Glorious Politics

AN: To those of you who thought Sobek got off too easily in the last chapter (You know who you are, lol), I think this fixes it. Or starts to, at least. But I'll let you all be the judges to that.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. My OCs Mistral, Sobek, and Diamondback belong to me.

Chapter Five:

Seeing as how it was still early in the day, it ended up being too much to hope for Mistral to return to his hut for the rest of the day—or even the week until Greatness finished grouping the Nightwings for the census. The Icewing followed her to her pavilion, and though he was in a decidedly foul mood, he remained quiet and almost thoughtful. Hopefully whatever he was thinking about wasn't anything bad for her and was instead something to do with the rather massive job they had coming up.

Once they arrived, he snatched the two maps off of her desk before she had the chance to put them away and pinned them up on the wall. She had no idea what he was doing because he just ended up staring at them for nearly ten minutes while she read over a few things. When he finally did speak, it was so unexpected that her scales flashed a slightly lighter shade of green compared to her normal as a visible hint to her surprise. "May I have a scroll and some ink?" His tone was clipped and clearly displeased, yet the fact he asked politely for it—well, polite for him—rather than demanding it surprised her even more. He may not have said 'please', but she'd take what she could get with him.

She opened the drawer in her desk that he had gone through earlier and pulled out the requested writing supplies and passed it over to him. Curiosity getting the better of her, she decided to ask, "What are you doing?"

"Making a numbered list of every building in the Nightwing village," was his reply. "I intend to find out not only who lives there but where." That made sense, so she nodded and let him get to it. Or she would have until he interrupted her reading again. "Now unless you wish to share your desk, I think another table will be necessary."

Glory studied him for a moment. It wasn't that his request was unreasonable, but there was another solution to this problem than bringing a whole new piece of furniture into her office. "There's a table in your hut. Why can't you do your work there?"

"Two reasons. First, that hut isn't exactly large, and I prefer to have at least some space to work. Second, and much more importantly, what you said earlier is true. " Another flash of green in her scales. Needless to say, she hadn't expected him to admit something like that. "The two of us need to be able to at least share a workspace without biting each other's heads off."

"Speaking of which...this seems like a pretty big turnaround from this morning," she pointed out. "Not that I'm complaining, but I do have to wonder what brought this on." Secretly, she wondered if maybe Sobek actually had scared him enough to whip him into shape, but she somehow doubted it.

He turned a glare onto her. "Just because I am willing to cooperate doesn't make us friends. I doubt that you are unaware of the fact that I could have used the incident this morning to blackmail you into following my lead, but doing such a thing would doubtless create resentment on your part." She frowned at his admittance to deliberating blackmailing her, but she had to wonder why he cared if she resented him or not. Clearly he didn't like her, so why wouldn't he take the advantage? When she asked as much, he replied with, "I'm not doing it for you. Snowfall prefers her rule to be nice and quiet. Big things like having her official representative and personal friend stabbed tend to make her nervous." Glory hummed in thought. That was good to know. "Don't think that means I won't tell her in the case of something similar happening."

"And what exactly would you be threatening the Queen with?" Sobek asked from his position next to the door. "What could you possibly hold over her for my actions? She never signed a contract, so you can't go after her for anything I do."

"I heard," he said, and both Sobek and Glory shared a surprised glance. "I have very good hearing just so you know. And since the two of you seem to be friends, I'm sure she would hate for your wretched head to be detached from your miserable shoulders." The hate-filled glare he sent to the Sandwing was enough to shut the mercenary up and make Glory swallow nervously. That would do the trick, and she couldn't call his bluff because Snowfall would have every right to do something like that.

And that made Glory realize something. Mistral may not be blackmailing her for what happened this morning, but he was blackmailing her in another way. He was telling her in no uncertain terms that if anything happened to him on her watch, he wouldn't hesitate to have her friend executed. "I understand," she calmly replied despite the rage boiling within her at him threatening her friend and not being able to do a thing about it.

"Good," he replied, nodding in emphasis. "I hope that after that revelation we now have each other's mutual respect. I won't push you if you don't push me. In return, your guard dog doesn't try to kill me, and I don't have him killed. Deal?"

