Glorious Politics

AN: Can you believe that I'm a few days earlier than I said I'd be? What sorcery is this!?

Now, I don't normally respond publicly to reviews, but there was one I decided to address in case anyone else was wondering about it. 'A Very Lazy Guy' pointed out that Glory's character is a bit OOC. I won't put their entire review on here, so if you want to read it to get the specifics, go ahead. While what they described is completely believable and would fit Glory's character very well, I decided on a different path (obviously). This story takes place 11 years after arc 2 (I haven't read arc 3 yet, as mentioned in the prologue), and between these two points in time, I have the head-canon that most of the main ships have gotten together during that time. Yes, Glory is emotionally closed-off, and the one time she opens up to someone (Deathbringer), she ends up with a broken heart. Combining that with the stress of leading two tribes, and she goes from being cynical to just straight up bitter. And that is the premise for this story. I hope that makes sense.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. Mistral is my OC. And there is some language in this one.

Chapter Two:

With that declaration, there was nothing left to do but wait. So wait they did. Glory carefully navigated to the area behind her desk without accidentally knocking something over and making the mess worse. Moon took a seat off to the side away from the mess but close enough to hint at a position of importance.

A few minutes passed in silence, and despite her earlier claim, Glory couldn't help but glance around at the mess a bit nervously. When it came to her duties as Queen, she would set upon them as soon as she was able, yet there were a few domestic things—such as cleaning—that she would always procrastinate.

Her gaze turned to Moon when the Nightwing cleared her throat and looked pointedly at the door to her pavilion. Glory nodded, turning her attention back to the entrance. A few seconds later, a large Icewing stepped through the opening with a scowl on his muzzle, which only deepened when he noticed Moon. A decidedly hostile growl was the only greeting he gave the rather nervous Nightwing as he snapped his furious gaze to the Queen. "Tell the Nightwing to leave," he demanded.

Glory, however, narrowed her eyes at the insolent tone. "Moon is one of my closest friends, and I asked her to be here. Anything you want to say to me can be said in front of her, as well." She put extra emphasis on Moon's name when she heard the Icewing call her friend by her tribe in a rather demeaning fashion.

Seeing that the Rainwing Queen wouldn't move from her stance, the Icewing turned his furious gaze to Moon and addressed her directly. "Leave!" he snarled.

She could hear Moon's nervous gulp from where she was, and her friend turned to her. "M-Maybe I should just go."

"No..." Glory shook her head. "I asked you to be here, and neither of us are going to be intimidated by this rude individual." While she had started off speaking to Moon, her statement was pointed more to the Icewing by the end. Before the Icewing had a chance to protest, Glory cut him off. "I read the message your Queen sent me, and while I sympathize with the troubles you've been experiencing, I can tell you for a fact the Moon isn't responsible. If you don't want to take my word for it, feel free to ask Queen Thorn. Moon is married to her adopted son, after all."

The Icewing glared at her for a moment before turning his attention back to Moon. A long, tense moment passed as he studied the nervous Nightwing before he conceded with a displeased huff. "Fine. But if she can't remain silent about my true purpose for being here, I'll silence her...permanently."

Glory stood with a snarl. "I don't appreciate you threatening my friend, Icewing." She internally smirked when he bristled at being addressed by his tribe. She was about to say more when Moon leaned over and whispered something to her. Once she had finished her piece, she returned to her spot. Glory studied her momentarily before ultimately deciding to follow her advice. "If you need more proof of her trustworthiness, you can ask Prince Winter."

That got his attention. However, his response probably wasn't the one Moon was expecting if her expression was any indication. "Are you trying to toy with me, Nightwing!?" he roared furiously. "Prince Winter has been missing for nearly three years!"

"W-What!?" Moon cried, not expecting that response or the venom contained within it.

"Don't play coy with me!" He took a few threatening steps towards Moon, and Glory stood between them, her ruff flared in a threatening display.

"That's enough!" she yelled, and for once, she was glad her yelling had attracted a certain Nightwing that was usually close by. She didn't know where he had been since he was supposed to be done with his previous task nearly an hour ago, but she would yell at him for not being at his post later. Once she saw her bodyguard rush in to the room, chakram in his claws, she called, "Stand down!"

When the Icewing turned and saw this new Nightwing, he bared his teeth and seemed almost ready to attack. "What is the meaning of this!? You would dare raise a weapon against a Lord of the Ice Kingdom!?"

"It's a precaution," the Nightwing spoke. "You haven't exactly been very agreeable since you arrived. Calm down...lest things turn ugly." As much as she disliked Jackass for breaking her heart, she still had to admit that he was damn good at his job. She could respect his dedication to his duty of protecting her, if nothing else.

