Sereya (Lufgaw's wife)'s Story

The group made their way into the throne room. Upon their arrival, Lufgaw formally introduced himself and invited them to the celebrations that night. Aquila stood next to his throne and bowed when he pointed her out to the guests. He then took a seat and gestured for the servants to clear out; the room was now empty save for the king, Aquila, their guests and a handful of guards. Able to speak more privately now, Lufgaw revealed his suspicions that the two women in the room had ties to Rumplestiltskin, which they confirmed- in the case of the fae by changing into a blonde human. “So it’s all coming together now.”

The woman’s transformation didn’t surprise Aquila but her impudence did. Having a problem with authority was one thing, but to actually insult the beast king to his face- to Aquila’s knowledge such a thing was unprecedented and even if it wasn’t there probably wasn’t anyone who could share the story anymore. Aquila did nothing to intervene as Lufgaw transformed and threatened the girl with his claws- as far as she was concerned the girl deserved whatever the King did to her.

Faced with such a threat the girl did apologize but her haughty tone was still there and she didn’t sound particularly penitent. This time it seemed Lufgaw was really going to kill her and he probably would have had the Queen not arrived just at that moment. It was only after everything settled down that Aquila considered it wouldn’t be very wise to kill the girl in front of their other guests- the man among them seemed particularly upset about the possibility as he had to be restrained by one of the guards. However, the Queen’s presence calmed not only her husband but the room as a whole. The young man especially was practically tripping over himself to make his introduction to her. “How foolish,” Aquila thought to herself.

Now that peace had been restored they could continue their discussion, or at least they could have had not a very large guest chosen that moment to arrive. The dragon, Mortimus was no stranger to Lufgaw’s halls, in fact there was even a large chair in the throne room that had been custom built for him. After making cheerful introductions to everyone in a thunderous voice that echoed throughout the room he made his way to the chair and took a seat.

“Boisterous as ever I see, Mortimus.” Aquila said with a slight smirk. “Majesty, these are the people you sent the other pixies to, yes? If that is the case should we now discuss how we will address the empire?” She held out the scroll that the scribe had transcribed the other message on to, “I have here the reply from Queen Rapunzel.” In the back of her mind she thought that perhaps the King and their guests would prefer to wait until after the festivities, but the way she saw it doing it now while everyone was here and sober was simply the more efficient thing to do.

Lufgaw stood with his torn tunicand observed the effects of his wife's intervension not only calmed him, she also saved the life of 'Enrys's friend besides spare the servants from having to cleanse the blood and the nameless girl remains, Lufgaw thought he had to find a way to call her but as the girl refused to introduce herself and he had no intention of asking he decided to call her Rumples-girl, he knew that was going to upset her and that was an childish act that was willing to afford.

The king looked at the strange behavior that had Oriana, Matakin spokeswoman when the beautiful Sereya made her appearance in the throne room, that behavior escaped his understanding, he came to the conclusion that it had something to do with discovering that Rumples-girl also was related to the old fae who deceived her mother, but that don't have any relation with his wife.

Then his eye fell on the prince of Spindewass, by the way he struggled with the guard it seemed that he wanted help Rumples-Girl, he was brave, the king had to admit that he was but that doesn't make him less fool, the most he could do would be to serve as a human shield, give her a few more seconds of life and incidentally increase the workload of the servants, didn't escape the king's gaze the expression the boy had as he looked at the Queen of Effledus, was goes without saying that Lufgaw jealously guarded his wife, the king didn't doubt his wife, but there have been many fools who behaved in a more insistent to say it in one way and Lufgaw had a sector of his mind reserved to think in different ways to punish them.

Then, his beloved, using her heavenly voice announced her pregnancy and invite everyone to the celebration, Lufgaw wanted to got rid of Rumples-girl, this time with exile or something similar, but decided to abide the will of his wife and let her come, he was about agree with the statement of Sereya when the old dragon Mortimus made his bustling entry into the throne room.
Lufgaw had to admit that he was surprised with how the dragon found out things, even though he was on good terms with him and always was willing to talk for long periods of time with the dragon, was also a part of him that wasn't very happy with his pressence, mainly because he started to visit Effledus after Lufgaw claimed the throne, from the perspective of the King sometimes his behavior mocks the many who suffered to build the kingdom that he enjoys now.

Aquila expressed her desire to discuss the matter of the empire right now, Lufgaw planned to do it some other time but, why do you have advisors if you aren't going to hear them?, first responded to the dragon "Good to see Mortimus, tonight we are celebrating my wife's pregnancy you can share this joy with us if you like, and as for these huma-" stopped, that in itself would be an act of discrimination which now wanted to try to phase out of his mind "These unexpected guests come to share information about the threat that the empire pose on us all" he looked at the blonde and said," 'Enry of Mewhave and Rumples-Girl are here for a coincidence" he whispered to his wife "Come with me to the throne" and walked to his own throne as he waited for his wife to sit in hers.

"As Aquila said, I want to hear what you have to say before the celebration, I'd like to hear the message of the Queen Rapunzel too", she was friends with his wife assumed that it would be appropriate to invite her but didn't know if she could be on time or not, but being honest it wasn't something that bothered him much.

Day felt like his heart had been stepped on by a giant. Crushed! Queen Sereya was pregnant! He had not even noticed, he had been so absorbed by everything else about her. At least, her announcement brought him back to his senses. But when she smiled--directly!--at him, he fell into his lovesick trance again. The look from Sereya’s husband gave him a little jolt of fear that woke him up.

“Be realistic, Day,” he murmured to himself, shaking his head. There were plenty of other attractive females in the room, he reminded himself. Like Oriana, and the unnamed Golden Girl, and heck, even the bird-looking woman was not half-bad... although her talons were a little scary.

And then there was this sudden booming voice, and Day nearly jumped out of his skin. It was a giant white dragon that entered the hall, and he was chatting up a storm. The sudden entrances of dragons was something Day imagined he would never get used to, no matter how friendly they were.

