Count Luthor VI von Blitzburg and Countess Matilda von Blitzburg trembled as they gazed at the massive dragon who towered over them. Cinnamon's eyes were cold and reptilian. His breath was smoking hot.
"It is an honor to meet you," Count Luthor said. "Great dragon."
"Yes. An incredible honor," the countess added.
He and Matilda knelt, fear pulsing through them. Neither parent knew how their son managed to make a deal with a creature as terrifying as this dragon.
Then, Cinnamon opened his mouth.
"You are being Gustav's parents?" he asked.
"Y-Yes," Count Luthor stuttered out.
"Oh, that is being very good, ja," Cinnamon nodded. "He was telling me when I was flying him over here that I should be talking to you if he is not being here."
At that moment, the Count and Countess von Blitzburg's fear crashed like a burning airplane. The two of them stood up.
"Yes, well, our son is not available at the moment. He is on a mission for His Majesty," Count Blitzburg stated. "I am Count Luthor VI von Blitzburg, and this is my wife, Countess Matilda von Blitzburg."
"I am being Cinnamon. It is very nice to be meeting you, ja," the dragon said.
"Cinnamon? Like the spice?" Countess Matilda questioned.
"Ja! Exactly like the spice. My mother was being a big fan of the spice. It was hard for her to get enough of it to eat, but she was loving it so much that she named me after it," Cinnamon smiled with pride.
Or at least the count and countess thought he smiled. It was a bit difficult to tell due to Cinnamon's reptilian face.
"Gustav was talking about an insurance bodyguard service," Cinnamon recalled. "And I was just finishing depositing my horde in the Raven Knights' chapter houses. He was having some sort of plan for this."
Count Blitzburg nodded.
"Yes, he left us with instructions," the nobleman said. "My wife and I will go inside our castle to retrieve them."
"You can be taking your time," Cinnamon replied.
"Thank you."
With that, the Count and Countess von Blitzburg turned away from Cinnamon before walking into their castle. The two shared a look the moment they stepped inside the grand hall.
"What has Gustav gotten us into?" Countess Matilda wondered.
"I have no idea," Count Luthor sighed. "I expected a dragon, but a dragon that talks like that..."
He shook his head.
"No matter. Let's not waste any time. I'd rather not test a dragon's patience, even a dragon who sounds silly."
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In another part of Greenrivers, King Eduard the Defenestrator and Queen Eleanor were on horseback. They were surrounded by over a dozen knights. The king struggled to suppress the pure rage pulsing through him, and his wife's hands were clenched on her reigns so hard they turned white.
There was a building in front of them. It was half submerged in water, and the stench of death lingered in the air. Two knights were using their magic to drag away the water. However, it fought against them, doing its best to stay in place.
"Two weeks," King Eduard said. "And seven orphanages have been flooded with magical water."
"At the same time as Greenrivers has been infested with a sudden onrush of banditry," Queen Eleanor added. "I doubt this is a coincidence."
"Yes. Perhaps we should call Duke Armand?"
King Eduard pulled out his crystal ball and contacted Duke Armand. After a few moments, the noble appeared in it. Armand was wrapped tightly in ropes. His marionette wife was holding onto the end of the rope. Thankfully, the crystal ball was at an angle that only exposed Duke Armand's robed upper body.
"An honor to greet you, Your Majesty," Duke Armand stated. "But this is...a bit of a bad time. Perhaps it could wait?"
King Eduard and Queen Eleanor were already covering their eyes with their hands.
"15 minutes," King Eduard said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Duke Armand replied.
Fifteen minutes later, Duke Armand was in much more presentable attire. He made a final adjustment to his doublet.
"What do you need, Your Majesty?" Armand asked.
"Your advice," King Eduard the Defenestrator answered. "I am certain you have heard about the orphanage floodings and increased bandit attacks."
"I have, Your Majesty."
"Do you think they're connected?" Queen Eleanor questioned.
Duke Armand nodded.
"Coincidences happen; however, I believe a coincidence is unlikely here. Do any of the bandits have magic?"
