Twenty-seven days remain…

Felix held back a yawn as he came to a stop before the entire gathering of elves. The sun was cresting, painting the sky in a topaz hue. A flock of birds flew overhead, heading south. Then the wind blew, rustling the treetops and causing the first of many leaves to fall.

Autumn was nearly here.

Dragon Lord, huh? So I should be calling you Master, like the kobolds? Zira teased as she sat down behind him.

He desperately wanted to roll his eyes but the crowd was watching his every move. Gods no. I want to forget about all that, if I'm being honest.

The initial shock from yesterday had long since faded. Now, Felix only wanted to bury that fact. Unfortunately, his partner had other plans…

Oh, but think of it! You could have Ithea kneeling and begging for your kindness!

His eye twitched. That's not how it works! I am merely the co-owner of the contract! I have no real powers. Hells, it's Mirezabeth who has it.

Is that so? Why do I get the feeling you aren't being truthful? Shall I peer into your memories?

Felix decided to ignore her and instead focus on the scene before him. They were near the Tree of Providence, the only space left open. Even here, though, was cramped. Hundreds of elves now stood in front of him.

To his left was Oralyn and on his right was Lorem, Noria, Solanna, and Yedril. The little jewels were stuck close to each of their respective partners. No doubt they were hesitant of such a large crowd.

Almost everyone had gathered here, almost. Poor Eri was spirited away by the elven Chiefs. Apparently they needed her for several things, including getting measurements for a dress. She wasn't particularly thrilled about that…

Kyrith, on the other hand, seemed to be excited. He wanted a part in planning the wedding– Who am I kidding? He just wants the attention.

A slight smile formed as Felix allowed himself to break his composure for a moment. However, it was short lived. Oralyn cleared her throat and a spell went off.

"Thank you all for gathering," her voice boomed. "Last night you heard from the Chiefs, you heard about our plans for both now and the future. And today, we will enact one of those plans."

She paused and quickly scanned the crowd, perhaps waiting to see if anyone would object. No one did. "We will be splitting everyone here into groups, and each group will be responsible for a daily task. As implied, your task will change each day and your group will be put into a rotation. However, there may be times when you are called in to assist elsewhere.

"Now, I know many of you are wondering about compensation…" She gestured to Felix. "You all will be paid in dragon scales. You may do as you please with them."

There were murmurs in the crowd but most appeared to have already figured that out.

"With that done…" Oralyn stepped aside and revealed a table with several large pots. "If everyone would– in an orderly fashion – begin queuing, we will get your group selected."

***

CLANG!

Felix let out a grunt as his practice sword struck another, the blades fighting over control. Sweat beaded off his brow and rolled down his cheeks as he made eye-contact with his opponent. This might have been training but both were putting their all into their attacks…

"Alright, alright… That's enough, back to each of your sides. Take a moment to rest." The voice was Lorem and he was waving off both Felix and his sparring partner.

Slowly, both Felix and his opponent pulled back and lowered their blades. He gave a respectful nod before moving to his side of the makeshift arena.

"Master good…"

He couldn't help but smile at the complement and the tension in his shoulders relaxed. "And you're pretty good too," he replied back, turning to face his opponent.

Standing on the opposite side of the square was Gern. The kobold was surprisingly good with a blade. Originally, Felix wanted to practice with Lorem but the large elf had other ideas… And, so far, they were working out.

He looked down at the dulled blade in his hand. The sword itself was meant for this. Made by the dwarves, it was supposed to be something akin to a longsword. But that was to dwarven standards and to Felix it was more of a shortsword. Compared to Lorem? It might as well have been a dagger.

"Felix, how are you doing?" the elf asked, acting as the adjudicator for their matches.

He wiped the sweat from his eyes before answering. "Good." And it was the truth. He was shaking out the rust while all his teachings slowly came back to him.

Lorem nodded and faced the red kobold. "Gern?"

While Felix was still in good shape, Gern on the other hand was panting heavily. "Gern good!"

"Are you sure?" Felix asked, not wanting to push the kobold too far. "We can take a longer break if you–"

"I good!" Gern raised up his sword and struck a pose.

