Glorious Politics

AN: This is another one of those chapters that I enjoyed writing more than I usually do. And considering this is my favorite story I've ever done, that's saying a lot.

Anyway, lot of big happenings in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy all the twists!

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. Nimbus, Sobek, Mistral, and Veneno are my OCs. Bloodwalker belongs to SpyroAndSisuFan. Certus, Solstice, and Swiftback belong to Epsilon33. Bear belongs to Schwanze. The concept for the character Soulstealer partially belongs to SpyroAndSisuFan.

Chapter Forty-Three:

With all of the excitement of last night with Sobek attacking her in the rainforest, the trip to the Sand Kingdom, the warning bells going off, and finally her and Mistral's argument, she'd really hoped for a chance to sleep in. It seemed life had other plans, however. Worry had plagued her mind after she'd finally been able to lay down. Worry about Sobek coming back for her. Worry about her next confrontation with Mistral and what he might say or do. Because of that, it'd taken almost an hour for her to fall back asleep.

And then, only a few hours later if the rays of the morning sun were any indication, someone pounded on her door. The sudden commotion had her jumping awake from being fast asleep, and she ended up tangled in her blankets in that flash of panic. "AHH! SONOFA—"

All of the air whooshed out of her lungs when her back hit the floor, and the sound of her hitting the floor prompted whoever had been at the door to open it. "Are you—"

"THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" she roared furiously. Until now, she hadn't even laid eyes on the perpetrator, and as soon as her gaze landed on the random Sandwing guard she'd never met before, she growled. "GET OUT!"

Despite being on the floor and on her back—or maybe because of it—his eyes went comically wide, and then he, wisely, retreated from the room. The door slammed behind him as he rushed to get out. Her glare on the door lingered for a moment longer before she turned her attention to freeing herself from the blankets.

Once her feet and wings were untangled, she got up and glared at the door again. She didn't often go full Queen mode on underlings, hers or otherwise, but there were certain things that ticked her off enough to unleash it. The worst thing wasn't him pounding on the door while she was asleep, though that was bad enough as it was. Beyond personal pet peeves, and no matter which kingdom it was, no one goes into a Queen's bedroom without invitation! Mistral breaking into her office when they first met was bad, but at least he'd never invaded her bedroom like that Sandwing just had! It was just appropriate conduct!

He better not still be out there...

Her back still hurt a bit from the tumble. Stretching herself out, she sighed in relief as her spine popped, and then she yawned when she stood back up. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned again. Now that the anger was slipping away, exhaustion was hitting her again. With everything that happened last night, she hadn't been able to sleep for very long.

Another, softer, knock came from the door. Before she could snap at the idiot outside, a different voice spoke. "Glory? You okay in there?"

Her annoyance disappeared in an instant, and she sighed, walking over to the door and opening it to see a completely different dragon there. The Sandwing from before was nowhere in sight. "I'm fine, Turtle. Did you need something?"

The Seawing shrugged. "Well, I'd really like somewhere to go swimming," he smiled, showing that he was joking. She chuckled. "But there was a Sandwing here that said you fell?"

She rolled her eyes with a scoff, though she appreciated the genuine concern. "I was dead asleep, and then he pounded on the door loud enough to wake the dead. And then he came into my room without my permission."

"He seemed new," he absently commented. Then, he shrugged. "Anyway, he told me that Thorn wanted to see you in the throne room."

She nodded and followed behind him. No doubt this was to discuss what happened last night. And despite the fact that was important, there was something else on her mind. She felt a bit bad for asking about it rather than having a brief, friendly conversation with Turtle, who she hadn't had a brief, friendly conversation with in a while. But... "Have you seen or heard from Mistral?"

He shook his head, and she just barely bit back a sad sigh. "I heard him shouting last night, though. Are you okay?"

