The Serpent's Chains

Sabine

My gilded sandals captured torchlight in the long corridor making them glitter. Prince Cole was several paces ahead of me, his private guards with their marked armor walked in front of him and behind us.

I glanced at the back of his head and wondered if he even needed protection with a dragon that could swat five intruders like flies.

My eyes dropped back to my shoes.

We took the familiar route to the throne room where King Talis had summoned the prince. His guards came to a standstill outside the double throne room doors. The dragon carvings on the door towered high and stared at me with judgmental eyes.

I dropped my eyes to my shoes again.

"Announcing Prince Cole," A voice boomed over the creaking of the throne room doors.

I heard the prince's heavy sigh and from my peripheral, I saw him straighten up. He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. I never saw him wear that sword unless he was meeting with the king, not even when he just got back from battle.

My eyes traced the dark veins in the white marble floor as I followed Cole to the center of the throne room. When he stopped walking, I grabbed my skirts and dropped to the floor in a low curtsey.

"Father," the prince said shortly.

I stood and brushed off my dress. Keeping my head low, I took a couple of steps back.

Once the prince and the king began speaking, I darted my eyes around the room. The great golden dragon, Amonette, curled around the throne. Her molten eyes fixed on the prince. Each of her breaths sent a shudder through the room and her scales groaned with the movement.

"I looked over your reports on the confrontation with Stivalia. It sounds to me like they won't stop until they start a war. Perhaps we should think of a preemptive strike," the king said, his deep voice wrapped around me like thick, heavy smoke.

I noticed a slight dip in Prince Cole's shoulders as he relaxed minutely.

"As your military adviser, I have to caution you against it. We know very little about Stivalia's forces and power."

"You said it yourself; they underestimate the strength of the dragons. Would it not be easy to catch them off guard?"

Prince Cole cleared his throat. "If Talon and I weren't the only ones on the battlefields, then perhaps we'd be having a different conversation."

His voice sounded tired, haggard. I couldn't help but glance at the back of his head. For a man who enjoyed fighting as much as he did, I didn't expect to hear him advise the king against war.

"Then we should act now before they find out that Talon is their one great threat," the king offered.

Prince Cole shook his head. "Father... a war with Stivalia would devastate both countries. If you would allow me to speak with King Verill, I could assure him that we didn't curse his family or assassinate his heir."

The conversation went down a path I didn't understand. It wasn't my place to know about the politics between two kingdoms or royal families, but I heard a lot standing in the background.

Servants entered through a side door. Amonette stood and shook herself from head to tail. All the servants stopped dead and uttered horrified gasps.

I suppressed an eye roll.

The dragon moved to the opposite end of the throne room and curled up in a large beam of sun streaming in through a stained-glass window. The colored light made her scales glow red and green instead of plain gold.

As soon as the dragon was farther away, the servants clustered around the king and offered him trays of food and drink.

I kept my head low but raised my eyes to watch as he slid to the edge of his throne and helped himself to their offerings.

"King Verill is very stubborn and treacherous. He will smile to your face as you tell him the truth and send forces to burn us down before you leave his palace."

"Pot meet kettle." Prince Cole's words were a whisper. If the king heard him, he made no notice.

I rocked back on my heels. These meetings always went the same way. The king and the prince butted heads and I didn't think anything actually got accomplished, but when they ended, the prince usually left for several days.

"I don't think King Verill's people would support a war if the reason for the war didn't exist. The entire country is a powder keg because they think we killed their princess. If we could diffuse that..."

"Do you think King Verill, a man who instructed his mages to perform a sneak attack on unarmed warriors, would care whether or not he had the support of his people?"

I lifted my eyes at the firm tone in the king's voice. He didn't look angry, his eyes twinkling as he focused only on the prince. There was power in his words, and I felt that warm feeling again like invisible arms embraced me.

"That may be..." The prince sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. His voice held none of its previous conviction.

I glanced between the king and the prince. All the king had to do was open his mouth, and the prince lost his footing. It was almost like the king could convince him to think differently.

A frown pulled at my lips, and I glanced toward Amonette. The king's title was Dragon of the Heart, and I'd heard people in the castle refer to him as a heart reader. I didn't know what it meant. I could feel the energy emanating from Amonette. Magical energy. Could he read other's emotions? And if so, could he use Amonette to influence them? Is that what a 'heart reader' was?

"Why are you, the War Dragon, so resistant to handle this impending threat? Stivalia has decided they will goad us into war. Whatever their reasons, we can't change their minds. But we can strike first for the upper hand."

Prince Cole scoffed and tossed his arm out. "Yes, I am the War Dragon!" He put a firm emphasis on his title. "I know war better than anyone, even you. As such, I'm telling you this war you want to incite is a bad idea."

