The Azure Rider

Author's note: This is the fifth part of a multi-part story and will not make much sense if you haven't read the previous parts. The last section of this chapter may be triggering for some.

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Orion stared speculatively at the wizened, shrewd face before him and chewed the inside of his cheeks absently. This was neither the first time he was interacting with King Andebert Olbrecht, nor the first time he was appreciating the old monarch's political acumen. He mulled over the question in his head once more.

"What makes you think that we need the Thistle Princess?"

Orion glanced at King Olbrecht's son, Crown Prince Fredenand, who was seated by his father and was intently polishing his fingernails using a buffer, having lost interest in the conversation a while ago. Vanity was a defining characteristic of the Prince besides cruelty, and Orion wondered if King Olbrecht harbored any disappointment against his only progeny in this respect. Orion cleared his throat and started speaking.

"The Prince's Coronation approaches. Pardon me for my impertinence, but we are aware that the Prince is not in the best standing with your countrymen. To have the Thistle Princess wedded to him will successfully strengthen his claim to the throne.

"Besides, you have chained the Thistle Dragon in your Castle for the last thirty years, parading nobles and highborn lords in front of him, hoping that he will bond with one. The Imperial Dragons grow restless at this treatment of their kin, especially as it is known that the Thistle Dragon had bonded partially with Princess Esmeralda before her... escape. Perhaps you are aware that you cannot command the Imperial Dragons' loyalties for much longer if this continues, so you have resorted to colluding with vampires and leviathans to gain an edge over us.

"Finally, unless the Thistle Princess finishes bonding with her dragon, she will live out the rest of her natural life and die one day, and when that happens, the Thistle Dragon will die too, prematurely, before its time. Even if the Imperial Dragons have not already turned against you, once that happens, they surely will.

"The economy of Vandan is in tatters. Discontent is brewing in the streets. This war was intended to be a diversion but the royal coffers are too depleted to allow you to wage this battle for far too long. All things considered, again, pardon my impudence, your Majesty, but I believe you need the Thistle Princess more than we need the Disputed Corridor."

King Andebert surveyed him impassively through pale blue eyes as he spoke. Orion stared resolutely at him, praying that the man would not see past his bravado. To his dismay, King Andebert laughed.

"Come now, Orion, I may be younger than you, but I am not a green boy. At least, for the sake of civility, let us try to admit that we enter this bargain as equals. The Disputed Corridor provides more fresh produce and cattle than the rest of Lohenstraad put together. Your crops are suffering owing to your harsh and unpredictable climes, and your country sits at the brink of a famine for the second time in a decade. You need the Disputed Corridor just as much as we need the Thistle Princess. And given the state of your royal treasury, I would assume you are no more at a position to continue this battle than we are."

"Let us just say, we have as much use for the Thistle Princess as you have for the Disputed Corridor," Orion said without inflection.

There was a tense pause in the conversation.

"I have to give you this, Orion, you have too many informers on our streets and in our court," King Egbert finally threw his head back and laughed good naturedly.

"As I am sure you do too, your Majesty."

"So, what do you want in return for the Thistle Princess?" King Olbrecht asked.

"We want the Disputed Corridor in its entirety, its taxes and produce forwarded solely to Lohenstraad coffers. You shall remove all of your troops from the Disputed Corridor. We want trade relationships to resume between Vandan and Lohenstraad. We want you to keep the vampires who migrated from Lohenstraad to Vandan. If you require help in disposing of them, the Lohenstraad Army shall assist you. In conclusion, we just want this War to be over, once and for all."

"I would like two additional terms added. Lowered tariffs for sheep wool and lumber and you shall wed my daughter."

Orion stiffened. "The tariff will not be a problem. However... while I am sure Princess Sira is very beautiful, I am afraid I shall have to decline." When Prince Fredenand made to rise out of his chair at this perceived slight at his sister, Orion raised his index finger at him and continued, "I was married once, and the memory of my wife's death is too fresh upon my mind to remarry. Surely, I hope you understand."

"Your wife died seventy years ago!!" Prince Fredenand exclaimed indignantly.

"And not a day goes by when I do not think about her," Orion said calmly, praying that bereavement would be a sufficient enough excuse to avert a political marriage. "Besides," he continued, "isn't it considered ill luck to marry both of your children at once? Let us concentrate on Prince Fredenand's wedding for now. I am sure he will be very happy with the Thistle Princess."

