**Dark Prophecy—Derani**
"Are you sure about your decision?" Knight Asborne questioned for the first time that morning while they prepared to depart for Thalor.
Serpentine avoided looking at his eyes, particularly because she was not interested in having the confidence in the decision she made shaken by Asborne who was just an expert in the art of making her waver.
"It wouldn't be a decision made by me if I wasn't sure about it." She answered, while her eyes easily perused through the mounting letters her spy in the palace of Thorne had been sending to her for a long time.
At that point, information was power. And before she made a dramatic appearance with her fake daughter, she needed to make sure she was not leaving any stone unturned.
Not like she would ever make such a mistake. She had so much hanging in the balance to be able to afford a single error.
There was a brief pause on Asborne's side.
"You haven't even properly mourned Elara, your highness. At least grieve for her." He said, concerned brown eyes begging—no, pleading of Serpentine.
But all that got from the crown princess was a frown. "Why should I mourn a daughter who is very much alive and well?" She deadpanned. "Even if another commits the error which you've now, I hold you on a much higher pedestal than for you to utter something grave."
Asborne bent the knee, clutching his sword before him. "Forgive my indiscretion, your highness." He said solemnly while Serpentine paused mid way of perusing through another scroll.
Raising her head up to the knight, she said, "You of all people should know that I've grieved Elara for ten years. Pretending to grieve now when what my poor baby needs is vengeance is a dereliction of duty on my side, and your side Knight Asborne Tagarth. Have you forgotten your vow to protect her? Even beyond death?"
Asborne's jaw ticked, although not out of anger, but towards a grief he shared as much as she shared. "How ever could I forget your highness?"
"That duty now extends to Ember. Do you understand?"
"Certainly your highness." Asborne
"But you can't carry out your duties properly as a mere captain of the BloodSworn Order." Serpentine plotted, her eyes perusing through a particular report on the growing powers of her husband which far superseded what a crown prince should ordinarily possess.
Amongst his powers was the fact that the commander of the Bloodsworn Order, who ordinarily should have carried out the duties of his office independently, had sworn allegiance to him. Serpentine needed to balance out that power of his as much as she could.
If her husband were to become king, there was no way she would be safe if he alone commanded the full powers of all three knightly orders under the banner of the throne of the royal throne family.
"I know that following me around the globe all these years has stunted your growth, so once we get back to Thalor, challenge Sinta for the position of commander as we've long planned."
Yet again, there was silence on Asborne's side which caused her to snap her eyes to him.
"Is there a problem? Are you not confident that you can take on him?"
"Not at all your highness. I shall challenge Sinta as we've planned, but I am here for another reason…." He trailed, glancing at Serpentine as if to test if she was ready for the news he came bearing.
"Your father sent soldiers this morning asking that you see him. He claims you've been here at the Andals for over five months, seeking the help of skilled physicians, even gaining the help of Healer Zak who is from your mothers side and had remained ever elusive from him. He claims you and your daughter should at least pay filal homage to him whether she is sick or not."
Serpentine slammed the scroll together, tossing it against a wall.
"Filial homage? Surely that was a joke. I will not be seeing his royal highness Marek Dorne Andal! I shall like to see his soldiers try to force me who is now the crown princess of Thalor. A position which I do in fact owe to him."
Syria entered the room abruptly, having heard the commotion. She too knelt by Asborne's side.
"Your highness, an alliance with your father, no matter how strained your relationship with him is, is of great importance if you want to take over the position of Queen and establish your foothold in the court of the Thorne's." The woman rattled, ever the brutal advisor.
"It is also important for Emb… I mean, Elara should she rise the way you want her to. Please reconsider your decision. It's just paying a simple visit…."
Serpentine cut the handmaiden a glare while her body vibrated with an anger that could ruin nations. There was just some trauma that couldn't be forgotten, and one of them was in the devilish form of her father.
And more often than not, it was particularly the way the man treated her mother before the poor woman passed away.
Perhaps that scar was the reason why even as the man sold Serpentine into a marriage alliance with the Thorne's to grow his power, she could not find it in him to beg for mercy and move his cold heart.
Instead Serpentine, just fifteen, had allowed the guards to whisk her off to Thalor for marriage to a man who had already given his heart and privilege to have his first children to another.
And maybe it was that scar that caused her to be unflinching in the face of the infidelity and betrayal of her so-called husband. Her heart had long gone cold after witnessing such in the marriage of her parents. Which was why she refused to budge a bit in the matter of creating alliances with her father.
"Do not mention this matter before me again," Serpentine said, her tone conveying a sharp edged lethality, "has my ship been readied?" She asked Syria who knew better to shut up on the matter she had been rambling about just moments ago.
"Yes. The Serpent of the Seas is ready to depart for Thalor."
"And Ember?"
"Healer Zak has confirmed she doesn't have the Velth indeed. As strange and rare as that is, it only means she can pass off as a human flawlessly. I have also confirmed her identity is low risk."
"Good. I don't need to remind all of you on how you should treat and address her, right?"
Syria and Asborne thrusted their chests out, a solemnity like no other etched to their faces. "Of course not your highness," they answered knowing what was at stake.
It was more than their lives—it was also the cold blooded revenge they had to enact.
It was also the lie that they had to uphold no matter how risky it got. Serpentine was gambling her life to enact that scheme, and she would rather go down than give up trying.
When Syria left the room to coordinate their departure, Serpentine approached Asborne slowly.
"Rise." She said to the knight who did as she commanded.
And just because no one's opinion mattered as much as his did, she had to ask. "Asborne, you trust my decision, right?"
Without hesitation, Asborne answered. "Without a doubt your highness. I will always trust your decision."
Serpentine smiled. As long as the man she trusted the most trusted her decision, then no lick of fear existed in her mind again. And for that reason, she would tow this path ruthlessly without looking back for once.