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Book 2: Chapter 71. A Second Introduction

He had one last chance to convince the king not to kill him. While he didn't have his Actingskill, he had years of experience. And, he hoped, common sense.

Arthur squared his shoulders, told himself to act like the Legendary dragon rider that he was, and looked i[ to the closed throne room door. He nodded.

There was a burst of wind from the ghostly Mythic dragon he could barely see. The thick throne room doors creaked open.

The king was visible across the open space, lounging in his massive throne like a loose-limbed teenager. He was clad in a different colored robe of state, of red and gold.

How long had Arthur been locked up in that small stone room? Enough for a new day to pass?

As usual, the two advisers to the king flanked him on either side. As Arthur walked in, the portal user quickly made his way to the king's side. The three men exchanged glances with one another, full of meaning.

But Arthur's attention was on the king. As he got closer, he saw the man was playing some kind of board game on a side table with marbles.

The king placed a marble into the slot, examined his work, then turned his attention to Arthur. "Well, well. An unexpected visitor. What is this about?"

There was the sound of scales slithering over stone, and a ghostly voice spoke. "Arthur Rowantree, Legendary dragon rider to the newly hatched Brixaby."

Arthur held his breath, but there was no immediate outrage from the king. Instead, the man looked interested.

"So, you are the new Legendary rider. Come closer," the king waved an errant hand. "Don't just stand there like a dog waiting for its master’s call."

Good thing Arthur had already decided on his course of action. Striding up to the throne, he knelt down on one knee as he had seen his uncle, Lional, do.

“Sire, I have come to you to introduce myself and my dragon, and to plead for a special dispensation,” Arthur said.

There was a pause.

“Is that so?” The king's voice was bland. “We have barely met and already you are asking for favors from your king. This is not the start of a promising friendship.”

“I understand,” Arthur said quickly, “and the last thing I want is to be rude at the start of our... friendship, but I have something I think that you would appreciate.”

“And what is that?”

“It is a card stored within my a personalized storage space. Since the space is a card’s power, I unfortunately do not have access to at this moment,” Arthur explained. Then he shut his mouth and waited.

Silence stretched on between them, and he felt Brixaby shift on his shoulder nervously. But Arthur did not speak again and risk digging himself into a hole with the erratic man.

“This had better be good,” the king sighed. “What was your name again? Rowantree? Hmm. Any relation to the Duchy?”

Did he not remember or was he playing with him?

“Yes, sire. Lional Rowantree is my uncle.” Arthur replied.

“Lional... Lional...” the king drummed his fingers on the throne. “Oh, yes. Him. He asked for a dispensation for a pair of cards recently, did he not?” He looked to the truth seeker among his advisors who nodded once.

“Yes, sire. But from what I understand, he was not able to secure that second card.” The adviser glanced at Arthur, and Arthur could swear he saw sarcasm in his eyes.

The king let out a long, exaggerated sigh, flopping back into his throne again.

“Very well, Arthur Rowantree, but don't try anything stupid. My man here,” he waived to the biggest of his three advisors, and the only one who was had a massive sword strapped to his waist, “is armed with every Legendary level combat card my dragon could stuff into him without his heart deck exploding. So, this had better not be an assassination attempt.”

As he spoke, the stern man stepped forward to put himself in between Arthur and the king.

“Of course, I would never...” Arthur stopped himself from saying 'imagine doing such a thing' because he could, and considering the deal that he had made with the Mind Singer— yeah, he was definitely capable of such a thing. “This is no truck,” he said flatly.

Although the king had not given him permission to rise, Arthur stood to his feet. As he did, a tingling sensation came over him, traveling up and down his spine.

He felt lighter. It was as if an invisible weight had been lifted off his heart deck -- one he had not quite sensed before.

Brixaby felt it too and extended his wings as if he felt less shackled down. It was a lifting of restrictions. At least, one of them.

Arthur reached into his Personal Space and nearly gave his own sigh of relief when it actually worked. His concentration settled, briefly, on the Mind Singer’s card.

Instead, he grabbed Marion’s Legendary Time card.

He held it up in front of the king's armed guard to inspect. The guard looked at the card for a hard moment, then at Arthur, and finally stepped to the side to allow him access to the king.