"Deathbringer has been my bodyguard for the past eleven years, so if you're concerned about whether he's involved or not, don't be." The mentioned Nightwing seemed surprised that she had actually called him by his name and not his demeaning nickname, but that was only because of their rather discourteous guest. "If there are two dragons in this entire forest you can trust as much as me, it's these two."

Despite how vicious he had been during this entire conversation, the Icewing actually seemed to listen to her when she said that. He stood up straight, looking down at the smaller Nightwing imperiously. "That remains to be seen," he muttered. Once the Icewing had calmed down, Jackass lowered his weapon, though he didn't put it away. "I don't like Nightwings," he stated, making the two in the room mildly uncomfortable. "Darkstalker's plague killed both of my parents, and my best friend was murdered by a Nightwing less than a month ago. So you'll forgive my skepticism and my anger because my hatred for Nightwings is very personal."

Glory's expression softened minutely when she heard his explanation. "I understand."

"I highly doubt that," the Icewing snapped. "I can put my personal grievances aside for now, but don't expect me to be very amiable." That was mostly meant for the two Nightwings in the room, but Glory nodded, nevertheless. "As for who I am? I am Lord Mistral, highest ranked noble of the second circle and personal friend of Queen Snowfall. I expect to be addressed properly during my stay here."

"Noted," Glory replied, though she inwardly wondered if all Icewings were so demanding—both Mistral and Snowfall 'expected' her to do something. "Now, that introductions are out of the way, we can get back to business. Queen Snowfall mentioned a series of murders, but she was rather vague. Is there anything else we should know about?"

"The murders have happened all across Pyrhia with the exception of this Kingdom and the Ice Kingdom. There have been six murders in the Sky Kingdom, one in the Mud Kingdom, two in the Sea Kingdom, and two in the Sand Kingdom in the past year alone. And several more stretching back for almost four years. No leads on who was responsible have ever been found until the most recent killing," Mistral elucidated.

"Where witnesses saw a Nightwing," Glory stated, remembering that piece of information from Snowfall's letter. "But why are there so many murders in the Sky Kingdom?" she wondered.

"The Skywings are our closest allies, so more Icewings—mostly merchants and diplomats—travel there than any other Kingdom," Mistral explained. "Plus, the sheer size of the Skywing's capital makes it easier for a killer to hide in plain sight."

"Makes sense. Though, if you don't have a positive identity on the perpetrator, how exactly do you plan to find them? There are quite a few Nightwings here, yes, but a good portion of them live in other Kingdoms, too." She gestured to Moon for emphasis on that last point.

"I'm aware of that. I was hoping to get my claws on a census, though. That would help my investigation immensely," Mistral stated. It was a good idea in theory...but there was a small problem with that.

"Uh...a census?" she looked around at the piles of scrolls around her nervously.

Mistral rolled his eyes and scoffed. "You do have a census of all Nightwings, right?"

"Of course I do!" Glory defended herself, though the one she had was quite old at this point...and she had no idea where it was. "It's...somewhere around here," she murmured.

"Riiiight..." Clearly Mistral didn't believe her for a second despite the fact she was telling the truth—at least part of it, anyway. Starflight had been the one to do the census back when the Nightwings first settled in the rainforest. She didn't see the purpose of using them since dragons were free to come and go, and she didn't believe she had any right in knowing where every single one of them lived. Maybe some just wanted privacy.

"You calling me a liar?" Glory challenged.

"Well, I'd certainly be more inclined to believe you if your office was more organized," Mistral shot back as he looked around the area in contempt. "How do you find anything in this mess?"

Glory didn't answer because she knew he had her there. She really should pick this mess up, but she hated cleaning. "I'll get back to you on that. In the meantime, would you like to see where you'll be staying?"

"I suppose," Mistral agreed. "Since I obviously won't be able to do anything further until you pick up this mess." Glory's ruff flared at the clear insult, but she didn't say anything.

Glory turned to her bodyguard and started, "Deathbringer, will you show him—"

"It is common practice in the Ice Kingdom for the Queen to escort her own guests to their rooms," Mistral cut her off, making her nostrils flare in rising anger. Just when she was about to point out that this wasn't the Ice Kingdom, and she did things her own way, Mistral continued, uncaring of her frustration. "I expect you to do the same."

She still wasn't sure if all Icewings were so demanding, but this one sure was. She was the Queen, yet he acted as if she was beneath him. "I'll do what I damn well please!" she snarled, making him frown. "In case you've forgotten, I'm the Queen, and this isn't the Ice Kingdom!"

