Roses on Fire ~ The Tale of Roses and Thorns 2.

Ivelle stared at the trees. Hundreds if not thousands of small houses were built on them. Not far from them was a much bigger and more complicated house. Not a house, more like castle. Ivelle was overtaken with surprise.

She saw many little luminous dots going from one house to the other.

“Close your mouth, or a fly will get in.,” laughed Delroy. Ivelle threw a deathly glare at him.

“How are we going to get up there?” she asked.

“Well, sooner or later, somebody will notice us, and open a portal for us.” said Adrastos looking around.

“Why don’t you open a portal?”

“You can’t just open a common portal here.” said Adrastos disapprovingly “Elle, Elle, haven’t you learnt anything?” he shook his head. Ivelle just rolled her eyes.

“Idiot.” she murmured to herself.

Adrastos wanted to retort but Delroy was quicker.

“I guess they noticed us.” he said pointing at five small dots coming towards them. As they came closer, they grew bigger and bigger, and by the time they reached the ground they looked like normal people...with shiny dragonfly wings...

“What are you doing here?” asked a man, standing in front of the others. He had pale skin, just like every other elf and fairy, blond hair, and green eyes. He had sky blue wings, wore matte green armour and was holding a spear in his hand. He had a sword and two smaller knives on his belt too.

“Nice to see you too Barclay.” said Adrastos with pretended politeness.

“What are you doing here?” repeated Barclay with slight anger in his voice.

“We brought a gift to the Council.” lifted Delroy the bag. Barclay looked at him, then at the bag, then back at Adrastos. He then turned around, gave silent orders to his men, opened a portal, and disappeared. For a few minutes everyone stood in silence.

“Well, we have a nice weather today, haven’t we?” asked Adrastos with a pretended smile. The soldiers stayed silent. ” How’s the family Jaromir?” A brown-haired fairy with emerald wings looked at him but said nothing. “Nice chat.” murmured Adrastos and changed looks with Delroy.

After a while, Barclay finally came back.

“Follow me.” he said and walked back through the portal. Ivelle, Delroy and Adrastos followed him, with the two other soldiers behind them.

They arrived in a huge room. In its middle was a great, circular table. Around it, were sitting the royals of Sanctuary. Ivelle recognised nearly all of them: Áedh and his father Dragomir from the dragons, Queen Branka, and her son Balderic, from Abonwan, King Xaun, Pádraig, Hagan and Cirillo from the elves as well as the human soldier Chavdar and the dwarf king Sorin. She looked around. There were no signs of Lord Vortigern or his sister Giselle, only Merle represented the sorcerers.

There were unfamiliar faces in the Council too: a short and stout dwarf, with messy black hair and beard, and a tall and slim man, seemingly human, dressed in red.

“Your Majesties, Your Highnesses.” bowed Barclay and quickly sat down next to his king.

“Prince Adrastos, Lady Ivelle, Lord Delroy.” nodded Xaun towards them “What brings you here?”

“We brought you something.” said Adrastos and took the bag from Delroy. He walked up to the table, put the bag down and picked out the sword.

“Impossible.” said Cirillo.

“Not at all, cousin.” He said with a grin “Not at all. This is our key to winning the war.”

King Dragomir stared at the sword for a minute then spoke up.

“Sit down you three.” he said nodding his head towards two empty seats “This changes everything.”

Adrastos and Delroy started their ways towards the seats, and Ivelle followed them uncertainly. Adrastos sat down, while Delroy stopped a few meters behind them. Ivelle sat next to Adrastos.

“Well then.” said Cirillo “I think that we can attack the forces of Merikh.”

“I agree.” said the dwarf king “Let’s end this war now. It was enough.” the other dwarf next to him nodded fiercely. Everyone started saying their agreements, and talking about new plans, while Adrastos just examined the map on the table. Just like him King Xaun sat silently.

After a while, the debate turned into shouting and quarrelling.

“You’re all wrong.” shouted Adrastos while standing up “You can’t attack Merikh.”

“And why not?” asked Dragomir patiently.

“Because you are outnumbered and overpowered.” he said calmly ” Etalia, Etealind and Drauri are the last kingdoms that are free. The others already belong to Merikh’s empire.

“Our troops are waiting for our orders.”

“I don’t doubt that.” said Adrastsos “But we can’t be sure that those who left in the kingdoms will be able to attack.

“Then what do you suggest?” asked Xaun.

“There are three other Kingdoms that could help. Not to mention the sorcerers of the Ice Lands.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Chavdar.

“The Forgotten Lands.” nodded Dragomir. “Good idea, but they won’t help.”

“They can be convinced.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Prince Balderic. The young boy, around the age of Ivelle, or maybe younger, looked like he would be more than happy to be anywhere else. His mother threw him a deathly glare but said nothing.

“On the other side of the mountains, there are three more kingdoms, Marmoris, Lillaleux, and Prigon, and also a city-state Hiwaya. There was a war between them and the Kingdoms of Sanctuary. Your people won and made sure that everyone would forget the others.” said Adrastos simply, looking him in the eye.

“That’s outrageous!” claimed the dwarf king, standing up.

“How could we convince them?” asked Cirillo more calmly than ever before. Ivelle looked at him, and that was when she noticed it: he had a crown on his head. Not the one he was wearing during the summer ball; the one his father used to wear. Ivelle had a very bad feeling.

“The alvens can be persuaded. They are fairy-kind.” answered Adrastos, not paying attention to the murmuring dwarf king.

“And more pacifists than the fairies have ever been.” said Dragomir.

“Maybe, but they are still related to us. And we all know that means a lot to them.”

“At least meant.” retorted Dragomir.

“Excuse me for saying this, but you’re being more negative than ever before, King Dragomir.” said Adrastos throwing a glare at the king “Anyway, Lillaleux and Prigon will be tough nuts to crack. But it worth a try.”

“I agree.” nodded Xaun. “But we’ll have to be very convincing. ”

Adrastos nodded.

“Yes, we have to. That’s why I’ll be the one talking to them.”

“And why’s that?” asked Chavdar eyeing Adrastos dangerously.

“I know them. I daresay they even like me. I have a good relationship with King Muireach and Queen Ingemar. ” he looked at Ivelle.

“It’s true. When we were there, the alvens were very friendly with him.” she said looking around the table.

“The Alvens are friendly with everyone.” said Xaun.

“Maybe. But I’m the best choice.”

“Fine, but Ivelle should go with you.” said Cirillo.

“Okay, but noone else. I mean, in their eyes you betrayed them.” he grinned. The dwarves started murmuring again and so did the humans.

“What about Prigon and Lillaleux?” asked Queen Branka.

“Good question. The regent will never agree with our plans.” said Adrastos.

“I think we should first talk to the Alvens. Then we can think about the other two later.” said Dragomir looking at Xaun.

“I agree.” he nodded in agreement “Let’s resume this discussion tomorrow.” he stood up and walked towards the door. “Barclay, give rooms to our new guests.”