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16. Observation.
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2025-04-19 15:06:15
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THE TRIBUTE QUEEN OF THE DRAGON KING 19. A Conversation.
~ DAHILA ~ My brain spikes with possible reasons why the Lord Chamberlain is here to see me. The implications appear in my mind quickly. He manages the palace, he orchestrates court events, and he is the authority that oversees the power that guards the king’s doors in this palace. He is power personified in protocol. If he is here to see, I am sure it is not a casual visit. However, I also know this: I need friends. I need allies. And having the man who controls who gets to whisper in the King’s ear as my friend or ally is very important and useful. Keshani glances at me, waiting. I am sure the female guard and the Lord Chamberlain outside are also waiting. “Let him in.” The doors swing open after my permission is given. The Lord Chamberlain enters, stepping in fully as the doors remain open behind him. Keshani bows deeply first to me again before she bows to him and exits silently. The doors then click shut after she is gone, leaving me and the Lord Chamberlain alone inside my
THE TRIBUTE QUEEN OF THE DRAGON KING 18. Bahadrí.
~DAHILA~After Azraelyrs is done speaking with Morgrin and Darric the Lord Chamberlain, we leave and after arriving outside, we go our separate ways.Well, it's not like I need him to spend some more time with me or anything—“Your highness, I will now escort you to the Bahadrí.” Keshani tells me.I blink. “The what?”“The Women’s Wing here in the palace,” she answers. “Home residence for the palace’s women including female noble guests, advisors’ wives, female attendants, female scholars, and female diplomats. It is a lovely sanctuary and you’ll come to know the wing well and enjoy it.”“I hope so.”“This way, your highness,” she says smoothly and begins leading the way. Haenith and Anikaya follow me behind.As we all keep walking together, I allow myself to ask a question that suddenly pops into my mind.“Are there—” I hesitate, then clear my throat to speak more softly, “Are there concubines in the Bahadrí?”I am nowhere good with speaking Drakarithian at all, so the word ‘Bahadrí’
THE TRIBUTE QUEEN OF THE DRAGON KING 17. Meeting The Inner Court.
~DAHLIA~ After Azraelyrs's announcement and other minor court proceedings, the meeting is ended. The many nobles situated much closer to the hall’s main entrance are the first to start leaving in neat clusters, then followed by more high ranking court officials exiting in small cliques, whispering noisily to one another while some steal backward glances at me. These lords and ladies of Drakarith, I have this feeling that even though they don't fully accept me now, I still pique their interests and attention. It’s like I can even hear the questions in their heads: Will this weakling survive? Or worse, will she be crushed? I will survive. I swear by the Creator that I will. It doesn't take quite long before the court hall is deserted, with just a few officials hanging around near the pillars guarded by soldiers. One of the soldiers approaches Azraelyrs. I haven't moved an inch off my standing spot, and Azraelyrs haven’t moved too. He also hasn’t let go of my hand, and I feel reass
THE TRIBUTE QUEEN OF THE DRAGON KING 16. Observation.
~DAHLIA~Avizandria flaps her wings, and dust instantly whips around the poor nobles as they shield their faces and squint their eyes.I count at least twenty of them.One of them steps forward, her face looking as if someone fed her faeces before coming here.Azraelyrs dismounts easily, and before I can swing a leg over or even think about how to get off, his hands are at my waist again.“I can—” I start.“I know,” he says and lifts me anyway.His touch on me is brief, and yet, it burns against my ribs and is still tingling there even after my feet touch the ground. He does not look at me afterwards, and he pats Avizandria once on the snout, whispering again in Drakarithian.Avizandria huffs, swings her massive head with a final glance at me, and then she leaps into the sky but without gracing all of us once more with the power of her wings blowing dust on everyone.“Welcome, your Majesty,” the woman noble official who had stepped forward bows to Azraelyrs, but I don't miss the way h
THE TRIBUTE QUEEN OF THE DRAGON KING 15. Arrival.