Mistral was quiet for a moment before he scoffed derisively. "I see your manners are as primitive as your organizational system." Glory momentarily lost control of her scale color, and her entire body flashed red in absolute fury at this Icewing's audacity. "Unlike the so-called 'ambassadors' you host from the other tribes, I am not your friend. I will not be treated as such, either, as I am a visiting dignitary. And I am investigating a series of murders, not joining a slumber party or whatever it is you do here."

Despite how unprofessional and petty it sounded, she couldn't stop herself from saying, "I don't like you."

"The feeling is mutual," the Icewing immediately replied. "Now...my room?"

With a furious huff, she stood and walked outside. "Come on..." She didn't even bother to check if he was following when she glided down to the forest floor. The trip to the hut Jackass had prepared this morning didn't take long, and when it came into view, the pointed at it, said, "There!", and began to walk off.

Mistral, however, stopped her. "This area seems rather populated," he observed. "Do have something more removed from the main areas of the village? I would prefer to have some more privacy."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in order to calm herself, and when she opened them again, she spoke with clear annoyance, "Follow me..." She lead him to the other hut that Jackass had prepared yesterday, the one that was more remote, and when they arrived, the Icewing nodded in satisfaction.

"This is adequate," he proclaimed. Then, he entered the hut and slammed the door shut. At least this hut had been prepared before, so she didn't have to worry about that now. She walked away with a frustrated groan. If twenty minutes was enough to make her want to strangle that Icewing, she dreaded the weeks or even months ahead.

She stomped back to her pavilion, taking flight in order to get up to it, and Moon flinched at her furious expression, and the rather vivid colors flashing across her scales. "That bad?" she asked.

Despite knowing it had been a rhetorical question, Glory took that as a prompt to vent. "Are all Icewings such massive pricks!?"

"...Yeah," Moon admitted after a moment of hesitation. "At least at first. I'm sure he'll be...nicer once you get to know him."

It was a futile attempt at cheering the Rainwing Queen up, and they both knew it. "I don't want to get to know him! He has such a superiority complex!" A string of mumbled insults followed suit. "I can't believe you were able to make friends with one." She said that as a way to highlight just how abrasive and rude Mistral was, but Moon didn't like that comment.

"I know Icewings aren't the easiest dragons to get along with at first, but once they warm up to you—no pun intended—they can be really sweet. You shouldn't judge a dragon on a single meeting. Give him a chance. That's all I gave to Winter, and he ended up as one of my closest friends." Glory blinked a few times at Moon's short tirade, genuinely surprise at her outburst. Once she saw that, Moon looked down in embarrassment. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's alright," Glory assured her once she had gotten over her momentary shock. "And you're right. Empathy isn't really my strong suit, but he did just lose his best friend," she thought aloud.

Moon nodded again, though that was quickly replaced with a look of worry. "Speaking of Winter, I wonder what Mistral meant when he said he was missing? Do...Do you think he..." she trailed off, but Glory understood what she was trying to say.

"I don't think so. If Winter was dead, Mistral would have said that and not that he's missing." Yesterday, she hadn't been too concerned about her Icewing acquaintance, but now she was. Three years was a long time for anyone to go missing. "I'll ask him about it tomorrow and let you know what he says," she offered. She didn't think surrounding Mistral with Nightwings every day would be a good idea—at least for now.

Moon nodded in thanks. "Thank you." A moment of silence passed as both of them gazed around the room, no doubt thinking the same thing. "Would you like some help?"

"Yes, please," Glory all but begged, exceedingly grateful for Moon's offer. If they didn't need to find that census, she still wouldn't have bothered with it, but now she didn't really have a choice.

The whole process of cleaning of the literal mountain of unorganized scrolls took several hours. As she suspected, that old census Starflight had made was still there, but as luck would have it, it was all the way at the bottom of the pile. With most everything put away at that point, they decided to finish reorganizing the rest. During that whole ordeal, there shared some small talk, but it was painfully obvious how worried Moon was about Winter. Because of that, she was extremely quiet—more so than usual, anyway—and she merely responded to Glory's prompts rather than make conversation of her own.

Needless to say, it had been a rather long day.

When Moon finally did leave about an hour before the evening meal, Glory was already beat. While not physically demanding, cleaning and sorting just sucked all the energy out of her. With it being so late, she decided to take a short nap, and she would finish up the rest of her work once she woke up.

Of course, such a simple decision had to come with unwelcome consequences, for when she awoke, who did she see but a rather unimpressed Icewing sitting behind her desk and reading a scroll. "Do you often take naps instead of doing your job?" he asked without even glancing away from the scroll he was studying.

