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A/N: Thanks a lot to all of those who reviewed and to Ally Serenity for betaing this chapter

Chapter Eight

The next morning, the boys woke up with their bodies aching all over. They slowly got up and were this time all at the field at 6 am. Another day started. At the beginning they felt as if they were living in hell. The girls never given them any rest, and always attacked them at the first moment of distraction. After a month of this treatment, they started to notice that their skills had greatly improved. Seeing their improvements, Lily and Bella decided to begin to work in teams…

"NO!"

The riders looked up at Lily's shout. Then they looked at the dragons that were in the air, sighed, and smiling a bit, went back to their work.

"Prince James, what do you call what you are doing?" asked quite an angry Lily.

"Teamwork?" the prince answered innocently.

"May I remind you the definition of teamwork: doing something with someone, executing a task with someone! You are not even trying to work with Sir Severus! You are completely ignoring him!"

"I cannot work with him," stated Prince James.

"When I listen to you, it feels like I am talking with a five-year-old child!"

She saw Sir Severus smirking at her last comment.

"Same remarks for you Sir Severus."

The smirk disappeared from his face.

"I am warning you; you have the choice, either you are sensible and you decide to put your dislike for each other apart when you are on your dragon, or I will make sure you learn how to behave at least civilly toward each other! And believe me, you do not want to know my method!"

They nodded, before glaring at each other.

"Now back to work, sirs."

They managed to work a bit better together, slightly scared by the method Lily would use if they did not.

But in the next days, a fight between them took place. Apparently, Prince James had mixed all of Sir Severus's equipment. In retaliation, Sir Severus had cast a spell on the prince that had dyed his hair pink. James was about to curse Severus, when Lily stood between them.

"Stop! I have seen enough of your bickering! I cannot believe you cannot act like twenty-year-old men!"

"But it's his fault!" said the two boys together.

"I don't want to know whose fault it is! You have already been warned! I suppose it is time I take more drastic measures. Bella!"

"Yes Lily?"

"Could you come please, I need your help."

"Alright."

Bella approached Lily.

"Could you keep them still while I'm doing the spell I told you about? By the way, you owe me a galleon."

"Already?"

"Yes"

"Alright."

She caught the wrist of the two boys and maintained them close. Lily held up her wand.

"Linkhain joray!"

Immediately a light chain appeared, linking Sir Severus's wrist to Prince James'.

"I think this will teach you how to act around each other." Stated Lily. "This link will only disappear during the night and will reappear as soon as you go out of your dorm."

"You can't do that!" yelled Sir Severus.

"I can and I did." Answered Lily.

She left them.

"Lily, do you really think it was necessary?" asked Bella. "I mean, do you realize what we would be supporting?"

"I know, but I can't stand their little war anymore."

Bella sighed.

"I hope you are right."

Prince James and Sir Severus were linked for three days and had fought for three days. True to her words, Lily hadn't removed the spell.

"Prince James! Be careful! Because of you, I've nearly fallen of Slimis!"

"You do not need my help to fall off your dragon, you are clumsy enough to do it by yourself!"

"Look who is talking! You would not have been able to join the wings if it had not been for your title!"

They continued like this for a moment until Lily approached them.

"Sirs, you are aware that I will only remove the spell when you are able to act civilly around each other?"

The two boys nodded.

"Then I suggest you to learn how to support the presence of each other. There are things more important than your little quarrels."

She then went to help somebody with a new move.

"Prince," Sir Severus spat, "as much as I hate to say this, I think that while we are on our dragons, we should forget our … dislike for each other."

"Dislike is an understatement, but I agree. Only while we are on our dragons."

"Of course! I would not be able to support you any longer than that!"

"So, deal?"

"Deal."

Reluctantly, very reluctantly, they shook hands.

For the days following, they worked together quite well. They did not form the best of the teams, but at least they could accomplish something together. Lily watched them, a slight smile on her lips.

You were right, Maris.

Am I not always?

Lily laughed a bit.

Yes, you are. But your idea was definitely good.

Thanks Lil.

"Lily?" Lily turned and saw Bella standing behind her.

"Yes Bella?"

"I think I am becoming crazy. I've just seen James and Sir Severus working as a team, without hexing each other."

"You are not crazy. Apparently our dear riders have finally realized that working together is be easier than constantly fighting each other."

"I do not think that they have any other choice. They knew perfectly well that you would leave them linked until they can support each other."

"It must be the reason."

"It was a good idea." Said Bella.

"It was Maris's."

"Like dragon, like rider…"

They laughed.

"Well, I think I should remove this spell…"

"Yes."

Lily approached the two boys.