Again, that genuine concern reminded her of how friendly Turtle always was. He was always looking out for his friends. And she couldn't bring herself to lie to his face because of that. "I guess... He just lost both of his best friends, his...brothers. He's upset, and he blames me for what happened to Winter." Turtle was quiet for a while, long enough for her to glance at him curiously. His gaze was straight ahead, a frown on his face. "Turtle? You can say whatever's on your mind."

He sighed, and she braced herself. This clearly wasn't him about to start singing her praises. "Winter was my friend," he began simply. "We drifted apart when he left, and I know I hadn't seen or heard from him in a while." He looked away. "Honestly, I'm not sure he even considers me to be his friend anymore. But he'll always be my friend." He shook his head and sighed again before looking at her. "I understand why you did it. I do. If Tsunami or Anemone or Auklet were in trouble, and I had to give up Peril or Kinkajou to save them, I would be really tempted to go through with that trade."

He thought for a moment before shaking his head again. "But maybe my example isn't a good one. My sisters are royalty. Important dragonesses. As heartless as this makes me sound...practically speaking, their lives are simply more important than Kinkajou's. And, well...Winter's life is more important than Jambu's. Yeah, he's your brother, but..."

He trailed off, but he'd already said what needed to be said. "He said as much last night." Not in the exact same way Turtle had. Mistral had been emotional while Turtle had been strictly logical. The message was the same, though. Mistral saying it made sense. He was upset, and he blamed her for what happened to Winter. But Turtle? One of the nicest, most sensible dragons she knew? With him saying pretty much the same thing Mistral had, she finally realized the truth.

She'd made a mistake.

Sacrificing Winter for Jambu hadn't been the right decision. Having her brother back, safe and sound, meant she didn't have to grieve his loss. Then again, she didn't even know he was safe. As Mistral pointed out...he wasn't here. He'd disappeared again.

As a consequence of her choice, dragons around her were having to grieve their friend. Mistral, Turtle, Qibli, maybe Moon, and probably others—Snowfall, too—they were all grieving the loss of their close friend, or in some cases, their family. In preventing herself from hurting, she'd hurt so many others. And that's not even bringing Turtle's point into this. Winter was more important than Jambu. Discounting all of his knowledge about Icewing nobility and the potential Icewing secrets he possessed that the general public didn't know about, the cult wanted him. That should've been reason enough to protect him.

And now they had Hailstorm, too. Both Icewing Princes were in their filthy claws now, and it was entirely her fault.

Moisture began to build in her eyes as she realized how big of a fool she had been, but she blinked it all away. There would be time for self-depreciation and guilt-tripping herself later. Right now, she had business with the Sandwing Queen to deal with. Business that would hopefully lead to the Icewing brothers' rescue.

The doors to the throne room were already open, and as they approached, it became readily apparent that she and Turtle were the last to arrive. Not only were there tons of Sandwings, guards and officials alike, gathered, but all of her friends were there, too. Well...most of them.

Peril, Bear and two of his guards, Bloodwalker, and Moon were easy enough to spot, their scales making them stick out in this veritable sea of tan dragons. Qibli and Veneno were standing at either side of Thorn, who was sitting upon her throne. Despite clearly being tired after not getting much sleep last night, Qibli seemed to be doing better than she. Then again, he was probably a lot more used to long nights than she, so it made sense. She couldn't see Blaze while sweeping the room, that didn't necessarily meant she wasn't there. There were enough Sandwings present that she could've blended in, especially if she wasn't wearing any of her accessories.

Mistral was nowhere in sight, but who wasn't present was much less surprising than who was. Two male Nightwings, one clearly older than the other, were sat in front of Thorn, their backs to the approaching pair of dragons. The older one was currently speaking, and Glory didn't recognize his voice, which meant it was someone she didn't know. As Glory and Turtle entered, though, a lot of her friends gave her worried glances.

In hindsight, that should've been a red flag.

In the moment, however, she thought they were simply worried about her because of the argument she had with Mistral last night. The fact he was nowhere to be seen within the throne room definitely worried her. The Icewing hadn't struck her as the type to commit rash action, but maybe, upset as he was, he'd decided to leave and do something. What, she had no idea, but she could understand the desire to get up and do something even when others were telling her to wait.

