Dragon Blood

Two: A Life for a Life

The queen sat in her bed, sobbing softly as she held the limp form to her breast. "My little girl."

    "Darling," the king whispered into her auburn hair. "You have to let her go."

    "She's my baby, Hal," Queen Violet whispered as she looked into the pale face of their stillborn child.

    "I know, love, but she's gone."

    "She never got to see me. See us."    

    Hal said nothing. He knew there was nothing he could do to comfort his wife. He hated seeing her despair. He was the king; there had to be something that he could do. He had ushered the maidservants from his wife's bedside to allow her to grieve, but there was very little else he was able to do for her. This was the third baby they had lost; it wasn't looking as though his wife would ever bear a living child.

    "How are we going to tell the kingdom?" Leave it to Violet, his thoughtful, loving wife to worry about the feelings of the people at a time like this. She knew how excited everyone was to greet the new prince or princess, and she had been even more excited and proud to be able to present the child to them. And now that child was gone, and Violet's arms were empty. What should have been the happiest day of their lives was now filled with mourning for their little daughter.

    The kingdom had been waiting for this day since it had been announced that the queen was with child. He and his wife needed an heir for their kingdom of Trael, male or female, but once again, fate was playing against them.    

"Don't you worry about that, love. Right now you need to rest."

"I'm not ready to give her up yet," Violet said, clutching their daughter tighter to her chest. Her tears dripped down her cheeks, dropping off to make tiny spots on the blanket that their baby was swaddled in.

"I know, I know. You hold on to her as long as you'd like," Hal smoothed Violet's hair back and kissed her forehead, swallowing the lump in his throat as quietly as he could. He glanced down at the pale face of the baby and nearly lost it. That was a face that was supposed to pink and scrunched up, wailing at the unfairness of life. Instead, his wife was clutching the pale, lifeless shell of what could have been. Hal couldn't take it anymore. "I'll be back soon, darling, but I need some air."

"Hal, don't be gone too long. I need you," Violet whimpered. He filled his gaze with as much affection as he could muster. Their marriage was unlike most arranged ones, as it was filled with love. Violet was his better half and he would do anything for her. Just as he was about to.

"I won't be gone long at all, Vi. I'll be back before you know it." He pecked her lips and swept out of the room. "You rest, okay? I love you."

He was gone for two weeks.

But, in those two weeks, he accomplished quite a bit. It started with his visit to a neighboring kingdom. His relations with King Draco were tense, but Draco owed him. Hal had gone on that journey with only a handful of his most trusted knights. They needed to move quickly and efficiently to be back before anything drastic was done in the wake of his daughter's death.

Hal and his men were ushered into the large, dreary throne room in Draco's castle. The throne room was nothing like his own, which was full of light and windows with a welcoming atmosphere. No, Draco's gave the impression that he wanted his guests out of there as quickly as humanly possible. Dark drapes closed part way over the windows, allowing only minimal light in, and the dark stone made everyone in the room feel as though they were trapped there. Naturally, that made people anxious to leave and therefore out of Draco's hair.

"Draco, old friend," Hal greeted him politely, quite aware of the fact that his fellow king held all the power in their situation.

"I'd hardly call you that, Harold. It isn't like you to visit without notice. What have you come for?"