A Crown of Gold

The Slayers of Legend

"What makes you say that?" He asked honestly. He seemed genuinely invested in speaking with me, not just there to humor some girl who somehow ended up here via dragon.

"They seem a bit... detached." I said slowly, glancing around the room of cream-cloaked individuals.

Nikolai smiled, "I get it."

"So, Prince Nikolai-"

"Please," he interrupted. He was actually pleading, a wince in his eye. "Just call me Nik."

I nodded slowly, "Alright. Nik it is." He seemed content with that, so I continued. "I was wondering if there was anything here about dragon slayers."

He frowned a little, but didn't seem surprised by my interest the men who attacked us back at the lemon grove. He pulled in a deep breath, relaxing against his chair a little when he expelled it. "The Slayers of Legend, Charred Phantoms, Smoke Bandits." He rattled off, as though it were the names of each person in his family. Familiar, memorized.

I blinked a few times before nodding with a shrug. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "I was told you were attacked. You came here for assistance afterward, but you weren't meant to come here initially." He sounded like he was reading everything from a page. I was noticing almost every bit of information he shared sounded as though it came from a script.

Then I remembered. "I was told you were a seer," I leaned away, back against my own chair with my arms crossed loosely across my ribs. I let my statement hang in the air for a moment—I didn't say it as though I needed confirmation, I said it as an answer to his own statement.

"Mistress Carlton can be a loose lipped woman when spurred on enough," he replied. "Yes, although, 'seer' is a bit of vast term. I don't sit around telling fortunes in coded messages."

He smiled. It was on purpose, as if to tell me all was light in our conversation.

I nibbled on my bottom lip, contemplating my next words carefully. I opened my mouth to speak once, closing it to think a bit more. Nik didn't try to speak for me, he just waited for me to say what I needed to.

"Have you met Sephraim before?" I asked, finally deciding how to begin.

"Yes," he replied quickly, no hesitation, "We met a few years ago. She's stopped here on her way to the coast."

I'd wondered if she planned to stop here anyway, even if we didn't have a run-in with the dragon slayers.

I focused myself back on the task at hand: information. "Did she ask you about... visions you've had?"

He paused, pursing his lips. "Yes."

By now, I knew he most likely wasn't going to lie to me. At least I hoped so.

We stared at each other, taking in the strange pigment of each of our eyes. I could see his brain processing the bizarre color of my irises, almost curious enough to ask about them. Almost.

"Have you ever had a vision about me?" I asked bluntly. This would make sense. It would explain why Sephraim was so certain on my future holding so much potential—why she felt as though I needed to follow a certain path.

He swallowed before his lips twitched upward into a smile. "Yes."

I expelled a breath. I felt relieved, knowing Sephraim wasn't just saying the things she did so I'd stay. "I don't want to know," I told him. "Really, whatever you've seen, I don't want to know."

"I wasn't going to tell you even if you asked," he told me, "for risk of it shifting your fate."

"Well, whatever my fate my be, I'd like it to play out without my impending paranoia hanging over it." I stated.

Nik laughed, "Sounds like we're in agreement."

"Come on," The prince announced, drumming his hands on the table before standing up, "You've been in here too long. And I can tell you everything you'd want to know about The Slayers in the garden."

I glanced over at the stack of books I'd amassed, before shifting my attention back to him. "Lead the way."

-•-

It felt incredible to be out in the open air again. The Greenbrock garden was made of brilliant dark greens and flowers of every sort. Nikolai walked with his hands behind his back, keeping about a foot distance between us as we cruised side by side. I formed a limp pretty quickly into our venture, the ravenlock fading away.

Nik slowed his already unhurried pace, "Are you alright?"

I nodded, wincing as I took another step, "I took an arrow to the side while we escaped The Slayers. I took ravenlock earlier, but I think it may be warring off."

"There's a bench just over there," Nik mentioned, gesturing to his right.

He offered his hand for support, which I gladly took. We ended up linking arms, making it easier on the both of us to support my increasingly sluggish weight. When we made it to the bench, I just about collapsed onto it.

"Better?" Nik asked with his familiar smile. I let eyes fall shut, feeling the sharp pain begin to fade back to its pulsing ache as I nod.

I clear my throat, blinking my eyes open, "Right. Dragon slayers."

Nik hums, adjusting his sitting position. He peers at the perfectly trimmed shrubs placed in front of us, as if to think where to start, "The Slayers of Legend are best known for their history of targeting and eliminating dragons. They aren't above killing other creatures as well. They derived from some of the eldest clansman, back when men were just getting started in their quest to conquer the world."

He took a moment, letting the presented information sink in.

"These men were known at the time as the Smoke Bandits. Their name came from their typically dark demeanor and dress, and their ability to drift quietly through the woods without making a sound," his hands sat clasped in his lap, as if he were a father telling his children of a time when he himself was a boy. "The Smoke Bandits began hunting dragons down because, well, dragons aren't very considerate beings, are they? At least not in the most basic sense."

I found my mind drifting to Darius.

"The Bandits began their killing as a way of revenge. A sort of 'eye for an eye' deal. A dragon burned down a barn, or ate all the sheep, the Bandits responded by shooting one from the sky." I felt myself grow angry at the thought. A building burned, and you kill them for it?

"Of course," Nik continued, "Regular arrows never really did the trick. At least not as efficiently as they wanted it to. So new technology was born. Larger bows, tighter more powerful bowstrings, larger, thicker, sharper arrows. Eventually it was enough to fell a dragon right out of the sky."

"Yes, I took one of those arrows to side. Sephraim took one to the chest," I felt a pit in my stomach gape open. "Sephraim."

"She's alright," Nik assured. "I spoke with her this morning. She's more concerned about you than herself."

"Can I see her?" I asked softly.

"Of course you can." The prince seemed a bit surprised I'd asked. "But, there is one thing you should know."

I raised my eyebrows, urging him on. He took a deep breath, "It's a bit of a long walk, because... my father doesn't know they're here."