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Fierceteeth was tired, and those old coots at the council were not helping. They were in the “process” of picking a new queen. Which meant they were begging Greatness to take the position. Greatness was not budging, but neither was the council, so that left Fierceteeth to be only one actually running things. She was managing seven different projects at once. Restoration of homes, Restoration of palace, Restoration of plaza, Food gathering, Food cultivation, Scroll restoration, and Restoration of facilities. Her days are mostly spent flying around and telling everyone what to do everywhere all the time. She sighed as she landed in front of her house.
“Strongwings! I’m home!” She called out as she opened the front door. He walked over and handed her some kind of bird he caught and then cooked and kissed her on the cheek.
“How was the council today?” He asked, guiding her to the nice chair. When they were first exploring the kingdom they found a chair from the palace and stole it because it was in good condition. They dubbed it “the nice chair” because it was very comfortable.
“I dread the day the Castle restoration committee takes this from us.” Fierceteeth sighed as she sunk into the chair. “The council was insufferable as always,” They had summoned her this morning, “They asked me to try and get Greatness to be Queen. I told them I’d try, but I’m just going there to gossip with her.”
“I see not living in a volcano hasn’t changed them.” He said in a snarky tone.
“Well actually.” Fierceteeth realized. “A couple of them retired to live on the beach. It’s like once we left the volcano a couple of them chilled out.”
“We probably needed it.” Strongwings said, reaching from behind the chair and hugging Fierceteeth. “I remember you used to be so obedient to the council, until Morrowseer killed your mother.”
Fierceteeth remembered that night well. Back then she wanted to be of some use to the council and was desperate to become the Wings of Night, instead of taking Fierceteeth however they killed her mother and stole her egg from her. She’d never seen the leaders of her tribe in the same way since.
“Oh, speaking of your family members.” Strongwings handed her a letter. “Correspondence came from the rainforest specifically to you. She took a talon and opened it.
Dear Fierceteeth,
I’m awake and in good condition. I’ve heard you’ve all made it to the Old Night Kingdom without issue. I’m looking forward to visiting once I’m discharged from the hospital. It should be about a week until then. I trust you’ve put a lot of effort into helping everyone adjust to their new life and the restoration of the kingdom. I’m very aware that they have yet to pick a Queen and are probably still bothering Greatness. When I’m back I’m going to inherit Morrowseer’s place on the council and I’ll make sure they choose someone sooner rather than later.
From your little Brother,
Starflight of the Nightwings (Transcribed by Fatespeaker the Wings of Night)
“Starflight’s awake, he says he’s going to come here in a week and set the council straight.” She explained.
“That’s wonderful.” It’d been two months since the volcano erupted and six weeks since Thorn got declared Queen. But this was the first news about Starflight.
“We probably owe him a statue or something.” She said, getting up from her chair. “He did save the tribe. That can be our next project once we’ve finished all the restoration.” She grabbed a basket of berries from the counter and walked towards the door. “I’m going to go bother Greatness on the Council’s behalf. I’ll be back before midnight.”
“Love you, bye!” He called.
“Love you too!” She called back as she left the house. Her house was on top of a cliff and she began to glide. She flew towards the palace. Greatness was living in one of the rooms in the palace. The council tried to get her to live in the Queen’s chambers but she was very resistant. She landed at the entrance to the palace where she was stopped by guards.
“Hello Fierceteeth.” Constellation said. “The palace restoration project is closed for the night. What’s your reason for visiting?” The old guard asked.
“I’m just visiting Greatness.” She answered, holding up the basket. “The council wants me to try to convince her to become Queen.”
“Ah,” He said, stepping aside. “In you go then.” She gave him and the other guard a curt little nod as she passed them and stepped into the palace. Despite its old and ancient appearance it still was a beautiful building. The arches of the hallway were tall and regal, and there were obsidian mirrors occasionally decorating the walls. They had checked if the mirrors on the walls were enchanted like the enchanted Obsidian Mirror in the Nightwing treasury, but they weren’t. She walked through the cracked halls, where paint was chipped and candles were melted. She arrived at the former princesses room and knocked.
“Coming!” Yelled Greatness from within. The room was right next to the Queen’s chambers, the massive doors dwarfing the doors next to it. Greatness opened the door looking slightly annoyed until she realized it was Fierceteeth. “Oh, Fierceteeth” She said, looking pleasantly surprised. “Please come in.” She put her arm out behind her beckoning Fierceteeth into the room. “Why are you here?”
“The council wants me to convince you that you should become Queen.” She answered truthfully. “But, I have no intention of trying. Do you want some berries?”
“I’d love some berries right now.” Greatness and Fierceteeth had become good friends despite their great age gap because Fierceteeth was the only dragon of relevance not trying to convince Greatness to become Queen. “I should be glad you aren’t.”
“Why?” Fierceteeth asked, handing the basket of berries to Greatness.
“Because I’m sure you could convince me.” She answered. Taking a handful of berries and eating them one by one. “When you instruct, people listen Fierceteeth. If anything you should be Queen.”
Those words hit Fierceteeth like a wave.
“While the council all bickers about putting me or whatever puppet on the throne you’ve been the one running the kingdom. I’m sure anyone else would agree that you are both qualified and are already doing the work.”
“But the council.”
“Who cares about the council, aren’t you their biggest critic?”
“I know but people still listen to the council.”
“Then make sure they listen to you instead. They aren’t the ones helping the people right now. The only power they have is the one the people give them. So make sure they lose it.”
Three Moons,
She thought.
I should be Queen.