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"How goes the day, genan?"
Neil looked up from the ground, where he was stretching, smiling at the sight of his king. If he was addressing Neil so informally, it couldn't be serious.
Climbing cautiously to his feet, Neil reached for his tunic and tugged it on over his head, reaching back to tug his hair out from beneath it as he walked across the garden to meet the Night Dragon halfway. "It goes well, uraidh. Healers cleared me to resume my duties this morning."
"That is not happening."
"Great Dragon?..."
With a sigh, the Night Dragon narrowed his eyes with an ire that troubled Neil enough to compel him to silence.
"You have done nothing wrong, little Ember. I rage not against you, merely against...inconvenience. This was your third Fever in as many months, and you yourself brought me the word of the Triton consolidating power through a formalized alliance with the isle of Lora. If this precipice we balance on falls, I will not go to war without my Black Fire."
Neil straightened, folding his arms behind him at parade rest. "Understood, Great Dragon."
"...walk with me, genan."
Curious about the fact that the Night Dragon hadn't used the student's honorific since Neil had been a boy, he obeyed without question, walking by his king's side as he started winding through the surprisingly dense garden, filled mostly with poisonous plants and flowers that thrived not on sun, but shadow. Neil had always loved them far more than the bright blossoms and greenery of Lora, or of his native world.
"What do you know of the Enchanted Forest?"
"Common name of Rai. Large city on the other side of the Silver Wood." Neil replied without hesitation. "Densely populated, and given its position behind sacred land, it holds allegiances unknown to even me." He frowned, annoyed by the knowledge, and not for the first time. "I have been there exactly once, and trying to get a straight answer out of anyone is a royal pain in the ass."
The Night Dragon raised an eyebrow. "Remind me: that is not a literal expression, correct?"
"No, uraidh. It's slang...uh--Common in the world of Man. Anyway, it's a peculiar place. They offer safe harbor to man and dragon, regardless of nationality, but remain very closed off. They don't even worship as we do--I never saw a temple dedicated to the Thousand Ancients, nor the Ember. No tributes to the Sun Goddess--not even a shrine to the Sky Maker."
"This city troubles me for the lack of control I have over it." the Night Dragon admitted, crossing his massive tattooed arms as his head bowed in thought, chin sinking nearly to his chest. "No kingdom holds sway over it, and its location so near to the Silver Wood, a place of worship, makes it hard for any one of the Realms to lay claim to. That they are so insular...it is a problem."
"Understood, Great Dragon."
"I don't think you do, little Ember. You will help me gain control of this city, but not through blood."
Neil stopped walking, frowning. "Great Dragon?"
The Night Dragon stopped walking as well, turning to face Neil with his jaw set in annoyance.
"Your condition is a problem, one we cannot leave in the hands of the gods much longer. Too much rides on you--it is my own fault, I have let myself be weak where you are concerned."
Neil opened his mouth, but hastily closed it before he said something that would get him into trouble, or punished for insolence. If he so much as hinted that he saw strength in the moments where the Night Dragon looked on him with something bordering on affection, or admitted that he ached for those moments when he thought the Night Dragon might see him as Neil saw his king--not merely as a ruler, but as a father...
"There is a sorceress in Rai--one of power I would have claimed and trained myself had I found her as young as I found you." the Night Dragon continued. "It is said she can access magics that I have never seen, magics reserved for the gods alone. Insidious magics--taking possession of a man's beating heart, inflicting a living death through sleep...it is even said she can pierce the veil between worlds."
The notion chilled Neil's blood. "She can move freely between the Five Realms and the world of Man?"
"With the right means to cast her spells, that is the rumor." the Night Dragon confirmed. "She has sent me word on multiple occasions that she wished to meet you--she apparently has a great intellectual interest in the only known dragon mage in creation. Insular they may be, the Enchanted Forest has not been deaf to the ruthlessness and the cruelty of Black Fire."
Neil tried not to smile at the praise--even as some tiny part of him cringed at the same time. "You flatter me, Great Dragon."
"You prove yourself worthy of note. I have given her permission to come here and study your power, in exchange for studying your condition. It is my hope that, if she is what she is purported to be, there might be possibility of a cure."
Neil tried to kill the sudden swell of hope in his chest. "You really think the Fever can be cured?"
The Night Dragon laughed, nodding. "If this Regina Mills is all she is rumored to be...I have no doubt. And if she is of service to Nocturne..."
The rest of his statement went without saying: the Night Dragon would not let her return to her Enchanted Forest. She would be a well kept, lovingly treated prisoner of the realm.
"When will she arrive, Great Dragon?" he finally asked, following when the Night Dragon began walking again.
"With any luck? Mere hours from now." he replied. "I sent word with my offer while you were still ill, and her acceptance came just yesterday. It's a little over a half day's journey."
Neil nodded, stopping again to salute the Night Dragon with an arm crossed over his chest and a bow of his head. "I will prepare to be presented to her then, Great Dragon."
"Not so, vita genan: we approach this from a position of power. Dress formally--she will be presented to you."
Neil hesitated, but accepted the edict with a nod as he turned and walked away, heading back towards the castle and to his rooms. It was a good plan: he'd heard a little himself of this woman, and she was a leader among her people. The Night Dragon was right to try and entrap her, to seize control of the Enchanted Forest in the interests of power...but if it was truly unaligned, a place of neutral ground could be just as beneficial.
It was the reason he hadn't been as thorough as he could have been in his reconnaissance visits, keeping his reports bland and hopeless with the expectation that the Night Dragon would go on to the more promising targets Neil made sure to turn his king's eye upon...so much for that idea.
With a sigh, Neil raked his hands back through his hair and resigned himself to being forced into dress uniform for receiving the Evil Sorceress of the Enchanted Forest before the Shadow Throne.
