“And you’re sure you’ll be all right? Without me?” she asked as I leaned in, before accidentally bonking my forehead into her nose. “Ow! What was that for!” she shouted as I realized I had ruined a perfectly good moment by being too short to bonk her forehead with my own. I let out some embarrassed mumbles that replaced profuse apologizing as she laughed it off.
“I wanted to bonk you on the forehead, but I’m a shorty…” I whispered as she continued to laugh, using the wall for the support. I wanted to say something, but she continued laughing at my expense.
“I-It’s not that funny, okay!” I protested, but it came out squeaky as she continued to laugh. I gave an embarrassed grumble as I waited for her to finish.
“Haa, you’re adorable.” She caught her breath as I glared up at her, face flushed and arms crossed.
“Right, serious talk, very serious.” Charlotte was still giggling before I continued.
“Anyways, I know I ruined my own thunder, but I’m not the same girl when we first met. And it won’t be long. If I want to take the throne, I need to make it as quick as possible so that Lazarus doesn’t have time to respond. If not, well, you’ll see me back before the end of the day.”
I felt disappointed thinking that I might be giving up my claim to the throne, but the more I continued, the more apparent was the possibility. I’d have to put at risk everything I held dear in order to even try to get a throne, and for what? I didn’t need it to be happy anymore.
For anything to have a chance of working, I’d have to secure Roland’s support, or at least his neutrality. Another complication.
“You’ll see me at the end of the day no matter what, because I refuse to be waiting for you with no idea of what’s going on.” This time it was Charlotte’s turn to cross her arms as I gave a surprised nod at the suggestion.
“That’s fair.” I smiled back at her. “Thanks for trusting me, Charlotte.”
“Well, I can’t have you attached to my hip forever. You’re a dragon after all!” She laughed before raising an eyebrow. “Wait. Couldn’t you have discussed this with me last night?”
I gave a bit of a hand wave and an embarrassed laugh. “Probably…but I didn’t want to worry you. Also, I’d already made up my mind on the matter. And I was sleepy.” To be honest the third reason was mostly why, and she knew it. She ruffled my hair as the two of us walked out of the alley. She stopped for one last parting thought on her mind.
“If you were going away, weren’t you supposed to me give a parting night of bliss or something like that? I’m just saying…” She gave a mischievous grin as I felt all the blood in my body rush to my head. All at once.
“Not in public, you dunce!” She was hollering with laughter again. “I…you…you should’ve told me that it was a thing!”
I had to stand there as I waited for her to finish. People were staring at us again. Wonderful. I was never going to live this down.
Soon enough we reached the Acadamae. From what I remembered, it was an institution set up by Chronos to do three things. The first was to safeguard secrets and relics from their era, though I suppose Cestra’s Archives meant that Mother ultimately split that responsibility between them and the church.
The second was to serve as mediators between the royal dragons, the church, and the people when needed, something which very rarely needed to be done. The last was something called the Watchers. I had no idea what that meant, but I was pretty sure if I looked around, I’d figure it out.
The building itself was a massive foreboding spire constructed out of black obsidian, though windows and other concessions for habitation had been made. On closer observation, cracks began to show.
The black brick, which shined like dragon scales, seemed to be missing in places, replaced with a non-shiny substitution. The more I soaked in the details, the more apparent it became that the upper levels were in horrible disrepair. Entire sections missing bricks and walled off by black-painted wooden boards. The entire place hinted of a decaying organization with neither the time nor the resources to manage repairs.
Even the windows showed hints of decay. All the curtains on the lower levels were closed, with a few on the upper levels boarded up. Some of them didn’t even have glass panes and were just holes. At least the front entrance looked new.
I gave a knock, as the sound of panicking footsteps echoed from inside. We were sheepishly greeted by a young man. He looked like he was my age, even a little younger.
The entranceway looked like a mess too. A makeshift front foyer laid amidst the crumbling structure and the water-damaged roof. It seemed like practical living considerations were being dumped for mandatory repairs, as sections of roof were weaved with salvaged wood from furniture or floorboards.
“This place looks like a dump,” Charlotte whispered under her breath. I was inclined to agree.
“I’m looking for someone named Sebastian?” I posted the question as the apologetic young man pointed the way.
Fifth floor of this crumbling wreak. Great. The front foyer at least attempted some semblance of civility with nice chairs and a desk that looked like it did good work. However, as we climbed the stairs, it was apparent that we’d passed the best that this place had to offer. Faded rugs and bleached, scratched floorboards were the norm as the occasional drip could be heard from the rooftop above.
“There’s something strange going on here. Those shiny sections of the tower, they used to be dragon scales, cut into squares to protect the building.” Charlotte’s eyes widened as I explained. “Yet it’s just been left here to rot.” I gave the bleached rug a kick, but the thing didn’t even kick back, instead slogging off white fur. Yuck.
“It’s not even a good rug.”
An eerie thought creeped into my mind. What if such decay was deliberate? It wasn’t as if the royal treasury lacked the funds to maintain the great building, and at worst we could always salvage and gift our own scales. Yet we’ve allowed it to continue existing as a husk of its former self.
Almost as if the other royal dragons preferred it to not exist, but couldn’t write it out of the founding doctrine.
As we got to the upper floors, the haphazard repairs were becoming more common. Entire section of walls was replaced by wooden imitations, not even painted black. By the time we had finally reached the fifth floor, entire chunks of ceiling, floor, and walls was plastered with emergency repairs. If the main structure weren’t made from scales, the building would have collapsed long ago.
Sebastian’s place was easy to spot. His nameplate hung off the second door we stumbled onto. His door was remodeled from a worn floorboard, with a doorknob punched into it. I could still see the skid marks.
After a short moment, the door opened to reveal maybe the only place in this tower that didn’t appear on the verge of falling apart.
Two well-oiled mahogany bookshelves flanked the study, each containing numerous colorful volumes, all appearing to be quite old. Some of these volumes looked like it had swapped hands for decades, or centuries. A classic red rug guided our eyes toward the desk, while small decorations and knick-knacks filled the remainder of the room.
Five chairs of varying shape, size, and repair stood ready for anyone who wanted or needed to take a seat. A much flimsier table stood in between us and Sebastian’s massive main table.
Beside us there was a small girl, definitely younger than I was. Her eyes were a keen amethyst, though she had a distinctive tomboy look like Charlotte. She looked quite excited to see us, wearing an excited grin as we took a seat. Maybe it was the robes, and how they wrapped around her. Maybe it was the hair. If you told me that she was a boy with an affinity for long hair, I’d have believe you too.
Sebastian stared, his icy black eyes scanning us. The two of them wore pitch black robes that cut just below the ground. They were thick, suggesting that they were more similar to the hard leather used to make a cloak rather than the ornate robes I was wearing.
Golden chains served both as signs of office and symbols of power, like my own robes. Sebastian looked like he was at least forty, with some white and greys settling down between his head of dark hair.
“So we finally meet Aria. I can see Roland did not lie.” His assistant closed the door as he leaned back into his massive leather chair. I felt Charlotte lean in to whisper.
“I’m just saying, but amethyst eyes look pretty on him. Can you get amethyst eyes on a dragon?” I grumbled as I turned to look at Sebastian’s assistant, double checking.
“First, no. Second, that’s a girl,” I whispered back as I heard her giggle. I’d find it funny too, if I was being honest.
