Despite good intentions, it is much harder to shake off two dragons than anyone had expected. The Frost Royals had went to rest in their chambers, tired from the trip and aware the twins would watch their Mistress.
Now the royal family was sitting in the Empress's war room, seated around a rectangular table. Kyera and the Princesses seated to one side, their husbands across from them on the other and a map of the world between them. Currently they were focused on the forest as Kyera helped them plot out what happened and explained the events that ended them in the Frost Lands. The entire time she spoke the room cycled with warm air against the chill despite the fire places barely starting to burn. Ember and his sister giving them a reminder both dragons were just beyond the window.
"It seems the staked out the camp and intended to wipe out the four royal Princesses at the same time. It would be a blow to moral and the heir games." The Emperor replied frowning softly. Kyera had of course left out her shape shift and near death experience, mainly because the girls only knew of one of the two.
"It seems so. We will have to squash this shape shifting scum once and for all." Growled Damar as he realized they almost took her away. Yet Clovis set his hand on his brother's shoulder to calm him.
"I am afraid this war is of our own making. Attacking them will only cause more hate." Empress Vivian pointed out, she was the only one at the table who had been there when her husband had been part of that bloody ward's beginning. Her son had his hand in the blood for a short time. She wished to avoid more violence and destruction.
"But, Empress I am afraid we won't have a choice. They are attacking our Royal Families." Kira pointed out folding her arms over her chest. She tried to look concerned but she had the advantage. Her son was known for battle prowess as well as diplomacy. He would be a logical choice to lead the kingdom. War was the only way to supercede the Heir games.
"No, I have reason to believe this is not led by shifter kind in general. They are a splinter organization nothing more." Clovis spoke up as he remembered the camp they left in Shadow Veil. They would never attack Kyera. She was their queen.
"Oh? How do you know this?" Queen Fae asked turning fiery, greedy eyes on him.
"I have spent more time in the forest and with it's people than any of us. I have met with the shifter clan, and their leader. They told me of a dark cell, they call the Dark ones. They want revenge for the slaughter of their kin, but most shifters do not." Clovis tried to explain but it was difficult. He didn't sound convincing because it wasn't his story to tell. His eyes flicked to Kyera and for a brief moment asking for help.
"As Princess of the Forest Knights I have to agree. Most the shifters in the forest are… were kind and just wanted to be left alone to rebuild." Kyera explained but her voice caught. She remembered the pile of bodies she had set aflame herself. Empress Vivian raised an eyebrow.
"Were? Are they now seeking revenge?" She asked seeming concerned, but Kyera shook her head. A tear falling from her eyes.
"No. The dark ones ripped through their camp and slaughtered them. Any who wouldn't fight were murdered. Children whose parents wouldn't fight… anyone they considered a coward. Some escaped… very few. Less than a hundred of that clan survived. The rest… the rest were burned on a alter the day we fled. Kan and I set them on fire ourselves." Kyera replied forgetting herself for a moment. She closed her eyes and tried to calm the turmoil in her chest.
"How dare you endanger our daughters over such things! Do you deny you setting those bodies aflame may be what goaded those creatures to attack?" Fae screeched angrily and for once, people around the table agreed. Clovis watched them get up in arms except… he noticed his sister in laws were calm and unruffled.