Drip, drip, drip. That's the only sound Summer heard, other than her hungry dragonet's cries. The cavern she sat in was damp, and it wasn't comfortable, despite being a SeaWing.
This is so unfit for a queen, Summer thought miserably, Why did I do it?
Although she was being cared for by the few who knew her location, sometimes it took a long time for them to reach the two, making the days they had to wait slow and unbearably uncomfortable. As well as hungry. The only food she got was from the dragons who brought it, except perhaps the occasional crawling crab. But Summer knew this was what she had to do. No matter how much she hated it. Although Jetsteam was constantly telling her everything was fine, she knew this information was false. Nothing was 'fine.' No matter how many times Jetstream said it. She saw the way he nervously glanced at Axolotl. She saw the way his claws twitched with uncomfortableness. And she most definitely saw the terrible beaten-down look in his eyes.
But she never commented on it.
Why? Well, there were a few reasons. She didn't want to make Jetstream worry, as he was one of the few dragons Summer could trust at that moment. She also hated to admit the words, 'Everything is wrong.' through her mouth, even though every moment of the day now she thought it. Another mournful cry erupted from Axolotl, and Summer just pulled her closer, gently wrapping her tail around the small dragonet. And that was when she heard the scraaape…. To many others, this may be ominous, but to Summer, this was one of the few good things she heard. Why? Well, here's why.
She saw Jetstream's light blue head poke through the entrance, of which he had pushed away a boulder from. Summer sighed in relief. But relievement quickly left as she saw the miserable look in his eyes, not even trying to hide it. He sludged to sit down next to her, nudging a few fish toward her, not saying anything. She gave him a curious look. Usually, when he got here, with his food and fake smile, he would go on about how great everything was, with the dragons in the army sorting everything out.
Lies.
The single word rang in her head.
Tell me the truth, her inner voice whispered.
Summer shook her head furiously, before turning back to her meal. She sliced her claw down the middle of a salmon, and ripped off a chunk to give to Axolotl. The small dragonet began to chew on it happily, thankful for some source of nutrition in her current state.
After a long, dull moment of silence, Jetstream burst.
"Everything has gone wrong! I lied, alright?!"
His words echoed around in the small cave, and the only other thing one could hear was the drip-drip of water droplets falling to the floor. Summer's dragonet flinched at the sudden noise, her eyes widening at the pale blue SeaWing visitor.
"I know," was all Summer said, pulling Axolotl a little closer as she said this.
"You know? You know what?" he asked, bewildered.
Summer sighed, watching her dragonet nibble on the fish. She turned to Jetsteam. "You know, we really need to talk," she hissed, her voice harsher than she had expected, "I'm not stupid, Jetstream. I can tell something is most definitely wrong."
"I mean- My Queen- You and I both know that the army is sorting everything out."
Summer took a deep breath, be calm. "You want to know what else we both know?" she said, this time her voice placid and calm. "That what you've been saying is lies. You even just admitted it."
Jetstream looked to the stony floor, breathing in air through his nostrils, "Alright."
Summer raised a brow, "Well? I, being your queen, command you to tell me."
"Yes, yes, I know," he paused. "Well, to start off, the Sea Kingdom is still in panic. Probably... just maybe… worse? N-not that you have any reason to worry."
Summer rolled her eyes, "Get to it."
"Yes! Yes! Of course! Getting to it. Yeah. Well… to start off… some consider this… a war? I mean, of course-"
Summer cut him off, "A war," she said softly. She turned back to Jetstream, "have any other tribes gotten involved?"
"No. I can definitely confirm that no other tribes have gotten involved," he said, his voice not as skittery for that moment, "Of course, why would they-"
"Has there been any fighting?" Summer said, cutting Jetstream off.
"Well… yes… but nothing too bad!" Jetstream said, quickly. "No… battles?"
"Why did that sound like a question?" Her back straightened, "Was there a small battle? Did anyone die? How many dragons were in it?" She needed to know. She needed to know for the safety of her tribe. Oh moons, why did she have to do that? Now her entire tribe was being torn apart!
When Summer took a breath, Jetstream quickly interjected, "I.. suppose you could call it a small battle. There were… few deaths."
"So there was deaths…" Summer whispered softly. "How could I let this happen?"
"It isn't your fault," Jetsteam said, tapping his claws against the stone, making a click, click, click, echo around the cave. Nobody spoke for a while, until...
"Yes! Yes it is!" she burst, glaring at Jetsteam and growing to her full height. "I shouldn't have done it! If I didn't do it then nothing would have happened!" she roared, glowering at the frightened SeaWing. Axolotl cowered at her side, looking up at her mother with frightened eyes.
Jetstream backed away, "Your Majesty.." he said softly, but stopped after he saw her her silencing glare. He took a few deep breaths, lowering his head afterwards.
Summer heard a small whimper. She whipped around to see a cowering Axolotl. She dropped into a crouch, facing her small dragonet.
This is my fault.
"I-I should go.." Jetstream said, his voice hard to hear from under the scraaape of the boulder being pushed.
"Wait- Jetstream-" Summer said. Too late. Jetstream had already vanished, probably swimming away already. Summer sighed, turning back to Axolotl and gently holding her chin up with her own talon.
"Oh, my dear dragonet," Summer whispered. "One day, you will live happily. No matter how much time it will take. I will make it happen." a small smile appeared on Summer's face. "Don't worry… you will have a peaceful life…"