P.S. the Dragon Sleights

by K. G. Wilkie

  “You don’t have to, I’ll read you the riot act later,” Aeron interrupted him. “Then you can apologize after that. I’m just glad to see you aren’t in any worse shape. Didn’t I ever tell you not to take on an entire army by yourself?” He scooped Richard up as delicately as he could. Then he wants into the air with his passenger to drop the boy off in a new bed in their father’s hospital room. He knew the Army could take care of the rabble behind. For now, though, he was more focused on his family than his war.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Last Stand

  Progress was never made in the hunt for any wizards that were surely hiding out in the city. As time passed everyone started to doubt if they were even hiding there in the first place, or if they’d come on a useless fool’s errand instead.

  After a few days all entrance to Witch City was barred. It was quite the shock at first to the King’s forces. But eventually word made its way out to the camp raid outside the city what was behind this change in policy. Both the princes and the King gnashed their teeth when they heard the cause.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Vovin mumbled. Richard agreed. It wasn’t shocking that Queen Yami had been upset about being sent off to her summer house. No one likes to be sent off in what amounted to a time out. Especially not a grown woman! But the thought that she would retaliate to such a thing by getting in the way of efforts to win this war hadn’t occurred to anyone. Usually her fits of temper were much more personal and vindictive. This would inconvenience the whole kingdom, but not destroy the King’s peace of mind in the short term. It was a strange departure from her usual way of doing things. Slipping nails on top of a naughty husband’s bed or just a pinch of dragonsbane in his tea- enough to sicken, but not kill- was much more her style. The change caused everyone’s alarm bells to go off.

  Vovin had his suspicions why Yami might have done this. He didn’t want to storm the city and fight her, possibly leaving her injured.

  She was a smart cookie, and she probably had guessed that his own affection would prevent him from risking her life as potential collateral in any sort of skirmish. On the other hand, this may well have been just a standoff calculated to test his loyalty and devotion. She had been particularly upset after her fight with Gabriella. The woman just didn’t seem to understand that someone could be just friends with a pretty person and not feel any inclinations other than friendship for them. It didn’t help that he’d had Aeron with Gabriella, he knew- having a child was a sure proof to most that it was possible to feel more- but they hadn’t really felt it. It just took them a bit of trial and error to realize that feeling love for a friend, even a very intense friendly love, just wasn’t the same sort of affection you have to a romantic partner. But they’d been much younger then. The line between different types of love was fuzzy on a good day when you’ve hardly had experience of any love at all. It was frustrating to have his youthful confusions that dated far before he and his wife had ever, well, dated, used as ammo against him over and over. Sometimes it felt like his wife was just determined to be upset with him, and she was willing to twist events and exaggerate things in his mind until eventually she was able to create something worth getting mad about. Really, if he were any sort of rational king, he would have to leave his wife and avoid getting another in the future so all of these dramatic plots didn’t threaten the stability and safety of his people. Still, even though the constant temper tantrums and sulking fits could potentially lead to war or pain for him or any of his citizens, he just couldn’t bring himself to leave her for the relief of peace. He was just far too committed to the woman, even if she questioned his every move and made monsters out of shadows in a man’s reflection. It was almost certain that her propensity to jealousy was behind this blockade. Well, jealousy, and then being sent away for her failure with the palace’s security. Those two things combined had surely upset Yami, and it seemed blocking all entrance to Witch City especially because he needed access to it to do his job well seemed like just the sort of revenge she’d create for a more severe offense against her temper like this.

  Richard had other doubts than his concerns over his own mother. Those papers in Gruzelvelt’s office in the destroyed Domed City had been hunting him. It made them think that maybe, just maybe, he had been duped. Maybe he had been on the side of the bad guys. With a twist of the neck he looked over at his brother Aaron writing down and scribbling out more ideas on what he could possibly do to track down the location of the runaway wizards. Richard had to admit that was not the usual reaction of someone who was working on a rebellion.

  Richard had to question his own motives, as well as his brother’s, more.

  What if all this time he had blamed an innocent guy? Did this mean that so many of his actions- spying on his family, reporting back to Gruzelvelt, even all his efforts to win over the court- had all of that been a betrayal of his position? Had he become a traitor without even realizing it? And then in that time before the wizards had been any problem at all, and he’d been so focused on quietly gathering up followers and fighting against his brother’s followers. Was Aeron really as inept and heartless an heir as he’d always thought? Could it be possible that his brother could actually make a good king someday?

  The thought niggled at him. Over and over again the words they’d thrown at each other when they’d come to blows recently ran through his mind.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Feast of Women

  The wounds from the battle did not heal quickly. But the spirits rose right away. Finally, finally, they had one. The rebel forces had been completely and utterly defeated. There was no more turning back. There were no more prisoners to run away from a proper trial. No, this time they had are defaced one form of judge and jury.

  All was finally at an end.