After a moment of thinking over his terms, she nodded. "Deal." It was good that they were finally agreed to cooperate due to it being mutually beneficial, but it was unfortunate that they were both holding threats over the other's head in order to obtain said cooperation. If the situation wasn't so serious, it might actually be funny. Glory was directly threatening Mistral with Sobek while Mistral was indirectly threatening Sobek by using her behavior. "As for the table...why don't you take Diamondback over to your hut to retrieve the one there."

The Icewing nodded, though he looked suspiciously between her and the younger Sandwing. Once the two left, a few moments of silence passed by to make sure they were alone before Sobek spoke. "So...maybe I did mess up."

"Ya think?" Glory snapped, her ruff flaring red in anger. "And as much as I hate having to do this, I've been given no choice." She opened up the drawer with writing supplies and pulled out yet another blank scroll. It didn't take very long for her to think up what she needed to say before she began writing the words, and she started by addressing it to Queen Thorn.

"Do I even want to know?" he asked, and Glory felt bad at the worry in his voice. He had brought this on himself, though, and she had to keep reminding herself of that fact. She was going to take it easy on him because they were friends, but now she could no longer afford him such leniency. Friends they may be, but she couldn't let personal feelings get in the way of her doing her job. Not anymore.

"You've made it a point to mention that you aren't employed by me, so since I can't technically do anything to punish you, I'm writing to someone who can." He frowned at that but didn't say anything. He may not be happy to hear that, but one look was all it took to know that he understood why she had to do this. "Queen Thorn can decide what to do with you."

He looked away, and when she studied him closer, she saw how he was clenching his jaw—whether it be because he was upset or simply angry, she couldn't tell. "Permission to be excused?" he asked quietly.

"Denied," was her response, and he turned to look at her, stunned silent by her cold declaration. "Just because you screwed up doesn't give you leave to abandon your duties. You volunteered for this job, so I expect you to perform them to the best of your abilities until you are relieved from duty. Is that understood, Lieutenant?"

At hearing her address him by his former rank, he stood straighter—not quite at attention, though not far off, either. "Yes, Your Highness. I understand."

She nodded at him approvingly. "Good. Until I receive a reply back from Queen Thorn, Diamondback will be in charge. You are not to do anything without either my or his permission."

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded, his expression perfectly neutral, though she could see that that was merely a façade. He was clearly upset, and she couldn't fault him for that. But he had told her earlier that it felt as if he didn't have a purpose anymore. She hoped that making him feel like an actual soldier again was the right thing to do, and from the initial results, it seemed like it was.

'Stony' was probably the best word to describe the silence that fell between them. The only sound that broke that silence was the sound of Glory writing the message to Thorn. This pattern lasted for a while—about the twenty minutes it took for her to write and look over her message to make sure all was well. Then, there was nothing to do except wait for the others to return, which didn't take long.

Diamondback and Mistral returned with the former hauling the table by himself. It wasn't heavy, so he wasn't struggling in the slightest with it. The Icewing pointed a talon at a spot that appealed to him, and Diamondback placed it down wordlessly. Mistral observed it for a moment before making a minute change in its position, nodding to himself once he was satisfied. With his desk placed, he wasted no time in grabbing his writing supplies and getting to work on his list.

All through this time, it seemed as if neither of them realized the tension that existed between her and Sobek. However, once Diamondback was finished helping Mistral, she finally broke the silence. "Diamondback?"

"Hmm?" While he didn't verbally respond, he did turn and come to stand in front of her desk, waiting expectantly for her to say what she needed to say.

"Are you a member of the Outclaws?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "No, ma'am. I was a member of Blaze's army during the war, so I'm just part of the regular military now." Glory nodded in understanding. While Thorn wasn't paranoid, she also wasn't a fool. Only the dragons who were a member of the original Outclaws back during the war or Sandwings they recommended were members of the new Outclaws, who were basically the elite corps of the best soldiers in Thorn's service. To be a member was a great honor, and it came with the Queen's personal trust as reward.

In all honesty, it didn't surprise her to learn that Diamondback wasn't a member of the Outclaws since she'd never heard of him before. It was a bit relieving to find out he had supported Blaze during the war and not one of her more malicious sisters, though. "I see. Then what rank do you hold, soldier?"

Understanding that this line of questioning wasn't just a friendly chat and that it was an actual official inquiry from his superior, Diamondback straightened his form and stood at attention. "Sergeant-Major of the 52nd Wing, ma'am."