The king had been reaching again for his marble board game, but stilled when he glanced at Arthur.

“Oh! A Legendary card,” he clapped his hands once, clearly pleased.

Arthur figured he would be, since Harvest Moon Hive was known to ply the king with Legendary cards that they took from battles with mega-scourgelings.

“Yes, my king. This is the card that once belonged to Prince Marion Amberlion.”

The room stilled around him.

“He speaks the truth,” called the truth seeker.

The ghostly Mythic dragon’s voice spoke up. “The prince is dead, then?”

Arthur realized his mistake. “No, sire. Forgive me. He still lives. I got to know Prince Marion during the Legendary recruitment process, and I consider him a friend. After Brixaby hatched, Marion expressed his wish to relinquish his title of Prince.”

The king glanced to the truth seeker, who nodded and said, “Truth.”

“I wish to return this card to its rightful place,” Arthur continued, “Back to the Kingdom.”

“What a shame,” the king said, “that boy had talent, though I worried about his nerve.” The king focused behind Arthur. “How many siblings are in the Amberlion line?”

“None,” the Mythic Dragon answered.

"Well, somebody make a note to discuss that with his mother later."

Arthur remembered that all princes and princesses had different mothers. Well, hopefully by now, the woman would be forewarned of a pending royal visit.

"So," the king continued, "you have come to return the card to its rightful place, but we both know this is a bribe. So, out with it. What do you want with this ‘special dispensation’? I suppose you want me to double the Legendary rider boon to the Rowantree house?" His eyes were unusually sharp as he gazed at Arthur. "I understand that they have run into some financial difficulties over the last few decades."

"No, sir," Arthur said quickly – too quickly by the warning glance the bodyguard gave him. Arthur chose his words very carefully, though he knew they would not come out as prettily as he would have liked. It just wasn't possible without his skills. "First and foremost, I seek forgiveness. My king, I confess that in my travels, I intercepted a Legendary-ranked card that was meant to be sold on the open market. In my greed, I put it in my heart. It is part of a set of one of my own."

And then, over the Truth Seeker's announcement of “truth”, Arthur gestured to his chest and projected out a copy of his two Legendary-level cards: Master of Skills and Master of Body Enhancement.

Again, he felt the room grow cold around him with the King's displeasure.

"Rumors of your dragon's talent have reached my ears, Arthur Rowantree," the king said.

These kinds of statements made Arthur wonder if the man was experiencing dementia or if he was playing games. How could he possibly remember this, and who Marion was, but not yesterday’s events?

The king continued. “Am I to believe that you did not take this card from somebody's heart? One of your illustrious relatives, perhaps?”

“I did not,” Arthur said.

The king looked to the truth seeker who nodded.

“Truth.”

“Then you stole it fair and square, did you?” The King's voice dripped sarcasm.

“I did, sire. I believe that the sale of Legendary cards is strictly regulated—”

“If you had knowledge of it, then you should have come to me or one of my men,” the king said.

“Lung Bei.” Again, he glanced at the Mythic dragon lurking just behind Arthur. “Are you familiar with... which card was it that you stole?”

“Master of Body Enhancement,” Arthur said and to his surprise, the Mythic Lung Bei answered right on the heels of his words.

“Duke Rowantree mentioned it was missing from his card library.”

The King's eyebrows rose. “The plot thickens. So, Arthur. You stole it from your relatives, and… come to think of it, I don't believe Duke Rowantree mentioned that he was looking to sell the card in the first place. That is interesting, and worthy of my attention.”

Feeling the conversation was close to spinning out of control – if the king called Lional back to the throne room, all was likely to be lost—Arthur tried a new tactic.

He bowed his head. “I am well aware that I have made mistakes,” Arthur said as humbly as he could, “which is why I had hoped to show I am worthy of your favor by immediately coming to you with Prince Marion’s Time Card.” He hated scraping like this, but the alternative was even worse.

But he could tell it had limited effect. The man might not be totally cognizant of dates, but he was not an idiot. He was not happy with Arthur. "You are aware that I could have you executed for this, and your dragon forcefully relinked to somebody else -- Yes, it's possible," he added sharply, even though Arthur had not voiced an objection. "Do you think that we would allow a young Legendary dragon with such a unique talent to go without a rider?"

