Chapter 2
"So, how's it going with that girl from the party?" Alec leaned back, the fist flying past where his head had just been.
"That was weeks ago," there was confusion in Jace's voice as he readjusted his stance in preparation for the kick Alec aimed at the back of his knee.
"So nothing special, then?" Alec swung to the side once more, grabbing Jace's leg with one foot and swiftly dragging Jace's foot out from under him.
"Not really, no," Jace rolled onto his back, looking up at Alec with an indifferent shrug.
"Anyone else you have your eyes on?" holding up his hands, palms out, Alec sank to the floor, letting his long legs stretch out.
"Not really, no," Jace pushed himself up into a seated position, legs crossed and arms resting on his knees. "You?" Alec simply raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Is that a no?" There was a cheeky lilt to the corners of Jace's mouth, his golden eyes sparkling. Alec shook his head at him, trying to fight the smile that wanted to take over his face.
"My lord," The two of the turned towards the doorway to the small training space, where a guard was now standing. "There has been an attack on a border village. Your father wishes to speak with you urgently."
"Understood, thank you," Alec got to his feet, a deep frown carving it's way across his forehead.
"Another attack?" Jace said following Alec up the stairs. "That's the second one this month. What's going on?"
"I don't know." Alec replied, briskly. Border disputes had been rising over the last year or so, raiders from Artanarg crossing the river to steal cattle and produce from the farms at the borders of Ashlon. Up until a few months ago it hadn't cost human lives. Then the first attack had happened. Alec had been to the village, had seen the sotted remains of houses and the bodies of the five killed villagers. Had spoken to the survivors, faced their despair. There had been little comfort to offer, and he had never felt as helpless as he did then. Three more attacks had followed, and the helplessness only grew.
Robert Lightwood was waiting for Alec in his office, sitting behind a large, wooden desk with his back to the large crystal panes. He looked grey and tired, staring almost absentmindedly at his fingertips pressed together. Next to the desk, Rider Magnus stood, back straight, starring straight ahead, expressionless.
"Father," Alec stopped just inside the door, grabbing his left wrist with his right hand behind his back. "There's been another attack?" Robert looked up, nodding slowly.
"Unfortunately, yes. Seven casualties this time. Two children." he said, his voice thin and worn. He tapped his fingers against his chin three times, before letting his hands fall flat against the polish wood of his desk. "Farseya and Rei'Van face these troubles, too. The king wants to avoid war, but if this continues, war is headed our way, and fast. The border regions must stand together against this threat. I need you to go to Farseya. Lord Marklund is expecting you there. Lord Ha'Ray will send someone, as well. You know our resources. I trust you know what we can afford to secure an alliance. We must be prepared for what is headed our way."
"Yes, father. What about Sorelina? Are they not part of this negotiation." The regions of Farseya and Rei'Van lay to the north of Ashlon, and the three had a history of cooperation. The southern region of Sorelina was new to the kingdom, won in the last war with Artanarg, some eighty years ago.
"Sorelina is in negotiation with Ulonia." Robert replied shortly, pausing to study the scrolls in front of him. "Rider Magnus will accompany you. You will leave as soon as possible."
"Yes father," Alec bowed, turned on his heel and left the room. He heard the snap of Magnus' heels against the blackstone as the rider followed him.
"I understand that Farseya is half a days flight away." The rider fell into step next to Alec.
"There about." Alec replied, striding down the hallway with purpose, eyes kept staring straight ahead.
"We might not make it before nightfall." Rider Magnus easily kept stride with Alec, "Do the nights get cold here this time of year? Will we have to huddle for warmth?" Rider Magnus twisted toward Alec as he kept pace with him, smirking as his eyebrows shot up.
"If we get going soon, we won't have to find out," Alec tried ignoring the lingering look in Rider Magnus' eyes, taking a turn to run up stairs leading to the higher levels where the Lightwood quarters lay. "I will meet you at the stables shortly."
"Will do, My lord." Magnus called after him, the smirk audible in his voice.
