A/N: I haven't forgotten the two oneshots I promised but you will have to be patient a while longer. The SuFin is almost finished but the main story still hasn't progressed far enough to be ready for that. And I still need inspiration for the germancest, if you want to prompt me on that, feel free ;D
„Who is Ivan?" I asked, not sure if I should like this development. But I supposed that I had to meet other members of the rebellion sooner or later. "That's a bit hard to explain, but you could say he is the local leader of sorts."
"Local leader?" I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. For a group that claimed to be well organized they had a tremendous amount of chaos in their administration. But maybe that was just to confuse outsiders.
"Yes, he has picked out this village as a hideout and he facilitates the contact with the non-human parties that participate in this plan." Mathias groaned and I could only understand him too well. There was not much that 'non-human parties' could refer to. I pinched the bridge of my noise to contain my irritation. "If you're working with dragon tamers just say so, we're not completely oblivious." I let out an annoyed sigh.
"Well the problem is, we're not exactly working with tamers…" Matthew trailed off and cast a help seeking glance to his brother. "They're wild dragons." That was not the help Matthew had been looking for, but Alfred just shrugged. This was indeed a surprise. But then again, maybe not so much. We were in the North after all, close to the areas where the last wild and untamed dragons where hiding and I could imagine that they would profit quite a bit from this plan. What I remembered from the evidence I had found the plan did involve not only an overthrow of power but also intended to put an end to the war. No war meant no need for dragons, which in turn meant that those who still had their freedom could live in peace.
Mathias had perked up at Matthew's last words, he didn't think too high of the wild dragons of these days, they were far inferior to the dragons that roamed the skies back when he was still free, but they were at least untamed and not yet tainted by a human's hand. I knew that he had wanted to meet some for a long time now. Even if only to see if they could maybe just a little meet up to his standards.
But there was something else that piqued my interest. Hadn't Arthur been sent out to investigate dragon sightings in the North? And most likely they were the exact same dragons Matthew had spoken of? If that was the case they were in serious danger.
We stepped outside and Alfred pulled out a whistle, blowing into it one time without causing a sound. I was a bit confused until I noticed that Mathias had flinched the moment Alfred blew the whistle and I realized that the frequency must have been outside of the human hearing threshold. Almost like a dog whistle.
Mathias scanned the sky, a somewhat worried expression on his features as he edged closer to me, ready to guard me against whatever it was that Alfred had summoned. Soon the rustling of wings against the strong current of wind was heard and a shadow crossed over us. He was big, not as big as Ember maybe but he definitely came close. He was sturdier than Ember, his body had more mass and his wingspan was shorter as was his tail and neck, but he made up for it with massive muscles that showed under his gleaming silvery scaled skin. Sunlight reflected of his scales as he flew a corkscrew like maneuver, spiraling through the air above us to attempt a landing. But the most notable thing maybe was the absence of spells on his body. He was completely unbound.
"Is he insane?" Mathias yelled and pulled me back in the shadow of the house and I realized with shock that the constricted space between the buildings was not nearly enough to allow a safe landing. "Watch and Learn." Alfred gave us a thumbs up, not seeming concerned at all but despite his and Matthew's lack of worry I couldn't help but to duck my head under Mathias' body that was poised protectively in front of me.
I glanced past Mathias' frame and watched in awe as the dragon dived down, catching his fall in the last second before he hit the roofs of the surrounding houses, and hanging almost vertically in the air for a split second, before a flash of light erupted around him, followed by a the sound of something heavy colliding with the ground. I shielded my eyes against the light and when I opened them again the dragon was gone and in his stead a man crouched down on the floor, a man with pale blonde hair and the same sturdy built that the dragon had.
A dragon had just transformed in midflight right in front of us. I never knew that this was even possible, I never even had considered it, and from the looks of it Mathias hadn't either.
"Hello Ivan." Matthew greeted and smiled softly, but I noticed that he blushed a bit at the sight of Ivan's naked body. Alfred on the other hand had no such problem; he stepped forward and slapped Ivan a hand on his shoulder as the other stood up from his landing position. "Welcome back buddy."
Alfred led Ivan over to us; Matthew in the meantime vanished into the house to get some clothes. Ivan didn't seem to mind that he was naked, despite the somewhat chilly temperature. After having spent so much time around dragons and especially Mathias I was strangely used to the sight of naked men so I did not really care about the sight. Mathias who would never have cared for putting on clothes in the first place if it weren't for the human's moral demands, was more concerned with my safety than Ivan's dangling cock.
"This is Ivan." Alfred introduced his companion; still a hand on his shoulder and Ivan greeted us with a smile that could almost be considered eerie. Alfred then proceeded to introduce us: "This is Lukas Bondevik, he's a Lord or something and that is his dragon Mathias." "We'll be friends from now on, yes?" He said and I grazed him with a cold look, not sure what I should make of his approach. It was quite unusual to proclaim friendship at first meeting, especially in such a peculiar situation like this. What Tino would say if he knew that I made friends with a naked man in the middle of a mountain village?
