Gizzy stared at the ceiling, counting the boards to prevent her mind from wandering into the obvious subject matter in the room. Dee rolled over, slumping her arm around her waist and snuggling up with a gentle grunt.
“That was amazing.” She whispered. “You look lost in your head, honey.”
"Just getting used to the idea, slowly." Gizzy sighed. "Trying to decide if that was a mistake."
“I can leave if that helps.” Silverback said from behind Dee, as visibly naked as the girls and in the same bed.
The gentle flowing water of a strange river snaked through the valley of a high mountain, shrouding the area in a slight shadow as sun beams pierced through to little spotlights where Elf children gathered and played. The serene tap of skipping rocks over the shallow waters echoed in the grand chasm of Ulferling. Mossy and flower covered towers of pale gray sprouted from the steep land bridges extending out like interlocking fingers, most of them hollowed out underneath in grand arches. A random scattering of vertical towers half buried in rock and open on one side, tall trees, and pointed roofs competed for height, all failing compared to the rocky mountain land on either side of the ravine, flattened into artificial steps and platforms for homes and grassy outcroppings. It was if a biblical sized river, hundreds of feet deep, had carved away a path in the high snowy lands, leaving a perfectly carved kingdom of mossy stone and grasslands. Two young elf girls walked side by side near a small pink tree to pick flowers, as their attention drew to the sound of flapping wings. They seemed only pleasantly interested at first, barely looking up before screaming and running in fear at the foreign color of the beast they expected to be far more sapphire blue than jet black.
An old gray haired elf in green and gold robes stormed down the hall, as a woman struggled to follow behind him, a younger, but short gray haired elf as well.
“Be careful what you say, Ulferling.” She advised.
“Do not patronize me, I am ruler of this house and shall speak what I want in my kingdom.” He muttered angrily as she looked offended and ready to lash back before Faeryn rounded the hallway, eating an apple, unkempt windswept greasy hair and shirt open, like a cocky young thug on a mission.
“How dare you bring that THING into my kingdom, especially unannounced and in full view of peasants and children.”
“It has a name, just like yours.” Faeryn snipped, tossing the apple core on the ground.
“Azure is the pride of this empire, bringer of protection and majesty, a thoroughbred sapphire dragon the people respect rather than fear, unlike your wild beast. Ahndra is a monster. Starved, beaten, fed glass and bones to become strong through hark magic of hate and pain. Such magic is disgusting, and so is that beast of yours scaring the people. I assume you chained it down?”
“Of course. Such power is hard to keep on a silken leash, when iron chains work best.”
“Why are you here?” Ulferling sighed.
“I cannot visit my old brother merely to visit?”
“You can, and you never have, and if you decided to be something with respect now, you would have traveled by carriage or boat. Not riding a war monster to the roof of my home and intruding.”
“Well time was rather pressing, and I admit I am not here to see your lovely face. You know our other brother marches to war?”
“Which one?”
“The ONLY one. We have but one real brother. And once his war is over, you will also agree, because Uldor will be dead for his stupidity. He sent his dragon to Thalebrook, killed and burned it to the ground.” Faeryn smirked.
“He wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh he would and he did. His spies fed him a rumor of prophesy that the sacred sword was gone, and the one true god will rise and destroy the Elves. So he struck. And now the Quake is dead. So apparently, the sword was NOT missing. OR, it was, and a goblin rider came to defend with the bow. The stories do vary greatly. But I have met with Hafth and he rides to a dragonless Spirecrest to have vengeance. That much is not a rumor.”
“So you are here to share this as a warning or as a call to arms?”
“I am here to tell you he plans to take the north, and he will control two kingdoms. I am, as you say, young and foolish, and you are old and weak. We may both look like second class Kings when he is done. Do you think Hafth will simply stop at his new power and be rested, or will he use it to gain more power?”
“You propose an alliance against our brother?”
“I propose we stop him before he gains control and ruins the balance we have, and we do so with tact. No death, no armies, just a message. A message that we will not bow. I have tried to warn him, and he refuses to see peace.”
“You despise Uldor. After trying to betray your…wife…or sister, whichever insult you prefer, you should want him dead and without a kingdom.”
