'People of Eltaria, I present to you the Guardians of the Border.'
She paused, as the dragons cut off their flames and gazed benignly down on the crowd.
'You will have heard that Prince Siegfried of Drachenthal, here beside us, won the hand of the Princess Rosamund with his answer to the final test of the competition — the question of how to best protect our land, not only now, but well into the future. Finally we can reveal his brilliant answer.' She did not stint on the warmth and approval she projected into her words. Siegfried had gotten the idea just before Rosa was kidnapped, but had not been aware just how many dragons the Godmothers knew. Nor how many were ready to jump at the chance for secure homes where they wouldn't be harassed by treasure-hunters. When he suggested it tentatively, Lily had nearly proposed to him herself.
Siegfried blushed crimson. Fortunately, he didn't have to say anything, or she was fairly sure he would have stuttered.
'As Guardian for the East, we present Beryl of the Clan Buchenwurm. She and her kin will dwell in the caves of the mountains of the east.'
Beryl, a dragon who had made Sharpstone's eyes fairly pop out of his head with desire when he first saw her, was a slender and graceful creature of emerald green, with wingwebs exactly the color of young beech leaves. She nodded her head to the crowd, a glint of amusement in her eyes. Sharpstone's interest had not been lost on her, and as Beryl herself was a young dragon with no hoard yet to speak of, and Sharpstone was not bad to look on and had quite the impressive hoard...well. Sharpstone was a very attractive prospect to her, as well. So far as Beryl was concerned, Sharpstone's presence only sweetened an already-honeyed bargain.
'As Guardian for the West, we present Thundershrike of the Clan Windrider. He and his mate and their kin will dwell on the ledges of the western border. They will have the additional boon that as they protect us, so we will protect their eggs and young with a permanent detachment of the Guard stationed with them. That detachment, of Eltaria's finest, will henceforth be called the Dragonguard.'
Thundershrike was an old dragon, enormous and proud, the color of blued steel. His Clan was rare; dragons did not usually like to lair in the open, and their nests were vulnerable to attack. He inclined his head to Lily, every line of him expressing gratitude.
'As Guardian for the North, we present Kukris, of the Clan Parbellum. He and his kin will dwell in the mines that the Dwarves have emptied of their treasures, and in addition, will serve as guards to the Dwarven convoys conveying their precious cargo to our capital.'
Kukris was everything that people thought of when they thought of a dragon. Red and gold, fierce and strong, his ornamental spikes were particularly long, his teeth particularly large and sharp. He had been the first to accept, for Parbellum had long ago made their peace with the Dwarves of their homeland, and their numbers were putting a great deal of stress on the available lairs. This was an opportunity they would never have refused.
'And as Guardian of the South, we present Precious Peony, of the Clan Wazashi. She and her clan are new to these lands, but are long in friendship with the peoples of their own. They will dwell along the river canyons, and above Lake Arrowhead, in the wind and water-caves there.'
Precious Peony looked very different from the others; her snout was shorter, her wings more ornate, and she was more snakelike. Her scales shone like opals or pearls in the bright sunlight, and she bowed rather than nodding her head. Unlike the others, Peony's sort of dragon was as much at home in water as in the air. It had been the idea of the dragon champion attached to Godmother Elena's Kingdom to recruit her and her clan; like Clan Parbellum, they were beginning to feel crowding in their island home and welcomed the chance to split the Clan and make a new home here.
'This is the treaty we have made. The dragon clans are to act as our defenses on the borders and protect the Dwarven mines in the mountains. In turn, we are to provide them with food, which the Crown will pay for out of the Privy Purse, in the form of special herds and flocks which will be pastured nearby. We are also to help them defend their lairs and nests from attack. And in return for the special protection they afford the Dwarves, and the gift of shed skin, the Dwarves will supply them with ten percent of the production of their mines, with which to build their hoards. We believe this treaty will be of immeasurable value to the Kingdom of Eltaria and lead to a firm foundation of alliance with dragonkind that will only strengthen our security as the years pass. People of Eltaria! What say you?'
The acclaim was slow to start — these were, after all,dragons — but after a moment, a few started to cheer. More joined them, cheering or applauding, and more still, until at last the entire crowd roared its approval, and the dragons lifted their heads and roared back until the roof shook.
Lily waited patiently for the cheering to stop, which it eventually did. When she had relative quiet again, she look another deep breath. She had been looking forward to this part formonths.
'As you know, the Prince and Princess were wed two months ago. His solution was discussed, negotiated and, as of today, is in place. Flocks have been moved to their new homes. The dragons are today picking out their lairs. The Prince and Princess have been administering to the day-to-day needs of the Kingdom under the eyes of the Council and us. And now it is time. This day, we, Queen-Consort Sable, do hereby abdicate all pretensions to the crown, giving over the rule of Eltaria to King Siegfried and Queen Rosamund. Long live their majesties! Long live the King! Long live the Queen!'
This, of course, was completely unexpected for everyone but the four on the balcony, and after a moment of silence, as she placed the Royal crown on Rosa's head, and Jimson took the State Crown from its box and put it on Siegfried's, the roar that went up actually rocked the balcony under their feet. Then she stepped back into the Palace, to let the new King and Queen properly greet their subjects.
'Someone is likely to have a polite tiff at usurping the coronation,' Jimson observed, as they made their way back to the Queen's suite. Everything that Lily wanted had already been sent back home to her Castle. It only remained for the two of them to leave.
'Someone can have all the tiffs he wants,' Lily retorted. 'The last time we had a coronation, there was nearly a war amongst the priests and clerics over who was going to get to perform it. Now they can all blame that 'foreign interloper, Queen Sable' and unite in their umbrage.'
Jimson threw back his head and laughed. She loved that laugh. She loved to make him laugh. She had always known he was witty, but she had never known what a good sense of humor he had. The past two months had brought many revelations.
'Now, have we gotten everything taken care of?' she asked as they passed through the doors of the suite and closed them behind themselves.
