Glorious Politics

AN: I actually had a lot of fun with this particular chapter. Why? Because this is where the rather simple investigation turns into a life or death situation. Quite literally. It's been a long time coming, I know, but it's time for the plot to actually kick into high gear and show what the villains are capable of.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. My OCs Horus, Diamondback, Mistral, Sobek, and Levante belong to me.

Chapter Twenty:

By the next morning, Glory didn't feel much better, especially when Mistral didn't so much as wish her a good night. Yeah, he was in a pretty foul mood because of Snowfall, but was that small kindness really too much to ask for? And Anemone had her own business to attend to—something about choosing candidates for something or other—before turning in for the night, so she couldn't stay with Glory even if she wanted to. Horus and Diamondback were immediately summoned to the throne room upon returning to the palace, and she assumed Thorn was busy there, as well. Why Glory hadn't been invited was unclear, but she assumed the Sandwing Queen had something to do with it. Maybe Thorn thought she wanted some space and played the victim card to keep Ruby from bothering her. Then again, maybe this situation with Sobek didn't concern her as much as it did Thorn.

Whatever the case, last night wasn't a very fun one for her. All she wanted was some company from someone, just to talk if nothing else. Yet no one came by. She told herself that they didn't stop by to check on her because they were all busy, and that helped a little. As a Queen herself, she knew there were things that just couldn't be put off.

Still, if she wasn't required to do anything today, she planned on just relaxing in her room the entire time, maybe read a nice scroll or three—something mindless that would take her mind off things for a while. Her room did have a scroll shelf with a small selection, so she found one on Skywing legends and fables.

Of course, as usually happens, she had only just settled down when a knock sounded on her door. "Yes?" she forced her tone to come out neutral rather than revealing just how frustrated she was.

"Do you have a moment?" a familiar and surprising—yet no less welcome—voice asked.

"Yeah, sure. Come in," she called, and this time she had to make sure she didn't sound too excited. The door opened up quietly, and Mistral walked in, closing it behind him just as quietly.

"I don't have very long before Snowfall wakes up and expects me to hang off her arm," he forewarned her, and her small smile turned into a small frown. Of course he couldn't stay and chat. Why would he even want to? It's not like they were more than just casual acquaintances. "I just wanted to apologize for last night," his voice cut off her train of thought, and she studied him closely. Why was he apologizing? "I didn't expect Snowfall to show up and ruin a perfectly nice dinner. And...I noticed you were a bit upset last night because of it. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'm fine," she replied automatically.

He looked thoroughly unconvinced by that. Then, he sighed and walked over to her window, watching the city sparkle in the early-morning sun. "Listen, Glory..." he began gently, and she felt her heart skip a beat and her stomach do a flip at the same time. The way he'd said that made her think she had something to worry about, and he soon proved her right. "I'm not as blind or oblivious as you might think. I've been in this situation before, but I'm not going to make the same mistake I made the first time." She swallowed thickly, suddenly reminded of the time she shot down Tortoise's dreams—except this time she was on the other side. "I know you're...interested in me. I'm not quite sure how deep these feelings of yours go, but I have to ask you, politely, to forget about them."

Now, he looked over to her and sighed once again at seeing her carefully guarded expression. He walked over and sat down near her bed but far enough away to make it clear that he needed his space. "I realize it's not as easy as all that, but please. I already have enough problems with Snowfall right now, and the absolute last thing I need is someone else vying for a romantic relationship with me, of which I have no interest in having with anyone." He paused for a moment to see her reaction. But she had no reaction. This was pretty much what she had expected. Nothing would've come from telling him the truth—or, in this case, him figuring out the truth. She knew this was going to happen eventually despite Thorn's words, so, while it hurt, it didn't feel as bad as she was expecting. "I'm asking as a friend," he continued. "Because...that's what I need right now." He looked away at that, his admission to needing emotional support.

"...Alright," she reluctantly agreed. "Sorry if I made things awkward for you. I'm just...lonely." It was hard to admit that to someone else, especially him, but he deserved the truth.

"I understand," he nodded, and she thanked the stars and moons for how genuine he seemed right now. "I'm sure you'll find someone out there for you...It just won't be me."

