Dragon King's Bride

When I was a fragile nine-year-old, down in my best friend's basement one chilly evening late in December, I told my big secret for the first time. Evelyn Ward's family lived in a roomy two-story colonial in an upscale suburb, and beside the tiny apartment my mother and I shared, it felt like the perfect place to play once winter set in. "What's your guy's name?" Evelyn said to me. Evelyn's parents had just given us our first Ken dolls for Christmas. My mother frowned on Barbie dolls, but I'd kept a secret stash of them at Evelyn's. "Mine's Ethan. He's a news anchor. Like Harper's dad," Evelyn said proudly. Everybody wished Harper's dad was their dad. "Mine's called Caelan," I said. "Caelan?" Evelyn scrunched up her nose at me. "That's such a weird name." "What do you mean? It's a great name!" I shot back, stung by Evelyn's jab at the person my mother had put on a pedestal for me since I first learned to talk. "It's my future husband's name." One hand flew to my mouth. Oh my gosh! I never should've said that! My mother had warned me not to tell anybody, and until then I'd made sure my secret stayed hidden. Lenora would tell me, "Lila, your life on Earth isn't what matters. Once you turn twenty-three, your life is going to become a true fairy tale! The magical king, Caelan, will come take you away to live with him in his castle. Can you picture it, Lila? A castle! And why, you ask, would he choose us? You need to marry him, Lila, because you're destined to rescue the world." Her voice dropped to a hush, her expression shifting from teasing to curiosity, as though my secret thrilled her... as though maybe I really was special. Butterflies woke up inside me. The happiness of realizing that poor, awkward, nobody Lila could actually interest her cool, popular friend rushed through me, and I felt brave in a new way. If there was anybody who should hear it, Evelyn, my best friend in the entire world, should be the one. Maybe she'll even think I'm interesting! I was never the cool girl; my secret had me stuck on the outside, looking in. "Don't say anything, it has to stay a secret," I said, glancing toward the playroom to see whether Evelyn's little brother was tucked behind the pool table or whether her parents had left the stairwell door open. Evelyn leaned in and nodded, excited and interested, urging me to keep going. "Okay," she said, "I swear I won't tell anyone!" "Lenora told me that one day I'll save the world by marrying a king named Caelan," I whispered to her. "A king?" she said, her eyes wide. "You know those fairy tales you read? They're real! Caelan rules another magical world. There's a portal linking our worlds, and Caelan..." "Lila, what the hell are you talking about?" Evelyn cut in, using a grown-up swear for emphasis. She frowned, her eyes opening wide, and fear seized me. This was why Lenora had warned me to keep this to myself. "No, Evelyn, I was kidding. It's just a joke," I said, trying to laugh it away while my heart kept climbing higher with every awful second after I blurted it out. There was no taking it back now. "I hate saying this, but Lenora... is a liar," Evelyn said flatly, fear for my sanity in her eyes as she dropped her dolls and lurched up from the carpet. Before I told my big secret, I'd already felt apart from the other kids, but the look on my best friend's face taught me I was an island, cut off from everyone else by my mother's insanity and by my own stupidity for believing her.