Page 175 of The White King's Favorite

Without another look at the beach, Kian got into the water, floating happily as if the dragon was in its element. The sea was calm despite the rain, and the dragon’s silver scales shined from the faintest streaks of moonlight. Its body was undulating, remaining close to the seashore, but behind the line of houses, and unless someone was standing at the edge or on a higher viewpoint, no one would spot them.

The trip to the docks was fairly short, but on the way there, what they saw of the Capital shocked them. Kassian even urged Kian to slow down and remain where the dragon would be mostly hidden. There was a lot of movement in the streets, too much for the late hour and in such bad weather. They could see men running with torches and swords, people shouting, sounds of swords clashing.

“...What’s going on?” muttered Nana, worried.

They listened for a few more seconds, but the more they did, the clearer and more depressing the situation was.

“It sounds like the Yekara are taking control of the city,” grunted Tessandra. “I suggest we lay low for now...”

“What?” exclaimed Nana. “What about my family? The tribe? A-and everyone?”

“Let’s just g-go quietly,” said Cessilia, exchanging a glance with her brother.

Kassian nodded, and sure enough, Kian quietly let them off between two boats on the dock, but even there, the situation was tense. They could see the Yekara going from door to door, loudly banging on them and forcing the owners to open, arguing with people.

“Well, sounds like they are searching for someone,” Darsan said, tilting his head.

Four annoyed pairs of eyes on him made him grimace.

“Oh... Sorry. Got it.”

“...I think we can get home,” muttered Naptunie, glancing around.

“It might not be safe for your family, Nana,” Tessandra warned her. “We don’t know what the Yekara will do if they find us there.”

“Don’t worry! My house is big and I’m sure we can hide.”

Before they could protest, Naptunie went out first, tip-toeing to one of the large houses by the seashore. The docks were calm compared to the streets, but if anyone had looked up at the wrong moment from the street, they could easily be spotted. They put Ashen on Darsan’s back at the rear and quickly followed Nana to her house. There was a back door, and a porch under which they could finally get a bit of shelter from the rain, but before they even dared to knock, the loud voices coming from the inside had them all crouch down and hide.

“You’re acting like bandits!” shouted a loud voice. “Who do you think you are, to barge in and claim to check the houses? What does that mean?! You Yekara think you can do whatever you want! This is not an order from the King, and even if it was, this is my house and you will not be taking one step inside!”

“Move aside, or we will force our way in! The man you call King committed treason and tried to run away instead of stepping down and negotiating with the rightful heir!”

“Rightful heir, my ass! I’d rather eat all the rotten meat in the Kingdom than believe what comes out of your mouths! I will only obey the one King I acknowledge, the White King! As if I would trust a Yekara!”

“This is your last warning!”

“Fine!” a female voice shouted. “Search if you want, we’ve got nothing to hide! But you’d better not steal a thing, and I swear you will get payback for this, you dogs!”

Next to them, Naptunie looked on the verge of crying, with her little fists clenched. Tessandra put an arm around her shoulders and exchanged a glance with the siblings. Naptunie’s family was a no-go. They felt sorry for them, and they could hear the ruckus inside from the Yekara searching all over the place for them. Some of Naptunie’s younger siblings or cousins were crying, probably afraid.

Quickly, they walked away from the house’s rear porch, and went back out in the rain, to hide between the boats.

“I can’t believe this!” cried Nana. “Those... savages! I hope they eat rotten meat and die!”

“I’m sorry, Nana,” muttered Tessandra, “but now we know we can’t hide in the Capital. They’ll search all the clans we were allied with first, and I don’t think they will stop until they get what they want...”

“The outskirts,” said Cessilia. “We c-can try to go th-there, and it will b-be safer to reunite with K-Krai too. But we have t-to be quick...”

She was worried for Ashen. Darsan was big and doing his best not to move him, and they had covered him with the fur coat, but his situation was already critical, and now they couldn’t even find a safe and dry place to lay him. They all quickly got back on Kian’s back, already drenched, and Kassian tapped his dragon’s back.

“Wanna go find Daddy?”

The dragon emitted a little, high-pitched growl, suddenly speeding up against the stream. Soon enough, the bridge appeared far above them, seeming rather calm. When Kian used his wings to jump up and climb once on the pile, and then jump again to land on top of the bridge, Cessilia immediately realized why: the Yekara had closed the gates.

Luckily, they had probably focused their forces inside the Inner Capital, and focused on no one entering, because there was no one to stop them when Kassian easily opened the heavy doors into the Outer Capital. As soon as they stepped foot there, Krai’s large head appeared, and Kian jumped on the Black Dragon to play.

“Hey there!” smiled Darsan.

---