  The Royal Army returned to their camp outside of Witch City To recover from some of their most severe injuries before making the way back to the Palace. However, when they arrived they were greeted by the witches from the same city they had just left. Queen Yami stood impassively behind them. Arms outstretched she welcomed them in. “What impressive work you all have done,” she declared. “Come, join us. You’ve fought long and hard, and you deserve a rest,” Yami said. Most of the army had never met the queen before and were ecstatic to be able to see her up close and personal. It was one thing to meet with the king, but Vovin’s wife was known to avoid the usual public events the other royals dutifully attended.

  Both her husband and son were surprised by her manner. To say that this was the first time Yami had shown so much grace and hospitality to outsiders was, well, an understatement. Besides, she was a woman known for enthusiasm and spirit. Such formal words from a very straightforward and frank woman was, well, suspicious.

  But still, battle left even the most hardened soldiers weary in many ways. The complexities of thinking out the woman’s reasons for acting so kindly was just beyond them at the moment, so they both of them dismissed the issue altogether from their minds. Instead they settled themselves on the offered benches and made sure to toast the soldiers before digging in to the feast spread before them.

  Aeron looked on at the festivities coolly. He enjoyed the idea of having a pleasant interlude with the queen and the soldiers who had fought to keep his kingdom safe, but he knew better than to trust in the honesty of any claims of happiness at someone else getting ahead in life. He turned his head and saw the harpy women huddled together. Gabriella, mother of the crown prince, wasn’t a mother particularly involved in her son’s life. But still, the woman could be counted on to see through the falseness courtiers were always putting on. Playing the game of political intrigue was a passion in Queen Yami, and about the only person he trusted to see through her was his own mother. Sure, both women fought like cats and dogs. But Aeron knew he could trust his mother Gabriella to pay attention to things that mattered, like any serious plotting, and leave her personal grudges out of an analyzation of a potential threat to the thr
one. After all, she not only supported him distantly as a mother, she was also very devotedly best friends with his father. She would do her best to find out what was wrong with the woman. She would find out what Yami was up to.

  Aeron turned away from the queen and her antics to focus on the other side of the clearing. Pulled some distance away from the feasting and bonfires, King Vovin and Richard were ensconced in a grand tent so healers could tend to them through the night’s festivities. Some had dared suggest that Richard should stay at the palace, as he was terribly wounded, but the prince put his foot down and insisted on watching the victory celebrations. When the healer would have insisted, the King just met her eyes and knew he sided with his son. So she was forced to give up on that, but still she kept watch over both patients with an eagle eye and harassed the healers working beneath her to do their duties more quickly to blunt her ire.

  After the bonfire had started to fade and the first few revelers had made their way home, the Alchemists made their way around the edge of the clearing to meet up with him. The healer grudgingly let them in when she saw what they offered, and eventually Aeron was able to stand on his tip toes and see through the milling crowd to the prosthetics they offered. The head of the Alchemists, Taiya, offered them with pride. Aeron crept closer to hear.

  Some vampires came to waylay him along the way and share their cheer with him. Aeron smiled at the group and tousled Priscilla’s head, ignoring her scowl at the attack on her pride, before he clasped hands with Cillean, then Daerin, then Layel in turn. “I’d love to talk to you guys, but later. I have someone to speak to right now,” he said. They smiled and with only a few cheers for the kingdom let him continue on his way.

  Aeron walked in to the tent in time to see Richard had stopped flickering back and forth and was now solidly human shaped. Slowly, oh so slowly, he stretched his new legs out. His original legs had been irreparably damaged in the battle, but the prosthetics the Alchemists had offered worked beautifully. The all metal legs were synced up with him to move perfectly at any speed he needed with their magic. “Be careful of your shifting, though,” Taiya warned. “These are our latest and greatest, but you’ll still break them permanently if you ever shift back into a dragon form, and we don’t have the ability to make something that will work with your dragon form now. But these are the best of the best for human shaped people, so they should serve you perfectly as long as you never shift,” she warned.

  Richard smiled despite the limitation. “These are wonderful! It would have been far worse to not have had any shape with legs than to just get into the habit of being able to fully use this one like I always have. Thank you,” he said. Everyone could tell the words were genuine and deeply felt.

  Taiya gave a little blush at his response and waved off any thanks from him, but the prince insisted.

  Aeron snuck up behind her to put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m with him. Thank you. Can you imagine what things would have been like if he’d been forced to make me carry him around everywhere? It would have crippled his dignity to have such a poor excuse for a wheelchair,” he grinned. Aeron cast his eyes around the tent. “Could the rest of you do us a favor and leave us? We need to speak in privacy.” When they were slow going, Aeron added, “Now.” They scrambled.

  The healer almost took their father out as well, but King Vovin stopped her with an upraised hand. “Not yet. I need to speak to them.” She nodded and faded away. King Vovin looked at first Richard, then Aeron. Then he smiled at them both. “ It was a mess, but in the end you did your duty and stood for your kingdom. I am proud of you, my sons.” Then he waved the healer back over to roll him out of the tent and further into the festivities. His Gabriella fluttered over to them both and walked alongside her friend to enjoy the night.