No matter how often I took the resolve to keep Tino out of my life I never seemed able to forget him, thoughts of him would always pop up out of nowhere and I would wonder what he was doing or what he would think if he saw me. And now Ivan's strange remark had brought him back again, my friend who stuck to me even though I had done my best to push him away. I almost felt something like nostalgia as I remembered the fun we had back when things still were okay between us. Maybe I should talk to him when we returned.
"Would you please come in now?" Matthew called from the door, a stack of clothes in hand, seeming a bit impatient. After we all had returned inside and Ivan had put on some clothes we all sat down again in the living room, eying each other with various stages of suspicion. Ivan was sitting in the single armchair that previously had gone unoccupied, his hands folded in front of his stomach and a light smile on his lips.
I still couldn't quite get over the fact that he had transformed in midair and I could feel Mathias burning behind me with questions about just how he did that. But he restrained himself, putting on an air of superiority as they silently fought out their battle for alpha dominance or whatever.
Alfred had snatched up the plate and was snacking on what was remaining of the food, completely oblivious to the tension around him. Or maybe not, because when the atmosphere got almost unbearable thick with silence he set down the plate and clapped his hands. "No need to be so , gloomy, it's time to explain our plan, isn't it?" Both Ivan and Mathias visibly shifted at his words, leaning back in their respective seats and tuning their menacing aura down. If they finally had decided on a winner or if Alfred's words just got to them, but as long as I could breathe easily again I wouldn't complain.
"Yes, right." Matthew who had been put off by the struggle for dominance pushed his glasses back up his nose and cleared his throat. "You don't have to know every gory detail, but here are the basics. In two weeks an ambassador from the Golden Archipelago will arrive to negotiate trading contracts between our nations. But his true objective is to observe the overturn of power. You see we have contacts around the world and bargained an immediate ceasefire with the Federation once the Emperor is dead. Everyone wishes for peace by now, only the Emperor and his underlings can't see the damage they're doing. But we have to make the first step.
A grand banquet is planned on the evening after the ambassador arrived; we plan to take action then. Our men will be smuggled into the city beforehand in addition to those already there. Once the Emperor and his underlings are disposed of, Eduard will see that the power is transferred to a new government consisting of a council of trusted people from all social classes. Every order in effect concerning the army will be revoked and we will convert the Empire into a democracy." Matthew sounded proud as he told us of their plan, his eyes were gleaming and I could see how deeply he believed what they were doing was right.
Yet I couldn't help but feel that their plan was a bit naïve. They were like children who planned on attacking their rival's sandcastle, not realizing how dire the consequences could be and blindly hoping that everything just went as planned.
"What about the noble families?" I asked; still not fully convinced that this would work out as well as they imagined. "Do you really think they will allow you to take away their power just like that? As long as the Emperor rules they can do as they please so naturally they will fight to protect that privilege."
"Well about that it just so happens that one of the head families not only supports our cause but also took major part in initiating all of this. Another one is at least sympathizing with us and with your help we could bring in the Väinämöinens too. I suppose the only one who could pose a serious threat is Lord Beilschmidt, I know for a fact that he's not too content with the situation but he's a soldier at heart and won't disobey orders."
But then you won't have a problem with him." Mathias suddenly cut in, "You said yourself you would change the order of the Empire so he has no choice but to follow the new one." "I doubt it will be that easy." Ivan said, taking part in the conversation for the first time. "He will feel obliged to revenge his Emperor's death, and even before that, if the slightest hint of what we're about to do will reach him he will do everything in his power to stop us. And chance is that at least part of our plan will be revealed, they already know that something is going on and with the amount of activity that will be needed they definitely grow suspicious."
"This is where you come in." Matthew continued after Ivan had resumed his silent and observing position. "You have to keep Lord Beilschmidt and his dragon occupied and if possible everyone else who threatens to become involved. Don't worry we'll keep the Emperor warm for you so that you get your revenge." It was bit unnerving to hear Matthew talk like that, they were about to commit regicide and kill a lot of people and he still managed to make somewhat casual jokes about it. But maybe that was just coping. Alfred on the other hand seemed to cope with food.
"Why us?" Mathias demanded and threw a glance at the ever smiling Ivan. "Why can't he do it? Or of your noble allies, they've got dragons haven't they? Who are they anyway?" Good point. I had seen Ludwig and Prism in battle they were pretty skilled, Mathias could handle them sure but it would be dangerous. And as much as I wanted to rip out the Emperor's heart and everyone else' who had been involved with my parent's death I didn't want to kill Ludwig or anyone else for that matter. I always thought I was ruthless but now for the first time I felt that there were things I was not ready to do. I had always respected Ludwig in a way.
"Ivan will be needed elsewhere and, the same goes for Arthur." Alfred supplied, not caring that he just blew their allies cover. But since neither Ivan nor Matthew seemed concerned I figured that it was okay for us to know. Come to think of it they had even revealed the spider's identity, albeit that hadn't been that much of a secret anyway.
