“Are you really okay with this, Ponderosa?” Sir Hamnet asked now that they were alone.

She thought about it for a moment then nodded. Then she tipped her head to the side and pointed to him.

He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I…. Let me walk you to your room.”

Ponderosa nodded. She picked up her bag. She started to leave the room with him when she remembered she had been asked to help Sir Fran as well. She turned and motioned to Sir Hamnet about that, but he shook his head.

“I don’t know what you are trying to tell me, but if your motions are indicative of checking on Fran, forget it. I will get someone else to check on him.”

She tucked her lips in, but nodded.

“Let’s go.”

Ponderosa nodded then walked silently beside Sir Hamnet to her room. On the way, Sir Hamnet got the attention of one of the servants and sent her to attend to Fran.

When they arrived, Sir Hamnet came in with her. Ponderosa approached the table that held her drawing of Sir Hamnet. She looked at the drawing then lifted the dirk from her belt and held it in her hands. She felt a resonance begin to stir in her core. Ponderosa took and let out a deeper breath as Sir Hamnet picked up her drawing. She knew why his eyes bothered her so much now.

“I have not had facial hair for six years or more,” he said with a furrowed brow.

Ponderosa nodded.

“Very few people know I let my hair grow out. Did Prince Kelton tell you this?” he wondered, putting the drawing down.

Ponderosa shook her head as she set the dirk on the table beside her writing kit. She opened her ink then picked up the quill. She drew a rabbit on the bottom corner of the page. Sir Hamnet leaned in closer to see what she was drawing. When she was done, she picked up the dirk and tapped the tip on the drawing.

“What are you trying to ask, Ponderosa?”

‘You caught this rabbit in Guasha Forest not far from Mediocre Village in the Kingdom of Abundare. Why did you not kill her?’ she wrote.

Sir Hamnet covered his mouth when he read what she wrote. Ever so slowly, he picked up the quill and dipped it in the ink. He drew Dagaz with a circle in the center on the rabbit’s chest. “I do not understand how you know about this or why it is important enough to you to ask about it,” he said quietly.

Ponderosa brought her hand up and grabbed the chain around her neck. She lifted Dagaz and the Pearl out from under her dress. She watched Sir Hamnet’s expression as he looked at her necklace. She continued to watch as she tapped her drawing of the rabbit then tapped her chest.

His eyes widened.

‘Was my marking the only reason you did not kill me six years ago?’ she wrote.

Sir Hamnet cleared his throat and turned his head away. “That was the biggest reason. There was, also, no life in… the rabbit’s eyes.” He fisted his hand. “Catching her was too easy.”

Ponderosa nodded. Then she inhaled sharply and felt her body start to change. She started to fall as her body snapped, popped, and cracked with her transformation.

“Ponderosa?” Sir Hamnet cried out, trying to catch her.

He managed to grab hold of her dress which prevented her from falling to the floor. Her transformation finished as Sir Hamnet fumbled with her dress to find out where she was. She shivered when he pulled her dress off. Sir Hamnet sat hard.

“I…. I….”

She reached out a shaking paw to pat his hand. ‘It’s not your fault,’ she thought.

He stared at her shivering form for several moments before he wrapped as much of her body in her dress as he could without smothering her. “I need to talk to Kelton about this!”

Rising to his feet, Sir Hamnet kept a firm hold on Ponderosa as he hurried out of the room and to the royal bedchambers. He entered the sitting room without knocking, but knocked on the bedroom door.

“Come in,” Prince Kelton called.

Sir Hamnet entered the room. Prince Kelton lounged casually beside Mȧthair and Nathaniel as he pet the former. Mȧthair stirred at his touch and turned her head to see who had come in. Sir Hamnet bowed slightly, his face turned toward the floor. Ponderosa could not see much of anything while Sir Hamnet spoke.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I apologize for the intrusion, Your Majesty, but I…. You see….”

He stopped and jerked slightly when Mȧthair snatched the dress she was in from his arms and danced away. “Mȧthair, no! That’s not….” He started to go after Mȧthair, but stopped when Prince Kelton’s hand clapped against his shoulder.

Mȧthair placed her close to the fire, then nuzzled the dress aside, so she could peek out.

‘How are you feeling, Ponderosa?’ Mȧthair asked.

‘Strange,’ she replied. She shivered. ‘This form doesn’t feel normal.’

Mȧthair nodded slightly.

“A… am I hearing and seeing things?” Sir Hamnet wondered.

“Not at all, Sir Hamnet,” Prince Kelton said, before he turned to pick Nathaniel up off the bed. A soft whimper escaped his lips before he was quiet again. “Do we need to leave, so the two of you may have some privacy, Princess?”

