Secret Dragon

Chapter 18

Cadmus

The coronation went uneventfully. We had a nice celebration and made new allies with fellow kingdoms. I think the kingdom that was most excited for us was Queen Zuri and Princess Maris. I got to meet the king, Neptis, and he’s just as jovial and happy for us as the rest of the kingdoms. I think they’re going to be our best allies and good friends. We ate delicious food; the quartet played fun music, and I got to enjoy it with my Queen Consort. Once we had our dance, everyone else joined in. Now that Wyvern’s parents were back, everyone wanted to know what peasant life was like and how they were adjusting to royal life again. I played matchmaker for my unmated guests and it made me proud that mates got to meet.

Unfortunately, with the new day dawning and everyone rejuvenated from the night before. It was time for the Sunswirls trial. We all made our way to the formal courtroom where Wyvern and I were in the center and the other kingdoms made a semicircle around us. Everyone still had their formal regal regalia from yesterday, so they freshened them up and headed to their respective seats.

“Well, this isn’t a way to start a new reign, but we’re all gathered for the trial of the former king and queen of Volaha island, Ragnis, and Vesta Sunswirl. Guards, bring them in!” I announce to the crowd. The sound of chains being dragged across the floor echoed throughout the room along with Vesta crying.

"Ragnis and Vesta Sunswirl, we of Galvan charge you with treason." Charge one, sending former Princess Kindra Sunswirl of Volaha to butter me up. Charge two, former queens Adelina and Vesta, conspiring against former king Airo Pendragon and now the current king, Cadmus Pendragon. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty.” She says proudly, unsurprisingly. I can’t say I blame her for saying that.

“Guilty.” He says, staring at the floor. The crowd is shocked and they audibly gasp. No one expected that. I got the crowd's attention, which made everyone get quiet again.

“Go on, Mr. Sunswirl.” Dad encourages him to continue, and I’m curious how this would go.

“I ask for a plea bargain, your Highnesses. I knew what Vesta was doing and said nothing. I just wanted to stay out of this whole mess.” Dad and I look at each other and mind-link to keep it from him and the crowd.

“What do you think, dad?” He may not be king anymore, but I’m glad he’s around for advice.

“As king, he should’ve spoken up and stopped it. I think jail time is fair, but he keeps his dragon.” As I think about it, yeah, that seems fair.

“Here’s what we’re going to do. As a king, you should’ve stopped it and didn’t. Your punishment will be 10 years in jail, but you keep your dragon.” He shakes his head, defeated, but he seems to understand. The guards drag him away, and I try to keep my composure as we face Vesta.

“Really?! He gets a slap on the wrist??” Vesta shouts at us and the crowd boos her. This is going to get ugly if I don’t fix this.

“He owned up to his mistake! You’re acting like you did nothing wrong! If you had, maybe you’d get the same punishment. Now, as for you, since you were in cahoots with the former queen of Galvan, Adelinda Pendragon, you are to be stripped of your dragon, lose your title and perks that come with it, and live in exile. Guards will imprison you if you come back to Volaha. Guards, bring her down so we can set forth her punishment.” The guards bring her to the floor in front of the council, and King Jett also comes down from his council seat. She cries as she comes down from the prisoner's table, but her tears mean nothing to me.

“Ex hoc tempore separabit draco tuus a te, et eris duo. Si draco vult novum dominum, inveniet unum, alioquin draco, liber esto!” If my spellcasting is right, that roughly translates to, From this time your dragon will separate from you, and you will be two. If a dragon wants a new master, it will find one, otherwise, dragon, be free! Vesta doesn’t scream as she and her dragon separate. I would’ve expected something since it’s supposed to be very painful, but yet, she only loudly whimpers, trying to make us feel bad for her. The majestic, fierce, and beautiful fire dragon looks at her angrily and sticks her tongue at her as if she’s glad to leave. I can’t say I blame the dragon. She looks around at the crowd and despite most of us already having a dragon, there are some humans in the crowd from Crovaria. The dragon makes a beeline to a young woman in the crowd.

“Flareon! Come back!” Vesta shrieks at her dragon, but she just growls at her which makes Vesta quiet for the first time this whole trial. The dragon makes her way gently to the young lady and bows her head to the young lady.

“What’s your name, young lady?” I make my way down from the council seats and ask her gently.

“Kai… Kai Sundust. I’m from Crovaria.” She’s shy in front of the crowd, which is understandable. This rarely happens. She nervously takes a strand of her strawberry blond hair behind her ear. She seems plain and innocent but that’s ok. Her dress is a dark turquoise blue with some brown designs on the chest, but now she has a chance to make her life better. The dragon’s scent changed from a royal evergreen forest and bonfire to a simple bonfire, cedar and nutmeg. The dragon was glad to shed its royal demeanor and shrunk to be more like a peasant. 20ft tall, 30ft long, and a 30ft wingspan. Her red iridescent scales sparkle in the morning sun, and her wings remind me of cooling down flowy lava but peeks of bright orangeish-red from underneath the black.

“Well, Miss Kai. It seems this magnificent dragon has chosen you to be her new master. Do you accept her?” The new king and queen of Volaha, Moltenor and Ember Flamehearts come down from their seat to see what’s happening. She thinks long and hard about this decision. She shyly walks to the dragon and they touch foreheads which means they accept each other. The crowd cheers for them and Kai gives everyone a small smile.

“Welcome to the thunder.” Queen Ember and Wyvern smile proudly at Kai and go off to talk about what’s coming.

“Well, on that happy ending, let’s end the trial.” Everyone starts to leave until we hear an angry scream.

“So that nobody just gets my dragon!? What happens to me now!?” Vesta shouts at us. We all roll our eyes at her.

“I don’t know, figure that out yourself. Maybe try a hobby. Now get out of my courtroom and find a new home.” She screams again as we leave the room. If we ignore her maybe she’ll just go away. She storms off angrily and hopefully tries to figure out life. We all needed a recess after that and now to deal with Princess Kindra. There’s a lunch recess enough for us to stretch our legs, have some lunch, and debate whether or not I want to do Kindra’s trial today. She clearly takes after her mother…

Dad and I clearly know Kindra did it since we were there that day when it happened. It’s an open-shut case and shouldn’t take long. I smile proudly at Wyvern and Ember as I watch from a distance. They’ve taken to their roles so easily as if they’ve done it forever. Once lunch is over, we make our way back to the courtroom.

“Former Princess Kindra Sunswirl, we of Galvan charge you with treason. Your charge, giving the now, Queen Consort, Wyvern Tiamat Pendragon, a sleeping potion which left her in a sleep-like coma for days!" The crowd erupts with shock and chatter. “My father and I were there that day when you gave it to her and no better evidence than that. Your punishment, 20yrs in jail, and your title revoked, and perks with it gone! Guards take her away!” She cries a pitiful cry as the guards take her out of the courtroom, but not without trying to flirt with the new Volaha prince. Of course, she would, she’d do anything to get out of dealing with her actions. I made my way to King Jett to make sure he was alright.

“Thank you for not making me strip her dragon. That takes a lot out of me.”

“You will be compensated for your troubles. We can talk about how in Dad’s- I mean, my office.” That’s gonna take some time to get used to. I tried to find Dad to tell him what was going on, but he was very focused on a woman with beautiful platinum blonde hair and stunning sky-blue eyes close to Dad’s age in the crowd.

“Dad? Are you ok?” I asked him worriedly. Trying to see who he’s so focused on.

“Mate…” Whoa… didn’t expect that to happen.