Chapter Twelve: The Argument

Crystal kept her ears pricked forward as Ember spoke. She’d signed a quick greeting to the other Ice Dragons in the pen, but her attention had since been strictly focused on the Crown Prince. He’d gone to the front of the room, if a circle could have a front, and had taken some papers from his sack.

The prince had mostly frowned at the papers, looking up and nodding to Fire Dragons as they came into the room. Crystal spent a few moments studying each new face, wondering if they knew Ember’s true thoughts about Ice Dragons. The other Ice Dragons in the pen weren’t familiar. They were older than she was, and one of them had a series of burn scars along his forelegs.  They also seemed more interested in taking a nap than paying attention to the council. 

Didn’t they realize that the council was responsible for over half the new laws about Ice Dragons? By paying attention here, she could learn what to do to avoid punishment. Crystal snorted and resettled her wings. It didn’t matter. If they wanted to spend this valuable time sleeping, then that was on them. 

As the meeting went on though, Crystal had to admit to herself that the other servants might have had the right idea. There wasn’t much of interest going on, except possibly for the sand colored viper who was arguing for the loosening of Ice Dragon schedules to allot for more break time.  Of course, he was only arguing this case for the Ice Dragons who worked as farmers, to get more harvest in, but it was at least a start. 

Crystal’s wing-tips twitched. She’d known since her first flying lesson that as a Selected, she wouldn’t have as much opportunity to fly as the rest of her kind, so she’d been given very few lessons since the probability of her being placed in a position where she could fly, and living long enough to be given flying rights were quite low. 

But that hadn’t stopped her from flying every opportunity she could. She’d even taught herself a few tricks. A few adults had tried halfheartedly to stop her, but Crystal had a feeling they wanted her to taste as much of the sky as she could before her tenth birthday. That had been another reason she’d wanted to go for a lower position, like a Castle Farmer, or a Gamekeeper. In either of those positions she’d be allowed to fly. As a farmer, she would have to fly across the island for seeds, to gather farming supplies, and to water the plants. As a Gamekeeper she would have been able to fly when it was time to count the animals. 

As the prince’s personal servant, it would be up to him to decide when she was ready to fly, but he did have to wait at least six months. The logic behind that was that, if she was ready to be trusted to take night lessons to further her Talon-Speak, she was ready to be trusted to send messages from the prince across the castle, or even the island. 

When she’d first realized that the crown prince had chosen her, Crystal’s first fear had been that she would die before she could fly again. Then she had thought of a way to change her plan, but that fear was still there. 

And then, Prince Ember had told her how he supposedly felt about Ice Dragons. Crystal still wasn’t sure how to feel about that. With parents like King Ash and Queen Sunrise, it was very unlikely that Ember had just…decided to go against everything they would have taught him.

Crystal turned away from the councilors and examined the chamber. It really was a beautiful room. Instead of having an inner stone wall, like most of the castle, the Council Chamber had been designed to appear as though it had been built out of wood.  Intricate designs made the room look like it had been carved right from the inside of a tree.  There weren’t any windows, but fresh air was carried in through the rest of the castle.

Crystal had heard that there used to be windows in the chamber, but they’d been taken out after a group of rouge Ice Dragons had attacked the council. The builders had done a good job replacing the holes though. If she hadn’t known about the story Crystal never would have suspected that there were supposed to be holes in the walls. 

A low growling noise broke Crystal out of her thoughts. Whipping her head around to stare at the councilors, Crystal saw that one of the vixens was baring her fangs at Prince Ember. Crystal’s ears pricked, trying to focus in on the conversation again. “-possibly consider listening to this fool!”

The vixen shouting was the same ruby red she-dragon who oversaw the training of Selected. Crystal felt her expression wash into a scowl. The red vixen was terribly cruel. Whatever the prince was considering, Crystal hoped he would confirm it purely to spite the vixen.

The Crown Prince was looking down at the red vixen with an expression of disdain. “Ruby, if you wish to argue Coal’s point, you will have to wait until after he has finished speaking.” Ruby’s tail lashed “Sire, with all due respect, Coal’s suggestion is ludicrous. Work-times have not changed in three-hundred-years, the farmers have coped with it for this long, there is no reason to change a working system.”