‘Not at all, Beloved,’ she replied.

“Princess?!” Sir Hamnet shouted, startling Nathaniel.

The young Prince started wailing and it took a finger and a little light bouncing to get him to quiet down again.

While Sir Hamnet was distracted by what Prince Kelton had said, Ponderosa tried to see if she could change back, but nothing changed. She squealed in panic. ‘I can’t change back! I can’t charge back!’ she cried as Sir Hamnet hurried over to the fire to check on her.

“Is she alright?” he asked. “What happened? Did….”

‘Take a breath, Sir Hamnet,’ Mȧthair said. ‘Ponderosa will be fine. She just needs to spend a little more time in this form than she wants to…,’ then she added for only Ponderosa to hear. ‘because you have tapped into a trauma related to your meeting of Sir Hamnet.’

“No!” Sir Hamnet growled. “Change her back.”

‘That…. That’s not possible,’ Ponderosa thought to him, hoping her soft reply could be heard as she turned her water filled bunny eyes toward him. ‘At least for now.’

Sir Hamnet reached down and stroked her furry cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Anything I can do to help you change back sooner?” he asked.

Ponderosa felt some relief that Sir Hamnet was able to hear her. ‘No.’

“Okay,” he sighed.

Sir Hamnet stood. He left the fireside and paced.

“There is no need to be so tense, Sir Hamnet,” Prince Kelton said. “Please, sit.”

Ponderosa listened to the fabric of their clothes rustle as Sir Hamnet and Prince Kelton sat on the couch. She hopped over and tried to bury herself in Mȧthair’s fur. She watched the fire poker move without hands and stoke the fire before another log floated its way into the flames, to increase the heat being put out by the hearth.

“Mȧthair has magic?” Sir Hamnet mumbled to himself.

‘Indeed, I do, Sir Hamnet,’ Mȧthair replied, turning her head ever so slightly to look over her shoulder.

“And Kelton’s okay with this?”

“If I was not, she would have been left in Pride Town,” Prince Kelton answered.

“...We didn’t find Mȧthair in Pride Town. We found….”

“They are one and the same, Hamnet,” Prince Kelton said. “Lady Iredys was only human when we found her because she was pregnant with Nathaniel.”

“But we burned her body!”

‘Which allowed me to take on the form I have now, Sir Hamnet,’ Mȧthair replied as she nuzzled the top of Ponderosa’s head.

“Impossible.”

“Possible,” Prince Kelton replied. “One of the magics that was forced upon Iredys was the ability to be reborn.”

Sir Hamnet was quiet for some time. “I don’t understand. Your father was killed by magic.”

“My father was killed by users of magic, Hamnet, magic itself is nothing more than a tool.”

“They are one and the same in the Queen’s eyes,” Sir Hamnet said softly.

“I know. Which is why, with the exception of those in this room, no one else has been told.”

Sir Hamnet nodded. “How long before Ponderosa can change back?”

‘That depends on her and the work that needs to be done to resolve why she is in this form,’ Mȧthair said.

He sighed and sat back. “So, what now?”

“That depends on you,” Prince Kelton replied.

“How so?”

“You do understand that by marrying Princess Iredys, I knowingly committed treason against my mother’s crown.”

Sir Hamnet nodded. “My betrothal to Ponderosa would be considered the same.”

“That is correct. So, where do you stand, Sir Hamnet?”

“Beside you until the end, My Lord.”

Prince Kelton nodded. “Thank you.”

Sir Hamnet chuckled lightly. “...I guess this means Sir Droyn and I owe you a lot for saving us from all the oaths we swore.”

“Speaking of those oaths, if you breathe a word about what has been revealed to you today to anyone, including Sir Droyn, you will be kissing those muck covered pigs and covering your door with fresh horse manure for the rest of your life.”

Sir Hamnet shuddered and Prince Kelton chuckled.

Ponderosa shifted against Mȧthair and started to grind her teeth on the Jet in Mȧthair’s chest.

“What…?” Sir Hamnet started to say before he got off the couch. The sound of his booted steps grew closer before he started to say, “Pon….”

‘She is fine,’Mȧthair said, stopping whatever he was about to do. ‘Nibbling on the Jet is what she needs to help her work through this.’

“Alright.”

Mȧthair nuzzled Ponderosa’s lightly as she continued to bite and knaw on the small black stone.

“...How sure are you that Nathaniel is yours, My Lord?” Sir Hamnet asked quietly.

“Because my Princess confirmed for me that she was the Dragonwoman that came to me in Palion City,” he replied.