The Dragon’s Throne 1

Even though Lillian wasn’t as accomplished as Isabel, Anna had greedily soaked up all the time her aunt spent with her, enjoying the only time that Lillian didn’t feel the need to constantly remind Anna that she was the reason that Lillian’s sister and best friend was no longer on this earth.  It had been a rough childhood, but Anna had survived and somehow kept her spunky personality, though Lillian had tried to crush Anna’s spirit more than once. 

Anna sighed, pushing the thoughts of growing up with Lillian behind her.  She was twenty-four now; almost twenty-five, and Lillian’s horrible treatment of her didn’t matter anymore.  That time in Anna’s life was over, and she would be better off letting it fade away into her memories.

Her aunt Lillian had died two years before, leaving Anna one final, angry note to be opened upon her death.  In it, she let Anna know in no uncertain terms that she was the one and only person left to give her home to, or else she would have given it to someone else.  Anna had laughed because the woman had apparently forgotten that Isabel had bought the house, and had left it and everything else in it to her only child.

  The house didn’t belong to Lillian and never had, but the woman had claimed it as her own anyway, holding the “gift” of the small cabin to her over Anna’s head, regardless.  Even when faced with death, the woman had hated her, but Anna had learned to look beyond the ugly words to the pain beneath.  Her aunt had loved Isabel so fiercely, and that love had turned to heartache when Lillian had lost Isabel.  Lillian had loved Isabel more than she had loved herself. 

Anna wished that someone loved her that much.

She closed the trunk filled with dresses, handmade dolls, and some men’s clothes that she had sewn on a whim.  She was hoping that everything would sell and she would have enough money to see her through the harsh northern winter.  She knew she always had enough candles to light the darkness, but firewood was another issue and a huge source of stress for young Anna.  She wasn’t strong enough to chop her own, and with no family to help her out, she was forced to buy everything that she couldn’t provide for herself.

“Quit feeling sorry for yourself,” she said out loud, opening the window and letting in the last of the afternoon light as she took a well-worn book from the shelf and sat on the polished wooden chaise lounge.

She’d bought the lounge the spring after her aunt’s death, using a stack of money she’d found hidden away beneath her aunt’s bed.  It was the one and only time that she’d splurged on something for herself, but she figured that she deserved it after finding out that their years spent living hand to mouth were because Lillian had hoarded and hidden the money that Anna had made at the Festival, using the bare minimum to keep the house going and constantly complaining to Anna about what a drain she was on the household. 

Finding out the truth had been painful, but Anna had been relieved to find that she had substantial savings to fall back on while she figured out how to live on her own.  Two years later, she still had almost half the money, but she was terrified of letting it dwindle beyond that.  Her spring haul hadn’t been as much as she had hoped, but she had some beautiful offerings for the end of summer Festival, and she hoped that they would bring in enough.

She opened the book to the middle where she’d left off the night before, quickly losing herself in the world of the beginning of the twenty-first century, a magical place where they still had electricity and the leaders of the world hadn’t fought the species to the brink of extinction. 

There were parts of the country that had electricity and lived on the small grids that had survived the war, enjoying some of the other creature comforts that humans had once taken for granted.  But most of the survivors of the Great War had fled the cities, building homes and villages away from civilization as the wilderness reclaimed the land and life returned to its simpler roots. 

How everything had changed in fifty short years.

***

Her own parents had both been infants when her grandparents had packed up whatever they could and driven northeast, getting as far away from the East Coast as possible.  Lifelong friends, the two families had traveled together with John, who was a toddler then, and infant Isabel.  They had left behind everything they couldn’t carry, never looking back.  When their car ran out of gas and there were no gas stations left to refill it, they set out on foot until they found the village of Aldeia in what was once called Montana. 

Anna followed the adventures of a woman who was nearly thirty, hilariously failing at every endeavor in a place where everyone had cars and cell phones in vast cities.  Anna laughed as something as simple as a lunch run turned into another frantic attempt to catch a man who had skipped out of court.

 The heroine got her man, just like she always did, but Anna still enjoyed the chase.  She imagined the world that this woman lived in, so filled with life and connection to the world around them.  Anna had never even seen a phone, but she had heard that they still existed. 

She closed the book and sighed, wishing she could see these places for herself, but she knew that it was impossible.  So many of the cities had been leveled in the war, and nothing was left of the place called New Jersey, where her favorite series of books was set. 

The sun was almost set now, and already, the lamps along the dirt paths were being lit to chase away the dark and to keep the wild animals of the forest that surrounded Aldeia from sneaking into the village.

Anna stood, putting the book back on the single shelf along with the other, lovingly preserved books that she had collected over the years.  She had ten now; more than she ever imagined.  She’d read them all cover to cover, but they were like a new story each time and she loved them almost as much as she loved creating fashion for the people of Aldeia and the WereDragons of Aman. 

A loud rapping on the door pulled her out of her thoughts and made her jump out of her skin. 

“Who is it?” she asked through the open window.

“It’s Gabe Lightener.  They’re calling a town meeting.  Everyone needs to be there.”

Anna groaned, but Gabe still stood outside the door, waiting for her answer.

“I’ll be there,” she said.

“I can go with you,” Gabe offered, still speaking through the closed door.

“No, Gabe.  I can find my own way.”