Dragon 7 Chapter 12 (Patreon)

It was time for me to go to the council meeting, and I could see why the others had been worn down when I’d entered.

We hadn’t found anything in the scrolls. Or at least, nothing that made sense.

Summer had gone off with the six scrolls that seemed like possibilities to get some additional insight from a current fae oracle.

I still didn’t like the prophecy I’d found; I wasn’t sure about having somebody riding on me to do something. And none had given any clarity to what might be happening with Norton or the paranormal society as a whole.

I worked to reset my head and focus on the present as I walked through the atrium with my nymphs and wives. I was about to enter the council chamber, and I needed to be on my game.

“Zach. My boy.” Rupert rose from his chair as I stepped into the room, shooing away a siren as he opened his arms wide. Jadelyn’s father, who looked like a bust of Poseidon came to life.

“Father.” I returned his hug and patted him on the back. “Good to be here. But little would keep me away.”

He snorted. “My daughter informed me of the situation this morning. I’ve already reached out to several senators. This harassment will not stand. And I welcome the opportunity to exert my influence to get this Norton removed from Philly.”

I nodded, not sure that it would work.

“Senators are cheaper than you’d think.” Detective Fox added, misreading my expression.

“No, not that. He just seems like a dog with a bone. I’m not sure he’d let it go.” I replied.

Rupert nodded. “Worth a shot. And while not all of the senators are friends, this isn’t really a contentious issue for them. They get little blowback given it’s nothing public, and they will have done me a favor.” He looked around the room.

I nodded. “Then thank you for your help.”

We’d just have to wait and see if it was enough to dissuade Norton to come after me, or if he’d follow the orders and leave.

“That doesn’t resolve the issue of how Simon’s body was dug up and the wedges that’s created here in the council.” I frowned and moved to my seat.

Everywhere I looked, the council was whispering to each other and casting suspicious eyes around the room.

Trust had been broken.

Regina stood closely behind my chair as I found my seat. “My King, these people are not one.”

“No, they are not.” I agreed. “How’s your adaptation to this world going?”

“I have a phone.” She did not seem thrilled.

“Have you used it?” I asked.

“Yes, Larisa showed me how to watch videos. There are many interesting skinning techniques on the Youtube.” Regina deadpanned.

I put my face in my palm. “Yeah. I’m sure there are. You’re with me today?”

She nodded.

“Let’s try not to smash people through tables.” I reminded her. I wasn’t sure she was ready, especially for a council meeting, but if Poly put her on duty I’d trust that decision.

Amira took up the other position close to my chair, making her my other dragon guard for the day. “How are your parents?” I asked.

“Good. They were threatening to burn down the elven community while you were gone though.” She shrugged. “No lost love between the elves and dragons.”

“Let’s not do that. Besides, they were harmed greatly in this as well.” I reminded her.

Rupert banged on his chair and everyone went quiet, settling into their seats. “First up, the investigation is ongoing into the criminal that disturbed the elve’s tree and our dead.” He glanced at Detective Fox for an update.

“We’ve identified that the corpse was removed by two FBI agents. We still do not know the whereabouts of the corpse, however.” Detective Fox replied.

Sebastian interrupted. “How have you not found it yet?! We need our dead returned. Simon must be returned to his burial spot.” He was clearly distressed. Elves believed that their dead returned to the family tree to contribute to the clan even after death.

It was like robbing them of an afterlife.

Tyrande cleared her throat. “That is why the Highaen will be sending five mages to help further our own investigation.”

I raised a brow at her, and she gave me an apologetic smile. I liked to be in the loop, but I understood the reasoning. The elves needed to make a move to soothe over this problem, even if they didn’t get anything done.

“I see that the Dragon King is back.” Sebastian gestured to me. “Was that your priority this whole time?” His question was directed at Detective Fox.

Clearing my throat, the room quieted. Satisfied, I addressed the room. “I escaped on my own. The FBI arrested me using the pictures of Simon. In going along with them, I was put into a prison. I chose not to break out on the chance I’d risk the secret of paranormals, but once I learned I was detained illegally, I removed myself and came back.”

I turned towards the elven leader. “Sebastian, if I were to do things over again, I wouldn’t have killed Simon. It is one of my larger regrets.” I bowed to him. “But at the time, you and him attempted to bully me, and I felt cornered. I decided to show strength. I was new to this world.”

Sebastian’s mouth wriggled, unsure how to feel about my words.

