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CLEARSIGHT
It took some time, but Clearsight eventually got used to being queen.
In fact, she started to kind of enjoy it after a while. She didn't have anyone to report to — no angry and impossibly difficult superiors who might have fired or arrested her if she delivered bad news too bluntly. When a war general asked for direction, she told him what to do. When the library was being underfunded, she gave it more money.
It was terrible and stressful for the first week. She second guessed herself constantly, and she knew that Vigilance's old advisors absolutely did not take a liking to her (which Darkstalker confirmed after reading their minds).
It didn't help that she had no prior training or preparation before she was crowned. There was a whole language of formalities and courtesies that she needed to learn — all while figuring out how to appropriately run council meetings, how to deal with the supplications of the NightWing citizenry, and how to compartmentalize new information from foreign ambassadors and lieutenants and representatives of other important organizations.
But she slowly got into the swing of things, and once she did, she settled into the occupation quite amicably. One of the upsides to the job was that it was far less busy than she'd initially feared it would be. It only took so many hours to dish out a day's worth of work to all the important dragons that reported to her. And once she was done, she had plenty of time to hang out with Darkstalker and Fathom.
Being queen did have one rather annoying downside, though.
As she was walking down the halls with Fathom and Indigo and Darkstalker, a flash struck through her mind. Then a similar looking flash caught itself in the corner of her eye. Gracefully, she lowered her head just in time for a crossbow bolt to whizz over her horns. It hit one of the numerous mirrors in the hallway, shattering it loudly.
"Again?" Darkstalker snarled, glaring up at the ceiling shadows. Indigo swiftly darted up and grabbed the assassin, ripping him off of the support beam he was standing on and throwing him to the ground, where he landed on his side. Indigo landed on top of him, keeping him pinned.
"Why do they keep trying?" Darkstalker fumed as he approached the subdued NightWing. "And why do you assassins keep taking the job? Haven't you noticed that all of your coworkers seem to be getting executed?"
"The pay keeps increasing," the assassin grumbled. "Lots of powerful dragons want you dead."
"Care to name names?" Darkstalker asked. "Maybe I can offer double to send a proper assassin after them."
"Can't," he said. "Secrecy is part of the trade."
"Yeah, that's what the others all said," Darkstalker said with a sigh. "And torturing them didn't help either. Well, good on you for letting your commissioners down. I hope they wasted a lot of money on you."
"They certainly did, Your Majesty," the assassin said dejectedly.
Indigo stripped the dragon of all his weapons before a pair of guards swept by to escort him to the dungeon. He was carried off without any fuss, resigned to his fate.
"The conspirators against us are persistent, I'll give them that," Clearsight mused. "I wish they would realize that they can't keep the results of their schemes out of my visions, though." She looked over at Darkstalker. "Do you think any of our councillors are a part of any of this?"
"Not the ones we haven't fired," Darkstalker said as he picked up the crossbow bolt and poked the steel tip with his talon. "I've read their minds. They may not like you very much, but they're not secretly conspiring to kill you."
A few days after their coronation, Clearsight and Darkstalker upgraded the royal advisory body. They kicked out the current high stewardess and replaced her with Whiteout. Thoughtful, Whiteout's husband, was appointed as treasurer, but oftentimes was simply there to act as a translator for Whiteout's remarks. Listener became the new spymaster after the old one proved that she couldn't be trusted. And while Darkstalker desperately wanted to replace the current captain of the royal guard with Indigo, Clearsight warned him that the palace guards would not react positively to being under the command of a SeaWing, and she ended up persuading him to keep the current one.
"We need to do something about this," Indigo said. "Clearly they're just going to keep trying. If we don't put an end to their scheming once and for all, they might actually end up succeeding. They only need to get lucky once."
Indigo did have a point. She and Darkstalker were now about a month into their reign. And after five (wait, now six) assassination attempts, eleven resignations from those who had worked for Queen Vigilance, and two or three angry citizens calling her and Darkstalker deceitful usurpers each day during supplications, it was clear that they still weren't the most popular rulers the Night Kingdom had ever known.
It was better than it appeared at face value, however. According to ground reports from Listener, most of the NightWings were either indifferent or supportive of them. Those who opposed them just happened to be very, very vocal, and very, very mad.
And soon, even that opposition would fade. Once Clearsight followed through on her promise to end the IceWing war, she would prove her value as a queen even to most of the dragons who currently wanted her dead.
"Once the war is over, the conspiracies should die down," Clearsight said. "We probably don't need to do anything. The problem will solve itself."
"Do you really think it's a good idea to wait until that happens?" Indigo asked. "How many more weeks is it going to be before you and Diamond reach an agreement? How many more crossbow bolts are you going to have to dodge?"
"Actually, I'm expecting to receive Queen Diamond's truce acceptance in a few hours," Clearsight told her with a cocksure grin. "So maybe one or two at worst?"
"YOUR MAJESTY!" a voice rang from down the hall. Clearsight immediately recognized it as Crescent, the head messenger for the royal palace.