~DAHLIA~The wind sounds like a roar in my ears.We all are moving. Azraelyrs and I are up in the sky, while Vaeroth and his men are marching below us.The sky is wide open. Too wide. Too blue. Too endless. And I should be terrified of how high we are flying, but I feel something else that is burning inside me as it rushes through my veins. Something that is not fear.It’s adrenaline.I feel weightless and heavy all at once. My breath snags every now and then as I keep fighting down the nausea filling up my stomach. Thank goodness I listened to Keshani.The ground is so far down below Azraelyrs and I as the sky keeps swallowing us whole. The marching men look like marching black ants, and all of them are in solid formations, not breaking out of line one bit. The battalion ahead has the wind blowing their banners that are flapping in the air, bearing the emblem of Drakarith.And above, the clouds part like curtains for Avizandria’s large wingspan. Azraelyrs’s arm is still steadily wrap
THE TRIBUTE QUEEN OF THE DRAGON KING 14. Journey To Aepolis.
~DAHLIA~ Her? Looking closely at the dragon, I confirm his words. Slanty beautiful eyes. A snout that isn't too sturdy like that of the male dragons I have seen drawn in stories. Also, her massive body and daggertail aren't masculinely shaped. But staring at her claws…. wow. Those talons look very black, very long, and very deadly. Avizandria. Her twisted black horns rise like a war crown from her skull, spiraling backwards, and her slanty beautiful eyes are burning red. Her slick scales shine in deep ruby red, glinting like garnets dipped in fresh blood, and her large wings fold back slowly as heat radiates from her in thick waves. Steam rises from her snout. Her talons scratch and dig into the earth. She is beautiful. Terrifying. “Zandria is bonded to me,” Azraelyrs reveals, his voice trailing quietly into my thoughts. “She has been with me since I was a child.” My attention jerks from the dragon to him. Bonded? What does that mean? But Azraelyrs says nothing else, the
THE TRIBUTE QUEEN OF THE DRAGON KING 13. Meeting Avizandria.
~ DAHLIA ~ I wake up the next morning to the light of a new dawn. A new day, and I quickly remember that I am going to Aepolis today. I slept late last night and had no nightmares. Grateful to the Creator for another new chance at life today, I blink against the warm morning sunlight pouring in through the high-arched windows of my room. I love my bed sheets, but I can only wonder how much more I will love the ones in Aepolis. Despite not knowing what to expect there, I feel a small peace within me, and I recall the memories of last night as they drift across my mind: the wine-soaked toasts, the fire-dancers, General Kyrian’s mocking tongue….. I shove it all aside. Today is a new day. New battleground. And Aepolis awaits. I hear a couple soft knocks on the door, and I sit up straight on the bed. “Come in,” I respond and rest my back on the headboard. Keshani and two very familiar maidens enter. “Good morning your highness,” they greet in unison. “Good morning,” I respond an
THE TRIBUTE QUEEN OF THE DRAGON KING 12. Farewell Celebration 2
~DAHLIA~Thank the Creator.The woman general is tall with short gold hair in a pixie cut, and her eyes are dark brown and intimidating.“General Alkaia. Chief of our war strategists.” Azraelyrs introduces her to me.Alkaia has already turned to my direction, and she is boldly staring at me like she is measuring how fit I am to live. “Welcome, Princess Dahlia.” She calmly addresses me with respect, “I hope you will feel at home in Drakarith.”“I hope so too.” I say back with a faint smile.The last general introduced to me is a younger male with a boyish appearance, but there is a feral look of strength and stealth in his green eyes that immediately warns me that he is definitely dangerous and not one to be underestimated or trifled with.“And this one,” Azraelyrs says with a smirk at me, “he is General Rhyken. Head of our Royal Guard. He is also our youngest field commander and is wild. But effective.”Rhyken winks at me. “You shine so effortlessly, your highness. I hope you shine br
THE TRIBUTE QUEEN OF THE DRAGON KING 11. Farewell Celebration 1
~ DAHLIA ~By the time the dusk of the day turns into nightfall, the entire fortress has been transformed into a paradise of a feast celebration.Holding up my enormous blood red gown as I gracefully descend a staircase, leading to a wide corridor, I look outside through the windows by my right and see lanterns suspended in the air with their bright golden lights shining across the walls of the fortress and everywhere else.Also, before I reach the grand hall where I am being summoned to attend the celebration, my nose keeps picking up the sweet, mouthwatering scent of roasted meat and exotic spices as the smells snake through the windows and into the corridors, probably coming from the kitchens.Arriving at the hall, I meet a feast that has already been laid out across a massive long obsidian table right at the center of the hall. This isn’t a simple meal celebration. It is a grand farewell to Azraelyrs happening here in the fortress before he rides to Aepolis with me.Azraelyrs is
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