Page 3 of King of Fire and Scales

For a second, she could see a life where she was powerful. Where there was a man, though faceless, at her side. Where she was making a change to Wildwoods. Where she was using her magic to make sure everyone had food, water, and good health.

But then she shook the thoughts away. She was quite content with her life as it was now.

At the end of the day, she hadn't gone to the Academy. She had taken on a nobler task.

The task of looking after her father.

But he was right… There was a lot more to come.

Even if she didn’t know it yet.

TWO

DRAKE

The room was crowded as more and more of Drake's advisors filled the space. The war council room, where they were gathered at that moment, was located in one of the tallest towers of Dragon Mountain Castle.

And it was one of Drake's favorite rooms.

From the window of the tower, one could see almost the entirety of the Dragon Mountain Kingdom, and beyond that into the rest of the Wildwoods. Both Drake and the dragon lurking inside him appreciated the view.

Brigg, one of Drake's best friends, walked in then, and the meeting was called to order.

“We have all seen the destruction caused by Lucien Dastow in the past days. His attacks on our kingdom have become increasingly frequent and more devastating. He does not care to protect women and children and isn't attacking military points. Instead, he is going after small villages on the outskirts of this kingdom. This cannot go unpunished.”

This short speech came from one of Drake's oldest advisors. The man, wizened and bent over, clutching a cane, had been one of his father's advisors when Drake had just been a young shifter prince.

Many of the men in the room would disregard the old man's – who was named Yarra – advice. But Drake had seen his father win many battles with Yarra by his side.

The room fell silent as everyone waited for Drake to speak. He tried to order his thoughts, tried to make sense of the information he had been receiving every hour since the attacks started.

He hadn't been sleeping much and fatigue gripped his senses. But this was the most important time as king. How he responded to this threat by Lucien would determine how his advisors and subjects felt about him for the rest of his time on the throne.

“Yarra is right, of course,” he said in a low, smooth voice. Drake didn't miss the low grumble that swept around the room. He was a young king and had a team of mostly young advisors. They didn't respect nor want to take stock of what someone like Yarra had to say.

“However you may feel about this, I think we can all agree with Yarra. These attacks are causing devastation. We need to respond. I think that soon we will be meeting Lucien Dastow on the battlefield.”

“Are you sure is wise?” Brigg asked, his voice low, but not so much that the rest of the room couldn't hear him.

Drake smiled at his long-time friend who, unlike the rest of the dragon shifters in the room, was leaning casually against the wall, his arms folded across his chest.

Some of the older advisors held their breath as they expected Drake to berate Brigg for contradicting him in front of the men.

But Drake did not. He was not like his father who would have punished Brigg for daring to be disrespectful.

Instead, Drake encouraged the free flow of information among his subjects and subordinates. He had no time to pull rank, and there certainly was no time for punishment. Not when Lucien could strike at any time.

“I think we need to be forceful and show Lucien that his goals are futile. He needs to know that Dragon Mountain Kingdom is not an easy target. And while meeting on the battlefield might not seem the wisest approach, I doubt he's going to listen if we do it any other way.”

Brigg nodded, and Drake wondered why his friend’s jaw was so tight.

Just then, the royal historian spoke up. This was a surprise to Drake. Usually, the studious Pyralis remained quiet throughout these meetings.

“My apologies, My King.” He apologized several times, and each apology to Drake was accompanied by a bow.

“Yes, what is it, Pyralis?” Drake tried to ensure that his voice wasn't dismissive, but he couldn't help it.

Sometimes Pyralis's hemming and hawing worked on his nerves.

---