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Elusia had fallen.
A land already struggling to survive, thrown into a conflict it could never hope to win. And now, it was without its king. Ivy couldn’t help but curse herself when she arrived at Destinia—too late to reverse her father’s actions. Too late to save him from his own ambitions.
Though as she knelt there, biting back the tears that threatened to spill, another came to mind. A woman with red hair—the catalyst of her father’s downfall. She wove her way through the courts with ease, managing to wrap the snakes around her finger. All with one claim: she was the Fell princess, the last of Lord Sombron’s children.
She made promises of land and power, of vengeance against those who wronged Elusia—so long as they helped revive the Fell Dragon. Hyacinth was all too willing to accept such an offer, seemingly discarding all he was in the process. But Ivy knew better. There was nothing to be gained working with the Fell Dragon. And the looks the Fell princess gave her…Ivy found it unsettling.
“It’s not wise for you to be here.”
Ivy jolted, turning on her heels to meet the owner of the voice. Before her stood one of the Fell princess’s knights. This one, Ivy found, was the most unsettling of the bunch. They watched her with cold, unfeeling eyes, always standing at the beck and call of their master. Always ready to execute a person in cold blood, even over the slightest of issues.
If this beast was here to kill her, then at the very least she’d fight, clutching her tome as she prepared a spell. Though the knight did not react—at least not as one would expect. They stopped in their tracks without so much as a change in their expression. “I’m not here to fight you. Rather, I come as an ally.”
“What?” How? How could someone make such a claim when all they’ve done was kill her people? And for what? Some god who cares only for power? “You’ve destroyed Elusia!”
“And you will rebuild it.”
Ivy opened her mouth, trying and failing to find a rebuttal. What was there to say to someone who acknowledged the destruction they wrought? They paid no mind to her reaction as they pulled out a small pouch, tossing it to the Elusian princess. Ivy caught it, taking a sharp breath as she heard metal clink within. Curiosity got the better of her judgement, opening the pouch slightly to reveal two rings.
“These are—”
“A gift from Lady Alear.”
There was a moment’s pause, Ivy trying to process the meaning of this. The Fell princess did everything for the sake of Lord Sombron. Every action brought her one step closer to her father’s awakening. And not once did she try to hide the havoc she’d wrought, allowing Elusian blood to be spilt for her ambitions. For all her actions were claimed as the desire of Lord Sombron—orders from the people’s god. And that’s when it clicked.
Ivy knew not who Alear was.
As she stared at the Emblem rings now in her possession, she found herself at a loss. Not once had Ivy heard the dragon claim ambitions or desires of her own. The closest she’d come to sharing anything of the sort were short mentions of past desires. A wish to protect a sister, lost after the war of a thousand years past. It only confused Ivy further, so many questions running through her mind, yet only one word could escape her lips.
“Why?”
The knight huffed, their eyes shone with an amusement foreign to their features. “I believe she already made as much clear to you. Something about the future of Elusia being in good hands?” They shook their head, walking up next to the princess before whispering, “Lady Alear trusts you’ll do what’s right. All she asks as that you keep the rings from Lord Sombron.”
Keep the rings from Sombron. Away from the very man she claimed to work for. The mere idea gave Ivy pause, looking back to the past few months since the dragon’s arrival. How Hyacinth had become off, even willing to cast Ivy’s life aside more recently. And all that time—now that she looked back on it—Alear gave her looks of care and concern, perhaps even understanding. Perhaps she too was beholden to her father’s will.
Such made Ivy’s heart twist, a pang of regret coloring her thoughts. Memories of Alear’s smiles and attempts to speak to the princess, always having to find her way to Ivy through Hortensia. Were those attempts to get close to the princesses a cry for help? Or was this all some ploy to use a woman desperate to save her kingdom?
Ivy tried to shake such thoughts aside. The Divine One was in danger and in need of help. She could focus on finding answers later. And should she find Alear to be an ally, then perhaps Ivy might find a way to rescue her from Sombron’s clutches.