The Dragon And His Savior

Two

Seraphina entered the council room with her emotionless mask intact on her porcelain face. There were endless things running through her mind but she was in no mood to ponder over them for even a moment.

She was greeted by Ilaria standing beside the round table which now contained a mural painted of the entire kingdom, along with figurines depicting enemy and kingdom forces according to their known location.

The sigils of Kymadom and Elyandria sent a pang of anger through Seraphina's body but she knew that rage was the last thing that would help her in times like these.

"General Karstark has some news from his spies in Elyandria." Ilaria informed her, the royal spy was dressed in her stealth gear which involved a black bodice suit much similar to the one that Seraphina once wore. Her raven curls were longer today, touching the base of her neck and gently grazing her collar bone and along with the dark kohl lining Ilaria's emotionless eyes, her lips were painted in the colour of blood— the only semblence of colour in a room which seemed uncharacteristically dull.

Seraphina only responded with a gentle dip of her chin while her emerald gaze stayed focused on the sea dragon figurines lining the borders of Ziella.

Ilaria nodded her head in Karstark's direction as he walked back to the table from where he had been standing by the window, deep in his own thoughts. The bloodshed he had witnessed in Drakaria only a few days ago had ended in nothing but confusion and loss. His angst was struggling in his chest to be released and he knew that only Seraphina could help him finally revel in the battle that was promised.

"Your Majesty." Karstark greeted in a gruff manner. There was a taunt to his tone that Seraphina was too tired to question. "I have word from trusted sources that Krogon is planning another attack."

Seraphina didn't raise her eyes even then, the stoic expression on her face only deepened as Karstark continued speaking.

"This time he is planning to come after the riverlands of Sagira." He informed.

Ilaria furrowed her brows then, coming to stand beside the mural on the table, "the riverlands of Sagira are sacred grounds for us. And they are no connected to Elyandria through any cleft or path. How will he even reach us from there?"

That was when Seraphina pointed to the grey mass of mountains on the north of the riverlands, "he'll attack through the Wastelands of Elyandria. That is the only way."

Karstark looked baffled at that, "I'm afraid that you might be wrong, Raventhorn. The Wastelands are overridden by unknown beasts and untameable creatures. There is no way that he would risk taking an army through there just to attack the riverlands."

"Yes, and besides, what would he even achieve by doing that?" Ilaria muttered. "Why would he want to come after our place of worship?"

The Riverlands were known for its institutions and monasteries. Scholars from all over the Frost Kingdom went there in search of enlightenment, living solely away from the crowds and luxuries, forfeiting all pleasures of life and devoting themselves to the sole purpose of finding the truth of existence.

Seraphina knew all that. What she didn't know, was the answer to Ilaria's question.

"Krogon must know something about the Riverlands that we don't." Kardtark mentioned, his voice was thoughtful and his eyes glaring at the sigil of Krogon's empire.

Seraphina shook her head, "my uncle is a lot many things but knowledgeable, he is not. There is absolutely no possible way that he knows something about this kingdom that we don't."

"You're forgetting one major factor here, Seraphina." Ilaria pointed out, finally earning a pointed stare from the officiating High Flame as she waited for Ilaria to proceed further.

"What factor?" Seraphina questioned.

Ilaria simply picked up the sea dragon figurine and placed it beside the colours of Elyandria. "Nero has been alive longer than all of us combined. He was there when Draven ruled these lands and there was a time when Nero and Draven were allies. Even Hellios' bond with this kingdom was not as strong as Nero's.

"Therefore, I refuse to believe that Nero doesn't already know secrets about us that can destroy us. All thanks to our previous monarch. And with Drystan being gone, who knows what Nero plans to do next..."

Ilaria didn't feel the need to sugarcoat anything about Drystan's current predicament. Seraphina had to refrain the urge to flinch at the statement about her husband but she quickly diverted her mind back to the topic of conversation.

"Alright," she muttered with a shaky voice, "we need to find out what Krogon gains to achieve from attacking the Riverlands aside from making the spirits of our people crumble into dust. And we also need to find out why Nero's armies haven't attacked Ziella yet."

"What do you mean they haven't attacked yet?" Karstark demanded with furrowed brows.

Ilaria sighed, exchanging an exasperated look with her queen.

"Ever since the attack on Drakaria, sea dragons and the rest of Nero's armada appeared on the other side of the Wall. And they haven't made any attempts at destroying the wall or even advancing towards Cestir or Frosthold. We don't know what they're waiting for but they're just standing there. Our armies are growing restless."

Karstark too was left to wonder what Nero's goals might be.

That was when he spoke with a firm tone. "He's trying to distract us."

Seraphina looked up at him with a questioning glance, "what do you mean?"

Karstark sighed, shaking his head he looked across the table towards the auburn haired queen. "All of this," he gestured towards the Wastelands of Elyandria and Ziella on the mural, "Krogon's forces riling up to attack your monasteries, Nero's forces only standing by without any action, Drystan getting captured, and that false battle in Drakaria....all of this can only mean one thing."

