Chapter 27 – The Duchess and the Guardian Phoenix
"We burned what was left of the ship and took anything useful for ourselves. I ordered a small group of men to stay there for a few days searching for other survivors and more wreckage, but we only managed to recover useless debris," Hugo said.
"And the cursed bodies?" Margaery asked.
"We did as you said and fed them to the dogs..."
"Good! I hate those people from the Dynasty with all my heart!" she said, clenching her fists.
We looked at her and then at Sifu.
"Sorry, Sifu, it's nothing personal..." Margaery said.
Sifu just laughed. "Remember, we should hate those who govern; they are the ones giving orders. My people also live under the Song Dynasty's regime," he explained.
"And the weaponry?" she asked, changing the subject with a bit of embarrassment.
"The swords and armor the boy took are in our arsenal as a memento of his first battle," Hugo explained.
Margaery put a smile on her face. "At just five years old, our little Evenhart has already brought home his first hunting trophy. What were we doing at that age, Hugo?"
I looked seriously at Margaery.
What Nathan did was dangerous! It's lucky they were weak… my baby could have been hurt… or worse…
"At that age, I was stealing sweets," said Hugo.
"And I was beginning my training to inflict pain… good times," she said.
I looked at the two idiots in front of me and sighed.
"Cheer up, Katie. The boy has the talent for assassination like his ancestors; there's no escaping nature," Margaery said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"I heard stories that his great-grandfather killed for the first time at six years old, so I think we have a little prodigy," Sifu said.
I wanted him to be just an ordinary citizen, not an assassin.
"If he's like his ancestor, then we're more than happy to have brought the heir back to his rightful place, and on top of that, a descendant of mages," she said.
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"We just can't let the envoy from the Capital see that phoenix with him, or everything will be in vain. For now, let's keep the existence of that thing hidden, and if we have to reveal the magical animal... it will only be as an S-rank bird. Even though they don't know the real power of a phoenix, it will be dangerous if they aim to possess it for the little power they do know," Sifu told us.
Hugo scratched his head. "Is that thing really that dangerous? Aren't there other large magical creatures out there?" he asked.
"There are huge S-rank creatures, but they don't grow to the size that phoenix will one day. I wasn't joking about her being able to make nests in castles. I don't want to put anyone in danger if they discover the phoenix,"
"Danger who? I don't feel in danger from a threat from the kingdom. If the kingdom dares to place a soldier with bad intentions on our lands..." Margaery said.
"Endanger all of us, including the kingdom," Sifu corrected. "The life of that phoenix and the boy are linked. If the phoenix grows up... and if unfortunately, the boy dies because of the bond he has with her... who in the world will hold back the fury of a legendary bird? If the phoenix fails in her purpose to protect her master... she will destroy everything until nothing is left."
Everyone stared at him with wide eyes, even I was a bit in shock.
“Damn, Sifu! Looks like that little bird is really dangerous,” Hugo said.
“I warned you…” Sifu replied.
“Should we stop giving her meat?” I asked. “I don't want my son to die, but I also don't want him to have something dangerous with him. I don't want anything bad to happen to Nathan.”
“No!” Margaery said. “We'll keep feeding the phoenix meat. Don't worry, she told me she would protect my nephew and the people he loves.”
Hugo and I looked at her, a bit confused.
“I made an agreement with the phoenix… she understood I had no ill intentions and accepted.”
“What agreement?” I asked.
She made a deal with that bird? Even though I know Cylla is intelligent, she just ignores me…
“I told her my intentions. I said all I wanted was to protect my family and asked if she wanted to be part of this family. The phoenix accepted what I said and agreed to help, but she won't obey anyone except Nathan.”
Hugo was just as confused as I was.
“So that thing really understands our language?” Hugo asked.
“Of course it does, it's smarter than Carnellian himself. We're lucky Nathan saved her. If that thing had grown up hating humans and the ship had released her in our lands…” Sifu said.
“Oh my god…” Hugo murmured.
“This place would have turned into a hunting ground for the fury of a legendary bird, and no one could contain the phoenix. We’re lucky the little master saved her and became her friend,” Sifu explained.
Margaery was smiling.
“It was destiny helping the Evenharts after everything it took from us. Now we have a guardian who will be like Carnellian… the difference is the guardian's nest will be the entire Evenhart territory, not just the mansion. Let the little phoenix live peacefully her way.” Margaery said, heading toward the door.
“What do you have planned for the phoenix?” I asked, seeing my friend leave the place with a smile.
She turned back and shrugged.
“I don’t plan anything for the bird, she’s smarter than us and would know long before we did if we tried to use her. We’ll raise her following Evenhart customs, and she’ll be free to stay in the protected nature of our lands, but the phoenix is now part of our family. You remember the Evenhart motto, don’t you? ‘Family united and enemies dead,’” she said, opening the door.
Margaery turned one last time before leaving us in that place.
“I’ll do everything to solve our problems, but if anyone ever dares to touch our family… they better hope it’s me knocking on their door and not our new guardian,” she said and left.