"Your ally on the side of the Dragon Lords is Arthur?" I confirmed and when Matthew nodded I continued: "He was sent on a mission to investigate the sightings of dragons in the North. That fits a little too well don't you think so?" It was Alfred who answered this time and from the looks of it he was rather proud of what he was saying. "That was totally planned dude. We let Ivan and his friends fly around to get some attention so that Arthur would get send here. We need to talk to him about a few things and like this it won't be suspicious."
Not suspicious? Nice joke, haha.
"We had some problems recently with contacting our men in the capital so we had to think of this ruse." Matthew explained with a shrug. "It is not ideal and that you came here at the same time makes things more complicated but then again you are known to inconsistent behavior, aren't you?" I ignored the last comment and instead asked: "Is he here now?" Matthew shook his head. "No he is farther North where the sightings took place to 'investigate' and meet with another friend, he will stop here on his way back I presume."
"You have really thought this plan out, don't you?"
"Of course we have!" Alfred grinned at me, I never thought that this was possible, but he managed to grin even wider than Mathias on his rare occasions of being in an exceptional good mood. "We have put a lot of thought into it and took our time to smooth out every detail. We can't afford something to go wrong after all." Matthew elaborated, seemingly proud on their work. But still I couldn't help to feel a tinge of bitterness at all this.
"That didn't help my parents, did it?" Matthew's face fell at my words and he looked away. "We had a lot of setbacks before we managed to get where we are now. Believe me, we have lost more than only your parents, but each death will be remembered, they won't have died in vain." 'Only' my parents, huh? Was that all; were they only a footnote in a childish attempt to play rebellion?
"They are dead, why would they care about that?" I asked, I was temporarily overwhelmed by my negativity and even if it was maybe unfair I felt like blaming them. Matthew who had opened his mouth to say something shut it again at my question, looking sad and lost. Alfred watched our exchange with weary eyes but stayed silent otherwise.
"Are you the right person to ask that question?" Ivan asked; his violet eyes trained on me. "Your quest for revenge won't bring your parents back so why bother?" I had asked myself that question countless times before but still the answer was always the same, and almost tragically simple. "I'm not doing it for them. I'm doing it for me." I had realized that a long time ago of course, no matter what I did would revive my parents. But when they died they murderers had taken something away from me, my happiness and partly even my future. I wasn't supposed to inherit the family titles so early; I was supposed to live my life, to experience and to learn and most of all live with the innocence that only came with a life guarded by parents.
All that had been shattered when I found my parents, lying in their own blood, and I vowed to myself that I would kill the person who had torn apart my peaceful life. It was purely selfish.
Matthew looked at me with an expression that could have been shock. He had probably assumed that I wanted to get revenge for my parents and he seemed genuinely distressed by the fact that he misread me. Ivan on the other hand carried a knowing look on his features and leaned back in his chair. "Then there is no problem, yes? We want to change things for us and not your parents. They died but they knew what they were getting into. Both of them did." He was right, of course he was. My parents had always been the prudent type and they wouldn't have gotten into it if they didn't think it was worth it. Even my mother who had started to doubt at some point knew what she was getting into. Maybe she underestimated the risk, but it was still her decision. My father would never have forced her to anything.
I nodded once to signal that I accepted his argument and Ivan widened his smile in return. Even if their plan was naïve and risky; it was still the best that we had. And it was definitely my best chance to come close to the Empire. So we better made sure that everything went well and without disturbance. Maybe I was just envious that they had come farther with their planning than I could ever dream of, but then again they were much more than only me and my dragon.
"Fine, I'll agree to your plan. Just don't expect me to put up a fight with the whole imperial army or something. We can handle Ludwig but that's about it." I was pretty sure that Mathias could handle a bit more than that but I didn't want to overdo it, after all I couldn't risk getting him killed.
"What about the sorcerers? Will they be a threat?" The sorcerers held no allegiance to the Empire, all they were interested in was money and more importantly the knowledge they could extract from handling the dragons, the remains of the old magic that was still present in some of them, even though the yield was meager. But they still could pose a threat.
"Don't worry, most sorcerers have revoked their contracts with the Empire since there hadn't been any sightings of wild dragons for almost two years now and they prefer to be on their own. Only a few remain to oversee the breeding but those are the weak ones, those who wouldn't stand a chance against the others so they stick to the protection the Emperor can offer." Matthew explained and I nodded.
"Oh and don't even think of dragging Tino into all of this." I added after a moment of thought. It was bad enough that Tino joined the army because of me; I definitely didn't want him to be part of even more danger. Maybe I should really talk to him when we returned; I suddenly didn't feel so averse to the thought of mending our relationship anymore. He had been a precious friend after all.
"It could be already too late for that." Matthew smiled sheepishly and fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "What do you mean?" I asked with a heavy frown. "Eduard contacted him the moment you left the capital. I think it was his plan all along to get you here and once you were involved it would only be a matter of time that Tino followed. We need as much support as we need and the more head families are on our side the better. There will be less bloodshed that way."
"Oh you got to be kidding me."
...