“Ten years...” grumbled Tessa.
“That’s right, my lady. For ten years, our nation slowly fell into chaos. The fights stopped at times, everyone trying to find what they could of a normal life, hoping a new leader would emerge soon to bring back the peace, but... for many, the anger was too strong. The nobles who tried to seize power were overthrown one after the other by citizens who couldn’t stand to see their former masters wield the power again. Until, twelve years ago, a man who could finally lead us rose. He declared himself the new King, former General Ashtoran.”
“Ashtoran...?”
“General Ashtoran was no noble like the previous men who had tried to conquer our land. He had once been one of the nobles’ servants and had risen through hard work and devotion to his position. Hence, our citizens liked this man much better than the previous nobles, and when he took power, no one tried to stop him.”
“To stop him?” repeated Tessa, frowning. “You make it sound like this General wasn’t such good news...”
Yassim shook his head slowly.
“...To this day, this old servant still believes the price for bringing back peace was too costly. The General gathered many of those who had once been his men and created a new army with his own colors.”
“You’re saying he stopped the chaos through more violence, then.”
“...Yes, my lady. The new King’s rule was cruel, ruthless, and terrified our citizens into obedience. However, this new regime worked to stop a lot of the bandits who were constantly harassing the defenseless, so slowly, our people abided by it, fearing our new King as much as those he protected them from.”
Yassim glanced toward the green-eyed Princess. She was obviously listening with a hint of sadness in her eyes, but in silence. Was it because of her speech impairment that this Princess was much quieter than her cousin? He could see in her eyes she was very captivated, though, as if she were listening to a fascinating story, breathing a bit more intensely... The old man resumed, his old heart still with the hope that this young woman could one day shift the fate of their Kingdom too.
“The... harsh policies of King Ashtoran brought him to more and more extreme ends. The image our new King had was extremely conflicted. Some saw him as a tyrant... others as a hero. Out of fear that civil wars and in-fighting would destroy our nation from within again, the new King let absolutely no mistake slip through. Some were grateful for how efficient his policies were at cleaning our streets, but others... tried to plead that the King was far too merciless. Any crime resulted in a death sentence, even the smallest thefts. As one of his servants myself, I witnessed the long, long lines of people being given their death sentence, every day. It didn’t matter the age, gender, or wealth of the ones who had been accused of being criminals. King Ashtoran’s men were judge, jury, and executioner, leaving no time for people to get back on their feet on their own. Many people only had the choice to starve or be killed as a thief...”
“That’s depressing,” grumbled Tessa. “...Alright, we get the picture, but how did that change from the General to your present King? You said the new one rose to power only five years ago. Is he his son or something? We’re certainly not going if he’s another blood-thirsty tyrant.”
“King Ashen is the General’s son indeed,” Yassim slowly nodded, “but unlike what you think, our King didn’t succeed his father. A few years later in the General’s reign, more and more people, seeing he couldn’t be reasoned with and had no intention to bring back the democracy or republic system, tried to murder him. It was said... that one of his sons, Prince Ashen, was one of the victims of those murder attempts.”
The two young women exchanged a glance.
“Wait. You’re saying your King... died? Is this a joke?”
“No, my lady. Rumor has it that Prince Ashen died seven years ago. After his death, the King got even more ruthless... and with more people protesting against him, new civil wars began, even worse than the first time. Our nation was torn between the security provided by a tyrant leader and our desire for peace and freedom. However, everything stopped five years ago upon Prince Ashen’s return.”
“He returned? From... the dead?” said Tessa, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, my lady. The Prince came back, out of nowhere, after two years. He was the General’s mistress’ son and, if I’m allowed to say such a thing, the only one of the General’s sons our people had sympathy for or didn’t care about at all. Yet, he returned from the dead, his hair white like the Goddess of Death, and killed the General, his own father.”
“He... did what?”
Yassim took a deep breath.
“That is the truth, my lady. After many fights had happened already, at dawn, a White King rose, on the castle’s walls, holding the tyrant’s head, and threw it to the angry citizens’ feet. That White King was the former Prince Ashen, as many recognized him easily. That morning, he spoke loudly and said he had been sent to the gods, but the gods had only taken him to their realm for the sake of the Eastern Kingdom’s people. The gods themselves had trained him to become a worthy king for our Kingdom. As proof, the gods had sent him back with his hair completely white, a legendary armor made of a dragon’s skin, and the strength of a god.”
The cousins exchanged a glance, both visibly surprised and doubtful.
“...Well, congrats,” scoffed Tessa. “It sounds like you guys traded a tyrant for a psycho.”
