Embers of Peace

1

Sarvalon was a vast walled city nestled at the base of the Valengar mountain range and had gotten the nick name The Silver City because the way its white stone walls glittered like silver in the moon light.  It was the home of the Kaldari, a guild of especially powerful female magics with the most powerful healers in the world. The Silver City allowed no weapons within its walls except those carried by its guardians the blackguard. The rules applied to all who entered the gates,  it did not matter if you were a king or a begger, no one was allowed to pass within the walls carrying weapons. That was one of the sacred laws of The Silver City put in place by the 1st silver matron almost a thousand years ago. Even during the dark wars the only people allowed in the city with weapons were the blackguard which were dragon riders from the Daragol Empire. 
After the dark wars ended, King Tarakon took his riders back across the mountain range to his empire to protect the rest of the realm from the dark armies in the wastes. Since those days, The Silver City has held no tie to any nation or king. All who entered the walls are considered equals no matter their station in the rest of the world. All were welcome and all who needed it were granted sanctuary. No nation dared break peace with the city out of fear that the royal house of Tarakon would come to its defense with his dragons and armies.

Illyria scowled as she slowly moved through her meditation stances with her blade, every movement was smooth and controlled. The sun was just beginning to peak through the mountains to the east, filling the sky with sparkling hues of purple to deep orange, and her breath hung in the chilly morning air. As she moved into her last stance the door to the roof slammed open to admit a young blonde girl wearing the grey novice dress and Illyria scowled at her.
"What do you need?" Illyria sighed as she stepped forward and collected herself.
"The matron has sent for you" the girl panted as she doubled over, trying to catch her breath, and the tall woman frowned at her thoughtfully. 
This was very strange for the matron. Usually the matron did not rise from her bed until long after the sun had risen.
"I guess I will go and find out what is so important that she rolled out of bed this early" Illyria sighed as she sheathed her blade and stalked towards the door to the guard tower.
As part of her usual morning routine she had  ridden her horse out to the outer wall of the city and trained with some of the young recruits before taking time to train alone.
The tall woman jogged down the winding stairs of the tower, her white hooded coat trailing behind her as she took the stairs two at a time and the guards moved out of her way.
She may have only been 24 winters but she was still one of the most deadly members of the blackguard and had earned her position as a captain.
She reached the door at the bottom of the guard tower and flung it open. She stepped out into the small courtyard in front of the tower and started towards were her horse was tied. To her shock one of the guards was holding her mount for her. The tall woman looked at the man holding the reins to her grey dappled gelding with a smile as she swung into the saddle.
"Good morning, Captain Winters" the man muttered as he handed the reins to her and she reaponded, "it is an interesting morning to say the least." 
Without another word she nudged her horse into a trot, his hooves clattering against the stone as they made their way through the large white stone city, drawing the attention of many of the citizens.
After about 15 minutes of riding through the large city, Captain Winters found herself at the gates of The Silver Tower. The men guarding the gate looked at her with surprise and immediately opened the gates. She urged her horse into the vast courtyard that surrounded the massive white stone tower and a stable boy rushed over to take her horse. She gracefully dismounted the tall gelding and looked around for the matron. The willowy woman with long white hair stood in flowing white hooded robes with a white ash staff with a raw crystal at its end in one hand as she glanced over at Illyria stalking towards her.  Illyria frowned as she recognized the men surrounding the matron as her fellow black guard captains. The captains rarely all gathered unless there was something vital was happening.
"good morning, matron. What is so important that you gathered all of the captains?" she inquired brusquely as she stopped in front of the group and the older woman sighed.
" Last night I received a message from one of the sisters in the mountains... It was a shocking message..." Illyria scowled as she cut rhe woman off  Before she could start beating around the Bush more.
"get to the point what's going on?" she snapped in annoyance as she scowled at the matron and the woman shook her head sighing, "Fine, I'll get to the point now that all the captains are present."
There was a look of excitement in her ageless hazel eyes as she glanced around at the group of warriors and smiled.
"Alara received a message from the house of Tarakon that one of there princes will be arriving today.  I called all of you here because it has been 400 years since anyone on this side of the mountains has seen a dragon and it may cause a little bit of panic throughout the city..." she trailed off as Illyria opened her mouth to interrupt, but stopped as the matron scowled at her.
"Winters, we'll find out why he is coming when he arrives. The note just said to be ready for him today. Now, I need you to come with me while the rest of you take care of the rest of the city" the older woman muttered as she scowled at the younger woman and the other captains hurried off.
"I should be out in the city with my men keeping peace" Illyria protested, but the matron cut her off as she snapped, "I am matron and you obey my commands."
"But..."  The tall warrior woman never finished because the matron turned on her with a scowl edged on her aged face.
"you are not only a captain of the blackguard, you are also the most accomplished healer in the city and I want to take every precaution with our unexpected visitor" the older woman huffed as she crossed her arms and the captain blinked in surprise.  Sometimes she forgot that she was also a healer and not just a blackguard captain.