And this dragon was beyond friendly... he seemed to already know half the people in the room, and he was on a first name basis with the Beast king. He even knew ‘Enry... and didn’t seem to approve of the Golden Girl. Day looked at her and lifted an eyebrow. Why was everyone on her case? Day didn’t know her, yet he had been willing to save her from certain death. He would do that for any civilian... he wasn’t about to watch the girl get her head ripped off. It was just a matter of common decency, something expected of a Prince. And it still upset him to think of what King Lufgaw was about to do. They were not safe here, not at all. It would be best for him to pal around with the Rumple Golden girls... watch over them.

The Eagle woman suggested that they attend to serious matters first. Day felt somber at the moment, and prepared to relay his message about Contalabutte and the fall of Spindewas. But just as he opened his mouth to speak, there was a great commotion as Queen Sereya’s family burst in through the doors.

The family reunion that passed before them made Day just plain sad. For one, it reminded him of his broken heart, and so averted his eyes from seeing how beautiful Sereya looked and how she had the best in-laws and the nicest little brothers. And, it was extra painful, because his family used to be like that. He used to have a father, and he used to be joint at the hip with his sister. And now all of that was gone. He didn’t even know where his sister was. And he didn’t even want to think about what was happening to his mother at the moment...

“Greetings, family of the Queen,” Dayerin said, standing straighter and sounding more like a prince than he usually did. “I’m Dayerin, Prince of Spindewas. And if you’ll excuse me, I have important business to address with King Lufgaw and his court.”

He knew it was a rotten time to bring up the looming war while the Queen’s family was visiting. But he was impatient, and desperate, and he just had to get it out there. He had to get his family back together.

“Spindewas needs help. Desperately,” Day began, looking earnestly at the King, and passing glances at everyone else in the room. “I need to assemble a rescue mission to get my mother out of there... Briarose, she’s trapped, and married to the horrible Contalabutte. Believe me, he’s as horrible as Emperors can get, and his forces are composed of dark Fae, and sorcerers, giants, not to mention dragons... We had no idea how to fight them in Spindewas, not even the ogres could make a dent in them. They're not your average soldiers, but the kind of stock you in Effledus would be more familiar with. He wants to gobble up all our kingdoms in Faecleir. It’s in all of your interests’ to help me get rid of him!"

If the Beast King were not already on Bettina’s list before, he surely bought himself a spot close to the top with the name he chose to call her now. That overbearing giant’s bum was trying to goad her she realized somewhat testily. She was however far too stubborn to supply him with a name now, so she merely sent him back a condescending smile. Coincidence? Oh yes, a royal command and being forcibly lead into a castle was a very coincidental meeting, Bettina though sarcastically. Her thoughts were interrupted however, when there came a clamoring in the halls and the form of a very large and overly chatty dragon suddenly made his way into the hall.

“Mortimus? Oh my zis is such a suprize!” ‘Enry exclaimed in real joy to see his friend. He had not seen Mortimus in some months, so he was quite happy to see him and was eager to ask him about his travels. ‘Enry did get to go out and see different parts of the kingdoms with Bettina, but after hearing about some of her other adventures, it just seemed like she coddled him sometimes. Not that he was attracted to danger or anything, quite the opposite, but he did wish to have some authentic experiences, not preplanned jaunts on routes Bettina has taken a hundred times.

“Well hello to you too. What witch did I annoy that’s brought your ancient scaly backend this way?” Bettina replied with a quirked brow. Her relationship with the dragon was rather complicated, which was a position that warranted her constant teasing. Bettina actually quite admired Mortimus, his unwillingness to be ruled and escape from servitude to the dwarves was inspirational to her younger self. As far as Bettina could tell though, the dragon had always disapproved of her, in some cases being downright hostile, and she was not in the habit of imposing herself on anyone. The best thing to do she’d learned, was to put in her jab and ignore him.

In fact, Bettina found it increasingly easier to disengage with the conversation as the Queen’s family, large as it was, came suddenly bustling in. It was almost comical just how crowded and ridiculous looking the hall now looked, what with it being filled with dragons, talking animals, exiled royalty and a group of happily reunited humans who seemed rather unfazed by it all. It was rather unprecedented, and Bettina began wondering if this wasn’t all just a very strange dream.

Queen Sereya called some of her servants to show her brothers and father to their rooms she had decided that they would stay the night whether her husband approved or not, it was a long way back home and she did not want them making the trip after dark.

As her family left the hall, Sereya made her way to her husbands side and instead of sitting on her throne she chose a more comfortable seat, right on her husbands lap, reveling in his warmth. Her head fit perfectly into the crook of his neck as she listened to everything going on in their throne room.

Mortimus smiled at Bettina's response to his gruffness. He then felt bad about being so rude, it was just that their last meeting had ended rather bitterly. Hed invited them to his cave for a general catchup, and after theyd left he found the Alcaris, a rare magical stone that his dead friend, the great wizard Calladus, had left him in his will, had dissapeared. Now it might not have been Bettina, but she was pretty high on the suspect list. Hed said some pretty mean things to her when he found the pair again. Not even 'Enry could break up this arguement, and despite Bettina denying she even knew of the stones existence, Mortimus was unconvinced and flew away. He felt bad. She was a dear friend, and he'd crossed the line. He felt especially bad when he found the stone the next day. Hed apologised to them both via fox, but somehow Mortimus felt that wasn't enough. He'd talk to them later, he had gifts for them too, as well as a couple of propositions, but hed discuss those later.

