"Sir! Visitors from the city of Possibility are arriving!" A messenger burst into the throne room, interrupting Qibli's train of thought.
"Is Prince Winter one of them?" He asked.
"Yes, but-"
"Tell them I will be out shortly," Qilbi said, standing up, grabbing a cloak, and sweeping out of the room, the other SandWing scrabbling to catch up with him.
"Shouldn't you have guards with you?" The messenger asked.
"I don't need guards, I can take care of myself. If anyone asks where I am, say I'm on a diplomatic trip or something, I don't know, make something up." He said, shrugging the cloak onto hit shoulders. "Where are the visitors staying?"
"They are at a nearby oasis, waiting for your arrival," The messenger said.
"Well, they won't have to wait much longer. Stay here and keep everyone busy while I'm gone." Qibli said as he lifted off into the air.
"I'll do my best!" The messenger yelled after him.
As Qibli flew off towards the oasis, he thought of the last time he had seen Winter. He was sure the last time he had seen him was a few months before the night of the party. They had been introduced to his friend, a SkyWing named Storm who reminded Qibli of Carnelian, the dragon who died in the dragonflame cactus incident at Jade Mountain Academy. Storm did scowl a lot, and his brow was always furrowed, as if he were thinking of something that displeased him constantly. Even though he ignored everyone, Qibli could tell that he was lonely. Even though he was lonely, he always had a cool air of indifference about him, as if he didn't have a care in the world. But when he was around Winter, he seemed to cheer up a little, the cold exterior around him thawing just a bit. Storm and Winter's friendship seemed genuine, as close as Qibli and Winter's, if not stronger. They had become good friends, just like brothers. As Qibli approached the oasis, still thinking, he felt nervous, seeing a friend he hadn't seen for years. What had changed during that span of time?
He swooped down onto the sandy edge of the water, startling a lizard that was sunbathing on a nearby rock. As Qibli landed, someone heard the noise and opened the door of a small hut he hadn't noticed before. Pale blue talons gripped the door handle as Winter pushed it open. "Winter!" Qibli said cheerfully as the IceWing saw him.
"Qibli?!" Winter said incredulously. "Wha-I didn't think you yourself would come down here! At least, not alone!"
"What do you mean?" Qibli asked, confused.
"Well, you're the king of the SandWings, and I thought that you would either be too busy or you would visit us with guards with you. Least of all things, come alone!" Winter said. He seemed upset that Qibli had come alone, and his heart sunk into his stomach. He took a step backwards. Maybe It wasn't a good idea to come here, he thought with a twinge of sadness. "All I'm saying is that you need to be protected now, since you're royalty. Someone could easily come and attack you while you're alone!" Winter rambled on.
"Aww, you're getting worried about me. But don't worry, I can take care of myself." Qibli teased with a smirk.
"Sh-shut up! I'm only getting worried about you because you're a king now, sand-snorter!" Winter growled, blushing slightly as he yelled.
"Well, whatever. How's Storm? I haven't seen him in a while." Qibli asked, looking around.
"He's at the market." Winter responded.
"The one near the Scorpion Den?" He inquired.
"Yes."
"Mmm. So, how have you and Storm been?" Qibli asked. Before Winter could respond, they both heard the sound of wingbeats approaching, and turned towards the noise. In the distance, Storm was approaching, his massive red wings glimmering in the sunlight. Behind him, a billowing cloud of dragons pursued, angry roars and growl emanating from the group. As Storm got closer, Qibli and Winter could see that he looked worried (and perhaps a little afraid). As Storm neared them, he put on a burst of speed, diving at the sand dune in front of them. He hit the sand dune head first, sand blasting out in all directions as he crash-landed.
As the angry dragons swooped after him, Storm scrambled towards Qibli and Winter, yelping, "Don't let them see me! Don't let them see me!" As he passed Qibli, he acknowledged him with a panicked glance of the eyes.
When he passed Winter, he dove for the back of the hut, obscuring himself from the view of the dragons. The mass of dragons swooped after him, bringing up a cloud of stinging sand and wind. They descended, wind buffeting Qibli and Winter as they tried to shield themselves. An angry looking SandWing came forwards, tail lashing and puffs of sand rising up where her talons landed. "Where is he?!" She demanded.
"Who?" Qibli asked, feigning innocence. He nudged Winter to do the same.
"Well, if you could tell us what he did, Maybe we could help you find him?" Winter asked.
"I'll tell you," She growled. "That big-headed idiot over there was stupid enough to release a bunch of animals, and they stampeded, so now all these dragon's shops have been ruined and destroyed! So hand him over and we'll be on our way to the courthouse, where your friend here will be set on trial for his wrongdoings."
"I don't know about this," Qibli said, scratching the back of his head. He glanced at Winter, who was shaking his head, then Storm, who was peeking around the back of the hut, making a throat-slitting gesture with his talons, his eyes wide.
