The princess sat on the roof of the castle with Alaric. The moon's light reflected in both of their eyes. She'd never been up here, it was oddly peaceful. She turned towards Alaric, "So why'd you bring me up here, Alaric?"
"I wanted to show you something, and not just the night sky from here." He turned his attention towards his half-sister, "You have sympathy for half-breeds, correct?"
"I want to marry one, of course I do." She stared at Alaric with a confused look on her face. "They deserve as much rights as the rest of us." Alaric laughed softly, grabbing one of his gloves and pulling it off. Underneath was a moderately scaled hand, with thicker, sharper, nails than an ordinary human would have. There seemed to be small feathers growing out of the gaps in the scales as well. Khora gasped, backing away from Alaric slightly.
"I appreciate knowing you have sympathy for me, then. Though I suppose I'm more like an eighth-breed." The bastard prince stared at the back of his hand, smiling to himself.
"What about yourâ¦" The princess gestured to her forehead, "Shouldn't you have horns?"
"I did, a while ago. I took them off, sanded them down as far as I could. And they were nowhere near the size of Vogaix's." He laughed to himself.
"Why tell me?" She stared at his hands, they were nowhere near as monstrous as her knight's were. But there were quite a few scales. "I could tell my father, get you kicked out of the kingdom, or even killed."
"You wouldn't do that. Unless I vastly overestimated your intelligence. When you become queen you are going to equalize rights, correct?" Khora nodded, "Your people would think you are a hypocritical queen, for killing me for being a half-breed while marrying one yourself. And even then, Vogaix would be mad at you. You would have exploited this fine kingdom's bigotry. And you wouldn't want that, now would you?" The princess shook her head silently. "That being said, I recommend taking the Merlean prince's hand in marriage. Because then at least you'll be left with something." Alaric stood up, holding his scaled hand out to the princess again. "Because I am still getting the throne. And I am still getting Vogaix." A smile crept onto his face.
"I still don't understand why you showed me." Khora stood up on her own, putting her hands on her waist. "You clearly have a game beyond just getting the throne. And you know full well I won't be marrying the prince, I'll be marrying Vogaix." The princess turned towards the window they used to get up here, "And my knight will be mine forever. I promise you that, Alaric. Your secret is safe with me." She opened the window, stepping into the castle, "For now."
Alaric jumped in after Khora, the warm light illuminating his pitch black scales before he put his glove back on. He put a hand on Khora's shoulder, stopping her from walking away. "That's not all I have to show you, sister," The princess turned around and looked at him with an annoyed look. "Most of it are just little hidden rooms, but there is one I'm still curious about." Khora begrudgingly followed the bastard-prince, going through the servant tunnels. After going down an almost uncountable number of stairs, they reached a massive library.
"I know about the library, Alaric." Khora rolled her eyes, remembering all the times with her mother in here, teaching the princess how to read. She remembered the feeling of the queen's leg shaking, she remembered the smell of her perfume. But she didn't remember her face. It just looked like a blank spot in her memory. Alaric snapped his fingers in front of Khora's face.
"Pay attention, Khora," The warm light of the furnace radiated around his body as he smiled, "I'm not just here to show you the library, obviously." Her half-brother pulled her over to a specific bookshelf.
"You came here to show me a⦠bookshelf?" She smiled, this was surprisingly childish for someone older than her, "You know I've seen this before, too, right?"
"Not very observant, are you?" He pulled her close at the same time he pulled an old looking book from the shelf. The first thing that Khora felt was the ground underneath them moving. She heard the sound of stone moving against stone, and she covered her ears as Alaric smirked at her. The bookshelf they were standing by began to turn, along with them. She grabbed onto Alaric's shirt as they spun, until they stopped on the other side of the wall. "Still going to keep a hold of me princess?" She jumped off of the bastard-prince, he wiped his shirt as she looked around the room. It was relatively small, but large enough for four or five people to comfortably fit. It contained a chair and a table, with a massive book on it.
