Dissolution

It didn’t take long for word of a dragon-slaying to spread. Rumor whispered quickly in excitement, curiosity, and fear. Housewives spread tales of heroes struggling greatly against adversity, higher officials called them rebels and threats. Each embellished retelling did nothing but cause him to grimace in irritation.

He paced around the library, the floorboards squeaking under his boots. Outside came the echoing of rushed footsteps, the door flung open to a heavy breathing maid clutching a rolled-up paper in a tight fist. She held the paper out towards him.

“Pardon for the intrusion, but we finally got word back from the scouts. They’re waiting for you in the dining hall.” the maid ducked out of the library as she quietly shut the door behind her.

The dining hall was grand with high ceilings and wide stained glass windows. The ornately carved table was spacious and decorated with fancy vases of exotic flowers and woven placemats. A silver tea set sat in front of the pair, matching cups remained untouched as they were too busy chatting back and forth about the fancy décor. The man strode into the dining hall breaking their conversation easily much to the displeasure of the guests. He stared them down over his nose as he quietly assessed them.

“I would’ve imagined dragon slayers to be much more…” he made a circling motion with his hand as he thought of the word, “imposing. I suppose, however, one cannot believe every rumor that runs around.”

He took a seat across from them along with a cup, adding in a generous amount of sugar before the tea and earning a quiet giggle.

“Who would’ve expected the heir to the throne would have such a sweet tooth.”

He ignored her comment as he took to stirring his tea, his brow furrowing in thought. He paused to look her in the face, a disgustingly cold pit growing in his stomach as he met her eyes. Revulsion curled his lip as he turned his attention to her companion.

”You are really the ones who slew Levnyth?”

“Not exactly.” he lightly tugged at the knotted sleeve that dangled uselessly.

Without even thinking about it, the prince grimaced again as he touched the patch covering his eye, “then you mean to tell me my sources were incorrect?”

“Again, not exactly. I mean, I was there when she killed it, but-“ he was cut off by a loud commotion coming from the other end of the dining hall.

Two burly guards escorted in an irate woman accompanied by a younger man with a heavily pregnant woman on his arm. The young man was trying hard to get the woman to relax as she complained ever louder much to his embarrassment.

“Sir, the scouts arrived with the rest of them.”

“Had I known, I would’ve made more appropriate accommodations…” the prince muttered to himself as he took a chair over to the pregnant woman, “tell a maid to bring in a fresh teapot and perhaps a blanket.”

He turned his attention away from the others as he busied himself making sure the young woman was properly comfortable. The other woman loudly scooted a chair away from the table to seat herself. She gave the other party a quick glance before looking away with an annoyed look, the others gave her a meek wave and an amused giggle.

“So, are you going to tell us what you wanted to bring us all this way for? Your little bloodhounds refused to take a simple ‘no’ no matter how many times they were told. You had us drag my daughter-in-law all this way. You know my grandchild is due any day, right? I really hope you have a reason beyond a weird get-together for this.”

“Mother, please relax. I’m sure he had his reasons.” the younger man pleaded with her.

The prince cleared his throat and looked back at her after finishing helping tuck the blanket around the woman and taking his own seat back.

“Yes, I ought to finally get to the point.” he looked at the small party before him as he folded his hands together in front of him on the table, “I’m prepared to compensate handsomely regardless of the outcome because of the stakes of what I’m asking of you all.”

The small group tensed up at his words.

The prince continued on, “Even if you decide to decline my offer, I will still send you home with pay for your efforts, as I find that only fair. I fully understand why you may decline me. Anyway, I would like your help with rescuing my younger sister as I feel you might be the only ones capable of helping.”

“You want us to help find your little sister? Why not send out one of your little scouts? You sent us all this way just to play hound?” the other woman sneered, amusement in her tone.

“Ambrosine, don’t be so mean. Let him finish…” her companion interjected.

The prince seemed unfazed by her commentary.

“If it were as simple as that, then I would’ve done that myself long ago.” He replied dryly.

“Then what is preventing you from just doing it yourself?” She pressed.

“She’s currently the hostage of Penbel’s own dragon.”

His words were heavy and silenced the party fast. Several quiet moments passed before he spoke up again.

“As I already said, if you decide to turn me down and return home I will still reward you and no judgment will be given. You’ve already done an impressive feat and I know I’m asking more than I am allowed.”

Everyone remained silent. The young woman fidgeted with the edges of the blanket nervously while everyone struggled to think of a reply.

“Can you give us some time to think it over? After all, you are asking us to risk our lives again, mind you.” Ambrosine spoke up.

He nodded and stood, rubbing his hands on the front of his slacks. He left the group wordlessly, a heavy silence weighing down on them as they all sat uncomfortably. Neither bothered to make a noise and just shifted in their seats.