Alec only spent enough time in his room to gather what he would need for a few days as a diplomat at a neighboring fort. Clothes, maps and documents were all shoved haphazardly into a bag, which he slung over his shoulder. Magnus was waiting by the door to the dragon stables, shoulders leaning against the wall as he casually inspected his nails.
"Ready for a ride, My Lord?" Rider Magnus pushed of the wall, turning to face Alec. He pulled a little square of Blackrock from the intricate belt at his middle, handing it to Alec. "Communicator. The wind up there makes talking without this little thing practically impossible." Alec accepted the stone, pushing it in to the little pocket in the collar of the heavy black coat he'd put on to combat the coldness of the sky. Magnus, still standing very close, smirked, and reached over to pull up the hood of the coat, securing it in place with a little wink. "All set." he said, turning to lead the way in to the stables. Drawing in a deep breath, Alec hesitantly followed.
Normally, there were two or three dragons in the stables, but today there was only Magnus' little white Delárthera, saddle on her back, ready for the journey. She ruffled her shoulders and bared her teeth at Alec in what was either a smile or a threat. Alec stopped in the doorway, watching as Magnus deftly tied the bag he had snatched from Alec's hand to the saddle. Once he was done, the rider affectionately scratched the dragons shoulder, and she twisted to nudge her flat head against him, a low rumble coming from her. Magnus laughed a clear little laugh, nudging her back with his hip. Then he looked over to where Alec was still stood by the door, arms straight down by his side, hands folded firmly into fists.
"Come, say hello to Chairman," Magnus called, scratching the dragon between her ears. Alec nodded, firmly, drew in a deep breath, and forced himself to walk slowly and with feigned calmness to Magnus and the Delárthera. "Chairman, this is Lord Alec. He'll be flying with us," Magnus told the dragon, as she turned her face towards Alec, clever green eyes watching him intently. "Alec, this is Chairman." Magnus introduced as the dragon stretched her neck to bob her head against Alec's abdomen in the same way as she had done to Magnus before. Alec froze in place, his whole body refusing to do anything he tried to command it to.
"Chairman, don't terrify the boy," Magnus scolded in the background, pulling at the dragon's ear. "Sorry about her. She's very affectionate towards those she takes a liking to, and she's not very good with boundaries." Magnus explained, as Alec slowly got his breathing back in his control. "You good?" the rider looked at him, mild concern in his eyes. Alec nodded slowly, forcing his breath to steady and his hands to stop shaking.
"I'm good. We should get going if we want to make it before nightfall." he said stepping up next to Magnus and inspecting the saddle, wondering how to get on, and, more importantly, how to stay on once he was up there.
"You haven't done this before have you?" Magnus raised an eyebrow at him, and Alec couldn't quite tell if it was amusement lurking in the sparkle of the riders eye. Biting his teeth together, Alec shook his head. "Well, just get up behind me." Magnus stepped into a little leather strap attached to the saddle, and swung up in a leap. That, Alec knew he could do. It was just like with the Grinars he usually rode well enough. He copied Magnus, landing in the saddle behind the rider. "Now, take off can be a little rough, but the weather is clear so we should be good once we get up there. Feel free to hold on tight, I probably wont break." Magnus grabbed Alec's arms, pulling them around himself. He must have given a signal because suddenly, they were off. In some sort of leapy, jumpy run, Chairman took off across the stable floor towards the gate. Alec's arms tightened when the white dragon leapt out of the gate, wings pumping hard and fast to gain momentum as they tore off into the sky above the castle.
(***)
Flying was terrifying. There was no other word that adequately described it, even though Magnus tried to offer a variety of alternatives over the little communicator tugged in to its pocket in Alec's collar. The wind howled like a storm around him, tearing at his clothes, searing cold deep into his bones. His hands, now wrapped more loosely around Magnus had turned numb a while ago. He couldn't feel his feet.
