*Image Above is Sneak Peek/Spoilers for Pt.2 of the Finale & Last chapter of TITLT!*
Bemila was grateful for the excuse to look through the cabinets in the connecting bathroom, as it would hide the clear embarrassment on her face. And this is why I don't leave you alone. He had spoken to her like a child, and it didn't escape her mind that had this been with anyone else, her reputation would be forever tarnished.
The elf who had carried Queen Nikolai's body removed the knife against her throat then shoved her aside to walk towards the bed. Since then, Nel had only given a few orders on what they needed to find, one of those being blankets and towels. It crossed her mind several times when she found a few thread bare towels at the bottom of a small cabinet under the sink, why the ice queen would need warmth. The elf seemed to have noticed her curiosity as he took the towels from her hands and started to tightly wrap them around the queen's body.
"Queen Nikolai is suffering from severe malnutrition and a few wounds that were not immediately taken care of." Nel explained. "Once we start giving her food and treating her wounds, she could go into shock. The best way to deal with that is making sure she is being compressed."
The elf nodded, then jerked the blanket tight around the queen's body. The aged threads snapped and the blanket tore right down the middle. His mouth sharply moved, like he wanted to curse but no words came out.
"I can fix that for you." Bemila softly offered. The elf gave her an incredulous look but pulled the blanket's remaining pieces out from under the queen and handed it to her. She squeaked and yanked her hand away when their skin touched, it was a stark warm contrast to everything else. "Yes, thank you, I'll just go find...something to sew this with." She nervously laughed then stepped back, running straight into the bedside table.
The elf bent down and threw his satchel onto the bed. A number of supplies were instantly thrown out, including bandages, food, a compass, maps, a ring, and a first aid kit. He snapped the lid open and offered it to her, specially pointing out the needle in thread shoved right beneath the gauze pads.
"Thank you." She took the first aid kit and curtsied. Blush rushed through her cheeks and she practically sprinted to the chair fortunately located on the other side of the room. Did I just curtsy to him? Oh Mother. Determined to completely forget about the embarrassing event, Bemila pulled out the needle and thread, expertly threading it and began to stitch the blanket. She poured all her focus into making every stitch perfect, so that there was no room for any other thoughts.
Until the subject of Nikolai Daegnrus was brought up.
"We will have to wait until she wakes up." Nel sifted through the bags of food and picked out ones that could easily be consumed. "I doubt there is any medical supplies left, so we can't feed her any solid particles without the risk of her choking."
She set down her work and turned towards them. "Why aren't there any medical supplies?"
He shrugged. "Same reason there isn't anything or anyone left. For whatever reason they left, they'll need money and medical supplies. Neither are easy to come by so you take all that you can carry."
"Oh." She looked around the room. The ceilings and walls were so decorated that she just assumed this was how the room was supposed to be furnished.
"Don't overthink it." Nel teased. "Rogue Moons may be blunt and straight to the point, but they aren't savages."
She nodded, silently hating how she was so closed off from she was from the rest of the world, and that all she had to work with was the twisted legends and cliches. "When will Queen Nikolai wake up?"
"Kymil?" Nel looked at the elf who checked her pulse and shrugged. After a few minutes of checking a few other vitals he shook his hand perpendicular then raised one finger. "He says within the next hour. Oh, by the way Beila this is Kymil, the second guard I told you about."
Bemila watched him approach her with a predator's silent stalk. His thin black hair was tied back and just grazed his powerful muscles that bulged against the thin material of his shirt. He paused a respectful distance from her and bent low at the waist, exposing the back of his head, which held non visible braids. She dropped the towel onto the chair and rose, gulping as she immediately realized it made no difference as he still towered over her by several feet.
She curtsied, but froze halfway through when Nel snorted. I did not just curtsy. She frantically stood up and brushed out her skirts. Since day one, it had been drilled into her head that a royal never curtsied, except to another royal. How her ears were going to ring when Madam Draenna finds out.
Could she do anything right today?
"It's nice to meet you." she managed to get out before snatching up the towel and hurried out of the room after declaring she needed a different needle.
"Make sure not to go too far this time." Nel called out. She nodded, but right as the door snapped shut she heard his chuckle. "She likes you." There was silence, but clearly something happened to make Nel continue laughing, "Mother your face is red."
She flinched as the smack sounded right through the door.
"Alright, alright. Mind getting some firewood? I'm sure our queens would appreciate some warmth when they return."
Bemila dashed away from the door before they opened it and found her spying on the other side.
For the next hour, or at least that's what she figured, she searched each room from top to bottom in search for something. She didn't really need a new needle, but her curiosity led her to wanting to find something.