"How did you find this?" The princess blew dust off of the book, coughing and waving it out of her face right after. The book was titled The History and Physiology of Dragons. 9th edition. The author's name was written small at the bottom, Morgan Millicent.
"I happen to have an eye for the small details," Alaric leaned against the stone wall, watching Khora read the cover of the book. "Can you do me a favor, princess?" He pushed aside the chair, revealing a small crack in the wall behind it. "Can you see anything through there? All I saw was shadow."
"Whatever happened to an eye for detail?" Khora looked at her half-brother with a playful smirk, "And I guess so� There's no harm in it." She knelt down, putting her hands against the floor. She peered through the hole, behind it was just shadow. She wasn't even sure what would be behind there with the layout of the castle. Honestly, she wasn't sure where in the castle the library was compared to her room. "I don't see anything either, just blackness." She started to move away, when a massive green eye suddenly appeared on the other side, its pupils were shaped like diamonds. She jumped away with a yelp.
"What? What is it?" Alaric rushed to her side, helping her up, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," She softly pushed him off her, "There was⦠something back there, it looked back at me. It saw me."
"I'm sure it was just a trick of the light, princess," Alaric stared at the hole in the wall, beginning to lean down himself before they felt the wall shake. Growling came from the other side and the pair both ran back to the bookshelf, Khora grabbed the massive tome and pulled the same book, causing the bookshelf to turn with both of them. The banging of the wall stopped as they reached the library. They looked at each other, Khora keeping a tight hold on the old tome she took. At the same time, they spoke, "What the fuck was that?"
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Boran led the servants inside, helping the weakest of them carry the supplies for tomorrows dance. He never signed up to just be a helper, but with all the guests arriving soon, he'd have to be on top of things. Make sure none of those outsiders were stealing from them. They were the most prosperous country in the world, and Boran was to make sure they stayed that way. Around him were all the knights in training, preparing for the guests to arrive. Or⦠almost all of them. "Jane," He put his hand on the shoulder of the redhead as she checked her blades sharpness, "Where's YaÄmur?" The twin sheathed her blade as she turned around, putting her finger on her chin.
"He said he was helping guard the prisoners, for a bit. Honestly I think he just got overwhelmed with the amount of people." Jane cracked her back, stretching slightly.
"I see," Boran smiled slightly, wiping it off his face as soon as he was able, "I'll go check on him," The knight handed a parchment and a stick of charcoal to Jane, "Can you keep track of which servants are here and which aren't?" The knight in training nodded, saluting Boran before laughing slightly. She waved to the head knight while she walked off, marking the parchment whenever she counted a servant. Boran walked over to the dungeon entrance, opening the door and stepping down the stairs.
"Sir!" The knight guarding the door came to attention and saluted Boran, "Are you here for your son?" Boran nodded and the smaller knight unlocked the door, pushing it open for the head knight to enter. Boran squeezed through and looked around the dungeon, seeing many of the prisoners eating some bread in their cages. His eyes rested on the door at the end of the other end of the dungeon, something was back there. He should figure out what, but for now he's here for his son. He looked for Jasmine's cage. He smiled when he saw his son sitting on the floor against the door of her cage. The two were laughing about something, but Jasmine shut up as she saw Boran approach.
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"Don't stop on my account," The head guard had long since wiped the smile from his face. His son looked up at him and slightly jumped.
"Pa!" He awkwardly smiled, immediately standing up, "I'm sorry for slacking during the set up, but there were⦠a lot of people up there. You know how I getâ¦" YaÄmur looked at the floor, making himself small.
"I know, son," Boran laughed a little, "If anything we're overstaffed up there. I'm just glad you're getting along with Miss Cobbe." The knight turned towards the tiny, caged prisoner, "As long as she promises not to steal anymore." Jasmine nodded vigorously, her hair bouncing up and down as she did. "Good. YaÄmur, I am going to need you to come back up in a bit, we have to make sure every knight is present and accounted for."
"Okay, pa," YaÄmur got up, waving to Jasmine, "You promise you aren't mad at me for slacking?"
