ARC 2 INTERMISSION: ALL THE KING’S MEN
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He felt the king before he heard him. Somewhere in the floors below, Kurogh was carving an infuriated path through the castle on his way to find Asiirha. The former Shadow Guardian lounged on one of the balconies for the Kurosian ruler, putting the final touches on a message to one of the generals. With a slamming of heavy doors, Kurogh finally arrived on the terrace, snapping orders to his guards and the guards assigned to watch over Asiirha while his guard was down.
Assassination attempts had been much more frequent of late; Maeldun himself had been killed a mere week before, and the armies were still reeling from the shock. When Asiirha finally deigned to glance up from his work, he wasn’t surprised that Kurogh had more than a dozen guards crawling on the balcony, one even wriggling under his writing desk and disturbing his documents.
“Really, Majesty, is this necessary?” he asked, raising a brow ridge as he organized his papers. The King snarled, his eyes snapping with barely contained fury, and Asiirha only raised his brow ridge a fraction higher. “So good of you to come, Sir. And so good of you to bring this much….company.”
"You know damn well as I do that I must take every precaution necessary, Black Bones,” Kurogh growled. There was a spark of pain in his eyes, but it was gone just as soon as Asiirha caught sight of it, the hardened glare of an arrogant monarch back in it’s place. “That amndoch Clochvok got himself killed by being careless in directing his guards. I won’t let that mistake repeat itself.”
“Be that as it may,” Asiirha said, shooting a glare down at the dragon under his desk, “if you would please have this one come out from under my desk. I assure you, no assassins have been perched there for the past three hours.”
"Three hours?!” the king spluttered. “Dammit, we’re practically at war with those dirt-blooded peasants in Warfang! Don’t you have more pressing matters to attend to? Like I do, and have been seeing to since sunrise!”
"How tragic, that you should be held accountable to the responsibilities befitting your station,” Asiirha said, with a tongue-curling yawn. He let out a tired sigh and snatched the guard by the collar of his armor, hauling him out from under his desk as the smaller dragon yelped. “You will cease your fruitless search, young drake. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I am quite a busy drakkon.”
“A-aye, sir,” the guard said, shaking in Asiirha’s grasp. The younger dragon’s knees were still knocking when he was released. Asiirha watched him, recalling that the boy’s sire had just been killed during a griffon skirmish, when he realized Kurogh was speaking again.
“How dare you speak to me like that?!” the king scoffed. Asiirha snorted softly, as he began to put his papers and writing utensils in a pile, clearing his space to leave. Clearly this meeting with Kurogh would go nowhere, as usual. “How tragic, that you still seem in denial about speaking to me as befits my station, and yours.” The king turned away from Asiirha, looking bored, his tail swinging and knocking the writing desk over ‘nonchalantly.’ The larger Shire sighed again, more bemused than anything by Kurogh’s temper tantrum. But the king’s next words made his blood burn with barely restrained fury. “Such impudence, for one that can hardly call himself a Kuros. You spent so much of your life away from us, I’m almost offended you still claim to be a Shire!”
While attacking the king was absolutely against every law written, giving him a reality check was not against any laws. Asiirha sank into the bricks under his claws, becoming one with the shadows, passing through Kurogh’s and making his black heart stop for a moment. When he rose from the shadows again, Asiirha stood in front of Kurogh, almost nose-to-nose with the younger dragon. The king jerked his head back, almost stumbling on his ass in front of the guards and Asiirha, but caught himself, not allowing that humiliation to be seen.
"Careful, Todthair,” he said, his voice low enough that the guards couldn’t overhear them. “Remember who always bested you when you decided to pick a fight with me. You may be my king, but I would not dishonor you by holding back to respect your station and the apparent value of your life.”
