Note: the following events occur before Deathbringer's attempted assassination of Blaze in The Hidden Kingdom.
Queen Glacier frowned as the SandWing rallied his square-shaped pieces along the gameboard before her. "Is such a bold move so wise?" she asked.
"Is it smart to play so conservatively, Your Majesty?" The golden dragon smiled sheepishly at her, gesturing with his open claws to the board. Though scales-and-squares was hardly Glacier's game of choice, it was the only way she could ply the former SandWing general into spending some diplomatic time with her. She idly wondered if he used to play it with his own troops before he defected from Burn's army.
They enjoyed the afternoon in the shade of an open-air tent, warm desert winds tossing the queen's jagged mane. Her gaze wandered past the azure-blue waters before them, landing at the bustling trade of the Scorpion's Den across the oasis. "I am simply waiting for the right moment, Six-Claws," she said as she turned back, moving a scale gently across the board. "Surely you have learned that concept from Burn. Though she is not a strategist by any means, she is hardly stupid."
Glacier failed to miss how the SandWing blanched at the name. "Thorn leaves the fighting to me," he said emphatically. "She's much better at strategy." He advanced a square along the board exactly as the queen anticipated. It hopped over two of her own placid blue scales, and Six-Claws looked up at her questioningly before sweeping the captured pieces off the board.
"But you are hardly a fool yourself," said the IceWing queen. Her eyes narrowed at a specific piece on her board, one in the back that had escaped Six-Claw's attention. She gripped the scale between her talons and advanced it over square after square, claiming every one of his remaining pieces in one fell swoop. "So why are you acting like one?"
His tremendous shoulders fell in defeat, mouth gaping like a goldfish's as he blinked. "I thought you didn't play this game."
"I don't." Glacier gave him a pitying look as she cleared the pieces off the board. "But I do lead armies into war."
The sentence buried itself like a spear in Six-Claws' chest. Glacier swallowed the smugness that dared to rise to her snout as the SandWing digested her words. "Six-Claws, I implore you to listen. You hate Burn," she started, studying how pain lapsed on his face for a split second. "And Blister is no better. You must know this to be true."
He didn't say anything aloud, but his expression said it all. "Queen Blaze and I would find the Outclaws a veritable ally in this war," said Glacier, gesturing out to the markets beyond. She knew he was thinking of all the victims who claimed the Den as refuge from the war. "You cannot be the only dragon who wishes to end the fighting."
"It's horrible," Six-Claws said with a sage nod, "and you're right. But what happens after Blaze becomes queen?" He regarded the IceWing with suspicion. "She would not be a good leader. She walked straight into a sandstorm once because she thought a tiara was in the middle of it. What do you have planned, Your Majesty, with this… ridiculous dragon?"
She paused for moment, considering carefully her next words. "While she did agree to grant my tribe additional land, it's hardly land you will miss. Can you truly say that SandWings make camp where the sand ends and ice begins? It may as well be wasteland for your tribe."
"But I don't know if that's all that Blaze will cede," Six-Claws said, thoroughly unconvinced. "Or, if that's even as far as you plan to go. Do you plan to turn Blaze into a puppet queen?"
"A puppet queen," Glacier repeated, barely able to contain a snort. "Really, SandWing. Do you honestly believe-"
"Blaze is greedy," snapped Six-Claws, "and as smart as a MudWing after five cups of mead. Who's to say that you won't be the queen of the SandWings as well, just hiding behind her over-decorated face?"
Glacier found herself frowning disapprovingly at the general before her. "Quite unbecoming things to suggest about a future queen."
"You haven't disagreed with me."
"I think Queen Blaze is more refined than you assume her to be," said the queen, her voice hardened and defensive. "Yes, she may not be the most intelligent dragon… and certainly not the humblest, either." Her eyes softened as she laid her claws upon the table, talons playing over each other. "But I promise you that I have enjoyed her company even during this brutish time of war, and she is better than a war-hungry murderer or a conniving puppetmaster. Surely you see my point."
"You haven't answered my biggest question," said Six-Claws. "I asked about whether you plan to rule the SandWings through Blaze."
Glacier tutted, drawing the other dragon's ire. "Do you really have that little faith in your fellow SandWings to guide her decisionmaking? Queen Blaze may lead the tribe, yes, but a leader isn't anything without subjects willing to follow her orders." She leaned in closer over the table. "If the queen ordered to concede the northernmost oases to the IceWings, would you resist? And yes, Six-Claws, I am asking you, specifically," the IceWing said annoyedly at his grunt of surprise. "As if I wouldn't recommend you to the highest levels of her army immediately after her ascension. A queen is nothing without the loyalty of her tribe, as I am nothing without my council of advisors."