“Well, I’m not sure about the rest of you, but being paid to do what we’ve already done can’t be too bad. At least this time there is a reward.” Ambrosine poured herself a cup of tea as she pondered out loud, “I mean, Rhyannon, you’re capable of it.”

“Oh yes, a healthy reward to fund our funerals. You’d be mad to take up his offer.” Rhyannon barked back.

“It doesn’t seem too bad of a deal, mother. Especially if his claims of you have dealt with a dragon are true after all.” Her son interjected, one hand placed delicately on the shoulder of his wife, the other motioning toward his mother.

“It was merely luck Levnyth was easily dealt with. Had fortune not been in our favor that day I doubt I’d be here currently debating the stupidity of this offer.” Her tone was strong in her conviction to not budge from her decision.

”Well, yes, but-“

Rhyannon waves away the rest of his words, “I really don’t want to continue this, Heinrich. I want to go back to living with no mention of these events and spend a lovely evening with my son and await my grandchild. Is that too much to wish for? These dragons are enough of a nuisance, however, his problem isn’t ours to pay mind to.”

“Would you be so flippant about his situation were it your own child, Rhyannon?” Ambrosine asked from around the lip of a teacup, her eyes locked intently onto the other woman.

“Of course not.”

”Then surely you must be able to sympathize with him, even if a little. Having a family member in such a dire situation must be so heartbreaking. I can feel my own strings be pulled ever so tightly for such a sad prince!” Ambrosine was dramatic as she sat the cup back upon the plate, a hand going up to mime wiping tears.

“Regardless of your theatrics, I don’t believe it’s something to decide so readily. I’m still not going against what I said, but if he can come up with something more convincing than money then perhaps I’ll hear him out. In the meantime, I believe it’s best for us three to retire for the evening. Goodnight.” Rhyannon and Heinrich helped Asta up, leaving Frewin and Ambrosine alone in silence.

Ambrosine let out a small chuckle, “You know for a fact she’s going to accept. She doesn’t have it in her to reject.”

~

Moonlight poured through the large windows of the library, dying everything in its light in a silvery glow. He stood by the windows staring out at the moon-drenched garden. The sound of footsteps caught his attention and caused him to turn and spot Rhyannon by the doorway.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked, tightening the robe around herself.

The prince gave her a sort of half-interested glace as he turned back to look out the window.

“Are you giving me the cold shoulder for not eagerly accepting your suicide quest?”

“No, I had said you were free to decline should you want. You have your own family to tend to, after all. Plus, given the situation regarding your husband and youngest, I wouldn’t fault you for not being up for it anyway.”

Rhyannon took a seat on the reading sofa, her brows knitted together.

“How much do you know about us?”

“Rhyannon Marchioro, married into the Scancredria family by way of Elias. Accomplished witch with unusually high talent in healing, husband’s family has a deep connection to darker magic. His family wasn’t too fond of you marrying in, were they? You still blame yourself for not being accepted and partially believe your husband took your son and left you, don’t you?” he questioned. His reflection in the mirror was passive and gave no weight to his questions as he continued on, “The other one with the missing arm. Frewin Diniel. Surviving son, and sister passed away in an accident. Mother had some illness. Estranged father. Angered their guardian dragon after stealing from her.”

“Yes, yes, nothing new. How do you know this anyway?”

He continued on as if he hadn’t heard her interruption, “The one with the silver eyes. Ambrosine. No family records, no records of having lived in any surrounding towns or nations. She’s crafty and has a strange omnipresent knowledge for someone who has seemingly manifested out of air. Though, she seems to have some sort of nurturing angle as she has been the one tending to the boy.”

“She…also smells. Of them,” he said quietly. “I’m not sure if the boy has noticed, or perhaps he has and is ignoring it for whatever reason, but she strongly has their smell and it has me rather concerned.”

Rhyannon couldn’t suppress the laughter. It was loud and echoed throughout the room, causing the prince to look at her in concern as his face quickly flushed.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I’m sorry- I just. Hold on, please give me a moment.” she stammered out between the chortles, “All the time I was in her presence I thought I was imagining the smell or figured Frewin had something worse going on than his arm. I surely didn’t want to judge had you known the state of Acidalia, but the smell is just so…”

“Distinct.”

She nodded as she wiped at her eyes. A moment of silence passed between the two.

“Gareth.”

“Hm?”

“My name. It’s Gareth. Gareth Artaega. My younger sister is Elizavetta Artaega.”

“Will you finally tell me how you know so much?”

Gareth’s face twisted into a grimace.

“I cannot, I apologize. At the very least, I cannot impart anything in these walls. I hope you understand.” he bowed, his sole eye looking pained. “Shall I walk you back to your room? It’s quite late.”

