The following days Ralem worked Arianna out of his mind. He wouldn’t allow Jaydon to talk of her, to bring her up, or even say her name. He persuaded himself that he didn’t want to see her again. He tried to make himself believe that he hated her, but when he called up her face in his mind it was impossible to be angry for long.

              What annoyed him the most was that Jaydon was actually openly displaying how Ralem felt. Every night he would go to sleep hearing Jaydon sniffle and cry. But even worse was when he’d cry as a human. Ralem saw him, his great green eyes welling with tears and those tears falling down his face and onto the floor and it bothered him immensely. Finally he cracked when Jaydon started crying in the room one morning. “Jaydon Blake- you stop crying right now!” Jaydon sniffed and looked up, his eyes dark. “I can’t stand it! Aren’t you supposed to be one big, tough dragon? Then stop blubbering all over the place! Grow up!”

                Jaydon only sniffed harder, “I’m only two months old, Rider. And Arianna was like… she was my best friend.”

               “Well I lost her too,” Ralem snapped back, “And do you think I like it? No, I don’t like it. But I know how to keep my feelings inside and not blubber all over the place like a baby piglet that lost its mother.”

                Jaydon pulled his legs up, “It’s not good when you keep it all inside. I feel it in you, Ralem. You want to cry. You want it so bad that its running over on me. I can’t take your pressure any more Ralem. Just let it out.”

                “I don’t cry,” Ralem said stiffly, “And before you, I have never seen that red, tear-stained look on my face before.”

                But he knew in his heart that he was always one step away from breakdown. He tried to get Arianna out of his mind in the only way he knew how; work. Five hours a day he trained with Lauri, hard sweat labor and grueling exercise. Two hours he learned how to read. The rest of the day he forced himself to practice his swordsmanship with Frederick , went flying with Jaydon, or worked hard helping out the community. The winter grain was ready for harvest and he found his time being eaten up in helping to harvest. Ryan told him that due to his high rank, he seriously didn’t have to do it. But the last thing Ralem wanted to do was to be alone, with the only company his own tortured thoughts. Both him and Jaydon worked hard in the fields and soon became well-known for their hard labor. Ralem could do the work of five men in half the time and his scythe was steady and sure. Usually, with the heat and the bugs he would have taken his shirt off (which wasn’t uncommon for a peasant) and he did. But he always had an undershirt on to hide his tattoo and forced Jaydon to do the same.

                    Jaydon was the best reaper in the land. He didn’t even use a scythe, his huge claws did the job. So as not to crush the grain he did it in human form, harvesting more grain in one hour than twenty men could do in a day. But even though the accumulation of all this intense work didn’t so much as dent his energy, he felt concerned for his Rider, who didn’t rest for anything but meals and quick breathers to get some water and rest his muscles.

                     And not only did he work all day, but he hardly slept. Instead, most nights he would attempt to lay in bed for a few hours before getting up to watch the stars until the wee hours of the morning. Many times Jaydon would meet him out there, not talking but giving him the gentle assurance that he was not alone. The next morning Jaydon would find himself sprawled out on the balcony and his Rider already gone.

                    But he knew what Ralem was thinking in those deep, silent nights when he gazed up at the moon. He was thinking of her. He was wondering in his heart where she was at and hoping that she was thinking of him too.

                      In Grunde Arianna was also busy. She had been accepted with the utmost joy and tears and hugs that a girl could possibly receive. Her mother had even kissed her and told her how much she had been missed and cried for her and how everyone had gone searching for her and how they had thought she had died and all that blah. Arianna had been able to get some downtime in declaration that the trip had been extremely exhausting. Sprite would be her company, and Arianna loved to the excuse to run her hands through some hair. She spent at least an hour a day combing, styling, and brushing the pampered pegasus’ hair. They would talk about worthless things like designs and colors. While alone Arianna mostly read books and took walks in the snow. Sometimes Daemon accompanied her and he seemed like his old self again; easy to talk to and a pleasure to be with.

