Page 52 of Earth Dragon
“Ah,” the lady raised her eyebrows. “Then, by all means, sir knight, why don’t you finish it?”
“The war swept over the land and pitted the people against one another as they all fought bitterly to decide which species should rule all. At first, villager fought against villager, but soon the war grew into one of the borderless factions which finally began dividing the land into four. That’s how the four kingdoms were born. Maps were drawn, but the war raged on because it was not a war of territory—it was one of sovereignty. At last, four families stood as victors. Because they brokered peace, the elements themselves bestowed each House with a gift. Each bloodline still retains the power to tame fire, water, earth or wind.”
Lady Marigold nodded slowly. “You are quite the storyteller yourself,” she smiled, gums glistening in the firelight. “Of course, that’s the edited version.”
“Beg your pardon?” Sir Patrick said.
“No need for begging, I assure you,” Lady Marigold replied, looking around at the stunned faces of those gathered. “How did the war begin?”
“I do not know,” Sir Patrick said. “A squabble between neighbors?”
“Of course not,” Lady Marigold tutted. “It grew from greed, but not the greed of the four families who stood against it. The greed was spurred by those that would seek that power and ultimately were to fail in claiming it for themselves. For the history books, it was written down as a war between tribes and clans, between the people, but in reality, it was a war between those loyal to the elemental magics and those who sought to ensnare them by any means possible.”
“What?” Shannon asked, growing pale.
“How would that even be contemplated? Where would one begin?” Ewan asked.
“Oh, it is possible,” the lady stated. “Though it would take a crystal of such ancient origins that it is almost impossible to find.”
“Almost,” Ewan said. “Has one been found?”
“I do not know,” Lady Marigold admitted. “But chances are that it has, wouldn’t you think? If this was a revenge mission, then it has almost failed in what it set out to do. The people behind it using a multitude of interpretations of their motivations to appeal to as many people as possible as they built their scheme. Some listened and believed in the idea that the crowned heads were hoarding power for themselves, easily persuaded by how some kings have failed to care for their people as they should. Others heard the stories of how the elemental magics had never been granted in the first place but had been stolen and harnessed for the betterment of the four Houses. Trust me when I say that those who seek to interfere are not believers of either of these stories, or any of the tales they’ve spun, because they know the truth.”
“Which is?” Sir Patrick asked.
Lady Marigold rested her eyes on his for a moment, her expression solemn as she said, “That they are trying to win a war they already lost once.”
Everyone let that statement sink in, the only sound in the room that of the cracking firewood. Eric leaned over, grabbed a fresh log from the stack by the fireplace, and threw it on those on the brink of being entirely blackened by the heat from the flames.
“But the leaders of this uprising are not dragonkin,” Petrus said, breaking the silence. “History tells us that the shifter’s fought to decide which species should rule.”
“I wish I could tell you that dragon fighting dragon is unheard of,” Lady Marigold said. “But it was the dragon lords who began the war all those millennia ago. It was they that sought to rule over all. It was they that wanted the power of the elemental magics for themselves. And when their own kin rose against them, fought back and defeated them, those dragons proved themselves worthy rulers. This war was always dragon against dragon, but history likes to make heroes out of its victors.
“Your forebears were good people, Ewan. They understood what it would mean if those seeking to humble and enslave rose to power. They swore a blood oath that they would keep the peace between the kingdoms as they drew the borders between them to appease the people who, by then, had been pitted against each other for centuries.”
“The crimson soldiers,” Ewan said, eyes widening. “The ones that were part of the attack on Malcolm’s court.” He turned to Sir Patrick. “Under whose sigil do they fight?”
“None,” Sir Patrick said.
“They are loyalists,” Shannon interjected. “They take orders from those that take their orders from those at the top.”
“And you have five names to share,” Ewan filled in.
She swallowed. “I do,” she confessed.
“Four—now that your father has been revealed,” Ewan corrected.
“Yes,” she said, rigid under the scrutiny of everyone in the room, including Sir Patrick. Ewan concluded that Sir Patrick did not know them. However close the two of them had been working, they hadn’t worked closely enough for her to trust them with that level of information. Ewan felt petty glee at that fact, having to remind himself that he could no longer want her for a mate.
It was all over with.
“We’ll get to that,” Lady Marigold interrupted the exchange. “I wish to know what you propose is to be done about the entrapment spell.”
“We’re here on a different matter,” Ewan said.
“I know, I know.” She waved a hand again, impatient, her gaze on Sir Patrick’s. “Have you brought one?”
“One what?” Ewan asked.
