As we sit at the stone table in the Sun Room, Veremund catches my eye and glances at the seat next to Prince Philander. Perhaps he wants to give the prince a familiar face, since Thorn and I handled the diplomacy last time. Regardless, I nod once and take the seat next to Prince Philander.
The Prince of Amenyl, for his part, is looking around with intrigue. “We did not get much of a chance to speak with Ward Estelle and Ward Thorn of your abode. The craftsmanship in here is spectacular.”
“Thank you.” Veremund reaches out, picking up one of the insulated metal pitchers of coffee remaining from breakfast. “You must have journeyed all night.”
Prince Philander gives a tired nod, holding out the ceramic mug Mortimer had gotten him. He accepts cream and sugar from me and puts a significant amount in his coffee before sitting back and taking a sip. Neil, sitting across from Prince Philander, shifts several plates of food closer to him.
After a couple of bites of fruit and bacon, Prince Philander pauses. “There is another reason I came.” He glances at me now. “We saw Ariadna’s Star fall, and the light remained for half a day before it disappeared to the north. I hoped that perhaps you had it here?”
“We did,” Kalteratem says, his deep voice tight with emotion. “But sadly, we had a traitor amongst our own, a Vladykar, who stole it away.”
Oneiro, eating from a borrowed bowl, gives an annoyed huff. Prince Philander frowns. “I am surprised to hear this.”
“We were surprised as well,” Veremund says. “Regardless, what’s done is done, and now we will do what we can to take it back.”
“Yet you mean that the Vladykars have taken it to their own?” Prince Philander asks. “To King Gunnar?”
“We aren’t certain that the Vladykars serve King Gunnar,” Mortimer says. “In fact, we think that Ariadna’s Star is in the Vladykars’ residence, the Malum Palace.”
Prince Philander stares at Mortimer. “I presume that the Vladykars’ palace is well-guarded?”
Neil nods. “However, we have been discussing ideas and plans on how to draw the Vladykars out, and to send scouts in to retrieve the Star.”
I start to feel uncomfortable with how much information Prince Philander is getting. Not because he would betray us to our deaths to the Vladykars, but because I have a bad feeling that he wouldn’t be above trading such information to bring relief to Amenyl. My anxiety rises enough that Astralux glances at me, her expression curious.
“Truly?” Prince Philander glances around at the group. “And who is going?”
“Ward—” Volkan starts to say.
“—Before we tell you much more,” Veremund interjects, “we need to know your heart, and Oneiro’s.”
Prince Philander presses his lips together, his brow lowers a little, and for a moment I see a bit of King Mahlir in him with the stern expression. “I would hope that you would treat your allies with a little more trust.”
“That’s rather funny coming from you, considering your generals took us like prisoners and interrogated us first,” Thorn snaps. “Let alone your treatment of us. Particularly Estelle.”
Prince Philander’s eyes widen a little, and he glances at me before looking around the table a bit sheepishly—perhaps he hadn’t realized that Thorn and I would have shared all the details of our experiences in Amenyl with the Wards. A silence has fallen over the table, the other Wards watching Prince Philander.
“Very well,” Prince Philander says in the quiet. He sits still as Veremund looks intently at him, Kalteratem peering at Oneiro in the face.
After a time, Kalteratem sits back, his expression difficult to read but certainly not exuberant. Veremund is a bit easier for me to see the mix of surprise, worry, and hesitation as he blinks. Our leaders share a look, perhaps speaking telepathically, while Prince Philander takes a long drink of coffee.
“Well?” Oneiro drawls. “Are you going to kill us or not?” His claws start to extend out a little, and I feel tension from Astralux rise.
“No, we will not harm you,” Kalteratem says. “Nor do you need to fear that we will imprison you. You may remain.”
Surprise flickers across Prince Philander’s face, and I notice Neil and Volkan share a look too. I don’t blame them—based on their reaction, I was starting to wonder if Veremund and Kalteratem were going to ask them to leave.
“Tell me, how is your father, King Mahlir?” Veremund asks, rather pointedly moving the conversation on.
Prince Philander slowly sets his cup of coffee down. “He is well, given that we are under attack.” He resumes eating.
“And forgive me, I mean no offense, but I don’t know anything about your mother?”
“She passed on to paradise when I was young,” Prince Philander says.
