Early the next morning I'd woken and immediately went about making sure the rest of the group was similarly awake. Nida complained the entire way out of Sealrite under Dralos' constant beckoning and promises of a gorgeous, easy ride to the Alistar duchy.
We'd walked for nearly an hour before Dralos stopped us, and I took a large bite of the apple I'd snagged from the breakfast servings. The green delicacy gushed juice as my teeth sank in and I enjoyed the tinge of sourness on my tongue, a refreshing contrast to the stark heat of the desert outside Sealrite's barrier. I'd known the city was surrounded by a desert, but that hadn't exactly translated to the dryness and the irritating heat battering my skin. Nor had it accurately depicted the endless sea of mountainous sand dunes and mounds littering my sight like waves in the ocean.
By Ashwash, when was the last time I'd seen a tree?
“There it is,” Dralos said, pointing a scaled finger at a silver dot overhead, nearly invisible in the clear blue sky.
It took another moment for the dot to come into sight and I felt my eyes go wide. “I asked for a carriage,” I said, gaping with disbelief at what was approaching and dropped the remainder of my apple. “That is not a carriage. That is essentially a winged throne.” The draconian only smirked.
High in the empty dawn sky above Sealrite, the majestic carriage glided effortlessly through the air, pulled by a pair of wyverns with iridescent, leathery wings. As it approached, I admired its craftsmanship. The wood, a deep, dark brown, exuded an enchanting aura, drawing my eyes to the intricate silver and violet inlays running along its sides—likely runes, pulsing faintly with the glow of mana.
It must be some kind of enchantment, I realized, watching the runes beat with a steady rhythm.
The wyverns were enormous, their scales gleaming with shades of emerald and obsidian, and their eyes glowing a fierce, brutal red. Chains of tarnished, yet unrusted, silver adorned the carriage, tethering the wyverns with amethyst shards. Despite their size, the creatures flew with a mix of grace and primal aggression, their wings cutting through the air .
The carriage itself was carved with gothic arches intertwined with twisted vines, reminiscent of the Ashwash cathedrals back in Aedronir. Dark iron lanterns flickered with ghostly flames, bright even in daylight, reaching outward as if grasping at clouds. The driver sat calmly at the front, reins in hand, shadows coiling around him in a way that blurred his appearance. When I squinted at the figure and released a few tendrils of my energy to sense the driver, I was rebuffed in a way I had not been since Aedronir. I glanced at Dralos, surprised, who was watching me with that same irritating smirk.
The closer it came, the more it sparkled under the tyrant Ordite sun. My anticipation grew. Nida, Ethan, Nasq, and Brianna were similarly transfixed, their eyes lost in the beauty of the carriage, soaring through the skies with less effort than it would take them to walk.
When it finally landed in the barren desert field we stood in a few miles from Sealrite, I resisted the urge to rush inside. Nida, however, had no such restraint and pushed past everyone.
“Why, hello there beautiful,” she said, running a pair of sharp claws against the obsidian vein of a rune.
I could feel a palpable sense of displeasure radiating from the driver, but he did nothing. So, I did nothing and allowed the paragon to fuss over it.
I turned to Dralos for the third time. “Explain.”
He shrugged. “You’re a high-ranking potential successor of House Alistar, one of the wealthiest houses in the Kingdom. Even beyond Lysoria or Cael, House Alistar is considered wealthy. Did you really think the council wouldn’t uphold their dignity by sending the finest carriage?”
I snorted. “I didn’t even realize they knew I was coming.”
“Perhaps they didn’t and are summoning you,” Nasq said. Dralos shot him a look that said shut up.
I frowned at the idea of being summoned by another noble, but that simply seemed to be the life of a lowly baron’s daughter rising through the ranks. “In any case, the timing is rather coincidental.” Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do about it yet. I had no issue hunting spies and informants to other Houses and nations, but killing one of House Alistar's could potentially have political consequences in direct opposition to my goals that I would prefer to avoid. Assuming I even found all the informants.
“That would be my fault,” Dralos admitted. “When we received the…” his voice trailed and he coughed. “The summons, I let them know what date the carriage should arrive. It has actually been flying around here for a few days. I was not expecting the delay with Lady Ballenci to occur.”
