P.S. the Dragon Sleights

by K. G. Wilkie

  The King sighed. “I can’t say I agree with you, my dear. I’m just as concerned as my sons are. You promised you were up to the responsibility of the security of the palace. And then when Richard pointed out some holes in your security, you promised it was all part of some bigger plan to make us more impervious to enemy forces than ever before. But now it looks like those gaps in security were just that – yaps. A mistake. A failure. I was looking for you to take this a little more seriously and work towards preventing this from happening a third time,” Vovin said. He sighed. Vovin leaned over to the grass the arm rest in his chair and slowly push himself up. “I had hoped you were up to the task, but it seems like I expected a great deal more than you are prepared to give. I’m afraid you are going to need to spend some time at your summerhouse reflecting while my children work with me to clean this up,” he said.

  Amey gasped and clutched her heart. “You mean moi? Are you sending me to timeout like an naughty toddler? I sure you things would’ve been much worse if I hadn’t stepped in with my safety net, just because you can’t see the shields placed around the perimeter isn’t the reason to imply I abandoned my sensitive duty and the safety of our people! I can’t believe you would imply such a thing,” she said.

  King Vovin just slowly shook his head from side to side. He couldn’t bear to look at her eyes, so he stared at the ground instead. Yami looked at the others. If she sought support from them, she didn’t find it. She wrinkled her nose and shifted to her daemon form so she could roll herself up with a snap and leave the chamber with all the satisfaction storming off can give.

  Vovin looked at both of his sons. “I guess you are right Richard. I guess it was a mistake to trust her with too much. I’m fond of my wife, but I shouldn’t have let that get in the way of affairs of the state. The King sighed again. “What would you have me do now to move forward?”

  Aeron smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Have no fear old man. I’ve got just the ticket. We’ll call together all those silly representatives for another meeting again. One can only hope the wizards are witches would take the bait and send their own reps so we can hold them hostage and use them to our advantage, but I won’t plan that. Instead will get together and will plan with everyone on the side of the crown just the basics of our strategy. And then we’ll go to war. And win,” Aeron said. He shrugged. “It would actually be easy to do in practice, of course. But the actual plan is pretty straightforward. I think we can work this out,” Aeron said.

  Richard’s mouth worked in some hybrid of a smirk and a smile. “Sounds as good of a plan is any. But on that note, I think we definitely can’t invite mother. You might have to send her to visit grandpa so she can get out the way for a while. She seems to be feeling miffed now, and you know that means she’ll be planning revenge on those who upset her. And today the main people who upset her seems to be us for being concerned about our near deaths, rather than the people trying to kill the monarchy,” Richard said. He shook his head. “I love the woman, but she just doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

  Vovin hugged him. “Truth to tell, I don’t either,” he said. He looked at Aeron. “We’ll go with your plan. I’m going to call my ministers together and put the security back to high alert. We’ll see if we can’t throw up all our security nets and shield spells before dinner time. In the meantime if you can get all of our representatives notified we should be able to have a meeting tomorrow.”

  Aeron smiled at both men, for once in tune with his whole family. “Sounds like a plan. And Richard, if you would, I think it be best if you set up the cure level for meeting room and disenchant the portal room. I think it’s become clear to us all it’s better to be safe than sorry,” Aeron said.

  Aeron snapped his fingers and disappeared in the black flames of his transportation spell. He reappeared in his personal office.

  Aeron sat at his desk to write yet another proclamation. It felt as if he’d been sending so many proclamations and letters lately, his assistants must feel like they were working in a post office at this point. He opened a scrying sphere to talk to the head of his guard, Alabastor. “Hey Tor, I just wanted to talk to you,” he said. The man on the other end was clearly in the dungeons, standing by to take the call while his subordinates in the Blue Crows and those in the other royal guards were processing the wizards from the earlier battle into cells to wait for trials. These cells were vastly different from Alyss and Darien’s prior experiences with the questionable hospitality of dragon prisons. The wizards were stuck in laquered white stone boxes barely big enough to stretch out in for sleeping or sitting up. The stone absorbed the wizard’s magic as best it could compared to the lead cells down the hall which were most effective but widely known to be deadly to humans. Instead the wizards were healthy and intact in their cells that reflected white infinitely back towards them as if they were stuck in an endless void.

