Timeline: a Wings of Fire fanfiction (COMPLETED)

37.

Clearsight

"Your tribe just finished tearing apart my kingdom with your petty wars. What more do you want now?"

Queen Scorpion glowers at me. Just being around this dragon gives me a headache--I can't imagine what it must be like for Darkstalker, hearing all the angry thoughts in this room right now.

"Your Majesty--" I start, shuffling my stack of notes on her I took while we were in the Mud Kingdom.

It's like the queen barely hears me. "Don't try to deny it.  You took advantage of a desperate situation my kingdom was in. You and the IceWings used it as the land you could trash without any consequence whatsoever in your war. You knew we had no choice but to accept your gold. I'm not blaming that on you specifically, but I am saying that my kingdom has been through a lot. And you are going to have to give me one heck of a reason to make me consider getting my tribe involved in a war again. We're doing better than we have been doing in years, and I am not willing to risk that peace just because another tribe came and begged at my feet again. We're a different tribe now--and we're not your underlings any longer."

I open my mouth to retort. Queen Vigilance shushes me with her talon. (I hate it when she does that.)

"Excuse me? The NightWing tribe is one of the main reasons your puny tribe has been able to get back on its feet," she hisses. "You know we could cut you off from your lifeblood at any moment?"

A cold, deadly silence echoes through the room.

"Actually," Queen Scorpion says calmly, pressing her talons against the table, "You can't. You may have given us the tools to accomplish what we have, but those achievements still belong to my tribe. And animus objects never break down. Besides, what are you going to do, raid my kingdom? Because I would declare war on you. And something tells me you're not looking to make enemies right now."

Queen Vigilance remains silent. It's hard not to smile a little--because even though we're on the same side, honestly, she deserved it.

Darkstalker pauses, fiddling with his ink-stained talon for a moment. "Excuse me, Your Majesty. But why would you have agreed to this meeting in the first place if you aren't in any way interested in an alliance?"

One of her assistants quietly slides some kind of report at her place on the table. Scorpion pauses, glances over it, nods, and whispers a thanks to him. The assistant slips away, as noiselessly as possible. 

Scorpion straightens her single ruby necklace and meets Darkstalker's eyes, with the subtlest kind of authority.  "Because I'm a decent dragon, and because I was willing to hear your tribe out in case I was wrong about what you wanted from us--in case there was some small chance this could really benefit our tribe. Right now, it appears you're doing everything you can to prove me right."

***

"Oh, hey my little squiggle-squat." I sigh. My shoulders feel like they're being weighed down by a tower of bricks, stretching up to the sky.

I lift Shadowhunter up in my arms, and cradle her to my chest for a moment. She shakes one of her talons grumpily, and I give it a little lick. "Aw, I know, the sand is all gross and hot on your talons, isn't it? Did you have fun with your nanny today?"