Robbin's POV
Vision landed on top of the crumbling castle, letting out a loud roar. I guess he could sense the danger as he looked across the trees, waiting.
A broken Siren hauntingly blared throughout the area, making chills run across my skin. This can't be happening now. I'm too tired for another fight.
"Everyone will be safer inside," I told Olympia, "we'll circle the grounds and block them from attacking everyone."
"We? Robbin, you can't fight."
"And I won't. We'll confront them together and find out what they want."
"We already know what they want; our heads on spikes. It's too dangerous for you and your child." She whispered the last few words so no one heard my secret.
"Everything I do is dangerous. I'll be fine."
"Maybe you will be, but talking won't solve anything anymore."
"Well, do you suggest we do," I asked.
"I talked to father earlier. He wants us to execute them to show the rest of the rogues what treason looks like."
"Absolutely not!"
"Robbin, if there's even a fraction of a chance to save the Northerners, we have to do it.
"What did she just say?" Raziel's voice rose from behind us.
"I knew it," Astrid said, "You don't care about us."
"I do care," I told her, "that's why I'm not doing it. You're still a Northerner citizen. It's our job to protect you."
"Protection," she scoffed, "is that what you call it? No, you know what, kill us. No life at all will be better than having you for a queen."
"Astrid, please." She backed away from me when I tried grabbing her. "No one wants this to end more than me. I don't want people to die anymore, even if they deserve it. It's not my place in this world to make that decision."
"Not your place? You've killed before. What makes this different from then?"
"Because now I know the true evil of this world and I intend to stop him. You're not the only ones suffering from Ryker's actions."
"Oh, poor you, the queen who cared too much. You have no idea the pain the rogues have felt, so don't try to sympathize with us."
"You're only a rogue because you believed you didn't have a home anymore, or more likely, Ryker told you that."
"I hate to interrupt, but rogues are still coming," Olivia reminded, "You two can hash this out later."
"He's wrong," I said quickly, "You do have one, here. I may not be a werewolf, but a dragon's heart burns the same as yours."
I took the handcuff keys away from the guard and unshackled them. They all rubbed their wrists and sighed when the burning sensation of silver had finally ended.
"It's not my choice to make, though it's yours."
"Robbin, they're here."
I mindlinked Vision to withdraw his flames. Him torching the rogues would only send one message, that this will only end with death.
"What do you want to do," Olympia asked.
"I want to talk to them."
"Robbin, we've been over this."
I turned and stared her in the eyes. I felt like I was going crazy. No matter what choice I made, it was the wrong one. "I am sick and tired of death," I said, "I'm tired of playing the role of queen and executioner. I can only be one and I choose to be queen. If I didn't I'd be exactly like Ryker."
"And if they want to fight?"
"We convince them otherwise," Astrid said.
I turned to her.
Olympia stepped forward. "Will they listen to you?"
"I'm not sure, but look," she rolled up her sleeve to show us a crescent moon brand on her arm, "It's Ryker's rogue symbol. They'll know who we are and...and find the same reasoning we did."
"I hope you're right," I said, "But if they don't want to listen, then I'm sure a few weeks in a dark cell will change their minds."
I used my dragon blood strength, or what was left of it, to climb Astrid and me up the wall where Vision was lurking and got onto him as well. His wings spread out and he roared again, this time fiercer.
Just beyond the trees I spotted the rogue troops, none were transformed into wolves but some were armed. There was no more than a few hundred and I knew I could take them out in an instant with Vision, but it wouldn't change anything.
The more rogues we had on our side, the more minds we change.
"I hope this works," Astrid whispered.
"Me too."
I allowed Vision to land on the ground a few meters from the rogues and we climbed off.
Most of them we young just like the others I've come across.
"I don't suppose you're here to surrender," I asked.
One of the men stepped forward. "Actually, we are."
I didn't react, only continued to stare at the young boy. He looked matured but I could tell he was only now stepping into adulthood.
"I don't take kindly to jokes, especially ones of this magnitude. Tell me why you're really here."
"We brought as many people as we could, but many of them were too scared to betray Ryker. Please, your grace, forgive us."
I sensed Vision's head coming forward from behind me. The sight of a dragon alone was terrifying if you weren't used to them, and being only a few feet away from one, knowing it could kill them at a single command, must be making them rethink coming here.