"And what might that be?" Ilaria demanded.

"We're being distracted." He affirmed, "there is a much greater play at hand here and we are unable to uncover it because we have all of these things to focus our resources on."

Seraphina's mind grasped Karstark's words but she could only think about the discussions held in the lower courts today.

Ilaria too was deep in thought when she saw Seraphina's expression. "High Flame?" She called out with a hint of concern in her voice. Even though she hadn't wanted to admit but she had grown closer to seeing exactly why everyone loved and believed in Seraphina so much. She was growing soft towards her and there was nothing to stop it.

"They might be trying to distract us, but that does not mean that we can afford to let Krogon into our lands. We have to find a way to stop him, at least long enough to be able to find where my husband is." Seraphina announced.

Karstark nodded his head, agreeing to every word that she was saying. "I will get my warriors to stand alert in the Sagira trenches. We will assume our ranks there and in the meantime, you should try to know more about Krogon's intentions through your network of spies." He said the last line towards Ilaria, who nodded, exchanging a stoic expression with Seraphina.

Seraphina took in a deep breath, her eyes fixed on the langs near Sagira as she wondered why exactly Krogon wanted to attack the monasteries of her kingdom.

“We have to find out what could possibly Krogon want from our place of worship.” Seraphina stated with a very serious expression on her face. “There is a possibility that this is all a ploy to divide our forces so he can attack us where we are the weakest and invade our lands. But then again, there is also a huge chance of the fact that Krogon knows what he would find here and he is coming for a very specific reason.”

“What are you suggesting?” Ilaria asked softly.

Seraphina had to take a few moments to find her words clearly. Karstark and Ilaria watched her with nothing but patience and respect. They could see just how hard it was for her to be able to think of every possible defence without crumbling under the weight of the possibility that her husband could be dying or getting closer to death with as much time that passed.

“Is there a possibility that there might be something in these monasteries that we aren’t aware of?” She asked Ilaria, “could it be something that Nero needs from our kingdom to ensure his victory?”

Ilaria was dumbfounded. For the first time she didn’t know how to answer a question. She tried hard to think through her centuries of memory with the hope of finding something relevant to what Seraphina was asking but there was nothing that she could come up with.

She shook her head with a deep set frown on her face, “I don’t know if there is something like that in the monasteries.”

Seraphina raised an eyebrow, “are you certain?”

Ilaria shrugged, “almost.” She mumbled.

The auburn haired queen sighed at that, shaking her head with disappointment wearing her down, “that is not good enough. We have to be certain. More than certain that there isn’t something that Krogon can use against us.”

Karstark had a scowl on his lips, “we shouldn’t be wasting our energy into thinking about that, we should be thinking of how to stop him from even coming into the kingdom.”

Seraphina clicked her tongue in disapproval, “we have to think of all the worst case scenarios. There is no page that those two tyrants are going to leave unturned. There is a reason why Nero went to such lengths to capture Drystan and so, there must be a reason why he would waste his resources into attacking a place without any significance. We have to think of the situation where we lose and Krogon’s soldiers manage to enter our lands.”

“I suppose I can get my birds to do some research. Perhaps we will be able to find something.” Ilaria stated thoughtfully.

Seraphina shook her head, “not you. You have a lot on your plate as it is. I would talk to Asteria or Priamos about this. You should focus on finding out what Krogon wishes to accomplish and what paths he might take.”

Ilaria nodded her head, knowing that Seraphina had thought over her words before demanding anything of her.

Seraphina then turned to look at Karstark, “tell me, General, is there any news from our neighbours? Anything regarding Niko and Mala’s whereabouts at all?”

That was when Karstark’s expressions shifted to one filled with remorse. Seraphina straightened her spine and prepared herself for the worst. She knew whatever Karstark was going to reveal was not something that she would be able to digest.

“I have news that Murrya is now ruling Osiris and my soldiers saw an onyx dragon with gold streaks, matching Niko’s descriptions being shot down from the sky before it fell into the sea below him. The waters stayed red for a whole week before clearing up. There was no chance of survival.”

Karstark watched the two women standing in front of him, seeing how they were adjusting to the news.

However, just like he had expected, there was no reaction from either of them despite how close they had both been to Niko.

One of them was Niko’s sister by law, having only met him through her marriage with Drystan, another one if Nero’s victims. And even though Seraphina and Niko had not known each other for long but the bond that she shared with the trickster of the palace was one that could have had sonnets written about.

And Ilaria…she was another story altogether. She was the one who had found herself in most trouble because of Niko and often times, they had butted heads in their anger towards each other. But Ilaria loved Niko like a brother. She respected him dearly. And the news of his demise was simply breaking her on the inside.

However, neither women shed a single tear. Not in front of Karstark. Not at the moment.

Not until the war was over.