"Well, would you look at that," Clearsight said happily. "I guess I should have said 'a few seconds' instead."
"You have an urgent message from the Ice Kingdom," Crescent said as he approached Clearsight. He was a very short dragon with a very fast gait, and it always sounded a bit like it was raining when she heard his talons clicking against the smooth stone floor.
He stopped a distance away from Clearsight and bowed, then opened his messenger satchel to produce a pristine scroll bound with a wax seal. The seal depicted a large dead tree with orbular fruits hanging from the branches, which was the symbol of the IceWing royal family ever since Frostbite created the Moon Globe Tree.
"Thank you, Crescent," Clearsight said, taking the scroll from him and breaking it. She turned from him and faced her friends, proudly reading the words that she already knew were written on the paper.
"To the newly coronated Queen Clearsight,
"My hatred for your mother-in-law is not a secret to either of our tribes. This war is all her fault, and she has been adamant in her refusal to comply with any of my previous bargains for peace.
"I'm curious. Do you know the history of how Darkstalker's parents met? There was a peace summit between our tribes. Ambassadors from your kingdom came up north to discuss our tribal relations. We were hoping to expand our caravans further south into the Talon Peninsula, since at the time we were only trading with the SandWings.
"But the NightWings had other plans. They dragged along an ugly little fruit bat with them named Foeslayer. She was a charming little floozy, apparently, and she came to the summit with the hopes of intoxicating our prince with her allure — and subsequently having his dragonets, one of whom might harbor animus powers of their own.
"Surprisingly, it worked. In fact, Foeslayer was so seductive that the unscrupulous little thot convinced Arctic to run away with her, and even use his powers to murder his own kind. The two retreated to the Night Kingdom, and I'm sure you know the rest. They eloped, had two hideous mutants, and started a war that's continuing to this very day.
"I like to believe that my reaction has been just, and even charitable. My niece believes that Foeslayer's conduct is indicative of your tribe harboring a culture of savagery and deceit. But I am not so keen to agree with her. I believe that there's good in your tribe. It's just that none of that good is present in Foeslayer.
"There may be some in your husband, as Darkstalker does have Arctic's blood in his veins."
"HA!" Darkstalker barked. "Don't remind me. There's plenty of good in my soul, but that's no thanks to Arctic."
Clearsight continued. "But I have been resentful of his existence for quite some time now, and I would rather see his head at the top of a spike than at the top of a kingdom.
"I recognize the difficulty in making that happen, though — especially now that he's king. Because he is technically my grandson, and because nobody in that bloody kingdom of yours seems to be interested in killing him —"
"Wrong again," Darkstalker fluted. "They're all just really bad at it."
"— I will be willing to give him a chance. His offer to us is a promising start. This war has been taxing on both of our tribes, and the return of our prince seems a fair compromise. I would have liked Foeslayer to be punished for what she did, but vengeance can only be the fuel of morale for so long. I have ordered my frontline troops to retreat and return to their outposts up north. When we have our prince back, I will draft up a treaty that I am positive you will ratify.
"With regards to your hope that our tribes can kindle an alliance, don't hold your breath. It will be a great struggle for me to ever see Darkstalker's half-bloodedness as a symbol of our tribes' unity. His blood will forever be tainted by the circumstances of his hatching. Maybe in a century or two, our tribes can be allied properly. But until then, you stay out of our affairs and we will stay out of yours.
"May you rule your new kingdom wisely,
Queen Diamond"
Clearsight lifted her eyes from the letter and regarded her friends. They each looked a weird combination of relieved and uncomfortable.
"It sounded a bit mean-spirited for a peace acceptance, if you ask me," Indigo said scrutinously. "She could have done without the whole 'your husband is a hideous mutant and I want to kill him and his sister and his mother' shpiel."
"This is probably the best we can ask for," Clearsight said. "I'm not going to keep warring with her just because there were some rude things in her letter."
"Nah, you totally should," Darkstalker said with a fiery grin. "Send her a reply saying, 'How about you try that again with nicer words? You should really learn how to be more polite to other queens'."
Clearsight snorted. "That would NOT go well at all. You may as well dare her to spend the rest of her life trying to invade us."
"Yeah, you can't ask her to not hate Foeslayer," Fathom said. "Didn't Clearsight say that she tried enchanting her to fly to her death a few years ago?"
Clearsight turned to return to her office, where she hoped to stow the letter away and write up a speech declaring the war over. But she was stopped before she took her first step by Crescent, who was still exactly where he had been when he gave Clearsight the letter. Clearsight blinked at him. "Um, yes?"
"Oh — there's another message for you, Your Majesty," he said, producing another scroll. "This one is from the Sea Kingdom."
Clearsight took the letter gingerly, humming at it. "Thank you. Is there anything else for me or Darkstalker?"
"Not at this time, Your Majesty."
"Alright, then run along. These letters are for me, and I may not want you listening to them."