The second red flag was when she noticed Thorn hold up a claw, which immediately made the older Nightwing go quiet. He'd been briefing the Queen about some sort of escape. She hadn't been paying as close attention as she probably should have, especially since she thought she heard Vulture's name mentioned. Now, however, the entire room was silent, and Thorn was staring right at her, her expression completely unreadable.

So confused by the sudden silence and Thorn's unflinching gaze that she didn't notice the two Nightwings turn around. "Glory?"

Her mind completely blanked. Her body froze. Every bit of confusion, concern, worry, regret, guilt, and everything else she'd been feeling about the multiple issues she'd been involved with lately was gone in an instant. The shock of hearing his voice again after all this time not hearing anything about him or knowing where he was had shaken her to her core.

Slowly, stiffly, her gaze lowered to take in the two Nightwings, especially the younger one. The one she recognized. "Deathbringer..." It came out as a mere breath.

But if the small, genuine smile he gave her was any indication, he'd heard her. "You called me by my name, so I guess that's a good sign," he tried joking, but when she didn't react at all, he chuckled awkwardly and looked away with a grimace. "Sorry..."

The apology was enough of a shock to make her scoff in incredulity. What she would do if she ever saw him again had been on her mind for a while now, but she honestly couldn't decide if she wanted to run over, hug him, and apologize for how she treated him or just slap him for scaring her half to death with his disappearance. What was certain, however, was that both of those reactions would be better, for both their sakes, if she waited for a moment alone with him. She didn't feel like getting personal in front of a crowd of dragons she didn't know. Already, their staring was making her feel uncomfortable.

So instead, hard as it may have been, she shook herself free of the shock of his reappearance and decided on a simple question. "Um...Uh...what are you doing here?" She internally winced at how nervous and blindsided that sounded, Very smooth, me.

This time, when he looked at her again, his smile was a lot more forced. "Helping," he said simply. She tried not letting her skepticism at that declaration show, but apparently, he'd caught it, anyway. "Hailstorm's fine, by the way. We saved him last night."

That declaration blindsided her once again, and she looked up to Thorn for confirmation. "Mistral's with him right now." The relief she felt upon hearing that simple sentence forced her to sit down lest her wobbly legs be too apparent. "Sobek's dead, too."

Okay, that she wasn't going to take at face value. "We thought that last night, but look what happened."

"Whatever you did, it probably wasn't as effective as removing his head from his neck," the older Nightwing said.

Glory studied him closely, not only to see if he was lying but also to see if she actually did recognize him. She didn't. She'd never seen this dragon before in her life. "I'm sorry, who are you again?"

"Soulstealer," he replied simply, as if that was supposed to mean anything to her.

Deathbringer shuffled a bit before explaining. "He's...my dad." And that was blindside number three. Although...

She studied the old Nightwing closer. He was average size for an adult Nightwing, bigger than Deathbringer by half a head. The two had very similar builds, and Soulstealer didn't show any sign of malnutrition. Though he did have a lot of scars, especially on his chest and back. The eyes were different between the two, but she could also see the familial resemblance in his facial structure.

Deciding that she would deal with that shocking revelation later, she returned to the matter at claw. "Did you actually see his head?" she asked Thorn.

"I did," she confirmed.

But that didn't appease her suspicions. "Do I need to remind anybody here about the time Scarlet used animus magic to make a severed Mudwing head look like mine?"

Soulstealer barked out a laugh, which took everyone in the room by surprise. "I like this one! That suspicion will serve you well, especially in this Kingdom, Queen Glory." In her peripherals, she noticed Thorn's gaze narrowing at that comment about her Kingdom, but the Sandwing Queen didn't say anything. "But you can talk to Prince Hailstorm later. He'll confirm everything we say."

"I'll keep that in mind," she promised. Then, she leaned over to Turtle and whispered, "You still have that thing Anemone gave you, right?" He nodded after a moment. "Have you made any duplicates of it?"

