Ablaze

Chapter 5

                                                                                             Rezzik

“I-I w-will… d-do a-as y-you… s-say… C-Crown P-Prince… R-Rezzik!” The healer forced to verbalize this while he had trouble breathing.

I took in a deep breath and let go of him, pushing him aside with the force I barely noticed. He was slumped against the wall that was a few meters away from the bed. It created a thud as his body connected the sturdy wall.

My attention was pulled from my father to the one that just came into the bedchamber hurriedly with a worried face. Umrrath, my father’s old adviser, quickly scanned the room and stared at me.

“I heard the King’s very ill. What happened to him, Crown Prince Rezzik? How did this happen?” he asked in his usual low voice.

As I glared at him, surveying his usual formal robe of red and black colors, he must have been up earlier than I did. He was always neat, brown hair swept away from his wide forehead, emphasizing his big dark eyes and unsmiling plump dark lips.

“Why are you asking me that, Umrrath? Do I look like the healer to you? If you already heard what happened, why are you still asking me when I know nothing?” I shot back, voice reverberating in the solemn bedchamber. I glared at the servants standing in a corner with their heads bowed. I sauntered a few steps toward them. “Guards! Take all these maid servants and investigate them!”

The guards immediately followed my order while the maidservants pleaded me, saying they knew nothing, but I didn’t listen.

“Crown Prince Rezzik—” Umrrath began to protest as well.

“I’m sure all this has something to do with what Ifadi ingested. Otherwise, I could smell something’s wrong.” My fiery eyes drifted back to Umrrath.

I noticed Ydraz shift in her position, alert of what was going to happen. She signaled the healer to get out of the bedchamber, which the healer seemed to be relieved and was happy to comply. Only a couple of guards stood near my father’s bed remained.

“How can you be so sure of that, Crown Prince Rezzik? We as dragon shifters use magic. What if the king is cursed?”

Like Ifadi, he was over a thousand years old, so he must know things compared to my two hundred years.

“Then the healer would’ve told me if Ifadi is indeed cursed! In the meantime, I want that cure and I want to know who did this! I advise you to not get in my way, Umrrath.”

He stepped back and curtly nodded after we glared at each other for the longest moment. “Forgive my incompetence, Crown Prince Rezzik,” he said and bowed, retreating from the king’s bedchamber.

I just stared at his retreating back, seething. I took a deep breath and glanced at my motionless father. He seemed to be thinner than I could remember. As his one and only offspring, I had the duty to see him everyday at the throne room, but I only did it not more than a hundred times all throughout my existence. Even as a child, I wasn’t fond of the rules. Yes, I was forced to do some necessary things for my role in Drakkon Kingdom. But other than those I considered important, Ifadi just left me on my own devices. Maybe he thought I’d rather learn things without his guidance, which I also preferred.

Ifadi and I rarely see eye to eye, but he was enough a considerate father to me. We had occasional meetings at the palace garden where we could see the most part of the lake that surrounded the entire royal palace. The octagonal Black Castle was deliberately erected at the center some three thousand years ago when the peace treaty was agreed. The royal dwelling was surrounded by eight mushroom-like towers where dragon guards were posted. Each tower had four dragon guards. Every dragon guard was relieved every six hours. In spite of having a supreme guard, I oversee them as well, for Ifadi’s protection.

Underneath the dark lake was a hidden place where our hoards of magical stones, jewels, gems and other treasures were kept. Ergo, we also had security posted around the edge of the lake. There were a myriad of trees and other dwellings near the lake, where most of the guards’ families and friends lived.

The Drakkon towns were also being kept safe by appointed leaders and guards. If invasion happened, the Black Ice Dragons wouldn’t be in a total surprise. Anyway, Draconia had been peaceful even though it was divided into three territories of different dragon species. The Draggan Queendom (Wind Dragons) had the smallest one while Drakkon Kingdom (Black Ice Dragons) and Doragon Queendom (Fire Dragons) had equally bigger territories.

Ifadi would always remind me that I’d one day take over his crown and throne. It had always made me uncomfortable to hear it. I hadn’t seen myself leading the Drakkon Kingdom in the future, but right now… as I watched him in his bed like a living corpse, it gave me a dismal feeling. I could only gaze at him with a heavy heart.

***

I went to the throne room when I heard from my secret messenger that Umrrath rallied the other elders of the court. I wondered what his purpose was.

The shifter guards in their human form, just like any others when inside the palace, opened the huge doors. I strode in purposely toward the elevated platform, with Ydraz behind me. I sat on my father’s throne, looking down at the old dragon shifters before me. They all looked up at me before they transferred their gaze to Umrrath, who was standing at the base of the platform. It was where his seat was, as my father’s long-time adviser.

I waved my hand to signal them all to sit down, materializing a golden chair for each, while Ydraz stood opposite Umrrath.

“What’s there to convene about? I was not aware of this gathering until someone told me. Umrrath, do explain.” I gave him a challenging look.

He glanced at my white robes, which was the color of my garments. Then, he spoke. “Seeing you in your father’s throne even without his consent, don’t you think it’s already treason, Crown Prince Rezzik?”

I snorted. He seemed to think propriety was needed at the moment—that I should’ve worn my father’s colors of green and black to be able to sit on the throne! That was even more ridiculous! If I did, they would’ve confirmed I was already acting like the Drakkon King when Ifadi was in disposed of. Wearing those colors was treason itself.