  It has come to my attention that an army has attempted to storm the palace twice now. This second time the

  Grounds for miles around the palace were burned down by a spell. Additionally, my trusted advisers tell me

  that this incident must have been caused by someone in our trusted circle of leaders. I would ask that you join me

  For another meeting with the sole purpose of changing our strategy to win this war against these rebels and protect

  All of our peoples from being injured if this war were to continue.

  -Crown Prince of Shadeworld and Dragon Clan Leader, Aeron

  The prince shook his head and addressed the missive to his new assistant. Then he snapped his fingers and the letter floated through space to gentle fall on top of Kraelek’s desk. The wizard looked at it with surprise and spun his gaze around the room, double checking that there truly weren’t any of the usual signs he would have expected from the transportation spells he had learned in Domed City. Aeron looked on at his surprise for a second in his scrying mirror then went back to work with a smile. It was good for his assistant to learn that the magic of dragons could be different from the ways of wizards, especially in light of his past fighting with the rebellion against the dragons. It didn’t hurt that the guy’s confusion gave the worried prince something to chuckle about, either.

  Aeron put down the scrying mirror and turned his attention to his paper once again. He needed to write yet another letter, this time for Alabastor.

  P.S. Tor, this will need to go to all of the leaders and representatives that were at the last meeting.

  I want just a few messengers sent with it, none of our warriors can be spared from the palace at this time.

  Except for the message we send to whatever Fey representatives that were there before, and Alyss as well.

  I think the time has come that we will have to start treating her like a power in her own right.

  Vovin Made his way back to his chamber in the hospital ward with the assistance of a cane. It was one thing to rely on people, but it was another to have to lean all of your hopes and dreams on inanimate object. Days after being stabbed and dismembered in his dragon form, he was weak and pathetic in his human body even though it looked free of injury. He trudged into the small hospital room and made his way past the lone bed. The headboard behind it had flourishes and gilded carvings appropriate for a monarch’s recovery room. He caressed one dip in a floor and then pulled it down to reveal a hidden mechanism that sparked to life to open the secret room for him. One of the perks of being a king was to get cool secret rooms, the King smiled to himself. He walked in angry at his ministers.

  They had quickly gathered here after a messenger had been sent from the earlier meeting room once talking had ceased. Now they were ready to share their own concerns and ideas for progress with the King. “Your Majesty, I assure you everything we’ve done was under her Majesty’s orders. We followed them in accordance with your order, as you may remember. None of us would have chosen to take down the shield spells at any point in time without a direct order,” one of the night just st
reets said. He reached out a hand to grasp with the king’s in earnest appeal before he recalled himself and snatched it back. It wouldn’t do to ignore decorating in such a serious meeting.

  The King shook his head. “I believe in all of you,” Vovin said. “ I’m afraid I am going to have to use a truth spell on each of you to double check all is as you say. But you have my word they do trust you and I’m just doing this because it is the typical procedure,” Vovin said. He shook his head. “It seems now especially after ignoring procedure almost destroyed the Palace. We did do best to stick strictly to procedure.

  The magistrates agreed and lined up to the side so the King was free to speak with them one-on-one on the other side of the room. The two chairs over there were intended for long secret meetings so they were plush Lee patted, but no one could easily feel comfortable under a truth spelled interview. Not even when they had the assurance in their knowledge they had already told the truth. But soon the spell confirmed that all was as they’d said so they were free to move on with the meeting.

