POV: Fendrel
A light breeze shifted the flowery vines which served as the room's door. Rock-carved shelves housed glazed pots and lanterns. Bear skin furs were piled at the back of the cave. The saddle Fendrel bought at Lightgrass days ago sat propped against a wall.
"Why are you staring at it?" Fendrel pointed at the vine "door" his eyes had been drawn to.
"Sadon." Charles kept his gaze ahead. "He never came in while I was in my room, but I always thought he might, just to keep me on my toes...What about you?"
"The royal guard barged in on me at a few inns." Fendrel glanced at Charles. "I had to jump out the windows."
"Hm."
The two continued to stare forward.
"I'm actually surprised you agreed to share a room with me after you've gotten used to living alone." Charles stood to pick up a bear skin, then laid it flat on the ground.
Fendrel shrugged. "I forgot what it was like having company. The only roommate I've ever had was Frederick."
Charles grimaced. "Was he as messy in your living spaces as he was in public?"
"Even more so." Fendrel rolled his eyes. He chuckled. "I used to joke around with him that I'd get married quick, even if I didn't love the girl, just so I could move out and never put up with his mess."
A burst of laughter erupted from Charles. "I believe it."
Fendrel opened his mouth, then closed it. He cleared his throat. "You never told me what happened to him."
Charles pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah. I'm sorry, I didn't want to upset you further."
"What do you mean?" Fendrel crossed his arms.
The former dragon hunter sighed. "He escaped soon after you did, and so did the rest of your class."
"Then why didn't you—" Fendrel sat up quickly.
"Because I never heard from him afterward." Charles held his hand out to calm Fendrel. "He could never keep his mouth shut, and I was always stuck at Sadon's side. Don't you think that if Sadon heard about Frederick's whereabouts I would have too?"
Fendrel slouched back against the stone wall. "So you think he's really gone."
Charles kept his voice at a whisper. "Yeah. I don't know what happened to the rest of your class either."
"How did they escape without a plan when it was risky enough just to get me out?" Fendrel looked at the ceiling.
"I had to run into a few walls and cut myself to make it look like they ganged up on me." Charles removed one of his gloves and pointed at a faint white line on his hand. "I went a bit too deep here. Thankfully, Sadon believed me."
Fendrel clenched his teeth. "Ouch...What are you going to do now that you're free?"
Charles released a heavy sigh. "I have no idea. I used to think I'd go out and look for my family, but not anymore. Even if they miraculously forgave me, we're completely different people now."
"I get it." Fendrel nodded. "You could always stick with me if you wanted."
"I don't want to go near a hunter base ever again." Charles shook his head. "But let me know if you remember any calm places to live."
"I will." Fendrel's attention drew to the door at the sound of flapping wings.
"Can I come in?" Fog's voice came from outside the vines.
"Sure." Fendrel stood.
Fog poked her head through. "Oh, you two are just staying in the front room?"
"The what?" Fendrel leaned forward.
"There's another room?" Charles' eyes widened.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you." Fog entered the cave and pulled the pile of bear furs aside, revealing a large wooden trap door. "There should be at least two personal rooms down there."
Charles picked up the fur he had laid out.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Fog sat before Fendrel, who nodded.
"I'll be down here." Charles lifted the trapdoor with one hand and carried his fur down the stone staircase.
Once the door shut, Fendrel looked up at the vapor dragon. "Is everything okay?"
"Did you really mean it when you said I could help you as the Liberator once we found Mist?" Fog wore a sheepish expression.
Fendrel grinned. "Of course! And you're still dead set on joining me? Cloud and Mist will be able to find a new noble?"
Fog nodded, her seashell earring swaying. "The royal family doesn't actually need a noble from their own tribe as long as there are two monarchs. So, once they get married, I won't have to be here."
"And you do realize that it's a lot of traveling and sleeping whenever you can, even if it's outside a den or nowhere near civilization." Fendrel raised his brows.
Nodding, Fog smiled. "I'll make sure you don't deprive yourself of sleep."
"Thank you, I guess..."
"Mhm. Oh! I should let Thea, Oliver, and Birch know about the trapdoors just in case they haven't found it yet. I'll see you later." Fog scurried out of the room.
Fendrel waved at her.
Through the swaying vines, Fendrel could see the evening setting in. Taking a rolled-up bear skin under one arm, Fendrel retreated down below.
***
Icy air bit at Fendrel's rosy cheeks. His slightly oversized caribou coat hid him from the falling snow.
Fendrel, barely ten years old, sat on his adoptive mother's shoulders, clinging to her wooly fur. "Ma, why are we so far from the den?"
The two entered a clearing where a group of hatchlings frolicked near clusters of dens.
"This is where I come every winter to trade with the other rural folk. I thought this time would be a great opportunity for you to make some friends, since you'll be a new-shed soon." The ice dragon, Flurry, stopped at the nearest den and knocked the side of it with her tail.