"No," he whispered back. "My bowl was in the Sea Kingdom. I sent a letter to Anemone asking her to send it over to the Rainforest. Kinkajou will bring it to me when it arrives if we're not there when it does. Why?"

"Find Hailstorm and let him try it on. I want to see if his story changes...or if that is even Hailstorm." Turtle was quiet for a moment before nodding.

"Where is he, then?" the Seawing asked.

It was Qibli who answered. "He and Mistral were in my room last I saw them. No idea if they're still there, though."

"You're certainly wasting no time in confirming our stories," the older Nightwing commented as Turtle left.

"There's been a lot of evidence we've gathered pointing to Deathbringer joining the cult," she shot back, making the named dragon flinch. She glared at him suspiciously for a moment before continuing. "So I'm sure you understand why I'll not take either of you at your word alone."

Deathbringer went to open his mouth, but Thorn spoke up before he could say anything. "The rest of us have already heard that part of the story. If you wish to explain yourself to Glory personally later, then so be it. Right now, however, you'll continue where you left off." The two Nightwings turned back to begin their story again, but Thorn had one other thing to say. "Veneno, take Glory to inspect the head and body. Peril, since I know you hate this standing around, go with them."

The former saluted her Queen while the latter sighed in relief, breaking out of the crowd and coming to stand by Glory. Veneno walked down the steps from her place next to Thorn, and once she passed by the Nightwings, Thorn gave them permission to proceed.

"Come on, this way." At Veneno's beckoning, Glory and Peril followed her out of the throne room as Soulstealer picked up where he left off in his story.

The Sandwing led the way past the turnoff to the guest wing and into the palace's main barracks/armory. A few Sandwing guards saluted the commander as they passed through. Several of Bear's Mudwings were also milling about. Two of them were currently playing some kind of drinking game against two of the Sandwings, and there was a large crowd gathered around making bets and cheering on the competitors. Not that she was aware of what the Sandwing guards were allowed to do on their time off, but if the look on Veneno's face was any indication...it wasn't this.

"WHAT'S ALL THIS!?" The horrified expressions from all of the Sandwings that had been partaking in the drinking and gambling were quite hilarious, honestly. The guards that hadn't been involved seemed to think so, too, if their smug expressions were any clue. "THIS PALACE WAS BROKEN INTO LAST NIGHT, AND YOU SORRY EXCUSES FOR GUARDS ARE DRINKING ON THE CLOCK!?" Veneno took one deep breath before turning to on of the guards that had refrained from such behavior. "I want the names of everyone betting on this sham by tonight. They'll all be getting their pay docked this week. As for those two," she pointed at the two very drunk Sandwings, "Detain them for now. Tomorrow, they'll go in the stockades for a few hours, see how they like the taste of rotten vegetables being thrown at them."

The guard she'd spoken to barely kept his smirk under control. "Yes, ma'am." He pointed to two of his comrades nearby. "You two, take them. I'll deal with this lot up here."

Those two saluted and set about dragging the two drunk Sandwings down the nearby set of stairs that led down to the dungeon. "As for you two..." Veneno continued, glaring at the two Mudwings, who seemed to know just how badly they'd screwed up. "I'll be telling your captain about this, as well."

"Idiots..." one of the other Mudwings snorted. Veneno glared at him for a moment, but since he hadn't done anything wrong, she didn't say anything.

"Well, that was funny," Peril commented.

No one responded to the Skywing, so the three of them continued down into the dungeons behind the drunken Sandwings, who were bellyaching about the treatment and how they were just having fun. "You threw Sobek's body down here?" Glory asked. "That's kind of disgusting, right?"

"He somehow survived being stabbed by Thorn's tail barb. She didn't want to take chances in case he could somehow regrow his head, too." Evidently, she doubted the possibility, but she couldn't exactly argue against her Queen's orders. Honestly, Glory doubted the possibility of Sobek regrowing his head, too. Animus magic could do a lot, but that seemed like a stretch. She was more concerned that the body down here wasn't actually Sobek and just looked like the rogue Sandwing. It was certainly a good trick to make them think they were safe.

