22 || Dragon Scales
As soon as the Fireborn King had left the library and enough time had passed to allow for a thorough departure, Clove secured Ilyana's arm and dragged her out without a word leaving her mouth.
No matter how many questions the princess asked or attempts she made to break free from her grasp, nothing would deter the captain from leading them to her destination.
"What are you doing?" Ilyana asked again as they reached the section of the castle that housed the royal guards.
They passed by the meeting room where a large map of the island lay in the centre and one of the several sparring rooms before they reached the sleeping quarters. If anyone saw Clove tugging her through the halls and locking her inside her room, a lot of unsavoury questions would be asked.
The captain had only been back in Wyrith for a month and it showed, yet, there were still aspects and belongings in the room that let her call it home.
Casual clothes that were rarely worn hung on the back of the door.
A desk was placed under the thin window which acted as the only source of light, a torn map of Nicitor sat in a frame atop it.
Shoved underneath the bed which filled the majority of the small space was a stack of letters secured with a frayed rope bow.
"I had to be sure nobody would hear us talk, especially Matthian," she finally confirmed.
"What's wrong?" Panic raced through Clove which was something Ilyana hadn't seen in a long time. The fact that it was so unlike her had the princess even more unsettled.
"Did you see what King Matthian had underneath his shirt?" She dragged a hand over her face as she leaned against the door.
"The chainmail under his sleeves?" Ilyana sat on the edge of the captain's bed, watching as her guard opened a cabinet and pulled out a box.
"That wasn't chainmail." She pulled off the lid and searched through a stack of books.
The one she was after was a thick-spined hardback bound with aged leather.
"Vahan and Nicitor are neighbouring kingdoms, so we share a fair amount of folk tales and history.
" Clove sat beside the princess and flipped through the pages filled with breathtaking illustrations washed in watercolour.
A horse forged from ice rearing up on its back legs was the first image to pass by. Two queens holding hands outside of a grand castle was the next. A heart as dark as coal with a white rose wrapped around it, its thorns digging into it, was an elegant design that she admired.
When she landed on a page with a victorious man holding a sword in one hand and a ball of flames in the other, she stopped.
A mountain with jagged edges filled the background and a Dragon loomed in the distance.
The sharp teeth and vast wings posed a menacing threat, yet a wound was dug into its leg.
What caught Ilyana's attention the most was the gold foil adorning the man's armour which shimmered with every movement the page made.
Silver scales covered his body and a Vahan insignia blazed on his chest.
"His chainmail looks nothing like the pieces we wear as Wyrith guards. Metal doesn't have that unnatural shine. I think they were Dragon scales."
"That's quite the leap in judgment." Ilyana arched a brow. "We only saw the smallest part of his armour." Her fingers traced the words inked on the adjacent page, the elaborate ligatures that formed a title.
As she moved down the parchment, she read the story that described what was happening.
A king — once kind and caring in nature — drove himself to madness trying to find a Dragon he once saw on his adventures.
Not a soul believed him. Mythical beasts like that were only for children's stories to scare them into behaving.
Until he found the Dragon residing in a cave on a mountain in the Kingdom of Nicitor.
The king carved out enough scales from the beast's leg until he had enough to forge the strongest armour the world had ever seen.
A Dragon could withstand anything, and now, so could he.
"I'm certain that this is what he's wearing underneath all that finery."
The princess couldn't quite bring herself to believe the captain as this story appeared to be centuries old.
However, she was so riled up that part of her wanted to think it was true.
There had to be a reason for her fear. "Perhaps it's a replica?
" she suggested. "He may have liked the armour or the story and asked for it to be remade so he could wear it.
What's so dangerous about him wearing extra protection anyway — whether it be chainmail or Dragon scales? "
Clove turned the page to reveal the rest of the story and a new image painted alongside it.
The same king was now on his knees before the Dragon, clawing at his skin as if trying to take the armour off.
Streams of blood trickled down his arms, the scales sinking into his flesh.
Instead of glimmering gold, crimson jewels had been crushed against the paper to form a river of blood beneath him.
"The Dragon didn't just let the king go with its scales.
It hunted him down and placed a curse on him.
If he wanted to be as strong as the beast, his mind would forevermore be tainted with a Dragon's greed," Clove read aloud.
"His armour would now be irremovable, he would face the consequences of the invulnerability he desired and become immortal.
He claimed and conquered all of the nearby kingdoms, expanding Vahan's border with force.
" She tapped her finger on the final sentence. "That is why I'm concerned."
"You think that King Matthian is the king from this story?"
The captain nodded. "And he wants to claim Wyrith for himself."
The Fireborn King had proven to be a tricky guest to host at Celnaer Castle, but Ilyana gathered he was concerned for the safety of him and his brother.
For the crew of shipmen that were docked at their shores.
Matthian cared about the alliance between both of them and the curse that was in his path, not conquering every inch of land the island had to offer.
"How are you sure that this is the case?"
Clove shut the book and placed it beside them, the heavy weight dipping the bed.
"When I was a... in Nicitor, before I returned to Wyrith, I heard rumours from lords about the Dragon returning and the king it cursed rising to the throne of Vahan once more.
It was one of the many reasons I came back.