Despite the young woman’s harsh words, Yassim couldn’t even answer anything to that. In a way, he knew his home nation had traded the worst possible outcome for another, not much brighter one. Better than anyone else perhaps, he knew how complicated and deep the situation was for the King of the East. The white-haired young man had returned, grown and much more mature than the child everyone had remembered, with a gigantic, dark hole in his heart, and that rage that wouldn’t leave his eyes. The truth was, perhaps the new King would end up being worse than his father. In a desperate desire for another leader and a different outcome, perhaps they had sealed their fate...
Yet, when Yassim looked ahead at the young green-eyed woman, a light of hope appeared in his old heart. He had come here on a crazy bet, a silly idea. As old as he was, Yassim wasn’t scared to die, if not in vain or painfully. However, this old man wouldn’t be able to lie peacefully if he couldn’t try, one last time, to do something for his country. It was too soon to tell the truth to the Princess, and he knew he’d pay the price later. But, if by an incredible chance, his assumption turned out to be right, this old servant would be truly grateful he hadn’t made this journey in vain...
“What’s your relationship to the King?” asked Tessa. “He only sent one man to the Dragon Empire to fetch him a wife, isn’t that too few?”
Yassim bowed as much as he could, while trying not to fall off.
“His Highness charged this mission to this servant alone, my lady. While the previous King was still alive, I was tasked with the education of the young Prince, and I taught him all I could, to the best of my abilities. I watched over this young man for many years, and I believe I am one of his closest aides. Our King is young, and due to the chaotic past of our nation, he still has many, many enemies. I am sad to admit, the people our King can truly trust are too few.”
“A real nest of snakes, then... So, he sent you here almost on a secret mission, then?”
“No one else knows I was sent here,” admitted Yassim.
It was important to him not to lie to Their Highnesses, at least to avoid it as much as he could. He was already incredibly lucky that the Princess had agreed to this insane request, and he was mentally preparing for when the truth would be unveiled at any moment. He only hoped he’d get a chance to offer his apologies...
“Sounds like a lot of fun,” chuckled Tessa, playing around with one of her braids. “Oh well, it will be entertaining at least...”
It was impressive how those young ladies didn’t seem to fear anything, not even going to a different land to face a king who had allegedly killed his own father.
Yassim felt their countries, despite many similarities, were still two different worlds. He couldn’t help but feel saddened as the gigantic Black Dragon flew effortlessly above the lands and villages, the citizens of the Dragon Empire appearing like tiny dots far below. Those forests were green, their lands full of growing crops, the houses full of happy families living their everyday lives under a stable Empire. The Eastern Kingdom knew little about their neighbor because they had too much to figure out on their own. How much would both countries have thrived if there had been any room to learn from the other! As a wise man and scholar, Yassim could only feel disheartened by all that knowledge that wasn’t shared, how so much hatred and doubt had been fueled instead of trust... She had no idea yet, but this young Princess might be the one to bring an incredible change to both nations’ futures.
As the girls had mentioned, riding a dragon was bound to bring them to their destination faster than any horse. After a while, the landscapes below and ahead slightly changed, mountains perking up right in front of them. The villages and human habitations were getting rarer as well, and the temperature was getting colder around them. They had been flying for a while, and Yassim was glad he had brought a cape, but he was not ready for the north of the Empire. Unlike their Kingdom, the Dragon Empire was more lengthy than wide, hence, its northern regions were much colder than the Capital, and most of their lands.
From afar, he spotted the dark building. It wasn’t just a black castle; the fortress was shining incredibly as the sun was setting in the sky. Was it getting late already? Yassim hadn’t realized. He had arrived in the Capital that morning, waited a long time to see the Empress, and now, had spent even longer on a dragon’s back. Neither the dragon carrying them nor the young ladies seemed in need of a break. While Krai was only flapping its wings lazily from time to time, the girls ate meat-filled buns from their satchels, giving Yassim one, and enjoyed the ride quietly, obviously used to this. The wind was getting stronger, colder, and louder, hence they couldn’t speak much for now.
When the Black Dragon started descending, the old man felt most grateful to finally catch a break. Although the ride was rather stable, it was very uncomfortable to sit on a scaled and not flat seat...
What he hadn’t expected, though, was the actual size of that castle. He had been impressed by the incredible size of the Imperial Palace in the Capital, but he hadn’t expected there would be any other big structures in the Empire. Yet, this castle was getting bigger and bigger, and they weren’t close yet! He had been misled by the lack of other buildings or villages around to compare the size, but he really understood how he’d been fooled when he realized that what he had mistaken for a small statue was actually another full-sized dragon!
The beast was growling loudly as they approached, and Yassim was impressed by the mighty creature. This one wasn’t as big as the War God’s Dragon, but it was certainly the closest he had seen so far. Unlike the not-so-small ones from earlier, this yellowish-brown one was an adult size, as large and long as five horses, and just a bit smaller than Krai. Moreover, it wouldn’t stop moving its scaly body around, growling loudly as they landed.
“Hi, Dran!” exclaimed Tessa, jumping down as soon as Krai landed.
