Ashenfang - Three Days Ago
Inside his personal chamber Vaelrond was pacing back and forth while appearing impatient.
Vaelrond, Dragon King of Ashenfang, was not a man accustomed to being kept waiting. Especially not for news of one of his royal knights, and certainly not when that knight had been dispatched for a mission regarding his own kin.
He stopped behind the window and drummed a finger against the window sill, each tap echoing through the chamber like a hammer to stone.
"It has been more than a day…" Vaelrond muttered under his breath. "Why is it taking so much time?"
The court attendant standing several meters away swallowed, trembling as he glanced up. "Y-Your Majesty… we have sent scouts and inquired with several kingdoms. There is no trace of Sir Dargath. Not since the day he left."
Vaelrond's jaw tensed, his golden eyes narrowed into thin slits. A Sage realm knight… disappearing without leaving a trace?
It was impossible for something like this to happen. Unless…His fingers curled around the window sill and left cracks.
"Augustus." He bit out the name like poison.
There were only a handful of beings in this world capable of eliminating someone like Dargath without causing an uproar. And one of them was the man who he dared not to confront alone given a chance. Because he had seen what he was capable of doing firsthand.
Augustus swore to him that Arthur Sully had died alongside his grandson Roderic which ultimately came out to be false. So he sent one of his royal knights to kill Arthur, but it looks like his plan backfired.
"Was it him who killed Dargarth?" Vaelrond growled, flames flickered on his skin. "Did he dare…" He had already come to the conclusion that his knight was dead. Now he was regretting sending him there, but what was done was done.
The chamber rumbled as heat exploded outward in a wave. The attendant dropped to their knees instantly, not daring to move.
Vaelrond's fury exploded, a dragon's wrath was not something to be taken lightly and that too who was a King. His voice dropped to a whisper, but the chamber vibrated with the promise of destruction.
"Prepare the elders, I will demand answers from Augustus myself."
He looked outside the window. "And if he truly hid the boy who cost me my grandson… then I will not care even if I have to fight him."
…
Avalon - Present Day
The envoy from the Church of Brightwater had been waiting in the meeting hall for some time.
One of the guards had notified him that the Lord of the island would need a few hours to be free and till then he needed to wait. So, for the last few hours he and the soldiers were roaming around the city to explore it and nearly forgot why he had come in the first place, because every corridor he had been led through looked like something out of a miracle.
Tall towers were covered with glass which baffled him as glass was an extremely precious resource and to cover these tall towers with them, he could only gasp in admiration for the wealth of this island. Then there were these machines he had never seen before, shaped sleek and elegant, nothing like the artifacts used in various kingdoms.
If someone told him he'd walked through the kingdom of gods, he would've believed it.
Now he sat stiffly at an immaculate table carved from a single slab of polished white stone. Two soldiers flanked him, equally stunned and equally tense. Their armor and gears felt ridiculously outdated inside this place.
"What sort of lord lives here…" one soldier whispered.
The knight envoy shot him a glare. "Silence. We are guests, do not embarrass the Church."
But even he was nervous. He kept rehearsing his lines, adjusting his phrasing repeatedly.
He was still contemplating whether he should "request" instead of "demand," when the hall's doors opened.
A guard stepped inside and said curtly. "Her Ladyship will see you now."
Before the envoy could ask who that meant, a woman stepped through the doorway.
Her hair was a vivid shade of violet, cascading down her back. Her golden eyes were sharp, intelligent, and held an authority he instantly understood. She moved with the kind of effortless grace found only in the upper echelons of nobility or among powerful cultivators.
Though the envoy had never seen her before, everything in her presence screamed danger.
He was captivated by her beauty and mentally did a comparison with the beauty of the noblewomen he knew and felt they were nothing compared to the woman in front of him.
The knight shot to his feet so fast his chair screeched across the floor. "G-Greetings, Your Ladyship!"
Selene lifted her chin slightly, studying him. "You may sit."
The envoy stumbled into his seat as she crossed the room and took her place at the opposite end of the table.
Her gaze didn't waver. "What business does the Church have in Avalon?"
The envoy cleared his throat, rehearsing the line he had practiced a hundred times.
He took a deep breath and said, "We deeply apologize for the inconvenience, Your Ladyship. We are searching for a dangerous fugitive who we believe was last seen here." He inhaled once, then continued carefully, "We would be extremely grateful if you allow us to search the city for him."
He said it as politely as he could. He knew demanding anything here would be suicidal.
Selene's eyes narrowed, the temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"You say the fugitive was last seen on this island."
The envoy stiffened.
Selene's tone turned colder. "Are you implying the Church has spies here?"
The knight's heart dropped to his stomach. His soldiers beside him paled, their bodies going ramrod stiff.
