The Dragon And His Savior

Five

Seraphina raised her gaze from the mural spread in front of her as she saw the entire Frost Court entering the council room after Ilaria.

All of them looked ragged and already seemed to know that they had been brought here for some bad news.

Priamos' face was expressionless as he stood in his place around the table, wearing fighting leathers. The dried blood on his forehead clearly showed that he had just come back from a rigorous sparring session with the soldiers and something told Seraphina that the blood was not even his.

Bacilius gave Seraphina a comforting nod even though he didn't look any better either. He had spent the entire afternoon with the patrol units trying to make the ends meet in the kingdom by ensuring that ample amount of grain was reaching every house. He was dressed in his regular tunic and leather pants and his bronze hair was all messed up, giving testimony to the fact that he was extremely worn out.

Beside him was Rosette, looking same as the way she had looked when Seraphina had made her way here after the conversation with the lower courts. Not a hair was out of place as she looked alert as usual, ready to comply to any orders that might be thrown her way.

Then came Emyr, watching Seraphina with his eyes sceptical and his lips drawn in a low scowl. He already hated that they had all been summoned here so abruptly, Seraphina knew that he already had the hint as to what this meeting could be about.

She received a gentle nod from Ilaria who was standing beside Emyr and that was when she finally got to stare into Asteria's eyes.

The look in her glassy grey orbs was what knocked the air out of Seraphina's lungs.

The queen of stars and shadows was watching her with such hollowness and numbness that Seraphina didn't take long to understand.

Ster already knew.

Seraphina felt like crying as she realized that soon, she would have to stare at the same expression that was on Asteria's face on everyone else's face as well.

Including Drystan, whenever he would come back home.

That was when Seraphina gulped and took in a deep breath, before she decided to rip the bandaid right off.

"We got news about Niko and Mala from Karstark's spies near the borders between Osiris and our kingdom." Seraphina stated, pausing to see everyone's reactions before she continued. "It is with a heavy heart that I am telling you all that Niko is no longer with us. He fell to his death under the sea."

And the moment Seraphina finished speaking, there were a myriad of reactions that she received from her court.

Rosette instantly broke down crying, falling back into her chair as she took her head in her hands, sobbing profusely.

Emyr tried to help her but the shock of the news was too much for him to be able to bear as she turned back towards Seraphina with a vicious scowl on his face, "how the hell did this happen?" He growled, anger broiling through his bones with each passing moment.

"He was shot out of the sky by Murrya, Nero's Enchantress and second in command." Seraphina replied right before Priamos punched a hole through the council table and Bacilius turned away to be able to take a hold of his raging emotions.

Ilaria was the one who could try to comfort Rosette as she kneeled in front of her, rubbing her arms softly. But nothing seemed to work in the moment and Ilaria knew that Rosette was the one who had would take this news the hardest.

"How is that even possible? This can't be true!" Priamos shrieked, his face red with his rage and grief.

Seraphina stood there, unable to comfort any of her family members, feeling helpless when she finally heard Asteria speak.

“I was hoping that he would survive.”

Her voice was very meek but still, the sensitive hearing of the dragons easily caught onto her words.

They all now looked at her, even Rosette through her tear filled eyes.

“What are you saying?” Seraphina asked.

“I saw it. I was keeping a check on him and I had a vision that something was going to happen to him. And when it did, I saw him struggling to stay alive, I wished that he would make it.” Asteria had tears streaming down her face at this point as she placed her palms on the table in front of her.

“Why didn’t you tell us anything if you knew?” Bacilius growled, and everyone in the room was shocked to see him react in such a manner. They had hardly ever seen him lose his temper. Out of the two warrior twins, it was Priamos who was always more in touch with his emotions.

Asteria shook her head, “it was too late. There is still a haze around my visions after I got all my powers back. Craig must have done a spell before he died. It prevented me from foreseeing Murrya’s actions. I wish that I could have figured it out sooner. I was still sceptical about Niko’s status until Seraphina revealed that he isn’t alive any longer.”

Seraphina reached out and placed her hand on Asteria’s shoulder, knowing just how difficult this situation was for her, especially since she knew that Asteria blamed herself for not being able to predict the fate of the kingdom.

Ilaria was the one who took in a deep breath and spoke up then.

“We have to get Drystan back. And we have to make sure that we win this bloody war because Nero has gone too far. We have to make sure that he suffers for the entirety of our eternity for his crimes against our kingdom and our family. Our people are bleeding. Our home is being threatened every day and our soldiers are growing restless. We have to go on offense. And we have to do it now.”

And Seraphina knew in that moment, that this war would be more brutal than anything she had ever imagined.