Most of the rooms were stripped bare, and the furniture left behind was so simple to move that even a fool wouldn't try to leave something hidden around it. She started to walk back to Nel when it became increasingly painful to curl her fingers after running them over the frozen stone walls. She shoved one of the beds back against the wall and walked out, straight into Kymil.
Walking straight into a wall would've been softer, as even the wooden logs in his arms didn't shift.
"I'm sorry." she quickly apologized, rubbing the edge of her head that ran straight into his elbow. He remained silent, but his eyes politely looked her over then looked at the pile of wood, both of them realizing she could easily walk underneath it. She wasn't that short, was she? She cleared her throat. "Are you heading back?"
He nodded.
"Do you ever speak?"
He shook his head.
"May I ask why?"
His eyes broke away from her and he started walking down to the hallway.
She had to run to catch up with him, and continued jogging to keep his pace. They were both silent the rest of the way, and when they reached the door he gave a quick knock before letting her enter first.
Movement on the bed caught her eye immediately and for the first time she looked Queen Nikolai in the eye.
* * * * * *
Nikolai felt a heavy dose of deja vu when she opened her eyes and found herself in her old room. How many times did she spend the night staring at that cathedral ceiling? Despite the twenty years of not seeing it, she was still sick of seeing it again. She pitied her father who had to for thirty-eight more years than she did.
"Your majesty?"
Nikolai silently cursed. "Don't tell me that was all a long dream." she croaked, regretting speaking when her throat stung.
"Your majesty please do not panic." a male voice walked closer to her. "My name is Nel Wod, I am the personal guard for Queen Bemila of Daventia."
"Bemila?"
"Yes ma'm. Bemila Trojas, youngest daughter of Ivan Joltrion Trojas."
"Okay." She slowly sat up, but her elbow buckled and she crashed back down.
"Please don't try to rise too quickly." Nel carefully approached her and helped her to sit up. "You've been without proper nutrients and water for a few days now."
She was about to ask what happened, when she remembered the battle before blacking out. "Nevermind, tell me that was a dream."
"It wasn't a dream."
It was worse than a memory. She could still feel her daggers slide right through Dagur's body. She should've known, it was too easy to take that shot. "How did you find me?"
"Your traveling companions who are in the Dracones Valley sent us."
She eyed him carefully. "And how did you find them there?"
"It's a long story." He shrugged, but her glare met his gaze and he sat down on the bed. "When you first left, twenty years ago, a wave of violence and unrest swept the tribes. Rulers were overthrown, generals and politicians accused of treason were executed, the same thing that happened in Moonlire happened there."
Abdication.
Assassination.
Nikolai stood on the edge of the throne room's north balcony, hardly imaging what she was hearing her advisors say.
Her general, Baer Starzt, was listing off the troops who had laid down their weapons and refused to fight. "Captain Maeyren say they have her tent surrounded, we were lucky to get her message."
"It doesn't make sense." she shook her head and pulled her thick Catazelan cloak closer around her thin fifteen year old body. "We are one strike away from winning the war. One. Take Monrides and their rulers and they have no other moves." She knew the entire map by memory after all the counsels of going over the exact plan. They all had to memorize it, because there was only one copy of the plans drawn up for security.
She and the other rulers and their generals had spent the past week in Daventia to plan this final attack. After years, the war seemed to at last have an end in sight. Daventia's aerial legion was going to attack Monrides for days while Suztest held the humans' troops at their border. Leiren's forces would attack Monrides as a diversion while Moonlire sent assassins to capture the royals.
But during one of the royal's weddings, which occurred as a distraction from their war planning, a rebel force attacked and she was immediately escorted back to Moonlire. But when she arrived home, she was immediately faced with the same dilemma.
Offered the choice of abdication or execution.
Assassination.
Abdication.
She couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. Moonlire was the furthest tribe from Jericht, the human continent, so it was possible to keep the war effort far from her people's expense. Through the battle planning she made sure to keep a steady economy, stable amount of resources, continuation of festivals, and being amongst the people to gain their support.
"It's an outside force, your majesty." General Baer stated. "Captain Maeyren and her troops were one of our best, loyal to the core. It would take a force greater than death to sway their allegiance."
"Well that force has arrived." Nikolai turned towards her general. "And somehow we have to deal with it. A public execution would send a message to the people." She strangely did not sense fear from those words. Her senses probably hadn't grasped the reality of her own death sentence. "That I am a leader willing to die for the righteous causes of our kingdom."
"Or that you are a coward and didn't want to take on the challenges to avoiding a civil war." Baer shook his head. "Assassination does send a powerful message, but you can't control what that message is or how it affects everyone else if you're dead."
