Chapter 45: king and queen discussions

Hot under the sun, the sky clear of clouds, an object flew past the air. It was the dragonhawk. Golden and red feathers across its wing spread spanwise gliding over a large volume of air. A beautiful specie's structure like a dragonfly, its head in the shape of an eagle, its tail similar to a dolphin, its elongated torso combined with dragon-like wings, mystified this creature. Elves had rode on its kind for a millennium. A mixture of golden red suited the aesthetic of high elves and the strong sufficient load capacity was one of the reasons, why elves chose this kind as their mounts. This dragonhawk was equipped with its own helmet and saddles. It was Neron who just departed from Windrunner house two hours ago.

Series of claps palpitated beneath its magnificence and propelled the creature forward. It was elegant, dexterous and proud in the air. Neron had to crouch himself over to allow minimum resistance across the direction of his travel. The air screeched around his ears and wings drummed underneath. It reminded him the smooth excellent ride he rode on was even better than on the most technologically advanced carriage Quel'Thalas had. Every rider regarded their mounts as their sole companion and Neron was no exception. Despite saddened to treat his dragonhawk to fly fast, he still hurried over back to Silvermoon City to report back what he'd seen and heard.

He heard another flapping wing from the distance. The shadows grew and transformed into golden red. It was the same mount and the rider was the air patrol responsible for guarding the airspace of Silvermoon City. As soon as the guard recognized Neron, he nodded at him and continued his flight. As he got closer, curtain of bright light drizzled over the city and the reflection from the buildings inside the city blinded his eyes. It was as if the entire city was the source of beauty. It was no exaggeration to be known as the wonder for the high elves. Elves also named the Silvermoon City as the golden city for nothing. High walls and several arcane towers alongside with slightly transparent mana shield across the city showed fangs toward invaders and those who dared plot against the elves. Such colossal defense had always discouraged their enemies.

But Neron was in the mood to enjoy the sight and hassled inside the shield. He was soon greeted by the air patrol, two dragonhawk riders, who escorted him to the castle where the king resided. Landing on the ground, he dashed for the king and no one stopped him as they knew hours ago, he left for important matters. Now that he came back, the news must be reported back. Neron went across several rooms and halls. He arrived at his destination and asked the guards to inform the king. Minutes later, he entered the hall and bowed to the king who sat on his desk concentrating on his paper.

"Everything done? Neron." The king asked without raising his head.

"All done, your majesty. But things are not what we'd expected." Neron stuttered his last sentence and attracted the king's attention. The king stared at his eyes and asked what'd occurred. Neron explained and described the entire events, while his heart pounded scrutinizing the king's response. He was disappointed or relieved to see no change of expression, as if the whole report was ordinary to the king. The king nodded his understanding and dismissed Neron. Soon, no one was inside the room except the monarch who couldn't continue his work anymore. He raised his hand and rubbed his temple.

"Anasterian, what do you think of General Lireesa." There was only one who could call the king by his name. It was his wife, the queen of Quel'Thalas, the most noble existence after the ruler. His frown soon soothed after the queen's hand massage his shoulders from behind. He leaned on her hands and caressed it, listening to his queen's opinion. "For now, it appeared she become hysterical manic who only had vengeance in her mind. You and I both know how much she love your advisor. Losing Verath meant everything to her. The problem is we can't handle another war because of her. My dear, what is your response?"

"My view is on the contrary. Lireesa as I've known her since young, is always the most rational calculative person. From grassroot she displayed excellence in her train of thoughts. This time is the same." Anasterian shrugged his shoulders and said without worries of the possible outbreak of war. He was confident, General Lireesa was sober enough to have insights on what really caused her husband's death. "She and I both knew without any investigation trolls weren't directly responsible for her husband death. And her reaction proves this."

"How? I mean I find it normal for a woman to be emotional and act without diving into the consequences, especially when it is related to love one." The queen was confused how Lireesa's response had anything to do with what the king thought of.

"No, my love, it's the same for me if I were to lose you too." Anasterian fondled his wife hands. "Lireesa might be grieving, but she still had four daughters to take care of. She wouldn't risk her family into danger just for the sake of revenge. So, her every deed after waking up is coherent no matter what other viewed her as. It is worth thinking about her inner reflections."

"Then why she still asked her guards to personally go to battle instead of listening to your advice." She asked perplexed from Lireesa first action according to what she heard from the entourage. "Not to mention, she declines your summons indirectly. It's as if she lost trust in your reign."

