Page 3 of Battle of Evyndral

“Elledan? But how? Your sister lives with the Und?nthú. Why would she send a warning?” Cassi asked.

Yari turned and clasped Cassi’s hands. “Because she’s still D?nthúlú at heart. I vow on my honor the warning is credible.”

“Then we must warn my parents. Cassi, you and Yari prepare to leave. Thran, with me.” Being the highest-ranking person in the room, Rhoan barked orders, and the guards dispersed immediately.

“Are you certain of this?” Cassi demanded as Yari righted her chair.

“My sister wouldn’t lie,” Yari said with more force than necessary.

Cassi didn’t argue further as Yari led the princess from the dining hall. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Yari had her sword in hand and her head on a swivel. “She learned portents from our mother, and if I’m correct, that raven was Novus. Elle and the bird were close before she was whisked away from Summerland. I’m certain he followed her to Winterhaven.” When they arrived at Cassi’s quarters, Yari all but pushed the princess inside and slammed the door shut, throwing the bolt. Having also spent time at her mother’s elbow in thekitchen, Yari withdrew a piece of charcoal from the outer pocket of her breeches and inscribed a sigil on the wood above the lock.

“Princess?” Mariopa, Cassi’s handmaiden, jumped to her feet. “What’s wrong?”

“The dark fae are coming. We must prepare to leave,” Yari answered for Cassi. There were several contingencies in place if the Und?nthú breached the castle or threatened to. Since they had yet to arrive, Cassi and Rhoan would leave separately, then meet later. There were several safe spaces designated for these situations, and since Elle had warned Yari, it meant the Und?nthú were coming from Winterhaven. It was possible there would be dark fae coming from Autumnvale as well, but Yari would lead Cassi in the opposite direction regardless.

Mariopa didn’t argue. She followed Cassi to her quarters and assisted her in changing into her riding gear. Cassi was a dragon shifter, but it was impossible to be stealthy in that form, so she would ride a horse along with the guards to better disguise herself. Mariopa removed the pins holding Cassi’s dark hair in curls piled high atop her head, then plaited it. While the princess removed her dress, Mariopa gathered the clothes that resembled that of a guard. Yari assisted her friend into the coverlet made of dragon scales, which went on beneath her tunic so it wasn’t visible, then left them to finish while she escaped to her room. She strode to her desk and settled in the chair, scribing a missive to Zarina, the light Queen. When finished, Yari donned her armor.

Mariopa changed into Cassi’s dress, then fixed her hair in the same style the princess normally wore. Before Yari and Cassi exited the room, Yari installed a glamour upon the handmaiden, transforming her face to reflect Cassi’s visage. She hated that the female would be in peril, but everyone in the royal’s employ had pledged their service to the dragons of Evyndral.

Yari removed the sigil and opened the door, stepping out first to be certain it was safe. They made their way along the corridor until they reached the hidden passage leading down a set of stone stairs to the stables. Several guards had saddled the horses while others gathered food and supplies. All were waiting to ride out. King Titus and several of his guards stood alongside Thran and Prince Rhoan. Yari bowed her head to the King when he approached.

“Yaricelan, how certain are you the omen was from your sister?”

“As certain as I can be without her here to ask, Your Highness. I would rather err on the side of caution than to ignore it before it’s too late.”

“And you are going to Carilon?” he asked Rhoan.

“We are, Father. Cassi is going a direct route, while I am taking a more circuitous one.”

“Be safe, my children. Your mother and I will guard the castle until your return.”

King Titus clasped hands with Rhoan and hugged Cassi before striding back inside with his guardians.

Rhoan and Cassi embraced while Yari and Thran did the same. “Be safe, my sister,” Thrandyr husked into Yari’s ear.

“And you, my brother.” When Thran pulled back and stared into her eyes, she felt his trepidation as if it were her own. “This is what we trained for. I’ll see you in Carilon.”