                  When her family had seen him, they’d been so overly happy and Daemon seemed to be bursting from happiness. When asked how he survived in the wild, he just said that he didn’t want to think about it and everyone left him alone. A following of girls never seemed to be distant from him, doting on him, blubbering, all that kind of stupid stuff.

                   While Daemon was gone getting his house in order after his long ‘vacation’, Arianna was often found visiting Fraylon. Truth be told, she felt bad for the frost dragon. Daemon had set Fraylon up nice. He had a huge room with huge windows and several personal servants who were always waiting for his command. He got back massages and his chin scratches whenever he wanted and whatever food he liked. Daemon had kept his word. But he was trapped in a human form and would spend his days looking out into the frozen landscape, wishing he could spread his wings and escape. Even surrounded by servants, he was so alone.

                But when Arianna came he would do anything to please her, anything to make her stay with him in his royal prison. She would sit next to him a couple hours a day, reading stories to him and scratching him under the chin. Sometimes she was treated to a story of brave Daemon’s adventures. Fraylon just loved to tell stories of Daemon’s bravery and it was clear in every one of the adventures that the frost dragon just adored his Rider. Arianna loved to hear the stories, even if the room would get a little cold in his excitement. But every time she had to leave, those baby blue eyes would just kill her with guilt as she closed the door with a click.

                     Finally Arianna decided to talk to Daemon about it. He met her like he did every morning at her door, with a smile on his face and a warm parka to take a walk. She took his hand like she did every morning, but this time she didn’t start out with small talk or asking how everything was going. “Daemon, I’m worried about Fraylon. Would it hurt you to let him out a little? It can’t be good for a dragon to be cooped up in a room for so long..”

                    Daemon’s smile tightened for a second, and then he seemed to think it over. Finally he sighed as he escorted her into the brisk mountain air, “As long as you promise to watch over him. I don’t have the time to be babysitting right now.”

                   “Daemon!” she exclaimed, “You know he loves you more than anything in the world. It’s a wonder he still loves you with the way you threw him in that prison of a room! Come on, can you at least spend a little time with him? Anything would help. He’s so lonely, Dae. If only you could just see him-”

                   “I don’t need to see him. I hear him all the time! Buzzing in my head like a persistent fly- asking me numerous stupid questions. Arianna, can’t you see? I have only a little over a month to be here and I have boatloads of work to do. I don’t have time for a dragon right now. And trust me, I made sure he’s getting the best royalty can offer.”

                     Arianna couldn’t believe him. “Daemon, he doesn’t want all the royalty stuff. He wants you. You should hear the way he tells stories about you, he just lights up with pride.” She paused for a moment, then “I have an idea. Take him to help you. He would be so happy to help out.”

                    “He would only get in the way. He hardly knows a thing about royal business. And I don’t want anyone to see him and me and start to wonder…”

                 Arianna poked him with a mitten, stamping some snow underfoot. “Then I’ve got just the idea for you. I’ll be back in half an hour!”

                      And just like that, Daemon watched her turn on her heels and race back to the castle. He shook his head wearily, “Women.”

                      Arianna didn’t turn back. Her feet flying under her dress, she ran inside and back to Fraylon’s room. Flinging open the door, she found him in his usual spot, by the window looking out forlornly at the birds flying free in the crisp air. His eyes lit up as he caught sight of Arianna.

                      She smiled widely, “Come here. We’ve got some work to do!”

                Half an hour later, Arianna was leading Fraylon down the hallways in search of Daemon. Fraylon was about beside himself in excitement. Unfortunately that meant that he was colder than ice and Arianna made him put on some mitts.

                            It didn’t take long to find Daemon. After a short walk through the icy streets they found themselves at the foot of a grand mansion. Daemon was the son of the greatest lords in the country and his father wasn’t afraid to show his wealth. The place was enormous, with steeply sloping roofs and an almost palace-like quality to its grand buttresses and ornate sculptures. Fraylon stared openmouthed at the place, squeezing Arianna’s hand lightly, “Is this Daemon’s house?”

                             She smiled back at him, “Sure is, Frayfray. Don’t be shy, come on!” he laughed as she led him inside, into the grand entrance.