In fact, "Go find Turtle and bring him down here once he's done testing Hailstorm," she told Peril. The Skywing nodded and bounded back up the stairs.

"You really don't take chances, huh?" Veneno didn't seem accusatory. Actually, she was more concerned than anything, not about Sobek, but about her. "I get being suspicious, but the body seems legit. I don't want to say you're being paranoid, but..."

"Hey, he attacked me twice, and somehow, he survived when we thought he was dead. Twice!" They thought he was cornered in the Skywing sewers, too, but he'd somehow escaped despite being severely injured. "Like you said, I'm not taking chances. I've lost enough sleep because of the bastard."

"Well, if it'll make you feel better, I guess," she shrugged. They'd been walking down this hall for quite some time, empty cells lining the walls on both sides. However, when they came to a larger room, split in half by a dividing wall, with two different halls of cells, Veneno turned down the first hall and stopped at the first cell on the right. Inside was the decapitated corpse of the dragon that had once been her friend but had since become a source of paranoia and terror for the Rainwing Queen. "Here he is..."

The wounds across his body, from what she could see, definitely matched up with the ones she remembered him having. He had the big wound on his shoulder from the spear he took in the sewers. And his head, which had been mounted upon a spear in the center of the room, had the same venom scarring on the side of his face that she herself had inflicted. The cut that had severed head from neck was...well, it wasn't pretty. It was clearly done by claws rather than a weapon of any sort. It was obvious from the fact it wasn't a clean cut. There were deep gouges in the scales and bits of flesh dangling off both the head and where it was detached from. The bone had been snapped in half rather than cut through, which added even more evidence to that theory.

It didn't seem like an important detail, but she wondered who had actually beheaded him, so she asked Veneno. "Who, uh..." She made a quick slicing gesture across her neck to show what she meant. Saying it made her feel a bit sick.

"From what the Nightwings said? Hailstorm." Glory's gaze whirled to her in utter shock. "Yeah, I know," Veneno nodded. "That was our reaction, too. But you can see the shredding on the wound, plain as day. Only Icewing claws do that."

As surprised as she was—Hailstorm had never struck as the sort to do something like this—she was secretly glad it wasn't Deathbringer. She thought she'd come to know the Nightwing assassin relatively well, but if he'd done this, it would have proved to her that she hadn't...because she couldn't imagine him doing this, either. Soulstealer, she'd only just been introduced to, so by process of elimination alone, she would've expected it from him. But Hailstorm?

"Why, though?" she wondered.

"According to them, the Nightwings wanted to bring back proof that Sobek was dead but didn't want to bring the whole body back. And Sobek didn't have any other distinguishing accessories to bring back, so Hailstorm proceeded to cut off his head. 'Problem solved', he'd said. Again, according to the Nightwings." Veneno's explanation made sense, she supposed. "They told our scouts where the rest of the body was, and they were the ones to bring it back. The lot of them arrived about...thirty minutes before you woke up. They were only about a forty minutes' flight away, heading straight east. Everything they'd told us about where the confrontation happened was confirmed by the scouts: what direction they went, how far away it was, certain landmarks in the area."

If Hailstorm and Deathbringer had been back for that long, "Why did nobody wake me up, then!? Did nobody consider that I might be interested in hearing this story!? Or at the very least, let me know that Hailstorm and DB were here and okay!?"

"Everything happened in such a rush, Glory. Put simply, you and Turtle were the only ones to really go back to sleep last night. We just...forgot to go wake you up." That answer didn't make her happy, but since it was already in the past, and it was such a small thing, there wasn't any use getting mad about it.

A few minutes later, Turtle and Peril arrived with the Sandwing warden in tow. "Hailstorm is actually Hailstorm," the Seawing reported. "And he was under no spell to make him change his story."