It wasn't true that Mortimus did not approve of Bettina, he simply did not agree with the path she had taken and saw her as a bad influence on 'Enry. He did not approve of cons and smuggling, and believed that Bettina's talent was being wasted. She could use her skills for things that were so much more productive and law abiding, scouts and infiltrators were always needed in the kingdoms of Faecleir. Bettina and 'Enry had known Mortimus since they were quite young, as he visited Mewhaven alot and was always popular with the youngsters who climbed on him and listened with awe to his near infinite number of tales. Of all of puss' offspring, 'Enry was his favourite as he was quite shy but inquisitive and lapped up Mortimus' tales of faraway lands and horrific monstrosities as he would do with milk. Bettina on the other hand, was quiet and a little shifty. Mortimus sensed darkness in her past but brightness in her future, and was shocked to learn her tale. She had always looked up to him (literaly) as a childhood hero and Mortimus was touched by this. He did not hate her, he cared deeply about her, but he was protective of her and did not want her to get into too much trouble and if this dampened their relationship then so be it. When he next talked to her he would make ends meet, probably with a hug (although hed have to be careful not to squish her).

"Well, my dear, ive had complaints from this one hag who lives in a cottage in the woods. Don't really like her to be honest, shes suspected of overfeeding and then eating children that she lures into her home with breadcrumbs and shes also a tad insane. Apparently her magical cauldron has gone missing. No, im joking, im here because of him." He said to Bettina, pointing to the prince of Spindlewas as he made his plea. "The boy shows promise, but he has a lot to learn. Im willing to help and guide him on his journey, for it is in my best interests that the Empire falls. Now, i have some things for you both, come see my after this shindig, and ill give 'em to you." He looked at 'Enry "For now though, i hope you like this." He said, passing the bespectacled feline a small bottle of liquid. "Its catnip, Cuddlepuss, enjoy!"

Lufgaw saw the arrival of the family of his wife, to be honest the number of times they have seen each other wew limited since her father Jonathan had an opinion about things and Lufgaw had another, was what they call a culture shock, Either way he smiled and bowed slightly when his wife presented to each of the members of her large family, then came the plea of the Prince of Spindewas.

He began with "Spindewas need help" that wasn't the wisest decision and made the king lose some of the interest he had in the matter, the needs of a human kingdom that was far away from Effledus don't concern him in the least, The second thing he said was his legitimate desire to save his mother from the clutches of the man who killed everyone he knew but to the ears of the King all seemed more like a desire for revenge, Lufgaw knew about that, the first thing he had to do when ascended to the throne was to convince a fair amount of the population that a war of revenge would destroy everything they built.

Sereya sat on his lap and the king hug her waist feeling where their child grew, now that he had the information he wanted neither needed nor wanted to build a relationship with the Prince or his kingdom, or so he thought until his hand touched his wife's belly.

"Mortimus, you know you're welcome but this isn't the time for your nonsense, if you want to talk with an old friend do it elsewhere" gave a little grunt, the idea of ​​the dark faes put him in a bad mood "Rumples-Girl and 'Enry , you have no direct interest in this war if you wish can tour the castle or rest until the celebration" decided to fix everything by making known her punishment immediately wich seemed fairly light but were more important things now, "Next time you wish to enter Effledus must ask permission right on the border, I'll see that the name 'Enry and company have free passage, if you try again your trick and your life will end in that moment" now if they wanted to continue here in the throne room was their business, as long as they don't try to flee before the celebration to Lufgaw wouldn't care.

"Dayerin of Spindewas, Your request is understandable as is what you want of Effledus but What can you offer to my kingdom?, do you expect me and my soldiers go to war to die just to save your mother?, Do you expect to convince Lufgaw just with these words?," the king had to make clear that he and his kingdom weren't a useful tool that humans can use when needed and then discard "Our kingdoms never had any kind of relationship, Spindewas never attempt to do anything when we needed help, if your father or your father's father had done something for Effledus them I personally would enter in the castle where Briarose is held prisoner and save her if with that I can repay that debt but that isn't the case" looked at his wife "If Effledus goes to war nothing will stop me until the empire falls even if it means walk over the corpse of your mother, is not going to matter me if the Emperor use her as hostage, Do you still want my help, kid?" for the first time since they arrived Lufgaw looked straight into the prince's eyes, first he would listen to the prince and then he'll hear position of Matakin and the reply of Rapunzel.

After making his plea, Day's memory went back to the invasion. He had never been a real fighter in the conflict. It seemed like he had been in a state of perpetual training, but he never had the discipline to advance and become a real warrior. Any other young man with his attitude would have been thrown out of the training yard and given a job doing manual labor. But since he was Prince, they dragged him along through training, though carefully protected from battle.

The day when the capital was attacked, Day was within the ogre reservation outside of town. That was where he went whenever he felt overwhelmed from news of a lost battle or the death of a valued general. And that day, he was reeling from word of his father’s death. The ogres mourned deeply for the half-Ogre King Ruffdor, wailing and howling. Day was getting another ogre tattoo, this time on his chest. As he had the sharpened thorn tapped into his skin, it seemed like a pain a thousand times easier to deal with than the pain of losing his father. The tattoo was of his father’s name in Ogrese symbols, bordered by bramble thorns. But the tattoo was only half-finished, because that was when the Ogre camp was invaded.

Day tried to fight, and that was when he realized how under-prepared he was. He watched his Ogre friends die, throwing themselves in front to save him from the vastly more powerful warriors of the Empire. But it was all a waste, because it ended up that he was captured anyway, and kept alive by order of the Emperor... but only to be used as a bargaining tool.

The Prince was so absorbed in these memories, that he didn’t bat a lash as Queen Sereya climbed into her husband’s lap or as ‘Enry, Golden girl and the dragon had a side conversation. King Lufgaw was sentencing them. All of that suddenly seemed unimportant. For a minute, it seemed like no one had even heard his plea. But these moments of being unacknowledged only strengthened his resolve. And once King Lufgaw moved on to address him, Day locked eyes with him.

