The Asterian Dream

XVIII: Family Reunion

The night found Amethyst in the Citadel's tower furiously writing a letter. Her armies had moved out and over the past few days had been striking the strongholds and towns within the vicinity of the Floating Isles. News had traveled fast, and now it seemed that most of Armel's inhabitants knew about the invasions. Dindrun had taken the opportunity to immediately decry the Imperium as an illegitimate rogue state that needed to be destroyed. The Republic and its various constituents had remained eerily quiet, and that worried Amethyst quite a lot. She knew the humans would be searching for Conrad and Fasela, and if they found them first, the Republic would be bolstered with powerful allies. And as such, she finished writing a dispatch to one of her field commanders, telling him to find the two travelers as soon as possible. 

After she finished writing the letter, she heard a knock on her door. She opened it to see one of her servants standing in the doorway. The servant bowed before speaking.

"Highness, your father wishes to speak with you immediately."

Amethyst stifled a groan and smiled. "Tell him I will be there shortly."

The servant nodded and closed the door. Amethyst then sighed in frustration and rested her head against one of the bookshelves. "What can that fossil want with me this time?" she wondered.

Quickly re-establishing her proud, confident stance, she left her chambers and went over to the High King's study. She found Malek there sitting in an armchair, looking rather frustrated.

"At least you were hasty," Malek said, his voice raspy with age. "Now I want an explanation as to why you decided to take my armies and march on all our neighbors!" he shouted as he stood up. 

Amethyst looked rather worried but spoke up without a single slip. "We have been planning this strike for quite some time. The time to make our move was running out. Two people, including my former lover, were planning on upending our entire governance."

"What, Fasela was going to depose us? Preposterous, I've known that girl her whole life, she knows how royal hierarchies work, plus she's got a good heart. I'd trust her with my life."

Amethyst sneered. She walked over to Malek and looked him in the eyes, rage all over her face. "Then why did she bring a draugh carrying the Will of Arkesh into our very capital? Explain that for me why don't you."

Malek looked shocked. "How is that possible, the amulet is here in the Citadel. It must have been a fake."

"Nay, it was not. I saw it and felt it myself. It was the real thing." She then turned around and paced about the room. "So what does that mean about us? Our entire lineage? Has our entire legacy been based on a false artifact? What if the people found out?"

Malek scowled and walked over to her. He stopped her pacing and look at her sternly. "No one is going to find out. We have been on this throne for over a thousand years, we have earned it. I have a way to ensure we find them before anyone else does."

He then went over to the door and opened it. And in through the doorway walked a Dragonborn Amethyst had not seen in a very long time. She was both shocked and angry to see who was standing there.

"I never thought you'd be brave enough to show your face in the Citadel ever again," she said to Greydor, who simply chuckled.

"Are you not pleased to see me, dear sister? Besides, now we have the same goal." He then sat down in his father's armchair. "I may serve Dindrun, but none of us want to see some nobody try to assume the throne. So that's where I come in. The draugh who has found the amulet is an old ally of Lord Dindrun, name of Ludex Gundyr."

Malek was quite surprised, but soon he began to recall his life from over a thousand years before. "I fought Ludex on the battlefield when I was but a footsoldier. He was powerful, he laid waste to dozens of our men on his own." He then pulled his robe close to his shoulder down a bit and showed an ugly scar where scales did not cover. "I made it out with my life, but not before he gave me this. I would very much like to get my hands on him."