“Oh I do. I want him dead, and I want him ruined, but not like this. Spirecrest must remain. I want him stabbed in the back and a new king on the throne, but not our brother. As much as I hate Uldor I love being a king and so should you. Together we are strong, singled out against a 2 city central empire, we are merely gilded peasants to his will. I want balance and peace, for myself and my own power, and this is a common interest we share. Stop him, stop the war, we will negotiate and share Spirecrest and the balance of 3 remains, or perhaps a new king will be appointed and 4 kingdoms will balance the same. I love the idea of us 3, pure blood Elvin royalty sharing the world, but anyone on that throne is better than Uldor, and better than the balance falling.”
“So send my army to fight my brother, to prevent his arrogance from destroying us both, to defend Spirecrest?” Ulferling asked skeptically.
“No. Just send your beast, sorry, your royal thoroughbred steed of a dragon to Dravenguard. Just have Azure stand guard outside the walls. That’s all. Show him his home is not safe, show him we do not back down, and he will stay his army. I will head him off, tell him Azure flies for Dravenguard. We show a strong hand and a message of force, with the goal of peace. And then we, the three RIGHTFUL heirs of this world, will negotiate and agree upon what to do with Spirecrest. Uldor’s reign is over. His halfblood hide has gone too far, broken bonds and insulted too many kings. He must fall, but not like this. Not in a way that cripples us and makes our golden favorite of Father the king of all. We have the same rights he does. Make him remember that. Make him remember that his vengeance is with Uldor, not with the entire world. Perhaps we 3 peacefully join together and take down Spirecrest with the grandest army of all. And let him deliver the kill to that bastard as his revenge. He will get his revenge, and we will all be stronger, IF we move now, and with a powerful message of strength.”
“I do not like you, but I agree with you. You go to Dravenguard; Azure will head of his army.”
“Though it pains me to admit this, and I still believe myself a stronger king than your old bones…” he sighed, looking annoyed, “Ahndra is no match for the Rose. My beast is strong but…as you have painfully reminded me, not the strongest. Ahndra is fast, and plenty strong enough to stop an army in their tracks and gain an audience, I have proved that once already. Sadly, the Rose of the Desert breathes the flames of hell that no dragon can best…except maybe the Wave of the woods. Azure. Water and ice can quench flames. He knows that. You do not intimidate, old man, but your dragon does. Can you even ride to deliver a message?”
“I could send a rider, but perhaps you are right for once. Please Faeryn, do not be wrong this time. Reason with him, bring his army to a stop, let Uldor cower in fear before 3 brothers, as Azure stands in a place of power, near the Dravenguard. You do understand this is a bluff, and we would never shed Dravenguard's Elvin blood. We merely need to assert that we COULD, if forced to. I will NOT attack Dravenguard or risk my beloved Azure fighting the Rose. Take your sickly beast and fly. The 3 rightful brothers will rule this land as it should be. Uldor will burn, Spirecrest will not. The balance will remain, and peace as well. Thank you Faeryn. Thank you for once maturing and thinking with your head and your heart instead of letting your…sister wage her lust for war."
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“She is queen, I am king. Her power belongs to me. She may have my favor, but not my neck on a leash. Let her fiery temper burn and let me handle her.” He confidently joked. “And may your old withered bones stay stubborn and refuse to die for many decades to come. Send your majestic beast, and then consider having a son to take your place some day. This wife of yours seems to only produce daughters and as we both know…women don’t rule kingdoms. While you have life left to raise one, I beg of you, have a son. Royal blood or peasant, any pure Elf blood is always royal. A king should have his pick. Do not wait too long. These are dangerous times to have no sons to take your throne.” He said making his leave and giving the queen an insulting glare.
Nicole stood by the window, admiring the moon as Willow approached her, looking troubled and confused.
“A little disturbing?” she asked willow.
“Quite. Blood magic is forbidden and very advanced. It's beyond my grasp. That’s why you should have this. Witch to witch.”
“A vial of blood? Cool, but like, for why?” Nicole squinted.
“Dragons blood. From Azure, the dragon of water and ice. I stole it long ago but it’s not stable. It freezes everything I mix it with. I was going to use it to make arrows that could kill the Rose of the Desert, a dragons who’s fire is said unquenchable. I now know I’ll never have the chance, but your magic is beyond mine. Take it. Maybe you can get close enough to use it or make it work.”
