CH. 36.3 — Dinner was torture. While Bee and Col exclaimed over the tender roasted sheep, baked potatoes with sour cream, and green beans, Janine pushed the food around on her plate. At last everyone else leaned back, sighing.
“Delicious dinner, as always.” Jay patted his mouth with a napkin the size of a sheet.
Janine gathered her courage. “Jay, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Jay listened to her tale all the way through. Then he turned to Fritter. “Well? Are you going to tell her, or shall I?”
Fritter blushed, picked up a teacup, and turned it over and over. “Janie, we… haven’t been precisely honest with you.”
Janine frowned. “What do you mean?”
Fritter squirmed in his chair. “As soon as I saw the boy, I knew who he was.”
“And you didn’t say anything?” She glared at the dragon. “You knew too?”
The dragon looked embarrassed. “Well, I did notice that he smelled the same as that baby I cursed so many years ago.”
“Now, Janie,” said Fritter. “Don’t get angry. You were having so much fun taking care of him, I didn’t have the heart to tell you. I knew you’d be upset if you found out he was a prince.”
The dragon smiled hopefully. “He seems to have grown up into a nice young man in spite of things.”
“No thanks to you.” Janine scowled. “You lied to me. Both of you.”
“You weren’t exactly forthcoming when you got here either,” Jay said. “You wouldn’t tell us where you came from or who you really were. It’s always been “Just Janie.”
Col sighed.
Fritter looked up. “Of course we knew who you were. After all, how many other girls with massive warts on their faces live in the Tulgey Woods and are hunted by a mad axe man? ”
Janine cringed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Why didn’t you?”
Janine slumped in defeat. “I guess I just wanted you to know and like me for who I was on the inside.”
Fritter patted her arm. “Maybe we all want that exact same thing. We’ve all got things in our past that we’re not proud of. When we try to make a fresh start, sometimes the people around us won’t allow it. Sometimes we just have to run away and start over.”
Janine studied his sad face and wondered what had caused Fritter to leave his home and become the servant of a cranky dragon. After a moment she took a deep breath and looked at Fritter and Jay. “I don’t hold your pasts against you.” She did wonder if Prince Ezra would feel the same… if he ever woke up.
Jay smiled. “So, are we all friends again? Good. Fritter, bring out that cherry cheesecake you’ve been hoarding in the kitchen. We need to celebrate.”
Carol Nicolas 