DRAGONQUEEN: RISE OF THE SILVER PHOENIX

Chapter 11 - Wintervale Castle

Guss looks at her calmly. "The knowledge is a closely guarded secret. Only our ships have the crystals installed."

"If that is the case then the story of the raiding pirates is a tall tale to gain the people's sympathy. The money has been siphoned out of the vaults over a long period and my advisors don't want to admit to their over expenditure of the castle's resources. To cover it up, the people responsible have retired and they are none other than the processors of your current station. The advisors have removed your privilege to oversee the vault security to prevent it from happening again. Both of you were appointed ten years ago and as I understand from Earl. So to was the appointment of Triston and the financial advisor," Rebecca sighs.

"Now that you know the truth. What do you want us to do to help prevent a future tragedy?" Guss asks.

"I need separate security reports done by officers assigned by both of you. The officer doing the report must be rotated regularly and accompanied by a magician of Leticia's choice. For all, we know the money might still be siphoned from the vault magically and we need to stop it. I will accept the same from my advisors as well. There will be four separate security reports from four different departments stretched over a moon cycle of four weeks. I will leave it to the four department heads to work out a schedule," says Rebecca.

"I told my mother the same. It will take only one person at the right time to catch the thief," replies Lisa.

"All that remains for today is a tour of my home. Earl, you have had a long journey. I shall not keep you any longer. Guss can I ask you to do the honors as well as an inspection of the vault. I also have some magical training. For all, we know the thief might not even be human. I have a suspicion that it might also be leprechauns. The weather here is perfect for them. Warm winters and hot summers. No snow in the winter months and lush green vegetation and an ample supply of shiny metal objects. Preferably gold. But I have to check the vault to be sure," Rebecca says thoughtfully. While she talks, she pulls open a drawer in the desk and drops an empty money bag on the desk, and pulls out several emerald-green feathers.

"It seems they have been busy for a while undetected in the castle," Guss replies. He walks out of the office and Rebecca follows. He leads her back to the entrance and shows her the walls.

"The problem with these creatures is they burrow holes into the ground and makes their nest in underground burrows. Once they drag the gold into these burrows it is a problem to get out. Their feathers are magical and this causes a problem for magicians as their magic prevents the coins from being brought to the surface by magic." Rebecca rubs her chin wondering. "But there is a way. If we know where their nests are the job will be a lot easier. A magician can place a tracker spell on a gold coin. The tracker spell will lead us directly to their nest and the gold can be extracted with the right spell."

They reach the entrance hall and walk outside.  They pass out of the outer keep into the garden. He points to the west battlements "Those battlements are the inner sunrise battlements and houses all the cavalry, while the inner sunset battlements house all the archers and sea battlements along with the outer battlements house the sword and pikemen. The dragon battlements as you might have guessed by now houses both dragon knights along with their dragons." While he talks to her he points at each wall in turn. She sees that these walls are thick and will be very difficult to breach during a war. The position of the castle is already strategically placed for the best defense. Not just by land, but by sea as well.

He also shows her the stables and cobbled stone path that leads towards the scullery entrance, barracks, and stables. Beyond the stable walls is a vast rolling green pasture where she can see the horses roam freely. The western wall is built past the pasture to the mountainside. Where it links into the side of the mountain with the highest tower.