"Look, there's the lake Thenore." Magnus pointed at what had to be a huge lake, though from up here it looked more like one of those landscapes he'd sometimes constructed with Izzy, using a mirror for lakes, surrounding it with little wooden trees and little mounts of teal and purple rocks for mountains. "Isn't it beautiful?" Alec snorted his reply into the communicator, and Magnus' laugh crackled back at him, echoing on the howling wind as well. "When we reach the other side, we'll take a break," Magnus' said, as the swerved over the purple-red surface of the lake.
Landing was almost as heart-stoppingly horrible as taking of, and when Alec slid of the back of the white dragon his legs nearly collapsed under him. His feet had turned numb from the cold, and they came back to life with sharp pangs and stabs reverberating up through his calves. Dragons turned out to be good for one thing. - They quickly got a fire going, even if they only meant to stop for a short while. Alec settled as close to the flames as he dared, rubbing at his hands and feet to urge life back into them. Magnus smiled at him from the other side of the fire, tossing him an èlapp, which Alec very nearly caught.
"So, the good news is that we're just about halfway, which means we should be able to make it before nightfall. The bad news is that we wont have to huddle for warmth tonight." he smirked suggestively, which Alec did his best to ignore.
"That's good. That we'll make it tonight. Hopefully we can start talks in the morning, then." Alec starred thoughtfully into the flames. "Where were you posted before coming here?" he asked Magnus, looking at the rider over the flames. Both Magnus' eyebrows shut up at the question, though he didn't look away from the fire.
"I was over in Gratargh," he said, his voice quiet and void of that swagger and nonchalance that Alec was getting used to. His hands were folded in his lap, fingers twining together in slow patterns. "That was my first assignment as a trained Rider. Lord Har'Sant is a good commander, though he didn't have much use of it while I was there. There wasn't much for us riders to do there but keep watch."
"That's good though, right? That you didn't have to fight. It means people's lives weren't ruined by strife." Alec looked into the fire again, thoughts wandering to the ashen faces of villagers who had lost everything. The villagers he was meant to protect against just that. Magnus hummed in agreement. "Do you think war is coming?" Alec looked up in time to see Magnus' eyebrows draw together in a deep frown.
"Darling, I think war is already here. Just nobody is calling it that just yet." he said his eyes raising to meet Alec's. There was a certainty in his voice, a disillusion in his eyes, that made Alec's heart sink. "When I was at Gratargh, we were sent to Leanet, a village by the border, as reinforcement. A series of villages down there had been burned to the ground, and Lord Bernath didn't have the forces to combat these raiders. We were attacked in the night. These people weren't raiders. They were skilled, and they fought to kill, not to plunder. They had dragons. We weren't prepared. Five dragon riders and a few foot soldiers. We fought hard, but. We had lost before we even began. All we could do was provide some semblance of shelter for the villagers to flee under. We pulled out as soon as they were somewhat safe. But by then we had already suffered heavy losses. We had lost a Rider. A close friend of mine. He had been shot out of the sky. I saw him go down. Saw his dragon, Kiera, plummet through the air with non of the grace and agility she was so known for. The raids have continued and now they have spread all the way up here. The war has started, the king is just not admitting that yet. Maybe because the Eastern lords have been unhappy with the level of taxes on grain the last few years, maybe because admitting it means sending his armies, and that will weaken the northern border, where things are also kicking up dust. So you need to make this border treaty strong and you need to make it solid, because you are going to need it when negotiations for the armies start." Through his tale Magnus had stared into the flames, but by the end his eyes had found Alec's, staring imploringly at him. There was a raw honesty in his face that imprinted itself in Alec's mind. He found himself nodding slowly.
"I will," he said, and he knew his voice carried a promise honest and openly given. A promise he knew he would be keeping.
"Okay, well, we should get going, so you can get started on your work." Magnus visibly pulled himself together, getting to his feet. Alec noticed, quietly, the way Chairman pushed her head against Magnus' chest and Magnus' slow strokes between her downturned ears. Alec knew only little about the bond between dragons and riders, but it was obvious how strong it was, how in tune Chairman and Magnus were. Alec looked away from the clearly private conversation going on, scratched his hair and got to his feet to turn out their little fire. Magnus was right. He had work to get to.