The Tail of the Sword and Shield #Wattys2020

Chapter 22: The Best Laid Plans, of Humans, Sirens, and Dragons

Twice before, had Volsair walked through a Fae portal, and both times, he needed a lie down after reaching his destination. As usual, there was a sense of being thrown upwards and downwards.

Then all was still.

Volsair opened his eyes, everyone was in one piece. Everyone was still together, and they were in a forest, not far from the road. Not having time for a lie down, Volsiar braced himself against the closest tree, until the world quit spinning in front of him.

"Oh-my-stars." Alkanos said, his head lent against a tree too. "Stop moving. Stop moving." he growled, sitting his shoulders against the trunk of the tree.

"What was that?" Cordelia asked, she was on the ground, her knees up to her chin.

"Fae portal. It does it to everyone." Volsair managed, his eyes still shut.

"Can we please stay here a good hour?" Alkanos asked.

"Sorry your highness. We're on a deadline. If we weren't, I'd be having a nice long lie down," Volsair said, fighting off a wave of nausea, as he got to his feet. "Alright," Volsair said, still holding on to the tree to steady himself. "We go through the main gate. Cordelia, you'll be turned over to the guards. Once you are separated from the group, start singing, this will allow you to get away. I will stay with Alkanos, since the King will want to deal with him personally."

"What do we do if the King suspects treachery?" Cordelia asked, moving in to a sitting position.

"Then we play it by ear," Alkanos said, getting to his feet. "Like we usually do."

"And no matter what. We protect Alkanos. We can rendezvous in the throne room." Cordelia said, standing up, looking like she didn't' want to go through another Fae portal, anytime soon.

"Agreed." Volsair said, walking over to Cordelia. "In the event this goes bad." He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Same here," Cordelia replied, kissing him lightly on the chin. Then she said just low enough for Volsair to hear, "Even if you hear me being murdered, I beg you to please, stay with Alkanos, this whole thing hinges on his survival."

"I promise." Volsair said, brushing a stray lock of hair out of Cordelia's face.

Cordelia kissed Volsair on the lips, he smiled and kissed her back.

Alkanos cleared his throat, causing them to break the kiss. "Not to be rude," he said, "But, we have a kingdom to save. After we've done that, you can kiss all you want. Get married, have kids, it's all fine with me. You'd have beautiful children, even without Cordelia being a Siren, taken into account."

"I'm sorry Alkanos." Cordelia said, "I was just telling Volsair, that even with his shield ring, I'm still glad he wore his plate armor."

Volsair couldn't help but smile, despite the sinking feeling of not having his shield ring.

***

 The walk to the capital was uneventful, the sun had begun its trek across the sky.
The capital itself was quiet, the shops hadn't opened yet, there wasn't even the regular hustle and bustle of an awake city. Even though some in the city was wide awake.

The trio were allowed into the palace with a wave from Volsair.
The palace gates shut behind them with a resounding clang. Just then, they were swarmed by guards, full armor, weapon carrying, palace guards.

"Not taking any chances, now are they?" Alkanos asked aloud, not caring who heard him.

"All this for us?" Cordelia asked, "Makes you wonder how come."