“I understand, King Lufgaw, why you would not join my cause just to help my kingdom. There is not much I can offer you, being a dispossessed Prince,” Dayerin replied evenly, though there was sweat beading upon his brow. “Spindewas in far gone, and it will be in ruins if it is won back.” It pained him to admit this, and he said these words with difficulty swallowing, when he thought of his home in such a ravaged state. But he continued: “As for my mother, I’ll take it as my responsibility to rescue her. What I really need your help with is bringing down Contalabutte. And I will tell you why you should care: while I was imprisoned in my own castle, awaiting the Emperor’s sentence, I was visited by his first wife, Scheherazade.”

His mind’s eye clearly remembered her face. She was aged, and her once-black hair was entirely gray. But her eyes held such an acuteness, a great wisdom and her voice was delicious to the ears, like honey and melting butter. At the time, he could not believe that of all people, the famous Scheherazde would choose to visit him.

“She told me stories as I sat in my cell. The first was her own, and then she told me the story of each of the Emperor’s wives. She concluded each story with the words, 'And the Emperor from afar heard her name and desired her, and did whatever he could to make her his wife.' And that was the end, no 'Happily Ever After,' as stories are usually told. She even told me my own Mother’s story, the way it is told in other parts of Faecleir. And it ended the same, and that was when I knew... what his intent was. After that, she told me one last story... and that was the story of the Beast King and how he fell in love with a beautiful human maiden and she him. She spoke of your wedding. But then she mouthed the same ending, but left it unfinished. ‘And the Emperor from afar heard her name, and desired her,’ Scheherazade told to me.”

Day looked pointedly at the Beast King and Sereya, who’s stomach was burgeoning before their eyes. He stopped short, looking with double concern at the young Queen.

Mortimus sighed. Contalbute was truly a nasty piece of work, He was slowly bringing misery and damnation to all of Faecleir and not many people were doing anything about it. The tale of Dayerin was hard to swallow, but the thing that brought the most pain was the prince's mentioning of dragons in the Empire's armies. Mortimus, in response to this, murmured a single word, which was loud enough for everyone present to hear; "Darahurne". It was not a curse, for Mortimus would never lower himself to use such language, it was simply a name, a name which brought a mixture of fear, disgust, hatred and sorrow to the old dragon. He hoped no one in the congregation had heard of such a terrible thing, maybe the other Dragon present had, but he was still young, only the oldest of Dragon-kind tended to know what the Darahurne were. That was the tipping point, time to make an inspiring speech.

He rose to his full height, revealing many a battle scar and wound. His face showed pure wisdom and his scales shone with ancient power. "Thank you, your majesty." he boomed "But i must decline your offer, i must stay, for there is much to be said." He looked down upon Dayerin "The boy is right, Lufgaw. This coming battle isn't just about his sole revenge. The growing power of the Emperor shall affect us all. He must be stopped, before his Empire consumes everything we care about. I have a proposition for you, honorable delegates. That proposition is Unity. I have been alive for a very long time, and i should know that the chain of unity has been broken for many a year. It is slowly being fixed, yes, but there are still weak points. And i mean no offense to you, oh king, but I am afraid you are one of these weak points. To achieve such unity you must fully let go of your hate. Humanity is a beautiful, joyous thing to behold, they have no wings, no claws, no innate ancestral magics, yet they have thrived. Yes, humans can be overambitious, the Empire being an unfortunately perfect example, but with tutorship and trust, humans will happily coexist. We must find Unity, for then we can build an army the likes of which has never been seen. An army built upon trust, friendship and honor. A grand army of every race, every kin, every creed which shall drive this unwanted blemish from our lands and prove that unity is possible. As much as i know you all have grudges, some spanning eons, i am afraid we must bring about this new age of unity before we are broken and consumed by the locusts, with no allies to turn to. "Look around, my king, we have talent here, Oriana, master dragon rider and magic wielder, 'Enry, offspring of the valiant, witty Puss in boots, Rumples- Girl, nimble, quick thief, never makes a sound, and last but not least, Dayerin, a born leader who wears his heart on his sleeve and embodies compassion. With nurture and some TLC, we have here some upcoming commanders." He looked at Dayerin, And kneeled, which was quite difficult for a dragon to do. "Price Dayerin, worthy son of Ruffdor the valiant, i pledge my fealty to you as a mentor and guide, and i take it upon myself to help you spearhead a company that shall strive to unify the kingdoms and, save your kingdom." Then he straightened up, and looked at Bettina. He smiled craftily, she'd hate him for this, but it was time to get his own back for all that teasing, and also to let 'Enry experience a real slice of the adventure cake that he had always wanted. "And for this company i volunteer my good friends, 'Enry and Rumples- Girl, for they have always had a taste for adventure, and i think with a little mentoring, we shall see their true colours shine. Also it will help to redeem themselves of their previous, ahem, mishap." He looked at the delegates with the biggest, kindest grin on his face that he could muster. "And so, from the bottom of my heart, i ask you, delegates, what say you to my offer?"
And then he sat down, content and quite pleased with himself

Aquila

It seemed that the prince of Spindewas was more than eager to discuss the plight of his kingdom. He launched into an emotional plea, which was of course lost on the beast king. Following their exchange, Mortimus chose to step in to try to convince Lufgaw and the others. For a moment there was silence as everyone considered what the dragon had said. Aquila was the first one to say anything.

"That is indeed a nice sentiment, Mortimus. Those are just the words we must preach to the soldiers. But it will not be that simple, o dragon. In fact if such idealistic words had come from anyone else I would call them naïve. You have to understand that many of the factions you are asking to unite have hated each other for generations. I believe you said something earlier, Darhum or something like that? I confess I know not what that is but your tone of voice when you said it revealed all. One would not have to travel far here in Effledus to find fae that say the word “human” with the same bitterness. If we are to create an army like the one you speak of we must direct that hatred onto the empire. Every soldier must be absolutely convinced that Contalabutte the greater foe or this army won’t even hold together long enough to see battle. Trust? Friendship? These things will come later, if at all."