                             She was greeted by Daemon’s father, a usually serious man, but now was so overcome with the realization that his son was back from the dead that a smile hadn’t left his face for days. He quickly bowed at the sight of Arianna, kissing her hand. “Princess. Have you come to see Daemon? And who would this fellow be?” he smiled at Fraylon.

                            Daemon appeared out of an oak door down the hall, his hands full of paperwork and calling back something to someone in the room. Without his parka, he was dressed in a dashing Grundian suit, a military uniform that was dark blue and gold and brought out the blue in his eyes. On the shoulder glimmered a new metal, one his father had made for him, with the crest of an eagle emblazoned on it (his family’s crest). His eyes fell on Arianna, and then Fraylon and he nearly rocketed towards them as his father asked who Fraylon was.

                             Arianna hurried on quickly, placing a hand on the stunned dragon’s shoulder, “This is Fraylon. He’s a friend of Daemon’s from Baroke. Even though it’s not widely known, he helped Daemon survive in the wilderness.” At that second Daemon skidded up to meet him, glaring at Arianna like, “You did NOT just do that.”

                             The lord turned to his son, “Is this true? Did he save your life?”

                             Arianna bored holes into him with her eyes. Daemon could feel sweat build up on his forehead. But even worse was Fraylon’s puppy eyes, pleading for him to tell the truth. Daemon cursed inwardly and his smile seemed more like the baring of teeth. “Yes. He did.”

                             “Why didn’t you tell me before?” the lord cried, then caught Fraylon up in a massive hug. “You are welcome here any time, son. We are in your debt. Tell me boy, do you have a family waiting for you at home?” Fraylon shook his head. The lord’s face fell, then he brightened, “Do you have a place you call home?” Fraylon shook his head again. “Well then. As a token of my appreciation, I’d love to accept you in our grand estate as one of our own. What we have is now yours, son.” He beamed as he settled a huge hand on Fraylon’s shoulder.   

                             Before his father could say anymore, Daemon interrupted, “Papa, I need to talk to my, er, friends for a moment.” He towed them both to his private office, and after they were both inside he shut the door to keep out any bigmouthed maids. He turned around slowly. “Arianna… I can’t believe you would do this to me.”

                            “Well, believe it or not, it worked,” Arianna said with a smirk.

                            Daemon slid a hand down his face, “Arianna… I… What on earth did you do to Fraylon?”

                            “Since you seem so worried about people seeing you two together, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Like it?”

                            Daemon looked closer at Fraylon. Now he had short, black hair in contrast to Daemon’s shoulder-length blonde hair, and it was spiked in the front. His skin seemed a little darker and Arianna had even managed freckles. The only way people would know they were identical in any way is if they were standing side by side. “Did you have to make him tanner? I hate that skin color. It makes him look like a peasant. And black? Why black?”

                            “I like black hair,” Arianna said, “And it looks nice on him. Besides, you didn’t want him to be identical, I made him not identical. I think a thank you is in order.” She tapped the floor with her foot.

                            “Thank you,” Daemon mumbled.

                            “You’re welcome. Now I’m sure Fraylon would like to sight see your house. How about you start with the game room?” She smiled encouragingly.

                            “Okay, yes. The game room,” Daemon said, seeming to come out of a daze, “Of course. Come on, Fraylon. Wait, what are you doing? No purring. That’s just strange.” Arianna hid a laugh as she watched them walk down the hall.

                             Of course being gone for a year, Arianna had a lot of catching up to do. She spent much of her days listening to the country’s affairs and what had been happening which included a famine, a small invasion of a mountain village, and a couple hippogriff attacks. Arianna only half listened to their boring speeches and her mother’s lectures. She found her mind wandering back to Baroke. A smile would light up her face in the middle of a speech of why the citizens needed lower taxes when she would think of Ralem. She thought of his cute blush and dimples, his hilarious laugh and amazing stories. But every time her memory called up his face she felt a pang of something make her heart skip a beat. She didn’t know how much he meant to her until he was gone. But not forever, she reminded herself. She was going back in two months for his final test; the ball. She smiled as she thought about it.