It hurt, being shut down like this. But she was a decidedly selfless individual. If pursuing her feelings would make Mistral uncomfortable, the only decent thing she could do was just drop it. She would move on, given time. Thankfully, he hadn't waited as long as Jackass to tell her the truth. And, he'd not been a shameless flirt and made her think he loved her. No, Mistral had been straight with her the entire time, so she couldn't hold this against him. But that didn't mean she wouldn't try to glean some more information about why he would be uncomfortable. "So, no interest in a relationship, huh? You have commitment issues or something?"

At first, it appeared as if he wouldn't answer, but he eventually did, most likely figuring she deserved an equally straight answer. "It's more like trust issues," he admitted, looking away. After a moment, he stood and began walking away. "I've got to get going. Just think about what I said." The door shut behind him a bit more forcefully this time around—not quite slamming shut, but neither was it a soft click.

As for the rest of the day, well, she didn't get much of a chance to relax. Guest of the Queen she may have been, but that didn't mean she was allowed to sit around and mope. She still had socializing to do—specifically, the morning, midday, and evening meals. Ruby was still excited for tomorrow, even if the small incident yesterday clearly caused her some anxiety. Levante was gone the almost the whole day, only sitting down for a few minutes that morning to assure all of them that he was looking into the matter.

Anemone was clearly worried about her, even if she didn't much show it, but Glory knew the Seawing well enough to tell. She may have been all smiles and jokes, but none of those jokes were aimed at the Rainwing. And that fact meant Anemone knew something was up and was actively trying not to make things worse with an insensitive joke. Snowfall was rather dour, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. Hailstorm had taken Mistral on their own 'investigation' of the markets. Not that Glory thought they weren't actually looking for any suspicious activity, but it was probably more likely that the Icewing Prince was 'rescuing' Mistral from Snowfall.

Thorn didn't talk much during the meals. Whether she was still brooding over Sobek's betrayal, or she just read the mood and decided to stay silent, Glory couldn't tell. Moorhen finally arrived at around midday, and that really made everything into a formal affair. As the last of the old Queens, Moorhen was still rather strict and, well...formal. Her disapproving frown at Anemone's antics and Snowfall's sulking was enough to make everyone a bit more uptight.

With the wedding scheduled for tomorrow, most everyone decided to retire earlier than normal, though it was still past sundown when she returned to her room. Thorn and Anemone had accompanied her on their way to their own rooms, and the three bid each other a good night before Glory entered her room. She didn't take more than a few steps before her entire body was wrenched backwards into a solid full-body hold and her neck put in a vice-like lock that prevented her from breathing, let alone scream for help. She tried to claw at the arm holding her but froze when the unmistakable feeling of a Sandwing tail barb was pressed against her neck. "Shh...let's let the others get a bit further away first."

She recognized that voice even through the dizziness caused by the lack of air. Her heartbeat thundered wildly in her chest due to fear, which only made the oxygen deprivation that much more noticeable. And soon enough, she fell unconscious, her last thought being that she wished Moon and Qibli's room wasn't on the other side of the palace.

Waking was a slow and arduous process, like her body didn't actually want to restart. The cold, hard, grimy stone floor told her that being assaulted in her own room hadn't been a nightmare. No, she actually had been captured, and the iron bars of her cell only further established that whoever was responsible didn't much care about her comfort. And that's not to mention the metal collar around her neck that was tethered to the wall via thick chains or the muzzle around her face. Maybe these were just generic precautions, but something told her that she was specifically targeted. The metal collar and chain wouldn't camouflage when she did, so doing so was pointless. And the muzzle prevented her from using her venom.

The next thing she noticed was a slight, concentrated pain in her neck, like she had been poked a bit too hard by a claw...or barb. She reached up to check it—her talons hadn't been chained, thankfully—but found no trace of blood. "Don't worry, you'll live. I only used enough venom to keep you unconscious, and I gave you the antidote as soon as we secured you in your new...quarters."

Knowing she had been captured by a potentially unhinged dragon was scary—terrifying even—but despite the trepidation she currently felt, she managed to refrain from panicking. Doing so would only hinder her ability to think rationally, and she needed to know what was going on and why. So, after a few seconds to gather her wits, she finally turned to regard her captor. "What do you want with me, Sobek? And where are we?"

The Sandwing was watching her with a self-satisfied smirk on his face that she would've loved to slap away. Unfortunately, the chain was just short enough to prevent her from reaching the cell bars. As for their surroundings, it was dark, dank, and smelly, so she assumed they were in the city sewers somewhere. Of course, with the city being so massive and the sewer network so expansive and convoluted, there was no way to know where she was relative to the landmarks topside. Plus, she could hear voices and see a much brighter light spilling into the corridor from the left somewhere. The only other tunnel other than the one straight ahead was to the right, and it appeared to have collapsed, whether intentional or not, she didn't know. There were only two torches lighting the immediate vicinity of her cell.

