by Alex Alcasid
“You’ll get used to it soon enough. Besides, it’s better than freezing to death.” Seraphis replied.
“Not if your skin is a fur coat.” Kaiten grumbled. He was shirtless and wore only a set of leather trousers. Being surrounded by women didn’t faze him at all. The young lion looked to all the faces in the room, everybody was seated at the single table and there palpable tension was in there air. “What’s happening?” he asked with wide eyes and an air of innocence.
Seraphis sighed and tapped the table. “We have to discuss quite a few things. Isn’t that right, princess?”
Loren took a breath and leaned forward, arms on the table. She thought she looked like her father in that moment - strong and confident – or she hoped. “You killed Gaturr, skinned him, and had a minion deliver it to us at the castle. I saw him, I saw the barbarity of what you did to him. Then you kidnapped his son and heir to the throne. Why should I not kill you where you stand, Seraphis Dagan?”
The princess of Sagna smiled at the accusations, her gaze dropping to the table. “I admit, I did all that. I cut the skin of Kaiten’s father from his body, I let his blood soak the floor of the Royal Palace in Rhodia.” She glanced at the haunted look in Kaiten’s eyes. “I found the prince rushing to his father’s screams, had men stuff him in a sack and throw him into the back of a cart. Then made the foolish decision of going through the Plaguelands to slit his throat and dump his body in the frozen north.”
Kaiten couldn’t bear to look at Seraphis. Loren saw the way his hands shook, balled into fists so tightly that she could see the muscles under his skin. She looked back to Seraphis. “Why did you do it?”
“My dear sister told me to.” Came the reply.
“You could have said no. You could have done the right thing, instead of becoming a murderer.”
Seraphis’s laugh was hollow, and still she smiled at Loren. “Princess, I have no choice. Do you not see these marks on my wrists? I am shackled — as are everyone my dear sister chooses — to the will of the queen.”
Loren frowned. “She would not possibly hurt you, you’re her sister. Her last living family member if I remember correctly.”
“You have no idea what my sister is capable of, princess.” Seraphis stood and turned her back to them, lifting her shirt. Across her back, stretching from her right shoulder to her left hip, was a ghastly puckered burn scar. “A lash of fire across the back.” Seraphis said to the shocked silence. “Because I was too tired to fetch the queen a pitcher of water. I was seven years of age.”
Seraphis sat down and leaned back in her chair. She looked at ease, but she held an air of tension about her. Her shoulders were squared off, her gaze flicked from person to person to keep them in sight, and even while resting her sword belts remained on her hip. She continued. “Don’t underestimate the cruelty of the queen of Sagna, princess. You haven’t even asked why Kaiten still lives in my company, or why I haven’t returned to warmer regions.”
Loren, troubled by the sight of Seraphis’s scar, unconsciously touched the dragon pendant. The motion drew Seraphis’s eyes to it again. “Why then? I think you both have been here for quite a while before we arrived.”
“About a week.” Seraphis shrugged. “The truth is, princess, I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Is this a trap?” Loren asked frankly.
“No. I need your help.”
Loren raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
Seraphis leaned forward to the table, and all traces of her laid back attitude were gone. Her face grew grim and serious as she looked Loren dead in the eye. “My dear sister is capable of many cruel things, princess. I am not the only one dissatisfied with her habits, and the way she rules the kingdom leaves very few freedoms. I am the second in line to the throne, and unlike her, I have no madness in my blood. All the same, I do not plan on having children to pass on the Dagan line and risk another one like her to be born. My plan is to take control of my father’s throne, retake the kingdom for the people, and let the whole lot die out.”
Loren sat wordlessly across from Seraphis, her mouth open in shock. “You want to kill your sister?”
“I’m very good at killing, Loren.” Seraphis said pointedly. “That does not mean I enjoy it. I enjoy hunts with my hounds and discussing strategy with the soldiers. I enjoy the rare times I can ride into town and not see the peasant folk balk in fear at the sight of red hair. The people of Sagna deserve better than my dear sister. I cannot say they deserve me, but they certainly deserve better.”