She could see new respect forming in Six-Claws' black eyes as they studied her carefully. "You talk like a true queen," he said with a subdued smile. "If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were trying to convince me to submit to you."
"Perhaps," she said, giving him a sideways look. "I am trying to convince the Outclaws to join my cause. I hope you have not forgotten that."
Glacier couldn't help but smile when Six-Claws flinched. "Well, you make a good point," he said with a glower, "though I didn't think that you'd vouch for Blaze, of all dragons. Look, Your Majesty, I agree with what you're saying. I'm just also uncomfortable because…" He huffed, shuffling his claws together. "Blaze called my claws ugly when she was a dragonet and I haven't forgotten that. She's quite rude for someone in such a high position."
Glacier shot him such a withering look that it was a miracle that he didn't freeze into a block of ice right then and there. "I hope Burn's former general is not susceptible to mere sticks and stones. Do you not think dragons can develop better attitudes as they enter adulthood?"
"No, Your Majesty, that's not what I was implying at all," he responded, profuse embarrassment etched on his face. "Just that…" His claws tapped on the gameboard. "Never mind that. What would you like me to do, Your Majesty?"
She seized the change of topic, thankful for Six-Claws' quick tact. "An audience with Thorn," she said briskly. Her scaled glittered in the desert sun as she rose from the table. "Although I know I cannot change your mind so easily, I would at least like to explain my position to her as well."
"I will relay the message," said the SandWing, standing as well. He showed the queen to the exit of the tent, opening the flap for her with a slight bow. "Leaving so soon? Would you care to visit the markets with me, Your Majesty?"
Glacier couldn't help but rejoin his cocksure grin with a laugh. "You humor me, Six-Claws," she said, "but you know the panic that would raise. It is as preposterous an offer as, perhaps, requesting that you lead one of my armies. I would have no qualms promoting you to the highest rank of general, no matter what my advisors may say."
"A humbling offer, Your Majesty, to cause such commotion within your orderly tribe just for me."
"Think about it, Six-Claws."
She strode out into the open, a pair of sturdy IceWing guards following her to the north side of the oasis. It was far less traveled, where few peeping eyes could witness the noble Queen of the IceWings leaving a den of thieves. Glacier spread her wings wide in the harsh sunlight, the heat sapping the very energy from her crystalline body. "My business here is done," she declared. "We shall return to the Ice Kingdom now. You are not to divulge the location or details of this visit. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," two voices affirmed behind her.
The dragons kicked off into the cloudless blue desert skies, wheeling higher and higher until they caught the strong thermal drafts flowing north towards the Ice Kingdom. As the Scorpion Den grew smaller beneath them, Glacier's cool, confident veneer began to slip away. Her gaze softened in thought, cold blue eyes filling with doubt as she considered what Six-Claws said. Though he may have been misguided, he spoke with nothing but veracity and passion.
She wished she could have spoken with that much conviction.
The SandWing's criticism of Blaze, though colored with his own personal qualms, was still valid. It reminded Glacier of the first time she had taken in the ditsy, self-absorbed queen. Back then, the amount of land Blaze offered to the IceWings was so ridiculous she found herself trying to convince her new ally to give her less, lest she deprive her tribe of their valuable oases. It had taken a while to teach her even the fundamentals of government, concepts that a two-year old IceWing dragonet could recite with ease.
But during that time, the queen got to learn a lot more about the future SandWing queen. A splinter of jealousy worked its way into her heart as she thought about how Blaze could melt the heart of every dragon, SandWing or IceWing, who committed the simple crime of looking at her. She was a truly beautiful dragon, and Glacier was the least equipped to deny that.
And despite her obliviousness and vanity, underneath those glimmering scales and shiny jewelry was a genuine heart. A wry grin wormed its way onto her snout. It just took… effort to find it. A lot of effort.
But was allying with her a rational decision? She was no Prince Arctic and Blaze was no Foeslayer. Her interest in the SandWing queen was merely political with a mild friendship attached to it. "Nothing more," she said aloud with a huff.
"Your Majesty?"
Glacier blinked and looked at the guards surrounding her. Four more had risen up from the landscape below since the beginning of her flight, the air around her far cooler than the harsh heat from before. She was far closer to the Ice Kingdom than she realized. "Forget it," she said loudly, voice carrying over the winds.
