Chapter 10
Medwin Smokescale
Moonscale London Under the Reign of Ferrick Moonscale
Moonscale London erupted into chaos. One second, I was making bangers and mash and the next the flight link sounded off like an asteroid hitting my brain.
I might’ve fallen face first into the stove if not for Pras grabbing me.
He had only returned recently from his successful recruiting efforts.
He’d hidden away Haen, leaving me to suspect that his mate was possibly with eggs.
“He bloody did it! He bloody killed fucking Roster Moonscale!” Pras whispered and his voice echoed around my kitchen.
“We’ve got to go! Ferrick is probably in a bloody rage!” I said, turning off the stove. Food would have to wait.
“You can’t go! We don’t know if your cover is blown!” Pras said, hands on my shoulders. “I have to go. It’s suspicious enough that no one can find Delin! That’s where I’d logically be.”
“I’m going with you! I’m not leaving him to fight alone!”
A buzzing cut through the flight link, rattling our brains and we hit the floor.
Later, we’d find out that most dragons hit their knees when the buzzing morphed into the sound of nails scraping down a chalk board.
Then his voice came over it loud and clear.
Too bloody cheerful for what had just happened.
“It is my honor to inform you that Roster Moonscale has passed through the doorway of life and death. My mate lived a long life but his time came for him. I am now the leader of Moonscale London,” Ferrick said.
Every word was crystal clear. What the actual fuck? Why had he been so hell bent on making Clarence the Moonscale heir if he wasn’t going to let him lead?
“I’m going!” Pras said as the door swung open and Volex walked in.
“No, you’re not. Stay here. It’s chaos out there. No one knows what to expect and dragons are losing their shit!” Volex announced. “Hunker down.”
“What about Clarence?” I roared, starting toward the door.
Volex scooped me up by the waist and I kicked him in the kneecap, bruising my heel and making him swear under his breath.
“Stop it!” Volex growled. “Pay attention to the flight link. He’s there.
He’s fine! You should’ve seen him snatch Roster’s head from his body!
No swords, no claws. Not even any fire. Roster ran his bloody mouth, got his teeth knocked out, and then his head taken.
Ferrick was fucking his little wolf wizard in the garden while it happened. ”
It took a long moment to quiet my breathing enough to hear Clarence over the flight link. He was there. He was a bit in shock, but he was there, calm and taking it all in. Roster was gone. What had his sire done to finally send my alpha over the edge?
That was one of the longest nights of my life.
Clarence couldn’t get away from Ferrick’s prying eyes.
We had no way to contact him, and we weren’t sure even Pras could get into the castle unharmed under the new leadership.
I paced and cried and roared but slowly the flight link calmed.
All around the city little parties popped up.
Some people gathered to remember and mourn the fallen leader.
Others gathered to celebrate the death of an abusive tyrant.
Ferrick sent alcohol and food to both schools of thought.
By the end of that first night everyone thought the new leader was on their side.
Things were shockingly normal under Ferrick Moonscale.
Society functioned better under him too.
It was scary how quickly people forgot what he had been known for.
Over the next few months, everyone assumed that it was Roster behind all his violence.
How could they not when Ferrick ensured everyone had their needs met.
He planted fruit trees along the sidewalks and invited school children to tour the castle gardens and farmland.
Everywhere he went, Charden was by his side.
They were the posterchildren for omega empowerment.
At least they would’ve been if some of us hadn’t remembered what he had done.
Ferrick enacted new laws and traditions almost daily.
Not all of them were bad either. Some were selfish like the first born or hatched child of the alpha leader being the heir to the leadership, but only after the alpha and his mate had moved on.
Others punished adultery with public thrashings and created a registry for true-mates and chosen mates.
Big fancy weddings went back in style. He married Charden but assured everyone the wolf wizard had nothing to do with leadership.
I wanted to go to the wedding as Clarence’s date but none of the others would hear of it.
Three months into the leadership of Ferrick Moonscale had left me with little time with my alpha and I was desperate to see more of him.
