Adventures of Jessa: the Adventures Continue

36

Overall it doesn't take them long to assemble. Dhiren introduces Jessa to his aunt. Then Dennis explains to his mother what happened to his brother and father.

"I see. My apologies Princess Jessa. There once was a time when my husband wasn't an ass and my sons were honorable. I'm not sure what happened or even exactly when. They started to change slowly over time and..." The queen drifts off as she fights her emotions. "I'm sorry you found it necessary to kill my son. My husband had long ago lost any affection from me and I thank you for killing him. 

"Now what do you wish to do with us?" The queen asks defeatedly.

"That will depend on you and Dennis. We'd like to send you to Silva along with the other women and children. You would be someone they'd trust and I know my mother would love to spend some time with you as well." Dhiren tells the female before him. She seems to have aged a great deal once she found out about the deaths of her son and husband.

At Dhiren's words the queen once more stands tall and proud. Slowly, hesitantly she starts to smile. Her husband hasn't allowed her to have contact with her sister in decades. "I would like that, would your father be alright with that as well? I know that ass I was married to said some pretty nasty things to him. There was nothing I could do. By then he ignored me on the good days and did worse on the bad days."

"They've already got rooms set aside for you. I have a letter from my mother to give to you when that ass wasn't around. Now that won't be a problem." Dhiren says and takes out the letter he'd hoped to be able to give to his aunt but wasn't sure it would happen until Jessa killed his uncle.

His aunt greedily snatches the letter from his hand and starts reading it. It isn't long until she is crying uncontrollably. It's only once it's done that she lowers it. They all wait for her to compose herself.

"I'll be going to Silva. It will be a permanent move on my part. Dennis will remain here as king as long as there is a Lexin still standing. If Lexin falls or he abdicates then he may join me there if you are willing Dhiren?" The queen says that last part nervously.

"As long as he behaves himself he would be welcome. We won't tolerate him acting in Silva like he had been in Lexin. Jessa will kill him if he ever tried it."

The queen looks at her remaining son before speaking. "If he does try it he would deserve it. I was powerless to stop him and his brother before and now one of my sons lies dead." The queen sighs and seems to gather her strength once more.

"Now, nephew, what can we do to prepare for this war?"

They talk some more, have a quick and quiet coronation for Dennis and the queen leaves to pack a few things to take with her. If the war is won and the palace not destroyed Dennis will have more of her things sent to her.

The rest of them prepare for battle and make plans. It is while they are doing this that the little dragons find them and start making reports.

In some ways they are better than they had dared hope for, but in others they are far worse.

The one that makes them all sick, the little ones report that the enemy has started moving. They think that the enemy will reach them by the end of the week. They did say that they aren't sure though since they have a hard time figuring out how fast land creatures move.

Mel has enough and decides to take a look for himself. Jessa is worried but doesn't say anything as her little companion takes off to look over the amassed army for himself.

To take her mind off Mel's leaving they plan for the force that was larger than they had hoped but they think is still smaller than they feared. Jessa takes their reports with a grain of salt since they don't spend much time around people and counting isn't a strong thing with them.

Kaiston and Jethro leave to send the females and children off to Silva.

Light is brought as is food long before Mel returns and with a much more accurate report. Alaric hates inaccuracies and had taught that dislike to Mel.

His words allow them to breathe a bit easier. At first. "Jessa, the rogue gold dragons are there and there are more than what was reported to you."

They all then turn to the Ancient One. "Did you know?" Jessa demands of her deity.

"Yes, I let Alaric know which ones he couldn't trust that were in positions of power. Most of the dragons you saw little one weren't ancient dragons were they?"

"No, he's right, Jessa, they looked no older than Dhiren's dragon form. Many of them are even younger, some are your age or rather dragon size. But it wasn't just golds, but all the metallic dragons. They have females, I could hear them and smell them but I couldn't find them. I don't think that the females are there willingly."

Jessa looks to the Ancient One, "Are there female dragons held captive in the enemy camp?"

"Yes."

"Are the dragons there, the young ones, those born to the captive females and not there of their own volition?" Jessa demands and is doing her best to not explode.

"Once more you are correct Jessa." The Ancient One was unable to speak about the dragons before and can only respond when questioned about them directly.

Jessa turns to Lady Fey, "Is this one of those cross roads?"

"Yes and more than that I cannot say."

"She cannot, but I can." Shandira says taking center stage. "When we were contacted the person tried to hide from us. But we don't like working for unknowns. I can give you some help. He likes the same layout every time he makes a new camp. I can give you that. I can give you an antidote to what they keep the dragons on. The young are also drugged but are resistant to the potion. If you can get them away from the enemy and give them the antidote they will leave of their own volition."

"Do you have the antidote ready and in sufficient quantities for my kin?"

"Jessa, what about the other dragon kin?" Angelo demands.

"Don't worry, I won't be leaving any of those willing to leave in the hands of our enemy." Jessa says that with a look that makes them all shiver. Alaric and the Ancient One look at her in pride. Dhiren just shakes his head and knows that they will be heading off to the enemy as soon as preparations can be made.

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Sorry for the cliff hanger, but it was requested to make this a trilogy so I'll be stopping here. Thoughts and ideas for the third story would be welcome as long as you keep things kind. I have two other stories that are pushing themselves forward so I won't be getting to the sequel of this story for awhile. Hope you enjoyed the story.