An answering growl came from a pale viper before the prince could respond. “A working system that has left the farmers barely able to move after harvest comes to an end. If we want to be efficient, then we need to change.” The arguing viper, who must have been Coal, had pale yellow scales. Crystal couldn’t see his face, but she had a feeling his markings were downward swooping. Primarily because Ruby’s were upwards, and no royal would argue for Ice Dragons. 

Which of course brought her back to the problem that was the prince. Crystal’s ruff flicked with unease as she thought about how certain Ember seemed. She wasn’t sure if his confidence was a ploy to get her trust, or if he actually felt the way he claimed.

“Silence!” Ember’s voice broke off the two arguing dragons. With a snap of his tail, the fire prince flared his wings and stared down his muzzle at the councilors. “The two of you will cease arguing or you will both be removed from this meeting.”

Ruby’s tail snapped back and forth like she wanted to argue with him, but she kept her mouth shut. Coal on the other talon, seemed unable to resist putting in one final word. “Just because we are superior, does not mean we should be tyrants. King Ash’s laws have made things harder, should we not fight to make things gentler to balance?”

Crystal winced. Maybe without meaning too, Coal had just insulted the king. One of the highest dishonors. Even if he wouldn’t be killed like an Ice Dragon would be, Coal would definitely be demoted to the lowest rank in the castle, if not removed from the castle entirely. From the sudden silence, it seemed Coal had realized it too. 

Ember was looking down at Coal with a sad expression, and he shook his head at the councilor. The straw-colored viper’s head shook as he said “Wait, your highness, I didn’t mean-” Ember interrupted him with another tail snap. “Coal, you are excused from this meeting.” He snapped his tail against the ground, releasing a sharp twang-like sound into the air. Instantly the large doors opened, and two guards marched into the room. 

“Councilor Coal has spoken treason against my father the King,” Ember said, nodding at the guards. “He has been excused from this meeting and is to be confined to his quarters until such a time as he may be questioned.”

The guards nodded, and took up posts on either side of Coal, interlocking their tails behind the councilor to force him to move alongside of them. Crystal watched with fascination as the golden viper lowered his head in shame and allowed himself to be led away.

As the doors swung shut once more, Ember turned back to the rest of the councilors. “Now then, in light of these events, Coal’s suggestion will be put on hold until his trial is concluded. We will not speak of them until such a time, is that clear councilors?”

Crystal noted that Ember seemed to be glaring at Ruby as he said that final line. Ruby’s tail was flicking at the tip, but she bowed her head along with the rest of the council. “Now then, Shard, I do believe it is your turn to speak.”

As the council dragged on, Ember found himself paying less attention to the speakers, and focusing more on how to get Coal out of trouble. He’d done what he was expected to do, that is, report a Councilor of treason and see him out of the meeting, but he hadn’t enjoyed it. Coal had been one of the few Nobles who felt at least somewhat kindly towards Ice Dragons. Without him, Ember’s list of possible supporters was down to six, and that was counting himself. 

It was possible he would be able to keep Coal out of maximum punishment, which for a Fire Dragon was merely banishment to the far side of the island, but it would require a lot of pleading. Not to mention convincing his father that Coal had used Ash as an example theoretically, rather than in an insulting manner. 

Drawing his attention back to the Council Chamber, Ember realized Shatter had finished his turn, and was waiting for the prince to comment. Wracking his mind, Ember remembered that Shatter had been proposing to add a new role to the castle for Ice Dragons. A ‘Scribe’ he called it. There would only be a few at a time, and the scribes would assist the librarian in documenting the history of the island, as well as writing down other pieces of knowledge. 

Silently thanking his grandfather for the decree that Council Members would send a letter to the prince covering the basis of their proposal before every meeting, Ember nodded to Shatter. “A compelling speech Shatter, I shall discuss it with my father.” As he was readying to flick his tail at Torch, a harsh growl from outside the doors caught everyone’s attention.

Ember narrowed his eyes at the doors, but then turned his attention back to the Councilors. The guards would keep whoever it was out of the room until Council was adjourned, and then Ember would shout at the dragon for attempting to break into the Council Chambers. 

And then the doors swung open. Ember’s head snapped back to glare at the guards. What sort of incompetent fools were they, that they were allowing a dragon into the chambers while Council was in session?

Then Ember saw the dragon who was now standing in the doorway, eyes wide, almost maniacal as she met her brother’s gaze. “Ember!” Princess Flicker shouted “You’re needed immediately, you and the Council. Something…. something’s happening!”