53. The Last Resort

A raven was sent to the west, hiding itself against the blanket of the night sky. Eros had decided to vacate the city as soon as possible.

He had called upon the royal court for an urgent meeting. He heard everything Remus said to Oliver. When he fled to the edge of the city, Rina was just getting out of her carriage. He followed her discreetly, saw her enter in a wood house, then hid himself behind the window until he overheard Remus’ actual plan.

The dragon king was no stranger to Remus’s ambition, and quite familiar with the fact that Amaya intended to let Remus take the throne instead of Thorn. She believed that he had the right personality for it; he could lie for the right cause and use his intelligence to manipulate others. Eros agreed that such abilities were essential for a king, but certainly weren’t at the core of the job. In fact, Remus could never be as good a king as Thorn. Those same strengths could also be fatal shortcomings, for either him, or the kingdom.

Even so, what Eros had always feared finally came true. But an alliance with the northern wolves was beyond egregious, even for Remus. Eros never imagined his son could stoop so low. It was blatant betrayal, not only directed at his family, but also the whole kingdom. Remus had disrespected his kingdom, broken ancient rules, and put every dragon descendant’s life in danger.

He pushed the heavy door open. A dozen old, wrinkled men sat in a semi-circle. Unwilling to waste another second, Eros walked to the center of the room and announced to the crowd, “Gentlemen, thank you for coming on such short notice. It’s been a while since we last gathered here.” He scanned each face surrounding him. He had memorized their faces’ every detail and burned them in his mind. But with no exception, each of them seemed to have aged a great deal. “But our city will soon be under attack. I’m afraid that the palace is no longer safe either.” Eros realized how hopeless it was as soon as he said it out loud; the most secure and stately dragon palace would soon face a great danger—for the first time in centuries.

“Attacked by whom?” Lupin, the most respected master in the court asked, confused.

“Believe it or not, by the northern werewolves,” Eros said, trying to restrain his despair, “Remus led them in.”

“That can’t be!” several men objected, “Prince Remus would never work with the wolves and bring them into the city!”

“We all should’ve known better and prepared for this… but—” Eros said before he was cut off by Lupin,

“We should wait for Remus to return to the palace and ask him in person, instead of accusing him without proof.”

The others echoed in agreement.

Eros shouted to quell the noise, “If you don’t believe me, then go to the edge of the city, cross the marsh, and see it with your own eyes! But you don’t have the time to do that, for you don’t have wings anymore, nor do the innocent citizens! A whole army of werewolves is coming! We have to vacate the city and evacuate the citizens!”

“But it was you who decreed a lockdown in the first place!” Lupin quipped, “People will be confused! And where would they go anyway? If what you say is true, we don’t even know the werewolves’ true purpose. What if they never planned to attack?”

“You think they simply wanted to have some fun, camping at the edge of the capital of the dragon kingdom?” Eros asked, angrily.

“What I am saying is, they wouldn’t dare make a move if they’re in their right minds. The golden knights are not to be trifled with, even without their dragon spirits. They could still easily crush those mangy wolves…”

Suddenly, Eros realized that, no matter what he said, the court would never take his side. Maybe they already knew Remus would arrive tonight and threaten his own father to abdicate the throne.

Any more discussion with the court would be a complete waste of time. He had nothing left to say to them. Eros left the chamber and fled to the Royal Garrison at once.

The old king arrived at the garrison for the first time in years. A knight officer, a barrel-chested, brawny man, welcomed him at the door. “My lord, what brings you here?”

“Where is Dagen?” Eros asked as he looked around. The battalion was half-empty.

“Um… I haven’t seen him today, actually.” The proxy captain answered.

“Alright. There’s no time to explain this in detail. Werewolves are camping above the marshland at the city's edge,” Eros said in a serious tone, “Tell the guys to evacuate every citizen in the city immediately.”

“What?” the captain asked in wonder, “Is something wrong?”

“The city will soon be attacked. Order the knights to prepare for combat,” Eros ordered.

