“All from Ylfair the Dragonheart…” Loren breathed. She slowly took the dragon pendant back, keeping it in her palm. The silver wings of the dragon dug into her palm. “Why does she want this?”
“My dear sister sees the dragon as her birthright. That the dragon and its leash were rightfully Allorus’s birthright, as he was the mage, and not Viarous’s, your ancestor’s. He knew nothing of magic, he couldn’t possibly have controlled it the way Allorus would have been able to.” Seraphis said. Her head pounded after letting go of the dragon magic. “She will be determined to get it.”
“Well.” Loren let the pendant fall from her hand and dangle in the air as she kept a tight hold on its chain. She reached behind her neck and clasped the chain, before tucking the pendant back in its rightful place. Her eyes were shimmered the dragon’s gold at the edges, but with a breath she held the magic back. “She will not be claiming it. It doesn’t belong to her. Seraphis, can you explain what the magic does?”
Seraphis shrugged. “Aside from form a connection and control an entire dragon? I have no idea. I’m no mage, princess. I only know what my dear sister has told me.”
“But do you know what she plans to do if she ever does get a hold of it? I need to know everything.”
“Her own fire mage will be supplemented, she said. And she would have a dragon and its dragonfire. Even the most powerful of mages cannot control dragonfire to spread or cease. And then, my queen would raze the ground, destroying everything from the Easter Shores to Aldoran, to even the north. Then when Sagna is the only thing left standing, she would rule over it all.” A heavy silence fell in the air when the last of Seraphis’s words had stopped echoing around the little space and in their minds. Everything would be destroyed. The Garuchian Plains, Rhodia, the Plaguelands, Kilrough and Marklholme. Aldoran. Everything.“ Seraphis smiled. “Your dinner is burning.”
Dinner was spent in an uneasy silence. The five of them sat around the single table, picking at boiled meat and vegetables and thinking about the implications of what Seraphis had told them. Every so often, someone would ask a question; what comes next, who are the Daughters and Sons, what will happen to Kespia if Haedria took control of the dragon. Only Loren kept silent. She kept her gaze glued to her food, occasionally throwing scraps to Ma’trii or Duro.
After a while, Loren rose from the table and excused herself. The princess slipped out of their safe, warm place in the ruined outpost. Kae watched her go, a morsel of meat half way to her mouth. Once Loren was out of sight, she sighed and put down her food, pushing away her makeshift plate, all appetite gone. Seraphis noticed the movement and raised a brow.
“You’re interested in the princess, aren’t you?” She asked.
Kae started as if she was shot. “What? No! No, no way. Of course not. Why would you say that?”
Seraphis chuckled, turning back to her food. Cassendir and Kaiten were speaking animatedly about ships. Battleships, merchant vessels, ancient explorer’s boats; they would be too focused on their topic to even hear Seraphis. “I know that look, huntress. You long to be with her. Why don’t you go talk to her while she’s out there brooding? The boys wouldn’t even notice you’ve left.”
Kae’s blush turned her cheeks a shade of crimson. She fidgeted, unable to look Seraphis in the eye. “You’re a princess, right? I’m sure you have an idea why I can’t.”
Seraphis nodded, understanding. “You think you’re too far below her stature, don’t you?”
Kae didn’t answer. The huntress dropped her gaze to her uneaten food; bits of carrots and venison that were slowly getting cold. She nodded.
“You think you don’t deserve her, just because she’s a princess. She was born royalty; has been sleeping in silken sheets and has never known a day of hunger. While you…” Seraphis trailed off. She reached to her head and tugged at a tiny braid that jutted out of the side of her head, just one in a small cluster made from her short, flame colored hair. “You came from nothing, and you think that’s all you’ll ever be.” She continued.
The huntress sighed softly and hung her head. “You didn’t have to put it so harshly, Seraphis. But you’re right. She’s a princess. She’s heir to the throne of Aldoran! And what am I? I smell like dirt and dog, why would she even look my way?” Kae leaned her chin on her hand, dejected. “I bet after all of this, if we ever make it back from Sagna alive, there will be a line of suitors stretching out the castle gates and right through Markholme. Then she’ll find a prince or some noble, someone worthy, and marry him. I’ll have to watch their marriage procession from the forest. Outside.”
“Kae.” Seraphis said patiently. “Don’t you think she might be interested in you as well?”
“The princess? Can’t be.” Kae scoffed. She turned away and kept her eyes on Ma’trii and Duro. The two were playfully snapping at each other, bouncing around and chasing their tails. “I’m just here to keep her from getting killed.” She tried in vain to keep her tears from falling.
Seraphis rolled a bit of bone forwards and back on her side of the table. “Listen to me, huntress. It’s very possible for a princess to fall in love with someone that can be seen as lower than her.” She said evenly.
“Really? And what would you know about that, Seraphis?” Kae said. “Does your world revolve around someone you can’t have? Does your heart ache with longing because being with the one you love would bring them shame and ruin?” The