"But abdication makes me a fool and a coward. Give up the throne and I give up any protection and power I have to defeat the cause of this uprising."
"It's all about perception." He gripped his sword and stepped closer to her, his heavy mint and snow scent lingering on his armor. "You leave now, yes, most will regard you as a coward, but you're still alive. You are still the blood relative of Mother Ling herself, daughter of King Chester, who is renowned throughout the tribes and Jeriht as a noble ruler, and you still have every quality that has already made you a successful ruler."
"Successful? I have a civil war at my hands!"
"Because you've grown your country that strong. People often feel threatened by strength, and strike. What you've done for this country in terms of economy, is ground-breaking, not to mention it was accomplished in only two years. Don't underestimate yourself as a person Nikolai. Crown or no crown, that's what is going to carry you through the rest of your life. And now."
She abdicated that night, running away to Monrides with Kaeytlyn. They stayed with Viggo and Iren for a few weeks, until the portal was opened and Nikolai was accidentally swept through, never expected to return to the magical realm again.
"Our tribes fell under dictatorships." Nel continued his story. "The rulers are practically puppets, non living past the age of twenty-one. My queen, Bemila Trojas, is almost turning twenty-one, and is the last of her family line. She grew up so closed off from the rest of the world, but she is determined to become a queen as great as you were."
Nikolai huffed and gestured out the balcony. "This is what you call successful?"
He didn't have the heart to answer her without lying.
A knock came and the door slid open with a young girl being towered over by a little older man. She locked eyes with the girl, who paled then excitedly smiled. "Your-your-your majesty!" The girl ran over and curtsied by the bed. "I'm so glad you're awake! It's an honor to meet you, you're my idol, my inspiration as I try to be a better queen myself. Oh, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Bemila Trojas." she nervously curtised again. "At your service m'lady."
Pulling out an entire childhood's worth of training, Nikolai kept a sollen emotionless face on, and dully turned her head towards the balcony, giving an utterly uninterested impression. She practically heard the shattering of a young girl's heart as her smile wore off.
"Your majesty, we need your help."
* * * * * *
She couldn't believe her eyes, Queen Nikolai, sitting right in front of her. If this was a dream she might smack her head on a pan just to never wake up from it. She wasn't sure how to approach her. They were both queens, but Bemila never felt more like a peasant. Every rational thought ran out of her head so she just stood there, staring in awe at the queen, until Kymil inconspicuously kicked her heel.
That clicked in her autodrive and she managed to curtsy and say some words. She patiently waited for a response from the queen, but after the first eye contact, she slowly turned her head and stared blankly in front of her.
Bemila's heart stopped.
Every tale...this wasn't how it was supposed to be. This noble fire-spirited queen who took on an entire continent in battle. Who learned for her father's death and an hour later walked onto the battlefield as the new queen. The one who raised an entire ocean into the air.
Where was that queen?
Perhaps she was just tired? That must be it, she's been through a lot. So Bemila stepped forward and said, "We need your help." There was no response but she kept talking. "My family line is coming to an end. All of the royal families are."
"And if they die, the world we know willz be destroyed and evil and chaos will reign over forever." The queen's voice was smoother than silk, but stung like acid. "There will always be evil. There will always be good. Nothing lasts forever, and just as the shadows, they change proportions. Sometimes the sun shines, sometimes the moon does. It's just the way of life."
She stared at her in shock. "But good has to rise and fight the evil."
"And that gives you what?" Nikolai snapped. "How many elven and human wars have there been? Five. Do you know how many years that is? Two hundred and seven. Do you know how many soldiers that means? How many civilians? I couldn't tell you, the records don't go back that far. But I personally held forty-six brave soldiers die in my arms, twenty-one of them for a lost battle. Maybe the others had it right, the Father Dracones and my ancestors. Two years before I was crowned, my father became the first Moonlire ruler to join the Elven and Human wars. He wanted to end them quickly so we could move past the anger. Although his intentions were good, it still took four years.
"The Father Dracones has never taken apart in a war, never been swayed to a side. Why? Because there's always a losing side. He keeps to himself and his mission."
"The Elven Tribes have been under occupation for twenty years! Our people have been worked to death in our mines, our politicians slayed, the very core of our values destroyed."
"And what did you expect me to do about it? Jump onto a Dracones Dragon and raise the sea, drowning your dictators and destroying all evil?"
Bemila closed her mouth. In truth, that's exactly what she thought would happen, but she had sounded enough like a child today. "No, I didn't expect you to do any of that. All I have is a shinny jewel that sits on the top of my head. You had a crown. You led troops, guided people, you were a hero. Not because of your birthright but because you were that person. Intelligent and kind. Apparently the stories were wrong though."