“I… can’t do that,” the officer stammered.

“Excuse me?” Eros wasn’t expecting such a flagrant rejection of his order.

“I’m sorry, my lord,” he said, trying to be as polite as possible, “But the golden knights only take orders from those with a badge, or the black dragon prince, without question. It’s their unbending principle. To evacuate the whole city requires a direct order from Prince Dagen. So, unless you have the badge...”

“I am the king!” Eros shouted, trembling with wrath.

“But you haven’t come here to the garrison for years. I can’t take that risk.” Then, the captain quickly added, “But I’ll send some scouts out to the marshland to confirm.”

Time was running out. The werewolves would arrive at any moment. It was too late to confirm! But Eros didn’t have the badge and didn’t know where Dagen was. He could only say to the stubborn imbecile, “Take my advice. Strengthen security in the city tonight. Otherwise, you won’t have a life to confirm anything with.”

Eros leapt back into the sky. He stretched his bony wings and looked down on the city that had given him so many complicated feelings. The street flames illuminated a beautiful, deep blue halo in the night sky. He was familiar with the city’s every tile, yet he felt detached from it. An immense regret had begun to devour him.

He raced to the main plaza, where the largest amount of people gathered enjoying the nightlife.

Eros landed among the crowd. Curious citizens immediately moved closer. He looked out over his citizens, realizing how much love he had for them.

“I am the king of the dragon realm,” Eros said tentatively, “Our city is facing an incredible danger. I order you to leave the city as soon as possible.”

Everyone stared at their king blankly, wondering what he meant. They were having a great time and didn’t see any signs that the city would face any kind of danger.

One of the citizens came forward. “Why should we trust you? You never show your face to the city. You abandoned us a long time ago!”

Another man echoed, “Yeah! Same goes for the black dragon prince! Divinity knows where he is! You encouraged him to elope with a fucking mongrel! He even killed a silver dragon servant in front of everyone!”

“Listen to me! Please!” Eros shouted again, hearing his own voice disappearing in the air, “Werewolves are coming! You need to leave the city at once!”

But his shout did the opposite from his expectations. It looked like the previous instigation by Remus had worked quite well. The crowd was ignited by blind anger, and everyone was blaming Eros. *“You have no respect for the purity of dragon blood! We don’t trust you!” “You order us to abandon our homes?” “Why don’t you guard the city then?”

A squad of golden knights rushed over and urged the crowd to stop accusing the king and go back to their houses.

Throughout his whole life, Eros had never felt as discouraged as he did now. He was completely ignored by his own kingdom. He fled back to the palace, pondering how to save his kingdom. It seemed as if there was only one thing left to do.

He entered Amaya’s bedchamber, and opened the frost stone cage.

“My darling,” Amaya said, tauntingly, “You finally came.”

Remus didn’t say anything. He dragged her out of the room, all the way to Thorn’s palace. He walked through the open gallery and opened the door to Tora’s tomb.

“Kneel.” Eros tossed Amaya right in front of Tora’s statue.

Amaya burst into laughter. “You still think I was the one who killed her, don’t you?”

“Just admit it!” Eros roared, “If you still have a conscience, admit it, and apologize to her!”

“I would never do that!” Amaya yelled back, “I’ll never apologize for something I didn’t do!”

“I’ll give you five seconds to think this through,” Eros squeezed the words out, hatefully.

“You’re too afraid to confront your own regrets, Eros. Why can’t you just admit that you killed Tora and the queen of the North that night?” Amaya gave her husband a challenging look; she had long lost her patience for the man she had once loved. “You’re a dead man, living in your memories. Such a coward.”

Eros suddenly seized her chin. “I gave you your chance, darling. Don’t blame me.”

He pulled out a sharp dagger from his boot and slit Amaya’s throat.

“Don’t blame me…” he muttered, over and over again. With watery red eyes, he carried her body out of the tomb, then flew into the velvety sky.