"I..." Arthur opened his mouth, unsure what to say.

"My king," the Mythic spoke, interrupting him. "If you would permit me a question to the new rider..."

Instantly, the king lost his stern expression. His face softened and he turned to the voice of the dragon. "Of course, Bei."

There was a movement through the air, a ghostly impression of a narrow dragon head, though Arthur could not quite focus on the entire shape of the dragon - which seemed very odd to him. "Arthur Rowantree," the dragon intoned, "tell me true. Do you wish to complete a full set of Legendaries and ascend?"

"Ascend?" Arthur asked, caught off guard. "I beg your pardon, but I do not understand."

The Truth Seeker’s voice rang out. “Truth!”

With a disturbance of air, the Mythic turned to the king. "I believe that this is a child who worked in ignorance. He has tried to correct his mistakes – clumsily."

"Ignorance of the law is not an excuse to break the law," the king said, then sighed and slumped once again in his throne, rolling his eyes. "But you belong to... which hive again? Oh, Wolf Moon, wasn't it? A very tiny hive. Inconsequential. I can't imagine that anybody would gain a dangerous amount of power there." He focused on Arthur. "You do understand that by becoming a Legendary rider, you will be officially slotted into the Royal Retinue? That means an oath of loyalty to me.”

This had been briefly mentioned to him before—emphasis on briefly.

Arthur kept his expression as calm as possible and nodded once. "I will do whatever I need to do to serve the Kingdom." He was able to say this with a clear conscience only because he had made the Mind Singer promise to go to another kingdom. It wasn't necessarily better, but it was enough.

"Truth," the truth seeker said.

However, it didn’t relieve all of Arthur’s concerns. An oath? He should have guessed something like this was coming. But if the king required him to swear that he had always been true to the Kingdom, or even true to the king... He couldn't.

Oaths, as far as he knew, could be as binding as a promise between friends or lovers... Or, when they were done in more serious circumstances, on the strength of a card whose power was to enforce a contract between two parties.

He was willing to bet an oath to the king would be the latter. And if the king demanded that he would always remain true to the Kingdom and to him... he didn't know if the oath would be accepted.

But though he didn't have his acting skill, Arthur knew it would be suicidal to show any kind of hesitation. This was his last chance.

So inwardly girded himself, and added, "I'm willing to do whatever needs to be done." That was the truest statement he had spoken so far.

Arthur would do whatever needed to be done to save himself, to save Brixaby, and eventually, save the people he cared about. Meanwhile, he pushed down the guilt and his inner disgust of his deal with the Mind Singer far, far down.

"Of course you will," the king said, then waved to his warrior bodyguard before he returned back to his marble board game.

The bodyguard strode up to Arthur and, with a flourish, produced a glowing orb on his palm.

"That's a Legendary-level power," Brixaby said, with interest. "What does it do?" He cocked his head and looked down at the orb, greedily.

"This is a Legendary-level oath anchor, which is binding to any other Legendary-level user and below," the man said solemnly. He watched Arthur with an expression that Arthur could not quite read. "Rest your hand on the orb."

"Me too?" Brixaby asked.

The man hesitated. "This is for humans only.”

Brixaby grumbled, and Arthur got the impression that he’d wanted a taste of the power.

Holding his breath, Arthur did as he was instructed.

"Repeat after me," the man said. "I, Arthur Rowantree..."

Arthur dutifully repeated the man’s words.

"Do solemnly swear on the strength of the cards in my heart deck, that I will join his majesty the king’s royal retinue as one of his riders. In doing so, I swear to always come at the King's call, to obey his direct and lawful orders, and that I will always serve the kingdom."

As Arthur spoke the last sentence, he concentrated fiercely on the idea that he had told the Mind Singer to go to another Kingdom. That meant he wasn't helping an enemy of this Kingdom. It was a fine line, and not a very ethical one.

The stone in the man's hand pulsed white with every word.

Then, abruptly, the man stepped back. “Very good.”

Wait, that was it? Arthur thought, and had to actually bite back a laugh of relief.

Then again, this oath would usually be taken by nobles who had their own agendas and plans.

The man nodded and strode over to the king. "Sire?"