Neil looked up from the ground, where he was stretching, smiling at the sight of his king. If he was addressing Neil so informally, it couldn't be serious.
Climbing cautiously to his feet, Neil reached for his tunic and tugged it on over his head, reaching back to tug his hair out from beneath it as he walked across the garden to meet the Night Dragon halfway. "It goes well, uraidh. Healers cleared me to resume my duties this morning."
"That is not happening."
"Great Dragon?..."
With a sigh, the Night Dragon narrowed his eyes with an ire that troubled Neil enough to compel him to silence.
"You have done nothing wrong, little Ember. I rage not against you, merely against...inconvenience. This was your third Fever in as many months, and you yourself brought me the word of the Triton consolidating power through a formalized alliance with the isle of Lora. If this precipice we balance on falls, I will not go to war without my Black Fire."
Neil straightened, folding his arms behind him at parade rest. "Understood, Great Dragon."
"...walk with me, genan."
Curious about the fact that the Night Dragon hadn't used the student's honorific since Neil had been a boy, he obeyed without question, walking by his king's side as he started winding through the surprisingly dense garden, filled mostly with poisonous plants and flowers that thrived not on sun, but shadow. Neil had always loved them far more than the bright blossoms and greenery of Lora, or of his native world.
"What do you know of the Enchanted Forest?"
"Common name of Rai. Large city on the other side of the Silver Wood." Neil replied without hesitation. "Densely populated, and given its position behind sacred land, it holds allegiances unknown to even me." He frowned, annoyed by the knowledge, and not for the first time. "I have been there exactly once, and trying to get a straight answer out of anyone is a royal pain in the ass."
The Night Dragon raised an eyebrow. "Remind me: that is not a literal expression, correct?"
"No, uraidh. It's slang...uh--Common in the world of Man. Anyway, it's a peculiar place. They offer safe harbor to man and dragon, regardless of nationality, but remain very closed off. They don't even worship as we do--I never saw a temple dedicated to the Thousand Ancients, nor the Ember. No tributes to the Sun Goddess--not even a shrine to the Sky Maker."
"This city troubles me for the lack of control I have over it." the Night Dragon admitted, crossing his massive tattooed arms as his head bowed in thought, chin sinking nearly to his chest. "No kingdom holds sway over it, and its location so near to the Silver Wood, a place of worship, makes it hard for any one of the Realms to lay claim to. That they are so insular...it is a problem."
"Understood, Great Dragon."
"I don't think you do, little Ember. You will help me gain control of this city, but not through blood."
Neil stopped walking, frowning. "Great Dragon?"
The Night Dragon stopped walking as well, turning to face Neil with his jaw set in annoyance.
"Your condition is a problem, one we cannot leave in the hands of the gods much longer. Too much rides on you--it is my own fault, I have let myself be weak where you are concerned."
Neil opened his mouth, but hastily closed it before he said something that would get him into trouble, or punished for insolence. If he so much as hinted that he saw strength in the moments where the Night Dragon looked on him with something bordering on affection, or admitted that he ached for those moments when he thought the Night Dragon might see him as Neil saw his king--not merely as a ruler, but as a father...
"There is a sorceress in Rai--one of power I would have claimed and trained myself had I found her as young as I found you." the Night Dragon continued. "It is said she can access magics that I have never seen, magics reserved for the gods alone. Insidious magics--taking possession of a man's beating heart, inflicting a living death through sleep...it is even said she can pierce the veil between worlds."
The notion chilled Neil's blood. "She can move freely between the Five Realms and the world of Man?"
"With the right means to cast her spells, that is the rumor." the Night Dragon confirmed. "She has sent me word on multiple occasions that she wished to meet you--she apparently has a great intellectual interest in the only known dragon mage in creation. Insular they may be, the Enchanted Forest has not been deaf to the ruthlessness and the cruelty of Black Fire."
Neil tried not to smile at the praise--even as some tiny part of him cringed at the same time. "You flatter me, Great Dragon."
"You prove yourself worthy of note. I have given her permission to come here and study your power, in exchange for studying your condition. It is my hope that, if she is what she is purported to be, there might be possibility of a cure."
Neil tried to kill the sudden swell of hope in his chest. "You really think the Fever can be cured?"
The Night Dragon laughed, nodding. "If this Regina Mills is all she is rumored to be...I have no doubt. And if she is of service to Nocturne..."
The rest of his statement went without saying: the Night Dragon would not let her return to her Enchanted Forest. She would be a well kept, lovingly treated prisoner of the realm.
"When will she arrive, Great Dragon?" he finally asked, following when the Night Dragon began walking again.
"With any luck? Mere hours from now." he replied. "I sent word with my offer while you were still ill, and her acceptance came just yesterday. It's a little over a half day's journey."
Neil nodded, stopping again to salute the Night Dragon with an arm crossed over his chest and a bow of his head. "I will prepare to be presented to her then, Great Dragon."
"Not so, vita genan: we approach this from a position of power. Dress formally--she will be presented to you."
Neil hesitated, but accepted the edict with a nod as he turned and walked away, heading back towards the castle and to his rooms. It was a good plan: he'd heard a little himself of this woman, and she was a leader among her people. The Night Dragon was right to try and entrap her, to seize control of the Enchanted Forest in the interests of power...but if it was truly unaligned, a place of neutral ground could be just as beneficial.
It was the reason he hadn't been as thorough as he could have been in his reconnaissance visits, keeping his reports bland and hopeless with the expectation that the Night Dragon would go on to the more promising targets Neil made sure to turn his king's eye upon...so much for that idea.
With a sigh, Neil raked his hands back through his hair and resigned himself to being forced into dress uniform for receiving the Evil Sorceress of the Enchanted Forest before the Shadow Throne.
