8. Jaxus
EIGHT
JAXUS
T he room began to fill with flight leaders, strategists, and other fae who would be presenting strategic proposals to the King this morning. Few met my eye and even fewer sat near me.
I preferred to sit off to the side so that I could see both the King and the rest of the room. I was still learning the behaviors and attitudes of those on the King’s council and I preferred a good observation post over the anonymity the back of the room would have offered.
As the last few filed in and the rear door was closed, the door behind the King’s seat opened and his assistant pushed through carrying papers and scrolls, followed by the King himself.
As the assistant set out the scrolls on the desk, the King looked my way, making brief eye contact before he leaned both hands on his desk and poured over the material spread before him. I didn’t know how to read that. He hadn’t outwardly stated he didn’t trust me but it was implied in the glances he only seemed to give me when Nyx was absent.
Without looking at the room, he addressed us in his usual curt tone. “For those of you not able to attend this morning’s briefings,” he shot me a side-eye that I could definitely read. Disapproval, despite Nyx having explained I was carrying out a task on his orders this morning.
“You will now, I’m sure, be aware there was an ambush yesterday on the north border to the Sixth Kingdom. A group of these undead dragons and their ryders attacked the Third Flight. They were dealt with swiftly.” He tipped a nod to the Third Flight leader, a seasoned flyer named Sarkan who had yet to acknowledge me as his superior.
Things would change once I could fly alongside them. I had petitioned Nyx to give me a completely new group of flyers. I had no interest in battling with established flyers sore that they or their comrades were passed over for me to be positioned where I was. Plus, I was keen to mold an untainted group into a newer way of thinking. The establishment had serious cracks that clearly only an outsider could see and if I was staying here, I was going to make a difference. I just needed Kiera beside me in order to achieve it.
“We took no casualties. The small band of undead seemed to be acting alone. There’s no evidence more are in hiding in the region,” the King continued, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“I am eager to hear your proposals on how we move on this.” The King sat heavily in his oversized seat. Not quite a throne, but a statement nonetheless. He looked around the room, waiting for just one brave soul to take the floor.
From somewhere in the middle of the pack, a throat cleared, and then a fae stood and began reading from his notes with a nervous expression and a shaky voice about how our focus should be on increasing security on the borders .
We sat as strategist after strategist presented theories and suggestions that would inevitably not work in the field.
I was fortunate that in these meetings, the floor was open to all and not governed by the hierarchy of rank. So many of the flight leaders spoke up against suggestions they felt would be unsustainable in the field and I didn’t have to draw attention to myself by disagreeing with everything that was presented.
But this quiet, reserved leading style could not continue. I could feel I had no respect from the dragons. I was meant to be leading already and until I was flying with them, I couldn’t see a way to instill in them my loyalty and prove my abilities. So I remained reserved, but I had to get Kiera in the sky. I needed to be leading these dragons in a way that they understood.
I tuned back into the droning presentations. The meeting was getting us nowhere. Everything presented was shot down by one dragon or another, and rightly so.
Ultimately, I could not hold my tongue and found myself wading in with my own objections as the King seemed to be leaning more and more towards basically locking the doors on the Second Kingdom to prevent any more border crossings by the enemy.
The biggest sticking point for me was that in securing the borders to the Second Kingdom, were we or were we not isolating the citizens from our help? The King seemed to think that the sparse ground units they had in the Second Kingdom would be enough to protect its citizens from another attack, should one arise. But without intelligence, he felt that sending in larger-scale troops was not warranted. I’d argue that by increasing security on the borders, he was contradicting this idea, but we could not see eye to eye on the issue.
The outcome of the meeting was a direct order issued by the King that no flights were to cross into the Second Kingdom until more intelligence could be gathered by units on the ground. He did agree to increase ground units to the Second Kingdom to facilitate this, but I could tell he would drag his heels on delivering. He only agreed to save face after I indirectly accused him of leaving the citizens of the Second Kingdom high and dry without our protection.
Frustrated and clearly annoyed, the King singled me out at the end of the meeting, having dismissed the crowd at large.
“Jaxus, a word,” he demanded.
I took a deep breath and approached as my path to him cleared.