                           That night she wrote a long letter to him, about her safe return and how boring things have been. Then she finished by telling him how much she missed him and couldn’t wait to see him at the ball. She sealed it with the royal seal and sent it off with the fastest snowdeer messengers in land.

                             But perhaps the biggest obstacle on her return was her brother, Peter. He was two years younger than nineteen-year-old Arianna, but he was still almost as tall as Ralem. He was a fierce warrior with his pike and didn’t back down from any fight. That included girls. Arianna still had scars from some of his more violent temper tantrums. Even Daemon was scared of him, even though he never said so. Heck, almost everyone that had enough smarts to fill a thimble was scared of him.

                                 The first night when Arianna had arrived home, tired and wishing to be alone, she had crept to her bedroom to rest and read. In the middle of her book, she looked up, thinking she had seen a movement. Her eyes were greeted by the sight of her brother, sharpening his knife, his dark hair in his face. When she had screamed he had stood up with a wide smile, “Sister. Why do you scream so? It is only your dear brother congratulating you on your return to our dear country. You have no idea how much I missed you.” His teeth glinted in the candlelight.

                                Arianna was not easily scared, but her brother scared the heck out of her. She had yelled for Oso, and had realized with some satisfaction as Peter’s face flashed with fear. Oso had always loved Arianna the most. When the polar bear had blasted into the room, her brother had already made his escape. Arianna had made room on her bed and that night she slept secure with a huge bear snoring by her side. In fact, she slept every night with the bear and made sure to avoid her brother whenever she could (and Sprite didn’t care- she came to love the bear as much as Arianna did)

                               Ralem wouldn’t let him hurt me, she thought one night as she was running her thumb over Jaydon’s gretchshivisk. She remembered how Ralem had taken out all those Grundian braves to protect her. She imagined it in her head; Ralem versus Peter. It would be a hard fight, but she could just imagine, with some satisfaction, Peter blubbering on the floor begging for forgiveness. The thought made her heart sink a little. If only he’d come with her.

                              She couldn’t get away from thinking about him. Every pie she saw made her think of Jaydon. Every tall man in the distance seemed to be him. She felt like she could see his face in every crowd. She found herself staring off into the distance a lot. Especially when her mother was lecturing her about running away and all that blah.

                             One time when she was daydreaming her lady-in-waiting smacked her with a brush. “Who are you thinking about?” she teased, “Daemon?  He is rather dreamy.” She fluttered her eyelashes dramatically.

                              Arianna was startled, “No… um. Just…”

                             “Ooh, I see that look on your face. Who is it? A boy you met in Baroke?”

                             Arianna said nothing.

                     “Yes! Yes! It’s a boy from Baroke!” the girl badgered, brushing the Princess’ hair furiously. “So.. tell me more about this boy. Is he whiter than snow? With sweet brown or blue eyes? Is he blonde or brunette with a cute little smile?”

                             “Actually, he’s a beautiful tan,” Arianna blurted, “And he has raven hair and the prettiest green eyes. And he has the cutest smile I’ve ever seen.” She stopped, surprised that she had just blurted that out. Did she really think that?

                            The girl giggled, “What’s his name?”

                            “Ralem,” Arianna sighed.

                        “I can hear it in the way you said his name,” the girl declared, swinging her hairbrush, “You’re in love, my dear Princess. And very badly so, indeed.”

                             This came to Arianna with a shock. In love? “No-we’re just friends!” Arianna said, even though she felt pink creep up on her cheeks.

                           “That’s what you like to think,” the girl said wisely, “But you have to face it. You love him. Is he still in Baroke?”

                             “Yes. I left him,” Arianna said, covering her face with a hand.

                           “Oh, but Princess! That’s the worst mistake you can make!” she cried dramatically.

                           Arianna shot upright, “Why?”

                          “That’s how love dies, Princess. When you leave and break their heart and in their misery, they find another. Can you think of anything worse than coming back to find him hand-in-hand laughing with another girl?”