I shifted my eyes to the king. He waved his servants away and slouched slightly on his throne. He stroked his white beard, eyes no longer twinkling.

"I had hoped my son, my own heir, would show more loyalty to our kingdom and dynasty." The king's voice was thick as honey and just as sweet.

Amonette rustled her wings and lifted her great head.

Prince Cole went rigid. "Do not press your influence over me, Father!" He turned on his heel and marched out of the throne room.

I bowed to the king and hurried after the prince. Tension oozed off of him like sludge all the way back to his wing. It wasn't until we were alone in his quarters that he let out a deep sigh and plopped down in a chair.

Obediently, I knelt at his feet and began unlacing his boots. My mind raced with thoughts I shouldn't have. Thoughts about the king and how he used his powers to influence his own son, to change his feelings.

As an adult, the prince could pick up on that control and fight it. Would he have been able to do the same as a child?

Prince Cole stood once his boots were removed and stretched. I heard his spine pop. He let out another sigh and rolled his shoulders back.

"Do you think war becomes inevitable if two sides decide to fight?"

I glanced up from my kneeling position and found the prince looking down at me. Quickly, I averted my eyes.

"I do not have opinions on such matters."

"Try."

I licked my lips and rubbed my hands on my thighs thinking over what I'd heard. It was only part of the story. I didn't know what the prince dealt with on the battlefields and I didn't know the history between Stivalia and Telasia.

From what I heard, both kings wanted a war but neither were entirely sure they could win, so it became a game of testing each other's forces until one of them decided to make a real move. At the core, the conflict seemed to be between the kings, not the countries.

"I think that if two people want to fight, they will find a way. But that doesn't mean a third person can't find a way to change that desire."

"There's an idea..."

The prince moved away and I rose to my feet to put his boots away. He paced around, swinging his arms back and forth dramatically.

"He acts as though just because we share blood, I should agree with him, no matter what. And if I don't... well, he tries to force it."

I stood silently and nodded. The prince went on these rants sometimes, especially after meeting with his father. I was the perfect sounding board because I didn't interrupt and only gave an opinion when I was asked.

"He made me his military advisor but doesn't want to be advised. He wants me to fight just because that's what he wants."

"But you're..." I shut my mouth quickly.

"I'm what!?" the prince demanded. He stopped pacing and held a hand out to me.

I swallowed hard. "You're the War Dragon."

He let loose a humorless chuckle. "Yes. And my father wouldn't have it any other way. When I tamed a dragon so young, it opened up a world of potential for him. But what can I do against a heart reader?" He scoffed and shook his head, resuming the chaotic pacing around his parlor.

I let my eyes follow him since he wasn't paying attention to me. It never occurred to me that he might loathe the reputation attached to his title or that he didn't choose that path for himself. After seeing what the king and Amonette were capable of, I had no doubt that the king somehow molded his own son into the monster on the battlefield.

My imagination conjured the image of a young child enduring the deep emotional manipulation of a parent, forced to fight, to kill, to conquer.

I shook the image away and returned my focus to the prince. The more he paced, the more tension built in the room around us until it was practically suffocating. It wasn't good for him to dwell like that.

Biting my lip, I looked around the room for anything to take his mind off his toxic thoughts. There were some gold coins on the couch end table. I picked them up.

The prince stopped pacing and watched me.

"May I?" I held my palm out and showed him the three coins.

He nodded, eyes sparking as he turned his full attention to me.

I closed my fingers around the coins and waved my hand back and forth. It was an old trick my mother used to do to cheer me up.

"You don't need his abilities to match him." I opened my palm.

The prince's eyes went wide when he saw the coins were gone. A crease formed in his brow.

I smiled and waved both hands before his face, fingers and palms fully open. Then I closed both hands into fists and slid them behind my back.

"You just need to learn a few new tricks." I held my hands out again and opened them, three coins in one and two coins in the other. "A little sleight of hand."

Prince Cole smiled and then laughed lightly. "A magic trick without magic?"

"A trick my mother taught me."

"And a wise lesson, as well." He nodded to me and another word left his lips.

Instantly, the collar around my neck felt like it disappeared and my veins tingled with the flow of magic.

The prince took a seat on his couch. He spread his arms along the back of the couch and crossed his legs, his eyelids drooping slightly.

"Now, show me something real."

I took in a deep breath through my nose, the spark of magic flaring to life inside me. There was a vase of flowers next to the couch. I went to them and turned them from orange to blue. As an added flare, I made the petals sparkle.

The prince smiled and nodded.

Next, I made a teacup dance and a hand mirror speak to the prince when he looked at his reflection. They were all childhood tricks and playful spells, but they brought a smile to his face.

When the collar activated again my magic faded but his smile didn't, and I felt I had fulfilled my duty as his personal attendant.