The Aldoran princess sat in silence, biting her lip as she thought. Seraphis’s plans and explanations felt too big; she plotted regicide, to kill her own kin. Loren couldn’t stomach it. Kae watched Loren as she listened to Seraphis talk, and took her turn to address the red headed princess.
“Why do you need our help?” Kae asked, eyes lingering on Loren.
Seraphis showed her marked wrists again. “My hands are magically bound. If we meet again, and I am sure we will, I will be ordered to kill you. I will have to fight at the best of my ability, and I cannot turn on my queen. It will have to be up to you.”
“We have to kill the queen of Sagna?”
“You have to liberate its people.” Seraphis said sternly. She was beginning to lose her temper. “I wouldn’t be asking something this important to just anyone. If I could do it myself, I would have done it ages ago instead of waiting a week in this frigid wasteland!”
Kae scoffed and held her ground. She stared down the warrior princess. “What’s in it for us?”
In answer, Seraphis jabbed a finger in Loren’s direction. “You want something in return? My dear sister will be too dead and rotting to be hounding her.”
Loren felt her heart fall into her stomach. “Me?” she asked in a small voice. “What does she want with me?”
“You haven’t caught on yet?” Seraphis glowered, impatient. “This whole thing has been orchestrated by my queen to lure you and only you out from Aldoran and into Sagna. The attempted assassination, Gaturr’s murder, Kaiten’s kidnapping – it was all to tie the king and queen’s hands. Knowing you, with that dragon pride your entire line has, would take it upon yourself to seek justice, even if it means crossing the damn world. And it’s all because of that.”
The princess clutched the silver dragon pendant protectively, shielding it from Seraphis’s sharp gaze with her hand and twisting her body away. “My dragon pendant?”
“Its not just a trinket and you know it.” Seraphis said. “It’s the key to the dragon, and only your line can control it. She wants the whole damn dragon.”
“But its like you said, only my family can use the magic to speak to Lind.” Loren said, some strength returning to her voice. “The pendant will be useless to her.”
Seraphis shook her head. “You weren’t told, I see.”
“Told what?”
“Give me your pendant. No, I will not keep it, you can have your friends have their weapons drawn, even have the huntress keep a knife at my throat. I swear I will not take it, I will only show you what you need to know.”
Loren and Kae exchanged a glance. The boys felt the tension in the air and didn’t dare move. If anything, they leaned further back. Loren nodded, and Kae was quickly on her feet, dagger in hand. The huntress moved to stand behind Seraphis, who dutifully stayed still as she waited for Loren to unhook the clasp of the chain. Gathering the silver dragon in her palm, she slowly laid it in Seraphis’s outstretched hand.
Seraphis kept her arm flat on the table, palm up, and slowly closed her fingers around the silver dragon. She took a breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, her irises were a familiar shimmering gold.
Loren’s gasp was audible. Her hand flew to cover her mouth as she stared into Seraphis’s golden eyes. They were just like her’s, just like her mother’s. The huntress saw the glimpse of gold in Seraphis’s eyes, and was brought back to the castle of Yureun. She saw how Loren moved with grace and ferocity as she dodged and st
ruck out at the beast and its mistress. Kae’s grip on the knife tightened, her knuckles turning white. She pressed the edge of the blade flush against Seraphis’s neck, ready to cut her deep in a second.
“So this is what it feels like.” Seraphis breathed, eyes wide. She slowly looked around the room, senses heightened and gazing in awe. “Magic that doesn’t burn…The eyes of a dragon, gods above, she was right. She was right…”
“Seraphis! Snap out of it.” Loren rose out of her chair. “Explain this! How can you use the pendant?”
Seraphis chuckled, grinning. The dragon magic surged through her, filling her head with dreams of immeasurable power. “You know only the Cyrael line can use this – the bloodline of the Lady Ylfair. It’s impossible for anyone else to use it. Unless…”
“We’re related.” Loren whispered. The color drained from her face at the thought of it; that she was related to Haedria of Sagna, the woman who poisoned her mother, who had Gattur’s skin thrown at her feet, who kidnapped her friend. She was related to a monster. She shook her head and slammed her hands on the table. “That can’t be! Seraphis, what are you hiding?”