That was definitely a relief. "Use it on the body, then." Turtle turned, confusion giving way to disgust when he saw the contents of the cell. Peril snorted at his reaction but held up her claw in a silent assurance that she could do it if he wanted her to. Within a second, he gave the earring to her, and the warden came around to unlock the cell, which swung opened with a loud squeal.

Peril walked in, stabbing the earring into the head's right ear. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Peril took it out and tossed it back to Turtle, who barely managed to catch it. "Satisfied?"

"Yeah...yeah, I am." Though her words and her voice said two separate things, something which Veneno easily picked up on.

"Alright, what is it?" she asked, exasperated.

But Glory just shook her head. "Nothing...it's just...weird to think he's actually dead now. I don't really know what to feel, whether I should be glad he won't be able to torment me anymore or feel guilty about forcing him down this path in the first place."

"It wasn't your fault!" both Veneno and Peril said at the same time. Both dragonesses looked at each other in surprise before Veneno continued. "Like your mom said, he'd been causing trouble long before the incident with Mistral."

A little smile tugged at Glory's lips when she heard Veneno refer to Thorn as 'her mom'. Still, she nodded, accepting her words. "Still...it seems kind of...anticlimactic for him to be killed without some massive fight like we had in the rainforest. But I guess even dragons like Sobek can be caught off guard by skilled assassins like DB."

"Been a long time since you called him that," Turtle observed, which made the Rainwing blush. "By the way, Mistral wants to talk to you."

And that made her tense. "How angry was he?" she dared to ask.

"Not at all," he answered.

She hoped that was true because she wanted to get this talk over as soon as possible and with the least amount of shouting. "We'll all head up together and split our separate ways," Veneno suggested before she frowned. "I've that mess in the barracks to clean up now."

"Speaking of..." Peril began as the group began walking back the way they'd come. The cell door slammed shut behind them as the warden relocked it. "A lot of those guards seemed fresh. What's the deal there? Shouldn't the palace have more elite guards?"

"A lot of the old guards had connections to Blister or Burn," Veneno explained. "With this spy causing Thorn all sorts of problems, she thought it best to send anyone with said connections to other postings and bring in some new recruits that aren't tainted—her word, not mine—by preconceptions."

"Out with the old, in with the new, huh?" Then, Peril snorted. "I'm sure a lot of dragons weren't happy with that."

"Why?" Veneno shot back, making Peril look at her oddly. "We didn't fire them. We just reassigned them to new postings until the spy was found." Peril nodded, and that was that.

Once they got to the barracks, Veneno stayed behind, Turtle said he'd be in the library if anyone needed him, and Peril accompanied Glory to the royal wing where Qibli's room was. She assumed Mistral was still there since Turtle hadn't said anything to suggest otherwise.

Once they passed the secondary guard post leading to that wing, Peril told her which room it was and promised to stay far enough away to give them some privacy but close enough in case she was needed. Glory had to give the Skywing some credit, she was really taking this 'bodyguard' thing seriously, though she hoped it had more to do that they were quickly becoming close friends.

This wing had a definite increase in guard traffic, which was unsurprising, but they let her pass without bothering her. When she arrived at Qibli's room, she peaked inside. The sight inside was interesting, though only if you knew Mistral well. He was sitting close to Hailstorm, closer than he usually would, and the two were talking amicably. That little detail showed just how relieved and happy he was to have Hailstorm back safe and sound.

Not wanting to intrude on what may have been a private conversation, she quickly knocked on the door frame. Both Icewings turned to see who it was. Hailstorm waved and gave her a friendly smile, which she returned. Mistral, however, wouldn't meet her gaze, which made that smile of hers fall. "You wanted to talk to me, Mistral?"

He nodded and turned to Hailstorm. "Would you mind giving us a minute?"

"Not at all," the prince assured him. "Take as long as you need."

"I'm glad you're safe, Hailstorm," she told him as he walked past her.

He just smiled again. "So am I." Then, his expression became a bit more serious as he gave a brief glance at his friend inside. "Good luck."