Shrugging, Lorem raised his hand. "Ready…"

Felix took his stance, and quickly came up with an aggressive play that he thought would work.

"FIGHT!"

He launched forward, using only his natural strength to close the distance. He didn't think it would be fair nor beneficial to use magic when this whole sparring session was to help him remember his own technique.

However, despite him holding back, Gern was just as quick. The kobold bolted ahead as he raised his sword.

The two clashed, Felix going low and hoping to get the kobold's knees. Meanwhile, Gern pulled his blade down, aiming for Felix's shoulder.

Both were too committed…

Yelps and groans sounded out from the two as they rolled and thrashed on the ground. The blades may have been blunted but their weight was close to the real thing. The only good news was both pulled back at the last second, merely causing bruising instead of breaking bone.

The shadow of a large elf appeared over them, its owner laughing at their expense. "Are you… Are you two okay?" he tried to ask, offering hands to both.

"I'm…fine–" Felix winced as he accepted Lorem's help and was lifted to his feet. His shoulder throbbed angrily at him. "Mostly fine."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

A moment later, Gern was pulled to his feet. "Owe… Gern hurt…"

Looking down at the kobold's legs, Felix winced at a darker red area in the shape of the blade.

"Can you walk?" Lorem asked, noticing the same.

Gern took a tentative step and hissed. "Gern can limp–"

The elf lifted him up with ease. "No can do, I'll carry you to the healer's tent." He glanced over to Felix. "You should probably come as well."

"Yeah… But what about the swords?" Felix asked, rubbing his shoulder. Nothing felt broken, but it was extremely tender.

"Leave them, I will come back for them once I drop you two off."

"Okay." He gestured forward with his good hand. "Lead the way…"

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eri bit back a curse as the strings of a corset were tightened. It was an unpleasant feeling and she contemplated its necessity. Unfortunately for her, she had left all the planning to the elven Chiefs. It was starting to look like a mistake…

"Your Majesty, you look wonderful!" Chief Mari clasped her hands together in excitement and, yet, her eyes betrayed her. Something behind them told Eri that the Chief was only going through the motions.

She was doing this for her own personal gain.

Until the meeting yesterday, Mari had barely stepped foot out of her camp. And while she had sworn loyalty to Eri, it was calculated. She had a long standing feud with her brother, Calsen, and she wanted to do everything to destroy his legacy.

Will it be her downfall? Or, will it be our downfall? Eri wondered, fearful of what might come if Mari held too much control. She forced a smile.

"R-really?" she asked, the discomfort was almost too much for her. "I don't think…it's quite…needed."

"Nonsense! I've heard the stories of the past, this was something women of means often wore."

Doubtful– Where did she even find this? "If that is true… Then… Then how did they breathe?"

"Shallow breaths! You simply need practice, Your Majesty." Mari approached, eyeing her up and down. "Anyway, the next question is what color…"

Before Eri could get a word in, the Chief whipped around. "Haldria! Haldria!"

The leatherworker suddenly appeared, looking ragged. From what she knew, Haldria was in constant demand with all the new arrivals.

"Yes, Chief Mari?" the poor woman asked, too tired to lock up from her usual anxiety.

"What color do you think would complement Her Majesty's beauty?"

Haldria looked up to Eri with exhausted eyes. "Blue. A light blue…and perhaps a little revealing–"

"Absolutely not!" Eri cried out, immediately regretting her decision as she struggled to breath.

But Mari put a hand up to her chin in thought. "What do you mean by revealing? And careful, you are speaking about our future Queen here!"

The leatherworker frowned. "Eri's–"

"It's Her Majesty."

She pondered that for a moment before correcting herself. "It's as you said, Her Majesty's beauty should be the focus. No dress that covers that up would do it justice. She needs something… Something… Breathtaking."

"Can you do it?"

"If I had the dye… But blue is–"

"I will handle the dye. I want you to put everything else aside and begin work immediately!" Chief Mari rushed away before either of the other women could respond.