”Apparent value? You’re lucky Malefor calls you his Right Hand, whelp, or I’d cut you down for treason!” Kurogh snarled, though he’d lowered his voice as well. “I am worth ten of you. Black bones or not, you were sold to the Fear dragons! They bought you, Maeldun sold you to them so that we could form an alliance with them, and they would stop complaining about us ‘stealing their magic.’ You’re nothing but the marriage cock Roxandara stuffs herself with, the bridge built to make them ours.”
"We’ll cease this childish bickering for now, else we’ll come to blows,” Asiirha sneered, baring his teeth at Kurogh. He whipped his tail hard against the bricks they stood on, sending sparks flying. “You’re just pissed because I wasn’t around to conduct business for you with the foreign dignitaries, aren’t you?”
“You could have at least showed up to help greet them.”
"I was organizing the lessons for the drakkas and drakes in the rookery, like you are supposed to do.”
"Pah,” Kurogh snorted, curling his lip in disgust. “That’s women’s work. Leave it to the queen, she’ll take care of it.”
“There is no such thing as ‘women’s work’ in Kurosia, Majesty,” Asiirha said. “The only ‘work’ a woman must do is lay her eggs when she’s heavy with clutch, and it is not ‘work.’ More like a near death experience that one must survive. And I’d like to see you attempt that feat. Not even you, O Great King, could do the only real ‘women’s work,’ as you so elegantly put it.”
"Ever the forward thinker, as usual,” Kurogh said, rolling his eyes. “Fine then. You were busy teaching the whelps to do what? Write, read? Useless. Teach them only how to fight and defend themselves. They’re useless to me if they cannot all be soldiers.”
“Are you listening to yourself, Kurogh?!” Asiirha asked, his jaw dropping open in surprise. “They’re children! The only thing any of them should be thinking about is play and learning how to behave respectfully!”
"The only way any of them will be useful is if they can fight, and kill,” Kurogh snarled. He jabbed a claw in Asiirha’s face. “And the next time you speak to me in such a familiar way, to hell with Malefor’s edict. I will have your tongue, cut and served to me for dinner, roasted with a side of bogil’viluin.”
"You’re mad,” Asiirha said, shaking his head. Kurogh grinned, a nasty, cruel expression that was more like a uka baring it’s teeth at him from the dark.
“No,” he said, “you just went soft after trying to ‘convert’ the dragons of Warfang.” He tossed his head, lifting his chin regally. “Coddling that wyrm the queen calls my son isn’t helping you remember that you’re supposed to be a heartless bastard, either.”
“…you do not deserve him.”
“What?!”
“You do not deserve that boy,” Asiirha said, his voice lacking any emotion. The mumbling of the guards went utterly still, a thick, horrible silence filling it’s place. Kurogh’s eyes went wide, with anger and fear, and the fear was not from his power. It was fear of Asiirha, and Asiirha loved it. “You do not deserve the honor of being the sire of a Seuth.” A rumbling growl came deep from his chest, punctuating his words as he continued. “That boy is a gift to the people. And you treat him like he is a half breed. Like he isn’t a drake at all. Voteil will never be king, or a great warrior, but he will lead the people into an era that will see them all thrive. And you, Your Highness, do not deserve the honor of even sharing blood with him.”
“You…you mutrach’bachtein!” Kurogh spat, muzzle tight in a snarl of his own. “How dare you?! That’s it, I’ve had it. I’m telling Feuriah you are never to speak to that pathetic little worm again! You love him so damn much, see how you like it when I take away your private lessons with the screeching little brat!!”
"If you think for one damn second that Her Majesty will listen to you, you’re thrice the fool I ever thought you were.” Asiirha turned away from Kurogh, making his way to the balcony doors.
“Don’t you turn your back to me, Asiirha! I’m not finished with you!”
"Oh, but I’m finished with you,” Asiirha ground out. “Oh. And before I forget:
"You don’t deserve The Queen, either.”
At that, and as soon as Asiirha’s personal guards swooped in, he made his exit. It was the last time he would speak to the king.