I needed you to know and for you to be safe just in case it was true.
" She rested her elbows on her knees, strands of red hair falling into her face.
"I know you probably won't believe me, this is a child's book of tales after all, but there's no harm in being extra cautious. "
She was right, as she often was. The story itself was difficult to believe it was different from carefully crafted fiction, but Ilyana wanted to trust her.
Clove had been there for her for the past few days when she was confident she sounded insane.
Her plan to visit the sorcerer, even when the rest of her guards had died.
Her determination to find her sister when a necromancer, the enemy of her ancestors, stood in their path. She owed her the same support.
"I do believe you. You wouldn't be so stressed over nothing.
" The princess took Clove's once-injured hand in her own.
"We can't exactly confront him about the matter — demanding he take his clothes off and show us the armour is a step too far — but we can monitor his behaviour.
He told us himself that we have until the end of the day to explain the Necromancer's Curse, so maybe we can get some answers from him then too. "
The captain nodded, sighing in relief. She rested her head on Ilyana's shoulder, the scent of steel and berries filling her lungs. "I'm not mad, I promise. I just don't want anything bad to happen to you."
Her fingers inched towards her hair, longing to run the crimson strands between them, but she pulled away when Clove stood to resume her search through the cabinet.
It didn't last long, the hunt coming to an end when she retrieved a simple dagger.
A smooth, onyx hilt secured a short, sharpened blade.
"I know what you're going to say to this, but it would put my mind at ease if you kept this with you for self-defence."
As soon as the dagger was presented to her, Ilyana felt her magic coil away from it, repulsed by the notion. "I can't-"
"There are a lot of threats right now that all seem to target you one way or another. King Matthian, Morana The Cursed, the Necromancer's Curse. You don't have to use it, but sometimes the warning of having a weapon is enough to buy you time to find another way out of a situation."
"I wouldn't know how to use it if a situation ever did arise," she confessed.
The captain chuckled under her breath. "Just have a firm grip on the handle and hold the pointy end towards your enemy." Clove pushed the dagger into a threaded, leather sheath and handed it to her. "Hide it somewhere on you so you'll always have it."
Ilyana accepted the gift, even though her power cried at her to give it back.
One less weapon was one less person injured.
"Thank you." She placed it on the skirts of her dress as she thought of somewhere she could conceal it.
"You mentioned that warning us was one of the several reasons you came back to Wyrith. What were the others?"
"I missed you, first and foremost. Without being able to send any letters, I lost all contact with my only friend. Nicitor also wasn't where I was meant to be. There was nothing left for me there after I... finished my training. It was time for me to come home."
"What about your parents? Did you not stay for them?" Ilyana knew the topic of her parents hit a sore nerve the last time they were brought up. However, now that it was just the two of them, she was curious to see if she would get a different answer.
"My parents weren't who I expected them to be in many ways. I always dreamed of them being a happy couple looking for their daughter who got left behind when they came to visit Wyrith, but that wasn't what I found."
"Captain!" A yell sounded from the corridor outside, making Clove rush to her feet and head to her door to find out what was happening.
"Solider!" she called back. "What's going on?"
A man ran up to her and hunched over to catch his breath.
"Yofie is missing from the wall rotation shift.
I went to replace her, but she wasn't there.
Nobody reported her entering the castle again either.
" The deep breaths he took weren't enough to sate his need for air.
"She would never do something like that. Something has to be wrong."
"Have you replaced her slot in the watch?" Clove questioned.
"Yes, captain. We need you to help us search for her and any threat that may have gotten past her." The guard was desperate, begging as if the weight of the castle's security rested on Clove's shoulders.
"I already have duties I need to attend to," she replied after a moment's hesitance. "I cannot leave them right now." She met Ilyana's gaze before returning to the man before her.
"Your Highness!" the guard cried as he caught where the captain's attention had fled to. "Apologies, I didn't see you there." He bowed, remaining there until he was spoken to.
"There's no need for that," the princess confirmed, joining Clove's side. "You made no mistake."
"My duties are with guarding Princess Ilyana. You're very much capable, Micah. Thin down the current patrols and use the extra guards for your search," she commanded.
"The Patrols are in a panic at the moment, we could really use your guidance. I could guard Her Highness until you return. I could even secure another guard stationed internally to help make up for the lack of your presence," he offered.
"The order I have comes from King Mortas."
"I don't mind," Ilyana countered. "I'm only going to return to the library to do some more research.
This sounds like a serious matter that needs to be dealt with.
" Whether this threat was one that Clove had predicted or a new enemy that had breached the walls of Celnaer Castle, it had to be subdued.
She was the captain of the royal guard, a leader of protection.
Her job was more than arranging schedules and staying by the princess' side.
Clove sighed as she thought, leaning against the door frame with her eyes closed.
"Okay. I'll join for a search around the area of her post and then organise extra patrols.
I won't be too long." She turned to Micah, a warning heat caressing her features.
"Don't let her out of your sight. If anything happens to the princess while I'm gone, you won't have a position in this castle or army anymore. Understood?"
"Yes, captain," he answered with a fearful nod.
"I'll be as quick as I can." With one last worried glance at Ilyana, she left.