I held up a hand to Vision, making him pull back slightly. I wouldn't want to spoil his dinner.
"If you have any weapons, I suggest you disarm yourself at once."
Right away, only a handful of them began tossing their swords and knives to the ground.
"Bringing weapons to a surrender," I said and picked one of the swords up, "You'd think I'd second guess letting you live."
"They were for protection, from Ryker's men. If they knew we were leaving, we'd be executed."
"And you think coming here will rid you of that fate?"
I was only enticing him, of course. I had no intention of killing them, but I knew fear was stronger than compliance, especially right now.
The young man looked back at his fellow comrades. All of them looked tired, most likely from their journey here. Who knew when they last ate or slept, and they were adolescents. They didn't understand the war Ryker forced upon them.
Not then, at least. They're all old enough to distinguish petty revenge from true rebellion.
"Your grace, we didn't know what we did until we saw the aftermath. Ryker tricked us. Please, you have to believe me."
I took a few steps forward. "I do believe you, but how can I know to trust you?"
"We'll tell you everything we know about Ryker's plans with King Xander."
"Plans? The only thing he wants is the fall of the Northerner kingdom."
"I'm afraid it's much worse than that."
Much worse? Mass genocide is the only threat bigger than killing a royal bloodline. What the hell are Ryker's true motives?
~*~
"Please have a seat." I gestured to the chairs around us as Olympia, the rogue and I entered the war room. Inside, Grey was already waiting for us. I had the remaining rogues sent down to the cells with the others. Surrender or not, I wasn't going to have them simply roam the grounds where many Northerner citizens were. "I don't think you gave me your name."
"Jorrah Maddox, your grace."
We all sat down. "Alright, Jorrah Maddox, tell us everything you've heard and known while working with Ryker."
"Well, I've only been around him maybe twenty times and he's never said anything too revealing about his plans until I overheard him speaking to one of his aids. It was right before the fight up north. He said something about wolf and dragon hybrids, that their DNA allowed them to harness both powers each species had. I...I think he wanted to create one."
"That's impossible," Alec voiced, "The only way to do that is through natural birth, but even one of those would be difficult to have. Different species DNA refuses to bond. It almost never happens."
"It's why our species only mate with each other, Olympia said, "Thousands of years ago, before the five kingdoms were even formed, dragons, wolves, sirens, they gave up on being with someone who wasn't their own kind. That's why it's rare to see it today. We've evolved since then."
"That doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Look at Robbin and Xander."
I felt chills tingle my spine. My hands flinched as they wanted to cover my unborn child. Ryker wanted to make a hybrid. Was it possible that he already knew I was carrying one?
"Does he want me," I asked, making sure my voice was the same as before.
"I doubt it, not unless he thought you were pregnant. Ryker doesn't want to waste his time trying capture you, not with the thousands of dragons you have in the Westerlie kingdom. I think he's...making his wolves impregnate dragon blooded carriers."
"Making them? You don't mean by force, do you?"
"I'm not sure. He said his wolves have been successful during their heats but the dragon bloods were rejecting it."
"That bastard," Olympia roared, "We'll have his head for hurting our people."
She got up from her seat and marched toward the door. I grabbed her hand tightly and pulled her back. "Sit down."
"You want me to sit? How are you not furious with this! He's having our kind raped so he can have a hybrid."
"You think I'm not angry?" I stood from my chair, still holding her hand. "You think I'm handling this lightly? I want Ryker's terror to end just as much as you do, but we can't kill him yet."
"I can call father, tell him what Jorrah just told us. We'll fly down with a thousand dragons and force them to surrender then hand Ryker over to us and kill him."
"It's too risky. They know we can't use dragons as a murder weapon anymore. They'll call our bluff and continue to slaughter our troops."
"Then what do you think we should do? That has to be stopped."
I could feel Olympia's pain in my heart. She cares so deeply for her people. She'd do anything for them, including revenge for anyone who harms them.
"At the moment, continue to fight. We can't do anything risky without putting more lives at risk, okay?"
She nodded and rested her head on my shoulder before regaining her composure. We went to sit down and as we did, one of my guards entered the room.
"Your Grace, I need you to come with me. It's urgent."
"Of course it is," I mumbled, "Excuse me."
The man escorted me out of the room and into the hallway. "We've received a message from our men up north. It's king Xander. He's been taken, hostage."