“According to the legend,” said Aglithia, “it didn’t die with the sister. The Sea Dragon stayed by the Earth Dragon’s side until it died, and then, it went into hiding, in a safe place where no human could reach, to wait until it could witness their offspring being reunited again.”

“S-so you’re saying...” muttered Cessilia, “my mother’s Rain T-Tribe was... the Sea D-Dragon’s daughters’ p-people?”

“Mom and Auntie had songs like that,” said Darsan, “about... scaled women, and a Dragon God. That... I mean, that could be it, right?”

“I’m sure those legends perdured in many ways,” nodded Elder Olea, “but yes, Princess, that is true. Your parents are the descendants of each of those Dragon Gods’ very first soulmates.”

“As you probably guessed,” added Aglithia, “the Dragon Empire was conquered by the children of the Earth Dragon. As promised, they had regained all the lands taken by the other tribes, and ruled over them with their dragons by their side. They once ruled over everything, but the Eastern Kingdom appeared later, when more tribes arrived and gained back territory. There were too many humans by then, so they became rulers instead, and kept winning as many wars as needed to preserve their territory as it is today. Meanwhile, the descendants of the Sea Dragon, who refused to wage war, went into hiding in more isolated places, where no one would be likely to attack them.”

“The swamps,” nodded Darsan. “Yeah, Mother said nobody wanted to live there until her tribe’s people were raided to be taken as slaves...”

“That’s... amazing!” shouted Nana, almost jumping on her feet. “Cessi, I can’t believe your family’s story is so amazing! It is so epic, I wish it was in a history book so I could read it again and again! No, in several books!”

“Our family forbids the legend to ever be written down,” said Aglithia. “It shall only be passed down orally, to prevent anyone from ever getting to know the secret of the dragon owners, except themselves!”

“But... then, how do the Cheshi people know so much?” asked Nana, tilting her head. “If you’re not... you know, neither the sister’s nor the brother’s descendants...”

Elder Olea smiled, and turned to Cessilia.

“Can you guess who we are, then, Princess?”

“...You’re all th-the others,” she said confidently. “The Cheshi p-people are the rest of the siblings’ t-tribe. The f-first humans who c-came and befriended the Dragon G-Gods...”

Aglithia smiled and nodded proudly.

“Exactly! Therefore, we don’t usually meddle in the affairs of the Eastern Kingdom... Our people decided to stay where they had always been, near the area they first arrived. During their conquest, the heirs of the Earth Dragon went to the west, but we decided to remain here, as our tribe’s history is here. The Sea Dragon was also last spotted here, on the beach of the Soura... The history of this continent is so deeply rooted into the legend that we treasure so much, our tribe decided to remain here forever, regardless of who the ruler of the land was. We are much older than any of the tribes here, and more familiar with dragons too. That’s why we couldn’t help but to observe you from afar...”

“What a-about Ashen?”

Cessilia’s angry tone gathered their attention, even cooling down Naptunie’s enthusiasm. Behind her, Darsan crossed his arms with a scowling look. Cessilia stepped forward, visibly upset.

“Th-thank you for t-telling us the history of our d-dragons, but as we s-speak, the Yekara C-Clan is still trying to t-take over your homeland. They t-tried to kill Ashen t-too. I c-can’t simply sit here and listen t-to your stories if you’re not g-going to help us at all. I d-don’t understand what your intention is here.”

Aglithia exchanged a look with her grandmother, the two of them giving a quick nod. Then, the young woman stepped forward, calmly.

“As I said, Princess Cessilia, the Cheshi have never gotten involved in the wars of this Kingdom. To us, the legitimate rulers of the Eastern Kingdom are the Earth and Sea Dragons’ heirs. We vowed to never get involved, unless one of the Dragons–”

“The D-Dragons are gone!” Cessilia suddenly shouted.

Her fists clenched, she stepped forward, furious, running out of patience.

“The dragons you were t-talking about are b-both gone,” she said, “and my family did not t-take back the Eastern K-Kingdom either! We may b-be the descendants of those Dragon G-Gods, but this is a story from d-dozens of centuries ago! You c-can’t just ignore the p-people living here now and k-keep living in the past! This is something that is happening n-now, and you are s-staying aside for the sake of a centuries-old t-tale? You c-can’t do this! This K-Kingdom needs your help, now! Ashen n-needs you to side with him to t-take back his home! He is the only K-King these people need!”

A long silence followed her words, where everyone stood perfectly still. After a few seconds, though, a faint smile appeared on Aglithia’s lips, and she turned to her grandmother.

“...See? I told you she was a great princess, Grandma.”

Elder Olea chuckled, nodding.

“Indeed, indeed. Ah... It makes me so proud of what our venerated dragons’ blood has become. Princess Cessilia, I am sorry for the lengthy explanation, but I am happy with your response.”