I continued. “But the past cannot be changed. I will put my resources into ensuring that Simon returns to his rest. However, the incident has caused all of us to doubt one another. I believe that was the larger plan. Whoever has done this has successfully sowed discord between us, those who politic, and we are slow to heal lost trust.”

Waving my hand, Chloe nodded and ran down to the steps to the guest area.

“What are you planning?” Sebastian demanded, shifting a little anxiously in his seat.

“I’m going to prove to all of you here and now there is no lost trust among us. With luck, I might just find the perpetrator.”

Chloe ushered in Ellen Walachia and a few more major players in the city.

“Ikta, let us begin.” I announced.

The fae behind me snapped her fingers and opened a portal that had Summer in it.

“Hello, everyone. This will be just a few minutes.” Summer reached through the portal, touching the ground. Green grass replaced the cold stone and our stone seats turned to warm wood.

As the change passed over me, I felt the connection and sighed a little in relief. The fae land was feeling more familiar, and Ikta’s power inside of me felt more comfortable within the piece of faerie that Summer just placed in the council chamber.

“What is the meaning of this?” Tilly jumped out of his seat.

It was Winter who spoke though. “Silence.” She snapped. “You are standing on a piece of faerie; be careful of your words.”

Winter’s words sobered everyone up.

“Thank you.” I nodded to Summer. “Now, we will go around this circle and not speak lies as we discuss the situation. And most importantly.” I gestured to the major players like Ellen Wallachia and others below. “We will all profess our innocence to the events that played out. Failure to do so, will be met with an assumption of guilt. As the Dragon King, it is within my right to challenge you to a duel here on the chamber floor. You will meet the same fate as Simon.” I nodded to Sebastian. “This is the simplest way to ensure I help return him to you.”

“Dragon King!” Ellen Wallachia jumped a little as a too wide smile blossomed on her face. She looked up at me. “I promise I had nothing to do with your capture, nor the incident with the elven boy. Frankly, I’ve just been consolidating the vampires. When I learned you were captured, I cracked a lot of their heads to insure they shared you— I mean didn’t have you.”

“She’s nuttier than me.” Ikta whispered in my ear.

I didn’t think that was possible, but I didn’t want to tell Ikta that.

Clearing my throat, I stood. “Thank you for kicking us off. I too will assure everyone here I had nothing to do with the recent events of Simon’s body nor my —“ My jaw locked up and I chuckled. “Well, I had something to do with my capture. I was a part of that process. But I was taken against my will and had no involvement in planning or those behind it.”

Rupert stood next, bowing to the elves and giving me an extra bow before professing his innocence.

The entire council squirmed.

It was a huge breach of protocol using magic to force the truth from all of them. They were uncomfortable speaking so directly, but everyone understood that there was no other way to restore trust among the council members.

Sebastian’s speech following his proclamation of innocence was a little surprising. “Thank you Dragon King. This is not just an ability to find out if there is guilt among us, but a unique opportunity to heal a recent rift in the council. This rift, I should remind everyone, was created by someone who considers all of Philadelphia’s paranormal their enemy. This is a chance to strike back and ruin their plans by coming back together as one. I had no involvement in this plot to harm the dragon king nor desecrate my kin.”

Nothing brought people together like a common enemy. I smiled.

The promises continued, until Winter stood. “I had knowledge of perpetrators and their motives. However, I was unaware of this particular attack, nor did I participate. I am bound by an oath to not speak of it.”

Her words caused a ripple of grumbles to fill the council chamber. People felt cheated out of a simple solution.

I didn’t quite blame them. But her words made me think of the prophecies. We had been looking through them for a direct answer, but she said she was aware of their motive.

What if one of the prophecies gave them a motive.

Then it would be a question of who had access to the prophecies.

“Nyske. Who has access to the false prophecies or the real ones?” I asked the older of my two nymphs.

“Anyone. They are in an open library. Though, they require access to the faerie.” Nyske said quietly. “That does put some suspicion on the fae, as does the fact that being fae would provide easier access to Winter.”

“You think some Winter fae noble is doing this?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I can only guess. The library certainly has been accessed by others. Elves once transcribed many of our prophecies. Then they pretended to pass them off as their own, but that’s another story.” Nyske grumbled.

We continued going around the room. Soon, the entire council had professed their innocence, and Summer withdrew her tract of the faerie. She bowed and winked towards me before the portal closed.

I knew she’d used a good bit of her power to do that for us, and it had also exposed her. I thought of Nata’let stealing a piece of Winter’s territory. Summer putting a piece of her domain here in this world, and exposing it, was a major sign of trust.

