The Island's Inhabitant

The Difficult Choice

The prince raced after the soldier, his friends following closely. He led them into the same front room where Zoey and Den had met with Kevin and Noah the morning before. Tankan stood over the mantle, his face etched with rage and worry. Kaas sat in a chair staring absently into the fire. The rest of the soldiers stood about, murmuring their worries softly to one another.

"What is going on?" Edward asked.

"Tell him," Tankan commanded. His voice was low and stretched, like it took every muscle in his body to even force out those words.

Kevin nodded and pulled out a roll of paper. "The short of it... Markova has been attacked."

"What!?"

"Peace, let me read the message. 'Master Tankan, by the time you receive this letter, you will be too far away to even hope of making it back in time. Regardless, you must hear what I have to say, and for your own sake, perhaps you should sit down. Deceivers have infiltrated Markova. I know not how or when they entered, but from their speech, they have been here a long while. It graves me to report that they have assassinated the queen.'"

"Grandmother!" Edward stumbled back, tripping into Zoey who barely caught them both. "Say it isn't so?" he whispered.

Kevin said nothing and continued. "'It graves me to report that they have assassinated the queen. Other attempts were made upon the prince Connor and his wife Mabel, but they defended themselves just fine. As soon as we heard of Ursani's death, we returned the prince's children to the castle at the Winter Lakes. I wrote this letter with haste and therefore have not heard word from Markova yet. I pray that all is well and our kingdom recovers quickly from these unfortunate events. May the fire light your way, Sir Mallik of the Sky Knights.' There is no more."

Zoey helped Edward into a chair, where he trembled uncontrollably with shock and anger. His eyes filled with tears yet he seemed incapable of crying. The room echoed with silence for a long while. Finally, a soldier broke the stillness as he outburst, "Blast it all! We never should have left to begin with!"

"Silence!" Tankan commanded, whipping away from the mantle and turning his hateful glare upon the men. They immediately stood at attention and dared not another peep.

"We have to go back," Kaas said, his expression still absent. He must have been reminiscing in the moments of his own family's demise.

"There is no question of that," Tankan answered. "The real question is when and how."

Kevin chipped in, saying, "Go now. We have a few dragons you can take."

"Tankan can't fly," Kaas protested. "That's the only reason we rode horses out here to begin with."

"What about Teconis?" Zoey asked.

"Never mind that, what about our country!?" Tankan growled.

Edward leapt up and grabbed the elder's collar. "Do not speak to my friends that way," he hissed.

The prince's violence startled everyone. Tankan blinked in surprise, debating whether he ought to berate Edward for his disrespect. Kaas crouched a little lower into his seat, wishing it would swallow him whole. Den, with Hatchling perched across his shoulders, slipped closer to the door, fearful of what the prince might do. Zoey, Orrick, and Kevin moved into defensive positions, in case Edward flew at them next.

"I am sorry," he said, releasing Tankan. He rested his head against the man's chest and repeated, "I am sorry. Forgive me for my outburst."

Tankan patted his head, saying, "I cannot be angry with you, as I understand your suffering. But we must come to a decision."