KGWrites

Iona

The Throne Room, Falcon’s Nest Palace, Kingdom of Aldiron

“We should have sent men after them.” Iona said, not for the first time.

She was pacing back and forth in front of her throne, wringing her hands. Clutched in her right was the little silver ring that had been taken from Alyx and that Trident had sent to James as a message.

“The message was really clear. If anyone else went, especially guards, then Alyx would die.” Lillian replied quietly. She clearly was struggling too though, as she was sat in Iona’s throne, her knees hugged tight to her chest.

I feel so useless! And if I hadn’t been such an idiot, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Oh yeah Iona, just kiss her out of the blue, I’m sure that won’t cause any problems whatsoever!

Iona scratched rapidly at her hair, the quick movements working through the stress for her.

“Meghan’s with him. She’s got the skills he needs, they’ll be fine.” She muttered to herself. She’d seen the extent of Meghan’s powers during their training, knowing that power was now being directed to help James and to save Alyx… maybe that would be enough.

“I don’t know what to do.” Lillian said quietly from behind her. “I can’t lose them. I don’t want to be alone again.”

Turning in surprise, Iona saw that the girl had pressed her head into her knees and was silently sobbing. Hurrying over, Iona crouched down next to the throne, placing one hand on Lillian’s head and guiding her eyes up to meet Iona’s own.

“You won’t be. Today’s not the day we lose anyone. They’re coming home, we just need to be here when they arrive.” Iona’s voice was sincere and calm, like all the anxieties she had been feeling had simply evaporated in the comforting words she was speaking. Whether she believed it herself or not didn’t matter. Lillian needed to.

Lillian looked at Iona for a while, her blue eyes swimming with tears, before she sniffled and gave a little nod. Iona smiled and began to stand when suddenly Lillian surged forwards, wrapping her arms around her.

Iona stiffened in surprise, unsure of exactly what to do next.

Standing like a statue definitely helps no one.

Stiffly, she lifted one arm and placed it around Lillian, hugging the girl to her waist for a moment.

They stood like that for a moment, Lillian clinging tight to the princess while Iona wondered in a slight amount of panic just what the hell to do. And then the door opened at the far end of the throne room.

Lillian quickly let go of Iona as they both turned, neither breathing as they hoped against hope to see the Cobalts and Meghan walking in.

But it wasn’t.

Instead, it was a lightly armoured city guardsman, a runner. He was out of breath, panting heavily as he rushed down the throne room and dipped into a clumsy bow towards Iona. Without a word, she waved him to stand, not trusting herself to speak lest her voice betray the building anxiety in her chest.

“Lord Captain Haster begs an audience with the king, your majesty.” The guard explained between deep breaths.

Haster, not Meghan or James, or Alyx.

Iona’s stomach knotted painfully, and she swallowed, willing her fears to stay down.

“I’ll have my father sent for straight away. Where is the Lord Captain?” She asked, waving a royal guard to the side of the hall off to go find her father.

“He and his retinue are travelling up the Stoop I believe your majesty. I don’t know much, only that I was sent on ahead. I apologise.” The guard said, averting his gaze from her in a shame for not being able to give her the full answer she sought. But Iona shook her head.

“Don’t. You did your duty well. There’s water on the table over there, drink and catch your breath. All my questions will be answered soon enough. Thank you.” She commanded, waving her hand over to where a small table stood with a jug and some goblets. Normally the water was for her or her father to drink between petitions, particularly on long days, but Iona felt the young man would pass out if she didn’t let him drink.

It was only a couple of minutes later when her father arrived, along with a retinue of guards, nobles and soldiers. Among them were Marius, still bandaged and battered, and Violet helping her father limp forwards.

King Samuel approached his throne, giving a nod of greeting to the messenger and stopping in front of Iona. He offered her a quick smile, that may have been an attempt at reassurance that didn’t take too well. Then he turned his gaze to Lillian, who still sat, completely straight backed, in Iona’s throne. He pursed his lips and turned back to Iona, his eyes serious.

“She stays.” Iona told him simply, causing him to half shake his head and click his tongue.

“Iona…” He began quietly but Iona cut him off, drawing up to her full height and looking him in the eye.

“Lillian stays father.” She repeated, loud enough so the closest courtiers could hear, causing a few heads to turn. King Samuel blinked in surprise, then sucked on his lip and nodded slowly.

“She stays. We stand.” He told Iona quietly, more explaining a matter of etiquette than reprimanding her defiance. Iona nodded and turned to the throne room at large, clasping her hands behind her back and straightening her back. Her father did the same.

Behind her back, Iona gave Lillian a quick thumbs up and she heard the girl stifle a sound that was a giggle pushing its way through her now fading tears. The sound brought a smile across Iona’s face for a second, pushing aside the worries and her need to remain stoic as the princess of Aldiron. She had to work hard to swallow it back down.

A few minutes passed. They felt like forever.