Frusteration fumed from her ears as Bemila turned on her heel and strutted out of the room. She was going to fix this mess.
What would Nikolai-
No.
She pushed that reflexive thought out of her mind, discarding it with an air of disgust as she would to discard an old doll. It was past time for her to look beyond the fantasized legends, put faith in glorified people hoping they could wave their hands and restore peace. Now she had to put her faith in something more powerful.
What would Bemila Trojas do?
* * * * * *
Kaeytlyn Starzt chuckled as the Berkians jumped back when she approached the fire. But the humor didn't last long when she locked eyes with Stoick. "So you're what she left an entire country for." she huffed. "I expected better."
Some were too stunned to tell her to watch her language, but the others were just anxiously waiting on news as the others dismounted the dragons.Viggo didn't even pause to make sure Iren got off safely, before rushing over to the campfire. "Where is Nikolai?"
"We haven't heard anything new." Hiccup said, letting Astrid sit up before he walked over to his best friend.
"You haven't been checking on her?" Viggo scanned the current company and noticed the Berkians. "What are they-"
"Let me explain." he quickly said, explaining as briefly but detailed as possible.
Viggo stared at the ground for a few minutes, scratching his beard as he carefully listened to Hiccup's recollection. "So, you let a random elf, who claims she is the queen of Daventia, fly off with her bodyguards and try to save Nikolai."
"She seemed legit." Hiccup shrugged slowly, realizing that might not have been the greatest idea.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She didn't even get the family name correct. Trojas is not the royal name, it's the Western noble's name. Joltarion is the royal name."
"How in the name of Mother Ling do you know that?" Kaeytlyn snorted.
He crossed his arms and glared at her. "Like other second royals, I studied all the royal families. You as Moonlire's second royal should have too."
"Nah." she shrugged. "I wasn't precious Nikolai daughter of the famous King Chester, youngest inheritant of Mother Ling's powers, future queen of the most noble elven tribe." Kaeyltyn sarcastically said then fake gagged. "So our tutor didn't care about my education. Feel bad for Nikolai though, she couldn't just fall asleep."
"Is that a hint of jealousy I taste?"
"I am perfectly happy with not being involved any deeper in that political shit you all do. I have my sword, I know where to hit someone. That's my job." she twirled her knives around for show, especially watching Treshzar's face as she performed. "Anyways, what's the plan?"
The group looked at Hiccup expectantly.
He nervously tousled his hair. "Well, Mala should be back in the next few hours. That should give us time to form a search party and retrieve Nikolai."
"Then what?" Heather shrugged. "We will soon have the antidote for the Defenders of the Wing soldiers, which is what we came for in the first place."
"But a problem has arisen in Jericht." Viggo said. "Grimmel is here. He's somehow teamed up with Ingrid and Oteron Helrost in an attempt to capture us. We traveled to the country of Cozotro where we were captured."
"Yeah." Kaeytlyn rolled her eyes. "This guy made me run a whole extra day to reach them. And that was after extinguishing whatever fire Valka Cresseldek started."
"Fire?" Hiccup panicked.
"She's alright." Kaeytlyn assured him. "Well, when I last saw her."
"Kaeytlyn, what happened to my mom!"
"Ooh look who wants to play leader."
"Starzt." Viggo snapped. "With Kaeytlyn and Valka, we managed to escape, but they still got ahold of Zephyr."
"WHAT?" Astrid jumped to her feet, and Hiccup gently guided her to face the right direction. "You said you would protect her!"
"And your mother went right after her." Viggo tried to say something soothing. "I can't think of a better warrior to get Zephyr out. She should also be back in a few hours."
"If she succeeded." She hissed. "Who knows what that bastard is doing to my daughter right now!"
"Alright calm down there Serafina." Kaeytlyn patted her shoulder. "I don't like it, but I'll give credit where credit's due. The politicians here were smart enough to formulate a plan before facing you."
Viggo stepped to the side and allowed Treshzar and two other figures to step forward. In his hand, Treshzar held a scroll that contained the plans. "Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the King-"
"Hold on." Eret rolled his eyes and walked over to Treshzar, who was still on top of the dragon. "Get down from there." He grabbed Treshzar's leg and pulled him off, letting him fall straight into his arms.
For a moment no one moved, and an awkward tension filled the cave. Simultaneously, they cleared their throats and climbed out of each other's arms. Treshzar nervously brushed out his clothes and quickly walked to the front. "As I was saying, this is King Petra and King Regiant Matias of the human kingdom, Cozotro."
