Just a little Glorybringer for ya

The Paper

There was an explosion in a small city in the Sand Kingdom. Thankfully, SandWing guards had captured the bombers. As they walked the future prisoners out of town, one of them dropped a piece of paper in such a stealthy way that none of the guards noticed. But a dragonet did, for he had been trained to notice the smallest details. The dragonet snatched the piece of paper and ran after the guards. 

"Wait!" he called, and the last guard turned and watched as the dragonet came up to him. "The last prisoner there. He dropped this. I thought it might be important." the dragonet explained, handing the guard the paper. The guard took it and read it with a frown. This didn't sound good. 

"Thank you." he told the dragonet. "What's your name?" The dragonet narrowed his eyebrows. 

"What's yours?" he questioned. The guard smiled. 

"I'm Cacti." he offered. The dragonet studied him for a moment. 

"Well, Cacti. Next time you see your queen, tell her that not all members of the Sting are against her. In fact, some may even want to help her. My name is Coal. Use it." he replied, before disappearing into the crowds. 

"Report." Queen Thorn ordered. Cacti stood cautiously at the back of the group as the other guards reported the explosion and the captured prisoners. Thorn listened intently until they'd finished. 

"Very well," she said with a sigh. "You're dismissed." The other guards nodded and left the room, but Cacti lingered. "Yes?" Thorn asked. 

"When we were escorting the prisoners out of town, a dragonet gave me this, saying that one of the prisoners had dropped it." he explained, giving the paper to Queen Thorn. "He also asked me to deliver a message."he continued. 

"And what is this message?" Thorn questioned. 

"Well, it makes no sense to me, but he said 'next time you see your queen, tell her that not all members of the Sting are against her. In fact, some may even want to help her." Cacti relayed. Thorn paused for a moment before asking the dragonet's name. "His name was Coal." Cacti replied. Thorn nodded. 

"You're dismissed." she told him. He nodded and left the room. 

After he'd gone, Thorn opened the paper and read it. It said,

Assassin~

The brat's name is Rainkeeper.

You know the rest. 

I want him and his mother dealt with, and soon.

I'm shortening your time to 2 weeks. 

You know what I'll do if you fail me again.

~Leader

Thorn frowned. The name Rainkeeper sounded so familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. But whoever he was, someone was going to kill him, and his mother, soon. So she needed to find out who it was. Thorn had a guess, so she went to check.

"Sunny?" Thorn asked. Sunny looked up from her scroll. 

"Yes?" she replied. 

"Glory's son. His name wasn't Rainkeeper, by any chance, was it?" Thorn questioned. Sunny nodded. 

"Yes it is. Why?" Sunny responded. Thorn's eyes widened and she ran from the room. In confusion and fear, Sunny ran after her. "Mother! What is it?" she called. Thorn ignored her until she spotted Six-Claws. She grabbed him and he stared at her, awaiting orders. 

"Get me our fastest messenger ASAP. Go! Now!" she demanded. The words were barely out of her mouth when Six-Claws took off down the hall. Thorn ran to her office and grabbed a blank piece of paper, writing frantically. 

"What's wrong? What is it? What does it have to do with Rainkeeper?" Sunny asked nervously. Thorn finished the letter and stuck it in an envelope with the paper from earlier. She went back out to the hallway just as Six-Claws arrived with a messenger. Thorn handed him the envelope. 

"Take this to Queen Glory as fast as you can. Tell her it's urgent. Go." she ordered. The messenger nodded and ran off. Thorn turned back to Sunny, who was on the verge of panicking. "A message was intercepted from a bombing incident today and from the looks of it, someone has hired or blackmailed an assassin into killing Rainkeeper and Glory. I don't know when or if he'll attack now, but Glory should be prepared either way." Thorn explained. Sunny's eye grew to the size of saucers and she slumped to the floor. 

Queen Glory had just answered another question when Mangrove burst into the room. 

"We have a messenger from the Sand Kingdom." he announced. "He says it's urgent."  

"Send him in." Glory insisted, and a moment later an exhausted Sandwing walked in and gave her a letter. 

"Queen Thorn and Princess Sunny were running around like crazy before I left, so I assume this is important." he explained. Glory thanked him and sent him with Mangrove to get some water while she opened the letter and read it, along with the note. She gasped.

Later....

Glory sat at her desk, rereading the letter for practically the hundredth time. 

"Hi Mommy!!!!" Rainkeeper yelled, bursting into the room with Deathbringer behind him. Glory took one look at her dragonet and dropped the letter. He was filthy. He was completely covered in mud. Deathbringer laughed at her reaction. 

"You are absolutely filthy." she declared. Rainkeeper grinned. "Go get cleaned off while I yell at your dad." she ordered. Rainkeeper fled from the room, giggling. Deathbringer smiled at him, but his grin faded when he saw the serious look on Glory's face as she picked up the letter. 

"What's that?" he asked. 

"Something I know you are not going to like." Glory proclaimed, handing him the letter and the paper. Deathbringer grew more angry and worried as he read.

 "This isn't going to happen." he assured her. "Not while I'm still breathing."  

"What do you suggest we do though?" 

"We could give you more camouflage guards. And we could give Rainkeeper one too, I guess." Glory frowned. 

"I never wanted to have to put guards on my son to keep him safe." she admitted softly. 

"It will just be for a little while though. Just until these guys are caught." he insisted. Glory nodded. Deathbringer walked over to her and set the letter on her desk. "Let's not worry about it right now, okay?" he asked. 

"Okay," Glory agreed, giving him a quick kiss. His grin returned. "Do I even want to know what you did with Rainkeeper?" she asked. He laughed, shaking his head. 

"You really don't." 

That night...

Glory tossed and turned until her nightmare finally jolted her awake. She glanced around and noticed that Deathbringer wasn't beside her. So, she went to go look for him. She found him standing in the doorway to Rainkeeper's room, leaning against the frame. 

"What are you doing up?" she questioned. 

"Couldn't sleep." he replied vaguely. 

"How come?" 

"I can't stop thinking," he began. "About what kind of dragon would want to kill an innocent, little dragonet like our son. I just can't think of anyone that would be that cruel."