Blaze was nothing but political capital, she told herself firmly. Nothing more and nothing less.
Queen Glacier had expected to fill her belly with a cold meal and collapse on a cold bed upon the end of her trip, but she didn't even make to the Great Ice Cliff before tragedy struck. A dozen IceWing soldiers intercepted her convoy, zooming in from the right. "Someone's attacked Queen Blaze, Your Majesty!" reported one of the breathless dragons. "Down on the ice shelf below!"
Red filled her vision. Gone was the instinct to ask for status reports; gone was the need for battle damage assessments. Glacier flapped her wings hard, her guards stunned by the gusts of wind before darting down after her.
It wasn't difficult to spot the crimson splotches upon the ridge. They beckoned to her like violent gashes in the pristine winter snow, a phalanx of soldiers circled around the scene. She could see a yellow dragon laying in the center of it, though she couldn't tell from this distance how bad the damage was. Was Blaze even alive? she asked herself, claws trembling.
Wind howled in her ears before she slammed down on the shelf, sending cracks through the ice. "Blaze!" she cried, bloodsoaked snow caking her talons. "Blaze! Are you alright?"
The large SandWing laid on her side, her expression sad and mopey until she heard Glacier's voice. "Glacier! You're back!" she exclaimed, expression excited and joyous.
She should have been taken aback by her excitement, but Blaze was a dragon who could be happy in a thunderstorm if she knew lightning could never strike her. "Thank goodness you're alive," Glacier breathed, eyes tracing her snow-white shawl up to her neck. It was soaked crimson, still warm and dripping, but whoever had slashed at her neck had clearly missed her artery. "Who did this to you?!" she snarled. "I will strip every last scale from their sorry hide!"
"Three moons!" exclaimed Blaze, blinking. "How vicious! But… you'd do that just for me?"
Only the sound of Blaze's giggling could calm the furious Glacier. "I swore to protect you," she said unevenly, "and if I must remind every dragon in Pyrrhia never to harm you, then I will." She looked at the IceWings surrounding them, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious. "What are you all doing, standing around so uselessly?!" she growled. "You four! Get her back to the SandWing outpost immediately!" She stared down her muzzle at a pair of anxious-looking dragons. "You! Status report! Who attempted to assassinate Queen Blaze?"
"A NightWing, your Majesty," one guard said.
Her entire body trembled so hard that it was a miracle she didn't summon an avalanche. "The NightWings," she hissed, rubbing her tiara. "Of course. But how did they attempt the attack? There's nothing but snow here. A NightWing should have been visible from miles around. And why was Queen Blaze out here instead of in the outpost?"
"The dragonets of destiny," the other IceWing said. "We saw them retreating towards the desert the moment you arrived. "They asked for her Majesty's audience… outside."
"They were very nice dragonets!" she heard someone call from behind. "If I had some more time, I could have convinced them to join us!"
Glacier held in a long-suffering sigh, instead putting on her best face when turning to face Blaze. "We'll talk later, alright?" Her expression transformed in an instant as she swung her head back around, her glare so sharp that it could have stabbed the IceWings looking up at her. "Take Queen Blaze to the infirmary. Now."
The sound of crunching snow filled the air as the guards escorted Blaze away. "Did anyone give chase to the NightWing or the dragonets?" she asked aloud.
"We tried to, Your Majesty. But by the time we arrived, they were long lost to the winds," volunteered one IceWing.
Glacier could see trepidation in his expression. He knew that wasn't the answer she wanted. Her claws curled into the icy ground as she contained her emotion, though anger still roiled behind her eyes. "Dispatch a search team immediately to their last known location," she commanded sternly. "Double Queen Blaze's security detail, and do not permit her to leave the outpost for any reason. Understood?"
Her head tilted up as she watched the guard take flight, heading back to the outpost looming above the cliffs. Glacier really wished she had a moment to herself, but the remaining soldiers kept understandably close to her. She shook her head and she leapt off the cliff, wingbeats filling the night sky as her entourage surrounded her. There were so many things to consider: who had sent the assassin? Was it the NightWings? Were the NightWings working with Blister? An assassination was far more Blister's flavor than Burn's.
But what about the dragonets? Were they working with Blister too? What could they possibly have said that would lure Blaze out of the comforts of her heated fortress and out into the fierce cold outside?
But one thought spoke louder than anything else.
What if Blaze had died?