"And their guard entourage." Viggo gestured to the numerous guards who were gathered near the back of the cave, but still in reach of their rulers.
Hiccup gave a nervous, uncertain nod to them. "So what's the plan?"
"Well, now that we have troops, my fellow politicians-" Kaeytlyn interrupted Viggo with a pointed cough. "And generals think we can stop Grimmel once he reaches Monrides. Then we can pull out the problem, root and stem."
"What makes you think he's traveling to Monrides?"
"I know my uncle." Viggo took the scroll from Treshzar's hands and unrolled it by the small campfire. "He isn't interested in conquering the world, but he has the potential to do it. I believe that he bought Ingrid and Oteron's loyalties by promising them the world at their feet, if they helped him obtain whatever powerful magic he's after. The obvious first place he would look is in Monrides."
"But he could've been there for weeks without us knowing."
"True, but he wouldn't be able to do anything while we were there. He would have to drag us out of Monrides to continue his search by the portal."
"This sounds like a trap." Astrid said. "Even if that's not what Grimmel intends, he knows we will try to attack him. Doing it when he's in the center of a powerful portal isn't exactly a smart move."
"It's that or wait for another chance while other people suffer for it." Treshzar said.
The King Regiant of Cozotro stepped forward. "You have three powerful Elemental Queens, dragons, and powerful warriors. Combined with our own forces, this should be enough to plan a full attack and at least trap Grimmel."
"What's a King Regiant?" Fishlegs curiously asked.
"A king who has stepped down to allow his bloodline to take the throne. I was King before I let my son take the throne, and now my grandson." Matias briefly explained.
"So shouldn't the king be discussing the issue with us as well?" Stoick asked.
Matias turned his head to the teenager lazily leaning against the wall and picking at his fingernails. "Stupid guards, they broke my fingernail. For once they were all naturally, perfectly aligned, and then this guard ran into me and snapped one."
"Oh Helena." Hiccup slapped his forehead.
Matias snapped in a fast paced language, and the teenager rolled his eyes before walking over to the fire. "Petra, we have been explaining the plan to the other warriors."
"I heard." he shrugged. "Pretty hard not to with these cave walls. Hey, is this where we are staying? Because I was expecting my first day of freedom in six months to be held in a hotel. Let's have a few guards scout out the area, and draw a warm bath for me. I'm in desperate need of a manicure and hair products. And I guess if we have to be in Elven Territory, I might as well have a go with an Elven girl while I'm here."
Viggo wasn't the only one who almost lunged for the King.
"We are staying here, Petra." Matias snapped his fingers and pointed to the battle plans spread across the fire hearth. "Can you please explain what we have planned for our guards to do during the attack?"
"Nope. Sounds like you've got it covered, Paps." Petra clapped his grandfather's shoulder and turned around before catching a glimpse at Heather. "Hey there beautiful." He winked before strutting off.
Matias grimaced as the Boy King walked away to talk with some of the younger guards. "My sincerest apologies for my grandson's behavior. As any ruler, my son was convinced he would live a long and prosperous life, and it would be years before his son took the throne. He and his wife spoiled the boy, but then caught a terrible illness and passed away last year. I thought by now he would at least attempt to take on some responsibilities and grow out of his immaturity."
"How old is he?" Henrik asked.
"Sixteen."
The Twins snorted. "Hiccup was fifteen when he 'tarted leading the Dragon Rider' on the Defender' of the Wing I'land."
Hiccup started blushing. "Well, I was really the only one who knew, and it wasn't that many people. Just me, Astrid, and Heather."
"Not everyone's a born leader." Viggo scowled at the Twins, who glared back at him.
"Says the person running a fleet at sixteen." Hiccup coughed and quietly muttered into Viggo's shoulder.
"Ah don't you fret." Gober laughed. " 'e will grow outta it eventually. Look at ou'r 'iccup 'ere. 'E used to be the scraniest boy I ever saw wit' less guts t'an mouse."
"Can we get back to planning please!" Hiccup desperately tried to change the subject, but the Twins jumped up.
"No we may not!" Tuffnut declared.
"We 'hall continue reliving the glory day'!" Ruffnut added.
"Why are you talking like that?" Snotlout dared to ask.
"Becau'e my friend, it i' Tue'day and on Tue'day we do not use the letter 's'."
"That's it! Ten minute break everybody!" Hiccup yelled and hoped onto Toothless before anyone could object.
" 'ooh, i' anyone gonna go after him?" Tuffnut awkwardly asked after everyone silently watched him leave.
"I'll go." Astrid whistled for Stormfly to come to her.