"I see you have become sensible. I am going to break the curse, but be careful; if I see you hexing each other around here, I shall link you again."

The boys nodded.

"Sejuncta!"

Instantly, the link disappeared.

The prince and Sir Severus immediately jumped away, glad to not be obliged to support each other's presence anymore.

"Be careful sirs…"

The days passed uneventfully.

It had been a month since the Prince and Sir Severus event. Since then, their quarrels had not disturbed the training. Of course, they had not stopped hexing each other, but they only did it when Lily or Bella weren't around.

Lily suddenly realized that it would soon be the new season. During the two past months, Bella and she had been keeping Sir Exer informed of the improvements of the riders. As he wasn't in charge of the training of the recruits, Sir Exer had been able to concentrate on the training of the other wings. In each category of riders, (messengers, spies, and fighters), there were several wings; two for the messengers, four for the spies, and ten for the fighters. In each group, the new recruits were gathered to train; then they were put in the different wings.

The year Lily had found Amaris, most of the dragons born were fight-dragons. Sir Exer had noticed it along with Sir Albus, a few of the counselors, and the King. They interpreted it as a sign of coming Dark Times.

Sir Exer had kept in touch with Sir Albus. At the start, the King and most of the counselors, Sir Cornelius in particular had not been happy when they had heard that silvers were training the future fighters, but seeing the improvements of their abilities they had stopped complaining; all except Sir Cornelius, whose prejudices were extremely strong.

The season passed and again more than half of he dragons were brown or bronze. There were no silver, and only a few blues, greens, and goldens.

"Your majesty, I would advise you to pass an agreement with Tarelys. If you do not do it, I am afraid Lord Voldemort will. He has gained a lot of power ever the past years and I fear that the kingdom of Tarelys will fall under his power." The voice of Sir Albus was calm.

"Nonsense! Majesty, Lord Voldemort does not represent a real threat. I am sure that our fighters can easily destroy him. An alliance with Tarelys is not necessary. They have been our enemies before, and I do not trust them!" shouted Sir Cornelius.

"Cornelius, that was years and years ago! We cannot take the risk of letting the kingdom of Tarelys unite with Lord Voldemort's forces.

"Really Albus, I think you overrate the Dark Lord."

"And what about the attack two years ago on the prince's birthday?" cut Sir Exer.

The King watched his counselors argue: Sir Albus, always calm and sensible, and Sir Cornelius who never wanted to face the reality but knew very well the wheels of the kingdom. He had eight counselors, they were all different and it allowed him to have different points of view about a situation.

"Sirs, I will think about it. I have decided to enforce the guard in the kingdom."

The counselors nodded their approval.

They continued to discuss the kingdom for a while.

Hours later, the council was finished. The counselors left the room, talking about the decisions that had been made. Only Sir Albus, Sir Exer, and the King remained in the room.

"Sir Exer how is the training doing?" asked the King.

"Perfectly. They have begun to work in teams, and Lily has managed to force your son and Sir Severus to act civilly around each other…"

"Really? It's a miracle!"

Sir Exer told the two other men how Lily had managed to do it. They laughed.

"She is definitely intelligent." Stated the King.

"Indeed. Does she keep training in wandless magic?" asked Sir Albus.

"Yes."

"Perfect; she is a real asset for the kingdom. Do our spies have any useful information?" The King seemed worried.

"No, we have not heard from them for a week." Sir Albus's face was somber.

"This is not good. Lord Voldemort must be up to something." Stated Sir Exer.

"Yes, but what?" replied Sir Albus.

It was nearly Christmas. Lily sighed. It would be her second Christmas since her parent's death. She looked at her room. There wasn't anything personal except for books. She still missed her parents a lot. She wished she could see them again, at least one more time.

She went to the field for the daily race. Once she arrived she saw that nearly every one was there. She approached Bella.

"Bella. I was thinking about something. Christmas is in four days. Why don't we stop training for the week? It will do good for everyone to have a rest." said Lily, pointing to the tired faces of some riders. A few were yawning.

"Yes, I suppose that is a good idea." answered the dark-haired girl.

"Sonorus!" She said, pointing her wand to her throat.

"Riders! May I have your attention! We have decided to stop the training for the rest of the week. Consider it a Christmas present. You are free to do what you like, as long as you respect the rules. Thank you."

All the boys cheered, then started to talk to each other.

"Bella?"

"Yes Lily?"

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, and you?"

"I will take care of Angel; I have neglected her for the past few months. Do you want to ride a bit?"

"With pleasure."

"I assume you can ride without trappings?"

"Of course!"

"Great." Lily was grinning happily. "Be ready!" She whistled sharply twice, and then they heard two horses galloping immediately.