“Next time, tell me. I don’t enjoy surprises, Dralos.” My words were calm, but the undertone of violence remained— created by the aura of power and domination I had been raised to embody.
The draconian performed a bow so deep it looked more like he was stretching. “As you will, My Queen.”
One by one, we boarded the carriage, except for Dralos and Ethan. Dralos had to stay behind to keep Benedict in line, should the Marquess step out of it. Ethan had his own task. He bowed to me, then exchanged hugs with Nasq and Nida.
“I’ll return once I find her,” he promised, referring to the still-missing Cardinal.
“Do you think she’s in the city?” Nasq asked, biting his lower lip anxiously.
Ethan shook his head. “No. Her Majesty searched for her signal, and I scoured every inch of Sealrite. She must’ve found a way out or is somewhere in the desert.” He turned to me, eyes bright and confident. “I will find her, my lady.”
I didn’t care all that much about the escaped Cardinal. It was a loose end and a pain in my ass, but I’d much rather have the large berserker by my side when I enter combat against the elders of House Alistar.
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I allowed his departure simply because Ethan wasn’t exactly the most subtle of men, and politicking was likely not a strong suit of his. There was also an odd desperation whenever he talked about finding the woman. It hadn’t taken much time to put two and two together - she was a Cardinal of the Church which had participated in slavery. The chances were high that the Church, along with the Pandorian Emperor, had been behind the invasion of the tribe that’d led to the death of his family.
As promised, I would not - no, I would never interfere with their destined paths and vengeance.
Instead, I held out an arm toward the Berserker in the familiar way I’d seen him greet Nida a few times. “Be safe and return to us, Berserker. I look forward to hearing your stories of vengeance. Remember, you are bound to my side now. I cannot have you stray from my side too long with the knowledge you now possess.”
He grasped my forearm “I’ll be back before you finish tearing those noble bastards apart.” I grasped his in turn and we exchanged grins until, eventually, we released the other and he turned to leave.
With nothing but his massive axe hefted upon his shoulder, Ethan trudged off into the desert at a seemingly random direction. After a few minutes, Nida turned to glance at everyone with a worried expression. “He knows where he’s going, right?”
I laughed and ushered her into the carriage. “Let’s go. Dralos, don’t forget to inform Lady Brianna’s entourage where to head when they arrive.”
“And your merry band of Paragons?” Dralos hedged.
“I won’t be gone that long,” I muttered. “Tell them to continue focusing on their heart rings like I taught them. I doubt any of them will be ready to form a core before I get back. If a Paragon does end up being ready while I’m still in the Alistar Duchy, they have permission to borrow a wyvern and come find me. They should not follow me just for kicks. This city needs as much protection as possible.”
With a bow, Dralos shut the door, and I realized too late that I’d forgotten to ask about the driver. The wyverns’ wings beat hard, lifting us into the sky. The interior of the carriage was as luxurious as the outside—lined with crimson velvet, plush seats slightly worn from many journeys. Silver sconces shaped like skeleton hands gripped a pair of iridescent flames that never so much as twitched. The windows, made of a clear see-through material that refused smudges even with our fingers brushed over it, allowed for quite the gorgeous view of our travel. There were two seats that each extended from one side of the carriage to the other, allowing for four people in total; each with their own window.
We sat in silence, each of us staring out our windows, watching the yellow sands of Sealrite speed by. When I spotted a small black dot trailing the carriage, I grinned, knowing exactly who—or what—was following.
I need to give him a name, I thought as my wyvern chased after us with its peculiar rider.
“How… how long will this take?” Brianna asked, staring at me with huge eyes, seemingly unable to shake that look of disbelief she’d worn since first meeting me again.
“A few days,” Nasq answered without looking at the woman. “By lone wyvern, maybe a day and a half. With the carriage, likely two or three.” He gave Brianna an apologetic shrug. “But, then again, I’ve never flown in a wyvern carriage so I could be wildly wrong.”
“He’s always wrong,” Nida grunted, still staring out the window.
