CHAPTER 3

riana-Kali sat patiently at her dressing table as her personal maids prepared her for that evenings festivities. She heaved in a deep breath and repeated a short calming meditation chant she learned while studying at the Temple of the Sacred flame, in her mind. She noticed that she was using the chant more often with each passing day. When she finished she watched the reflections of her maids as they tugged at her long imperial purple dress and fussed with her hair. She as she contiuned to gaze into the mirror she focused in on her red and white hair. Her maids had turned her once simplely styled hair into a massive complex design of braids and curls. She was sure they did this on her sister Lynne’s orders. Briana-Kali even felt sorry for them because she knew that once they were finished with her hair she would only take it down and do a simple style of her own.

Slowly her and her maids reflections started to fade away and an image of J.C. She stared at his image. Her heart started to beat faster. Then his image started to shift to that of when he first came to the Dragon castle. Once again the image in the mirror started to shift to that very day.

It was a warm day in the city of Felina, yet rain was in air. Briana-Kali, who was just in her sixth season at the time, was finishing up her morning fighting lessons. When she and her teacher Jenica noticed that Queen Leilani was there. Briana-Kali had fail to counter several different attacks in her lesson and prayed to the gods that her mother had not been there to see. Both teacher and student bowed to Queen Leilani.

“Is there something I can help you with Gold Dragon?” Jencia asked once she straightend up.

Queen Leilani reached behind her for, from what Briana-Kali was a childs had. The queen than confirmed her daughters when she pulled a little boy from behind her. “This is J.C.. A new arrival from Kateke and you new student.”

“A.....a....boy your highness?” Jenica asked with a hint of disbelief in her voice as she looked at the small child.

“Yes, a boy.” Replied the queen, “ I expect you to treat him no differently than the others.” Then she turned and her silver eyes fell onher daughter, “Briana-Kali, if you would please show him to an empty room in the east wing, and help him settle in.”

Briana-Kali knew better than to say what she truely thought, so she simply bowed her head and said, “Yes, Gold Dragon.”

Jenica excused Briana-Kali from her session, then obeiently the young princess showed the new comer to his room. About halfway there J.C finally spoke, “I don’t need any help from a girl.”

“And we don’’t need any boys.” Replied Briana-Kali calmly.

By now they were in a stairwell in the east wing, “You think l wanna be here? My parent’s made me come.”

Briana-Kali stopped and turned to look at him, her red eyes blazing, suddenly she seemed older than her years, “Look you sniveling unconsequential cesspool, to be born into the Sisterhood is a honor and a privledge. Especially if your a male. We are here to not only help better our country but to defend it with our very lives if need be. And at the moment the girl/boy ratio is 150 to 1. So you better get use to it,” she paused for a moment then continued, “Forget it. I’m not wasting my time on you. Up two flights, down the right corridor. It’s the fourth room on the left. Get there on your own,” and she brushed past him to go their seprate ways.

A few weeks later Briana-Kali had to face off with J.C. in class. He totally surprised her when he bested her three fall out of five. “Very good, J.C., Briana-Kali, you could have done better.” Jenica called from outside the battle ring.

“How come he gets a ‘Very Good’ and I only get a ‘you could have done better’ ?” Briana-Kali exclaimed as she got up off the ground.

Remy, the second blue dragon, stepped in. “He did win three out of five,” Her voice was as calm as the ocean after a storm as she spoke to her young pupil.

Briana-Kali looked up at her dark haired instructor, “But what does that prove? He’s at least a year older than me, not to mention he’s taller and out weights me.”

“Briana-Kali he is just starting. So that is one point in his favor. Two, he has only been training a lot harder in these past few weeks than have in these past three seasons.. But, you should have been able to beat him. After all you have been training since you were five.” She pause than called, “Maylea!!!! Faith!!!! Your turn.” As the students moved to their places Briana-Kali glared at J.C.. She hated the smug look on his.

After class Briana-Kali stalked up to J.C. like a lioness stalkes her prey. He stopped about two feet in front of her. “What do you want?” He asked.

“I hoped you enjoyed beating up a girl much smaller than you, because, believe me........it won’t happen again anytime soon.” She said angerly.

A cocky smiled appeared on one side of J.C.’s lips before he stated, “It will if you don’t practice harder.”

She tried to keep his intolerable/superior-than-thou attitude from getting to her as she issued her next warning, “Believe me, it won’t. You’ve just made yourself a enemy. I don’t take kindly to likes of you. Your life here won’t be easy here for one moment unless I say so.”

“Oh really,” he questioned, “and what could you do to me....Shorty?”

Briana-Kali grinned devilishly as she slanted her eyes to look like two fire red slits, “Oh, what am I going to do?” she said in a sing-song tone of voice until, “Does kitchen duty mean anything to you?”

“So what?” J.C. stated, “I’ll have others helping me.” He didn’t really see what so bad about that. He had to help his dad clean up his bakery back in Kateke.

Still grinning Briana-Kali said, “who said anything about help. You get to do that all by your lonesome after dinner and supper for the next month.” J.C.’s eyes widened as he realized what his given task. There were at least 400 women and children living in the Dragon Castle. She savoured the expression on his for another moment before she added, “That is only until I can think of something else.” ‘It’s good be a princess’ she thought as she turned on her heels and joined her friends.

As surely as the sun rises, the competition between Briana-Kali and J.C. did not end there. Over the next few years, if he even slightly excelled in anything the young princess would bend over backwards to top him and vice versa. The constent battle between the two sometimes made the war between Briana-Kali and her older sister Lynne look like a gain of sand beinng sweep away by the sea. At least in this war Briana-Kali did not have to worry about J.C. posioning her food and drink like she did with Lynne.

Suddenly Briana-Kali came out of the vision when Jake, her cousin Devin’s intended and fellow Sisterhood member, clasped his hand on her shoulder. She shook the remineces of the past off like she would the lingering touch of a spell. “Are you alright princess?” he asked with more the tone of a concerned citizen not that of a concerned friend.

Briana-Kali looked up at Jake and said, “Jake, we have been friends for years, you are to be wed my cousin, which will make you kin, do you know what that means?” He shook his head slightly. “It means,” she continued, “that if you refer to me as ‘Princess Briana-Kali’, ‘Princess’, ‘Your Highness’, or anything other than just my plain old name......I’ll have you thrown into the dugeon on the very spot.”

“Briana,” Devin started, “what’s wrong? You look like a wreck.”

Briana-Kali stood up and said sarcastically, “Thanks, Devin. It’s nice to know that I have your vote of confidence.” she than walked to the open door, quickly took down the cascade of braids, “Let’s hit the road before Lynne kicks us there.”
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