The evening's were calm in the Frost kingdom though a little tense. The Frost Royals were required to dine together for dinner most every night as one of the few times the Matriarch got to see her whole family. It had been a fairly crazy two weeks, but luckily part of the family was away from the castle, so only Matriarch, Bryson, Sansor, Myra, and Ramsey were at dinner. It gave Kyera a chance to get used to being home.
Though, she wasn't sure when this became 'home's, but that was what she had come to think of it as. That being said, Kyera sat across from Clovis with Raina on her right and Kendrick on her left. He was tense and unused to this. Afterall, they had been a different sort of Royal back home. There was more pressure here. More expectations that he had not grown into quite yet. Bryson sat at the head of the table beside the Matriarch and Sansor and Myra were at his side as usual. Feya and Keen had settled In by Clovis. They were coming to understand what this palace was about.
"Has there been any news?" Feya asked casually, to the room. Everyone knew what she meant. This question was asked nightly and the answer was always be patient.
"With the Dark Ones barricading the borderlands we have not been able to get a traditional messenger through. I do know that Shadow Veil is having the same issue." Crystalsa replied, her own kindness softening the words. Kyera noticed the hand of a mother moving under the table to hold the hand of her son. "Kyera and I had suggested an alternate method of contact, but I am not sure if she had a chance to get it established."
"I was able to get a secondary communication setup between myself and Empress Vivian. I used a Fae Dragon to take the message and luckily, he made it through the barricade without being noticed or killed." Kyera explained as she cut another bite from her piece of rabbit.
"Fae Dragon are cute little things but devilishly mischievous. Congratulations for making one obey." Bryson chuckled as a blue and white mini dragon landed on his shoulder. It had fairy wings marbled with blues, purples and pinks to contrast with its powdery scales.
"Well that credit goes to Ivory. She's nest mother for a small gaggle of Fae Dragons and the one I sent was one of hers." Kyera explained, not really wanting the credit. Ivory had done most of the work, Kyera had just asked for a favor.
"And, did Empress Vivian respond?" Feya asked, her voice a tad impatient, but her eyes were fearful. There had been little news but the news that had come through was mostly about fighting and deaths but never much detail.
"Yes, just before dinner. Apparently, they were not bothered when the Emperor passed. The Dark ones merely attacked and terrified the villagers but no other casualties were had. The Emperor was put to rest in traditional fashion and that's when the battles started. The dark ones laid siege to the castle, but they didn't expect a triple defense. First the wall and archers, then the Palace and Royal Guard, and finally the Garden residents. So far there have been 50 killed. Bastil and the Empress are still alive. The queens have been sent to the AshLands, a monastery there was willing to keep them safe." Kyera rattled off the information she was given without batting an eyelash or looking up from her meal, however she hadn't taken a bite. "We lost a few of my own, but otherwise the royal guard is in tact."
"Your own?" Clovis asked his eyes flashing with concern. Kyera set down her fork and knife, wiping her mouth with her napkin and setting it on her plate. Anyone who knew her knew this was an elaborate way of gaining time to compose herself.
"Lazren, Mally, and Lady Cora are among the dead." Kyera replied, her voice barely able to hide its shaking. Clovis frowned and held her hand. "They were declared unsafe because you guard knew they were shifters and threw them out. The Dark ones executed them."