Chapter 27 Drakes, Duties, and the Fog Beneath

The assignment was straightforward—or so they were told.

Escort the queen across the grasslands. Meet the royal envoy under the tented neutrality of a distant plain. Stay ahead of the knight procession, ride drakes, wear guild sigils, and say nothing that could incite offense. It was supposed to be simple. Controlled. Predictable.

Kai didn’t care for any of it.

He rode ahead, holding the reins of his drake in one hand. The beast moved smoothly over the open grass, its claws digging into the soil with every stride. Wind tugged at Kai’s coat, cool and dry, and carried the faint scent of campfire smoke from somewhere ahead. He didn’t bother looking back. The queen and her knights were there, a parade of polished armor and silk banners, all ceremony and no heart.

Their presence was loud even in silence. Every shift in posture, every glance from those golden helmets, came loaded with judgment and expectation.

Kai spoke to the others behind him, not loud, but clear.

"I’m here for you. Not them. If something goes wrong, I protect you. Not the queen. Not the knights. You understand that, right?"

Skye nodded, her jaw set. Her eyes stayed on the horizon, lips pressed in a thin line.

"Feels like we’re bait riding up here," she muttered. Her hands were stiff around the reins.

Fara glanced at her. She didn’t argue. She understood.

Revoli grinned wide, flicking her short pink bob back with one hand. "If we’re gonna die, might as well die pretty, huh?"

Nobody laughed.

By late afternoon, the envoy tents came into view—a sea of fabric set against a sloping rise. Flags bearing no allegiance flapped in the wind, while guards from both nations stood like statues at equal distances. On the surface, it looked like peace.

The main tent swallowed the queen and her highest officers. Voices murmured within. Tense but measured. Nothing useful could be heard.

Soon, knights approached the group.

"Serfs and hired swords don’t sleep near royalty. Serf tents are that way."

None of them replied. They followed.

Their assigned tent was low and crude, a patch of canvas and dirt. There were four mats, a shallow fire pit, and not much else. They unpacked what little they had. It would do.

As night came, they organized shifts. Revoli took the first watch, then Skye, then Fara. Kai would take the last.

But Kai woke early.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness. The fire was barely glowing. His chest felt heavy, but not in pain.

Fara was on top of him, asleep. Her breathing was soft. Her fox tails were wrapped around him, like a blanket. One of her legs rested over his. She didn’t move.

Skye was standing in the far corner, eyes closed, asleep while upright.

Revoli was curled at his feet, her arms loosely holding his boot, her tail looped around like a ribbon.

Kai sighed. This wasn’t how watch shifts worked.

But he looked again. Really looked.

Fara’s face was relaxed. Skye breathed steady. Revoli twitched slightly, one ear flicking in a dream.

They were safe. Peaceful. Trusting.

He thought back to other couples he had watched before. The quiet, comfortable ones. The cold, bitter ones. Then he thought of his own marriage.

The cold tone. The guilt. The manipulation.

The blame.

The backhanded kindness meant to confuse.

The way she claimed intent didn’t matter, only action. How she made his good moments feel like tricks. How she withheld affection. Twisted his apologies.

He used to fall asleep reading to his sons, just to wake up to accusations. Walking on eggshells. Always wrong. Always too late.

He believed it was his fault.

Now, he saw clearer.

Fara breathed against his chest. Her body, warm and steady. Her tails still wrapped around him.

He let himself sink into her warmth. Let himself believe it was okay. That this comfort could be real.

Then he saw the mist.

It crept along the ground. Thick. Unnatural. Cold.

His pulse quickened.

"Fara," he whispered.

Nothing.

He whispered again. Still no response.

Skye didn’t move.

Revoli still clung to his leg.

They weren’t hurt. But they wouldn’t wake.

Slowly, carefully, he slipped from beneath Fara. He pulled a few spare blankets over the girls and whispered a small incantation. A shield spell—weak, but something.

He had seen Fara use it. Mimicking her hand gestures, he shaped the ward over them.

Barefoot, shirtless, Kai stepped outside the tent and into the fog.

Something was wrong.

And he was going to find out what.