Mira took a leisurely stroll around her living room, watching as maids went up and about, wiping every single speck of dust from the room.
Beside her was Alhaitham who walked with his usual poise and grace.
Today’s meeting was more than pivotal to her plans. They still had limited information on what they would meet in the forest.
But with a dragon like Wise?
He might have been young but a dragon remains a dragon.
Alhaitham paused, his eyes narrowing as he pointed a gloved hand at one of the maids.
"Replace that stool with the brown one."
The woman nodded and hurriedly grabbed the stool to move it.
They kept walking until they arrived at the balcony, a place that overlooked the city.
Mira could see thousands of lights shimmering in the distance, the lights sparkling in the night like jewels.
She had grown up in this city, she would be damned if she would sit back and watch it fall.
But still...
"Alhaitham," she called, her voice calmer than usual. "Do you think we can get him to our side?"
Alhaitham shrugged.
Mira could tell that just like her, he wanted to see this plan work out almost just as badly.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "Everything is in order, even without the dragon, we can still make progress."
Then his eyes hardened slightly as a shadow washed over them.
Mira frowned slightly, her gaze slowly moving from the cityscape to the person behind her.
"Good evening, Father."
The man standing in front of her was nothing like the man she had remembered.
Although her father had always had a cowardly side, he would have acted by now considering the overwhelming evidence.
He watched her, his eyebrows droopy as though he was still half asleep and had stumbled up to the balcony.
"Why have you chosen to defy me, Mira?"
Mira’s eyes followed him, her gaze measured.
By the edge of the balcony, her eyes caught a glimpse of a golden armour, someone was hiding in the room.
The maids had all left, most likely scared from their posts.
The Imperial Knights...
Her old man was getting serious.
Mira scoffed and noticed how some of the knights twitched.
In Donum the king did not have absolute power over other royals. Because of this, he could not just restrain her, he had to have evidence.
To think he would go this far to keep her in line.
She shot Alhaitham a knowing look before walking beside the man.
"Whatever do you mean, Father? Defy you? I would never dream of it."
Her father scoffed. "And yet you gather forces to march into the forest—or maybe plot a treason?"
"I am simply going on an exploration mission, or is that now against the rules?"
The man flexed his jaw.
"An exploration mission with the strongest adventurers you can find? Do you take me for a fool?"
He scoffed. "Going against the king’s decree, especially in matters of great consequence like this, is considered treason."
Mira heard a clank of steel armour.
The knights were deciding if it was enough reason to move in or not.
Mira chuckled and grabbed onto her father’s shoulders.
"My sweet father," she said, her voice sly. "The adventurers are just for my protection, I hear crazy things are happening in the forest these days."
Then she leaned on the balcony and looked to the side.
"Shut up!" His voice boomed over the balcony. "Do you know how many adventurers we will lose in your careless escapade?"
Mira smirked.
’Got you.’
She made her most concerned looking face and held her chest with one hand as though shocked.
"Lose? But Father, when I told you and the knight commander we needed to move against the demons, you said it was perfectly safe."
Her lips curled upwards.
"Hmmm, could you have maybe lied?"
Mira noticed Alhaitham’s small smile. The knights were to serve the royals and could switch monarchs at any time based on what they thought was best.
Her father had brought them to restrain her, but her plan was to cash in on the opportunity...
And bring them to her side.
Her father’s fist tightened into a ball and he twitched, seething with anger.
"Don’t worry, Father—"
Before Mira could finish speaking, she gasped, as her body suddenly felt weightless.
Her father had shoved her in the chest, knocking her down the balcony.
Mira heard Alhaitham scream, but she was far too confused to register it.
Her eyes were wide as she descended down the multi-storey drop.
While her father smiled from above.
• • •
Wise walked up to the door to his apartment, his arm slung over Daphne’s shoulder.
Just damaging the seal had taken far too much from him, all he wanted to do tonight was enjoy a long soak in a tub of self-heated water.
But his meeting with Mira was today.
He pushed the door open and Daphne glanced at him, she looked as stoic as always but there was a little softness in her eyes.
"Don’t you want to sleep a little? You can always postpone the meeting."
Wise slowly shook his head.
"A promise is a promise."