Anasterian opened his eyes considering his wife's words and judged it was likely to be true, albeit he sincerely didn't want his loyal ranger-general to lose her confidence in his rule. Monarch unable to suppress his capable minister was dangerous and the circumstances could be exploited by his enemies. The queen recognized her husband's changing his breath and listened to her thoughts. She didn't mean to create a wedge between Lireesa and Anasterian, because her mere statement derived from her judgement of the third person. Frankly, the faults of this massacre weren't totally free from Anasterian's hands and Lireesa could never be blamed if she hated the royal family.

However, both of them in this room understood this impossibility, because Lireesa wouldn't ruin the prestige collected since her ancestor's time because of her unfounded suspicions. Her ancestor even relinquished the opportunity to become one of the high council members to avoid wariness from the Quel'Thalas people from mixing military personnels into civilian sectors.

Anasterian was furious when his subordinates inform him the death of Verath. As his personal advisor, it signaled a different symbol. At first, he also thought trolls passed the border unknowingly and his advisor encountered the accident. Gradually he realized this wasn't the case and the investigation onward supported his idea. There wasn't dereliction of duty from the guards who themselves were also confounded by the troll's sudden appearance of jumping over their protections. He never expected the political fights to become this bloody, because elves rarely committed fratricide on their own, since the population of high elves had been lowest throughout their history and elves cared more about each other. Their ethics and moral values disallowed violence toward one another. Even the crimes inside Quel'Thalas were very low and the punishments were very light.

Anasterian didn't anticipate such drastic plots from his opponents. He never thought in such measure because he didn't want to believe, their moral values went down for the sake of their own victory. But he must accept the current possibilities. His trust on Lireesa's character never wavered. Her family had supported him during the early reign when he faced obstacles on the throne. With the help of her mother, Anasterian could said to have consolidated his prestige as a monarch.

"Lireesa will never rebel us. I can give you, my word. Besides, it appears, she and I have common enemies. My opponents will become hers as well." Anasterian stated inexplicably to his wife and looked at her who came beside him just now. "My reign is going to end soon. We have less time before we cleared all the obstacles that stand in the way of our son."

"Every transition is accompanied by chaos. And it's our responsibilities to minimize the pressure on our prince." The queen agreed with her husband's plan. "So, you're going to use Lireesa to bring them down."

The king chuckled and said, "You understand now why Lireesa expressed her dissatisfaction. She knew I'm going to use her and naturally I've to pay the prize for my sword. I even suspect she'd woken up long ago and all her appearance described by the little boy was all pretense."

"Agreeable and convincing possibility." The queen sat astride her husband's lap and leaned her head over his shoulders. "Her response asked for a bigger price and what might that be."

"I have no idea what's in her mind. But I'm sure she has her own plans."

"Well, this clears my doubt, but her risking the war, I still don't get it." The queen shuffled on her husband and saw him blushed. Even if they were millennium old, they never once were tired of each other.

"My dear, I'm not really familiar with military affairs even as the head of our kingdom. She probably knew something more than I do. Besides, it's in a way to urge me too. Lireesa already show her reaction to the public and now it's our royal families' turn. The outcry urges us the results of investigations. The problem is there is no proof for our suspicions and the lower nobles were puzzled, though the other 7 great houses of nobility might be aware of something."

"And every one wants to regard the attack solely responsible by trolls. But will Lireesa agreed to their terms. Where is our image if we didn't respond to the loss of national advisors." The queen twirled her finger in a circle on his chest, heightening his breath and felt his heart pounded across her skin.

"We will. It will only take a long time to uncover. As long as we can coax Lireesa's anger and promised her justice. The public only needs to know trolls were the perpetrator. Furthermore, after this event, I got the feeling 7 houses might become 8 in the council." Anasterian groaned when his wife raised her body and gazed at him in surpise.

"You mean Windrunner entering the politics." The queen expressed disbelief and listened patiently her husband's reasons.

"Before I might not think so. If she heeded on my suggestions and stop her plan to attack the trolls, I won't say that. Now, she disagreed my point and carried on her thoughts. She wasn't as conservative as previous times. Lireesa had changed. But the change isn't dangerous. On the contrary, it is helpful." Anasterian's mouth was closed by his wife's index finger and the queen approached his face and whispered beside his ear.

"Enough of this talk now. I can't wait to be with you." She bit his ear and squealed later on as the king lifted her up in a princess hug.

"Neither can I." The two entered their chamber and soon melodies echoed from inside. All their servants were unaware of the couple intimate action under broad daylight.

"Hmm..." x n times.

If Lereesa discovered the king and queen romantic affair whirled around her topics and the conversation was likely to continue on the bed, she would vomit her blood and scold them to leave her from promiscuous action. She must be out of it. However, their judgements based on her actions alone would surely stun her and made her discerned, none of the old fritters were easy.