knew where The Yellow Marguerite was and how to get to them, Kel was certain he could overpower them.

She may be putting herself into a whole different kind of danger to go back with him, but it was better to be in the frying pan than the fire.

A knock at the door interrupted her before she could even begin to come up with a proper plan.

"Princess, may I come in?"

I wasn't Lila this time.

"Come in," Kel responded.

A girl with short hair and freckles entered the room. Kel had seen her before, kneeling with a yellow flower in her hands back at the palace. In place of the maid uniform she was wearing when they first met, she was now dressed like a soldier.

"Hello, again," Kel greeted her.

"It's my honor to serve you, Your Highness," the girl replied overly formally.

"Right…" Kel responded awkwardly. "What are you here for then?"

"Lord Soren has requested to meet with you," the girl responded. "I've been ordered to-"

"And you're going to take me there," Kel interrupted with a sigh. "What if I refuse his offer?"

"Our master would be happy to visit you here, then," the girl answered immediately. "He just thought you might enjoy a change of scenery."

Master? Lord? Just who was the temperamental magician to these people?

"Alright, I'll come," Kel conceded. If she wanted to formulate a plan to alert the emperor, she needed to get an idea of her surroundings anyway. This was a good opportunity.

She stood and followed the girl to the door.

"Put this on. The temperature is much lower out here," the girl insisted, extending a coat to Kel.

"Oh. Thank you," Kel nodded, gratefully sliding the warm material over her shoulders.

Gazing at her bare legs, she wished the girl would offer her a pair of pants as well.

Since the first morning she came here, Lila had cheerily showed her a closet full of flowy, exposing dresses, claiming they had worked to prepare clothes to 'the princess's taste'.

Kel shook her head. How had the rumor of her apparent clothing taste even traveled here? Would she ever be free of these scanty dresses?! It was already winter, and she was still plagued with an abundance of bare skin.

Her bitterness was further aggravated as she stepped out of her room. The girl was right; it was cold.

Fortunately, as they walked, Kel's shivering legs soon escaped her mind. The hallway immediately outside her door was the same as any other with tile floors and plaster walls. It wouldn't have been strange except that it was supposedly underground.

At the end of the hall a door opened to a much wider channel. It was like a busy street with doors lining each side and a multitude of people coming and going. Each person paused to bow to Kel as they passed, and many gawked openly.

Kel hardly noticed the attention, however; she was too busy staring at the architecture surrounding her.

The walls and ceiling were all built of large cement slabs, some decorated with faded paintings. The ground was covered with red bricks, layed in an intricate herringbone pattern. Occasional archways rainbowed over the entire street, formed from the same cement as the walls. The only sources of light were massive braziers lining the middle of the street and sconces on the walls, yet the massive tunnel was quite bright.

"It's so big," Kel murmured. "There are so many people."

When Lila first mentioned that they were underground, Kel thought of a few simple rooms connected by tiny dirt tunnels. She'd envisioned The Yellow Marguerite as a small group living like rabbits. She should have realized from the stateliness of her room. This place was nothing like a rabbit hole.

It was an entire city.

The girl escorting her smiled as she watched Kel's awe.

"This place is called Subterra," she explained.

"Subterra," Kel echoed. "And you all live here?"

"That's right," the girl nodded. "Most of us were born here. Only the lucky ones such as myself get to go to the surface regularly."

"So it really is like its own city," Kel mused, her eyes finally landing on the many people bowing in her presence.

"Why are they doing that?" she asked, taken aback.

"Of course because you are the one we've been preparing for our whole lives," the girl smiled, giving Kel a bow of her own.

"Stop that," Kel hissed, suddenly embarrassed. "Just take me to where I'm supposed to be."

The girl straightened up, unsuccessfully attempting to assume a straight face. "As you wish, Your Highness."

Soren's living quarters were located on the other end of the development. Along the way, Kel's escort showed her the spacious area where soldiers trained and massive underground farms.

For the most part, the farmland was used to grow mushrooms and other plants that could survive without the sun. There were a few areas, however, equipped with various small vents leading all the way to the surface. Fleeting rays of sunlight trickled down on an assortment of hardy plants.

"It's strange," Kel remarked softly, running her fingers down one of the green leaves, fighting desperately to grow, "how so much life can thrive down here."