“I asked you first, but instead, you question why am I seated here? As the Crown Prince, I do have the right to sit in this emerald-and-lapiarta throne, if the king is unable to perform his duties, Umrrath! Now, give me one bad reason to have you executed right here and right this instant!” I roared, face heating in anger and nostrils flaring. I clenched my fists that rested on the armrests of the throne. My white-silver eyes were merely slits as I swept everyone’s faces that were present here. I knew all of them, of course. They pledged loyalty to my father. Huh! Dragon asses! I should know better. These weren’t my father’s loyal subjects but Umrrath’s. What else could I say or conclude? They were here because he summoned all of them. And for what?

The guards were on high alert. Their swords were already unsheathed. One word from me and they’d execute all these dastards!

There were murmurs as they stepped back in fear.

“Crown Prince Rezzik, is it true His Greatness is dying?” Karius asked. He was very old, like the castle itself, but he looked as strong as Ifadi’s age.

“Why are you all here?” I demanded once again in a firm tone as I stood up from the throne.

“Umrrath inquired if we know where to find the best healers in Draconia, Crown Prince Rezzik,” a second one answered. He stood just behind the first one who spoke. He was as old as the former, wearing the same robe colors—black sleeves and violet for the rest.

All twelve of them elders that were trusted by my father wore the same robes as a sign of their status in the royal court.

My sharp gaze fell to Umrrath who had his head bowed in my direction. I subtly gritted my teeth, lifting my chin and never taking my eyes off him.

“What else?”

They were all silent. It was even like they held their breaths, lest I’d snap and heads would roll down the jade floor. They very well knew of my short temper.

“The maid servants were tortured to death, and no one could give the answers, Crown Prince Rezzik,” Umrrath informed me.

I let out an oath, and the elders frowned. I didn’t tell the guards to torture the maidservants to death but to merely interrogate them. There was a difference for dragons’ god’s sake! Now they seemed to pin this on me. That I had innocent lives killed.

There was silence in the vast well-lit throne room. It was in the middle of the day, but it felt gloomy here.

“If you do know how to cure my father, let me and the healer know immediately! But know this, I don’t want any more of you to convene without my knowledge. If you do so behind my back, I consider it as treason. And for that, I will hunt you down as traitors and execute you myself! Do we understand each other? Umrrath?” I deliberately looked at him as I addressed them all.

“Yes, Crown Prince Rezzik,” Umrrath uttered almost inaudibly, together with the others.

I watched them all go out of the throne room after they bowed their heads. The guards sheathed their swords. I summoned one trusted guard to send a message to my secret spy.

Ydraz quietly moved closer to me. “What’s your plan now, Crown Prince Rezzik?”

***

A few days passed by but no cure was found. Every healer that examined Ifadi couldn’t tell what ailed him.

I was devastated when the resident healer himself delivered the news to me while I was in my bedchamber in the middle of the night.

“My sorrowful regrets to tell you, Crown Prince Rezzik, that His Greatness… has passed away…” His head was hung as he spoke.

I thought the room swayed, but it was me. I held fast onto a bed post for support, and two teardrops rolled down my face. I shook my head, looking at the old healer.

“You… you… didn’t do anything to make him well!” Before I knew or even thought of what to do next, I already grabbed Ydraz’s sword that was safely placed on her back and cut the healer’s head off. It was so fast that my keeper wasn’t able to move and could only gape at what I did.

“Crown Prince Rezzik!” Ydraz looked at me with horror, brown eyes bulging.

I heaved as I watched the healer’s body fall to the floor with a thud. Blood flowed unceasingly, with its coppery smell wafting in the air. The shocked attendants present in my bedchamber knelt down with their heads bowed, afraid that they’d be next.

“Guards!” Ydraz hollered.

They came in immediately and were baffled upon seeing that the healer’s head was already separated from his body. Their eyes drifted from the remains on the floor toward me and Ydraz. My keeper just moved her head to tell them to get rid of the remains, and they obliged right away without questions.

Ydraz slowly took her sword from my hand that gripped it tightly. She then took a small cloth that she always carried with her to wipe the sword clean. “No one’s going to breathe a word what happened here. Is that understood?” she slowly instructed the servants in a low but threatening tone.

“Yes, Dharris (Keeper) Ydraz,” they immediately answered, addressing her with her special title as my keeper. They disappeared after cleaning up the floor with magic.

“I think we have to go to His Greatness’ bedchamber, Crown Prince Rezzik,” Ydraz advised me as she put her sword back in its scabbard.

“I vow to kill those who killed my father, Ydraz,” I whispered, jaw set. My white-silver eyes regarded her stoic face.

“But we’re not sure if he was really murdered,” she pointed out. “Maybe… it just happened…”

“No! Someone must have been behind it. And I have to know who, how and why. You should know what this means, Ydraz!”

Her golden brows came together as she stared at me. “You can’t leave the palace Crown Prince Rezzik, especially now! No, you definitely can’t!”

“There must be something I’d learn outside the palace, Ydraz. If the shifters here do not have any idea, then someone from the outside must know.”

“And then, are you going to leave the throne empty with only the crown on it? That’s not what His Greatness would want for you to do at this crucial time, Crown Prince Rezzik. You can’t leave the Drakkon castle!”