King Olbrecht sighed and turned to his son, who had abandoned his buffer and was now staring avidly at them.

"What does she look like?" he asked with greed and indecent curiosity splashed across his face.

"The Thistle Princess? She looks almost like her mother, except her eyes are green," Orion supplied helpfully, grateful that Prince Fredenand's attention had been diverted. Orion did not miss how King Olbrecht stiffened at the mention of Queen Estrilda.

"Well, what did her mother look like? I never saw her, did I?" Prince Fredenand began to sound annoyed.

"Did you know her? Queen Consort Estrilda?" King Olbrecht asked, unable to mask his profoundly personal interest in the woman.

"Yes, your Majesty," Orion answered shortly, beginning to feel frustrated with the direction of the conversation. But as usual, his self command was too great for any of his thoughts to surface on his face and Prince Fredenand repeated his original question, now sounding distinctly petulant.

"If she looks anything like her mother, she will be a woman of great beauty," his father said, then turned to Orion. "I believe you have made yourself a deal. However, we shall need to examine this woman for her dragon's mark before we sign the Treaty. This would not be the first time someone came forward claiming to be Princess Esmeralda."

"I understand," Orion said shortly.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Call the scribe, let us get this thing over with," Prince Fredenand said, palpably eager to meet his future bride.

The scribe was called shortly and the terms of the Treaty were penned down in two identical, large scrolls. The royal seals of the Olbrecht and Constantine families went under both the pages. When it was over, the scrolls were laid out to dry and King Olbrecht spread out his wrinkled hands towards Orion and said, "Now you only need to bring her to us, and after we are satisfied, I shall sign the documents."

Orion nodded and walked out of the tent, where Rowan waited for him on horseback.

"It is time," he said. Rowan raised his visor briefly to show his acknowledgement, then rode out of the campground. Orion walked back into the tent and said, "my men will bring her soon. I shall wait here until then."

"That is all well. We were about to break our fast, let us do it together to celebrate a new era of peace," King Olbrecht said pleasantly, signalling to one of the men standing by the entrance of the tent.

Food and refreshments were brought in quick succession, and Prince Fredenand seemed to find fault with the servers for serving him tea that was too hot. To prove his point about the temperature, he seized a pot and poured its contents all over the unfortunate young woman who had been closest to him. It trickled down her person harmlessly, having turned temperate as soon as it met the biting cold air. Orion reached for a platter of fruit with practiced stoicism even though his insides contracted uneasily.

"How did you find Princess Esmeralda?" King Olbrecht asked once the tantrum had subsided.

"In a tavern," Orion replied. "She was being pursued by some men with ill intentions. They tore open the back of her dress and that was how I came to see the Dragon's mark."

"I hope the men were punished severely," Prince Fredenand growled, showing an admirable degree of possessiveness for a woman he was yet to meet. "No one assails my wife and gets away with it."

"Indeed, severely so," Orion nodded fervently. In truth, he had no idea what had happened to most of those men. To move the conversation away from these dangerous waters, he turned towards King Olbrecht and enquired, "how did you know Queen Estrilda?"

A bitter smile spread over the old man's face. "I served as the Chief Minister of the Council under Arthur De Clare. However, I did not know her on a personal level. It remains one of the greatest regrets of my life. She was killed by my men before I entered the castle."

They ate mostly in silence afterwards, except for a second tantrum by Prince Fredenand when he found that the eggs were cooked too well for his liking. "Which part of this yolk strikes you as pourable?" he demanded of another server, who cringed from him and raised his hands to protect his face, and not a moment too soon, for the platter with the eggs was hurled towards him. Orion lost his appetite after that; he merely played with his food so as not to offend the King.

Not long after their plates were taken away and the table cleared, a bewildered and cursing Agatha was hauled into the tent by Kane and Rowan. Despite the grimness of the situation, Orion suppressed a smile. Prince Fredenand took her in with stunned silence for a second and exclaimed, "feisty!"

The rest of the men who had been assigned for her protection streamed in after Kane and Rowan, all of them wearing identical masks of guilt and discomfort. Agatha spotted him sitting on the table and said, "thank goodness, Orion, I have no idea what got into your men, ask them to release me, will you?"

