Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 250: Draconic I

Chapter 250: Draconic I

"You―!" Hazelle’s face flushed red, burning with rage as she pointed a finger in Daphne’s face.

The latter didn’t even flinch, simply maintaining eye contact, refusing to back down or show even the slightest bit of weakness. Two could play at this game. If her sister-in-law was so keen on watching her marriage burn down in embers, Daphne would be more than delighted to remind her that her own marriage was anything but sunshine and rainbows.

Alas, Hazelle nor Daphne managed to get another word in. A knight burst into the room, causing those who were still left behind in the dining room to turn and look.

"What is the meaning of this?" Leonora asked, slamming her palm down on the table.

"Your Majesties," the knight greeted, panting. He turned to the princes and princesses, bowing down low. "There is an attack in Wethstadt!"

"Send more men over, then." Leonora frowned. "Is that decision so difficult to make on your own that you need to disturb us?"

"You don’t understand, Princess Leonora," the knight said, obviously distressed. "It’s not just a human attack or even an ordinary beast."

"Then what is it?" Silas asked, annoyed. "Spit it out and stop wasting our time!"

"It’s a dragon!" The knight looked like he was about to burst into tears. Jaws dropped collectively upon that revelation, with Silas and Luis exchanging glances. Leonora’s frown deepened, her eyebrows knitted tightly together. "It’s setting the town on fire!"

***

Daphne had scoured through the entire palace but was unable to find her husband anywhere. Even Sirona and Jonah had been missing, for that matter. She had only managed to find Zephyr sprawled across her bed, their sheets torn into shreds.

The griffin seemed just as anxious as the entire palace, its feathers left everywhere in the room. When Daphne had returned, it had already plucked nearly one entire wing bare, its pinkish flesh left in the open, unprotected.

Zephyr let out a loud squawk when he caught sight of Daphne, rushing over nearly immediately, tumbling out of the bed as he did. With his claws tangled in the sheets, his movements were clumsy and obstructed; Daphne barely caught him before he plummeted face-first into the ground.

"Have you seen Atticus?" Daphne asked the griffin, to which it merely stared blankly at her before shaking its head. Yet, Zephyr continuously looked out the window as though it was just waiting for something to show up.

She had no time to waste. If Atticus wasn’t here and if Zephyr wasn’t going to be of any help, she would need to look somewhere else. While Daphne hadn’t been through many dragon attacks, she had heard of how troublesome those beasts were to defeat.

The last time she had witnessed it was when she was still younger, way before she was dubbed a failure. It had taken her father an entire day to slay the dragon and many lives — both ordinary townsfolk and knights in service to the kingdom — had lost their lives that day.

Even King Cyrus barely survived the encounter.

A cowardly king he was. That encounter had left him a scar not just on his body, but also in his mind. He wasn’t planning on showing up at Wethstadt today and instead, had sent Leonora and the rest of Daphne’s siblings to deal with the dragon.

Daphne included.

"I need to find him," Daphne murmured under her breath, talking to no one in particular.

Atticus would be able to stop the dragon. He was rumored to have done much more incredible feats than that. A dragon wouldn’t be anything too difficult for him to deal with. If he could so easily handle fully-grown griffins — beasts that were said to be half as deadly as a dragon — without his magic, this would be a walk in the park for him with the aid of his ring.

"Stay," she commanded Zephyr.

Yet, when Daphne turned to leave the room, the griffin bit down on her skirts, tugging hard and refusing to let go. It had grown enough that just one pull was enough to yank Daphne all the way back, nearly collapsing right on top of the griffin’s body. Thankfully, she regained her footing before gravity could make a fool of her.

"I need to go!" Daphne cried out, trying to rip her dress out from Zephyr’s beak. When he refused to let go, Daphne simply shrugged the dress off before quickly placing on a pair of trousers and a loose-fitting blouse. "I don’t have time to play."

If she didn’t show up within the next five minutes, she wouldn’t put it past Leonora and her men to knock her out cold and serve her to the dragon as bait. Daphne would rather head there herself and on her own terms― maybe she might even be of enough help to save a few lives.

She hadn’t seen battle beyond the kidnappings and the maze in Raxuvia’s Crowned Conquest, but it was enough experience to at least let her not wet her pants just at the thought of facing danger.

When the griffin shook its head once more, Daphne groaned in frustration.

"Then you’re coming with me, in that case," she grumbled.

She held the overgrown bird by the scruff of its neck and forcefully dragged it out of the room. It didn’t struggle against her and allowed Daphne to haul it out, obediently following after her when she took off into a sprint.

One glance back and she knew that Zephyr was following closely behind. Yet, when she joined the rest of her siblings, the griffin was no longer behind her.

No matter. Atticus had placed a tracking collar on it not long before. Daphne could find Zephyr easily when she had the time to.

"You sure took your own sweet time," Silas grumbled under his breath, folding his arms across his chest. Seeing that Daphne had finally arrived, he got onto his horse, joining the others who were already geared and ready to leave.

Daphne quickly found the mare that was prepared for her as well, hopping on as quickly as she could.

"Hyah!"

They raced towards the town of Wethstadt, just a couple of minutes’ ride away from the royal palace. It was one of the capital towns that most of the nobility frequented, including the members of royalty whenever they were free.

Before they arrived at the town, Daphne could already see smoke billowing into the air from the rooftops― the entire town was ablaze.

"Luis, Silas," Leonora commanded, "extinguish the fires as much as you can! Alistair, come with me, we’ll get the dragon." She then turned back to Drusilla and Daphne. "Drusilla, help get the crowd away and to safety. And Daphne," Leonora barely managed to hide her scoff of disdain, "stay out of the way."

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