“You are?” Darsan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. See, our Cheshi Clan has sadly become very divided over this precise matter and the current situation. Some of us fully agree with what Princess Cessilia said. We cannot stand idly by and be passive forever... this may no longer be the home to the dragons’ offspring, but this is still our homeland. Some of us would like to support King Ashen the White, but others were more mitigated. We have pondered for a while whether to help him out or not, whether that blood of his was enough for us to finally get involved in the Kingdom’s succession.”

“...What? His b-blood?” muttered Cessilia, confused. “What are you t-talking about?”

Aglithia put on a dampened smile, caressing one of her tattoos with her fingers enigmatically.

“See,” said Aglithia, “there is something about King Ashen the White that makes him a bit different from all of the other kings our clan has seen on the throne of the Eastern Kingdom. For a long time, we cared little about other tribes fighting over this throne, as we knew none of them to be the real heirs to this land. But King Ashen... might be the first one in a while to have us recognize him as the real heir.”

Cessilia’s eyes went back and forth between Elder Olea and Aglithia, confused. What was it about Ashen’s blood that made him different from his predecessors? They wouldn’t recognize someone who wasn’t related to the Dragons’ heirs, and they had been against his father too... Suddenly, Cessilia understood.

“...His m-mother.”

“Yes,” nodded Aglithia. “...She was a Cheshi.”

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 23

Cessilia was rendered speechless. Ashen’s mother belonged to the Cheshi Clan... She would have never guessed. Yet, it made a bit of sense. His mother had to belong to a clan for a single woman to be able to live in the Capital in such troubled times, and even be able to raise three boys by herself.

“I d-don’t understand. If she was a Ch-Cheshi, then why d-didn’t you help her when…?”

“That woman had chosen a way of life different from our own,” sighed Elder Olea. “She was trained, educated, and raised like any child of our clan. However, when she came of age, she refused to marry her fiancé within our clan and left. Soon enough, she was carrying another man’s child... Little did we know, she was to conceive the Tyrant King’s heirs.”

“So... Ashen d-doesn’t know?”

“Most likely not,” said Elder Olea. “His mother had cut all ties with us, and once she had decided to carry on with her life outside of the clan, we didn’t intervene anymore. Still, we never let one of our own really fall far from our sight. Hence, we kept observing that young man and his younger brothers, although we did not wish to get involved... We did extend a hand to his mother in difficult times, but that stubborn woman never accepted it. His father, being the man he was, made us doubt his sons would be any different after their mother passed.”

Darsan scoffed.

“You guys... I think you missed my sister’s point here. Nobody gives a dragon’s fart where that guy came from, or who his parents were. Her boyfriend’s your damn King, he fought hard to get there, even without your help. You should just stop talking and help him.”

Cessilia smiled at her older brother, a bit glad for his help. Despite his external appearance and blunt way of speaking, Darsan was soft-hearted, and he did like Ashen a lot as well.

“We did help the young King, for a time,” sighed Elder Olea. “In indirect ways, we tried to protect those boys, sometimes providing food in such ways they wouldn’t suspect our meddling, and guarding them safely when possible. Sadly, the situation wasn’t such that we could afford to watch estranged children of the clan more than our own. Yet, the young Ashen gathered even more of our interest when he rose from the dead, carrying a dragon’s skin at that. We had a hunch he had gotten some... help, from the Dragon Empire, but we were especially surprised to see a princess arrive at his side. Since then, we have been reconsidering him as a more fitting leader, but a lot happened, of course.”

“The way he got rid of the Kunu Tribe made us be especially careful,” added Aglithia. “To see a whole tribe killed and chased down overnight... It wasn’t just us. Although the Kunu had gone overboard, a lot of tribes feared that King Ashen was too similar to his father. No one wanted to become his next enemy. As for us, we decided to withdraw, and wait and see how he would mature as a King.

“Of course, his reign wasn’t only marked by such terrible events,” nodded her grandmother. “The way he picked a wise counselor despite the Lords’ judgment, or how he erected walls despite the protests to keep the Capital safe were commendable, but there was a lot to be done. Sincerely, we thought we would witness him evolve for better or worse in the upcoming years, but the Lords pushing for him to pick a wife did get our interest. Just when we thought he’d reveal his true nature when choosing his bride, you appeared, Princess Cessilia. Needless to say, our clan was quite shaken up by the news. We thought we should meet you first. Aglithia and the triplets, who were already planted long ago in the castle, did watch you from afar, as you already know, until today when we decided to make contact. I am sorry we did not find the right timing to reach out to you sooner, and as for King Ashen, I am truly sorry we did not pay more attention to his mother’s lineage, but that woman... she was rather... clear, when she cut ties with our clan.”

“Only b-because she refused t-to marry her fiancé?” Cessilia frowned.

Aglithia and her grandmother exchanged a glance.

“...She was betrothed to my father,” Aglithia finally said.