“I’m sorry to hear this,” Veremund says gently.
Prince Philander shrugs. “It has been many years. I barely remember her.”
I think back to the death of Queen Trisha. The memories of the announcement are faint in my mind. I recall that there was a country-wide time of mourning, because my mom had to find me a black dress in time, and it was a challenge. Then someone gave me a dress. I try to remember who, but I can’t recall. It makes me sad, like I’m slowly forgetting Inizion.
“How did your father react to the knowledge of Oneiro?” Veremund asks.
Prince Philander smiles wryly overtop his cup of coffee. “Ward Thorn had already alerted the court of Oneiro. I think my father was more relieved to find out it was true, because it affirmed that your Wards had spoken the truth, and he values your alliance highly.”
“How did you come to bond?” Kalteratem asks.
The tiniest bit of a flush creeps along Prince Philander’s fair skin, and he looks up at Oneiro, who pauses in his eating. “I hid from the Vladykars,” the pale reddish-golden dragon says. “Then came upon Philander attempting to sneak upon an encampment, and rather poorly at that. He was so enamored with me that we sat and talked for hours.” Oneiro shrugs. “I didn’t want to get caught by a Vladykar without being bonded, and Philander wanted my aid. It felt like a win-win to us.”
I don’t know that I trust that that’s the complete story, given the way Prince Philander is looking at Oneiro. But maybe that’s because my introduction to Astralux was so much more harrowing than that rather peaceable meeting.
“So the Vladykars have bothered you?” Giftigbun asks.
“More that they were trying to recruit me.” Oneiro holds his head up proudly. “They thought I would be a valuable asset.”
“Why didn’t you join them?” Mortimer asks, his tone gentle.
Despite Mortimer’s attempt to approach the subject carefully, Oneiro’s faded grayish purple eyes flash at the question, his tail flicking a couple of times. “Oh please. I may prefer to be free to do what I like, but not at the expense of the destruction and domination of so many.”
I actually feel better at Oneiro’s comment. Still, I’m beginning to sense what I suspect Veremund and Kalteratem no doubt saw with the heart-vision, that Prince Philander and Oneiro may be fine as allies but they shouldn’t be Wards with us.
“As soon as you are able to fly again, we will journey with you to the Golden Palace,” Kalteratem says.
Prince Philander bows his head. “Thank you, great Kalteratem.”
“I could fly now,” Oneiro scoffs.
“Your wing still pains you,” Prince Philander says. “Why not wait a day to let it heal?”
Oneiro’s scales ruffle a little, but then he calms down again, looking disappointed. “I suppose.”
“We may fly straight into battle,” Prince Philander murmurs. “I do not want you already wounded.”
“True.” Oneiro sighs.
“You may rest as long as needed,” Veremund says.
“I thank you, Ward Veremund.” Prince Philander glances around the table and then looks at me, a smile returning to his face. “So, Ward Estelle. Who is your lucky betrothed?”
Surprised, I can’t help flinching. “He….”
“He’s dead,” Thorn says flatly.
Prince Philander’s smile disappears. “I am so sorry.”
“Thanks.” Swallowing several times at the lump in my throat, I drink more water. Astralux sends me a flood of peace, and I take a deep breath.
“Does this mean you only have six bonded Wards now?” Prince Philander asks carefully, looking about the room.
Veremund nods. “Unfortunately, yes.” He stands. “I will show you both to your guest bedroom, so that you may rest at your leisure.”
“Thank you, great Ward Veremund.” Prince Philander follows Veremund through the doorway that leads to the stairs down into the Wards’ Palace, while Oneiro slowly follows Kalteratem out.
“Do you need any help?” Undabouclier asks.
“I’m fine,” Oneiro snaps. “I flew here on my wing—I can take a quick flight out.”
“Easy, friend,” Undabouclier says. “I was just asking.”
Despite rejecting the offer, Oneiro looks like he’s struggling a little as he opens his wings. But at last he manages, fluttering out weakly after Kalteratem.
As soon as Oneiro is out of the Sun Room, Volkan turns and looks at Thorn and me. “You weren’t joking—quite the pleasant fellows, aren’t they?”
Thorn snorts. “And that was still better than our first encounter with them.”
Chuckling, Mortimer shakes his head. “At any rate, I think we should all get some rest.” His blue-green eyes peer around the table at us. “It sounds like we might be leaving very soon.”
