The War Against Aberon (Rough Draft #1)

Chapter Nineteen

With bleached skin, Zaffre stood a moment taking in the sight before her. She could recognize everyone present, simply by the way they carried themselves. Lady Dykuma who presided over Sandlelake; sat aghast, staring at the curious Freya standing just beside Zaffre. The woman was round and red, nothing like how she'd pictured a woman living in a desert to look. Next to her was Lord Elbio of Shadow Ridge. While he appeared strong and forceful, Zaffre took more notice of the way he calmly scratched the head of the Dire Wolf seated on the floor by his feet. Following the Lord was Aerwyna the Lady of Navayla. The scaled and fish-eared woman looked terrified at the sight of the Pumeon.  Zaffre next set her gaze on Lord Edgar, whose eyes made a shiver travel down her spine. Finally, Lord Cypress of Westwood, her Uncle.

She had to hold back a gasp at the sight of the famed Felipara. He looked almost nothing like her mother besides the same warm eyes that Zaffre was familiar with. His scales were a blue similar to that of the sky, and he sat with a nature far more refined than Jahzarni had ever been. While everyone else in the room stared at Freya in fear or surprise, Cypress only looked at Zaffre. His green eyes were wide as they took in the sight of her. It only took a second for her to realize that he recognized her. Just as she was going to smile at him in greeting, she was pulled away from doing so by the queen's voice.

"Council, I bring to you a special bonded pair, brought in by the conscripter of Westwood." The sentence caused a commotion of expressions. Lady Dykuma looked faint. Lord Elbio only raised his brows, while Aerwyna gaped out a simple 'No!'. Edgar smirked in a way that Zaffre could only describe as sinister. The king brought attention to himself when he blurted out, "But she's of no good blood?". His statement made anger immediately flood Zaffre. She decided she did not like the king, even if he held the most power. She eyed him in discontent, taking in his designer clothing, quaffed hair, and air of superiority.

The queen scoffed at her husband and promptly smacked the back of his head. "The girl is standing in front of you, apologizing, and while she is not noble she is bonded to the beast just the same, she earns respect for that." Zaffre decided she liked her majesty. "Why don't you introduce yourself before my husband says something even more stupid?" The royal lady prompted. Zaffre decided she needn't worry about her earlier behavior if the general and queen was willing to act in such a way.

"My name is Zaffre Kyriteg, and this is my bond Freya, the Pumeon." Her voice came out as clear as she could make it. Freya for her part stood taller as she and her Felipara bond finally entered the room. The powerful people around them only seemed to stare as an awkward silence seemed to accompany everyone. The king cleared his throat.

"Well, this is something, Valerie, I'm glad you brought them to us." King Malikai seemed uncomfortable as he spoke to his wife. He fidgeted where he sat, and Zaffre hoped it was due to guilt over his previous words.

"If I may interject," Zaffre spoke before the room could quiet again. "I understand my bond with Freya is unexpected, but why exactly am I here?"

"You do not speak unless spoken to, girl! Why the disrespect, my Lady, why did you bring this disrespectful broad to us? Could you not just have given us word yourself of this development?" The lady of Navayla sounded furious. Zaffre had trouble feeling bad for her supposed disrespectful words. Especially when Aerwyna appeared to be a hypocrite when she was speaking to those above her with even less formality than she had.

"You're here because I feel the fact your bond is so unique that it is important to the current atrocities going on in our kingdom," Queen Valerie ignored the upset fish lady. "It's in my belief that your involvement in the war must be of great importance for the fates to have bestowed such an animal as your bond. It reminds me of past events, like that of Sir Minceton."

Zaffre had trouble believing the powerful woman. She believed herself to be a farm girl, nothing more nothing less. How could she be an integral part of a fight that had been waging for decades? The others in the room seemed to be of like mind as they each made noises of disbelief and annoyance. The number of scoffs almost made her feel insulted, but she could not blame them. She was dressed in all clothing covered in dirt. The only remarkable thing about herself was her connection to Freya. The Pumeon seemed to ripple beside her at her thoughts, and very lightly nudged her.

"No really, I think she could be the key to maintaining the safety of the stones, I believe she will win this war for us." The queen continued. However, this time Zaffre was only confused. Stones? What was the woman talking about? How could she win a war when she had no true training? The female monarch must have gone mad. Or at least gotten something strange mixed in her afternoon tea.

"Valerie, you cannot speak of such things in front of a commoner!" The king almost shouted.

"What! She should know, trust me on this Malikai, she is what we've been waiting for!"

"I think the queen is right," Lord Cypress said. Zaffre decided her uncle must be crazy.

Word Count-956

A/N:

Sorry for the wait! Writer's block has been bothering me nonstop. I'm fighting though! I'm going to try and get two or more chapters out this weekend! Wish me luck, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Also, how do y'all like Zaffre's last name? I combined two separate names, Kyri and Teg. Kyri is of I believe Persian origin and means sun. While Teg is of Sikh origin and meaning one who wields the sword. I don't know exactly how much this will apply in this story, but it may be a part of whatever book I write that's a sort of sequel to this one.

Thanks again and catch you later!