The female SandWing squinted at Qibli's face curiously, puzzlement etched into her features. "You know, I wasn't so sure earlier, but now I am. I thought you looked a lot like the King, and you sure sound like him too. What's your name?" Qibli gulped, taken aback at the sudden question. "Hey, Mirage!" The SandWing called. "Wouldn't you say this fellow looks a lot like the SandWing king?" A pale-white SandWing strode forward towards Qibli. With a start, he remembered that Mirage was part of his council. Oh well, he thought. So much for being inconspicuous.
"Mirage here is part of the King's council, so he should be able to tell if you're him or not." The SandWing said, explaining what Qibli already knew. He gave himself a facepalm. The female SandWing beckoned Mirage closer, and they nodded once they had a look at his face. The other SandWing took a sharp breath and immediately threw herself into a deep bow, the dragons behind her doing the same. "I apologize for my tone, my king. I thought you would be in the palace, so I assumed that you weren't him."
Qibli, flustered, hurriedly motioned all of them up. "Please, get up! There's no need for all of this formality!" He rushed fowards and reached to help the shocked SandWing to her feet, his face burning with embarrassment.
To his surprise, she immediately leapt back, her own flustered face mirroring his astonishment. "Don't touch me, please!", She yelped. Qibli quickly raised his talons up in a placating gesture, his eyes wide. He looked over at Winter and Storm, confused, but got annoyed when he caught them looking at each other and moving their eyebrows up and down.
"Come on, guys. You know i'm not after that right now, after what just happened."
"There's still the matter of the destruction of property, sir." The SandWing spoke up suddenly, her eyes still on the ground.
"Yes, I remember. I will personally cover the cost of the rebuilding, as well as any other expenses."
The crowd of dragons behind them who were grumbling earlier suddenly burst into rapturous cheering, their cries filling the dry air with noises of celebrating dragons. Qibli could not help but grin from the infectious merriment surrounding him, but grew slowly annoyed at how much time this was eating up.
"Sir, I must thank you personally for this kindness." A rugged-looking MudWing came up to him. "You're not the ruler of my tribe, but you still payed for the loss of my wares. It means a lot to me, because I run my family business currently, and I would be devastated if I lost my building."
Qibli, not unkindly, asked, "And what sort of business do you run, MudWing?"
The MudWing, surprised at being answered so directly, said, "Well, uh, Sir, it is my time to take ownership of the restaurant that my family has kept for quite a few generations now. Well, me and my sibs."
"Ahh, I see." Qibli nodded. "A restaurant! I will have to pay a visit sometime and taste this surely marvelous food that you serve! Tell me, what is your name?"
The MudWing smiled nervously at the praise. "My name is Toad, Sir. And the name of the restaurant is The Lucky Dream, Sir. I would be extremely pleased if you came and visited. Sir. Thank you!" Toad flew up and away into the air, humming a lively tune to himself.
Qibli wiped the sweat from his eyes.
The process of talking to and pleasing someone as a king was still too stressful to him, even though his advisors constantly assure his majesty "Always performs very well" and "Doesn't show his nervousness." A few more dragons of varying tribes, including a few HiveWings and SilkWings, came up to him and thanked him for his help, but some of them were angry. "These are all that's left of my priceless family jewels! They can't be replaced!" One of them said. "You can't expect us all to be happy just by throwing money into our talons!" Another shouted. After that, the whole crowd went up and away back towards the direction of The Scorpion Den. Winter and Storm rushed to him as Qibli sat down hard onto the sand. "I thought I could get away from my duties, just for a bit, but they seem to follow me everywhere." Qibli sighed. "I was sure everyone would be happy after what I offered."
"You know, part of the responsibilities of being a ruler is to make sure a choice is the right choice, even if the decision is hard and some dragons are unhappy with what you pick. You've got to make sure that the majority of the people are satisfied." Storm unexpectedly said.
"I didn't know you gave advice, Storm! You surprise me every day." Winter said with a friendly elbow nudge. Storm immediately stopped talking, his face scales paling. "Thanks, Storm. Hearing that made me feel better." Qibli placed his talons on Storm's shoulders and gave him a smile.
"It's only a small piece of advice that I overheard while I was in the market. Yeah." Storm stammered. He started to smile nervously when Winter and Qibli both started staring at him, confusion on both of their faces.
"Ah, alright. It's fine. Let's just go home," Winter waved it off.
Storm let out a relieved exhalation. Qibli, still slightly suspicious, asked, "Who did you hear it from?"
Storm suddenly paled visibly. "Uhh... It was a SandWing named Joshua (Joshua Tree)."
Qibli nodded, thinking. There has never been a Joshua related to any royal affairs that I know of, he thought. I don't think he's telling the truth.
"Alright, Storm. Let's go to the place you're staying," Winter, who was previously looking curiously between Qibli and Storm, said, "I'll lead the way."