She paused for a moment and turned to Lufgaw, "As for Effledus, highness, I do believe we have a stake in this war. If what the prince says about the emperor is true, that he desires legendary beauties then I can think of no woman in all the world more desirable to him then our own Queen. Human men can be rather foolish, it often takes little beauty to win them over. But for a human woman to win the beast king who hates all humans, why Contalabutte must be positively mad for her. And I’m sure many in your kingdom will be interested in these dark fae he apparently has working for him, as well as what may happen to them should his plan to conquer Faecleir succeed."

And then looking fiercely at their other guests. "As for all of you. If you wish to become commanders as Mortimus suggests there are things you must realize. What I've had to say thus far may sound harsh to you, especially compared to Mortimus' kindness. But leaders need to hear the harsh things. They must absorb them without emotion; the smallest of gestures can shatter a unit's morale. And if this plan goes forward there will be many harsh things to absorb. There will be casualties, some of which you will bring about with your own hands. Many of them will just be ordinary people defending what they love, but you must tell your soldiers that they were evil. Mortimus' speech is for the average soldier, but none of you here fall into that category. You must hear the truth. If you aren't prepared for that, then you need to get prepared or reconsider your position."

It was a lot to say, more than she had said in some time and it left her exhausted. Without her entirely willing it she shifted to bird form and took up a perch on one of the ornate loops of Mortimus' chair. There were still many words swirling within her- strategies, ideas for how to proceed, apologies for what may have been interpreted as rudeness; but for now she had said everything that needed to be said. Everything else would have to wait until everyone had made a decision.

The king's face seemed immutable but that was only because was fighting the urge to run and make a slaughter on Contalabutte, so crude and horrible that the people would talk about it for generations, trying to contain himself as he listened to the prince would have been useless if wasn't for the presence of his wife, yet Lufgaw felt real Rage different from the emotional outburst that almost cost the life of Rumples-Girl, no, this cold anger spread through the room and the more sensitive like the Bear guard could feel it alongside the fear, fear that only The enraged Beast could provoke.

So Contalabutte wanted his wife, cursed human full of himself, then came the speech of the dragon that didn't help calm his anger, that was one of the things that that he didn't like, how could be so wise and so naive at the same time, the King was about to reply when Aquila brought some sense to the situation, the advisor mentioned the most of the things that Lufgaw was going to say although she said it in a much more polite way, yet the king himself would speak again.

"Mortimus, now I see that your hundred years of which you're so proud have served you only to see a part of the world, the bright part where everyone is happy hold hands and hug leaving behind their differences, Naive!" roared "Do you want me stop hating humanity? you talk about unity and friendship and strive to join us together in some kind of comradeship, but humanity we know it is very different," Lufgaw hated talk about this in front of his wife But the harsh reality was necessary for them to understand his point of view "You can call me weak spot, a monster or even stupid animal, you can believe that in comparison to your century I am only a cub, but these eyes have seen great tragedies, these ears have heard screams of agony and cries bereaved, these hands are stained with the blood of those who I have appreciate and this mouth has desperately asked for help every time I broke my own self to become the one who stands before you, Let me tell you something, I had a brother... as a child we had no name and we always moved by fear of humans, the most important was avoid humans but they still found us, I crawled on a puddle of mud mixed with the blood of my parents and my brother fought that's why they captured him but I was a weak child that wasn't worth to kill, years later when I started to fight the hunters I saw my brother again, humans put him strange collar, he couldn't talk nor think and they usually used him to capture other species but now he was sent to kill me that's why he died, I was forced to a deathmatch with the only family I had left, that's what the humans you praise so much did with Effledus" It wasn't a topic that had mentioned earlier, he hugged his wife seek comfort and continued "No Mortimus, the hatred of Lufgaw will never fade but I will not condemn them all, I will judge each human as individual with the same eyes that witnessed how humans slaughtered, killed, raped and kidnapped my people for their own gain," looked to Dayerin "Congratulations prince you have the support of Effledus in this war, don't expect any more", of course the king hates humanity as a whole, don't hate them would be like spit in the graves of the fallens but he had a plan, his job is to be the foundation of the kingdom during his life he would be dedicated to make from Effledus a a powerful kingdom able to defend against anything once that is a reality, his successor could handle the search of understanding, a man so stained with blood hatred and bitterness can't be the bridge to the unity of the continent, so he'll bet on the future.

Sereya rose from her husbands lap "I have something to say" She said smoothing her dress which strained against the baby bump "if Contalabutte wants me, then why not pull the wool over his eyes?" She asked glancing to her husband "make him think that he has me, that I want him more than you, as you say he is a mere human. And it is not like I do not know how to fight my own battles" She said her voice commanding everyone's attention in the room and it was strong not weak. She was not like most humans, she was not a coward like most she was brave and ready to do what was right for her kingdom even if it meant sacraficing herself. (btw fencer its your turn in Heavenly hell)

“Excuse me, thief? I’ll have you know I pay good gold for the products I smuggle across the border. And furthermore-Say what?!”Bettina nearly thundered at the end. The shear ludicrously of the idea of her serving as a commander in any army, much less any hopelessly disjointed one they tried to put together. A spy maybe, and that was a big maybe, but she was no soldier, and she sure as the Kalgrist river wasn’t going to tolerate having orders barked at her. “You can’t just volunteer me you-!”

“Oui oui, we’ll do zis!” Maybe it was the catnip, or maybe the speech, but ‘Enry was a virtual ball of enthusiastic energy, ready to undertake this most noble quest after Mortimus’s inspirational speech. Bettina groaned in response, recognizing defeat in the fact she’d never leave ‘Enry alone in a situation with this much danger.

“And just exactly how much combat experience did you say you had again?” Bettina bit back towards the bird woman dryly in Mortimus’s defense. Bettina disliked what she implied about common soldiers in her little speech, like they were mindless drones they had perfected the art of exploiting. It was a swift reminder of her own deep seeded bitterness towards the ruling class in general, and what their true thoughts about those like herself who were not on the same tier as them were.