  “I think you all for your patience. I want to just remind you I trusted you all along and I did this more because I felt of supposed to, not because I needed to. But now I do need you,” Vovin said. He looks them each in the eye one by one. “I need you to put things back to how they were supposed to be all along. I need all of the shield spells up, the intruder alarms aren’t. Every single guard at their post. Even more so I need asked to go into high security mode. I’ve arty sent my wife away to her summerhouse and my sons a way to do various activities. In the meantime it seems the Palace is a very dangerous place to live. Being here has apparently become the same as placing a target on my back. But I will not stand for that. I must rulemaking dumb, I must rolled my people from the seat of the monarchy. So I will stay here,” he said.

  The ministers protested at all of the security concerns that entailed.

  Vovin shook his head. “I know there is a risk. I refuse to run away from it though. Instead I will face it head on. All of the high-security individuals will need to be placed on a secured floor. We have more than one of them. I know you all are aware of to, but it’s I think all of our security personnel will only be on the level closest to the public floors. And then I will live in a secured chambers deeper underground. Hopefully having things set up in layers like that keep my sons mind at ease and your job less difficult,” Vovin said. He smiled at the ministers and started to shake their hands. “Gentlemen, I think you for your loyalty,” the king said. He looked at the harpy and added, “and ladies of course.” Once again those eyes turned back to the others. “I think you for your dedication to the throne. I feel we have times ahead of us that will test you all. But I know I can trust you continue to do right by me and my sons. Dismissed,” Vovin said.

  The harpy stayed after the other ministers had left the room through a door opposite of the king’s. Gabriella bent down to kiss him on the cheek. “I hope you can trust all of them. I just want to remind you that you can always trust me. I’m always loyal to you. And my son Aaron. And I’m even fond of your Richard and feel loyalty to him as well.” She hugged him, a first from the stoic warrior. “We will weather this storm. All of us,” she insisted.

  Vovin shook his head. “I’m not as confident as you. But still, I can hope.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  A Meeting of Minds

  Word spread throughout the Palace. It was impossible to keep an army secret, especially when it’s trying to invade your home. Besides, orders were sent here and there by the ministers in charge of Carrying out the Kings orders for shoring up the Palace defenses. Once again the guard barracks were a bustling hive of activity as guard shifts went from the usual numbers from before the king’s illness and the Queens ill-fated plans to twice as many people watching and readied to fight and protect the Palace walls.

  Those learned in the more advanced forms of magic circled the grounds in groups of seven to replace and reinforce the shield spells and reactivate the magical constructs that were meant to stand guard. Each group of seven formed rings around the Palace grounds enclosed in closer and closer to the center until the group in the heart of the Palace itself had to stand in a huddle. But no matter where they stood, every group held a piece of jade, the stone of the dragons, in their hands. During the spell it glowed and eventually lit on fire until each piece of jade flared out at the final incantation. Then the jade was buried at each ring of magicians to form a seven sided heptagon. The power of seven was strong and no one was willing to take chances on a weaker number.

  The King’s private guard force, that Amaryllis squad, as well as both princes private guard squads were called in from whatever errands they’d been since on so they could do body guard duty at all hours of the day for their charges. The younger Prince squirmed in complained at the extra restriction – he was concerned about increasing the King’s security, but not his own – but Aeron took well to the added precaution. It didn’t hurt that he was close to the leader of the Blue Crows. Besides he’d already sent orders for his guards to return to him. But no matter how Richard disliked it the order head, from on high and his guards listened to the King first and foremost. The younger Prince still grumbled about the situation but he was forced to accept it once he learned his father had ordered it.

  Soon some of the summoned delegates arrived at the Palace gates. The first to arrive in fact was Alyss herself. Aeron ran to the throne room as soon as he heard she was meeting there with King Vovin. She had been perfectly cordial when speaking to the King but at the sight of her nemesis her entire demeanor changed. “I hope you know I’m here because it is important and I am supporting working towards the end of the war. I am not supporting you,” she emphasized. She sneered at Aeron. “In fact if it were an army come to destroy you I would happily give them my blessing. Sadly, other people are involved. I might of late to see you fall in battle,” Alyss said.

