Gelmisil winced with bitterness and dismay. At ten years of age, Tersia was old enough to ride her own dragon mount. But the child was terrified of the huge creatures. Gelmisil wondered if that terror had not brought about the birth of the abomination at the ritual. A sense of foreboding had made Gelmisil try to stop the royal bonding ceremony of his youngest child. After all, they were going into exile and the old ways would be lost. It seemed a defiant gesture to cling to them until the end. A gesture which would only provoke those who could destroy them.     

However, Sendrilea, his queen had insisted. Though Gelmisil had done everything in his power to prevent it, Sendrilea succeeded in obtaining a fertile egg of the queen's mount and brought about the disaster that had almost destroyed the royal house altogether.     

Ever since that day, Gelmisil had searched his mind for answers to explain what had happened. The dragon bonding was a thing of mystery, but it was known that each dragon of the royal brood was bonded and connected to the heart and soul of its rider. While Tersia waited for the hatching of her own mount, had she somehow tainted it with her fear? The mighty and powerful silvers and golds made her almost hysterical with terror. Gelmisil feared she would never have been able to bond with one, but in the end, the will of his queen prevailed.     

Did the link between the royal house of the Gul Dar Lathan and the dragons reach into the very fabric of the dragon's being, molding and shaping it before it even hatched? Was it Tersia's fear that had formed the twisted and deformed beast that had been born on her bonding day? Had she created a creature as odd and weak as herself, so the bonding could be completed?     

A single huge silver dragon circled in the sky, the queen's Mount. Gelmisil's eyes turned to study the silver caped woman that now stood alone on the desert plain.     

Oh Sendrilea, was your pride so great that you would have risked us all?     

On the day of the deformed beast's birthing, the plots and schemes of Sendrilea's rebellion had been revealed to Gelmisil. She had hoped to awake the old passions of the Gul Dar Lathan through observing the ancient bonding rituals. Exciting their pride and appealing to the memories of their heritage, she had planned to rally them against Gelmisil and disobey his command for exile. But the hatching of the deformed dragon had undone her. Instead of invoking a symbol of their power and greatness, she had given them an omen of their doom. And rather than gain the loyalty and trust of the people, she had nearly alienated them altogether from the royal house. Demands had been made for the deaths of the child and the dragon, both were weak and marred, not worthy to live among the Gul Dar Lathan.     

Gelmisil Dor Alaurieth shuddered as he recalled the eyes of the assembly as they turned to Sendrilea and Gelmisil accusing them of giving birth to an abomination themselves. Sendrilea had been too broken by dashed hopes to defend herself or Tersia. The crowd would have torn them apart, but by the sheer force of his will and power, Gelmisil had driven them back until he could remove his queen and daughter to safety.     

Below on the sand, Sendrilea looked up at the dragon, her proud face hard and her gray eyes empty. She had given up all thoughts of rebellion after the day of Tersia's bonding. She became listless and compliant. Resigned to the fact of their exile, she had withdrawn from the court and refused to see anyone, especially not Tersia. Tersia had unintentionally thwarted all her hopes, and had become the focus of her disappointment and hatred.     

Sendrilea lifted her arms and spoke in a soft voice that seemed to carry across the land.     

"Jaline, come!"     

The queen's mount trumpeted loudly and fell in a blinding blur of molten silver toward the woman. As it swooped down, it extended its talons like glittering diamond daggers. Gelmisil felt a knot of fear curl at the base of his spine. The woman stood without flinching, her countenance growing grim and stern, as the dragon rushed to impale her on the long glinting claws. Drawing a hissing breath through clenched teeth, Gelmisil cursed. At the last moment, the woman stepped to her right and threw her arm around the great silver's thick neck. In a fluid motion she pulled herself onto the dragon. The dragon roared and arched its back and neck throwing itself upward.     

Angry and relieved, Gelmisil slammed his fist against the wall. At first, he thought his wife had planned to commit suicide rather than accept exile, but obviously this was not true. Sendrilea had just performed the ancient rite of the royal marriage before his eyes, but why?     

Instead of following the fading dragon host, Sendrilea and Jaline, her mount, circled the desert plain in an ever tightening spiral. Gelmisil narrowed his keen eyes and spanned the miles until he could behold her face. His people were beautiful and Sendrilea was the loveliest of them all. But now her beauty was frozen in a hard and smooth face. The dragon's wings flapped softly and the queen and her dragon paused and hovered for a moment over the desert. When she turned, her gaze caught his. He shivered at the coldness that held him, but could not look away. A delicate fair hand reached up and lifted a tiara of finest silver shaped in the form of dragon wings from her brow. The token of when she had become his bride and his queen. Unbound now, her hair, blue-black like a raven's wing, was caught by the wind and blew about her face, but his eyes remained captive by her icy stare. Slowly, she let the tiara slip from her fingers. It spun and glinted as it fell to the ground.     

Then she smiled and it chilled the marrow of his bones. Numbly, he heard the shriek of Jaline and the defiant scream of Sendrilea as they vanished in a swirling pillar of silver flames and smoke.     

Realization sucked the strength from Gelmisil's limbs and his knees buckled. Even though he had sacrificed the kingdom, though he was no longer king, Sendrilea had proven her claim as queen by mastering Jaline again today. Despite of everything that had happened, treachery and rebellion were in her heart. He was a fool to believe that Sendrilea had finally given up and would quietly go into exile.     

Gasping, Gelmisil sank to the ground. Sendrilea's pride would surely lead them all to their destruction. Gelmisil felt powerless and alone. Sendrilea still had the power to sway the people to stay and fight. Their king may have betrayed them, but she was still their queen. If she offered them an alternative to this flight into shame, they would follow her. They only were leaving now, because their king used all his will to guide them into exile, but if they had a queen with the power and strength to match his, a queen who would call them to battle and glory against the ones that would cast them from their home...     

Weakness and despair pulled him down into a darkness that threatened to engulf his entire being. All his efforts to save them had been a waste. By their stubbornness and pride, they would bring down their doom. If they would not listen, if they would not obey, he was powerless to stop it. Suddenly, rage crackled and sparked within him rousing him from his stupor. Why was he sitting here whining and moaning like a dog? He was still the king, and his power was greater than all of theirs. If Sendrilea and the people yearned so strongly to cling to the old ways, then so be it. Let them see the wrath and fury of the ancient king. Not even the queen had the right to defy his will!     

Gelmisil Dor Alaurieth, High Lord of the Land and King of the Gul Dar Lathan, would suffer no one's disobedience. She would pay dearly for her defiance. He had allowed her to have her own way for too long. He had been too gentle and tender with her when she openly opposed him. He had tried to reason with her, but now she would feel the heat of his anger and the iron hand of his discipline. He would bring her to her knees and all those that dared to stand with her against his will. If they would not accept the salvation he had purchased for them with his very soul, then he would give them the promise of destruction in its stead.     

"Korlum, come!" Gelmisil shouted. "We ride to battle!"     

Continued ...