Chapter 69
Chapter
Sixty-Nine
Konrad stood in the courtyard with his siblings, their spouses, and Wraith.
King Alaric had remained after the battle, mainly just flying through the sky and striking fear into the hearts of everyone at the White Monastery and on the Island of the Way of the Dove.
But now that Wraith was doing better, it was time for him to move on. Wraith stepped up next to the bone dragon. “You just need to fly through the Bone Door, King Alaric.” He pointed to a spot in the sky.
A cold wind stirred, and Konrad pulled his coat tighter around himself. His father stretched his skeletal wings wide. Fog and flame swirled amongst the bones.
King Alaric looked at his children, his gaze finally resting on Konrad. “Farewell. Our family’s bloodline and Draconia is in your hands now.”
Then, with a flap of his wings, King Alaric rose. He flew, and then he reached the spot Wraith had pointed to and simply disappeared. The wind died away. The warmth of the air returned.
“Goodbye, Father,” Konrad murmured.
Everyone continued to stare at the spot where the dead king had passed on.
Wraith reached out and took Konrad’s hand. “How are you feeling?”
They turned back towards the monastery. Umbra walked beside them. They entered and walked along the corridor, the others following.
“A mix of things.” Konrad paused. “He was not a perfect father. But I think a large part of that was because he wanted to raise strong future leaders of Draconia. That was his goal, and he was ruthless, determined, and unfeeling in achieving it.”
Konrad sighed. “He was a king before he was my father. And he was a king raising the future king. There was no softness or closeness to our relationship.”
Wraith squeezed Konrad’s hand.
Perhaps it would have been nice to have had a father who showed him affection and saw him as more than just the future ruler of Draconia. But he could not complain.
“My father was a strong king, but I wish he’d not continued the war Grandmother started.
He always cared more about the power and prestige of Draconia than the suffering of civilians and innocents.
It wasn’t that he didn’t care for the common person.
They were just less important than his other goals. ”
Konrad took a breath. “I hope to be a better king. I want to prioritise Draconia’s people and create a time of peace and prosperity,” Konrad said. “I think the grand monk was right to criticise us. But unlike the monks, I won’t enforce peace.”
He gave Wraith a small smile. “I just hope I can be a good king.”
Wraith leaned towards him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I think you’ll be a wonderful king.”
They continued walking down the corridor, then Gerard called out. “Are you up to dealing with the dread knights, Wraith?”
“What dread knights?” Konrad asked.
“We’ve cleared the Necros quarters, taking prisoners and so forth. But we came across two dread knights,” Gerard said. “We’ve locked them in a dungeon for now. But we think it will be best if Wraith deals with them and sends them on their way.”
Konrad sneered. “Just lock them up, throw away the key, and leave them there for all eternity. It’ll serve those vile monsters right. In fact, brick up the door and all the windows too. Block out all sunlight. Let them suffer for eternity.”
Wraith dropped his hand and stopped walking.
“What’s wrong?” Konrad asked.
“They aren’t evil,” Wraith said.
“Who aren’t?”
“The dread knights.”
Konrad pressed his lips together.
Wraith exhaled. They began to walk, Gerard and the others a few steps behind them, perhaps giving them some privacy.
“I know you think necromancers and the undead army are evil, but that’s not true,” Wraith said.
Konrad opened his mouth, but Wraith spoke first.
“I’m not evil. Right?”
“Yeah. But you’re an exception.”
Wraith’s lips pursed. “In some ways. I get it, the methods we use are dark and scary and can be used for evil.”
Konrad nodded.
“Just like how a dragon could scorch fields and farming villages, with innocent people being caught up in it all,” Wraith said. “Which is something your people did during the war.”
Konrad stopped nodding. He could not deny that there had been instances where farmland and villages had been burned to stop the supply of food to their enemies. Nor could he deny that innocent civilians had died in those operations.
Konrad wasn’t proud of it. But he wasn’t proud of quite a few things Draconia had done during the war. “I see your point.”
“You want to know about dread knights?” Wraith asked.
“They come from the poorest of the poor.
From small villagers facing constant starvation and poverty, where their only chance for something better is to join the eternal army.
So these villagers, wanting the best for their children, send them to camps to train to be dread knights.
“For years and years, these children work relentlessly, dreaming of joining the eternal army when they are of age, because becoming a dread knight would mean a better life for them, for their families, and their villages.” Wraith’s eyebrows pulled together.
“What they end up as is … unpleasant. But they were just doing their duty and making the most of a terrible situation.”
Wraith continued, “You might not like how they were created or what their duty is. But they should not suffer an eternity for it. Remember, they were once just children, wanting a better life. Then they were just following orders from their higher-ups, as your own soldiers do. You should not want them to suffer forever because of that.”
Konrad took a moment before speaking. “Thank you for explaining that.”
It would be so much easier to just see all necromancers and their undead armies as evil monsters. But Konrad could admit that there was some nuance.
Wraith tended to the dread knights, breaking their bonds and sending them through the Bone Door. Then Konrad and Wraith headed to their quarters.
Most of those who’d come to the White Monastery from the different kingdoms had already left. But a few remained, partly because they had waited for Wraith and the other injured from the battle to recover enough to travel.
Konrad, his family, and the rest of the Draconians would head off tomorrow.
The East Tower had almost completely burned down. The fire had spread to other parts of the monastery. That had been contained eventually. No one knew what to do with the rest of the monks. They guessed that most were not aware of all the plotting. But surely some had known.
Several monks had stepped forward to continue running the monastery. No one knew if they could be trusted or if they should be stopped. Honestly, all the kingdoms were pretty thinly stretched right now, and no one wanted to deal with the White Monastery and the monks.
However, they would need to work something out.
Konrad and Wraith entered their quarters. Voices and laughter came from one of the dining rooms. Konrad smiled. For their last night in the White Monastery, some of those that remained had decided to eat dinner together in the Draconian royal family quarters.
“Come on,” Konrad said. “Let’s join the others.”