"Yes ma'am…" Haldria blinked, the focus in her eyes coming back. "Wait. Wait… OH GODS WHAT DID I SAY?!"

Eri couldn't help but laugh, even as it ended in a coughing fit. "Haldria… Do you… Do you think you can help me?"

***

Gods! Never again! She thought as she massaged her side. It was already a couple of hours later and still she could feel that damn corset constricting her. And despite being out of the deathtrap, she was not done.

Now, Eri was stuck in a meeting with the other Chiefs. They were gathered not far from the massive tree that stood in the center of the clearing, the only area not covered by tents or construction.

However, as the planning once again derailed into an argument, she couldn't help but ponder the speed at which everything was moving. It was fast, almost too fast. What else did I expect? This was my idea, after all.

While that was true, it was done out of need. Time was ticking away…

Of course, the stress of putting this all together wasn't just the time frame. It was also ego. Every Chief wanted some large part in what was to come and no one wanted to compromise. It also didn't help that Kyrith had taken the opportunity to add some of his own ideas while she was busy suffocating.

Her partner wanted an impressive display of her might and power. She nearly scoffed at the idea, knowing what he truly wanted. He wants to show off…

Though, while she could have objected, Eri decided not to. She wanted him to be a part of this. Hells, I want Felix and Zira to be a part of this as well. There was nothing more she wanted than to have all of them contribute in some way.

Like a family… That brought a smile to her face. "So you want a parade?" she asked aloud, disrupting the petty argument. The question was directed to the ember-colored dragon.

Her partner lit up. "Yeah! A parade would be neat– Oh! But I have another idea…"

"Oh?" She gave him an amused look. "And what would that be?"

"Remember that little show we put on when we arrived at Bernel?"

Eri had to think back to then. "You mean when Felix was looking for volunteers?"

"Yep! I was thinking… Maybe we do something like that again? Me and Zira– And the hatchlings too!"

"I like the idea, but the little jewels haven't learned how to fly yet," she pointed out.

That dampened his mood. "Oh, right. But shouldn't they be learning soon?"

"That's true, however, I doubt we could get them to learn in only a few days–"

Another voice cut it, it was Chief Yorlen. "If I might add, we should consider keeping everything simple. A week isn't enough to plan for a coronation, let alone that and a marriage."

"Awe, but I want to do a show…"

The Chief pondered the dragon's clear disappointment. "Do you think you and Zira have enough time to practice?"

Kyrith nodded his snout vigorously. "We can do it! It won't even be that hard!"

Eri rolled her eyes but chose to not say anything. This is something he wants and maybe it'll keep the others from fighting again…

Yorlen relented. "Fine. Then we will add that to the schedule. Now, onto the more pressing topic… Where should we hold everything? We've been debating that all morning."

"Well, we have the one person whose opinion matters the most," Chief Oslen quipped. And, suddenly, all eyes were on Eri.

Luckily, she had given this some thought.

"I want the marriage to be in front of the Tree of Providence."

"Understandable, but it will be quite cramped," Yorlen added expectantly.

"And what of the Coronation?" Oslen added.

Eri addressed Chief Yorlen first. "I want mine and Felix's marriage to be a more private affair. And besides…" She looked directly at Chief Oslen. "We can have everyone else gather in the Sanctuary. We will hold the coronation there."

"Not a bad plan…" Yorlen muttered while Oslen nodded in silent agreement.

However, not everyone felt the same way. One of the other Chief's became vocal.

"Not a bad plan? I mean no disrespect to our future Queen, but how are we supposed to set up two locations in a week? Not to mention Kyrith and Zira cannot fit through the portal. What will we do about that?"

Admittedly, Eri hadn't thought about that last part but that didn't mean there wasn't an easy solution. "I will ask the Sages to teleport the dragons there."

"That…would work– So long as they agree. But what about setting up two locations? We are already so short on time."

And just like that, another round of arguments broke out.

Eri pinched her brow in frustration. Gods, help me– Wait, no. I don't need them… Kyrith!

Her partner curled his lips into a draconic smile. Oh, this will be good!

He let out a roar…

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