“I’m not hiding anything.” Seraphis smiled. “Your line has always been so proud. Have you not noticed that I’ve been calling you “princess” the entire time you’ve been here, but not once have you afforded me the same respect? We’re both princesses, heirs to our thrones, we have our own kingdoms. You proud dragons, flying high above the rest of us.”
“Seraphis!”
“Recall the story of Ylfair the Dragonheart.”
Loren frowned. “She faced the high dragon in the ebonstone castle within Yureun and was granted a dragon egg and dragon magic.”
Seraphis nodded. “She returned to her home, what is now the capital of Markholme, and founded Aldoran. She had two sons.”
“What? No, she only had one. A single heir. His name was Viarous the Brave.”
Seraphis laughed again. “Your line is so ashamed, that they hid their own history. Listen to me, princess. There were two sons of the Dragonheart. One was your ancestor, proud and noble. The other, his brother, was a mage. All their life, the eldest was threatened by his mage brother’s magic. He feared that the throne and dragon magic would be taken from him. He cast his younger brother out from the kingdom, exiling him past the Kilrough mountains. That was when he came across the volcano.”
The warrior princess leaned slightly forward, the skin of her neck being slightly cut by Kae’s steadfast blade. Rivulets of blood flowed from the cut. “The raw elemental power of the mountain called to him. The energy set his soul ablaze, his markings began to burn like coal under his skin.” She rubbed at her own brands, small flickers of flame colored light appearing within them. “He went mad with power and claimed the whole volcano and its surrounding lands of his own. He called it Sagna, his own kingdom, free to be ruled as he saw fit. That was Allorus Dagan, the Mad. My ancestor.”
“I remember that name. The founder of Sagna, yes.” Loren’s expression was grim. “He carved the castle out of the stone of the mountain with his own hands. I didn’t know he was a mage.”
Seraphis nodded. She opened her hand and placed the dragon pendants on the table. As her skin lost contact with the silver, her eyes returned to their original dark color, and she leaned back, dizzy. “He was. The descendants of his that were born with magic had the same madness. This selfishness, cruelty, penchant for flames, and lust for power, they were all the same. Now, my dear sister is the latest mage to take the throne, and nothing has changed. If anything, it’s gotten worse.”
“Princess.” Kae started. She withdrew the dagger from Seraphis’s neck and sheathed it in it’s spot on her belt in one fluid motion. “This is what Danna meant when she said—”
“I have some ‘red’ in me.” Loren completed the sentence. She looked to Seraphis, who nodded.
“The red of Sagna. We’re called the Red Sisters for more than our hair, princess.” The warrior princess said. She rubbed at her temples and sighed. “It’s the blood that runs down my blades, the fires in my sister’s hands, and the magic of the mountain in our veins. It all came from somewhere.”
“All from Ylfair the Dragonheart…” Loren breathed. She slowly took the dragon pendant back, keeping it in her palm. The silver wings of the dragon dug into her palm. “Why does she want this?”
“My dear sister sees the dragon as her birthright. That the dragon and its leash were rightfully Allorus’s birthright, as he was the mage, and not Viarous’s, your ancestor’s. He knew nothing of magic, he couldn’t possibly have controlled it the way Allorus would have been able to.” Seraphis said. Her head pounded after letting go of the dragon magic. “She will be determined to get it.”
“Well.” Loren let the pendant fall from her hand and dangle in the air as she kept a tight hold on its chain. She reached behind her neck and clasped the chain, before tucking the pendant back in its rightful place. Her eyes were shimmered the dragon’s gold at the edges, but with a breath she held the magic back. “She will not be claiming it. It doesn’t belong to her. Seraphis, can you explain what the magic does?”
Seraphis shrugged. “Aside from form a connection and control an entire dragon? I have no idea. I’m no mage, princess. I only know what my dear sister has told me.”
“But do you know what she plans to do if she ever does get a hold of it? I need to know everything.”
“Her own fire mage will be supplemented, she said. And she would have a dragon and its dragonfire. Even the most powerful of mages cannot control dragonfire to spread or cease. And then, my queen would raze the ground, destroying everything from the Easter Shores to Aldoran, to even the north. Then when Sagna is the only thing left standing, she would rule over it all.” A heavy silence fell in the air when the last of Seraphis’s words had stopped echoing around the little space and in their minds. Everything would be destroyed. The Garuchian Plains, Rhodia, the Plaguelands, Kilrough and Marklholme. Aldoran. Everything.“ Seraphis smiled. “Your dinner is burning.”