"I promise, son," Boran ruffled a hand through his son's hair. The small knight in training giggled and playfully shoved his father away. "You and Jasmine seem to be getting along?" The head knight opened the dungeon door for his son, letting him step ahead.
"Yeahâ¦" The smaller knight blushed as he climbed up the stairs, "I know it's only been just over a day, but she's really nice. And her family is lovely too." They reached the crowd of people, most of the knights and knights in training were lined up, ready to be accounted for.
"Get in line, YaÄmur," Boran let his son get into line, turning his attention towards the other knights. "Okay, knights!" His voice boomed throughout the courtyard. The sun began to rise, washing everyone in a comforting orange light, "Today is an important day! You all have been given your tasks, and know what you must do. We have to make sure nothing goes wrong today." Boran turned his attention to the line his son was in, "And you, trainees! You have your tasks as well, and after this I will support your knighthood!" He looked at everyone in line, someone was missing. "Where is Jane?" As if on cue, the knight came running in to the courtyard panting. She leaned against her twin.
"I'm sorry Sir Boran!" She took a breath, holding up the parchment he had given her earlier, "A few of servants are missing. Malachi and Sara, two of the half-breeds."
"I should have known those half-breeds would be troubleâ¦" Boran growled to himself. "Where is the princess?" Jane held up a finger, asking for a moment.
"She's in her room with Mary," Jane looked at Boran's face, which seemed to be bathed in shadow, "Are you okay, sir?" The head knight gripped his blade's handle tightly.
"I'm fine, I need to teach that half-breed a lesson. He'd better hope he doesn't come back." He growled and walked away, feeling all the trainee's eyes burn a hole in the back of his head.
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The orange light of the sunrise reflected off Fenrir's scales, lighting the walls of his cave in a comforting orange light. He opened his eyes, huffing smoke into the air. He planned to teach Vogaix about her scales today, so she could hide herself. And he would help her teach the other half-breeds to fight. Morgan's knowledge on the king would be useful as well. The glass dragon stood up, stretching his wings and back. He had had some lovely dreams, of sitting in the burnt remains of the castle, Boran and the king's bodies underneath him. He smiled at the memory, his goals were nearing fruition.
"Sir Fenrir!" A familiarly pathetic voice came from outside his cave, "I have brought you someone else. She wants more." Fenrir continued to smile, that little half-centaur came through, and surprisingly quickly. He stepped out of the cave, revealing himself to the tiny man. The bony, feather covered woman next to him looked at the dragon in awe, it fell to the ground, backing up from Fenrir.
"Malachiâ¦" Its voice shook, the half-harpy's slightly clawed hands dug into the dirt underneath it, "Y-you didn't tell me it was a dragon!" Its voice was high pitched and gravely, sounding like it wanted to sing bird-song at all times. "I can't do thisâ¦"
"Sara, please," Malachi helped the half-harpy to its feet, "Fenrir doesn't want to hurt us. He wants to help us. You know that feeling you had after the bread I gave you? He can give you more."
"Heâ¦" It looked at Fenrir, his scales brilliantly reflecting the light of the sunrise, "He can?" The half-centaur nodded and led Sara into the cave. Fenrir followed them in. "How?"
"Like this," Fenrir raised his front leg up to his mouth and bit. Through a grimace, he dug deeper into his flesh, feeling his blood slowly drip to the ground. Its oily surface created an orange rainbow when combined with the light coming from outside. He placed his paw on the ground, the thick blood still pouring from it onto the ground. Sara stared at the massive beast, slowly stepping towards his pile of blood. "Drink, both of you,"
"Thank you, sir!" Malachi rushed forwards, taking the blood in its hands and drinking it. The effect was immediate, it fell to the ground, eyes glazed over. It slowly pushed itself to the wall as the half-harpy crept forwards. It knelt to the ground, taking a small bit of the glass-dragon's blood on its finger. As soon as it put the blood in its mouth, its eyes glazed over. The wings on its back went limp along with Sara itself.