With all she’d given, I realized I needed to do something nice for her. Maybe it was time we went on that date.

“Everyone. I hope that helps smooth over many of our concerns.” I nodded to Ikta in thanks now that Summer was gone.

Regina spoke under her breath. “It also shows your power, my king. You just commanded two queens of the fae.”

I tried not to smile.

“Yes it does.” Rupert said taking control of the council once again. “There were several projects that we had in discussion that seem to have died on the vine. Maybe this is a chance to reopen them.”

“I agree.” Sebastian added. “Those below, we thank you for your time and your help in remedying this situation. But the council must continue.” It was a dismissal, about as polite as I could expect from the elves.

“Pixie, grab Ellen. Tell her I’d like to talk after this if she’d be willing to wait.” I told my personal nymph.

She snorted. “I’m pretty sure she’ll wait for you for a long time.” But she didn’t dally and hurried down the steps to intercept the Wallachia’s youngest bloodlord.

“Is that really wise, my king?” Regina added belatedly.

“No. I think she’s crazy. But her vampires are a wonderful network of eyes and ears across Philly. She might have more information about what Norton has been up to.” I sat back and let the council meeting continue.

That and she wasn’t part of the council and clear of the tangled web that it was. I could use her and her vampires to hunt down Norton without fear of it getting back to him.

The next topics were boring, but given the first topic, I welcomed some boredom.

We spoke about plans to expand the dwarven and the gnome’s underground city. The council needed to discuss how the changes would impact various other aspects of each of their groups.

The dragons were well settled and I didn’t have a problem with any of it, as long as it was done quietly.

I touched Goldie, and the gold elemental rippled with my touch. She was responding to my will, but the bubbly and rambunctious elemental that had lived in my hoard had gone. She’d been quiet since she became my bracer. “Is everything okay, Goldie?” I whispered to the bracer.

Goldie tightened on my wrist for a moment, like a hug before releasing. “Learning.” She bubbled quietly. Her voice had lost much of its youthfulness and in turn become a young lady.

“That’s good.” I rubbed her, injecting more mana with my touch. “We should talk more later. I can answer any questions you have. Thank you for your help in the prison.”

Nyske was watching me as I looked back up. “You have so much. I’m amazed how much you’ve changed in a short amount of time.” It almost sounded like she knew me before I learned I was a dragon, but I would have recognized someone like Nyske.

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say. “Thank you.” I went with a boilerplate answer.

Nyske smiled. “You pinch your brow when you resist asking questions.” She crossed her arms behind her back and refocused on the council meeting.

I stared at her for an extra moment. There was a big question mark hovering around Nyske. I very much wanted to understand who she was and how she escaped The Dreamer’s oath. And I was also curious what drew her to want to be my assistant.

Pixie came back over, breaking my thoughts. “She’s waiting. I might suggest not to stall too long.”

I glanced at Amira over my shoulder. “Want to take the seat for the rest of the meeting? Nyske, take notes. I can answer anything Amira doesn’t feel comfortable with later.”

The black dragon worked her jaw several times before she nodded and took the seat, looking a little uncomfortable.

I rubbed her arm, trying to show my confidence in her as I followed Pixie down.

Regina trailed behind me. “I’m not entirely comfortable with you being alone with a bloodlord.”

“Me neither. Especially not this one.” We moved down the steps and into the Atrium where Pixie moved to a side room and opened it up.

The room was just a small parlor. Ellen was inside, leaning over a fridge and peering into it.

“Something tasty in there?” I asked.

Ellen popped up with two wine bottles and snatched up two glasses as well. It was quick, girly movements, but something seemed odd about them.

I realized it was off because the glasses and the bottles never clinked. It was like watching something without sound on.

“Yes. It is well stocked, but I wasn’t quite sure what wine to offer the dragon king. I mean, are you a white kind of dragon or a red kind of dragon? But I figured that red was stronger than white and that was the answer.” She put a bottle of red wine down next to a bottle of blood wine and set two glasses down before moving to fill them both. “So, what can I do for you?”

I couldn’t help but notice that she placed the glasses such that I’d be forced to sit down next to her on the couch.

She finished pouring the wines and didn’t touch hers. Instead, she leaned down, putting her head in her hands and staring at me. I was fairly certain she wasn’t blinking.

I chuckled and pushed a chair to the other side of the low table and sat in it, while Pixie grabbed my wine and moved it to my hand. “I’d like to talk about the vampires.”