His carrier kept him busy with the tasks of running a large territory.
It meant he was gathering intel and followers.
He appointed Pras as his right-hand man and I burnt my kitchen curtains to a crisp when I heard the news.
Everyone was helping – even Volex was his official bodyguard in public spaces.
It was as if he had a spot for everyone except for me in his new life.
Sometimes it felt as if the whole revolution died with Roster and I wondered if even Pras, Clarence, and Volex had forgotten what our real mission was.
Sure, things were good for now, but it was only a matter of time before Ferrick found a new reason to smash eggs.
Unable to take being left out or manage the feelings of depersonalization that came along with the current events unfolding before my eyes, I traveled to the countryside to spend time with my parents.
They lived near where Moonglow Cabin is located today.
My parents did their best to console me.
They were the only ones outside of my immediate friend group that knew the truth about Clarence.
I ate large meals and spent more time lounging in hammocks than I knew was possible despite growing up in the country.
My parents worked with several groups that had spent decades trying to make peaceful changes in the Moonscale Territory to varying degrees of success. Several times my carrier crossed the line into not so peaceful protesting, but needs must when those in need are your own people.
So with my unplanned vacation to the countryside, as usual, my parents had two very different outlooks on what they dubbed the Clarence situation.
“You have to give him time to see if Ferrick is actually crazy. He doesn’t want to endanger you. I think that’s admirable but that may be because I fancy your head where it is,” my sire said, spearing a boiled potato on a fork and gesturing with his hands as he spoke at the dinner table.
“Bullshit,” my carrier responded and had to waft away a ring of smoke that shot from his nose.
“Ferrick is batshit. We all know that. I’m sickened at how quickly everyone has forgotten how many eggs he smashed.
I know you love him, honey, but he’s as ballless as his sire or he’d have done something about this already.
Roster didn’t take care of Ferrick, and I don’t believe for a second that Clarence is going to take care of you. ”
I did my best not to cry into the pot roast but didn’t manage to hold my tears back.
Even without my parents voicing their thoughts, my brain flipflopped back and forth between those very ideas.
Maybe it was easier for Clarence to forget about me.
Simpler for him. Easier for him to carry on with his life as Ferrick’s little puppet.
The weeks wore on into months and each day I was a bit more isolated from the outside world.
My life became the rhythm of the countryside.
I worked around the house and in the garden with my parents.
I hunted deer, pheasant, ducks, and rabbits and feasted to my heart’s content on the rare days I found myself hungry for something more than what we put on the table.
At night, I cried myself to sleep and I hated myself for it.
True-mate or not, no person should have this sort of power over me.
Late one night, someone tapped on my window.
I ignored the sound and pulled the covers up higher over my head.
It was probably Volex because he had come out at least once a week in vain attempts to convince me to return to Moonscale London.
Ferrick and Clarence could divide the city in half and shove it up their asses for all I cared.
Only this time, the tapping and knocking was insistent.
I took a deep breath and held my fire in the back of my throat.
It was unlikely that I’d do much damage to Volex, but he’d lose his eyebrows for a few hours or days at least.
When I tore open the window and found myself face to face with Clarence, I still let the fire out. What right did he have to show up here now? How big had his balls grown while Ferrick was puppeting him around? Could he even fit them in his damn trousers anymore?
“Medwin!” he hissed, dodging the flame with ease. “It’s me! Clarence!”
“I know damn well who you are! I’m not the one who forgot my mate!” I snapped.
“I didn’t forget you! You went on a weekend trip to visit your parents and never came back,” he said, holding onto the window seal, his wings outstretched and waving in the breeze to keep himself at level with my second story window.
“Who told you it was for the weekend? It certainly wasn’t me!” I said, pondering closing the window on his fingers, but even though he was a giant, scaley ass I couldn’t bring myself to inflict that sort of harm on him. He deserved it, but I had my sire’s soft spots.
“Volex,” he said, trying to peer past me into the room.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“Are you here with someone else?” he asked, raising his eyebrows high on his forehead.