“Wars are won by the average soldier Madame, and they are quite more aware of the hard truths of war and casualties than any of you are from your comfy perches in your castles or rear camps. You should remember that.”

And when King Lufgaw began speaking, Bettina could barely contain her indignant anger. Oh the sheer hypocrisy of his words. He hated all humans, but he would judge them as individuals? She would have to ask him later how he managed such an oxymoron.

Dayerin pictured his father on the throne, listening to the shrill and conflicting opinions of his advisors. What he saw was a remarkable confidence, a calm air that marked him as King. That strength and self-reliance that allowed him to make rulings even if they were unpopular with some people. That wise, internal voice that he never strayed from. How sorely Day wished he could tap into that.

As he stood in Lufgaw’s Hall, young Day’s head spun. How do I know what is right or wrong? What am I getting myself into? What if this war is the wrong path? Can I really trust any of these strangers to know what is best for me and Spindewas?

One thing was for certain. He couldn’t accept his life as an exile. He had to bring about at least one thing, and that was the freedom of his mother. He had to do something. And he had a feeling that a dragon would come in real handy.

“Mortimus, well now, I think you’re a new friend of mine,” Dayerin returned the dragon’s bow. He was very flattered and still could not believe that a dragon had actually bowed to him and “pledged his fealty” to him. And not to mention all of that lofty praise...

“...Dayerin, a born leader who wears his heart on his sleeve and embodies compassion.”

If Day listened to this dragon enough, he would definitely get a big head. Which made him wonder... was this dragon buttering him up for some ulterior purpose? The eagle woman and King Lufgaw both called the dragon naive, but Dayerin was not so sure. There was definitely more to this dragon that met the eye and ear. All those battle scars... those did not produce naive dragons.

Day cleared his throat and surveyed his company with wide eyes, feeling that he must give some sort of summation to all the input he received. “Thank you everyone, for your input,” he said collectively. Some of it was troubling, he had to admit. “King Lufgaw, I thank you siding against the Emperor. Queen Sereya offers herself as bait... a most noble suggestion, your Highness.” He looked in her direction and felt his cheeks warm in admiration of her bravery. “But I plea that you don’t put yourself in jeopardy, my Queen. You don’t know Contalabutte... if you dangle the carrot in front of his nose, he’ll find a way to rip it off the string and take it. But I’ll let you make that decision with King Lufgaw.”

“I agree plenty with Mortimus,” Day concluded. He looked towards Rumples-Girl and ‘Enry and a slightly mischievous smile lightened his face. “And I look forward to working with my commanders, ‘Enry Son of Puss, the Fair Lady with the Golden Hair, and Ori--”

His attention was caught by Oriana. Something clearly was not right. The girl was wincing in pain and speaking in a voice that was barely audible. It appeared that she was being comforted by her dragon. His time riding with them seemed far away now. There was something closed off and forbidding about the way Qing Jin protected her. Yet Day strode towards them and brought his full attention to them.

“What is wrong with Oriana?” he asked in all seriousness, a slight tremble in his voice. Of all the people there, Oriana was the closest to his friend. He had known her the longest. And they rode a dragon together, after all.

All reacted in different ways, but still all came to something like an agreement which meant that the alliance was formed and for the first time humans and other races would fight together, although the number of humans depended on the opinion of Queen Rapunzel who should be on the way depending on her opinion Lufgaw could retire Effledus's soldiers, he wouldn't send them to die in vain but that didn't mean that he wouldn't personally fight the empire, if the Queen of Towerlot was against then he would fight as a man for the honor of his wife rather than as a King for the sake of his kingdom, if his many friends wanted accompany him in the battle he wouldn't stop them.

The first thing that surprised him greatly was when Sereya offered herself as bait, Lufgaw didn't respond but that would happen over his dead body, in fact they would have to kill him a few times because of he would return from the very underworld in order to avoid that happening, for the first time he looked with some appreciation to Rumples-Girl though he still dislike her neither liked the way she said it at least the girl rejected the idea of ​​using Sereya, though since it was obvious that the partner of 'Enry knew nothing about the history of Effledus nor the background of the King and his wife nor history of Aquila he could expect her to have those biased opinions.

Dayerin of Spindewas thanked and showed his wisdom by saying that the decision to use the Queen as bait fall on Lufgaw himself and Sereya, there was nothing more to say so the king was preparing to end the meeting but he couldn't shake off a bad feeling, as if something bad was about to happen or someone was looking at them he watched his surrounding with concern he looked to the roof just before a creature burst into the room, Lufgaw limited himself to protect his wife and before he could attack the intruder the Dragon had already done it, Lufgaw listened with some interest the little exchange between the infernal creature and the dragon.

At least now in the eyes of the King the dragon had a legitimate reason to join the war and, while understanding that there must be some dark past between him and the creaturem Lufgaw didn't like the way that proceeded, not only Mortimus make stupid questions that were worthless as intelligence, that the Emperor wanted to know the location of Dayerin didn't help more than that he wanted to marry Sereya, then he killed the strange being in the middle of room and also did some spell that supposedly would serve to make others see the castle empty, an empty castle is suspicious enough.

Mortimus underestimated him, humans underestimate him, the cursed Emperor with his infernal vassals underestimated him once more everyone there could see his full beast form,
"Sereya close your eyes" and then roared to the others "What you're about to see is something that happens on the battlefield," of a jump reached the corpse of the creature put his paw on the neck and ripped the head with his claw that threw near Aquila, Mortimus don't even bothered to clean up his mess so once again showing his strength The Beast threw the headless corpse through the hole of the roof, He didn't want that alleged commanders shrink in terror on the battlefield the first time they saw a being beheading another, there are some being that you can only be sure they're dead cutting off their head though The Beast had other plans for the head,

He returned to his human form, this meeting had stretched too so gave the final orders, "Aquila, Bring that head to the elders they have to find out all they can about that creature, the rest of the body is in ceiling or somewhere nearby in case they need it" looked at the guards" Someone clean this place and move the gem of Mortimus to another room maintaining the spell" he thought it was the best time to use that it took years to perfect,"Command the border's troops to fall back and tell all leaders that we will use Niflheim" guards looked surprised and then after a bow they get out of the room.

