Glorious Politics

AN: As I promised, here's the prologue to my new story delivered on the day I said I would post it. ...And I can't believe I actually kept to my own schedule. It's a miracle, isn't it?

I'm not going to ruin who won the poll as you'll figure that out quite soon. I will say, though, that this will be one of the only chapters written in this OCs POV. This story is about Glory, and hers is the POV we'll usually see.

Disclaimer: I still have not read arc 3 yet, so this story is written under the assumption that book 10 is the last book in the series. Be aware of that fact if/when you see something that doesn't line up with events in the third arc. Also, I do not own Wings of Fire.

Prologue:

Today was not a good day. He'd been having quite a few of those lately, but this one was worse than normal. The scowl on his face and the quiet fury in each of his steps telegraphed to everyone in his way to move over lest his fury come down upon them.

Not long ago, he'd learned his friend had been killed while on business in the Sky Kingdom. Merchants usually didn't face much danger or have many enemies, and his friend had been no exception. What should have been a simple trading venture had ended up getting him killed, and all signs pointed to him being murdered. Who did it and why was still unknown, but he had his suspicions.

The Queen had summoned him to talk the situation over but talking was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to actually be out there, doing something to find his friend's killer. He understood, though. There were procedures to go through in these kinds of situations. No doubt Snowfall just wanted to make sure he was okay, and he appreciated that, but he felt that talking was simply a waste of time.

Snowfall and he had been friends for a long time—almost fifteen years now, in fact—and that was a considerable portion of his life, considering he was seventeen now. She was a few months older than him, and they had pretty much been raised together. Since Glacier didn't spend much time with her middle daughter, Snowfall had spent more time with his own parents in her free time. His parents had both been second circle nobles with access to the palace due to their friendship and loyalty to Queen Glacier. Mistral himself had ended up in the same position—a second circle noble who was personal friends with the Queen.

As he approached the throne room doors, the two guards saluted to him once they saw his necklace bearing the mark of the second circle and opened the door. He gave each of them a short glance as he entered, not recognizing them. Both were males from the fourth circle—unusual for being posted outside the throne room.

With how big the doors were, they made quite a bit of noise, announcing his arrival better than any dragon shouting his name and title could. Snowfall was in conference with a few other dragons when he arrived, but when she noticed him, she dismissed them. They all bowed, leaving without any additional words, sparing him either curious or disdainful glances as they left. Not all dragons—mostly those from the first circle—were happy with how close he and the Queen were, even after over a decade of her being on the throne.

She gave him a sympathetic smile as he approached, though it quickly disappeared upon seeing his furious scowl. "Where are your normal guards?" he asked as he approached.

"Questioning the other members of Frost's caravan," she replied easily, her concern growing slightly as he merely nodded, his frown not lessening in the slightest. "I am sorry about what happened, Mistral…you know that, right? I'm doing everything I can from here, but I can't do everything myself."

He nodded stiffly, looking away with a heavy sigh. "I appreciate you wanting to make sure I'm fine, but I really don't want to talk about it. I'll be fine."

"If you say so…" she spoke, not convinced in the slightest, but going along with it anyway. A few moments of silence passed between them before Snowfall huffed and pulled him into a hug that he gratefully returned. The silence that followed was more comforting than the previous stretch, and neither spoke for several minutes. It was moments like these where Mistral actually didn't feel uncomfortable around Snowfall.

Unfortunately, those moments where he was uncomfortable were becoming more commonplace. The two had been friends for a long time, but there were signs that Snowfall was beginning to want more. As great a friend as she was, that was all Mistral saw her as. He didn't see her in a romantic light, but if she proposed to him as he suspected she might eventually, he would have no choice but to accept. Not only would refusing lower his rankings due to disobeying the Queen, but he also didn't want to hurt his friend. He'd been trying to distance himself from her in the hopes she moved on, but if the light kiss she placed on his cheek as she pulled away was any clue, it wasn't working.

After releasing him, she walked over to the base of her throne and stared at it for a few seconds before turning back to him. "I…haven't been entirely truthful with you," she admitted, making his frown lessen as his curiosity took over. "I know you spoke with his surviving companions, so I know you suspect who it was that did this, but…Frost wasn't the first Icewing they've killed."

"Excuse me?" he asked dangerously, his anger rising. Had he been any other dragon, such disrespect would probably land him in the third circle at the very least, but since they had known each other for so long, Snowfall let him get away with a few things. For one, she always preferred he speak his mind rather than bow to her every whim. She had official advisors, yes, but her friend's input was equally as valuable, especially since he wouldn't simply say what she wanted to hear. He stomped up to her side and glared down at her, using his slight height advantage over her to great effect. "Exactly when were you going to tell me this?"

"I wasn't," came her stubborn reply, not backing down from him in the slightest. "I didn't want your history to cloud your judgement. I knew as soon as you heard the cult was involved, you'd want to go out there and find them—just as you do now." He dipped his head in apology, acknowledging her point. Both of his parents had been killed by Darkstalker's plague, so when word of a cult worshipping the animus as some sort of god had spread, he'd been utterly livid. He thought they'd dispersed after two dozen had been found across the tribes and subsequently executed for treason, but apparently they had just been working in secret.

"How many?" he asked quietly.

Snowfall looked uncomfortable at the question, but she answered it, nonetheless. "Almost a dozen in the past year." He scoffed at that and shook his head in frustration, though Snowfall didn't appreciate that. "I've been trying to handle this quietly!" she shot back, equally as frustrated. "If word of the cult's return spreads, there's going to be widespread panic. Since they're only targeting Icewings, this is our problem for as long as they keep their activities quiet."