She nodded her thanks, and he walked off. Then, she entered the room slowly, wondering what to say or if she just let him start. In the end, she decided to break the ice, pun not intended. "Not where I would expect you and Hailstorm to be hanging out," she observed.

"Hailstorm wished for a more secure room after last night. Qibli allowed him to stay here during the nights since he and his Nightwing will be patrolling the guest wing during that time," he explained.

And that was all well and good, except for one tiny detail. "Okay, her name is Moon, and she's his wife, not his Nightwing," she scolded him, and to his credit, he did seem to feel somewhat bad for that little slip.

Still, even after last night, with Moon helping them search around the palace and DB and Soulstealer saving Hailstorm from Sobek, a decade's worth of hate didn't disappear so quickly. He sighed and growled softly, at himself, it seemed. "No sense beating around the bush, I guess. I'm sorry for last night. I was upset, and a lot of what I said was unfair to say. It's easy to say your brother isn't as important as Winter as a second party, but...he's your brother. He's important to you." He paused for a moment before finally looking her in the eyes. "But that doesn't change the facts. You—"

"I know," she cut him off, taking him by surprise. "I made a mistake by choosing Jambu over Winter. I saved myself the pain of losing my brother, but a lot of other dragons close to me were hurt by that choice."

He hummed at that. "And who have you been talking to?" he asked, no accusation, just curiosity.

"Turtle," she admitted. "Does that mean you've been talking things over with someone, too?" But then she immediately felt foolish. Hailstorm had been in this room not a minute ago, hadn't he?

"Well...Hailstorm." And that confirmed her thought while simultaneously making her feel stupid. "And before that, Qibli." But that was an interesting, and unexpected, turn. "Both dragons are closer to Winter than most others. They made me realize I wasn't alone in my worry, my anger, my...grief, but that I shouldn't blame you for it. It's hard to remember you didn't ask him to sacrifice himself. He volunteered." He sighed heavily. "So again, I'm sorry for taking it out on you."

"Apology accepted." The barest trace of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and in an attempt to help it form completely, she decided to try a little flirting. "You know that phrase 'kiss and make up'?"

That got a chuckle out of him, which in turn made her smile genuinely. He got up and approached her, and unlike last night, she wasn't the least bit intimidated. He leaned down in preparation to kiss her but hesitated, suddenly looking a bit unsure of himself. So she helped him out by closing the distance. It was a quick kiss. A simple one. But what it meant was what was truly important.

They were going to be okay.

"You want to go back to our room?" she offered. "I could use a few more hours of sleep."

He looked to the door a bit uncertainly, but after a short moment of thought, he turned to her and nodded. With that decided, the two left and reunited with Peril on the other side of the hall. Apparently, Hailstorm had gone over to talk with her while Glory and Mistral had their moment alone. When they noticed the two lovers approaching, their conversation halted, and Hailstorm bid the three of them farewell, giving a Mistral a knowing smile as he passed.

Peril escorted them back to the guest wing, and all plans for a nice nap evaporated when she saw the dragon waiting outside her and Mistral's room. "What does he want?"

The Icewing's hostile tone drew a surprised snort from the Skywing. "He saved Hailstorm's life."

"Doesn't mean I have to trust him," he shot back before turning to Glory. "I can get rid of him if you want me to."

Tempting as that offer was, she knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Waiting to talk to him or avoiding him altogether would make things worse, in the end. "No, I...I want to talk to him, too."

Deathbringer had noticed her group by now, though they were still a ways down the hall. His eyes locked on hers, and she could tell he was nervous, no doubt expecting to be rejected outright. That nervousness quickly turned to surprise when she nodded and then gestured to the door. The assassin quickly recovered and opened the door, stepping inside. "I'll hang around out here in case you two need backup."

Mistral thanked Peril for her offer, and the Icewing and Rainwing made for the door. "Best behavior, Mistral. Please." He didn't look happy about that, but he nodded, nonetheless.

And then, they entered the room. Deathbringer was sitting in the middle of the room watching them as they entered. He was alone, his father nowhere in sight. "G-Glory...uh, hi. How are you?"

