49. The Face in the Water

Holding a flagon of wine in his hand, the dragon king, Eros, absentmindedly sauntered into Thorn’s palace. He rarely visited, and didn’t dare come without an invitation. From the bottom of his heart, he knew that he owed Thorn a lot, and his birth mother, Tora, the love of his life. Eros never forgave himself for what he did to her.

The castle was abnormally quiet, precisely what Eros had yearned for in recently years; yet his queen and children made sure the main castle was just the opposite. Peace and quiet had always been always a luxury for the royal family. There was always something to attend to—court affairs, laws to be discussed and passed, noble guests, the countless servants and staff, and more. But as time went on, he had forgotten most of it. He would only remember the most important moments in his life.

He could almost sense that growing old had begun to affect his mind, and clearly not in a good way. Indeed, he had lived a very long time, long enough for his past to blur with the current reality.

As the oldest dragon in the realm, he felt that being alive wasn’t as pleasant as it was before. Instead, it was more like a burden. He seemed to be trapped in his mortal body, too powerful to fade away and too weak to be reinvigorated.

He cut a corner and came upon her tomb. The last time he’d come to see her statue was the day Thorn insisted it be moved out of the main palace. But he hadn’t stopped mourning her, not for a single day, since she died.

His emotions seemed to burst like a bubble when he laid eyes on the statue. The statue was the spitting image of the previous queen, carved from solid, white gemstone, even her dress. As he stared at it, it felt like the real Tora was right before him. Eros ran his fingers along the edge of her jaw. The stone felt cold and hard, not like his warm and tender Tora.

His wrinkled eyes brimmed with hot tears. His desire to avenge her had grown, since the Mother Dragon’s loyal retainer appeared and warned him that the master of the dragon spirits would return, on one condition; the life of the person responsible for the tragic event would have to be sacrificed. Then, the whole nation may return to its former glory.

But Eros just couldn’t do it. He could never be cruel enough to kill the person who shared his bed, at least not when he was perfectly sober.

He kissed the statue goodbye, and downed the flagon, finishing the last drop of the wine. He exited the tomb and made his way into the open gallery. The garden was to his right, ruined by the sudden fire—more of Queen Amaya’s wonderful work.

The heat of the sun dazzled him. He felt as if he could feel nature around him. The sound of the wind grew stronger, the dense, oceanic scent deepened, and he wandered off into the messy garden. The majority of the plants were in the process of being replaced.

A fountain sat just at the end of the planter of sunflowers. He started to feel tired, then decided to take a rest.

Eros sat at the rim of the fountain. Green lotus leaves floated on the surface of the still water. He saw red, pink, and white buds, all soon to bloom. Then, an enthralling voice resonated from the water. He knew who the despairing voice belonged to.

“Eros…” the voice taunted.

“Ula?” He asked, and glanced around to make sure no one was nearby.

“It’s fine. No one can see or hear me, not if I don’t want them to.” The queen of sirens swam closer to where Eros sat.

“Right… you’re only a reflection. A reflection could be a delusion.” Eros bent and looked into the water.

Between two large green lotus leaves, where slanting golden sunbeams shone, a gorgeous face emerged, lush purple hair swaying with the rippling water. Light green eyes perfectly decorated her gleaming, iridescent skin. A half-flighty, half-deceptive smile spread across her face. “What took you so long, Dragon King? You don’t trust me?”

“No! I believed you when you told me that Mother Dragon wants to close the causal circle.” Eros tried to organize his feelings. “I’ve locked Amaya in her room, and she will receive a fair trial from the court. She even confessed that she killed that grey dragon woman, the one who took Leila to the city. She will receive a just punishment… Isn’t that enough?”

“No!” Ula shouted, suddenly angered, “Of course it’s not enough! Don’t you want the dragon spirits to come back? Do you want your kingdom to be as it was before? Only at the cost of one woman?”

“I… I don’t know...” Eros stuttered, feeling the wine taking effect.

Ula soaked her face back into the shallow water and stared at Eros with her penetrating eyes. The dragon king found her incredibly intimidating, feeling as if she would attack him at any second. But he soon reminded himself that she was incapable of leaving the water. Otherwise, her whole body would burn.

After a short, intense silence, Ula came out again. “There’s a camp in the deep woods, at the edge of King’s Harbor. Your precious daughter is on her way there to find her scarred-faced twin.”

“How… How do you know?” Eros was bewildered.

“I’ve got eyes everywhere, dragon king.” The Ula’s reflection suddenly turned to the side, as if someone was speaking to her. “I need to go. Something urgent has come up.” Then, she remarked to Eros, “Your daughter should be halfway there. Follow her, and you will make your decision for the righteous course of your kingdom.”

Ula disappeared, leaving Eros alone in the garden again. Why wasn’t he informed that there was a camp in the deep woods? The Royal Garrison would never camp there, as it wouldn’t be necessary. The distance between the two locations was shorter than a mile. It was also unlawful for any other group to camp within their jurisdiction. *Who had the guts for this, especially during a lockdown?

He paced toward the main palace and yelled into the air, struggling between being angry at Dagen and angry at himself. “Dagen! Where are you!”

A servant tentatively came forward and bowed to the king, “The prince just left.”

“Did he mention where?” Eros asked impatiently.

“No,” the servant shook his head, trying to recall what he had heard when he passed Dagen and Rina earlier, “Only that he went to check on the city. He reported that wolves had been spotted.”

Eros’ face went dark at once. He waved the servant off and strode back and forth in the yard.

Then, he shifted and raced towards the deep woods, hoping his worst fear wouldn’t become a reality.

--

Dagen had arrived at the area where wolves had been spotted, but he saw nothing. He then checked the dock where the wolf boy had been found, yet the boy had disappeared. A slim old wench, selling fried food across the dock, said she had witnessed the poor boy being taken by a man in black wool cloak. The hood was too large to see his face clearly. He threw the body on a large carriage, along with a chest. Before anyone knew what had happened, he spurred the horse and disappeared.

*Well, that certainly narrowed it down!

Dagen decided to return to the Royal Garrison, to see whether the knights had more information about the wolves lurking in the city.

As he stepped onto a narrow lane and prepared to shift, he was suddenly knocked down from behind from a hard blow on the back of his head. Dagen collapsed at once.

Half a dozen men loomed around him, blocking his way in front and behind him. They were all dressed in dark wool cloaks with large hoods. He couldn’t see any of the faces. He could only make out their thick leather boots emblazoned with wolf symbols, jumping out at him. Right before he blacked out, he strained to stay awake and widened his eyes.

He saw a man walk forward toward him and pull off his hood. His face lit up with a cynical smile. Another man beside him said respectfully, “Ulric, this man has been checking into the whereabouts of the deceased wolf prince.”

“My, my, my,” Ulric’s face sparkled as he admired his trophy. “I knew it was you.” He turned to the other men to issue an order. “Bind him with frost rope. We’ll hand him to the king. We’ve got a dragon prince.”