“You trust me with this?” she asked.
“You’re the magister of a god. Who better?” Willow asked.
“Good idea. I’ll keep it safe. And maybe keep this between us witches. They got a lot going on, and I hear those weapons can corrupt the mind. It’s always good to have a backup plan.” She winked.
“I always do too. You need a good night’s sleep. Go to the house, you can have any room and bed you desire.”
“Oh good, I’m exhausted. Gizzy’s a bit of a titan, she just goes and goes, doesn’t understand the rest of us need to stop and rest. Fuckin gods, amiright?” she said, pocketing the strange icy substance and heading out. She made her way towards the open field and hopefully to a warm bed and some sleep.
“Hey Nicole.” Dee smiled awkwardly, darting up to as she walked to the village. “Can I talk to you?”
“You technically are so, yes.” Nicole blinked, rolling her eyes at the delay.
“Um…so I don’t want you to judge me. You know how everyone is always saying: Oh, robot Dee is so much better than human Dee because she’s not a dumb hoe and drama bomb, right?”
“Sure, we’ll just move along with that.” Nicole blinked.
“I’m screwing Silverback and Gizzy.”
“What the shit, holy hell!?” she blurted.
“This feels like judgment.”
“You’re cheating on Gizzy behind her back?”
“No, of course not. Technically, we all 3…kinda got our fuck on. And Technically her back was turned at one point but literally, not metaphorically. She was still involved in that position. And it didn’t end in disaster and anyone saying never again, which to me implies maybe again?”
“Oh… Well that’s not that bad then.” Nicole shrugged casually. "You had me really worried"
“So sleeping around made Dee a slut, but a 3 way doesn’t make me even questionable?” Dee asked, looking lost.
“No, you don’t understand. Nobody was mad that Dee got around, they got mad when she lied to them and got around behind their back after committing to a relationship where it was implied or directly stated that they were exclusive. It’s not the sex or the amount, it’s the hurtful deception and humiliation that someone you care about is banging people you don’t know about.”
“I just…On the other mission, I had this boyfriend…kinda. And uh, he betrayed us and died, it’s not important. And then I apparently had something with Jack, and then that ended weirdly, and I immediately ended up with Gizzy. I’ve had a physical body for a very short time, and I’ve had sex with 3 different aliens, and now 4. Does that seem like a lot or…?”
“Dee, don’t let anyone else slutshame you. As long as everyone is a consenting adult and nobody is being tricked or cheated on, you do you…or actually you do someone other than you, that metaphor is counterproductive here. But you get what I mean. Like so what, you’re nailing 2 different aliens. My husband is 750 pound floppy eared space bunny with horns and hooves who's now in a humanish body I don't mind enjoying either. Like I got room to talk shit? Don’t get bend out of shape over body count.”
“So what’s yours?”
“IIiii…choose not to discuss my sex life in detail.” Nicole diverted.
“I can tell by how weird you got that the number is either really high and you’re embarrassed or really low, so it makes me look bad and you’re avoiding the insult. Is it really high?”
“No.”
“Fuuuck… That would have been way easier. Ooh, I could go talk to the goblin whores. You KNOW they got mad dick count. That’s gonna make my thing seem way better, right?”
“You know what, you do that. Go. Go forth and compare yourself to small green prostitutes. There’s no way that will end comically for anyone.”
“Thanks. I better go. Nice chatting, I’ll see you in about an hour.”
“Oh no I’m going with you, I can’t miss this.” Nicole giggled.
King Hafth, removed his helmet, strutting again to the front lines, motioning the ballistae to fire on command as he threw his helmet to the ground.
“You may need that protection, dear brother.” Faeryn smiled.
“You stop me from moving again, as if this is a game?” he barked.
“It is a game, and pieces must be moved differently. I talked to Uldor. He would not listen to me. He was readying his army to march on yours, and I could not convince him to let you have your vengeance.” Faeryn lied convincingly.
“Then fight him with me, you hate Uldor too much to let him live through this.”
“Oh, he is not stopping you from killing the king, just from taking the kingdom. I made it very clear that I would side with you against him if he opposed you. Ahndra was not as intimidating as I planned, but enough to strike a form of deal. He has sent Azure to Dravenguard.”