Two mares burst onto the field. As soon as they reached the girls, they stopped.

"Good girls!" said Lily, petting Angel. "Bella, how about a race to the big willow?"

"I'm in!"

"Wonderful! At three. One… Two… THREE!" The girls jumped on the horses' backs and raced to the forest, leaving amazed boys behind them.

The girls spent the day in the forest. The next day was used to spend money buying and wrapping presents for Bella's family. Lily spent her days with Angel and Amaris. Christmas was not her favorite period of the year, it reminded her too much of her parents. It was killing her to see everyone talking about Christmas, the gifts they expected, the people they'd see… She had already bought her presents. There weren't a lot of them: a book for Sir Albus, a sword for Sir Exer, a dress for Bella, and she had decided to offer something to the Queen and the King. She had made them two small bracelets. They were not beautiful or expensive, in fact they were very simple, but they protected the user from every kind of poison.

On Christmas morning, Lily woke up early. She left her quarters after writing a note to Bella. She mounted Amaris and they disappeared.

When Bella awoke, she noticed that Lily was not sleeping. She got up and found a note on the door.

Bella,

I will come back at night. I have left your present near your bed, I hope you like it. Don't worry for me, I will be fine.

Lilyaris

At first Bella was concerned by her friend's behavior, but then she remembered the past Christmas.

FLASHBACK

It was Christmas morning. Bella had been very worried when she had found that Lily was not in the shack. She had immediately warned Sir Albus.

He looked at her, a concerned look on his face.

"Do not worry Lady Bella; it is reasonable that she would spend Christmas alone. It must remind her too much of her family and hurts her. She will come back this evening."

"You are sure?"

"Yes, I'm a bit worried about this behavior, but the happiness of everyone only makes her more aware of her losses…"

"I understand."

END OF THE FLASHBACK

Bella sighed. Then she unwrapped the presents that different owls had dropped near her bed. She got jewelry, things for her hair, perfume, beauty products… She opened Lily's and gasped. Lily had offered an elf dress. It was an exquisite dress, made in elf material. It looked like it could easily pull in pieces, but despite its silky appearance, it was the strongest material existing. It was dark red and gold, her favorite colors. The little embroideries on it were so delicate that they seemed to have been made by fairies. Bella was filled with wonder at the sight of the dress. She came back to reality and after tidying the room; she dressed and went to eat.

"Merry Christmas Bella!" shouted Sir Sirius when he saw her.

"Merry Christmas to all of you. Thank you for the presents!"

"You are welcome" answered James.

"Where is Lily?" asked Remus.

"Gone." Stated Bella.

"Gone?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

"She will come back this evening. She always spends Christmas alone."

"Why? Christmas must be shared with family." Said James.

"What family James? Must I remind you that her parents are dead and her sister only considerers her a slave…"

The boys remained silent.

"Do not worry, she will be fine. So, are any of you going to the feast tonight?" said Bella, trying to change the subject.

"Of course!" answered Remus, having caught the hint.

They started to talk about the feast.

Lily had decided to go near the frontier of the Tarelys kingdom for the day. She appeared near it and landed. The day passed slowly, it was nearly nightfall when she decided to come back. As she rose in the air, something caught her eye. On the other side of the frontier, she saw a lot of lights. Puzzled, she decided to approach to have a better view. Amaris flew towards the lights. As soon as she saw what the lights were, realization hit her. She quickly motioned to Amaris to go back to Erkanswald as fast as she could.

In three heartthrobs, she found herself near the castle. Lily ran, knowing that Sir Albus had to be warned of what she had seen. The feast had not begun yet, so she knew she would find Sir Albus in the throne room. She burst through the doors.

"Sir Albus!"

"Lily!"

"Sir Albus, I have seen something…"

"What?"

"I was on the frontier with Tarelys, and I saw…

"What? For God's sake Lilyaris! What have you seen?" exclaimed Sir Exer.

"An army! Fighters, death eaters, weapons, hydrias… they are going to invade us!"

"My dear lady, that is impossible; the Tarelys cannot invade us." Said Sir Cornelius.

"But it is true! The army was ready to fight when I saw it! You must believe me!"

"Are you sure Lily?" asked the King, worried.

"Absolutely. I can estimate their war establishments to about 40,000 at least."

"Nonsense! What does a female know about war? You must have mistaken with the guard." Replied the counselor.

"I…"

Before Lily could say something a green rider in charge of the Tarelys frontier burst in the room.

"Your Majesty! The Tarelys are invading us! Its army has penetrated our kingdom!"

The King's face became somber, as did Sir Albus's and Sir Exer's. Sir Cornelius stood up, dumbstruck by this news.

"Then I believe it means war…"