"Good," she responded simply. The awkwardness in the air was almost palpable.

He blinked in surprise. "T-That's it?" She cocked her head, wondering what he meant. "No 'that's Queen Glory to you'? No threats or yelling? Just...Just 'good'?"

She winced at the passive-aggressive accusations and knew if this was just a few months ago, she would have done just that. "A lot has happened since you left, Deathbringer." The use of his actual name made him recoil in shock, and that just made her feel even worse for how cruelly she'd treated him before. "I...well, I guess you could say I grew up. Matured emotionally. I—"

"Hang on. As much as I want to hear what you have to say..." He trailed off and glanced sideways at the Icewing in the room, who hadn't once stopped glaring at him. "I think the Icewing here should leave."

"I stay," Mistral immediately denied, and Deathbringer's gaze narrowed dangerously.

"He stays," Glory repeated, making Deathbringer stare at her in shock.

Which quickly turned to skepticism. "What? Did you two become best pals while I was gone or something?"

Mistral snorted, which made the Nightwing glare at him again. "Did nobody tell you?"

"Tell me what?" he demanded.

Knowing that Mistral telling him about their new relationship would be astronomically worse than if she broke the news, she cut Mistral off before he could say anything. "We're...dating."

It took a few seconds for that to really register in the Nightwing's brain, but when it did, Deathbringer recoiled so violently it appeared as if he'd been physically struck. In all her years of knowing the Nightwing assassin, she had never seen such genuine shock, hurt, and—dare she say—betrayal. Hidden under that, she could see a building anger, evidenced by his clenched jaw and tense muscles. His eyes quickly darted to Mistral, and she could've sworn she saw a flash of disgust before he blinked and it was gone.

"Is that so?" He scoffed and looked away with a shake of his head. "Fantastic..." he murmured to himself. Then, he sighed heavily. "Then, I'll just tell you my story and be on my way. No sense sticking around if I'm not wanted anymore."

Glory shook her head, surprised by his sudden callousness. "I never—"

"Don't try making her feel guilty," Mistral warned the Nightwing, who once again glared at him. "I'll speak plainly," he began as he approached the assassin, who stood his ground. Mistral stopped a few feet away, and Glory held her breath, hoping that this didn't end in blows. "I don't trust you."

"I don't care," Deathbringer shot back, with just as much venom. If looks could kill, both dragons would be dead multiple times over by now.

"You should," Mistral returned vaguely before stepping back. "Speak your piece and get out." With his demand given, the Icewing sat down next to Glory, wrapping a wing around her back in a clear display of possessiveness and protection. The Rainwing glanced up at him, but again, his glare never left the Nightwing.

Deathbringer's huff regained her attention. "Fine. Since you weren't there when my dad was telling it, I'll tell you my story. Maybe afterwards—"

"There is no after," Mistral interrupted with a growl, making Deathbringer snarl at him.

"Will both of you settle down!?" Glory yelled at both of them. At the very least, her cry made the growling stop. "Moons, the two of you are acting like a pair of dragonets!" She pointed at Mistral, "You! Calm down!" Then, she pointed at Deathbringer. "You...talk."

"Alright...fine." He reached over to the table and grabbed a random piece of fruit before tossing it to Glory, who caught it easily. Mistral grabbed it out of her claws and set it aside, still glaring at the Nightwing. "Suit yourself...but it's a long story..."

AN: Three major things happening in this chapter: Sobek is dead (for real, this time), Hailstorm is safe and sound, and Deathbringer returns with his father in tow. There's a story there, wouldn't you say?

Because I would. I would definitely say there's a story there. Which is why the next few chapters are going to be similar to the 'Operation Queen-Maker' chapters. As in, there's going to be a side story within the main story. Random thought: has anyone heard of Scheherazade? This is sort of what that feels like, just way less extreme.

Something else to note, though: Mistral and DB seem to be at each other's throats. How's that going to play out, I wonder?

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22