The Dragon's Kiss

The Dragon's Kiss - Chapter 89 - EIGHTY NINE: A Little Mixed Up

It made sense, but it couldn’t be right.

How could Kel’s Uncle Itzae, the old man whose voice still annoyingly guided her inner thoughts, be the same person who created the Dragon Emperor?

“He still has ties to The Yellow Marguerite, however,” Lila continued her explanation. “Which must be why Soren got confused.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Kel replied quietly. “He told me the Dragon Emperor is more or less one of these people.”

“No,” Lila responded firmly. “His parents were both born here, but he is not one of us. A person’s belonging isn’t just about their genetic lineage.”

“Ah, ok.”

Kel was getting even more confused. Soren had mentioned that the Dragon Emperor was seen as an outcast among the people of Subterra, but did they go so far as to deny his Subterran blood?

Lila’s words about belonging being more than just lineage weren’t necessarily wrong, but surely one’s heritage can’t be cast aside just because of their mindset. Even if the emperor had disagreed with the people here, as any sane person would, how could they refuse to even claim him as one of their own?

“It’s Uncle that still ties him here,” Lila went on. “He forced Calix to make a pact that he would never reveal what he knew or actively seek to harm these people.”

“So the emperor can’t bring down The Yellow Marguerite not because he’s incapable, but because he promised not to?” Kel questioned.

“Mmm. That’s right,” Lila nodded.

She paused for a second before insisting again, “but that doesn’t mean we aided him in his rebellion, and it doesn’t mean we’d aid anyone else with ambitions for the throne.”

Someone else with ambitions for the throne like Soren? Kel wondered.

The motives behind man’s desperation for her to help him take over the empire were becoming more and more clear.

He couldn’t do it without her. 

Though he had this entire underground world in the palm of his hand, coupled with political amnesty pledged by the emperor, he was powerless in achieving his goals. 

“Can you tell me more about Soren?” Kel asked hesitantly.

The librarian was reluctant to speak on the matter, and only revealed a small amount of information to Kel. Apparently, though Lila claimed otherwise, political games and the fear of a tyrant had just as much hold in Subterra as they did in Serin.

From what Kel gathered from the woman’s short and vague explanation, a revolution had taken place under the surface at the same time the emperor began his revolution. When the dust settled, Calix wasn’t the only new ruler being crowned. His half brother, Soren, was receiving the same honor down in Subterra.

They each asserted themselves in different places, but each brother had the same goal in mind: uniting the continent once again. Soren wasn’t powerful enough to disrupt Calix’s doings on the surface, and Calix was already bound under oath not to interfere with Soren’s doings.

Their only hope of beating the other to their goal was finding the person they’d learned about from the time they were young.

Halrad’s heir.

“So the emperor.. He didn’t believe in the legends either?” Kel questioned as Lila finished speaking.

“From what I know of my Uncle, there’s no way Calix doesn’t believe in the true heir,” the librarian murmured. “He just doesn’t believe in us.”