"Sweetheart, are you sure you should be flying in your condition?" Henrik walked towards his daughter, who was feeling around Stormfly's saddle for the best handgrips.
"I'm not pregnant." She rolled her eyes and pulled herself up. "Plus, I trust Stormfly with my life, right girl?" Stormfly snapped in reply and nuzzled her outstretched hand. "I'll be back soon." she told the group and followed Hiccup out of the cave.
They flew for much longer than ten minutes, but she didn't want to alert him of her presence until he was on the ground. Halfway through the flight Hiccup let out a frustrated yell and collapsed onto Toothless' back. His mind was exactly where she thought it would be.
When he finally landed and dismounted from Toothless' saddle, she and Stormfly landed too. Light wasn't necessary for her to know where she needed to walk nor how he was situated amongst the valley's floor. She had seen this play time and time again.
She walked up from behind him, imagining his slumped shoulders stresing against the light leather armor straps and a mindset of utter failure. It was unfortunate that at the edge of every failure and troubled time, he would assume it was the end of the line for him, and that he would return to the insignificant screw up of ten years ago. Fortunately, these many years had given her enough practice to know exactly how to snap him out of it.
"This is a mess."
He took a quick intake of air, but she felt him release it when he recognized her voice. "No kidding."
"You must feel horrible. You've lost pretty much everything. Your father, your old tribe, your new tribe's in danger, your daughter, your sister, your mother, your best friend-"
"Thank you for summing that up." He sighed. "Why did we come here? Why couldn't we have just tried another option? But because of my geek brain I demanded we come here so I could explore another world. It's my fault we came, it's my fault people are dead, almost dead, scattered around the realm."
"Yup." She nodded, stepping closer. "The rest of us wouldn't have risked it all, but you did."
"And now my mother and Zephyr are gone. How long until I lose you or Toothless."
"I don't know." She admitted. "But we've been with you since the first day, so I think it's safe to assume we'll be there for the last. He has our daughter Hiccup, we can't just give up on her."
"I'm not giving up on her."
"Good." She knew he couldn't see her face, but her lips curled up into a smirk. "So what are you going to do about it?"
She heard his feet shifting as he stood up and faced her. "Eh-probably something stupid."
"Well you've already done that."
He paused and she knew the gears in his head were beginning to turn again. "Then something crazy." He ran into her arms and hugged her tightly.
"That's more like it."
They mounted their dragons and flew back to the cave, where they spotted two flying figures entering right before they landed. It had only been a few hours, but Bemila Trojas seemed to have grown an inch and gained an extensive amount of determination that sent her stuttering to the backdoor.
"Where's Nikolai?" Hiccup asked, rushing towards them.
"She won't be joining us." Bemila shook her head. "She's lost hope that winning this battle will do us any good. However she is warm and given nutrients. She should make a full physical recovery."
Puzzlement crossed Viggo's face. "That doesn't sound like Nikolai."
"What do you mean?" Bemila asked.
"Even when she had appeared to lose hope, she always had another plan. Another outlook she could focus on."
"Well after what she saw, none of us can blame her." Heather softly added, giving precarious glances towards Petra who continued to glance in her direction.
"She seemed pretty heartless to the cause." Bemila crossed her arms.
"Well I'm glad one of my clever schemes worked."
Everyone jumped two feet clear in the air when Nikolai appeared at the entrance of the cave with Nel right beside her.
"I don't understand." Bemila looked between the Dragon Riders and Nikolai. "You said you wouldn't come back, that you were done fighting and it was pointless."
"Indeed I did." She strutted into the cave, taking pride in the guard's trembling legs as she passed them. Bemila had to bend her head far back in order to meet the queen's gaze as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "The minute I saw you it was clear to me you had never seen the outside world, and you had all these innocent invisions of how good would always conquer the bad and how finding your idol would magically solve all the problems. If you want to be a successful leader, you have to remove yourself from that mindset and be able to examine all angles of a situation. I purposefully said what I said so you would stop relying on your faith in me and start believing in yourself. Take this as your first lesson, my young apprentice."
"And there I present Queen Nikolai Daengrus of Moonlire. First of her name, daughter of King Chester, Blood of Mother Ling, and the Queen of Water." Viggo chuckled. "I never thought I would see her again."
Nikolai shrugged. "I'm feeling nostalgic at the moment. Now, pretty boy-" She turned towards Petra and stared straight at him. "Tell me what the plan is."
"Oh he doesn't-" Matias started to say, but Nikolai quickly hushed him up.
"I want him to tell me. What's your name Boy King?"
"P-Petra."