Thran settled his forehead to hers briefly, then nodded once and stepped back. The royal siblings were adept at riding. They were also battle trained, so it wasn’t as if they were helpless. Plus, they were dragons. If push came to shove, they could shift into their beasts and raze the ground with their fire. It was up to Yari, Thran, and the other guards to keep the dark fae away from them long enough to shift, because in their bipedal form, they were vulnerable to Und?nthú weapons. One touch of adark blade could render a dragon paralyzed long enough for the wielder to get close enough to finish the job.

Yari let out a sharp whistle, and Plinka, a snowy owl, descended from a nearby tree, landing on Yari’s bent arm. “Take this to Queen Zarina.” Yari held up the rolled parchment, and Plinka grasped it in one of his taloned feet before taking flight. Yari turned and gazed upon the massive castle with wide platforms where the dragons could land. She had stood on those platforms watching as Cassi and Rhoan chased each other in their winged form. Yari sent a prayer to the goddess D?nthú that they would return to the platform soon. When everyone was atop their mount, they set off toward Carilon, a small settlement within Summerland, and Thran’s group followed briefly until they broke off to take a longer route. Yari rode next to Cassi with guards in front and behind them. When they spoke, they kept their voices low and their senses open for any threats within the forest.

It was two days’ ride to Summerland. Yari and Thran hadn’t been back since they were chosen for the guard. They kept in touch with their father through letters, so they knew he was doing well with a new wife, even if he was missing them. It would be heartbreaking to be so close to her home and not be able to visit and meet the female who had taken her mother’s place, but Yari had a duty to Cassi and the royal family.

Evyndral was situated in the north, having ten times the territory as all the fae combined. Summerland and Springmire comprised land to the southeast, with Winterhaven and Autumnvale lying to the west. There were hundreds of guards positioned between the castle and all roads and trails leading in every direction. Yari was grateful for her sister’s warning, but she wished Elle had been able to give an indication of how many dark fae were approaching the royal city. Hopefully, Yari’s missive to the light Queen would reach her in time, and Zarinacould send more D?nthúlú to assist in guarding the palace. If Yari were a royal, she would be tempted to take to the skies and burn every one of the dark fae to the ground, but that went against the treaty set about long ago between the dragons and the fae.

According to lore and confirmed by Cassi, the fae goddess D?nthú fell in love with the dragon king Mórdrake long after her daughters, Zarina and Melisandra, were born. Their father, the fae god Xeníus, was jealous of Mórdrake, so he conspired with Melisandra against the dragon king. Melisandra turned against her mother and sister, and in doing so, the two factions of fae were born. D?nthú joined forces with her lover, and together, they defeated the fae god. When D?nthú called for her daughter, ready to banish her to a far realm, Melisandra begged for mercy. She agreed to live peacefully with the dragons if they did the same. D?nthú agreed, and for thousands of sun cycles, peace reigned for three hundred sun cycles. Before the battle, however, Xeníus provided Melisandra and her followers with weapons to take down the dragons, but what he didn’t count on was the number of fae loyal to D?nthú. Too many lives were lost, and D?nthú offered her fae to Mórdrake’s dragons as future protection in recompense. The dragon guard was born after the second attack, and peace reigned until now.

They found a spot to stop for a midday meal and dismounted. Donovan unpacked his saddlebag, passing out wrapped food. Yari thanked him and found a downed tree to sit on. She wondered why Melisandra would risk attacking the royals after so long. “How long ago was the treaty put into place?”

Cassi stretched her back before joining Yari on the tree. “About six hundred sun cycles. The Und?nthú attacked King Titus’s father, who was King Mórdrake’s son, about threehundred sun cycles ago, but the royal guard defeated them quite easily.”

Yari hadn’t known Cassi was that closely descended from King Mórdrake. “Didn’t that break the treaty? Why was Melisandra allowed to remain in power if she broke it? And is there something special about three hundred? Will this happen again in another three hundred cycles?” Yari unwrapped the food, her stomach rumbling since her breakfast had been interrupted by the raven. She popped a slice of pickled pepper in her mouth.

“Goddess, I hope not. I also pray it isn’t happening now. I don’t like being sent away knowing my parents are probably facing off against an unknown number of Und?nthú.”

“They have the best of the best guarding them.”

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