The king sighed dramatically, turned away from his board game, and slapped his hand on the stone.

"As king, I swear to take Arthur Rowantree into my retinue and treat him as a loyal subject," he said quickly, on yet another sigh.

The stone pulsed white again, and as he lifted his hand away, it cracked into two.

Pure horror washed through him. Had it cracked into two because it knew, somehow, about the deal he had made with the scourgeling? Maybe it considered him a disloyal, unworthy subject.

But no one else looked alarmed. The two halves of the stone flattened themselves into sheets. Then writing appeared on the front, one half etched in Arthur’s usual handwriting. The other in a flowing, practiced script.

No, they weren't sheets. They were... cards?

The process took only a moment. The man holding the two new cards bowed and presented one to the king who lazily took it and put it in his heart deck without even looking at it.

Then the man walked over to Arthur and presented him with the other card.

With trepidation, Arthur examined it. But... it was not a regular card. Just a repeat, word-for-word, the short oath Arthur had made and the even shorter acceptance from the king. Each oath was in each other’s handwriting.

Looked around, and saw that people were watching him with expectation. He knew what he had to do, and quickly added the card to his heart. Afterward, he felt unusually full, as if he had overeaten on a large meal.

However, there was a sense of loosened tension throughout the room.

“Well, that's done,” the king said, bored. “Congratulations, new rider. I know that you will serve me well.”

“Thank you, sire,” Arthur bowed again. His heart hammered. Was this it? Was this finally over?

The King's attention once again returned to the board game.

Arthur and Brixaby glanced at one another.

The throne room doors opened with a puff of air, and Arthur saw the ghostly visage of Lung Bei make her way out.

Arthur followed, and the portal user did as well.

As soon as they were outside the room, Arthur felt a lifting of his restrictions. His skills flooded back to him, and if not for the lingering sense that this was not over, and the impact of his Acting skill, Arthur would have broken into a huge grin.

“Oh yes, that is very nice,” Brixaby said, shaking himself all over, as if shedding a layer of uncomfortable snow off of his scales. “Not having my cards was very unpleasant,” he added, pointedly to the Mythic.

The Mythic ignored him with dignity. “One moment if you please.” The doors to the throne room shut once more and then she became fully visible.

Arthur took a staggered step back. Not because of the dragon’s odd looks... though her shape was striking and unlike any dragon he had ever seen before. He could hardly take his eyes off her beautifully polished silver scales.

But the pure force of her – of magic and power he could hardly comprehend but could not almost taste -- made much more of an impact. He realized that he had been sharing the room with a being of monstrous power.

Being in the Mythic’s presence made him feel small; like a grasshopper trapped under the gaze of a massive snake.

Lung Bei’s gaze shifted slightly as she relaxed the scales around her sharp yet delicate-looking muzzle. Abruptly, she was less like a snake ready to strike, and more like a disapproving mother.

“I hope you recognize how fortunate you have been, young Arthur Rowantree,” she said sternly, “and how many strings were personally pulled for you to leave that throne room alive.”

Arthur nodded, falling to one knee once again. “I understand, and I’m grateful.”

“Could the King really make me link to someone else?” Brixaby asked.

“Yes, though the mind mage with that card would have to be called in, which is an inconvenience,” she said. Then her stern gaze again fell on Arthur. “And I hope you are intelligent enough to recognize that your king, who you have just sworn loyalty to, can be... forgetful. It would behoove you not to remind him of your set of cards.”

Arthur swallowed hard. “I understand.”

“Do not make me step in on your behalf again.”

The Mythic hesitated for a long moment, and Arthur glanced up. She seemed to be waiting.

“Is there something else that you wish to tell me?” she asked, at last.

New sweat broke out on Arthur's brow.

Brixaby, not understanding, bowed again. “We will work hard and serve the kingdom well,” he said, “Also, I understand that you have a vast card library. If there is any way that I could perhaps earn a visit to such a wonderful treasures—”

He stopped as Arthur placed a hand on his back.

“There is something else,” he said, hoping with everything that he was not about to make yet another gigantic mistake. “While in isolation in that stone room, I was contacted by an old enemy…”

The scales around the Mythic's muzzle shifted again. Arthur wasn't quite certain, but she seemed to relax. “Go on,” she said.

