Chapter 118 Trade Agreements
Drakon's POV
"Father!" Elara screamed. "Let go of Lily! You're supposed to be dead!"
The man, who looked exactly like Elara's father smiled coldly. "Death is just another prison. The Eternal King freed me. In exchange, I agreed to help him destroy you."
"You loved us!" Elara's voice broke. "You were kind and gentle! You'd never hurt Lily!"
"Love?" He laughed bitterly. "I resented every day of poverty. Every struggle. Every sacrifice. Death was a relief. And now I have a chance to mean something. To have power instead of weakness."
"That's not my father talking," Elara whispered. "The Eternal King is controlling you too."
"Wrong." The man pressed the blade closer to Lily's throat. "I'm fully conscious. Fully willing. Your real father would've been too weak for this. But death changes people. I'm stronger now."
I shifted to dragon form, ready to attack. But one wrong move and Lily died.
"The crystal, Elara," the Eternal King commanded from his shadowy form. "Remove it and give it to me. Or your father kills your sister. Then your mother. Then everyone in this castle."
Elara's hand moved to her chest where the crystal pulsed. I felt her desperation through our bond.
"Don't do it," I warned quietly. "He'll kill them anyway once he has what he wants."
"But if I don't..."
"Enough talk!" The supposed father drew blood from Lily's neck. She whimpered. "Crystal. Now. Or she dies."
Elara reached for the crystal. Started to pull it from her chest.
"Wait!" A small voice called out. Marina, the girl from the border town ran into the throne room carrying papers. "Your Majesties! The trade agreements! Both kingdoms signed them! Over a thousand merchants and farmers! It's working! The economy is already responding!"
Everyone froze, confused by the interruption.
"What?" The Eternal King snarled. "What are you babbling about?"
"The trade agreements!" Marina held up contracts covered in signatures. "Northern magical goods for Southern crops. Ice preservation spells for fresh vegetables. Dragon-fire forging for better tools. Protection wards for farmland. Both kingdoms are already trading! Cooperating! The unity you were trying to prevent is happening!"
"So what?" Elara's father sneered. "That doesn't change..."
"It changes everything!" Marina interrupted. "Because unified kingdoms are harder to destroy! Economic dependence creates political alliance! You can kill the queen, but you can't kill an idea whose time has come!"
The Eternal King roared in frustration. "KILL HER! Kill the interrupting fool!"
But in his anger, his concentration slipped. Elara's father's hand shook. Just for a second.
Lily took the chance. She bit his hand hard and dove away.
I breathed fire immediately, forcing the father back. Thorne grabbed Lily and ran her to safety.
"You clever girl," Elara said to Marina. "That distraction saved everyone."
"I figured unity was worth fighting for," Marina replied.
The Eternal King's form solidified, growing larger and more menacing. "Fine. No more hostages. No more tricks. I'll just kill you all directly!"
"Not if we stand together!" I shifted to half-dragon form and stood beside Elara. Thorne joined us. So did Marina, despite being just a civilian.
More people poured in, guards, servants, citizens from the border town who'd followed us. Both human and magical. All standing unified against the Eternal King.
"You think numbers matter?" The Eternal King laughed. "I've destroyed armies!"
"Not armies built on love," Elara said firmly. "Not people fighting for each other instead of just themselves."
The Eternal King attacked with massive dark magic. We countered with combined power; dragon fire, ice magic, human courage, magical shields all working together.
The battle was devastating. The throne room was destroyed. But we held our ground.
Finally, the Eternal King realized he couldn't win. Not here. Not today.
"This isn't over!" He opened a portal, dragging Elara's father through it. "I'll return! And next time, I'll bring something you can't defeat!"
They vanished. The portal closed. Victory. Exhausted, bloody victory.
Elara collapsed against me. "Is everyone okay?"
Healers were already tending wounded. A dozen injured, but no deaths. We'd survived.
"The trade agreements," I said to Marina. "Show me the papers."
She handed them over. They were real. Detailed contracts between Northern and Southern merchants. Already being implemented.
"This happened while we were at the border town?" Elara asked in wonder.
"Word spread fast," Marina explained. "Your speech about cooperation. The official contracts. People wanted it to work. So they made it work."
Over the next days, evidence poured in. Northern ice mages were preserving Southern crops, doubling their shelf life. Southern farmers were providing fresh food to Northern cities that had relied on dried goods. Dragon smiths were teaching human blacksmiths advanced forging techniques.
The economy boomed. Trade routes opened. Markets flourished. People saw the value of unity reflected in their coin purses.
"It's working," I said, reviewing reports. "Actually working. Both kingdoms are prospering."
"Because cooperation beats competition," Elara said. "When everyone benefits, everyone succeeds."
But that night, she woke me with urgent whispers. "Drakon, I've been thinking. The economic unity is good, but it's not enough."
"What else do we need?"
"Education. We need to teach the next generation that unity is normal. Not scary." Her eyes lit with excitement. "What if we built a school? Where magical and non-magical children learn together? Not just about reading and math, but about each other?"
I sat up, instantly awake. "A united school. Teaching both types of magic and human science. Creating friendships before prejudices form."
"Exactly!" She grabbed my hands. "If children grow up together, they won't fear each other as adults. We can break the cycle of division in one generation!"
"I love it." I kissed her. "When do we start?"
"Tomorrow. We find land, hire teachers, spread word." She was practically bouncing. "This could change everything, Drakon!"
The next morning, we announced the school plan. Response was overwhelming. Parents from both kingdoms volunteered their children. Teachers applied in droves. Donors contributed funds.
Within a week, we broke ground on the first unity school. Children from across both kingdoms watched the ceremony.
"This is for you," Elara told them. "A place where being different is celebrated. Where magic and humanity work together. Where the future we're building begins."
I helped her plant the first stone, Northern ice crystal and Southern gold, fused together magically. A foundation that could never be separated.
As we worked, I felt hope bloom. Real, lasting hope.
But then a messenger arrived, face pale with terror.
"Your Majesties! Message from the Eternal King! He says... he says he's found the one thing that can defeat your unity. And he's bringing it here in three days."
"What is it?" Elara demanded.
The messenger handed over a note. Elara read it and went white.
"What does it say?" I asked.
She showed me. In blood-red letters:
"I'm bringing your worst enemy. The one person whose return will destroy everything you've built. Someone you thought was gone forever. Someone whose very existence makes your marriage illegal and your crown forfeit. See you in three days. - The Eternal King"
Elara looked at me with terrified eyes. "Who could possibly make my marriage illegal?"
Then realization hit us both simultaneously.
The real Princess Celestia. The one I was actually supposed to marry. The one whose identity Elara stole.
She was alive. And coming here to claim everything Elara had become.