"At ease, Sergeant-Major," she said, and the older Sandwing entered parade rest. His posture was still straight and stiff, though it wasn't quite as stiff as it had been before. She had to admit slight surprise at his rank. Sergeant-Major was one of the highest ranks a non-Outclaw could get. And, from what she remembered, the 52nd Wing was quite a prestigious one. Actually... "Isn't that Qibli's personal squad?" She remembered hearing that Qibli was the leader of his own squad. Several members of the Outclaws had their own squads in the normal army, too, but if Qibli was out on assignment, what was Diamondback doing here?

"Yes, ma'am," he answered. "Captain Qibli is my immediate superior officer."

"I thought I recognized your name," came a wholly unexpected comment from the resident Icewing. "I'll be sure to let your Captain know you just stood by and laughed as I was stabbed next time I see him." Diamondback winced at that but didn't say anything.

Instead of thinking too hard on that nugget of information, she returned her attention to the Sandwing. "Moon said that Qibli was out on assignment. If you're a member of his Wing, what are you doing here?"

"Because the Captain didn't take his Wing with him. He's assisting with the training of a few recruits on an extended survival course in the desert." Glory nodded at that. Such a simple task would be a waste of valuable personnel if the whole wing went.

"I see...Well, I'm sure you're aware that Sobek's conduct this morning was way out-of-line, correct?" A crisp nod was her answer. "Because of that, I'm relieving him of his command of this situation until I receive a reply from Queen Thorn." She held up the message she had written in emphasis, and the older Sandwing's gaze locked onto the parchment. "Until then, you are in charge. Understood?"

He shot into attention, placed a fist over his heart and bowed his head in a salute. "Yes, ma'am."

She nodded in approval. Now, she just needed to have this letter delivered to Thorn, and of course Moon was her first thought. It wouldn't feel right to make Sobek deliver the letter that contained evidence of his wrong-doings—if she could trust him to not destroy it in spite. She didn't think he would, but she didn't know him well enough to say that for certain. On the other claw, she didn't really want to send Diamondback and leave herself alone with two very large dragons that had every right to be upset with her. Again, she didn't think Sobek to be that kind of dragon, but Mistral's earlier aggression had made her slightly paranoid. So, that left her with one option. "You two stay here," she told them, standing up from her desk and grabbing the message. "I'll be back soon."

Diamondback nodded, and Glory left the three males behind as she headed towards the Nightwing village once again. If there was one thing she could say about the events of the past forty-eight hours, it's that she's been to the Nightwing village more in these two days than she usually went there each week. That fact didn't seem to be lost on the other Nightwings, either, as several of them watched her curiously. One even asked if everything was okay, but she assured him everything was fine.

Her destination yet again was Secretkeeper's house. Unlike the other times she had been there, Moon wasn't inside. Rather, she and the Rainwing-Nightwing hybrid, Peacemaker, were over at Hope's house according to what Moon's mother said. The detour wasn't expected but it wasn't necessarily unwelcome. She hadn't seen Hope or Peacemaker in a while, and those two were very nice dragons. It was unfortunate that Hope's husband died before Glory had the chance to meet him. If his son was any indication, he was probably a really good dragon.

She arrived to see all three of them sitting outside and talking, enjoying the nice weather instead of being cooped up inside. When they noticed her heading in their direction, each of the three dragons had their own reaction. Hope gave her a small smile and a respectful nod, Peacemaker smiled widely and waved to her—always a happy dragon, it seemed—but Moon frowned. "What did he do this time?" she asked, making the other two look at her oddly.

"I swear I haven't done anything," Peacemaker said to his mother's critical gaze.

Instead of answering, Glory beckoned Moon to follow her, and she excused herself from her two friends with an apology. The two dragonesses walked a good distance away until the Queen was satisfied that the two of them were alone. "Mistral didn't do anything, but Sobek did attack him this morning."

Moon recoiled in surprise at that. "That doesn't seem like him."

"Mistral instigated the fight, but Sobek went way too far. I need you to take another letter to Queen Thorn for me." She gave the scroll to Moon, who took it cautiously. "The scroll explains the whole situation in greater detail."

Moon spent a few moments quietly taking in the scroll clutched in her talons. "He's going to get in trouble, isn't he?" she asked in little more than a whisper. Glory nodded, and Moon sighed. "I don't like this...but I'll do it."

