The Queen's Aerie

49. Bertrag ver Kleelan

At the end of his wild tale, Rodgardae looked up to see the majority of Watt's admirals looking at him as if he were insane. Which was fair, he thought.

"The descendant of Princess Beatra?" Worthan asked skeptically, the first to recover himself.

"So Consort ver Kleelan claims." He nodded.

"That's an old family legend. Even I did not believe it, and Agadart is my cousin," a voice from behind the wall of admirals said. Mistress Seraphinite tilted her chin up in defiance. The guards had known not to stop the headmistress of the Kaaltendt dragon maids, but she herself had not stepped any further into the space. Her eyes were narrowed as she glared at Rodgardae malevolently.

But Rodgardae was looking past her at Captain Wildt, whom he had assumed had flown off after Agadart himself. He was holding Maid Pyrite by her upper arm in a clutch so tight it would eventually bruise her, if it hadn't already. Even more perplexing, Maid Pyrite was gagged.

"What is the meaning of this?" Rodgardae's sister stepped forward. "Mistress Seraphinite? Explain yourself."

The clutch of officers parted to let Mistress Seraphinite through. Wildt followed behind her, dragging a very unwilling Maid Pyrite with them.

"This person," Mistress Seraphinite said, dripping disdain as she motioned at Maid Pyrite, "is a spy for Emperor Rhezv."

There was some murmuring from the observers, but Rodgardae's sister cut a hand through the air. "That's her death warrant, certainly, but I do not understand what it has to do with why you brought her here, or your connection to the missing Maid Aegirine."

"Lady Agadart ver Kleelan," Mistress Seraphinite corrected fiercely.

"As you say," Rodgardae's sister said with a roll of her eyes. "Explain yourself. I shall not ask again."

"Maid Aegirine is my cousin. I was of course informed of her identity by Queen Theaedra when she was assigned to the Dragon Maids Corps. What I did not know was that Maid Pyrite, whom I trusted, was reading my personal correspondence and so found that out herself. She is the one who related to Emperor Rhezv's spies that Lady Agadart was being sent to Endestern." She turned to face Rodgardae. "You've heard the story of the legends. Clearly, so had Emperor Rhezv, and that was why he targeted her, knowing that she could be the next queen of Watt."

That had his sister stepping forward. "Mistress Seraphinite, I have always given you the respect of your station, despite the differences between our countries. Please understand that I do not mean this disrespectfully, but your claim is that of a lunatic."

There was some shifting among the observers, but no one spoke up.

Seraphinite did not rise to the bait, merely shrugging her shoulders. "I am merely human, but I do know what it feels like to have a queen. I know what it feels like when the dragons around me are confident that their queen is hale and healthy. I admit I do not know what it is to belong to a land that does not have a queen, but I myself saw her fly in to fight the emperor, same as all of you. I knew who she was immediately, because I have seen the ancient paintings of the ver Kleelan dragons of Battenruck." She stepped forward into the tent proper at last, the officers nearest to her stepping backwards to clear a path for her. "I have spent my life believing those old stories about as much as you do now, which is to say, not at all. But I cannot deny the facts when faced with them in the form of my cousin flying through the sky."

Worthan scoffed at her. "Are you really suggesting Maid Aegirine is a queen of Kaaltendt?"

"We have to admit that it is at least a possibility," Seraphinite said. "You have a queen, and I have a cousin who is reputed to be the heir of Princess Beatra." She looked over at Rodgardae speculatively. "Unless Admiral Leonteinparre the Younger disavows her?"