Page 46 of Winter's Dragons. Frozen Flames
January's eyes widened. It was a great honor to be trusted with the task since the products we received from Eranthe were so important to the smooth functioning of our realm. Perhaps he had expected that I would assign the duty to one of my dragons. "Y-Yes, Your Majesty. I will not fail you."
"I look forward to welcoming you in The Realm of Eternal Youth," Eranthe said, speaking for the first time since the beginning of the trial. "I am sure we will work well together."
I silently agreed, although I also knew my sister would do her utmost to make sure treason like February's didn't happen again. I expected January to be the target of some deceptively gentle, but smooth interrogations in the near future.
"December, you will coordinate with my dragons to strengthen our garrisons and improve our military. Snegurka remains a problem, and we will have to be prepared for her next attack."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Take heart, men. We will surpass this crisis as well. The losses we have suffered pain me, but they are also a lesson, to not let the fear of what we don't understand morph us into something we are not supposed to be." I shot them a small smile to soften the mild reprimand intrinsic to my latter words. "You're dismissed."
My lieutenants bowed one last time, and then shuffled out of the room, leaving a trail of agitated magic behind. I watched them go in silence and once I was sure they were out of earshot, let out a disgruntled sigh. "That went well."
"They are still afraid," Pandora said, her voice as mellow and smooth as the red wine she sometimes sent to me as a gift. "It will get better."
"I doubt it. They've been afraid of me ever since I took the throne, precisely because the last queen was a brutal tyrant. That was centuries ago. I can't imagine me executing their fellow lieutenant in their presence will help matters."
"Well, Your Majesty," Isebrand piped up, "it might not be my place to say this, but I have to commend you for your approach. Granted, when it comes to traitors, we prefer evisceration, but there is a certain poetic beauty about going for the throat too."
I turned and stared at him in disbelief. "All right... I have to ask. What is it about dragons and evisceration? Is it a fetish? Should I be concerned? Because I won't lie, it's been popping up quite often in conversation lately."
Emmerich arched a brow at me, not particularly taken aback by the question, but perhaps sensing my real reason for it. "It is not a fetish, treasure. It is just... rightful punishment. What we perceive your enemies deserve."
"We are your males, remember?" Raijin pointed out. "When our mate is threatened, we tend to not take it well. Every species of dragon has its own way of handling such matters, and evisceration is the go-to approach used by firedrakes."
"We'll all gladly show you our respective methods, on whomever you want, if you ever deem it necessary," Kerryn finished.
I had no doubt that they meant their offer, and I found that I appreciated it. I had always hoped that I could bring about a new era in the history of Tou Cheimóna, one that would hold less bloodshed and more peace. But good intentions were not enough to protect what I most valued. I thought about the amarok pup who had almost died in my arms, Terry's unborn cub and all the people in my realm whom I hadn't gotten the chance to save. I remembered Snegurka's laughter when she had deemed me weak. I could not falter again. "Perhaps I will take you up on that," I promised my dragons, "if I don't deal with it myself."
I might have still had doubts about how I would handle the confrontation with Snegurka, but one thing remained perfectly clear to me. Somehow, I would find her and punish her, just like I had punished February. No matter how much my past still weighed on me, I would not let it destroy my future.
****
Cheimon
A little over a week after February's attack, my dragons' families prepared themselves to depart. They had already stayed longer than anticipated, as they had insisted to help with the reconstruction of the palace, but they finally needed to return home.
Together with my soulmates, I led the older six dragons into the bailey, in front of the main keep that housed my residence. It was almost strange, since very little time had passed since their arrival, and yet, the same courtyard where they'd first landed looked so very different. Some of the outer fortifications that protected the palace had yet to be rebuilt and I probably wouldn't be addressing the lingering cosmetic damage for months. I had the distant, stray thought that it was a weirdly appropriate analogy for my own life and the general direction it appeared to be headed in.
My dragons' families did not display the same melancholy, although they were still as respectful as they had been all throughout their stay. "Thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty," Noboru said with a polite bow. "Once again, we apologize for all the trouble we have caused you."
"You yourselves were not the cause of any trouble," I reminded him. "It's hardly your fault that my lieutenant hated dragons more than he loved his realm."
It was true. I didn't blame them for any of the dreadful things that had occurred. Even if their arrival had indirectly been the one to trigger February's outburst, I suspected the incident would have taken place eventually, either way. Such things didn't happen overnight, and February's opinion of me must have been souring for a while now. I'd spoken to Eranthe about it, and she had confessed she had noticed some strangeness in February too, but she'd always deemed it a natural consequence of him being away from his homeland.
Before she and Pandora had departed for their own realms, we had investigated the wards around both Chronikos and Snegurka's prison. We had determined that the only damage the seal at Oki's garrison had received was from my own subordinate. Chronikos' wards remained intact, having recovered after the breach the dragons had made, but we still wanted to strengthen them at some point in the near future, after I recovered a little more from Snegurka and February's attack.
None of my sisters liked the situation much, and not just because I'd nearly been killed. We all wondered now what else we had missed while we had been busy believing that our realms were perfectly safe and prosperous. I'd planned to make a change even before this whole thing had happened and had enlisted my dragons to help me with my project, but the new training module had not been enough to keep my people safe. We had to try harder.
I pushed away my self-deprecating thoughts and directed my attention to my guests once again. "You are always welcome here, in The Realm of Eternal Ice."
"And our own lairs are open to you at any time, Your Majesty. We trust that after you deal with this horrid Snegurka creature, you will be able to visit Terra Dracones."
The vote of confidence was nice, as was the invitation. Dragons didn't make such offers lightly, as their lairs were sacred to them. It was actually a little strange, but it appeared that this whole business with February had assuaged their doubts about me and earned me their trust and respect. Apparently, the sight of me tearing my enemy's throat out with my magically created claws had convinced them that I was truly their sons' soulmate. Draconic families really did have interesting standards.
With the pleasantries out of the way, the six older dragons proceeded to shift, preparing themselves for the long journey ahead. Before they could depart, Jerika had one last request for me. "Do let us know if and when we can expect hatchlings. We look forward to it very much."
I was sure that they did, and I now found that a part of me felt the same. I could not yet envision a future in which I would have children, not when everything else was so uncertain, but maybe, someday, when The Realm of Eternal Ice was safe, starting a family with my dragons would be nice.