Just then, the throne room doors opened again, making them both turn to see who had entered. The two guards he actually recognized entered, saluted, and passed a scroll to Snowfall, who dismissed them. They saluted once more, and then left, leaving Mistral wondering what information was contained on that scroll.

Snowfall read it quietly before setting it aside with a scowl. He didn't even need to ask what it said before she started speaking. "According to the witness statements, it was a Nightwing who killed Frost."

"Of course it was," he muttered hatefully. Since the war between the Icewings and Nightwings had technically been still on-going when he hatched, he had been raised to hate the other tribe. After his parents had been killed by Darkstalker, however, his hatred of them had only grown. His view of them wasn't as common as it used to be, though more than a few Icewings shared his sentiments.

She studied him critically for a moment before speaking again. "Well, at least the killer was at least seen this time. We've had no clues until now of where to even start, but now that we know it's a Nightwing, I'll send someone down to the rainforest to look for more leads."

Mistral perked up at that, seeing his chance to do something. "Send me." The skeptical look he received in turn had him listing the reasons to why this was a good idea. "If you want to keep this quiet, then you need to send someone you trust to do just that. You know you can trust me, Snowfall. Besides, no one else will have the motivation to find them like I do." And as much as that was true, it was also a chance to get away from her for a while. Hopefully she would have forgotten her obvious crush on him by the time he was done down there.

"And would you be enacting revenge or issuing justice?" she challenged him.

"Does it really matter?" he shot back, and that was answer enough. Both of them knew he was out for revenge, but his other points were solid, and Snowfall seemed to slowly be realizing that.

"And you think you can look past your hatred of Nightwings to find the actual killer?" she asked pointedly, to which he nodded. He would, if only temporarily. She studied him again before sighing, a look of dismay coming across her features. "Alright…but you'll be on your own. I don't want to risk suspicion by sending a full squad of soldiers to the rainforest." He nodded in understanding. He preferred to work alone, anyway. "Any questions?"

"Will I need a cover story?" he asked.

"Well, I wouldn't go blabbing about the cult while you're down there, but you can tell Glory. I'll send a letter explaining the situation to her ahead of your arrival as I'm sure her help will be vital." He scowled at that. He knew she had a point, but he wasn't looking forward to working with the Rainwing Queen. The fact she ruled over the Nightwings was reason enough for him to dislike her, but he would do what he had to. "Is that going to be a problem?" she asked, seeing his less-than-pleased expression.

He shook his head. "No." That was good enough for her, it seemed. "When do I leave?"

"Give yourself a day to get ready," was her reply. "It'll give me time to get that letter sent, as well." He nodded and turned to leave, thinking that was all. "Mistral?" Snowfall called to him, making him stop and glance back at her. "Be careful… Hearing what happened to Frost was hard enough. I don't want to lose you, too."

His expression softened. He may have been trying to distance himself from her, but that was no excuse to ignore how her voice wavered ever-so-slightly. She was afraid of losing him, and with the cult, that was a very real possibility. He turned and walked up to her again, leaning down to look her in the eye. "You won't," he said with conviction. "Frost was a good dragon, but he wasn't a fighter. I'll show these cowards the fury of a true Icewing warrior!"

Snowfall gave a small smirk at that. "I'm sure you will, but it won't stop me from worrying." A pause, and then she pulled away, though not without some hesitation. "Go on and get ready. I need to get that letter done. Will you…join me for dinner?"

Mistral thought about that for a second before answering. It would be good to spend one last evening together before he went off for who knew how long. "Of course."

With that, Mistral dismissed himself to get ready. A few hours later, he joined Snowfall for a casual dinner. It started off awkward as her crush got in the way of conversation, but as dinner progressed, the atmosphere became easier. The two friends actually ended up conversing like friends, and by the end of it, Mistral could say that he had genuinely enjoyed the evening.

And despite what he said earlier, he was worried about what lay ahead. So much so, it took several hours of tossing and turning before he finally fell asleep. Once morning arrived, he woke and finished up his final preparations. He stopped by the throne room to say his farewells to Snowfall, and then he made his way out of the city. Once on the tundra, he took to the air, heading south to the Sandwing palace. He planned on using the tunnel between there and the rainforest, but he would need Queen Thorn's permission. With any luck, he should turn the two-week journey into a five-day journey.

It'd been a long time since he left the Ice Kingdom. The last time had been a little over three years ago when he went with Frost's caravan into the Sand, Sky, and Sea Kingdoms, as well as Jade Mountain. It had been a fun journey—the two friends had spent many a night having fun and sharing laughs. The time before that was nearly five years ago when his last tour as a soldier had ended. His experience in the military had served him well, even if his greatest enemies nowadays were ill-tempered politicians.

He hated politics, so hopefully his time in the rainforest wouldn't be bogged down by such needless complications…

AN: Yes, it was the Icewing. I should've known when I made him one of the options in the poll...

Out of the 21 total votes, Mistral received 17, so he didn't just win, he obliterated the competition. I guess people like Icewings...or at least how I write Icewings. *shrugs* Whatever, though. The readers have spoken, so that's who we're going with.

Fun fact, though. Out of all of the choices, Mistral was the one I wanted to do the least. I was actually hoping for the Sandwing OC, Sobek, or maybe Horus, but there was no way I would be justified by choosing them when Mistral won by as large a margin as he did. When I realized he was going to win, I started thinking a bit more about it, and, while it will still be difficult to write a romance between two emotionally distant characters, the actual plot is actually more interesting than what I had originally planned. Tortoise, Sobek, and Horus all had pretty much the same storyline, but that particular story wouldn't work with Mistral, meaning I had to come up with a new one. And, ultimately, I think you'll like this one better, anyway.

And I think that's enough rambling for me, so...

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22