                             Arianna had never thought about that! She had never seen him hang around the ladies aside from Lauri (but she didn’t count). She pictured him laughing his crazy laugh with another girl and for some reason it made her upset. “No. He wouldn’t.. ach. What’s happening to me! We’re just friends…”

                              The girl looked at her sympathetically, “Sometimes it takes being separated to realize how much you need each other.”

                              Arianna found herself hopeless at figuring out her own feelings. “What should I do?” she cried.

                           The girl smiled, and swelling with importance, she declared, “You’re the Princess. You can do whatever you want! Send out a declaration that he is to see the Princess of Grunde immediately, and pronto. You two are back together.”

                           “You’re right!” Arianna cried, “That’s just what I’ll do! I’m going back in a month,” she explained, “He told me that he had a duty to Baroke, but he won’t anymore if I myself ask for his ‘assistance’ in Grunde! That way, he’ll have to come with me back to Grunde! This is the best idea I’ve ever heard!” Forgetting that she was supposed to be at a grand meeting any second now, she grabbed a piece of parchment and started scrawling frantically.

                         Countless miles away, Ralem was also getting love advice. He was sitting by the lake, resting for a moment after hours of backbreaking work. He was watching Jaydon swim in the water with some amusement as the dragon dove deep beneath the surface then burst high over the water in an exultant roar. He didn’t notice Ryan as he sat down beside him, for once not wearing his Rider goggles.

                          “Hey Ray,” Ryan said, snapping a blade of grass.

                          “Oh, hi Ryan. How are you?” Ralem said offhandedly.

                         “That’s just what I was going to ask about you,” Ryan said as he folded his legs to his chest.

                          The intensity of his words made Ralem look at him, “What do you mean?”

                        “It’s kind of obvious. You’re working yourself to the ground, Ray. I’ve never seen anyone work so hard for so long. Jay’s told me that you hardly even sleep. And that worries me. If you keep this up you’re going to kill yourself.”

                        Ralem sighed heavily, “This is none of your business, Ryan.”

                           “I just care about you- friend to friend. And I know why you’re going through this.”

                           Ralem raised an eyebrow, “Really?” his voice was dripping with remote sarcasm.

                            “You miss her. Arianna,” he whistled, “Quite a catch she is. And you let her slip right out of your grasp without a fight.”

                            Ralem knew he was right but that didn’t stop him from getting angry. These days he didn’t know when it was the dragon part or the human part speaking when he said stupid things, so he usually kept his mouth shut. But now he spat, “What do you know about anything, little runt? She left me, okay? Deserted me. After all we went through together and she just took off!” His hardened eyes drifted out over the lake, where Jaydon was resurfacing with an explosion of water. “I hate her,” he said softly.

                         Ryan grabbed his arm, his face earnest. “No you don’t Ray. You know you don’t hate her. And your heart is never going to give her up.” Ralem jerked his arm away but Ryan didn’t give up. “But it’s not over, Ray. I bet you she’s over there in her stiff royal clothes missing you right now.”

                           “She’s not,” Ralem muttered.

                         “Let’s put it this way; you haven’t lost her yet. But you can’t wait too long. Can you imagine anything worse than her with another man… a man like frosty-breath, laughing and holding hands like old lovers? Tell me, does it get any worse than that?”

                          “No,” Ralem said, his voice a whisper.

                           “What did you say?” Ryan asked.

                           “NO!” Ralem said at last, hopping to his feet as he thought of Arianna with Daemon. The dragon within sprung up, promising a swift revenge. But then reality came crashing down on him and he fell back on the turf sadly, “But she’s in Grunde. I can’t do anything.”

                           “But of course you can!” Ryan said, “You’re a Rider. You can do anything you want!”

                             “What do you mean? Should I fly to Grunde?”

                        “No. That would probably not be a good idea. They probably won’t take kindly to a giant green dragon touching down in their country and it’s almost impossible to land far away from the castle and walk there. Grunde is only connected to the mainland by a small ice bridge that melts during the summer. The best way to go is to send a letter when the snowdeer arrive in a couple days.”

