2022 Advent Challenge

Sparkling fairy lights glowed up and down the Grand Hall, colours splashed across the ornate walls and the surfaces of every ornament. The Grand Hall was where dances and feasts were normally held, but right now there were no events in progress – besides the event of Christmas decorating.

Nineteen-year-old Princess Ethereal, heir to the country's throne, delicately hung a glittery star on the nose of a dragon statue. Decorating always left her with a bundle of mixed feelings. On one hand, this seemed like the kind of thing servants should do. On the other hand, it was strangely satisfying to see her handiwork, to know that the beautiful decorations all over the palace had, in part, been arranged by her.

'I want to put a star too!' cried Neptune, her youngest sister, a seven-year-old girl who still hadn't entirely grasped the mechanics of her human form; she stumbled around like a disorientated hatchling on two legs. Ethereal crouched to be at her height.

'Where do you want to put it?' she asked.

Neptune pointed to a stuffed deer head high up on the wall. Ethereal carefully lifted her so she could hang her star ornament around the sorry beast's neck.

'I think we're almost finished,' said Lumer, the middle sister. She walked over with a basket that, an hour ago, had been filled with stars and baubles; now there was just one of each. 'The servants have almost finished the rest of the palace, too. Here, Neptune, do you want to hang up this star? Maybe in that bare corner over there?'

While the little girl happily ran off, Lumer handed the red bauble to Ethereal. The crown princess quickly realised that she had not sent Neptune away by coincidence.

'Your guard,' she said quietly. 'Isn't he supposed to be around?'

Ethereal felt a bolt of indignation go through her. That man! How she hated hearing about him, knowing that he was following her everywhere like some kind of crazy stalker. Her mother was certainly being overprotective by insisting upon a bodyguard; the royal palace had plenty of soldiers to keep her safe in the event of a home attack. And besides, how could she possibly believe that a criminal plucked off the streets would be a good candidate for the job?!

'I told him to go away,' she said, summoning her indignation and pushing out the words with a well-practiced huff.

Lumer tilted her head. She was trying to look understanding, but concern simmered in the backs of her eyes. 'Are you sure that's a good idea? Mother and Father are away, and nearly all the soldiers have gone with them. Mother must be afraid of something happening to you if she assigned you a personal guard. Even Neptune and I don't have one of those.'

'She says that I am in more danger because I'm the heir to the throne,' said Ethereal despondently. 'She believes assassins might target me in her absence. Not those words, exactly, but I understood her meaning.'

'Would she say something like that if it weren't a legitimate concern?' Lumer's tone was heavy with doubt.

Ethereal lifted her chin, another well-practiced move intended to display that she was taking offence to the direction of the conversation; it was most often used on noblemen who got too pushy. Her words might not sway them, but her piercing glare and stiff body language usually got the point across.

'My mother is... understandably... overly worried for my safety,' she replied. 'The war has made her so. Maybe it's true that I am in danger, but assigning a dangerous criminal to watch over me is hardly helping!'

'There must be a reason why she picked him,' said Lumer.

Before they could continue, Neptune came running back. She slipped and fell on the tiled floor, but Lumer grabbed her just in time.

'I made the star!' she said happily.

'Great job, Neptune! Doesn't the Grand Hall look beautiful now?'

With the decorations finished, the sisters went their separate ways. As Ethereal slipped out of the hall, she caught sight of something tall and dark lurking in the corner outside the doors, and her heart bounded into her throat. The shock was replaced by anger a second later.

'You!' she hissed at her bodyguard. He looked so nonchalant, leaning against the wall with his arms folded – but no doubt he'd been here ever since she told him to stay out of the Grand Hall. He never went far. She should have known.

'Me,' Adder agreed. 'All done with the servants' work, Princess?'

She bristled. It was obvious that he was mocking her, knowing of her tendency to regard anything mundane as the job of a servant. But it was only the truth! Commoners and nobles simply had different roles in life. There was no reason for a royal dragon to be doing such things... unless she enjoyed them, like today...

She shook herself out of her musings.

'I-I should have you arrested for stalking me,' she blurted out stupidly.

Adder's expression didn't really change, but she thought she saw amusement flicker in his eyes. They were as red as drops of fresh blood.

'Unfortunately, your mother's wishes override yours,' he said. 'And she wanted me to guard you. I can't do that if I'm across the other side of the palace, can I?'

Ethereal floundered for a quick-witted reply and came up short. She hated it when she couldn't speak intelligently. 'Regardless, I am the heir to the throne and you should respect my wishes if I choose to voice them.'

'Sorry, Princess, but that's not where my wages are coming from.'

Annoyed with both herself and him, Ethereal strode off down the corridor, intending to return to her chambers for some peace and quiet. It didn't help her mood when she heard Adder pick up his feet behind her. Unfortunately, deep down, she knew that he was right – nothing could override Queen Nox's orders. He was here to stay whether she liked it or not.