Glory growled at the obvious insult. "I'm not lazy if that's what you're implying," she snarled. "And that's my spot." Her anger sprouted so quickly that she didn't even have time to question how he had entered her pavilion while she was asleep. Normally, Jackass wouldn't allow that.

"You obviously weren't using it when I walked in," he pointed out, but he stood, nevertheless. Though not without giving a disgruntled huff. Once he was out of her spot, she promptly sat down behind her desk as he settled down opposite her. "I also see you failed to mention that this census was out-of-date," he said, throwing the scroll onto her desk. "If this is your attempt at getting back at me simply because you don't like me...I am unamused."

"You honestly thing I would stoop so low?" she asked, and she had no idea why she expected him to answer truthfully.

Instead, the insults just kept coming. "Oh, so you're just incompetent?"

As soon as he said that, something within her just snapped. Empathy be damned, she was not going to just sit there and take this kind of verbal abuse. "You know what!? Screw you!" she yelled, and the fact he appeared totally unmoved just incensed her further. "You have done nothing but test my patience since you arrived, and I WON'T STAND FOR IT! I AM THE QUEEN! If you want my cooperation with your investigation, you best start begging for my forgiveness! Otherwise, you can fly your sorry tail back to the Ice Kingdom and tell your Queen that you blew it! And every murder that happens from now on? That'll be on you! Because you were such a prideful, arrogant ass that shit kept exploding from your mouth instead of your tailhole!"

Mistral was dreadfully quiet for several, long minutes. His eyes were narrowed dangerously, but not once did her glare ever leave his. Finally, he relented with a soft growl and looked away. "I...apologize for my behavior, Queen Glory. I would be so very...grateful for your continued cooperation."

Despite the fact he sounded completely insincere and that he had to force that apology out as if it were poison, Glory decided to accept it. As much as she was beginning to personally hate this Icewing, she wasn't going to let more innocent dragons die just for some petty revenge. "You know, I don't buy that apology for a second..." she began, making Mistral turn and glare at her again. "But I'll let it slide." She pointed at him to show the severity of what she was about to say next. "Consider this your first warning. If you want my help, you best put aside that superiority complex of yours because that behavior won't get you anywhere with me."

"It was nothing personal," he said calmly.

"Oh, I think it was," she challenged him. "I may be a Rainwing, but I'm also Queen of the Nightwings, too. You said yourself that you don't like Nightwings, and Rainwings still have a bad reputation across Pyrrhia. I know you think you're better than me, and the fact you're treating me like some seventh-circle peasant is evidence of that." He raised a single eye-ridge in mild surprise at her use of an Icewing-inspired analogy. "I highly doubt you would treat Queen Ruby or Queen Thorn or even Queen Moorhen the way you've treated me."

He leaned forward, an air of superiority about him despite what Glory had literally just said about that. "Well those Queens have a functioning Kingdom with an actual economy and actual infrastructure. As far as I've seen today, no one in this entire rainforest seems to have an actual job. I've seen no form of currency, and most dragons I've seen—both Rainwing and Nightwing—seem to just laze the day away. Perhaps the reason you're so insulted by my words is not because I act superior, but because you know you are inferior." Several tense minutes of silence passed, both glaring at each other with such anger and hatred that it was a small wonder Mistral didn't spontaneously combust into flames and she didn't suddenly freeze solid. While everything he said was utterly insulting...he was right. The Rainforest Kingdom wasn't like the other tribes. In fact, some might—and did—call the way of life down here 'primitive' or 'noncontributory' in the grand scheme of things. But this is the way the Rainwings had lived for decades if not centuries before she entered the picture. And the Nightwings had been more concerned about survival when they had lived on that volcanic island. Neither tribe cared about having jobs, getting paid, or any of that stuff. Besides, the Rainforest wasn't very conducive to building massive palaces and cities like those in the other Kingdoms. Eventually, he stood, completely unconcerned that he hadn't lasted more than thirty seconds before making his fake apology moot. "Best get used to it, whatever the case may be, because you and I are going to be spending the next few weeks making a new census together." Glory just glared at his retreating form as he left, though he had an addendum to add before he left completely. "I'll be by bright and early so we can get started on it. I expect you to be ready when I arrive."

With that, he was gone, and Glory dragged a palm down her muzzle in utter frustration. This was going to be a long however-long-that-pompous-ass-was-supposed-to-be-here.

AN: So, yeah...Mistral is a bit of an ***hole. He won't be like this forever, obviously, otherwise this wouldn't be a very good romance story. However, it probably won't be for a good, long while. And if their first meeting is any clue, Glory is probably going to have her claws full dealing with him. Tell me your opinions about their first interaction and Mistral's character as a whole. I look forward to reading any and all reviews.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22