"In the sewers," he answered, though he didn't expand further. "As for what I want...some revenge for ruining my life would be nice." The glare he gave her sent a chill down her spine, and she had to wonder what he had planned for her. "But you should be more worried about what they want from you," he continued, gesturing towards the lighted room with his head.

Apparently she wasn't the only one who thought she ruined the Sandwing's life, though she highly doubted he came to that conclusion on his own. No, Sobek seemed like the kind of dragon who needed to be given direction by someone else. A weapon he may be, but he was only dangerous in the talons of someone willing to use him.

She didn't feel sorry for him, though. Not after he captured her like this. "It's not my fault things ended up like this," she snarled, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Says the Queen who was only concerned with covering her own tail," he shot back.

That was the last thing she was concerned with at that time, and he should have known that. She was concerned about creating tension with the Icewings, something that would be detrimental to her tribes as a whole. "I wouldn't have had to if you actually followed orders! Thorn said—"

He himself forward, slamming into the bars with a ferocious growl and a loud bang. He'd moved so quickly and unexpectedly that she actually fell backwards in surprise. " DO NOT SPEAK TO ME ABOUT THORN!" he roared. "Thorn is a fool! I dedicated my life to serving her, but she threw me away as soon as she was done with me!" He pried himself away from the bars, and she got up slowly as to not incense him even further. "Well, I found someone else. Someone who appreciates my abilities for what they are."

Seeing as how his shouting hadn't attracted anyone else yet, she decided to pry for any additional information. "Who?"

He snorted. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Well, it sounded like he wouldn't reveal anything about his new wielder, so she tried a different question. "I gather I was target from the get go, then?"

"Yeah," he affirmed. It would've been stupid to deny since he had implied as much earlier. "They're after a good few dragons, but you are the one they're particularly interested in right now."

Okay...that could be taken one of two ways. Either that interest stems from them already having her, so whatever they wanted from her took priority for them right now. Or...it's why she was targeted in the first place. But by whom? As much as she tried, she just couldn't fathom who she'd pissed off that much. Maybe Mistral was right and this was the cult, and they were simply trying to get rid of her before the investigation into them actually paid off. Of course, if they actually were the cult, maybe they wanted to kill her because Darkstalker didn't like her ruling over the Nightwings, and this was just them trying to please their 'god'.

There was one thing that bothered her, however. "How'd you even get into the palace?" she demanded.

Sobek laughed derisively at the question. "For all they claim to be the most powerful military on Pyrrhia, the Skywings are utterly predictable. Their greatest weakness is that they're too disciplined. They always have the same patrol routes, and they always pass by at the same times. Figuring out their schedules through simple observation was easy enough, and sneaking past during an opening was even easier." She went to ask another question, about how long they've planned this before he cut her off. "I tire of these questions, Glory. Besides, I'm sure you'll figure out just what lies ahead for you in due time."

With that ominous threat, he turned and walked away, heading towards the lighted room down the tunnel. She settled down with a sigh, wondering how she would get out of this. The wall anchor, chain, and collar around her neck were all sturdy. In fact, they looked almost brand new. The muzzle was made out of thinner metal, and maybe she could break it by slamming her face against the wall or something, but the only guaranteed result of that would be to give herself a headache and attract her captors' attention. The cell bars were pretty rusty, like they'd been down here for a long time, but that didn't mean much seeing as how she couldn't even reach them because of the chain. Other than the various metal things keeping her secured, there was a single wooden bucket with no handle that had some rather dirty water in it.

Yeah...she wasn't drinking that.

With escape impossible—for now, at least—she turned her thoughts to her imprisonment. How much time had passed since her capture? Did anyone know she was missing yet? Even if they didn't yet, someone would figure it out soon enough. A Queen wasn't someone who could just disappear and nobody would notice. And once it was realized that she was gone, the entire palace would be swept thoroughly by the guard. And when she wasn't found in the palace, the city would be put on lockdown. With so many dragons here, it would be exponentially harder to search for her or even narrow down suspects.

They'd planned this perfectly, it seemed like.