"Yes. We suspect that there are exiled nobles among their ranks," King Eduard said.
"Perhaps there are exiled nobles, or perhaps that's what they want you to think?" Duke Armand stated. "I suspect that the bandits are working for someone more powerful, someone who is using them as a distraction so they can freely flood the orphanages."
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King Eduard the Defenestrator narrowed his eyes in contemplation.
"And you believe that nobles are behind this?" he asked.
"Of course. The only reason why someone would want to flood an orphanage is to kill the orphans inside. And commoners have no reason to want to kill orphans," Duke Armand answered.
Understanding flashed through King Eduard and Queen Eleanor.
"One of the orphans is a threat to someone in the nobility?" the Queen said.
"Not our nobility. Foreign nobility," Duke Armand replied.
He then paced in a circle around the crystal ball.
"There are three likely reasons for the floodings. The first is to depopulate Greenrivers to reduce our ability to recruit soldiers. This requires the person behind the scheme to be an idiot unless this is the first step of a larger plan. After all, destroying orphanages won't impact Greenrivers' population much."
"Yes, but we cannot discount the possibility that our enemy is a moron," King Eduard said.
Duke Armand nodded.
"The next possible reason is that a particular orphan is a target. If that's the case, I suspect the culprit is from Motteburh. I doubt there are many nobles there who would want people to know if they had a bastard child with a commoner. And I suspect a few Motteburh nobles would be willing to murder innocent children to hide their indulgences."
"Disgusting," Queen Eleanor felt a wave of nausea.
"Yes, but there is one other possibility," Duke Armand stated. "We recently started cooperating with Vandalland and Weltai. Vanadalland is one of the three most powerful kingdoms on the continent, and the reputation of Voviode Dalv Sepet of Weltai speaks for itself. Seeing as we are another of the three most powerful kingdoms, there are plenty of people who have good reason to fear a possible alliance between us. I suspect we'll soon find Vandalland and Weltai coats of arms among the bandits."
King Eduard the Defenestrator grimaced.
"The Northern barbarians, the Southern city-states, High Elves, Sea Elves, Dark Elves, and Motteburh could all have done this," he said.
"Between them, the Southern city-states have the least reason to fear us. The High Elves are placated. And the Dark Elves rarely leave their caves. I believe the Northern barbarians are the most likely culprits in terms of motives. But the Sea Elves and Motteburh are more likely to be able to pull this off," Duke Armand explained.
King Eduard pondered.
"The Northern Barbarians wouldn't do something like this. They aren't willing to slaughter orphans. Most of the Sea Elves are not either. They might be pirates, but even most pirates have some standards. The Motteburh nobles, on the other hand..." rage flowed through him.
"They either do not view commoners as humans, barely see commoners as human, just don't value the lives of commoners, or feel that commoners are enough of a threat that they have to be repressed by any means necessary. Even if it means slaughtering orphans," Queen Eleanor said, feeling quite murderous.
"We can't jump to any conclusions just yet," Duke Armand stated. "But I agree that some Motteburh noble is the most likely culprit."
King Eduard came to a decision.
"I am going to send some spies over to Motteburh. If they are behind this, my current spies are clearly not enough," the monarch said.
"And I will call Voivode Dalv and Queen Hildoara," Queen Eleanor added. "If this is an attempt to bring down our cooperation, they should know."
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Soon, Voivode Dalv and Trish were gathered around a crystal ball with Queen Eleanor on the other end.
"This is a dire situation," Dalv said, clear anger in his voice. "If you catch this murderer, make sure to have him boiled alive."
"He deserves nothing less," Trish agreed.
"We will punish him to the full extent of Greenrivers law after he is interrogated. We need to know who's at the top of this plan," Queen Eleanor said.
A thought came to Dalv. He recalled centuries ago, before his death, when he was Vlad Dracula. There was a woman who died the same year he was born. She was burned at the stake for heresy but later acquitted in a postmortem trial. Before her death, she associated with a man that Dalv did not doubt she'd regret knowing if she found out what he did.
