Shannon awoke before dawn one morning knowing she was being watched.
She rolled over and glared at the dragon above her. "Pyre, quit it and let me
sleep," she muttered.
"Shannon?" a voice from the mouth of the cave could be heard getting closer.
"You awake?"
"All right, so I won't sleep," the princess said as she sat up and rubbed her
eyes. "What are you doing here this early, Rohan?" she asked.
"Couldn't sleep," he replied, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Shannon smiled
and said, "Well if a certain dragon wouldn't be watching me all night I could
still be asleep." She glared at Pyre again, who seemed to give her a sheepish
look, or as close to one as a dragon could give anybody.
"Don't blame him, I asked him to," Rohan said. Shannon gave him a puzzled
look, so he explained. "See, I was kind of worried about you being out here by
yourself, so I asked him to watch you for me." "But did he have to be up all night, doing it?" Shannon practically whined.
Rohan chuckled and gave her a hug and said, "Well, I'd be more worried about you
if he didn't..."
"You do have a point," Shannon said. "Did Garrett talk to the king yet?"
"Not yet, he's been really busy," Rohan said. Shannon sighed and glanced out
at the countryside where the sun was just coming up. "I wish he'd get over it
and hurry up...."
"I know what you mean," Rohan said quietly as he pulled her into his arms and
held her. Shannon rested her head on his shoulder and sighed happily. This had
to have been the best three days of her life.
But neither of them knew that Shannon's mother was going to make it hell for
both of them.
Queen Maeve sat in her bedroom of her castle, still fuming. *How DARE she
desert her own mother for....for him?* she thought angrily. She stared at the
silver mirror inlaid with black onyx that she had given Shannon for her tenth
birthday, and came up with an idea. *If I can split her and Rohan up, maybe
she'll come back,* Maeve thought with a tiny grin. She walked out of her room
and down to the throne room to work on her plan.