  Both brothers continued watching, just in time to see Queen Yami stomp over to them and wave her hands about, clearly trying to send both women away from her husband’s side. The healer readily bowed and left her charge to her queen. Gabriella just shook her head and continued walking with them, ignoring the increasingly frenzied gesturing of the queen until she finally huffed and flew away.

  Aeron sighed at the sight. It was clear that all was still not peaceful perfection in his kingdom. There would likely still be some handfuls of dissidents left to ferret out and try for their crimes. He turned to look to his brother. “I think there will still be work for both of us to do tomorrow, but what do you say that tonight we enjoy ourselves? There will be plenty of time to worry later, but I think now we should join everyone else in celebrating our victory,” Aeron said.

  Richard laughed. “Well, I suppose it is time enough that I start to test these new legs of mine out,” he said. He got up and took the shoulder Aeron silently offered as a crutch and clung to it as he moved forward with a lurch. After a few steps he’d found his feet, so to speak, and had figured out the way to balance on them. They moved perfectly as he told them to, just as the Alchemists had promised, but these new legs were a very different weight and balance than his old legs had been, so there was still something to adjust to. The brothers continued to walk together to a lone table on the periphery of the festivities and sat themselves down to enjoy some still remaining dishes laid out.

  There were still things to worry about, and they were both fully aware of them. In the mean time, though, good food and good people to talk to soothed him away from focusing on his worries. He was safe. That treasure, Alyss, was safe, though she seemed to be unhappy with him still for some reason. The wizards had been soundly defeated and banished from the kingdom. All in all, it was a relief to know that for once all was well with his world.

  Richard talked gladly with his neighbors, but soon he circulated through the room and eventually he ended up at Aeron’s table. Neither of them quite knew how to start a conversation with the other. Too much had happened between them. Too much had changed in their world. But still, not enough had changed yet to make talking easy and comfortable like slipping into the old habits of a formerly friendly relationship. There had never been a time that felt friendly between them, not really. “So,” Richard and Aeron began. They both laughed. Not only had they said it at the same time, but they’d both relied on that same lame conversation starter. Somehow just that laugh was enough to ease things between them even more.

  “I still resent you, you know. You were always the golden child. I wanted to have some of that,” Aeron said.

  Richard laughed at that. “And you were always the crown prince. You would always have everything, and no matter how hard I worked or how much I studied I knew that even my best efforts couldn’t change that you’d always have more than me,” Richard shot back.

  They both thought about what the other had said.

  “Truth be told, I used to think you were the better prince too. It’s part of why it riled me up so much when other people would moan that you couldn’t have been born first,” Aeron said.

  It was easy for the younger brother to accept that. He’d felt some of that, too, when the arms masters had always lamented his lack of fighting abilities on the field and wished he could have been even half as good as Aeron. The mood felt good enough to even share that with the guy himself.

  Words can be powerful things. They can make a hated enemy into a friend. But for two brothers, facing the end of a war, somehow just a few words was enough to make them start to feel fond of their closest relatives.

  And on that day much food was eaten and laughter shared, and finally a long simmering fight for the throne had come to an end.

  The End

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  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Backmatter

  The Shadeworld series ends for now in PS The Dragon Sleights, but you have power over how the story goes! If you love the
Shadeworld be sure to leave a review on Amazon to share your thoughts on the book and the series and I will be sure to read them and take your suggestions and concerns into consideration- if you share that you want to read more of this cast of characters and world, be sure to share that too! As an Indie author that is the best way you can support me and my work!

  Find all of Kay’s books at your favorite places to buy ebooks online and on her website

  Family in Flames

  Book One

  Family Inflamed

  Shadeworld Series

  Book One

  PS The Dragon Bites

  Book Two

  PS The Dragon Fights

  This glossary contains the named characters of this book

  Vovin:

  The true name of the King. He is a dragon who rules all of the Shadeworld. He has two sons, Aeron and Richard. He takes the hands off parenting approach and lets his sons battle each other rather than intervene and unify his court.

  Yami: She is half dragon, half Ittan-Momen (a Japanese cloth monster that can roll itself around people’s feet to trip them or necks to choke them.) She is the queen and Vovin’s legal wife. She is not a fan of Vovin’s ex, who is still his best friend. Yami is mother to Richard.

  Gabriella: Andrea is a harpy woman, Vovin’s former girlfriend, and current best friend. She is the leader of the harpies and a trained warrior. Mother of Aeron.

  Aeron:

  Crown prince of the Shadeworld. Teen dragon who can take the form of a dragon, giant, or human. He infiltrated Tybolt Hall in order to facilitate a connection with Alyss, his childhood friend. His spells take the form of colorful fires.