Rhyannon frowned at his response with an inward sigh, “No, I’ll be fine on my own. I am a grown woman.”

“Alright then. Pleasant dreams, Mrs. Scancredria.” Gareth gave her one final polite bow before leaving her in the dark and quiet library.

~

The morning breakfast chatter echoed down the hall to greet Gareth as he made his way to the dining room. Silverware scraping across plates was met with the clinking of glasses and lighthearted laughter as one voice recounted a story. The voice was given some exaggerated groans of annoyance as they continued on until Gareth entered, forcing all conversation to cease.

“Well now,” he took a seat at the table, “just because I joined you all does not mean there should be silence. Please, continue on. I am quite curious how the story ends.”

No one resumed talking, instead, the silence was filled with the small party placing their dirtied silverware upon the plates and giving each other tense expressions.

“Alright, fine then,” he mumbled uncomfortably.

The tense silence continued on through breakfast up until Heinrich and Asta declared their intent to return home. Ambrosine watched the farewell from the dining hall window, giving the young couple a small wave before returning to her now cold cup of tea.

“What a cute couple they are. What do you think they’re having?” she asked the two remaining at the table.

“Rhyannon said a girl but they weren’t positive,” Frewin responded quietly.

Ambrosine gave a hum, her eyes drifting to Gareth, “so, you’re next in line?”

He jolted as though she had shocked him, a hand reaching to uncomfortably tug at the cuff of his jacket.

“Hm? Oh, yes. Though, I am unsure why you ask a question with such an obvious answer.”

“No reason, it’s just quite strange for royalty to only have two children. Not to be so controversial in the face of your hospitality, but kings tend to have a number of illegitimate offspring. How many siblings do you have that you might not know about?”

Gareth ceased tugging at his cuffs and pushed his plates away from himself.

“How am I supposed to answer that question if I don’t know?” his even tone produced a laugh from Ambrosine.

“Fair answer.”

“Will there be any items you’ll need prepared?” he continued on as if she hadn’t even prodded.

Ambrosine placed the cup down and began counting off on her fingers, Frewin spoke up before she had the chance.

“More than likely. Probably a fair amount of medicine since we took such a toll on Rhyannon. If you’re willing to provide as much as you’re claiming, I believe it wouldn’t be too greedy to ask for the max amount possible.”

Gareth stood and nodded, pushing in his chair.

“I’ll go and prepare a bag of necessities. Should you find you need or want anything else then inform me, please.” with that, he exited leaving the two alone.

“So, we’re really doing this?”

Ambrosine shrugged in response, “why not?”

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous?”

“Wasn’t it dangerous last time, when it was just you two? And yet, you both managed to survive it.”

“That was merely dumb luck!”

“Then I suppose we’ll have to keep your dumb luck up.” she finished up her tea and wiped her hands off before cleaning up her area, “I have faith in you, Frewin. You’ve been incredible so far.”

Frewin frowned at the smile she gave him, it only deepened as he watched her disappear down the same hall Gareth went down. His stomach churned at her words that repeated in his mind. He shook his head and dismissed the small thoughts that were bubbling up. She wouldn’t lie to him, of course. She was the reason he’d been able to live this long. Without her help he would’ve been dead in that field, she even said so.

~

As Gareth handed over the finished list of supplies to a maid, Rhyannon leaned herself against the doorway with her arms folded across her chest.

“Might I help you?” he asked as he was preoccupied with inspecting the bags laid before him.

“Run the plan by me again.”

“We go, destroy a dragon, retrieve my sister. I pay you for your efforts and then you’re free to go.” he placed a few items into a bag and cinched it.

“Yeah, and where’s the difficulty?”

“Did you have much difficulty with yours?”

“Don’t turn the question around on me, I asked you first.”

“I feel that’s best addressed as a group. Perhaps we should gather tomorrow night first. Why don’t you go out and explore a little? You’ve kept yourself holed up since you arrived, wouldn’t you rather be out having fun?” Gareth finished packing and turned to her.

“I’ve never been too fond of large cities,” Rhyannon responded dryly.

”Well there’s nothing left to do for the night, why not allow me to show you around? The city’s quite beautiful and it’d be a huge insult to have you as an honored guest and not have you experience anything.”

He took a step toward her and offered her his arm. She only grimaced and shook her hand disapprovingly.

“You don’t need to escort me around like a waiting maiden, I’m perfectly capable on my own.”

“Of course, I don’t mean to overstep boundaries. Would you, perhaps, still allow me to show you around?” Gareth earnestly inquired.

Rhyannon squinted her gaze at him, unsure of his intentions.

“Perhaps. Sure.”

“Brilliant. We’ll meet at the front gate here soon.” he gave a polite bow before collecting the bags and marching out.

Rhyannon continued to stare at his departing back until he rounded a corner and disappeared entirely.