"And what's the plan Petra?"
"Um..."
"You don't know?" She rolled her eyes then snapped her fingers to the empty spot beside her. "Then stop chatting with your lady friends, get your lazy behind over here and pay attention. Now."
Petra's eyes widen and he dashed to the indicated spot.
Nikolai gave an amused smirk. "I like this mentoring thing."
"Hang on." Snotlout suspiciously looked at Nikolai. "How do we know you're the real one and not just some imposter?"
"Ask me a question."
Ruffnut raised her hand immediately. "What was the original flavor of Ruff Cream?"
"Tuff Cream."
Nikolai snickered. "It was yakcream."
"That's not secure enough." Viggo rolled his eyes. "You literally announced that across the entire Great Hall."
"Well then Mr. Suspicious, what if I were to tell you that you've got a hidden freckle right-"
"Alright she's legit." He quickly cut her off.
"That's what I thought. Now, what's the plan?"
******
Anxiety was all that flowed through Hiccup as he rode in the center formation with Nel, Kymil, and Bemila. They figured that news of Bemila's disappearance from Daventia would have gone noticed, so guards would be instructed to scan the skies for individuals flying. Mala was about to call off the aerial surveillance when Hiccup recalled the Night Terrors' tactics in forming together to create an illusion. In order to blend in with the night sky, Toothless and the Careless Breaths were selected to fly around Monrides Castle and scout from above while in the formation of a large bird.
Currently they were flying at top speed so the light only had time to twinkle before disappearing. "Can you see anything?" Nel asked. So far no one else had dared to speak despite being hundreds of feet above the meticulous guards.
Hiccup saw Kymil shake his head, quickly followed by Bemila. He hadn't known Bemila for long, but everyone seemed to notice the change in her. She didn't stutter as much, and when she did she would pause then continue without stuttering. But all the same she still didn't have the confidence.
"We need to get closer." Nel told him. "Even with our eyes we can't pick out anything useful."
"We can't risk getting any closer." Hiccup shook his head, squinting at the impossible distance with his human eyes. "Hold on, try this." He shuffled around in his bags and pulled out his small spyglass.
"What is that?"
"It's a spyglass for seeing far distances." He tossed it to Nel who caught it with ease despite his poor aim. "I would just see as well as you guys right now, but maybe you can spot something with it."
Nel raised it to his eye, and immediately jerked back, almost breaking the formation. "I can see as clear as if I was walking on the castle. How is this even poss-"
As they flew into a cloud, Kymil broke the formation and snatched the spyglass with an air of annoyance. The group circled at least twice as he scanned the castle before he nodded then tossed the spyglass back to Nel. "What did you see?" Bemila asked.
"Less than a hundred guards." Nel answered while peering through the spyglass. "Several backdoors unguarded, guards circle back every ten minutes."
"Why would they leave the backdoors unguarded?" Bemila asked.
"Maybe they don't have enough guards to, but knowing Grimmel he's probably trying to bait us into going through those doors."
"That he may, but the problem I see is how many guards there are." Kymil nodded in agreement. "The maximum number of Rogue Moons I have ever seen guard a castle is forty, and that was because the castle was twice the size of this."
"That's a very low number."
"For ordinary soldiers, yes, but we're talking about Rogue Moons. Elves who were trained from birth to become elite assassins. One Rogue Moon equals twenty guards. So the fact that there are around a hundred guarding the castle confuses me."
"It'll just make getting into the palace more difficult."
"Among other things." Nel grimely stated, then suggested flying back to their makeshift camp and discuss a plan with the others. They flew several miles off course, before diving into the treeline and serpentining back to their camp.
"How was it?" Astrid asked, sensing their arrival before anyone else. She was sitting at the edge of the camp, itching to have something to do, when everyone else demanded she sit and be the helpless blind girl.
"It's tricky." Hiccup jumped off of Toothless. "But that's what we expected."
Nel nodded in agreement then gave the status report to all the leaders. "There were a few back doors left unguarded, but as your rider mentioned, it is most likely a trap meant to lure us in then bombard us with guards on the other side."
"Or-" Tuffnut stepped forward. "Did he know we would assume the back door was a trap and go through the front doors, so those are the true trap."
"Or-" Ruffnut added. "Did he knew we would know that he would know we knew the-"
Kymil didn't even bother trying to shut them up with words, unlike many of the leaders, instead he slammed his backhand into their faces and watched with an unreadable expression as they stumbled around in a dazed state.
"That type of thinking is what drives people crazy." Eret rolled his eyes.
"That's the type of thinking that could save someone's life." Nikolai argued, but Viggo quickly shut her down.