Then the doors opened again, and a full armoured retinue of city guards strode in. Lord Captain Haster was at their head, his head held high as he marched. Behind him, being hauled by two more guards as his ankles were chained together was a man with light brown hair and pale skin. His face bore burn scars, and his torso was wrapped in a tight cloth bandage that was already slightly stained red on one side. His right arm was missing just below the elbow, ending in a bloody stump. A tourniquet was tied just above that point.

It was who came behind them though that sent ripples of horrified gasps through the gathered crowd and caused Iona’s hand to rise to her mouth in horror.

“Dear Gods.” She whispered under her breath. Behind her, Lillian gasped and shifted in the throne, clearly resisting the urge to run towards what she saw.

Meghan Whiteoak came first, one hand pressed against a bloody bandage tied around her side and the other holding a satchel pack tight. She looked exhausted. But her wounds had nothing on the two that followed her.  

Alyx and James were holding each other up as they walked, and Iona was honestly amazed that either was even walking at all. James’ hands were wrapped in bandages that Iona could still see the blood soaking through on his palms, his clothing and armour were soaked and stained with dark liquid. His face was the biggest mess though.

Despite the fact that he’d clearly attempted to clean up somewhat, his face was still splattered with patches of scarlet blood. His nose looked crooked and flattened, and cotton was stuffed into both nostrils, though they still released little trickles of scarlet across his cheeks. His head lolled around on his shoulders like he could barely hold it up. Despite his stunned look though, James’ three-fingered right hand held tight to a longsword in a blue leather scabbard.

Next to him, impossibly, Alyx looked even worse. She moved with an odd, stiff gait, like sudden movements would cause her more pain. Her slightly hunched posture gave Iona a view of her back, which was a thick wrapping of dressings, stained with blood. Iona could only see it because Alyx’s tunic was a torn mess of cuts and slices, with the blue fabric being stained with blood. Her face was bloody too, a dressing was pressed to her cheek and her lip was split in three places. Her left eye was practically swollen shut and turning purple with bruising. Her hair stuck to her face, which even from here Iona could see was drenched in sweat from the exertion of walking through the pain and holding up James.

She could have let the guards do it. Iona thought to herself, but even as she did, she knew exactly why Alyx hadn’t. No-one else is touching either of them today, except for them. She wouldn’t have let any guards within arm’s reach of James.

Haster reached the foot of the steps to the throne and dipped into a bow, to which both Ravellan royals responded in kind.

“Your majesty, my men and I bring you a traitor to the crown, uncovered and arrested thanks to the efforts of Lady Meghan Whiteoak, along with James and Alyx Cobalt.” Haster announced to the crowd, sending murmurs throughout it. He signalled his men, and they marched forwards, roughly throwing down the one-armed man at the foot of the throne steps, making him groan loudly in pain.

“Lord Aaron Trident.” Haster introduced him. Iona took her first good look at the man who had haunted Alyx and James for so long. Even here, bloody and delirious, Trident looked somehow collected, like there was some unfailing propriety at his core that could not be removed or shaken away. Iona clenched her fist around the ring in her palm, resisting the urge to punch Trident.

“This court knows Lord Trident as a fine, fair, if shrewd, trader. But not only has he acted as a monster keeping the crime level in the city feeding his own pockets for years, but he kidnapped and tortured a member of the royal guard. And these letters were recovered from his personal study.” Meghan said, raising her voice to be heard as she limped between the guards towards the throne. Her voice was strained, like she was talking through gritted teeth. Which, judging from the deep cut on her side, she possibly was. She handed the satchel to King Samuel, including a single folded letter that was clutched between her fingers.

Iona’s father took the letter and read it silently, occasionally glancing up at Trident and then to Alyx and James. As he read, his brow darkened and his lips thinned into a grimace. Then, he held the letter up for the court to see.

“This letter bears Lord Trident’s seal, and is written to the Demon of Shetani, Lord Draconeus.” He announced, sending a wave of horrified gasps and murmurs through the crowd. “It tells that Lord Trident had people in place to open our gates and allow our enemy to take our city with ease.”

A few cries of “Traitor” echoed through the hall as King Samuel turned his gaze down towards Trident, who had lifted himself to his knees and was now glaring defiantly at the king.

“We will explore the fullness of your crimes and the names of those who conspire with you, in time. For now, at least, I, King Samuel Ravellan, The Falcon, Protector of Aldiron and Her People and Justice of The Bailiff, strip you, Lord Aaron Trident of all lands, titles and deeds. You are guilty of treason against the crown and the people of Aldiron and you will remain in the dungeons of the Falcon’s Nest until the Gods and Crown see fit to deliver final judgement upon you. You wished to see the Falcons’ fall from the sky and the Black Dragon soar, instead you will see our talons and their true sharpness as we strike at snakes like you. Lord Captain, take this serpent from my sight!” King Samuel announced, drawing to his full height and glaring down at Trident as he delivered his sentence.