Prince Fredenand rose from his chair and edged towards her, then he stopped in front of her and raised her chin with his fingertips.

"Well, he didn't lie now, did he?" he whispered. "You are quite eye-catching." He inspected the rest of her before adding lewdly, "and quite a handful too."

Agatha was too overwhelmed by Orion's nonresponse in her plight to give the young man a piece of her mind. Orion was secretly grateful for her silence. She was marched into a chair and her hands were chained behind her back. "Orion!" she demanded indignantly. "Let. Me. Go!"

Like the coward he was, he did not return her accusatory glare. Comprehension began to dawn on Agatha's eloquent eyes. "Orion?" she asked again, faintly this time, her struggles growing weaker as at an instruction from him, Kane drew out a dagger and tore through the front of her shirt. Kane pulled apart at her shirt, drawing it down her arms as far as her bound state would allow, then turned the chair slightly so that her dragon's mark was clearly visible to King Olbrecht and his son.

"I need to see all of it," Prince Fredenand interjected. "Take that off too," he gestured towards her breast band. Kane looked towards Orion for confirmation. Orion nodded grimly. Tears welled up in Agatha's eyes and spilled over on her cheeks as she considered Orion with devastated betrayal. Orion realized bleakly that this was the first time he had seen her cry. Kane threw him an unmistakable look of disdain as he put the dagger close to her skin, his touch gentle, nearly reverential. Kane sliced through the breast band with exceeding tenderness and removed it, then raised her shirt strategically to provide her some semblance of modesty, while displaying her mark to the men.

However, Prince Fredenand decided it was not enough for him. He rose from his chair and made his way to her again, slapping Kane's hand out of the way. He knelt before her like Orion himself had done a few weeks ago, inspecting her mark eagerly with his fingers. Only, unlike Orion on that occasion, he did not stop at the mark. He moved his hands to her front and squeezed her breasts roughly, his fingers leaving angry red prints on the cream skin, then pinched on a nipple and laughed. Then he pulled at it, forcing Agatha to arch her back to relieve some of the pressure. She did not scream, nor did she beg him to let her go.

Orion did not look at her, nor could he meet Kane, Rowan and the other men's clearly contemptuous glares. Dimly, he reflected that he was losing some of the most loyal men that he had, possibly already had lost them. He had not expected Agatha to command this degree of respect and devotion after working alongside them for a few scant days, but as he thought back upon her manner with them, gentle, kind and considerate as she was, he supposed it was no surprise that they had grown to care for her.

"Enough!" King Olbrecht said sternly, staring up at his son with a hostility that made Orion faintly hopeful. Perhaps, as long as the old King was alive, Prince Fredenand would be answerable to him if he marked her up.

Prince Fredenand released the nipple and assumed his seat. Kane covered Agatha's breasts promptly with the shirt. King Olbrecht signalled to one of his men again. He arrived with the two scrolls the scribe had written on formerly, the ink on them now dry. King Olbrecht signed beneath his seal on both scrolls and passed the quill to Orion. Orion signed it, then glanced up to find King Olbrecht rising from his chair and drawing up one close to her. King Olbrecht looked at her kindly, almost with paternal pity and said, "welcome home, Princess Esmeralda."

"My name is Agatha Hartelle. You are making a mistake," Agatha said firmly, imploring the old man who she now clearly considered as an ally.

"Treat him with respect you little whore," Prince Fredenand spat.

King Olbrecht turned towards Orion and said, "so she doesn't know?"

"Know what?" Agatha asked.

Orion shook his head, once again, refusing to meet her gaze.

"My name is Andebert Olbrecht. I am the ruling King of Vandan. I served as the Chief Minister of the King's council during the De Clare regime. You are Princess Esmeralda De Clare. Your father, King Arthur De Clare was the last king from the De Clare family. Unfortunately, he was not a good ruler, callous, incompetent and complacent. He had to be removed, for the sake of the nation. However, your mother... Queen Consort Estrilda was a woman of a different calibre. She oversaw the council, single handedly performing all of your father's duties while he sought excitement elsewhere. Besides being competent, she was very beautiful too, in fact, barring one exception," he nodded towards Agatha gently, "she remains the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.