Dinner was spent in an uneasy silence. The five of them sat around the single table, picking at boiled meat and vegetables and thinking about the implications of what Seraphis had told them. Every so often, someone would ask a question; what comes next, who are the Daughters and Sons, what will happen to Kespia if Haedria took control of the dragon. Only Loren kept silent. She kept her gaze glued to her food, occasionally throwing scraps to Ma’trii or Duro.
After a while, Loren rose from the table and excused herself. The princess slipped out of their safe, warm place in the ruined outpost. Kae watched her go, a morsel of meat half way to her mouth. Once Loren was out of sight, she sighed and put down her food, pushing away her makeshift plate, all appetite gone. Seraphis noticed the movement and raised a brow.
“You’re interested in the princess, aren’t you?” She asked.
Kae started as if she was shot. “What? No! No, no way. Of course not. Why would you say that?”
Seraphis chuckled, turning back to her food. Cassendir and Kaiten were speaking animatedly about ships. Battleships, merchant vessels, ancient explorer’s boats; they would be too focused on their topic to even hear Seraphis. “I know that look, huntress. You long to be with her. Why don’t you go talk to her while she’s out there brooding? The boys wouldn’t even notice you’ve left.”
Kae’s blush turned her cheeks a shade of crimson. She fidgeted, unable to look Seraphis in the eye. “You’re a princess, right? I’m sure you have an idea why I can’t.”
Seraphis nodded, understanding. “You think you’re too far below her stature, don’t you?”
Kae didn’t answer. The huntress dropped her gaze to her uneaten food; bits of carrots and venison that were slowly getting cold. She nodded.
“You think you don’t deserve her, just because she’s a princess. She was born royalty; has been sleeping in silken sheets and has never known a day of hunger. While you…” Seraphis trailed off. She reached to her
head and tugged at a tiny braid that jutted out of the side of her head, just one in a small cluster made from her short, flame colored hair. “You came from nothing, and you think that’s all you’ll ever be.” She continued.
The huntress sighed softly and hung her head. “You didn’t have to put it so harshly, Seraphis. But you’re right. She’s a princess. She’s heir to the throne of Aldoran! And what am I? I smell like dirt and dog, why would she even look my way?” Kae leaned her chin on her hand, dejected. “I bet after all of this, if we ever make it back from Sagna alive, there will be a line of suitors stretching out the castle gates and right through Markholme. Then she’ll find a prince or some noble, someone worthy, and marry him. I’ll have to watch their marriage procession from the forest. Outside.”
“Kae.” Seraphis said patiently. “Don’t you think she might be interested in you as well?”
“The princess? Can’t be.” Kae scoffed. She turned away and kept her eyes on Ma’trii and Duro. The two were playfully snapping at each other, bouncing around and chasing their tails. “I’m just here to keep her from getting killed.” She tried in vain to keep her tears from falling.
Seraphis rolled a bit of bone forwards and back on her side of the table. “Listen to me, huntress. It’s very possible for a princess to fall in love with someone that can be seen as lower than her.” She said evenly.
“Really? And what would you know about that, Seraphis?” Kae said. “Does your world revolve around someone you can’t have? Does your heart ache with longing because being with the one you love would bring them shame and ruin?” The huntress turned away. She angrily swiped at her eyes, denying her tears. “Spare me your words, princess.”
“Yes,” was all Seraphis said. She said the single word with such sincerity and simplicity that Kae looked back at her. The warrior princess idly rubbed at the mage markings on her wrists. “You know that I’m the younger of two sisters. I’m no mage, but my proficiency is with the sword. I function within Sagna as its Warmaster, the head of its military. After all that, I am still a princess. I have a kingdom and a people to look after. And…” she took a breath. Kae saw tears forming at the corners of Seraphis’s eyes. The warrior princess’s grip on her marked wrists tightened. “I have someone waiting for me back home. In Sagna.” Seraphis raised her head and met Kae’s skeptical gaze head on. “A slave girl, from the Eastern Shores.”