"Oh — I'm very sorry, Queen Clearsight! Don't worry: my lips are sealed. I will act as if I heard nothing." And at that he swiftly trotted away, his talons going pitter-patter-pitter-patter against the floor until they were out of ear's range.
Clearsight turned to face Fathom and Indigo, as she broke the seal on the letter.
"Do you know what this one's about?" Fathom asked, sounding a little nervous.
"No," Clearsight answered. "I haven't had any visions about it. Could it possibly be for you?"
Fathom shook his head. "She addresses her personal letters directly to me."
"Maybe she just wishes to congratulate you on your coronation," Darkstalker suggested.
"Or maybe she wishes to condemn her," Fathom said. "My sister was never a big fan of you."
"Guess we'll find out," Clearsight said, though she had a bad feeling that Fathom was probably right. She unfurled the letter and began reading.
"To Darkstalker and Clearsight of the Night Kingdom,
"News has spread to the Sea Kingdom that you have overthrown the royal NightWing family and usurped the throne for yourselves. We are shocked and appalled by this revelation, and express our deepest sympathies to Vigilance's family — and our deepest condemnations to you."
"There it is," Fathom said, sounding like he'd just won a contest he secretly wanted to lose.
"We are not writing this letter as a formal denouncement of your kingdom, however. The Sea Kingdom may despise the means by which you two have assumed power, but if your citizenry accepts and recognizes your authority, then we too will treat you as king and queen.
"As overseers of the Night Kingdom palace, you have a responsibility to us that you inherited from Queen Vigilance. That responsibility is to house, take care of, and protect Prince Fathom and his SeaWing bodyguards — two of whom have since returned to the Sea Kingdom under what now appear to be extremely suspicious circumstances.
"Prince Fathom has been in your company for three years now, and he has insisted that his task is not yet done — that he needs more time to get through to Darkstalker, to ensure that he does not use his magic and does not fall sway to corruption. We have been patient with him until now, but your ruthless seizure of the throne has confirmed our most harrowing suspicions. Fathom has, regretfully, failed at keeping Darkstalker at bay.
"We have decided that our prince is no longer safe in the Night Kingdom, and that you are not to be trusted with the responsibility that we had bestowed onto Queen Vigilance. We demand that Prince Fathom and his bodyguard Indigo be brought back to the Sea Kingdom swiftly and immediately. If you refuse to comply with this demand, it will be treated as a royal kidnapping and our response will be of the utmost intensity. See to it that our prince is returned, or it will be known ..."
Clearsight blanched as she read over the next words. She swallowed, pausing for several seconds before continuing.
"... or it will be known to all of Pyrrhia that a state of war shall exist between our tribes.
"Signed,
Queen Pearl"
Clearsight sagged, and her arms fell to her side.
"I should have known," Fathom said miserably. "I should have known that she was going to take us back anyway."
"Why didn't you see this coming?" Indigo asked, sounding accusational. "I thought you could see the future. How come you didn't know about this?"
"I don't know," Clearsight said, suddenly feeling like her legs had turned to jelly. "I can't see the entire future all at once. I guess I've been so focused on the Ice Kingdom that I didn't realize this was going to happen."
"How?" Indigo asked loudly. "Wasn't the entire point of you becoming queen to make sure Fathom and I didn't have to go back to the Sea Kingdom? Why didn't you make sure that we were actually going to be protected?"
"You will be protected," Darkstalker said sternly. "We're not sending you back there."
"So you're gonna go to war with them instead?" Indigo asked. "Fine alternative. I'm sure your subjects will love you after that."
"We'll appeal to Queen Pearl. Fathom can tell her that he's happier here and he wants to stay in the Night Kingdom — which, frankly, he should have done a long time ago."
"She already knows I'm happier here," Fathom said. "That's partly why I've been able to stay here for so long already."
"Then vouch for my character," Darkstalker said. "Let her know that I've been nothing but friendly and cordial this entire time, and that I've been very careful with my magic."
"She doesn't trust my word. Can't you see that she's already made up your mind about you?"
Fathom was right, as he usually was with his sister. She couldn't find any readily available futures where Queen Pearl backed down on her threat.
Still, she felt that she had to at least try to negotiate with her. She agreed with Darkstalker — there was no way she'd let them take Fathom and Indigo away, especially after all they'd done to get the throne. But closing off any discussion with Queen Pearl would only ensure that they went to war faster. "I'll send a reply to Pearl tomorrow," she said. "I'll try to tell her that sending Fathom and Indigo back would be in neither of our best interests. Maybe I can get her to set up a meeting with us, or discuss the possibility of a compromise."
"It's not going to happen," Fathom said hesitantly. "She's too worried about me and she's too scared of you and Darkstalker. You aren't gonna change her mind."
"Maybe not, but I still want to talk to her." She looked sadly at the letter again, feeling tempted to crumple it up and throw it away. "In the meantime, I'll send orders to our soldiers to return home. I want them to enjoy a warless kingdom for as long as they can." And she walked to her office, readying herself for a long discussion with the future timelines.