                           “Snowdeer?” Ralem asked.

                           “You heard me right. We use horses to deliver messages in the mainland. In Grunde a horse would just sink under the snow. That’s why they have snowdeer. Not only are the swift runners The messenger sled is also a raft. It’s pretty cool if I say so myself.”

                        “You sound like you’ve been there,” Ralem observed.

                        “Sure have,” Ryan boasted, “When Thistle was only a couple months old I went there to trade goods- my father was an amazing potter. At the time Thistle was my little secret. I kept him hidden under my parka. He would coil around my neck and try to taste the snowflakes. We had lots of fun.” He smiled.

                         “I’ve never seen snow before,” Ralem said.

                        “I bet you haven’t. Redfield isn’t known to get really cold.”

                   “Well I remember one winter when it made it down to forty degrees. That was four years ago. I was seventeen. I thought I was going to die from the cold,” he laughed lightly.

                       “I never thought of you as so sensitive,” Ryan smirked, “And that’s nothing. Grunde gets well below zero in the winter.”

                         At that second Jaydon emerged dripping wet from the lake, smiling with a fish he caught wiggling in his mouth. Ralem laughed as the dragon drenched them both with a massive shake. Jaydon, taken aback by his rare good mood, smiled a dragonish smile complete with a fish tail. What did I miss? He asked.

                          Ralem fell silent for a minute. Then he turned his questioning eyes to the little Rider, “What do you propose I say… in this letter?”

                          “Just confess how you feel about her and that you can’t live without her and all that. Make it as gooey as possible. Girls like that. And then, if you’re lucky, she’ll come back or invite you to Grunde. Either way, it couldn’t hurt.”

                          “Ralem can’t write that well,” Jaydon said.

                          Ralem glared at him, “Jaydon- do you have to scream it out to the world? And that’s why I’ll have a scribe do it for me. Thanks Ryan.”

                     Ralem worked for hours on that card. For two days all he could think about was her reaction when she would read it. Fears and doubts arose in his mind. But he pushed it away with his training.

                     The day after they were working on serious running. Lauri had set up a whole training course, complete with manikins and booby traps. Ralem had to run through it fast enough, slice the manikins with his sword, and Jaydon had to swoop down and carry him headlong into the next series of dangerous holes and explosive substance that was similar to the decoys they had used a couple weeks ago.

                      Lauri was an amazing teacher. In just a month of training Ralem felt like he had improved immensely. He had mastered the art of having Jaydon’s back while at the same time fighting his own battle. He could also interpret quick mental pictures and thoughts from Jaydon in a split second. Jaydon could be his eyes from above and was always able to warn him. Ralem learned to track animals, starting with the more easier ones such as deer. He learned how to make traps and test how old footprints were, if their owners were in a hurry, and how much they weighed. His ears became in tune with the slightest flap of a butterfly’s wing and he could spot a rabbit from a mile away. Becoming more in tune to his Rider side, he was able to run as fast as a gazelle and jump impossibly high.

                     The only bad thing about being more in tune with your Rider side is that it brings up your dragon side a lot more. Many times Ralem would feel the split in his soul widen and he would have to rest as his dragon side fought for control. Every time this would happen Jaydon would land next to him and stretch a wing over him for comfort, his mind linked for strength.

                     Jaydon was also learning a lot. Lauri taught him how to harness his powers, to be able to change directions in flight on a dime, to create massive air shields, to deflect weapons with a twist of the wind. He was taught how to use all his senses in battle, his nose, the reverberations of the earth, the noises in the air, and even heat detection by tongue. Vali taught him how to swim more effectively. Lauri tried to teach Ralem to swim also, but Ralem avoided it at all costs and she eventually gave up.

                         The man today running the obstacle course like a swift cat, jumping sometimes fifteen feet high and sometimes even racing an inch or two over the grass was very different from the man three months ago just barely making a living off of slogging through the muck to escort some fluffy britches royal. He was a man of a different breed. He was a Rider.