Brianna gave a nervous laugh, clearly unsettled by Nida’s comment. “Oh… okay?” she stammered, then turned back to me, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. “Are you really Lilliana Silverwater? You look so, um, much older.”
“For the tenth time, Lady Brianna, yes. I am Lilliana Silverwater.”
She shook her head slowly. “But how? I don’t understand.”
“My core has reached the Silver stage,” I said casually and Brianna’s head snapped up from where she’d been staring a hole into her feet. If her eyes had been wide earlier, they were absolutely bulging now.
“You’ve achieved body reformation?” she asked, her voice filled with disbelief. “What cultivation strategy did you use? I know Baron Silverwater wouldn’t have allowed you to even see the Silverwater’s guide.”
I laughed, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed both Nasq and Nida smirking. “Trust me, Lady Brianna, I have not been using the Silverwater manual. Though I must admit, I am curious about what it contains.”
“Then…” Briana began, but I cut her off.
“Lady Brianna,” I said, shifting the conversation, “are you aware that your brother, Lord Demetri Ballenci, attempted to have you assassinated on your way to Sealrite?”
Her face paled instantly. “There’s no way that was my brother.”
“While I don’t have solid proof, my sources are certain he’s involved—due to his connections with the Silverwaters.”
“What connections? Wait…” she said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Who’s your source?”
I didn’t bother hedging the issue. “A spy or informant, I’m not sure which—named Victor. He seemed to be in charge of—”
Before I could finish, Brianna shot to her feet, startling both Nasq and Nida, causing the carriage to wobble slightly. She ignored them, her gaze fixed solely on me. “Victor? You spoke with Victor? No, he would never betray Ballenci. He would never…” Her voice faltered, replaced by a sudden look of horror. “Did you… did you torture him? Oh Gods is he dead? I swear to the gods if he's de—”
“Calm down, Lady Brianna,” I interrupted, holding up a hand. “Sir Victor is unharmed.” Well, mostly unharmed, I thought, but she didn’t need to know that. “In fact, he’s following us on a wyvern of his own.”
“He’s here?” she whispered, pressing her face against the window, searching the skies. The way her expression softened with hope as she looked for him made something click in my mind. Love. I hadn’t expected that. I'd known there was some connection between them, but not this.
“He is. And I have no intention of harming him. Rather, he’s proven rather helpful in hunting down the other Ballenci informants and spies in return for your safety.” I chuckled. “Ironic, since I never planned to hurt you. Why would I want to hurt the person I would like to request help from?”
Brianna perked up at that, though much of her attention remained on the window she was nearly pressing her face into no doubt searching for her lover. “Help?”
“I seek to expand my influence far beyond Sealrite, beyond Alistar, even beyond Lysoria. If we combine my followers with your information network, we could create an organization the likes of which Pularea has never seen.”
Brianna peeled herself from the window, her expression shifting from one of concern to a more calculating, businesslike demeanor. “That’s an intriguing proposition, Lady Lilliana, if that’s truly who you are.”
“This is what I offer, to begin our… alliance,” I said, choosing my words carefully. "If you provide me with what information I require while in the Alistar duchy, I will cleanse your house of its traitors.” She went to interrupt and I beat her to it. “Do not worry, my forces will only act in your House with your permission. If there is someone you do not want removed, I will not remove them. But be warned, Lady Brianna—leaving enemies to fester behind you is a grave mistake.”
The noble lady grunted in acknowledgement and said nothing more, so I let her be for the moment. She had a lot to think about, and would no doubt have a myriad of questions to ask before we would arrive at the duchy’s capital.
With the conversation quieting, I closed my eyes and began to circulate the heart energy humming in my core. I was nearing my second ring now—halfway to a gold core. The thought made me smile, recalling the power I had wielded in Graedon.
I’d need to dedicate much of this trip to cultivation. By the time we arrived, I wanted to have completed my second ring. Of course, I’d have to ask Nasq and Nida to spar with me during our breaks, otherwise the lack of physical movement would bottleneck the progress. It would be much easier if there was something that could threaten me. The stronger the foe, the more I would need to push myself.
For the first time, I felt a slight pang of regret over killing the Duke. He would have made a good sparring partner. Perhaps the duchy would have someone of similar strength, or close enough.