Amora's Arc

Chapter 1 of 6

Amora lay in the courtyard garden and let the young dragon rest its head on her chest. The hatchling had brown scales and claws sharp enough to tear stone, but with her it only breathed slow and warm. She scratched under its jaw. It made a sound like a purr. This was the true love she wanted, and she knew her mother would never allow it. Her mother ruled by fear. The Queen of Hearts had bent the great silver Jabberwock with terror, chained it, screamed it into obedience. It had an egg given by its mate before the Queen had it killed off many years prior and Amora had hatched that egg. Amora had done the opposite of her mother. The hatchling loved her. That was the secret she hid, because a daughter whose beasts obeyed out of affection made her mother look weak. Amora had a unique gift of love and empathy, she could bend men’s minds to love and feel hope, she could stop wars with that power. A shadow fell across the roses. The Queen of Hearts stood at the garden gate. Her red buns towered under the golden crown, and the hearts on her gown seemed to mock the ones stitched on Amora's own dress. "Get that creature off you," the Queen said. "You look like a stable girl." Amora sat up slowly. The hatchling pressed against her side and hissed at the Queen. "You will marry the prince from the eastern lands," the Queen went on. "Within the week. He is coming to sign the papers. Wear something that shows off your beauty." "I don't love him," Amora said. "I've never even met him." The Queen laughed. "Love. Do you hear yourself?" She stepped closer, and her heels crushed a fallen rose. "You will marry where I say. That is the end of it." Amora's heart pounded. She thought of the prince, a stranger with a treaty in his hand. She thought of the true love she was searching for, and knew it would die the moment she signed. So she stood. She put her hand on the hatchling's back. "No," Amora said. The word rang across the garden. The Queen's face went pale, then red. "You dare refuse me?" "I refuse him," Amora said. "I won't marry a man I don't love. Not for a treaty. Not for you." The Queen's black glove shot out and seized Amora's wrist. The hatchling snarled and snapped at her arm. The Queen jerked back, and Amora saw real fear cross her mother's face. Fear of the beast that would not obey her. "You think that thing protects you," the Queen hissed. "I will have it caged by morning. And you will be locked in the tower until the prince arrives. We will see how bold you are then." She swept away, calling for the guards. Amora dropped to her knees beside the hatchling. She had said no, and it had cost her everything. Now her mother knew her secret. The dragon that loved her was marked for a cage, and Amora for a tower. She had one week and no plan. But she had refused, and she would not take it back.