Arthur winced and then told her about the Mind Singer, and their agreement.

Brixaby was visibly shocked. “And you agreed to aid the scourgelings?”

“I didn’t agree to aid her. Just to… Look, I didn't have a choice,” he said.

“Of course you did. You could have told the scourgeling to stick that card up its tail. Or better yet, use the card yourself. No, wait,” Brixaby caught himself. “Your cards were blocked, weren’t they? How inconvenient.” He sent a slyly annoyed look at Lung Bei.

“Have you used the card?” the Mythic asked.

This, at least, he was not guilty of. He looked at the Mind Singer and said, “No.” Since the Mythic had not yet mentally or physically stepped on him for his confession, he decided it was time to be direct. “I hope I'm not overstepping myself, but you do not seem surprised about the Mind Singer.”

“I am not. I felt interference of a Rare card throughout the palace, and especially on the messenger who gave me the opening to send Duke Rowantree and his son back home. It was a transparent ploy. I suspect the scourgeling is not as powerful as it likes to be.”

Brixaby perked up. “If you know where it is, we should kill it now. I’ll tear out its cards and we can wrap them in a bow for the king, since he enjoys card sets. Maybe then I’ll be granted access to your library.”

Lung Bei laughed softly. “No. One thing that you will learn as you grow up is that there does need to be lines of communication open. Yes, even with a despised enemy. The king has tasked the Scholar’s Guild to research such a thing. It seems they were successful, in the end.”

The scholar’s were under the king's orders?

Arthur doubted that was the whole story. He also dearly wanted to ask about the five Mythics left in the world and the seven Scourge Gods, but knew that he was on very thin ice.

“I do not like it,” Brixaby growled.

“You do not need to like it. As part of the Royal Retinue, you only need to accept it,” she said and let out a large sigh. “I will speak to the royal inquisitor mind mages about reinforcing our mental shields and contacting this high-handed scourgeling. In the meantime…” She curved her head to the side and looked directly at the man who had followed them in, and who’d stayed silent until now. “I believe it is time for you to return home.”

“But the Mind Singer…” Arthur continued, “Isn't it a danger?”

“A Rare is no danger to me. Besides, it will soon be another kingdom’s problem by the sounds of it.” She sounded smug. “If it’s open to suggestions, send it to Palath. They could use a kick in the tail.”

That did not sit well with Arthur, though he knew he was being somewhat of a hypocrite.

The king’s man gestured and a new sunring portal opened.

Through it, Arthur saw Valentina’s room in the Wolf Hive. This ordeal was almost over. He and Brixaby could go home.

Finally, they could start their lives as a dragon rider pair.

Brixaby shifted his weight on Arthur's shoulder, and Arthur sensed that he desperately wanted to argue the points. With his hand firmly on Brixaby's back, he stepped through the portal.

New Counterfeit Skill Obtained: Sun Ring Portal (Spell)

Time remaining: 9 Minutes, 59 seconds...

The portal closed behind Arthur the moment he stepped through.

He heard a gasp, looked over, and saw Valentina and Whitaker sitting at a wooden table with papers in front of them, a carafe of juice between them. It looked like he had interrupted a grim meeting.

Valentina dropped her papers and half-stood. "Arthur? You're alive?"

Whitaker barked out a laugh. "Well, guess the king's messenger was a little premature." He looked at Valentina. "I told you there was nothing to worry about."

"I'm alive," Arthur said grimly, "No thanks to either one of you."

They knew he had been a long shot and had treated him like one. As such, Arthur had gone into his audience with the king completely unprepared.

He would have to learn to work with the two hive leaders -- perhaps even earn their respect.

Right now, he wasn't in the mood. The timer was counting down.

Valentina snapped something at him, but Arthur wasn't listening.

Turning, he reached for the Sun Ring Portal spell.

It was shockingly easy to activate. All he had to do was picture the place he wanted to go the most... and there he was.

With Brixaby on his shoulder, Arthur stepped through the portal to the tiny cottage he'd grown up in. The fire in the wood stove had burned down to coals, warming the place, and his father's once familiar snores filled the single room.

Arthur shut the portal behind himself.

He had ten minutes.