Valerian, The Legendary

212 Finding The Cause.

Morgana was in her small room, lying on the floor when Snare suddenly emerged from the shadows and knelt down in the corner. The room was more like a broom store, seven feet square shaped room. Just enough space for her to lay down. She did not seem surprised when Snare appeared in the congested space.

It was already late in the night and he was relieved of his duties to take rest. Snare was allowed to take a rest, after all, even if he was a battle mage, he was still a human and the body demanded rest. Jamal knew that only when his subordinates had to be well rested so that they could work at the peak of their performance.

Silk raised her head and said to Morgana, ‘Missus, he is here to tell you something.’

Morgana asked back in the similar fashion, ‘Ask him what it is. I am not in the mood to use my hands to converse with him.’

Silk nodded and asked Snare what it was about and after it as done she relayed everything that happened in the courtroom to Morgana and the girl smiled faintly. She said, ‘Okay, tell him to leave.’

Silk followed the command and after Snare left the place, the fox asked, ‘Missus, is this situation dangerous for him?’

The him in her mouth was Valerian. Morgana asked, ‘Why do you care so much about him when I am your master?’

Silk replied gently, ‘Because he was the one who saved me from the plight of my life. He gave me a shelter, food, and care that a wild beast can never imagine. Humans look at magical beasts and they think, capture it, sign a magical bond and they will do our bidding. They do not take much effort to know about us.

However, he is not like that, he did not ask me to form a bond. He let me be free without any discrimination, that is why I care.’

.....

Morgana nodded faintly and said, ‘I understand what you mean. Though I wonder, where did a person, who suffered so much found this much warmth to share.’

‘Humans are wonderful creatures, they can see the light in the darkest hour. Guess, he is just that sort of a person. However, that does not make him weak, he can really go on a killing spree if he gets annoyed. Like this time with the Valkyrians.’, said Silk.

Morgana nodded and said, ‘Tomorrow, we will leave this palace and head to a few sights where my forces are located. Since Jamal has made a move against Val, I will make him pay the price for it.’

Silk nodded and lay her head over her paws as she closed her eyes to fall asleep.

...

Valerian woke up in the morning and after a small warm up he took a shower and changed into a clean set of clothes. Then he headed out to the dining room. To his surprise, Libra was sitting at the head of the family chair with Azula and Fragrantia next to him. The boy bowed to Valerian and said, “Greetings, Your Excellency, I hope you have been well.”

Libra nodded with a faint smile and said, “I have been well, what about you? I heard that you were not well when you arrived yesterday.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Just exhausted from the constant strain of battles and travel. I am fine now. Will get better after some more rest.”

Libra nodded and wanted to say something when, Fragrantia said, “Sit down, eat your food.”

Valerian saluted her and sat down after saying, “Yes, madam.”

Azula chuckled and then the four of them began to eat. The Empress said, “You better stick to the words you said last night, or I will have to dragged back here. Understood?”

Valerian nodded forcefully as he ate the breakfast. Azula said, “You did not come to receive your light armor and your sword, so I have asked a maid to bring it over. Next time you go out for a battle, you better put up the armor. You careless warmonger.”

Valerian did not say much but made an apologetic face. The maid arrived soon with a set of armor and sword in her hands. Azula gestured her to hand things over to Valerian and the young man placed them in his magical pouch. He said, “I am done, and I will be off now.”

Fragrantia nodded and Libra said, “Take care of yourself, and come back soon.”

Valerian nodded to him, gave a quick wave to Azula and a fleeting hug to Fragrantia and rushed out of the palace. Priscilla was waiting for him in the western wing. She was afraid that the Empress might change her mind so she came here to attend to the beasts in the garden.

Priscilla saw the boy approach and bowed to him in greeting. Valerian asked, “Where is Mathiyus?”

The maid replied, “Inside the beast pouch, where he likes to rest now.”

Valerian nodded and then said, “Let’s go, it is time.”

The two walked over to where, Linea was and Valerian asked, ‘How are you feeling now?’

Linea opened his eyes and replied, ‘I am in the pink of health, master. I have rested well.’

Valerian nodded and said, ‘Then, let’s head to the academy.’

Linea let out a cry, and Valerian with the help of a staff member, they tied the big saddle at the back of the Thunder Falcon and the two people got on and the bird flew away from the palace in a blink. Valerian did not need to instruct Linea as the beast was now familiar with the route. He leaned back on the saddle and said, “What did you find out on your trip to Centaur?”

His voice was calm, but it contained a chill. Priscilla said, “They have a lot of things they do not want the world to know, your highness.”

Valerian nodded and asked, “What might those things be?”

Priscilla said, “There is a small group of people that is opposed to the way Jamal Centurion is ruling the nation. They call him a dictator, who cares about his goals only. This small group is really well hidden, I found them by chance when Mathiyus found a few humans sneaking in the shadows and followed them to an abandoned building.

The curious thing about this building was that even if the external walls were dusty and seemed to be damaged, the inside of the building was decorated luxuriously. No speck of dust or damage, it was like the thing has been enchanted. After some investigation, I found that even the outside was not damaged and just enchanted with spells that were stronger than any arch mage could cast.”

Valerian nodded and wanted to ask something when Priscilla took something out of her magical pouch and said, “This was the only thing I could find that could be taken away from that place.”

The prince put aside his question and extended his hand behind him to take a hold of the article that Priscilla wanted to hand him over. Valerian took the object and when he set his sight on it, he was surprised at first and then he mumbled, “I seem to have seen it somewhere before.”

The object was a palm sized statue of a dragon. It was made of silver and carved so delicately that it looked like the dragon was going to flap its wings and fly away. The prince tried to think hard and then after a few minutes he said, “I cannot remember where I saw this, but it was in one of the books in the academy. Now I am really curious about this group of people. Anything else noteworthy?”

Priscilla replied, “Yes, we found that Princess Morgana is not as simple as she may seem.”

Valerian arched his brows and asked, “Go on.”

Priscilla nodded and said, “It was her, who discovered the secret about Sapientia possessing a dragon treasure, and it was her who fed this news to Jamal Centurion. She wanted to cause this chaos to divert the attention placed on her and get stronger to take over the throne of Centaur.”

Valerian nodded and said, “I see, well, my appearance played a key role in her plan then. However, now we both are playing from the same side. She knows that I am on her side, and she will not harm me. Also, I have made her realize something that changes the game completely. Now our priority is to monitor that secret group pf people and also to keep Jamal Centurion on a leash. That old man is not easy to handle.”

Priscilla nodded and Valerian said, “Send a message to my sister, she needs to create some trouble for the merchants in Centaur. Make this war an economic crisis that can be averted but by us only. Let Morgana have the support of her people in this rebellion. Also, make sure that the word of this reaches Morgana and undetected at that.”

The maid nodded and just took the orders, she did not want to learn too much about the motives of these chess masters. She was aware of her status of a pawn and she would complete all the tasks that are handed to her.

Valerian on the other side had a smirk on his face while he played with the small dragon in his hand. He never imagined that the innocent looking Princess Morgana was the cause of this chaos. Life had just become interesting for him.

Suddenly, Linea said, “Master, someone is approaching us from the east. They are very strong.”

Valerian turned his head and soon he was surprised.

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