"What's a new-shed?" Fendrel leaned over to look at her face but righted himself when he almost fell off.
Flurry held her wing out to catch him, then angled it toward the powdery ground. "It's like...a thirteen-to-fifteen-year-old human. When dragons turn thirteen, they begin to experience their first shed and grow a stronger outer layer."
"But I can't shed." Fendrel slid down her wings. The snow cushioned his fall.
The ice dragon picked him up and checked his face for bruises.
Fendrel gripped the fur one of her legs when steps from inside the den came nearer.
"I know, dear, but I don't know what the human version of a new-shed is." Flurry nuzzled the top of his head.
A pale green ice dragon poked her head out of the den. "Oh, Flurry! Welcome back." Her eyes landed on Fendrel. "Oh, you brought your little one?"
Fendrel's grasp tightened.
"We've all heard so much about you." The green dragon crouched so she could look him in the eye.
"I brought one of them, yes. Fendrel here has a bit of a hard time making friends, and his brother attracts all the attention." Flurry hugged him with her other foreleg. "So, I thought he might do better without his brother here."
"Well, mine are over there." The green dragon gestured at a trio of hatchlings with her wing.
Fendrel followed her gaze.
All the hatchlings were roughly his size, and they were wrestling. Snow stuck to their fur as they tumbled together. The hatchlings were arguing over who got to hold an icicle they dubbed the "magic scepter."
The smallest hatchling smacked the plaything out of the largest one's talons.
It shattered against a tree trunk.
Sitting in silence, the hatchlings stared at the ice shards. Then, in unison, they threw their heads back with a cry. "MOM!"
Within seconds, they were fighting again, this time over whose fault it was that the "magic scepter" was destroyed.
Sighing, the green dragon emerged from her den. "Please excuse me." She cantered over to her hatchlings and separated them.
"Ma, I don't want to play with them. They're scary." Fendrel hid behind Flurry's foreleg.
"You and your brother play rough all the time." Flurry chuckled, stroking his hair with the back of her claws.
"It's not the same."
Flurry lifted Fendrel onto her shoulders. "Perhaps we should have brought Frederick along. We will next year, I promise, unless you make friends before then."
Fendrel scowled. Then I won't make any friends so Frederick will have to come with us.
***
Fendrel jolted awake, finding himself curled up in a ball even though the bear fur was more than warm enough.
After taking a second to remember where he was, he rose with the fur still wrapped around him like a cloak. He drug his feet forward, bringing himself up out of his room and the forked hallway.
As Fendrel ventured up he noticed how dark it had become. The only sufficient light in the front room came from a few lanterns. Faint moonbeams shone through the flowery vines onto the floor.
Tugging the fur tighter around himself, Fendrel aimlessly walked through the Hazy Woods. He came to a stop at a creek, watching the water carry pine needles downstream.
A twig snapped behind him.
Fendrel's hand went to his side.
I left my bag in the room.
Something large crept nearer through the mist. After a few steps, Fendrel whipped around and threw the bear blanket at his stalker's face.
The creature yelped.
Fendrel took off in a sprint.
"Fendrel...Fendrel!"
He looked over his shoulder only to see Venom running after him with the blanket slung over his shoulders.
Nearly tripping, Fendrel brought himself to a slow stop. He doubled over with heaving breaths and waited for Venom to catch up.
Venom dropped the bear fur onto Fendrel's head with a hearty laugh. "Did they teach you that at your murder school?"
"No." Fendrel pulled the blanket back around himself. "I learned that from escaping Sear's advances."
"Ah." Venom walked beside Fendrel. "What are you doing out here so late at night?"
"I couldn't get back to sleep." Fendrel looked up at the dusk dragon. "So, I'm trying to clear my head."
"Hmm." Venom swiped a branch out of Fendrel's way. "What's on your mind?"
Fendrel sighed. "I woke up thinking about my adoptive parents..."
Venom nodded, watching the human.
"And I realize I lied to you about them." Fendrel put his head down. "I made it sound like they were still alive, but...they died years ago."
The two stopped walking.
"I think I could have saved them if I had just stalled a bit longer." Fendrel's eyes fixated on a small stone until he started to see blurry.
"What do you mean, young one?" Venom tented his wing over Fendrel's head.
Fendrel sat among the pine needles and leaned his head against Venom's leg. "I told them my brother was gone, and they shut down. They wouldn't eat anything I brought them. They never left their den. They just wanted to sleep, and one morning they didn't wake up."
Venom shook his head. "That isn't your fault."
"But if I had stalled...they wouldn't have gone into hibernation early." Fendrel swallowed. His eyes burned. "And the whole time I was right there. They lost Frederick but they still had me. It was like they just forgot I even existed. They left me...I was alone again."
With a shaky breath, Fendrel stared up at Venom. "Why would they do that to me, after they promised they'd take care of me?"