While Dalv could not remember that man's name, he knew that he was executed for murdering children. There was no reason for this beyond the man's pleasure.
"Are you certain that there is a scheme behind these drownings?" Dalv asked.
"There has to be," Queen Eleanor answered.
An expression of confusion crossed her face.
"Why would you even think anything different?"
"Because some people are...evil. They have no reason for doing what they do other than pleasure," Dalv said.
Queen Eleanor looked at him like he had gone insane.
"No one is evil enough to enjoy killing children," she stated.
"I understand that it is hard to believe," Dalv replied. "But there are people like that."
Queen Eleanor shook her head.
"I refuse to believe that. I mean no offense, but I believe you are a massive cynic, Voivode Dalv," she said.
"Well, I will admit to that. I had...a poor childhood. But that does not mean that I am wrong. This might be part of some sort of scheme, but it could also be the actions of someone who is simply evil," Dalv replied.
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In Vandalland, Queen Hildoara stood on a balcony of her castle. Wisimir stood at her side. A crowd of nobles and important commoners were gathered in the courtyard before her. The monarch took a deep breath.
"This is your first speech. Don't mess this up," Queen Hildoara whispered before speaking aloud. "Subjects of Vandalland, I am honored to formally announce our cooperation with Greenrivers and Weltai."
Murmurs rose up from the crowd. Queen Hildoara held up her hand to call for silence. But the people kept whispering.
"If I may continue," she spoke in a threatening manner.
The voices kept going. A hint of anger pulsed through Queen Hildoara. Then, Wisimar stepped forward.
"Please give my sister your full attention," he said.
A hush fell over the crowd. Queen Hildoara gave her brother a nod of thanks before continuing.
"I made an agreement with King Eduard the Defenestrator of Greenrivers and Voivode Dalv Sepet of Weltai. We are going to cooperate with them on a border fort. In the future, I intend to make this lead to more cooperation between our kingdoms," she stated.
Then, a voice rose up from the crowd.
"Why should we cooperate with those fools? We're stronger than them! We should crush them! This would never have happened under King Albinius! A woman should not be our leader!"
Queen Hildoara looked over the crowd. She saw who was speaking.
"Count Gento. I see no reason to waste lives fighting people when we have no guarantee of victory. King Eduard the Defenestator sees things the same way that I do. That's why he only invades people who are weaker than his kingdom. And all of Voivode Dalv's wars have been deffensive. This is not the opinion of a woman but a group of monarchs, two of whom are far more experienced than I am," Queen Hilodara said.
The count scoffed.
"I say you're just too much of a coward to fight," he stated.
"Count Gento," Queen Hildoara's face voice turned to ice. "I will give you a chance to apologize. I am certain you know what the penalty is for insulting a member of the royal family."
With laughter, the count exclaimed.
"You wouldn't punish me! You don't have the balls!"
"Guards," Queen Hildoara turned to them. "Take him away and cut off his tongue."
"Wait, wait!" the noble started.
Before he could speak further, the guards grabbed him. One of them pulled out a knife and took out Count Gento's tongue right then and there. Some members of the crowd nodded their approval.
"It looks like our queen might be capable after all," one said.
"I was skeptical about being ruled by a woman, but Queen Hildoara is proving that she isn't soft," another added.
Other members of the crowd's minds weren't changed, but they kept silent. When Hildoara held up her hand for silence, everyone who spoke listened.
"I expect your full cooperation," she said. "There will be no difficulties with our allies in Greenrivers and Weltai."
With that, Queen Hildoara turned and left. Wisimir followed her.
"You did great," he stated.
She sighed.
"I hope I did. At least a few more people should respect me now," Queen Hildoara said.
Then, Duke Carini approached her. Queen Hildoara's crystal ball was in his hands.
"Your Majesty, Queen Eleanor of Greenrivers wishes to speak to you," he said.
"I will talk to her now," Queen Hildoara stated.
A few moments later, the girl was suppressing a look of sheer horror and disgust.
"What kind of monster would flood orphanages?" she felt rage build up within her.