The Hunt for Tanpres #7

Yes. That was what he was afraid of. Would she accept things as they are? She had no other choice. But, the question in his mind was how hard she would make it on herself and everyone else involved. “You weren’t the only one that was voted on yesterday, my queen.”


She raised her eyebrows as they made eye contact with one another. “Who else was?”


“The King, my Queen.” He braced himself for her reaction.


Megan was mesmerized by the beauty of the mountains, the crisp blue sky, the multicolored rocks below and the sides of the mountains with trees: pine trees and aspen without leaves. It felt like a sacred moment as he flew between the mountains. “Hmm?” What he said hadn’t registered in her mind. His silence only made her think about what he had said. “Wait a minute.” It hit her. “What king?” What’s the crazy flying dragon talking about? She wasn’t sure.


He realized that she hoped to deny it. Surely, she hoped that it wasn’t so. “Your King, Queen Megan.” He phrased it that way in order to get her thinking. He waited for a second. “Your husband.”


Of all the crazy things that she had heard about today and had seen with her own eyes, this was the one that stopped her heart the most of all of them. How could this be? She thought about it. “Are you telling me that I have a husband?” She tried to take several deep cleansing breaths since she felt lightheaded since she already knew the answer. She sensed it. This made her completely terrified. His nod was almost unperceivable. “Okay.” She paused. “I was afraid that was what you were telling me, Bakari.” How did she feel about that? She decided to remember that this was just a dream anyway, so she could survive this without having a panic attack like she felt she could so easily do right about now.


He nodded once more and spoke in a quieter voice than normal. “The women voted for the king and the entire Northern Kingdom voted for you, male and female. You were from the Other World, after all, and that’s why everyone votes in order to ensure you’re the best. The opposite sex only votes for those in the Outer World so that the royal can be a better mate for the royal from the Other World.”


Outer World. Other World. It confused her to say the least, but she wondered if she went along with it, if it might make more sense. “That sounds like a good tradition. I bet I got a better man for my husband because of it. Right?” She tried to reassure herself. She didn’t mean one word, but hoped that it would be the case.


“That was the idea. It had been your mother’s brainstorm a few years ago since the Outer World changed so dramatically. Dryden Astoria of Saphir Philo, whom you’ll call Dryden, is a wonderful man. He’s handsome, a warrior, educated, a reader, a lover of Shakespeare, a songwriter, and a natural born leader. He’s in the army by trade and is in charge of a division. He’d be like a colonel in the American armed forces, if that helps you to comprehend.” Bakari depicted the situation to her.


“It does.” Although, Megan wondered if it were possible to ever fully understand a dream or a hallucination.