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "I don't like this, either, but this is as much for his protection as it is mine." Moon looked at her curiously, wondering what she meant by that. "It's all politics," she elucidated. "If I don't do anything, the Icewings will probably come after me and my tribes, and I can't let that happen."

Another few moments of silence passed as the Nightwing digested that information before finally nodding with a sigh and excusing herself. She headed back towards Hope and Peacemaker, no doubt to tell them she had business she had to do in the Sand Kingdom.

For her part, Glory didn't wait around to walk Moon to the portal again. She'd rather get back to make sure the three dragons she had left behind weren't tearing apart her office while trying to kill each other. Luckily, her fears were unfounded as the three were still in one piece just as she left them. Mistral was quietly working on his list as Sobek all but glared a hole in his head from the other side of the room. Diamondback was sitting in the middle of the room in a perfect position for intercepting anyone who tried any funny business.

The tension was so think she could almost feel it in the back of her throat, and she signed heavily as she sat at her desk once more. This was going to be a long week. Hopefully, things would get better once Qibli arrived and Mistral had something to focus on. Until then, she just had to power through it.

Thankfully, it was nearly noon, so that meant it was nearly suntime, and then she could get out of here for an hour. But that was for the near future. Right now, she still had a few things to do. The first of which was reading through the latest news from the other Kingdoms. She had 'ambassadors' in each of the Kingdoms that sent her regular reports of what's been happening across the rest of Pyrrhia. Tsunami told her everything that happened in Jade Mountain while Anemone—who had become a much better dragon in the time since Darkstalker's disappearance—sent her regular reports of the goings-on in the Sea Kingdom. Peril or Cliff, who had grown up into a wonderful, young dragon, handled the Sky Kingdom. Clay's siblings handled the Mud Kingdom. She usually got weekly letters from Moon, Qibli, and Sunny about the Sand Kingdom. Prince Hailstorm ended up reaching out to his brother's friends, and he was the Ice Kingdom's liaison to the other Kingdoms because of his new connections.

All in all, most of her ambassadors didn't have official titles, but they were friends of hers, and she would trust them over a random diplomat any day. Speaking of Hailstorm...

"You mentioned yesterday that Prince Winter has gone missing," she said, glancing over at Mistral. The Icewing looked to her, his eyes narrowed as if studying her. "What did you mean by that?"

Several moments went by, and Glory could just see the desire for saying something snarky in his eyes. However, he merely huffed and returned to his work. "By all accounts, his residence was attacked a few years ago. When dragons went looking for him, his home was trashed, but there was no sign of either Prince Winter or his assailant. No one has seen the Prince since."

That...was concerning. However, "Why does no one else know about his disappearance?" she asked. "Not even Moon and Qibli, his closest friends, know he's disappeared."

Mistral sighed, setting aside his scroll and folding his claws on the desk. "Prince Winter is not exactly a social dragon. And Sanctuary is in the middle of nowhere. Word of his disappearance was easily prevented from leaving the town by order of Queen Snowfall. Being that their town is in Icewing territory, they didn't have much of a choice in the matter, either."

Glory thought about that for a moment as Mistral got back to work. Winter didn't leave Sanctuary all that much as he was a loner nowadays. Letters seemed to be his preferred way of keeping in touch with the outside world, but even then, they were sparse. It wouldn't be hard for a dragon like that to disappear without a trace and without anyone being any the wiser. The fact he was royalty was also cause for both alarm and embarrassment to the Icewing Queen, what with Winter being her cousin. It made sense that she wouldn't want that to become common knowledge. "Could his disappearance be linked to...your investigation?" she asked. She didn't say 'murders' because of the two Sandwings in the room.

Mistral took a deep breath, and Glory had to wonder if she was beginning to annoy him with her questions. When he answered, she knew that wasn't the case. "Possibly," was his quiet answer. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he almost sounded...sad. Then again, she couldn't judge him too harshly...despite how rude he was. "Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to work, and your constant interruptions make that difficult."

And there was that rudeness. But she'd let him be. At least now she had something to tell Moon when she got back.

AN: I wonder what Thorn is going to say... And yes, Qibli is actually going to be in this story! I waited so long to bring him back in Dragons Change, so I'm excited to actually have him as one of the main characters in this one instead of as a side character. *mini-spoiler, I guess*

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22