Torrent finally arrived at the only place outside of the Sea Kingdom he thought he could take refuge in: Queen Moorhen's Palace. The sun was drooping low in the sky, and Torrent's wings were heavy from the long flight behind him. His sore wings and scales were caked with dried mud and grime from the mudhuts where he'd slept in the nights between his flying, and dirt had gotten between his scales. Not at all befitting of a SeaWing prince.
There had been a number of wary and angry glares from MudWings below as Torrent passed over the MudWing marshes and swamps below, but due to the alliance of the two kingdoms, Torrent had passed through the MudWing territory unhindered. The oppressive humid heat of the Mud Kingdom had made flying much more exhausting, but Torrent was able to make it far enough into the mainland to find the palace.
Occasionally, Torrent had glanced back to see if Griffin was following him, but the gryphon seemed to have left him. Torrent felt guilty; he shouldn't have told Griffin to just go away like that, but it was too late now, wasn't it. He wondered where Griffin had gone off to after he'd left. Had Griffin stayed in the Deep Palace? Was he even in the Sea Kingdom anymore?
As he approached Queen Moorhen's palace didn't look much like a palace to Torrent, but then again, he hadn't seen very many palaces. The Summer Palace was hardly a traditional palace — it could only be seen from the inside — and the Deep Palace was underwater. Queen Moorhen's palace had high walls on the outside, enclosing a number of square spires and the main portion of palace on the inside.
Torrent wondered why the palace needed walls. The Deep Palace didn't have walls, but then again, it didn't need defenses. Yet, the walls didn't seem like useful protection from flying invaders. Torrent looked down at the houses and the city between the walls and the palace. Maybe the walls helped block the city from attacks, instead of the palace?
Torrent landed at the bottom of the walls, where a large gate stood. A number of guards eyed him suspiciously. He smiled in return.
"You!" one MudWing called. "SeaWing! What's your reason for entry?" A few of the others crowded around Torrent, and snickered.
"I'm here to see Queen Moorhen," Torrent responded truthfully, tensing up as they approached, "I've come to ask her to stay in the palace for a short while."
The MudWings looked at each other, as if trying to figure out of Torrent was being serious or not. When they decided he was, they burst out in laughter. "Queen Moorhen doesn't have time for SeaWing dragonets," one of the MudWings replied snarkily. "Go back to the watery depths you came from."
Torrent uncomfortably raised a wing, revealing the starbursts below. He lit them up, indicating that he was SeaWing royalty, and hoped the MudWings would recognize the symbols.
One of the guards raised his wings and reared up onto his hind legs. "What, you wanna fight?" he asked, thinking Torrent was offering a challenge. "You think that just because we're allies now, we've forgiven you for the last war?" He staggered towards Torrent, before one of the other guards latched her claws around his tail, pulling him back, causing him to lose his balance.
"Shut up," the second guard hissed. She bowed to Torrent. "Our sincerest apologies, your majesty." Realizing what was going on, the other guards immediately bowed their heads to the ground. The MudWing who had asked to fight gulped warily.
"Just take me to the queen," Torrent growled. This had been far from a good trip, and he would be glad to see it over. He thought back to the Sea Kingdom, where Orca would be now, queen. He wondered if she had even thought of him, or of River.
A couple of the MudWing guards brought Torrent through the walls, and into the city. Unlike the absolute quiet of the Deep Palace, the town outside Queen Moorhen's palace was bustling with the sounds of MudWings. It was so loud it almost gave Torrent a headache. He much preferred the silence of Aquatic to the striking voices of the land dragons.
Torrent quickly moved down the main road of the city, getting strange looks from the MudWings as he passed. He wasn't the only SeaWing in the city, but being paraded by the other MudWings attracted unwanted attention. He kept his eyes down and his wings tucked, trying to ignore the stares and the growing silence. Finally, they reached the entrance to the palace. One of the MudWings rushed inside to fetch Queen Moorhen, while Torrent and the others entered a large room, preventing the crowds from staring at him any longer.
A number of long tapestries hang around the walls of the room, each depicting a MudWing queen, their names woven, in addition to the queens' sibs, standing side by side with her. At the far left end, the tapestries were almost completely faded, and Torrent could barely make out the outlines of the ancient MudWing queens. At the other end stood Queen Moorhen's tapestry, with her siblings' beneath her. Torrent got a strange sense of déjà vu from the hall, as if he had seen something like it before in the Sea Kingdom.
Torrent scanned the room, and found the tapestry which most interested him: Queen Fen. Until now, she was the last animus queen of Pyrrhia. Her siblings rested beneath her. Torrent wondered which one of her brothers was the tragic Prince Calamity, the one who had killed both Fen and himself to end her reign. None of the brothers particularly stood out, but Fen had a determined grimace plastered across her face. She was young, very young, barely older than Orca was. Torrent wondered when she had challenged her own mother; was it seven, when she was technically first allowed to? Or had she gotten away with it even earlier?
Queen Moorhen suddenly entered the room, breaking Torrent's focus on the tapestry. One of the MudWing guards was with her, along with one of her brothers; Torrent didn't know his name. She looked surprised when she saw him. "Torrent?" she asked. "What a surprise, I wasn't expecting you here."