He crossed his arms over his broad chest and eyed me from his seat.
“Nyx has a lot of faith in you and I trust my general,” he started slowly. “However, I’m not seeing any qualities as of yet that make me believe you’re right for this role.”
I was fairly sure my disagreeing with him in public was the only issue he could legitimately take at this moment but I humored him. “I understand that, Your Majesty. I am in the process of introducing my ryder to a very new life. We need some time to work through the shock of our bond before I can bring her in as my ryder and progress to where we need to be. Once we can join the flights, I’m sure you’ll see a difference.”
“Hmm, yes, young Kiera, I understand. That was a shock indeed. I find it interesting that you didn’t get the call earlier, as is the normal way. It seems strange, don’t you agree?”
“I do, Your Majesty. As you know, some of the fringe groups have ways of blocking such calls and instincts in us. It appears this was the case with us, as it was with Zaria and Nyx.”
The King looked pensive. “Hmm. Which kingdom did you say you were from again?”
“My village never gave an allegiance to any kingdom, Your Majesty. They liked to think of themselves outside of the kingdom’s politics and rule because the barons ignore those on the outer edge, and they are free to exist in their own way.” I spoke truth but not my truth and kept as vague as possible, using the history Zaria and Luka had shared as a framework for my fabricated past.
“And which area was your village?”
“It would be somewhere around the border of the Second and Twelfth, I believe. I’d need to see a detailed map to know for certain. I’m only familiar with the terrain markers, no names. My apologies.”
The King scowled. “How many fringe groups are out there under my nose that don’t adhere to my rules and laws?” It was a rhetorical question, but I understood the point he made.
“Too many, it seems, Your Highness. Maybe that’s something Nyx should look into after we get a handle on the battle at hand.”
“Indeed,” agreed the King, disapproval lacing his tone. “And just how many dragons are there in these villages, I wonder?”
“I’m unsure, sir—Your Majesty,” I corrected myself immediately. Still growing accustomed to having to bow to a single leader’s ego.
“In my village, I was the only one,”
The King frowned. “And your parents?”
“I was taken in by my parents when I was a babe, Your Majesty. I was found wandering alone and they took me in and raised me. They were unfortunately unable to bear children, and I was a blessing to them from the Goddess. I believe myself to be very fortunate.”
“And they kept you deliberately from your duty as a dragon to the kingdoms?”
“I don’t believe so. I was unaware personally that there was an obligation to come to the capital,” I explained. “My community was isolated, and the elders were the only fae who had ever known life under kingdom rule. Whether my parents knew or not, I couldn’t tell you. They went to the Goddess several years ago.”
“How did you cross our general’s path in the Second Kingdom then? If you were so isolated?” He was bent on catching me in a lie. Fortunately, I’d had plenty of time to think through my back story, and I knew exactly what the King had already been told.
“When the situation arose in the Second Kingdom with the First Flight, we were unaware. But when Nyx was wounded, Zaria managed to pilot them to safer ground, and they happened to land in our territory. I discovered them while foraging and helped them. Nyx was gravely wounded, but our healer was able to treat him, and they rested with us for several days. I agreed to join him in the attempt to rescue his brother because I believed that I could be of some assistance. From there, I returned with him to the First Kingdom.”
“Despite living in hiding your whole life?”
“As I’ve said, Your Highness, I was never in hiding. I was just living the life I knew. Now that I know differently, I’ve made the choice to be here and you have my unwavering loyalty and my commitment to your army and the kingdoms. You have my word.”
“Just like that?” the King demanded, seeming to think he could catch me out if he just kept pressing.
“Just like that,” I returned, no doubt in my tone that he could latch on to. “The ways of my village were not my choice. My parents were good fae. However, I have no family left, and my experiences with Nyx and Zaria over those days helped us form a close bond. I was keen to help however I could and more than happy to return with them to their home to be of further assistance. You have my word that I am committed to your service.” Though I could sense my word meant little to him.
His look of suspicion did not diminish in any way and I could feel the edge of tension building between us.
He dismissed me without much further conversation, much like a disappointed father would dismiss his errant child, and I headed for Kiera, who no doubt was hard at work in the healer’s wing.