When they stepped into the room they were greeted by a peculiar sight.
Clang!
Sparks erupted as two swords made contact, Tyris was the first, pushing her sword against....
Wise slowly turned to the next person.
"Of course it’s Aofie."
Freya had her cube in one hand as she tried to stop them.
"Guys, you’re going to break something!"
Immediately Tyris noticed them, she straightened herself and Aofie pounced on her, tackling her to the floor.
"You should try to keep your guard up, Master, you’re getting sloppy."
Tyris just pointed her thumb at the door.
Aofie followed her finger and paled.
"Oh, Wise—welcome."
Wise glared at her, but he didn’t have the strength to scold her. Instead, he just walked toward the door.
Thwack!
His face bounced against the empty doorway, a soft pulse radiating from it.
Wise frowned, his irritation deepening.
"Huh?" Daphne slowly placed her hand on it, watching as ripples spread through the surface.
Then Esme jumped from the side of the room and smiled at them.
"Fantastic, isn’t it? Now no one can enter the room without my permission."
Wise tapped the barrier with a bit more pressure. It was sturdy, his earlier irritation fizzled away. "So this is your doing?"
She nodded, a proud smirk on her face. "You and Daphne are permitted."
Just as she finished speaking, Wise’s hand phased through the space as though there was nothing there.
It was a creative use of her abilities, one that Wise had not expected her to be able to do by now.
It was very similar to the spell he used back in Teasei to protect Rosalind at the time.
He patted Esme’s head as he walked past her. "You did well."
"Everyone get ready, we will go to the place in thirty minutes. And that includes you, Tyris."
Wise said as he slowly ascended the stairs.
• • •
It took less than 10 minutes for Wise to finish dressing up. He donned his fanciest shirt and a pair of well-pressed dark blue trousers.
A sapphire brooch was hanging where a tie could have been and his shoes sparkled as the light reflected against them.
As he sat in the living room, waiting for the girls to arrive, he glanced at the clock.
—7:45
Their meeting was slated for 8 p.m., so they had fifteen minutes left.
The first person to arrive was Tyris. Wise glanced at her clothing and smiled.
Her blonde hair was neatly styled, and had been curled at the tips, giving a bit more character to them.
The armour she had gone for was a ruby red steel armour chest plate that went down to a skirt made of a highly resistant material.
That way, she preserved her nobility while still having sufficient protection.
Her sword, a beast of a blade, was strapped to her back as she descended the stairs.
"You have an eye for good things," Wise commented.
Tyris smiled. "You don’t look so bad yourself."
When everyone had finally gathered, they boarded a carriage that took them from the eastern gate straight to the palace.
• • •
When they arrived at the gate, the knight greeted them and pulled the large gates open.
"So this is the palace," Tyris commented. "These guys must be stacked."
She stopped to admire a golden statue and was reaching to touch it when they heard a piercing scream.
"What the hell?" Aofie said, already reaching for her sword.
Wise immediately turned in the direction of the sound, his eyes scanning the environment.
That was when his eyes locked on the balcony—
The princess, she was falling.
Alhaitham was standing at the edge of the balcony, his eyes wide in panic, another man Wise did not recognize was laughing.
"What the hell?"
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew past them as his shirt was ripped to shreds, large scaly wings tearing out of his back.
He raced forward, to build momentum before leaping into the air. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel fire.net
Four heavy flaps of his wings, before he soared like a bullet, tucking his wings by his sides.
Mira was a few seconds from splattering against the floor when a shadow washed over her.
Wise grabbed onto her, pulling her close to his body, and then he widened his wings, which like a parachute caught the air.
Wind rushed past them furiously, howling in their ears and his feet skidded on the floor, digging deep into the dirt.
And then he ascended once more, sparing into the skies above to overlook the balcony.
Mira had her eyes shut tight, but when she did not feel the impact, she slowly opened them and met Wise’s gaze.
Wise frowned and glanced at the balcony, watching as two Imperial Knights stepped forward.
One of them raised his hand to the sky and a red barrier, resembling a large crystal, suddenly blossomed, encasing the entire castle compound.
Wise sighed and met her gaze.
"Princess, care to explain?"
.
.
.
[A/N]
Longer single Chapters for the time being :)