Cheers went up from the crowd as Haster ushered his men forward to seize Trident by the arms and haul him out from the room. A few insults were thrown his way as he was dragged through the crowd, Iona was sure she even saw a few people spit on him. She wished she could be down there with them, rather than up on the throne.

“Lady Whiteoak, Mr and Miss Cobalt, this treachery you have uncovered could have spelled the end to our kingdom. Go and get seen to with the thanks of your king and the realm. Because of you, Aldiron stands!” Her father said, turning back to the group of wounded heroes in the centre of the crowd with a smile. And then he turned to leave the throne.

More cheers went up from the crowd, the chant beginning again. Then a voice cut through the cheers and chants of “Aldiron stands.”

“Your majesty!” The call made Iona’s father stop and turn on the steps of the throne. Even Iona turned her head in sudden surprise.

Alyx Cobalt was limping her way through the guards towards the throne, having handed her brother off to Meghan.

She reached the foot of the throne, looking up at the king with an odd look in her eyes that Iona didn’t recognize. Then, wincing in pain from the movement, Alyx did something that Iona believed impossible.

She knelt before the throne. Her head bowed as she spoke.

“When you took myself and James into the court, you charged me with a duty. To protect Princess Iona with my life, to join her royal guard and to keep her safe. And though I have strove to uphold that duty, I neglected to take it as seriously as one granted such an honour should.” Then Alyx’s head lifted, her hazel eyes looking not to King Samuel, but directly at Iona.

“Here and now, before the court of Aldiron, I give you my oath that I will dedicate my every breath to the defence of Iona Ravellan. That I will remain by her side and see that no monsters, demonic or otherwise, shall ever tear this Falcon from the sky. I swear my service to the throne of Aldiron, and the family that sit upon it.” Alyx’s voice was strong, strained by pain but it held at its core an iron certainty, an unbreakable vow.

Iona’s heart fluttered in her chest. She’d heard plenty of knights and soldiers swear her and her father fealty before, but with Alyx something felt different. There was more at the core of this, not just a vow before kings and nobles, but a promise. A promise to a father to protect his daughter.

Even her father seemed stunned by the move, holding position for a long time before he finally smiled and reached a hand down to Alyx, lifting her back to her feet.

“Miss Cobalt, let no-one here ever doubt your strength and dedication. Never before have I felt my daughter is in safer hands. You have already shown a determination far greater than any would have expected of you and now let the whole kingdom take comfort in the fact that a hero like yourself not only just saved us from treachery, but now protects our future.” He told her, placing a single hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. Then his eyes narrowed, and a smile played at the side of his mouth. Iona knew that look, it was her father’s look of decision, of resolve, and of mischief.

As Alyx bowed her head and stepped back from the throne, King Samuel lifted his head and addressed the whole court again.

“It would appear that an estate outside our walls has just lost its proprietor, and that a noble house has just been struck from our kingdom’s records. I for one, am not keen on leaving our realm’s banners with a blank spot. Alyx Cobalt, James Cobalt, I bestow upon you both the estate once owned by Aaron Trident, and the titles of Lord James Cobalt and Lady Alyxandra Cobalt of Aldiron in recognition of your heroics and dedication to our kingdom.”

In front of him, Alyx could only blink and Iona had to stifle a laugh as she watched her friends grapple with the king’s sudden declaration. James recovered first, bowing his head low, not trusting himself to kneel. Alyx remained rooted to the spot in shock.

“You honour us, your majesty.” James said, his voice sounding oddly bubbled, which Iona supposed had something to do with his broken nose.

“You honour us, Lord Cobalt.” Her father replied, returning the bow. “I think that after today, the whole kingdom will sleep a little sounder knowing the two Cobalts stand with us.”

“Three.” James replied quickly.

“I beg your pardon?” The king replied, looking confused. James held out his hand. At first Iona narrowed her eyes in surprised confusion, thinking he was reaching out to her. Until a running set of footsteps rushed past her from the throne behind her and Lillian darted into view, running to James’ side and taking his hand in hers.

“Three Cobalts.” James repeated, smiling down at her. Next to Iona, her father chuckled warmly.

“Of course, how could I have forgotten. Three Cobalts. Lord James Cobalt, Lady Alyxandra Cobalt and Lady Lillian Cobalt.” King Samuel said with a laugh as he bowed his head again.

Around them, cheers and applause came up again, and even Iona couldn’t hold back from clapping her hands as she beamed at her friends. Ahead of her, James hugged Lillian to his side as Meghan squeezed his shoulders in a hug, laughing quietly.

Alyx looked to Iona, and despite the pain she was clearly in, offered the princess a warm smile, causing a blush to rise to Iona’s cheeks.

As the cheers continued around them, Iona didn’t move from her spot, just offered Alyx a smile back.

And tried desperately to ignore the memory of Alyx’s lips on hers.