Torrent nodded. "I'm sorry for not sending any notice in advance."
Queen Moorhen smiled kindly. "No matter. Any relative of Coral is welcome here, anytime."
Torrent tried to hide his discomfort. Coral was probably dead by now, and considering what happened with Albatross, he might be the only member of the royal family still alive. He wondered if he was still welcome. Fortunately, news traveled slowly out of the Deep Palace, and Torrent didn't know how long it would be before Moorhen heard of the royal challenge. Unfortunately, that meant he would be unable to hear the news for quite some time, too. What would Orca do after she won? Would she look for him? If Orca wanted to, could she even use her magic to force him to return?
"Now," Queen Moorhen asked, "what brings you my palace today?"
"I would like to board here for a time," Torrent replied, "and if possible, have use of your libraries."
Queen Moorhen's brother whispered something to her, but she held up her claws and motioned him silent. "I am able to offer you food and a place to cover your scales," she replied, "although it may not be as comfortable to what you are used to. You will have to ask Mallard about the libraries, she can be very picky about who she allows to see her scrolls. I believe you have already made her acquaintance, have you not?"
Torrent bowed his head. "Yes. Thank you, your majesty" he calmly replied.
Moorhen's brother frowned, and glared at Torrent. He stood up, revealing a jagged scar beneath his neck. He stretched out his scales, as if trying to intimidate Torrent. "Just how long do you plan to stay with us, prince?" he growled. "And why?"
Torrent kept his calm, though he retreated back a small stop. "Two fortnights at maximum," he replied. "I just wanted to continue my studies with Mallard." It wasn't completely false, and four weeks should be enough for news to arrive from the Sea Kingdom, and would give Torrent time to read more scrolls and plan what to do next, although he doubted he had even that long before Orca came looking for him.
Moorhen gave her brother a glare. "I apologize for my brother's rudeness," she told Torrent. "Granite occasionally steps out of his place." The MudWing brother, who Torrent guessed was Prince Granite, looked away in shame and anger.
The MudWing queen gave the guards leave, and motioned Torrent to follow her up the staircase. "I will bring you to your quarters."
As Torrent followed her, he walked directly passed Prince Granite. The MudWing was large, as large as Moorhen and Gill. Torrent ducked his head, and attempted not to meet eyes with the prince. Granite stepped in front of Torrent as he was walking, hissing, "If you dare try to harm my si—"
"Enough!" Moorhen roared back at her brother, the elderly queen showing a hint of emotion. "Torrent is our guest, and Queen Coral's son. Treat him as you would treat any other royalty, or even better, if you can."
Granite stayed silent, and let Torrent pass, his eyes still on the small SeaWing. Torrent and Moorhen continued up the palace stairs, until the MudWing prince was out of sight.
Moorhen sighed as the two walked to Torrent's quarters. "Again, I'm sorry about Granite. He's not usually like this, it's just that with the war and all, we're all so on edge."
Torrent nodded silently, and followed Moorhen up to his quarters. The palace was a lot smaller than the Deep Palace, and whereas the Deep Palace had been continuously added onto over the years, Moorhen's palace seemed fully planned from the start. There were no winding corridors like the one that led to Orca's room, so he doubted it would be easy to get lost. All of the passages looked like they led back to the entry room, in one way or another.
Within a few turns, Moorhen and Torrent reached a door on the wall. She took out a key from a small pouch and unlocked it. "This is one of our guest room," she said, smiling at Torrent.
Torrent looked inside. It was much larger than his room back at the Deep Palace, and far more decorated. There were around eight beds inside, each with a beautiful quilt on them, decorated with scenes from what appeared to be past MudWing military victories, many of them SeaWings. He averted his eyes from a square with a SeaWing similar-looking to his mother being pulled apart from the limbs by seven MudWing sibs.
"Is it to your liking?" Moorhen asked, oblivious to Torrent's disgust.
Torrent nodded respectfully with a slight grimace. "What's with all the beds?"
"Ah," Moorhen replied, rolling her eyes slightly at Torrent's naïvety, "most MudWing rooms are this way, it's so that an entire clutch of sibs can stay in the same room. Don't worry, you won't be staying with anyone."
Torrent placed his scroll-case at the foot of one of the beds and turned back to Moorhen. "When can I see Mallard?"
Moorhen glanced out the window. That was different, there were no windows in the Summer Palace nor the Deep Palace. They seemed a bit insecure from attack. It was now dark outside, and the sun had set since Torrent had arrived at the palace, though Torrent could see just fine after his nightvision adjusted from the dim candlelight inside the room.
"In the morning," Moorhen replied, "Mallard may be asleep. I will fetch you for breakfast at dawn, and after that I can take you to her."
"Thank you," Torrent replied, bowing his head to Moorhen and lowering his forearms. Queen Moorhen smiled, and gave him a friendly clawwave before leaving the guest room. Torrent looked out the window again.
He wasn't sure what direction it was pointing, but he pretended it was towards the Deep Palace. Far away, beneath miles of water, Orca would be crowned as queen, sitting on Coral's throne.