"When my Army stormed the castle, my men had orders not to touch her. I had planned to marry her once I seized the throne. A few of my men cornered her in her wing. You were still an infant at the time, but you had bonded partly with the Thistle Dragon already. Your mother handed you over to a trusted handmaid and asked her to escape by a back door. When my men tried to go through that door to chase after the maid, she blocked their way, begging them to leave you alone and take her instead. Like I said, she was very beautiful, and my choice of men was not... prudent, as I learnt from that incident.

"When they were finished with her they felt that killing her would be the most merciful recourse. By then, the handmaid had escaped with you successfully. As we now know, the handmaid took you to Lohenstraad. We searched for you far and wide, Princess, and we would have never found you had it not been for the Azure Rider."

Agatha remained silent for a few moments, and Orion was impressed to see that she was not crying anymore, instead assimilating the information wearing a very familiar expression.

"What is the Thistle Dragon?" Agatha asked.

"The Azure Dragon mated with one of the Imperial Dragons in our kingdom when Orion stayed here briefly after his wife's death. The Thistle Dragon resulted from the union."

"What do you want from me?" she asked next.

Before King Olbrecht could answer, Prince Fredenand rose from his chair and pulled Agatha's hair so hard that her head was forced backwards. "You will call him His Highness or Your Majesty, you stupid wench. Or I will feed you to the Leviathans, Thistle Rider or not."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness," Agatha said quickly, and Fredenand released her. Agatha turned towards the King, apparently unperturbed by Prince Fredenand's intrusion and said, "what do you want from me, Your Majesty?"

"Not much, Princess. I want you to complete bonding with the Thistle Dragon, marry my son, give him a few heirs and be a good wife to him. After his coronation, you shall automatically be the Queen Consort."

"But Dragon Riders are immortal, Your Highness," Agatha said quietly.

"What can I say, you will outlive my son. But let me be very clear on one issue. A Queen Consort can never ascend the throne. After my son's death, his firstborn son, if you give him any, will ascend the throne. You will stay on with the council like the rest of the Dragon Riders of the Vandan Kingdom."

"A woman of my fortunes would be honored to marry Prince Fredenand, Your Highness," Agatha said quietly, then turned to Prince Fredenand, and despite what he had done to her in the last few minutes, offered him a tentative smile.

Privately, Orion could not help admiring her resourcefulness and self command. If he had not known her so well, even he might have fallen for the bashful bride act.

"Well, that is settled then." King Olbrecht rose from his chair and reached for one of the scrolls on the table. Orion took the other. "My troops will move from the Disputed Corridor by the end of today. It was a pleasure doing business with you, as always, Orion."

"Likewise, your Majesty," Orion said.

Before departing, Orion snuck a look at Agatha. Cold hard eyes met his stare. The loss of her warmth felt as bereaving as the loss of the woman behind it, for Orion had comprehended, a little too late, that she had finally offered him all the love and loyalty he had begrudged her betrothed, and he had thrown it all away willfully and irrevocably.

Orion lowered his eyes and walked out of the tent into the softly falling snow, leaving his heart behind him.

***

"You waited for SEVEN DAYS to hand her over? Do you have any idea how many people died in those seven days? Just because you could not keep your cock in your pants! And what were you THINKING, fucking the Thistle Princess of all people? You have truly lost your mind, Orion."

Orion hardly felt Sir Alexander's tirade wash over him. Hervey and Godwin watched silently, the Treaty now lying unrolled on the table between them. They were back at his tent again and Sir Alexander delivered his censure with the honorable outrage of a man who had not been caught with his trousers down above the Princess in question.

"When we reach home you will be facing an inquiry, Orion. Hundreds of lives would have been saved if you gave her up on the day of our arrival."

"There will be no need for an inquiry, Sir Alexander," Orion shook himself out of his reverie. "I resign. Congratulations on your promotion."

He snatched his cloak that hung from a hook on a pole, wrapped it around himself and strode out of the tent, searching for Ice with his mind. He found him at the edge of his reach, high up amongst the ominous snow clouds. Ice swooped down towards him at his summon, flooding his senses with visuals of snow and clouds. Orion delved into Ice's consciousness as it was a welcome respite from his own troubled thoughts, their bitterness amplified by her scent that remained on his cloak.