CHAPTER 56: A NAME HE NEVER KNEW

Aeron’s footsteps faltered as they hurried down a corridor that smelled of damp stone. "Your Majesty, I need to understand what’s going on," he said. "You can’t just tell me to run without explaining."

Queen Serenya turned back briefly, her expression hard. "There is no time, Aeron. Every moment we waste here puts you closer to death. You must leave the palace immediately."

"But what about Varek?" Aeron pressed. "I can’t just disappear without telling him knowing fully well that he’d be looking for me. We came here together and we have to leave together."

"He’s already outside the palace walls," the queen replied without slowing her pace. "He’s at the east gate with the horses, waiting for you. So you don’t have to worry about anything else and just follow me"

Aeron’s chest tightened. He wanted to argue, to demand answers, but the urgency in her voice made him swallow his questions. With a short nod, he followed her as she went through a side door and into the palace’s quiet backyards.

They went through weird paths, storage houses, and servant quarters. Aeron realized how massive the palace grounds were as they kept moving fast.

Deep down he wondered why the queen would be helping him like that. At a point he even began doubting her and thinking she was trying to harm him. But he was calm because Nyella had told him that the queen was good and can be trusted.

They were almost at the far wall when the deep sound of the bells rang.

The queen froze. Aeron looked at her. "What’s that?" he asked.

"We’re late. They know now that you’re escaping. We must move faster." She replied.

They went into an alley between two small stone houses, trying not to be seen. But footsteps of guards became louder from different directions.

Then getting to the edge of the houses and trying to take a different direction, four palace guards stepped out from around a corner and raised their spears. One of them pointed straight at Aeron. "There he is! Stop right there!"

The queen spun them around instantly and led Aeron back the way they came, but almost at once, another group of guards emerged from the other side and blocked their path.

They were trapped.

Queen Serenya shouted at them. "What is the meaning of this?"

One of the guards stepped forward and bowed slightly, but kept his weapon firm. "My apologies, Your Majesty, but by the order of the King, we are to apprehend the dragon rider and bring him before the High Council immediately."

"Do you not see he is with me?" the queen asked him. "And the last time I checked, no council meeting would be held today so tell me, what council do you speak of?"

The lead guard hesitated, then replied stiffly, "The council meeting began at the high hall not long ago and our orders are clear. We are to bring him at once."

Another guard stepped up, and his tone was colder. "Your Majesty, the command was not to invite him to the council. It was to arrest him and bring him urgently. That is the King’s order."

The queen’s eyes narrowed dangerously. "You dare to overstep me?"

The second guard did not flinch. "Your Majesty, you are currently in the company of a criminal. Even for the Queen, we cannot allow that."

He gave a nod to his men. "Arrest him."

Before Aeron could react, strong hands gripped his arms and twisted them behind his back.

"Unhand him!" the queen snapped, but they ignored her and took Aeron away.

"..."

The doors of the High Hall opened and Aeron was pushed inside. The Council Lords were already gathered and as Aeron was led forward by the guards, all eyes turned to him.

At the far end, upon the high dais, sat the King who said. "Bring him forward."

The guards dragged Aeron to the center of the hall and forced him to his knees on the floor. He raised his head and saw the lords looking at him.

The King looked at Lord Vanýr and said. "I hope, Lord Vanýr, that you are not mistaken in all these accusations of yours, because if you are, there are consequences which you must have to face for stirring all this commotion."

Vanýr stepped forward in a confident voice. "I am certain, Your Majesty. This boy is exactly who I claim he is."

The lords in the room murmured and narrowed their eyes as they looked at Aeron.

Earlier that morning, Lord Vanýr had summoned the entire council in haste, declaring that he had uncovered a matter of great importance to the kingdom’s future. In front of them all, he had told the King that the offspring from the prophecy sixteen years ago had not perished, that the child had survived, and that child now stood among them... as Aeron, the so-called Dragon Lord.

He claimed that on the night of the great purge, the pregnant wife of Lucian, whom they all thought was long dead, had somehow escaped and survived. That the boy she carried had lived.

The King had been stunned. "Were you not the one who led the soldiers that night?" he had asked Vanýr.

"I was your Majesty," Vanýr had replied. "But I never witnessed the death of Lucian’s wife. I assumed it was done."

"Then where is the proof of your claim?" the King had demanded.

Vanýr had bowed slightly and said, "I have it, Your Majesty. But it will mean nothing unless the boy stands before us."

That was why the bells had rung. Why had the guards searched every corner of the palace for him?

Now Aeron knelt in the hall in front of the high lords of the kingdom.

The king now looked at him. "Who are you, young man?"

Aeron frowned, and he was totally confused. "I... I don’t understand the question."

The King leaned forward slightly. "Are you truly ignorant of what they speak, or are you trying to play the fool?"

Aeron shook his head. "I told you before, I came from the North. I lived there with my mother. Only her."

One of the lords, Lord Daryn, stepped out and faced Aeron. "What is your family name?"

"I... don’t have one," Aeron answered quietly.

"Don’t lie to us boy, you are in the presence of your king," Daryn said.

"I am not lying, I swear it," Aeron said.

Then the King gestured toward Vanýr. "You brought him here, Lord Vanýr. Ask him yourself. And show us this evidence you claim to possess."

Vanýr stepped closer and locked his eyes on Aeron.

"You are from the Velzorah bloodline," He said. "Are you not?"

"..."