Ransom

Things get more interesting when John shows up, but then comes a message - there's a dragon with a request!

Margaret's face was like stone as she listened to the reports coming in. John had been found some miles from the city, battered and bruised. He'd been thrown from his horse after a cow had startled the war-trained beast, and he'd sustained a broken collarbone as a result. The ignominy had further inflamed tensions between Nomiris and Novidia, with war now a certainty rather than a possibility.

Margaret rubbed her temples. Harald had departed some hours ago, practically strong-armed from the Princess Regent's side while trying to bid farewell to her. Mikael, Novidia's champion, had almost drawn his sword to defend his prince, and the last glimpse Margaret had had of Harald had been his frustrated and disappointed expression as he was led away.

"Your Grace? His Grace the prince awaits without."

The soft voice of her chamberlain brought Margaret out of her reverie, and for one wild moment she thought Harald had come back. But it was Prince John who walked in, his face like thunder, his left arm done up in a sling.

"Sit down," Margaret ordered. Her handmaiden poured a goblet of wine and handed it to the young prince. He almost looked as if he might throw it away, but need prevailed over bad temper, and he downed the contents in one rather inelegant gulp. Margaret didn't mind; colour had come back to John's face and his blue eyes were brighter.

"What are we going to do?" the regent asked her prince, getting straight to the point.

"Keep Meghan safe," John said at once. "I'm angry, not stupid."

Margaret smiled. "No you're not," she agreed. She drew a deep breath. "I know we had nothing to do with Meghan's abduction. But Novidia's nobles are screaming for war. So war we must give them, as much as my heart aches for it. You are in no condition to fight, but you will ride by my side as Warleader. Is that acceptable?"

John frowned. "I thought..."

"You thought nothing," Margaret said, her voice sharp. "You just said you're going to keep Meghan safe. How will you do that if you get her killed? If her captors decide she's better off dead than alive, that's going to kill all relations between Novidia and Nomiris. Harald is probably arguing for a suspension of hostilities until we find out what Meghan's captors want. Of course, his nobles just won't listen, so it's up to us to maintain a level head."

"I suppose so," John agreed miserably. "I really like Meghan a lot. She's actually quite a clever girl; I thought all Novidians were stupid."

Margaret had to laugh at his teenage disdain. "Novidians are far more clever than they let us believe," she told the young prince. "They like to give the impression that they're simple country bumpkins, but there is one small thing you're forgetting, my prince."

"What's that?" John asked, pushing back a lock of unruly blond hair. It was hard to remember he was still so young, and Margaret's heart went out to him.

"They live right beside the Horne River," she said. "The Horne River has its origins in the Rainbow Mountains. And somewhere high amidst its most lofty peaks lies the last known home of the unicorns. The Hanovers are particularly blessed, because without fail, every bride that has come to wed a king or prince has been a unicorn. But no one outside of Novidia knows it; it is a very closely guarded secret."

John's jaw dropped. "What?" he exclaimed, shocked.

Margaret smiled sadly. In that moment, she saw the prince change from concerned bridegroom to greedy teenager; now she wished she hadn't said anything. Harald was going to throttle her!

"It's true," she told him, resolving to just get on with the matter and be done with it. "Novidia, unfortunately, does practice male-preference primogeniture to continue the custom, which means that any son of yours would inherit the throne of Novidia in order to receive the blessing of a unicorn bride. But it's a system that works extremely well, and the wives and daughters often end up ruling the home in any case." She sighed. Harald was definitely going to kill her. But John needed to know this next bit of information.

"Unicorns can also find true-silver, the rarest and purest form," she said. "It is said their horns are made of the same stuff, and whenever a unicorn dies, their horns are melted down into bars and traded to anyone whom they deem worthy of it. And since no one can lie in the presence of a unicorn, they are deemed the masters of the true-silver trade."

John sat back with a soft whistle. The greed had gone from his eyes, replaced by thoughtfulness. "And?" he prompted.

Margaret was thankfully spared further exposition when the door crashed open to reveal a red-face chamberlain. "You're not going to believe this!" he burst out, completely forgetful of his usual customary manners. "I've got word; it's about the princess!"

John rose to his feet, all smooth command. "Steady," he chastised, smiling to take the sting from his words. "What has passed?"

Garad took a deep breath to calm himself down. "It's a mighty beast," he said, his face still pale. "All fourteen foot tall and with claws as tall as the tallest man alive. The wingspan alone is fu- huge!" Clearly he had only just remembered who he was speaking to. "But it's the most courteous beast I've ever spoken to."

"A dragon?" John guessed.

"Aye," Garad said. "For so it has to be. You have to come and see it for yourselves. I swear I'm not lying; at least, not this time."

Margaret smiled. "I'll overlook the sheep," she told her suddenly red-faced chamberlain. Garad was half-Thuban; raiding came as naturally to him as breathing, and he did have fourteen children to provide for. She made a mental note to speak to the master of coin to see if he couldn't increase Garad's salary. The chamberlain was the best at what he did, and Margaret really didn't want to see him shot or hung for a sheep-thief by some overzealous farmer. "Let us go and see your dragon," she added. "I'm curious to see just what he has to say about the abduction of my niece."

Author's Note

What do you think?

Reviews

[(gone)]

Still interesting... I like the small details given throughout the chapter, such as actions done through the dialogue.

I think a good thing done in this chapter was the lore given through character exchange, and since I do not know the extent of this story, I like lore given throughout, especially for things that the reader would question while reading through the chapter.

I did analysis on someone's chapter, and I found myself asking questions, and so I suggested that some of those unknown mechanics/concepts that was introduced, would be partially/fully explained through lore given by dialogue or even the atmosphere.