For the sake of the new alliance Lufgaw decided to told them the nature of Niflheim, "Using the many magic points that extend to all Effledus some selected can start a semi-permanent spell over the whole kingdom, basically we'll be virtually isolated from the outside, everyone outside Effledus will see just thick fog nor even the magic mirrors will be able to see what happens inside the fog and those who dare to enter will be lost until they die of hunger, unlike glamour this confuses every sense so don't even me could find a way without a guide stone, which are within the Kingdom will not see the fog so the general population wouldn't get scare by the sudden emergence of the fog" that spell was designed so that noncombatants were safe in casi of any invasion or war and the wounds or tired could retreat in a rather safe way, Lufgaw thought they could use Effledus as a medic camp and his wife and Queen Rapunzel could take care of that, though was a talk about that directly with the Queen. .

Reminded the Queen of Towerlot, without a guide she certainly would get lost, "Pixies" said and two little beings appeared a proper one and the one who mixed the messages which stood proudly waiting for his mission, Lufgaw sighed and said, "Go to the kitchen and tell them to prepare everything" it wasn't a necessary message but he didn't want to send him something as important "You go with the captain of aerial troops, he have to ask a guide stone from and advisor and take some of his men to fetch the Queen of Towerlot, she would be on her way but you'll lead them where she is" the Pixie bow and disappeared.

"Now my guests, you better prepare for the celebration, soon we'll have a few things to celebrate, just ask if you need something, Aquila take care of everything and don't forget your head" cleaned his hands with one of the few pieces of fabric that still had walked toward his wife and whispered her "Come to my chambers, we need to talk" and left the throne room.

Bettina raised an eyebrow at the prince in an almost playful manner when he sent a smile full of mischief in her direction. He also got brownie points in her book for not calling her that galling nickname that King- rawr rawr fear me- Lufgaw had given her. Despite her better judgment, she kind of liked this Prince Day, even if he was a hopelessly love sick, drooling, teenager. She too had just begun to notice that the girl with the hair horns was shrinking back as if in pain when there came a sudden crash from above. A sudden prickling sensation and a strangled cry of “Bettina!” from ‘Enry was the only warning she had before she moved on instinct.

“Move!” Bettina shouted, and with a strength one would not expect from someone her size, shoved the prince to the side as a nightmarish creature dove at him, and glass and rubble from the ceiling came raining down on their heads. In the end, it mattered little, as Mortimus intercepted and dispatched of the creature, but at least the Prince had been spared the worst of the rubble. Bettina’s right arm had not fared so well, having been cut up a bit from the flying glass, but the cuts were not especially deep, though bleed, so she was not overly worried.

Bettina watched the rest of the exchange between Mortimus and this darahurne creature with a wary gaze. This was partly due to real concern for Mortimus, but mostly that thing put her on edge. Something about it made her skin prickle in a way that felt unnatural, and she was glad to see the thing die. She didn’t even mind when Lufgaw tore it’s head off in front of them.

“Well…this bites.” Bettina mumbled, still somewhat dazed as Mortimus and the Monarchs of the castle made their exits. “I bet they eat people too.” Bettina said more to herself than anyone else, and gave a long suffering sigh. “Leave it to royals to bring trouble knocking on my door again. I swear, it’s like you people are magnets.” Bettina grumbled, sending a sour look Day’s way that held no real heat. And with that, she moved to follow Mortimus out of the hall with ‘Enry. She did not want a room, and she certainly did not plan to get comfortable here. She’d been away from Mewhaven for too long, and if she was going to be getting herself involved with this stupid war, Puss and the Marquis needed to know what was going on.

Dayerin’s ears had perked when Mortimus was about to say something about his father, and then the unimaginable happened. The ceiling broke open and out leapt a monster straight from hell. There was hardly time to react. The inky black creature filled his field of vision, along with a shower of glass and stone, it was heading straight towards him...

Mortimus saved him, resulting in a great clash of white and black beasts. Dayerin found himself on the floor, and didn't remember diving. A swift glance at the Golden Girl, her arm bleeding, and he realized that she had pushed him. His attention, though, was yanked back to the conflict between dragons. He flinched when the mutated dragon tumbled into a wall. Day jumped to his feet and drew closer to the Golden Girl, 'Enry and Oriana. There was nothing he could do to help Mortimus with his battle besides get in the way, and so he thanked the stars that Mortimus had the upper hand. It turned out to be an impressive display of Mortimus’s prowess, as he barraged the intruder with ice and incantations.

The verbal exchange between Mortimus and the creature made Day sick to his stomach. So, this horrid creature with doubled limbs was what Mortimus called “Darahurne.” And what was more, the Darahurne were sent by Contalabutte to track him down. Day shook his head, anger building and making his tall frame tremble. If the Emperor was out to kill him, then that meant his mother’s sacrifice had been for nothing. He had promised not to harm her children, but to give them a safe exiledom, in exchange for her hand in marriage. And yet, Day had not spent more than two days out of Spindewas’s borders, and Contalabutte had already put a target on his head.

Is he after Morn, too?

Day watched numbly as Mortimus broke down into tears and left, and King Lufgaw went beast-berserk and decapitated the Darahurne and tossed the body out the roof. As the bloody corpse flew through the air, Day felt a few speckles of Darahurne blood rain upon his check. It burned a little, even as tiny drops. Dayerin wiped his face and dusted stray bits of rubble and dust off his jacket.