I feel like this is ruining Christmas, she despaired. How am I supposed to enjoy the occasion when he's always lurking in the shadows?

---

The next day was a quiet one. A bitter wind struck the walls of the palace, dissuading anyone sensible from going outside unless they had to (which meant only the servants did). Unable to comfortably wander the royal gardens, as was her usual way of passing time, Ethereal spent most of the afternoon playing games with her sisters in one of the palace's cushy living rooms. A fire burned merrily, illuminating the colourful knitted stockings hung in front of the hearth. All three of them were trying not to think too hard about their parents, who, with increasing likelihood, would not be home before Christmas.

'Reverse,' said Ethereal absently. Lumer looked at the cards in her hand, then calmly put down a blue seven.

'Your turn, Neptune. Do you have a seven or a blue?' she asked. They were still in the process of teaching Neptune the game – she wasn't particularly quick about picking new things up, but she was always enthusiastic and happy to join in, which was the important thing.

After considering her cards for a while, she slapped down a blue three. The game continued for a few more minutes, until both Lumer and Ethereal were down to one card each, and finally Ethereal put down her last card.

'I'll deal this time,' she said, scooping up the entire deck.

As she shuffled the cards, Neptune kicked her legs restlessly. 'I think there's a person outside,' she said in a small voice.

Both sisters looked at her, then around the seemingly empty room. 'A person?' said Lumer.

'Yeah. I saw them under the door. There they are again!'

They quickly realised that Neptune must be seeing the shadow of someone walking down the hall, behind the door. Lumer looked puzzled, but Ethereal stood up abruptly and strode over with the cards still in her hand.

'Go away!' she snapped as she flung the door open, not surprised to find the unpleasantly familiar form of Adder lurking outside. He must have been pacing up and down the hall. There was a cigarette between his teeth; the smell of tobacco filled her with disgust.

'I'm just doing my job, Princess,' he said, looking down at her with infuriating calm. 'Take it up with your mother if you don't like it.'

Ethereal glared at him. 'My mother isn't here,' she said stiffly. 'And I do not have a reliable way of communicating with her.'

'That sounds like a personal problem.'

Knowing from past experience that this argument was going to go absolutely nowhere, Ethereal shut the door and walked back to the fireplace to rejoin her siblings, trying not to show her ire.

'Well, you have a good bodyguard,' said Lumer after a brief moment of silence. 'If anyone tried to break here and attack us, he's right outside.'

'I don't care,' Ethereal muttered, dealing out the cards for another game.

Neptune was hugging her knees, looking nervous. 'He's scary,' she proclaimed.

Perhaps sensing that Ethereal's response would not reassure the young girl, Lumer quickly jumped in. 'He's not scary. He's just a guard. He's here to protect us if any bad people come in.'

'But what if he's the bad person?' said Neptune. 'He looks bad.'

Ethereal wondered if Neptune's dislike of the man was intuition or just childish worries.

'I promise he's not bad,' said Lumer patiently, her eyes darting between her two sisters as though she was saying it for both of them. But there was no way she could know for certain.

'I just don't like that we have to spend Christmas with him around,' Ethereal complained. 'It's bad enough that Mother and Father are away at war.'

Lumer gave her a sharp look. 'Ethereal, you're not helping.'

'Sorry.'

They played another game in near-silence, only speaking when required to.

'I think you're both being a little bit unfair to him,' said Lumer, after placing her final card – a red six – on the discard pile. 'He hasn't done anything wrong, he isn't being creepy, he's just – as he said earlier – doing his job. Don't be too hard on him unless things take a turn for the worse.'

'...I suppose so,' said Ethereal.

'Anyway, it's not like you have to spend Christmas with him. He won't be participating. He'll just be lurking in the corner, keeping an eye on things. You can ignore him.'

Ethereal couldn't help but feel it wasn't going to be that simple. She was constantly, annoyingly aware of Adder's presence. The more subtle he tried to be, the more she noticed him. But at the same time, she knew she had no choice but to accept that she had a bodyguard and he wasn't leaving anytime soon.

Besides... Lumer kind of had a point. Adder wasn't doing anything wrong. She was somewhat grateful that he actually was trying to be subtle and not allow his work to interfere with her everyday life. It was Ethereal who constantly drew attention to him, spoke to him, and got into arguments with him when, really, she should be ignoring his presence.

The realisation hit her like a rock. He wasn't ruining Christmas. She was ruining it for herself.

She sat up straighter and gathered up all the cards for another game, meeting Lumer's gaze for a split second.

'I suppose that's right,' she said carefully. 'I will simply pretend that he's an ornament. One of those horrible, boring ones that old noblemen like to buy. He's not worthy of my attention.'

Lumer laughed at that, and even Neptune smiled and giggled. Ethereal dealt out the cards with a feeling of renewed determination.

We'll make the most of what we have. And next year, I sincerely hope things will be better.