After hearing Selene's question, he gulped and cursed his bloody mouth for the slip of tongue, he didn't know the Island Lord was so shrewd, he tried to somehow rectify his mistake."N-No! That is, you misunderstand, Your Ladyship!" the envoy said quickly, forcing a smile even as sweat trickled down his spine. "It… it was merely a merchant from Brightwater who visited weeks ago. He… mentioned seeing someone resembling the fugitive."
Selene's eyes remained unimpressed, it was painfully obvious she saw through the lie. But she said nothing about it, instead she leaned back slightly.
"Show me what this fugitive looks like. If he is on Avalon, I will have the guards locate him."
The envoy felt himself sag with relief. "Of course! Thank you, Ladyship!"
He had come with the idea that the Lord of the island would readily help in the search, but after seeing everything he gave up hope on that. So, after hearing what Selene said he was overjoyed that the Island Lord would help in finding the fugitive.
He quickly motioned to one of the soldiers who was standing behind him to bring out the portrait of the fugitive. The soldier took out a scroll and handed it to the knight who carefully handed it to Selene.
Selene accepted it and unrolled it, but the next second her expression froze. She was stunned to see the portrait of Arthur drawn on the scroll.
Her eyes darkened as she looked at the knight. "Can you tell me the name of this man you are searching for?"
The Knight nodded and said, "His name is Arthur Sully, he used to study in Velcrest Academy. Some years back he murdered a noble and fled, and it was only recently that we got any news about him."
The knight did not notice the change in Selene's expression, he waited with hope creeping into his chest.
Selene rolled the scroll back up slowly, stood without a word and walked towards the door which the guards opened.
The Knight was confused and thought he might have said something which made her angry, and before he could ask what happened.
Selene stopped and turned back once, her expression was still cold. "I will give you one hour to leave the island."
The envoy blinked. "Your Ladyship…?"
"You heard me," Selene said. Her voice cut through the air like a blade. "Leave this island within the hour… or you will not have the opportunity to leave intact."
Then she walked out as the door closed behind her with a soft click.
The envoy stared blankly at the door. The guards beside the door shifted, resting their hands on their weapons. Their gazes were deathly sharp as they looked at the envoy and the two soldiers.
The envoy's mouth went dry. And one soldier whispered, "S-Sir… what did we do wrong?"
The envoy gritted his teeth and stood quickly. "We're leaving, immediately."
"But sir…our orders…"
The Knight cursed under his breath and snapped as he looked at the soldier who said that. "If you're so eager to die, you can stay here."
That shut both soldiers up instantly. They looked at the imposing guards who stood by the side of the doors with their hands on their weapons and menacingly looking at them, gulped and hurriedly followed the Knight out of the room, staying as far as possible from the guards.
As they left the building, the envoy wiped the sweat from his brow.
"There must be some connection… between the fugitive and the Lord of this island," he muttered. "Otherwise she would not have reacted like that."
He looked up at the towering skyscrapers of Avalon, then at the ring-cities surrounding it, and the massive machines constructing new districts…
He felt he needed to hurry and convey this information to the Church, he was not going to lose his life in vain by staying here and doing something stupid.
…
Selene strode through the hallway toward Arthur's room, her footsteps quiet but her expression was heavy with thought.
She had let the envoy live only because he was a messenger. And because he didn't know who Arthur really was. Otherwise… Well, no one would have found his body. But then again they wouldn't have known Arthur was the owner of the island.
But this situation would escalate now. She had no illusions about that, the Church would press the issue. And when they did, Arthur would need to decide what to do with them.
Selene sighed under her breath. "They have the audacity to demand the owner of Avalon… and send a minor envoy as if we should obey?"
Her anger was evident, but she pushed it aside as she reached Arthur's room and opened the door.
Arthur was seated on a mat in the center of the floor. A sphere of energy hovered above his palm, continuously shifting between fire, wind, water, stone, lightning, light, darkness etc. cycling through various elements with fluid ease.
Selene softened instantly. She chose not to disturb him and sat on the sofa near the window, watching him quietly.
A few minutes later, the orb dissipated and Arthur opened his eyes, then looked at her and moved to sit beside her.
"So," he said calmly, "how did the meeting go?"
Selene huffed. "It was the Church. They were looking for you and demanded we hand you over."
Arthur tilted his head slightly. "…So the Church finally decided to come after me."
She nodded. "They were accusing you of murdering a noble."
Arthur laughed softly. "Well, they are true. I did kill a noble a few decades back."
His tone wasn't angry. If anything, it was bored.
Selene studied him for a moment. "Does it not bother you?"
"Not really," Arthur said, shrugging. "I already expected the Church to get involved eventually. If they want to come, let them come."
He leaned back on the sofa, completely relaxed.
Selene exhaled, some of her tension fading simply from his presence.
She rested her head against his shoulder. "We'll handle whatever comes."
Arthur tapped her hand gently. "Yeah."
***
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