  Aeron looked shocked. “What grudge do you have against me? I’ve only ever helped you out,” he said. Aeron shrugged. “If you asked me I’d think you’d be a little thankful about it, actually,” he said.

  Alyss growled and snapped her teeth at him. It looked like she had started to become very comfortable in her face skin. She is starting to take on some of the more wild habits of her people that she’d never have done in her time living as a human. “Grateful. Are you serious? Why would I be grateful to a worm like you that caged me up like an animal,” Alyss said. She sneered it at him again. “The only person who should be grateful is you. You should be grateful I haven’t killed you for being a gigantic jerk,” she said.

  Aeron gasped. “I thought you had your memories back! Don’t you worry, once you get them I’m sure you’ll understand finally. I’ve helped you. If it weren’t for me putting you in, well, let’s caught protective custody, then you would of been found by these terrible rebels and used as a hostage,” he said.

  “Oh yes. I wouldn’t want to be held captive by enemies for their benefit. What would I’ve done if I were prisons like that. I’m so glad you saved me from being imprisoned,” Alyss said. He didn’t seem to notice that her tone was deadpan and her words were clearly meant to be sarcastic. Instead Aeron enthusiastically nodded agreement. He looked like he felt vindicated. King Vovin had to step in before she did something drastic like stab him.

  He stood in between both of them and put his hands up as if to ward them back. “Now, I think after a long travel from Avalon Alyss would enjoy resting up in her room. Maybe with one of those peach tarts I seem to remember she enjoyed so much as a child. And you, Aeron, maybe right now would be a good time for you to meet with and greet some of the other delegates. I’m sure others have arrived by now,” Vovin said. He looked at both of them with a diplomat’s smile. Alyss looked like she felt a little ruffled by this obvious attempt to redirect her ire, but she decided to go along with it anyway. The peach tarts were good after all. Before she left though Alyss still had a few more things to say. She promi
ses to help the dragons for the sake of Vovin, not him, and also vows to be his enemy. She says in passing that it seems to be the time for men in power needs to be over and the time is ripe for a woman to take the reins/reigns.

  Aeron balked a bit at the speech, but still he blithely agreed to Vovin’s arrangement and went off to be a good Prince without seeming to realize that a fight had been avoided at all.

  Soon enough greetings had been exchanged and people had shown up to warrant the meeting starting. The portal room had been closed up so an army couldn’t storm the castle even with an insider opening the transport spell for them, but no one was taking chances on security at this point. Instead they met in one of the cured floors. For safety everyone, even the guards, had blindfolds placed on the wall they were led to the secured meeting room one by one. Aeron didn’t grumble at all at the assignment to lead each person by the hand like a Lackey. In fact, he’d suggested it. Though the King and the ministers and Richard seemed to be on board with the goal of security, Aeron was feeling particularly rabid about the issue. He wasn’t willing to risk any more battles on Palace grounds. Even demeaning himself to ask like a servant was worth the added safety to him at this point.

  “The meeting this time better be worth it,” Richard growled. He was still out of sorts after being shadowed every second of every day by members of his guard.

  They were all gathered once more in the meeting room, the darkness of night barely affecting the glow of the gold sun clock. One of the long hands moved, and its light traveled the full room, a glowing shield meeting at the corners and cracks of the room to prevent any unwary or devious eavesdroppers from listening in.

  “I suspect they are doing it again,” the mermaid muttered. “They just want to get us all excited that they have figure everything out.”

  “We have news,” Aeron said diffidently. “Our informant has been put into protective custody, and granted this protection in return for the news. The wizards,” he continued, “Plan to dissolve the barrier.” He paused at the sharp intake of breaths. The harpy woman fainted at the news.