“I didn’t even think of that,” Thorn mutters. “With Remyssus already under attack…I guess we can’t wait, can we?”
“No.” Neil sighs, looking back at Giftigbun. “We’ll wait for Veremund to return, but I think we should expect that we’re leaving in a mere matter of days now. In fact, Thorn and Estelle, you may want to head toward Adytol but not bother flying all the way back. If not head straight toward the Malum Palace.”
“I was wondering the same,” Thorn says.
“We can see how the fight is going in Remyssus,” Mortimer says, “but I agree—there’s little point in waiting. If Klevor and the Vladykars are already moving against Remyssus, we can’t wait long.”
I cringe, imagining the massive city of Remyssus under siege by Klevorian soldiers and Vladykars. All of those people….
Veremund and Kalteratem return together. “Prince Philander and Oneiro are resting,” Veremund says. He looks around at us. “Unfortunately—and you may have already noted this yourselves—this means we must leave immediately.”
Volkan nods. “We were just talking about that.”
“There’s no more time remaining,” Veremund continues. “As soon as Oneiro is up for a flight, we should depart.”
“I’ll talk to Lyssa and the remaining dragons about Adytol defenses,” Neil says. “Thorn, Estelle, it would be good for you and your dragons to discuss tactics. None of us have seen Malum Palace, but I know Astralux has gotten the farthest into Klevor and lived to speak of it. Maybe she can give you some pointers on places to hide and rendezvous.”
“I know of a few places,” Astralux says. I wonder if that’s where she had come from when I first met Astralux—she had been fleeing the Vladykars, but I never asked her where she had “run off to.” Perhaps it was after charging deep into Klevor territory.
“The rest of us need to discuss war tactics, especially since there will be allies on foot,” Giftigbun says.
“It’ll be kind of like defending Adytol, right?” Volkan asks.
“A bit.” Veremund gestures to Thorn and me. “Go ahead and talk on your own. There is little that Kalteratem and I can help you with. Although we’ve flown through that area together, it was many years ago.”
“Certainly nothing more than the geography of the land, which you can find in the maps,” Kalteratem adds.
“Understood.” Thorn stands. “Vite, Astralux, we’ll meet you outside. I’m going to grab some of those maps.”
“See you!” Vitegadium bounds out of the Sun Room, Astralux rolling her eyes at Vitegadium’s enthusiasm. I can feel her amusement through our connection.
Standing, I follow Thorn out of the Sun Room down the spiral stairs back into the palace. He leads me to the library and study room. It’s one of the best rooms in the Wards’ Palace, my favorite place to be during “training.” They have close to eighty books, and even more pamphlets, scrolls, and notes tucked into shelves and desks. Thorn walks over to one shelf with a number of rolled parchments, looking at the labels, and then pulls out one parchment. He unravels it, revealing a sketch of what I realize is the entire western half of Drakonia, which mostly contains Klevor.
Thorn pauses, looking at the map, standing very still. I slowly look up and am surprised to see his forest green eyes glistening. “Thorn?”
“I don’t get scared easily. But Ariadna help me, I’m terrified right now.”
Surprised, I put a hand on Thorn’s shoulder. “Me too.”
Shuddering under my hand, Thorn looks up at me. “I’m terrified for you.”
“Me? But we’re not the ones going into the Malum Palace,” I say. “I’m worried about you and Vitegadium.”
“Being a decoy sounds far more frightening to me.”
I smile a little. “Maybe. But if anyone can successfully escape as a decoy, it’s Astralux.”
“Yes, but you need to successfully escape, too.” Thorn sighs and looks back down at the map. “I’m tired of losing my friends. I’ve only been a Ward for a little over two years, but I trained a lot longer with Tristin, and even some with Dolores. I’d known Schleifen and practiced with him some before he bonded with Dolores. Even Amon and Andeuten….” Thorn looks up at me. “I’m twenty-two years old, and every year that passes, I lose someone else.”
A lump in my throat, I set the map in my hands down on the desk and wrap my arms around Thorn, my eyes shut tight. Thorn slowly hugs me in return.
We don’t cry. I think it’s because we’re both too weary. Weary with loss. Weary for Ariadna’s light to bring us joy again.
Tamara Rivers 
Leave a comment