Chapter Text
Marcus Today, the current ruler of Warbler Island, was utterly exhausted.
Of course, this wasn’t exactly an abnormal occurrence for the white-haired king. He often was forced to negotiate for long hours with pirates or merchants over trade routes and such. It was quite dreadful, and boring. The effort it took for Marcus to actually communicate with ruffians and irritated pirates was quite startling. They’d threatened him numerous times over his reign.
He sighed, and then ran a finger throughout his long hair. Usually, he held it up in some formal manner, but since it was now the evening, he’d let it run freely down his back. His younger sister and advisor, Emma, often told him to cut it. He’d ignored her suggestions every time. It was always fun to see her face crunch up in annoyance when he disregarded her.
After a few more seconds of pondering, Marcus rose from the desk in his private chambers and lazily moved towards the small library where he kept most of his books. For the past few weeks, Marcus had wanted to read up on some old lore about spell creation. As the years had gone by, the exhausted king could say that he’d gotten a bit rusty magic-wise.
In other terms, he simply missed being creative.
Just as he was started to pluck a book from his shelf, the door to his chambers suddenly blew wide open. Startled, Marcus dropped the book and whirled around to see who had entered his chambers so forcefully.
As usual, it was Emma.
His younger sister currently had her white hair pulled up in a tight bun, but strands of it fell openly across her pale face. Her black eyes were darting around hesitantly, which was unusual for his sister. It was rare to see Emma with her guard down. She’d always been a proud and intelligent advisor.
In that way, she took after their father.
“Have you ever heard of knocking, dear sister?” Marcus asked, thoroughly annoyed now.
“Indeed, though I do believe we’re past the point of knocking, brother mine,” Emma retorted.
Marcus then watched as his younger sibling dramatically turned away from him and started pacing around. She looked absolutely frazzled.
“What has you so worked up?” Marcus asked lightly.
Emma paused, and then turned around back towards her brother. Her hands were trembling nervously at her side.
“There’s smoke coming from the direction of you-know-where. It’s been drifting towards our island for the past hour,” Emma said in an eerily soft tone.
“You think something happened? It couldn’t be meteors again, could it?” Marcus replied.
About twenty years ago, meteors had started falling all across their world. They hadn’t hit Warbler, thankfully, but they had come awfully close to destroying the land of the dragons and completely separating it from the seven islands. At the time, Marcus had been able to send relief aid to the rulers of the land, which helped them get back on their feet. He remembered being thanked profusely by the current human queen, Maiven Taveer.
“Marcus, are you listening?” Emma asked, which startled Marcus out of his thoughts.
“No, I apologize, I fell deep into a certain train of thought. What were you saying?” Marcus replied sheepishly.
Emma pinched the bridge of her nose and scowled at her older brother.
“I was answering your question and telling you that I don’t believe it was the meteors this time. From my studies, I believe it would simply be too early for them to fall again,” Emma said before pausing and biting her lip.
“I think that the land of the dragons may be engulfed in a war, brother,” Emma concluded.
“A war? Are you sure, sister?” Marcus asked, shocked. There hadn’t been war in their world since Marcus was a young child. It was simply unheard of. Sure, the pirates and their allies sometimes caused problems, but it had been nothing that Marcus hadn’t been able to handle.
Nothing like true war.
“At this point, I’m quite positive. We both know that tensions have been brewing over there for awhile between Maiven Taveer, her people, and some of her former soldiers,” Emma replied quietly.
“How...wonderful,” Marcus murmured.
“We should probably think about the repercussions, and decide a course of action,” Emma offered.
“Mhm, you’re right. If the land of the dragons is engulfed in a war, then we shall need to figure out if we need to get involved,” Marcus contemplated.
“If you want my opinion, I say we stay out of it. Offering them aid after they went through the meteors was one thing, but getting involved in an actual war and picking a side to support is another,” Emma replied.
“Maiven Taveer was a respectable queen though, I’d hate to see her fall,” Marcus added.
Emma’s eyes narrowed at the compliment. Marcus knew that his younger sister had never been fond of outsiders, especially ones that ruled kingdoms and allied with dragons.
“Maiven Taveer was an idiot who let her daughter elope with a foreigner from that cursed island, Marcus. She tainted her own bloodline when she formally approved the match. The people there have a right to be angry. Why would they let a stranger rule by the side of their future queen?” Emma exclaimed.
“If you haven’t forgotten, our own mother was a foreigner, little sister,” Marcus snarled.
Emma recoiled at the reply, and turned away from her brother. She then stalked towards the door.
“Perhaps, we should finish this conversation later, she said.
With that, Marcus watched as she opened the door and slammed it behind her. He sighed and punched the bridge of his nose. He’d always known that Emma had been ashamed of their mother. It was a touchy topic that they never discussed.
“I do believe that I need some fresh air,” Marcus said exhaustedly to himself.
The ruler of Warbler then decided it would be wonderful to take a long walk along the beach. He picked up his fallen book, placed it on the shelf, and then headed out the door.
By the time he actually emerged from Warbler’s underground tunnels, he let out a sigh of relief. The air was cool, and felt wonderful on his skin. The moon shown brightly down on him as well. He smiled and then began to walk down Warbler’s glorious beach.
And that’s when he heard the crying.
Marcus startled at the sound, and immediately tried to locate its origin. It sounded like it was coming from a young toddler. Perhaps one of the younger Warbleran children had wandered out of the tunnels and hurt themselves? He dashed down the beach, before suddenly stopping at an odd sight.
There was a small boat crashing up against the island, and in it, was what looked to be a young boy.
Marcus tipped his head into the boat to get a closer look. The child couldn’t be more than three years old, and had dark brown curls sprouting from his forehead. A deep gash could be seen slashed across the boy’s cheek and near the top of his head.
“Hello there,” Marcus said softly.
Large, dark brown eyes opened in confusion at the king’s words.
“Papa?” The boy squeaked in confusion.
“No, I’m not your papa. Can you tell me where he is?” Marcus asked with a warm smile.
“I don’t member,” the child replied, tears starting to spring from his eyes.
“That’s fine, can you please tell me what happened to you?” Marcus asked.
“A bad man came,” the child whimpered, before he then started to ball hysterically.
A feeling of warmth and sadness came over the heart of the king of Warbler, and he then slowly picked up the boy and brought him to his chest. The child bawled and bawled, but Marcus held him close.
“The bad man isn’t here, and I promise that I won’t let him hurt you, dear child,” Marcus soothed.
And that’s when he noticed an odd pendant dangling from the boy’s neck. Marcus brushed his hand through the toddler’s curls before bringing up the pendant to the light of the moon. On the front, a ferocious looking dragon was engraved into the gold.
On the back, carved cleanly and without flaw, was a name.
Alexander Taveer.