"Both of you, stay here until I get back." Fenrir looked at the two pathetic creatures on his floor, "Or at least until you come to your senses." Getting up, he wrapped his leg in a large cloth, stopping the slow flow of his blood. His blood was valuable, wasting it would be foolish. He spread his wings, scales morphing to the color of the new morning sky, and took off.
The king's immortality is just that of old age if Morgan is anything to go by. Which means Fenrir would be able to kill him, preferably personally. He caught a hawk in his claws as he flew to the half-breed village, he felt it struggle under his grasp. He tightened his grip, feeling its bones crack, he sighed, happily. Curling his body in a circle, he ate the now-dead hawk, bones and all. The bones and feathers slipped into his breath-sac, to be used as fuel. And the rest of the meat went into his stomach. Dragon biology was something not even many dragons knew about, but Morgan seemed to. He had questions for that human.
He landed in the clearing, letting his scales relax back to their normal color. He felt a tiny thing grab his hind leg, and he heard a voice. "Mister Fenrir!" His head flipped around and he saw a tiny half-human clinging to his leg. She was covered in dirt, with grass and clovers growing out of her skin. A luck dragon? He wasn't aware humans bred with dragons of⦠lower intelligence. "Welcome back!" She smiled up at the dragon, her brown hair matched perfectly with the dirt that had dug its way into the pores of her scales.
"Yesâ¦" The dragon muttered to the half-human, shaking his leg to get her off. "Welcome back to me," The luck-dragon-girl flew off of the dragon's leg, landing on her butt.
"Yay!" The girl giggled, running back to his leg, "Do it again!" He stopped her, pushing her away with his claw that almost dwarfed the girl.
"Not yet, little one," He looked around the clearing, the only one here was the young half-human, "Where are the others, Morgan and Vogaix?"
"I think V is in with Sleppy! Getting her treatment," The girl smiled, some dirt falling off of her face, "N' Miss Morgan is still sleeping, she sleeps a lot these days." She giggled, rushing towards Fenrir's claw. This little girl didn't fear him at all. "So Mister Big Dragon is stuck with Miss Lucy!" She dug her tiny claws into the groves of his own claw. The girl gave a playful roar, giggling to herself afterwards. The glass-dragon curled up, giving himself view of Lucy. She gnawed on his claw slightly, and he felt himself smile. She reminded him of the little ones, the young dragons that Boran, that the king took from him. Those monstrous humans cut their lives short, cut his sister's life short. So he would cut theirs short, all of theirs. He stared at the half-human child hanging on his claw. He wouldn't let the humans cut her life short, nor her family. She didn't deserve that, even if she was part human. She asked for that as much as Vogaix did.
"I see you and Luce are getting along," Vogaix's voice came from behind the glass-dragon. He raised his head, turning it to look at his heir. She was rubbing her arm, a piece of cloth was wrapped around where she was rubbing. "Glad to see it, knowing you, I figured you would've eaten her." Behind the half-human knight was the white scaled half-centaur-dragon, Slepna.
"Don't tempt him, V, he just might." She looked at the glass-dragon with a slight fear behind her eyes, "What are you doing back here so early, anyhow?"
"I came to teach Vogaix how to properly use her scales," Fenrir peeled the tiny half-human off of his claw, handing her to his heir, "She could use quite a bit of practice." He stared at his half-human heir, she was tickling Lucy's stomach with her claws, "And the rest of you could learn how to fight." The dragon got up, flapping his wings to get the bugs that had settled there off. "Follow me, daughter, leave Lucy with Slepna." The two other half-breeds gave a shocked look when Fenrir called his heir daughter, but Vogaix set the half-human down, letting her run over to the half-centaur.
"Fine," Vogaix stretched, her tail and wings tightening, "Let's just not take too long." Fenrir rolled his eyes, huffing out some of the smoke from his earlier meal.
"I have some questions for Morgan, don't worry, we won't be long." The dragon slightly knelt down, allowing his heir to ride him.