"There's a limit to where that thinking can help. Don't encourage it."
"Party spoil." Nikolai huffed.
"Guys, let's just calm down." Hiccup intervened. "Our goals for this mission are to get Zephyr and my mother back, and to stop Grimmel from doing whatever he plans to do. I think the best plan of action would be to split up into two separate groups. One will find Grimmel and proceed with their own plan. The other group will sneak around the castle and try to rescue Zephyr and Mom while also having a decoy battle to draw away the troops."
"But we don't know where they are being held." Matias looked over the rough map that Viggo had managed to rapidly write up of Monrides Castle.
"Then we have Mala sneak in, disguised as a Rogue Moon."
Mala shook her head. "What about their scents?"
"Not a problem." Nikolai tapped her nose. "We have a horrible sense of smell, they won't be able to figure out you're a fraud by that."
"Out of all the super hyper senses you have, that's what you lack?" Eret made a questionable face.
"Think sailor." She knocked on his head. "We are from tundra environments, there isn't much to smell. Instead we need great vision to pick out important things from all the white and endurance to live through the harsh winters. Still, the castle is huge. Having just one Rogue Moon cover is going to take too much time."
"Well we don't have any other people able to disguise themselves as Rogue Moons and travel flawlessly through the castle."
From the outside circle of leaders, Petra rolled his eyes and whispered something under his breath. Apparently highly sensitive ears were something Nikolai still possessed as she whirled around. "Something to say beetle?"
Annoyance from his newfound nickname was clear on his face, but after several times of having Nikolai scare him half to death for his attitude, he held back any bitter comment. "I was saying, your highness, you can go in yourself."
"Too many people would recognize her." Several leaders agreed, immediately shutting down the idea, but Nikolai held out hope.
"Why do you think we aren't doing that?" she asked him.
Petra shrugged, picking at his nails. "Probably too idiotic to see that no one carries around oil portraits of an elven queen. Any in Moonlire were probably destroyed so no one knows what you look like."
"Grimmel knows her markings. He would have told the guards what to look out for." Viggo said.
Again, Petra rolled his eyes. "Makeup. It's not that difficult to change your appearance."
Nikolai proudly glanced around the group of leaders, who were all wearing a mix of horrified and surprised looks. "See? He's got potential, you just have to squeeze it out of him."
"I'd never thought I'd see the day." Matias sighed.
Petra scoffed and walked off with the guards. "Don't get used to it. I'm still not planning on helping with this battle of yours. Plus, you're wasting your resources finding the hostages which are most likely damaged or dead. Focus your strength on the main target."
And with a single breath of air, the leaders resumed their initial impressions of the young king.
* * * * * *
"I can't believe you're actually letting them do this." Snotlout slapped his forehead as he followed Hiccup and the Twins around the castle grounds. Both of the Twins were carrying large bags underneath their cloaks, which hid their hair. Once again, Ruffnut had revealed a personal project of transforming herself into an elf. Not only were she and Tuffnut equipped with realistic elven ears, but now custom stilts and hair painted white with royal blue markings made from the makeup Heather created.
"It's dark, and a last resort." Hiccup shrugged. "A very last resort."
The four of them were creeping along the outside wall of the castle, meeting ends with a group of Cozotro soldiers Kymil was leading. There they would enter one of the doors and sneak in to start the diversion, while the Twins and Hiccup ran off to find Valka and Zephyr. Nikolai and Mala had already been sneaking through the castle, and marked empty rooms with an extinguished candle.
"This is ridiculous." Snotlout rolled his eyes, but readied his sword for the upcoming battle. This he could do.
Kymil made quick work of the two guards standing at the door, knocking them out faster than a breeze of wind with a swift hand jab to knock them unconscious. He motioned to Hiccup that the coast was clear as he opened the door. One by one the troops slipped into the dark passage and up the short staircase that would lead to three different hallways.
They had selected the upper floor for the battle, because of the open spaces and multiple escape routes if things turned bad.
Kymil was leading everyone up the servant staircase, when a feeling of dread dropped in Hiccup's stomach. Snotlout seemed to notice it as well as they cleared the floor.
Why hadn't they run into any guards yet?
"Took your sweet time."
The entire party jumped into their defensive positions, to find a small fifteen year old standing into the middle of the open hallway. Something was too familiar about her.
Same autumn brown hair, blue sapphire eyes. Same walk of confidence learned by too many hours spent with a certain elf.
The words escaped his mouth before his mind caught onto it.
"Zephyr?"
*
Sorry about the long update! Hope you enjoyed Part 1 of the Finale! I love reading your reactions and comments throughout this book's journey :)