"Well, well..." a maliciously satisfied, female voice spoke. Glory looked up...but no one was there. That voice was vaguely familiar, though, like she'd heard it somewhere before. "Not so Queenly anymore, are you? What's it like being dethroned by your 'inferior'?"

That sounded personal to her, and that comment about being dethroned was clue enough to recall where she'd heard that voice before. "Dethroned?" she snorted. "You make it sound like you actually did anything worth mentioning." A soft growl was the only response, but she noticed the small shimmer of air in the corner of the room. "Though, I'll admit, I am utterly stunned to see you of all dragons with this kind of crowd. Like, I know you didn't exactly appreciate me taking my rightful throne, but I thought you'd be too lazy and forgetful to actually hold a grudge this long...Magnificent."

A Rainwing appeared before her cell, the larger female's face contorted in utter fury and hatred, her red and black scales mirroring those emotions. "You think you're so much better than me just because you stole my throne, but—"

"HA!" Glory barked in derisive laughter, and . "Your throne!? If anything, it was Grandeur's throne. And what about the other four who shared it with you?" Technically, it had been five, but Grandeur had already passed away. And while she didn't actively keep up with the ex-Queens' activities, seeing Magnificent here of all places was a pretty big shock. Then again, Magnificent was the only one she hadn't seen or heard from in the last few years. She hadn't been too concerned about that, believing the old Queen to be as lazy as her peers. It appeared that had been a mistake.

As for the others, Splendor was sickly, a lasting consequence from her time on the Nightwing island, and Glory doubted she would live more than a few more years. Fruit Bat, Dazzling, and Exquisite were all equally lazy and worthless, caring only for their 'favorite' things—flowers, food, and sloths, respectively. Fruit Bat ended up becoming a gardener that didn't let anyone mess with her flowers except her. Dazzling was as gluttonous as ever and was probably the fattest Rainwing she'd ever seen. And Exquisite was still obsessed with sloths, the last Glory had heard, the crazy dragoness had thirty or something outrageous like that.

"All necessary at the time. But as soon as Grandeur croaked, I would have gotten rid of their useless carcasses and taken the throne for myself." Glory didn't exactly appreciate her grandmother being talked about like that, but she didn't have a chance to interject with Magnificent's continued monologuing as she paced in front of the cell. "So imagine my surprise when a Rainwing no one had ever seen before just comes in and takes it from me! And it's not like I could have done anything to take it back since you were so popular. No one would have followed me, and I couldn't exactly take a shot at you with that stupid Nightwing always around."

At least he had been good for something. "Did you maybe stop to think that no one would have followed you because no one actually liked you as Queen?" Glory shot back. Magnificent just glared at her. "And I didn't take the throne for myself, I did it to save my friend. The only reason I kept it was for the tribe itself."

"How selfless of you," the other Rainwing drawled, rolling her eyes before smirking. "Unfortunately for you, I am rather selfish." Then, she sat and rubbed her talons together gleefully, an action that paired disturbingly well with the evil grin on her face. "And I can't wait to take my throne back! Oh, I have so many plans! Plans I can actually enact with my new friends!" The gleeful clapping the punctuated that statement made it all the more ominous.

Apparently, Glory had a nemesis and didn't even realize it. It made the Rainwing Queen wonder how many other dragons would be coming after her. First Sobek. Now Magnificent. It definitely seemed like someone was recruiting dragons with a grudge against her, specifically. "If you want my throne, you'll have to kill me first!" she spat at the grinning Rainwing.

And her grin grew even wider. "Oh, don't worry, Your Highness," she cackled. "That's exactly what we plan to do." It felt as if all the blood in her face just drained away, and she couldn't fully keep that fear out of her scales, something which Magnificent seemed to take great satisfaction in. "But not yet. We have other plans for you first. It's the only reason you're still alive..."

The magenta Rainwing walked away after those parting words, her colorful scales clashing with her new psychotic personality. Glory didn't know what 'plans' they had for her, but she hoped rescue was coming soon.

Because something told her she wouldn't like what was coming next.

AN: Bet ya didn't expect that! Magnificent is a character that no one really thinks of as a villain, but I think she could be if given the right push. Of all the false Queens, she was the most ambitious, having organized all the cheating in the competition to keep the throne, and has a bit of a temper. Throw a decade long grudge into the mix and some manipulation by another party, and voila. That simple grudge turns into action. But you guys tell me what you think.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22