“What? This is war, no city shall be touched!” Hafth roared.
“He does not go to destroy, but to send a message. Simply, he knows we both stand strong together, and if you take the neighboring kingdom for yourself, his is easy prey. With you controlling the north and me backing you, he fears his own kingdom may fall. So we negotiated. Hold your army, and he will hold his dragon, we will all negotiate the sharing of Spirecrest and Uldor will be yours to slay. Do not worry, brother, this is fine. He dare not strike the Rose, he is only scared. He is old and without an heir, only growing weaker and more desperate, but he is our brother and with Uldor soon dead the bloodline will be clean, and we can peacefully share Spirecrest. You shall have your bastard king without a dragon, mortal, trembling and ready to be cut down. You remain strong, your men and mine don’t die fighting our real brother. This is just as good. At least he listened to SOME reason.”
“Why do I feel you planned this somehow? Seized the chance to own a bit of Spirecrest for no bloodshed from your army, instead of me owning 2 kingdoms."
“Dear golden Hafth, you were father’s favorite, but we are all family, and father is dead. I love you, but I trust you as much as you trust me, which is to say barely at best and yes, I negotiated for balance. Balance brother. THAT is what keeps us all at peace. Not you ruling all and me being your second in command, the 3 of us, balanced, strong, and all willing to barter and remain civilized. Let Azure puff its sapphire chest outside Dravenguard. He will do nothing. Wait patiently, Hafth. No matter how the negotiations go, they will end eventually, we will sign in blood, and you will have more land than when you marched, and less dead men than you planned to bring home. Celebrate this sharing of Elven power. No matter what, you rise stronger, the family rises purer, Uldor died by your sword, and you have your vengeance. And I will have satisfaction watching him die. I care not who’s blade did the killing. My own, yours, as long as he dies, and we all do not. Does that not strike you as victory?”
“Words of wisdom, but suspicious ones.”
“Oh now, have we not outgrown this banter? Trust me for once, and you will see how I have grown and how WE all, the sons of royalty, have grown together. How proud would Mother be to see us, her 3 boys negotiating like men, and you getting your revenge without us fighting. We all owe her that much respect, Hafth. THAT is why I am being civilized. I may be a snake of the sand, but we all loved mother. Do this for her. Let the bloodline run clean, finally. And if old Ulferling cannot bed a woman capable of baring male children, well, then when he dies, we will share the land and again, blood brothers will negotiate, and Elvin purity will rule all. Balance must remain. No more fighting. Only division of victory.” He smiled.
“Yes. Yes, you are right. You have changed. You are still yourself and will never be anyone else, but you have grown, little brother. I am glad to see you becoming a man. Oh, how you would have done so sooner without that queen of yours holding you back.”
“Careful. I may not go to war or kill you, but insulting my queen may still earn you a thrashing. As you have said, I have changed, but I am still myself. Our sister deserves SOME respect.” He winked, returning to his dragon to head for the sky. “I will return with details on the negotiations.” He yelled as the black beast flapped its wings harshly, rattling the chains on its jaws. “To the balance!”
Inside the black and gold room of a gothic style castle, Queen Sophia rolled her silver eyes back as the turned white, the dim glow of a purple stone in the center of a pillar table humming and wafting a dark purple mist to her open palm. She exhaled as if in a druglike trance.
“Faeryn.” She said aloud.
“Yes, my queen?” he replied, as a voice in the mist.
“Have you succeeded?”
“I have. My brothers are confused but holding their ground. Azure flies to Dravenguard under Ulferling’s command, Hafth waits for my negotiations that will never transpire, and with the dragons both distracted, and Hafth watching Ulferling for betrayal, His wife and unborn child are ripe to pick, and done so by our men in Ulferling’s stolen robes. War awaits you, my Queen. The empire you were denied will be replaced by all of them.” he said to the darkness.
“Good boy, come home and claim your treat before we light the fires of chaos.” Said the dragon, in Sophia’s voice, looking back at her rider.
“Fly swiftly you beast…your queen demands it.” He smiled, enjoying the cold breeze on his face as Ahndra flapped faster, eyes going from white to the normal purple as the ghostly possession faded to mere obedience.