Venom used the blanket to wipe at Fendrel's tear-stained cheeks. "I won't ever leave you."
"That's what they—"
"No." Venom looked Fendrel in the eyes. "I mean it. Whenever you need me, whenever you need to rest your head after a mission, whenever you just want someone to talk to, you know where to find me."
Fendrel hung his head. "I understand..."
"I'm glad you got just a little rest already. Now, I want you to go back and try to sleep the rest of the night." Venom used his wing as leverage for Fendrel to stand. "Everyone will be here in a few days for Mist's marriage and coronation."
"Everyone?" Fendrel cleared his throat and wiped his face a final time.
"It's mandatory for every dragon in the Freelands to attend a monarch's marriage, coronation, and the hatching of a new heir." Venom led the way back to the cliff where Fendrel had been staying.
Great. So, Fragrance will be there.
A sense of dread came over Fendrel. It wasn't as deep as when he used to think about the dragon who used to hunt him, but the feeling was still there.
"Will Sear be there?" Fendrel shivered.
Venom sighed. "I'll do my best to keep him away from you."
"Thank you."
The two walked the rest of the way in silence.
***
POV: Cassius
The prince laid wide-awake in his bed.
Father's health is even worse now from the stress of the trial...Maybe Zoricus was right. Maybe I was being selfish by putting Father in that situation.
He tossed and turned.
I wasn't even thinking about his health. I just wanted Zoricus gone.
Footsteps came down the hall.
Have I really laid awake so long that the guards are already changing shifts?
He turned again.
The bedroom door opened. Four pairs of feet marched away from his door, but weren't replaced by more sets.
Cassius reached under his pillow for the knife he stole from dinner.
Someone wearing armor walked to his bedside, on the opposite side he was facing. The sound of a sword being pulled from a sheath rang in Cassius' ears.
The prince whipped his arm toward the intruder, but the knife bounced off a metal chest plate. He tried to jump out of bed. His tossing had tangled his legs in the sheets, and he fell, hitting his head on the floor.
While Cassius tried to wriggle his feet free from his coiled blankets, the intruder walked around the foot of the bed, his silhouette framed in the torchlit doorway.
Cassius cut the sheets and sliced his ankle in his haste.
With an aura of calm the swordsman came nearer.
"Is that you, Zoricus? Father exiled you. Why are you here?" Cassius crawled backward into a wall.
The swordsman pointed the tip of the blade at Cassius' throat. "Don't speak unless spoken to, or I'll cut your chords."
It is Zoricus...
"Where is Sadie? She's not in her room." Zoricus kept his blade still.
She isn't?
"Why would I tell you?" Cassius sat up.
Zoricus scoffed. "I'm not here to kill her."
"Then why do you—"
The ex-knight grabbed Cassius's neck. "Tell me where she is." He squeezed and placed the edge of the sword above his other hand.
"I really don't know where she is." Tears started to spring into Cassius' eyes. "I thought she went to bed."
"Zoricus?"
Someone else was in the doorway.
Zoricus' face went pale. He turned his head. "Sadie."
"You really are trying to kill Cassius." Sadie's voice quaked.
"I would never hurt you, Sadie." Zoricus took his hand off Cassius' throat and reached out to her. "I want to keep you safe, which is why I need you to come with me."
Sadie shook her head.
"There isn't much time left, Sadie. We need to leave now." Zoricus lowered his sword.
Cassius braced his feet against the wall and rammed his shoulder into Zoricus.
Zoricus fell to his back.
The prince ran over him with a stinging ankle and a throbbing shoulder. He grabbed Sadie's hand and raced down the dim hallways.
"Someone help!" Sadie tripped over her dress skirt.
"Shh!" Cassius cut at the bottom of her dress, more careful than when he freed himself. "We don't know who we can trust."
"What are you talking about?" Tears fell down Sadie's cheeks.
"A lot of the guards are more loyal to him than to Father." Cassius helped his sister stand and continued to run with her hand in his. "If we can get to the stables, we'll be able to leave."
"Where are we going?" Sadie grabbed her tattered skirt to keep the uneven strands out of her way.
"We're going to find help." Cassius squeezed her hand. "Wait, we need to get Father."
Sadie kept running when Cassius stopped. "No, I was going to your room to tell you..."
Cassius followed her. "Tell me what?" Now he could see she had been crying a while, not just in the past few seconds.
"He passed, Cassius...He was asleep, and I went to let you know, but then Zoricus was there..." Sadie leaned against a wall and removed her heels.
What do we do? I can't just leave the kingdom behind. I need to accept the crown. But Zoricus is here, and his loyal guards are here. Is he going to take the crown for himself?
Cassius picked up speed. "We need the Liberator."
"What can he do?" Sadie matched his pace.
"I don't know." Cassius shook his head, checking every hall they passed for guards. "But he's the closest thing we have to an ally right now."