It came time for them to disperse. Day felt safe after hearing about this Niflheim thing. But if only Morn was here with him! He was hungry, thirsty and needed a bath, but he didn’t feel right about seeing to his needs when Morn might be in great danger. He had to talk more to Mortimus.

Day left the hall in a hurry along with Golden Girl and 'Enry, sidestepping the dust and debris from the broken ceiling. He hurried after the direction he saw Mortimus left. He went down the largest corridors, and finally found Mortimus on the balcony.

“Mortimus,” Day greeted solemnly, sensing something of the dragon’s melancholy mood. He approached slowly, and kept his voice mellow. “Thanks for protecting me from that... attack." He turned to the Golden Girl. "And you too, Miss. How's your arm?"

Just then Sereya walked into the royal bed chambers " No need to find me pixie I am hear and I heard" She said reguarding the pixie she too had to change clothes her belly had become quite large and she felt as if she was about to pop she went to their wardrobe and tried to find a dress big enough for her and finally found one that tied in the front that could be loosened. She kissed her husband"s cheek and remained silent then went to the Great hall to visit her friend. When she saw her her face lit up aside from the motherly glow the pregnancy gave her already. She diidn't know that she was to have this child any minute now.

Captain Tipst heard the same unearthly howling that Aquila did. The boom and shaking of the floor was even more unsettling. He looked up at the hole in the ceiling, where the darker stories above could be seen, straight up to the roof. The damage done to the beautiful palace was just beginning to soak in. His fists shook. This attack was unforgivable.

Aquila flew up to investigate, but Tipst stayed as he saw the King approaching. He bowed with reverence to Lufgaw, then stepped aside as the Beast King introduced himself to their guests.

Queen Rapunzel was wide-eyed and uncertain about all this trouble in Effledus. The palace looked like it had been catapulted, and the booms made it seem like it still was under attack. Who was yelling about doom and the end of everything? Rapunzel stayed close to her son and daughter. She gained some relief when she noticed that they were still optimistic enough to tease one another. There was still hope, as the twins were ever her source of optimism.

“I’m honored, King Lufgaw. Tank you for your invitation, and accepting the attendance of Ainra and Nanji, and our guard,” Rapunzel introduced with a curtsy. Like Airna, she suppressed her accent when visiting other kingdoms. She had not spent much time in the King’s presence before, only Sereya. It felt almost like meeting him for the first time.

Lir bowed to the King, copying Nanji. He found bowing to be awkward in his fin-less form. He was surprised to find the King speaking in his tongue. The accent was strange, not as perfect as Airna’s Mer, but it was still recognizable.

“I understand you, Your Highness,” Lir replied, relief and pleasant surprise in his voice. “I am Liryamm, son of King Guurstas, of Ittamarr. I am in debt to these kind royal Dafarzians.” He glanced sidelong at Airna, remembering that he had not told her much of who he was. Somehow it had not come up, explaining that he was actually a Prince of the sea realm. He felt embarrassed that he had not told her.

At that moment, Queen Sereya entered the hall. She reminded Lir of the most beautiful of shells, more radiant than a hundred thousand pearls. And her pregnant belly was comparable to an inflated puffer fish. He passed a hand over his eyes and averted his gaze. It was a custom of the Mer, to always avoid looking upon the wife of another, especially if she is the most breath-taking sight above water.

Rapunzel’s face blossomed with a smile when she beheld Sereya. “Sereya, my dear! How are you?” She closed the distance between them and clasped their hands together. A hug was a little out of the question, as they both carried bulging bellies, Sereya’s more so. In fact, it seemed just plain impossible that Sereya’s belly should be so large! Rapunzel was sure that she had been pregnant longer, and yet she was not nearly as big.

“How long have you been pregnant, love?” Rapunzel asked Sereya, a little uneasily.

Captain Tipst had bowed to the Queen with the others. How he loved his Queen, but in a patriotic, loyal-to-Effledus way and nothing more. Her beauty did not move him like it moved the humans and the beasts. He was fey, and such beauty was common-place to him.

“My King, Lady Aquila brought it to my attention that there is an occurrence in the stories above us. I will follow her and investigate. Please, my Lord, do not be troubled.” He bowed yet again to Lufgaw and donned his helmet. As graceful as a dragonfly, he lifted into the air. His pixie followed after.

Captain Tipst landed next to Aquila, stunned by the great white mass before him. The floor reeked of dragon vomit. He had an idea that this may be Mortimus the White Warden, but his mind would not accept that such a great dragon would be collapsed on the floor in such a manner. And the others gathered were complete strangers to him. And two of them were humans! The other was a cat and a dragon, which seemed much more commonplace in Effledus. He gave the feline and the dragon a nod of acknowledgement and respect. But humans!!

“Do you humans have clearance to be here?” he questioned them. Both of the human girls looked rather shady, like Beard dealers. He looked at them with plain distrust.

Queen Rapunzel released a surprised laugh when Sereya spoke of being pregnant for “a matter of hours.” Since Sereya also laughed, she assumed it was joke. Rapunzel had heard of a lot of odd things in her life, but a gestation of less than day was not one of them.

But Rapunzel had the feeling that Sereya was not kidding. She looked down at Sereya’s belly again and she could literally see the fabric stretch as the belly grew.

“It can not be...” she breathed, her eyes growing large. “Sereya, has someone put an enchantment on you?” Rapunzel knew that her friend had never really been normal, as her extraordinary beauty marked her as belonging to a league all her own. But having beast children that grew at this rate??

At that moment, a pixie whizzed towards them. It was Eth, Captain Tipst’s pixie wearing her leaf armor and helm. The pixie came to halt so she could best address King Lufgaw and Queen Sereya.

“Your Majesties,” the pixie said in her high-pitch trill of a voice. “A guard has been killed in the Eastern hall! A darahurne took control of Mortimus and devoured the guard! And Your Majesty, Mortimus is alone now with the Prince of Spindewas!”