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Somewhere in a dingy corner of the alleyways of Zeldereth nation_

A few shady shadows were seen seated in a rundown small inn of the Briskwood alleyway. All of them had their faces covered under dusty hoods, looking very much suspicious. One of the perpetrators was a reedy thin woman with a shrill voice called Ophelia Vegan, she was a part-time pimp of the red-light districts who was never upto any good. The others were all rough-looking gruff men.

“When is the guy coming? Its already pass the appointed time.” One of the men grunted in annoyance, this man called Cuffled was a small-time bounty hunter who was trying to make it big this time.

“Can we even trust this guy? I mean, even the existence of dragons is questionable, isn’t it?” Another buffy man with a scar on the side of his face pitched in. This man’s name was Rudy and he was a petty thief in the red-light district areas of the Zeldereth Empire. 

“I agree. He didn’t bail out on us now, did he?” The last man, who was pretty muscular too but strangely had a kid like whiney voice spoke up as well. This one’s name was Lorade and he was one of the lower level soldiers of Zeldereth army.    

“Sush! Don’t be so impatient. He willcome, after all, he is the one who is in need of our services. Not the other way around.” The woman called Ophelia groaned.

“Yeah, you would say that. After all, you are already so smitten with him already.” Rudy grumbled while looking at Ophelia in disdain.

“What! It’s nothing like that, and even if it is, what is it to you. You, like the others are here for only benefits, you’ve got nothing to do with my private life. So keep your mouth shut and sit tight.” Ophelia rudely snorted back.

“What did you say!!!” Rudy, who was normally a hot-tempered man jerked up of his seat in sheer rage.

“Alright alright, guys, settle down already. This is no time to argue amongst each other. We are all here for the same purpose. Let’s not make enemies of each other already, shall we?” Lorade tried to pacify the two people in his gang. Anyone with eyes could see how uncoordinated this little clique was. But they could do nothing about it because these people from different backgrounds had come together to form a team because they were lured in with the greed of fortune by this strange mysterious man they talked about.

“My! I do not think this little crew is gonna work out if discord had already been sown amidst you people.” A smooth glib voice came from behind the agitated crowd.

They turned around to look at a mysterious man in a black hooded cloak, he was completely concealed and all that could be seen by the flickering fire light of the drab inn was the silver of his long hair. He casted a very long vindictive shadow which somehow seemed to move independently from him. All the four of the perpetrators stared in petrified awe at the mysterious man as he walked closer towards them in a gliding fashion.

He finally came and took a seat beside the woman and spoke slowly, “How have you been my dear Ophelia? It seems you’ve gathered yourself some troublesome people.” A smile could be detected from his suave voice.

“Oh Edmuris, where have you been all this time? I’ve tried to contact you so many times, but it’s really hard to reach you.” Ophelia had the eyes of a lunatic mindless worshipper as she looked at him, much like one from a monotonous herd of sheep that followed behind the shepherd without rhyme nor reason.

“Ah, I'm sorry. Were you missing me dear? I was a bit preoccupied with the arrangements. After all, we are going to raid a dragon’s nest and that’s no easy feat.” He answered in a mild dreary manner, as if he was talking about the weather and nothing more.

“Hey you two, stop your flirting and get to business. Its nauseating as it is already, don’t start another bout or I might just throw up on you.” Rudy groused in impatience.

“Now now, settle down gentlemen. What’s the big hurry? We’ve got the entire night to plan our strategy.” The suave man called Edmuris Lanalian chipped in a voice filled with sly glee.   

“Speaking of our strategy, are dragons even real? Where do you even find one? I’ve never heard of anyone ever seeing one, not to mention we are going to steal from one. Even the sheer idea seems like a bogus wild goose chase to me. If it weren’t for the handsome reward that you promised us, I wouldn’t give this mission a second thought.” Cuffled snorted with knitted brows.

“Oh, of course dragons are real. But they are rare magical beings. They are the secret weapons of this country, so of course you, a mere commoner wouldn’t be aware of their existence. They are controlled and protected by the monarchy of this empire.” Edmuris spoke in mild indifference.

“What! So are you telling us that we are to steal from the king himself?” Lorade almost couldn’t keep his calm. “No one told me this was a suicide mission.”

“Oh shut up Lorade, for the amount you are being paid, I think it’s worth the risk, isn’t it? You should’ve expected this task to be dangerous considering the amount we are being paid.” Ophelia huffed in irritation.

“Yes well my dear friends, believe me the job isn’t as dangerous as it sounds. You just have to steal the dragon’s egg and sneak it out of its cave and place it into one of the lower-rack unused chambers of the Lahiyela grand-ship before it sets sail by the coming month.” Edmuris spoke with a smile.

“You make it sound so easy, what if the dragon is there when we reach its nest. Won’t it attack us?” Rudy pitched in.

“Oh, don’t worry. The dragon will be nowhere in sight when you get there. I will make sure of it. You guys just have to sneak in and steal the dragon egg.” Edmuris reassured.

“And how will you do that?” Cuffled furrowed his bushy brows and asked skeptically.

“Hmm, you will see very soon.” The man named Edmuris let out a sinister smile which didn’t really look like a smile, giving away a fragment of his twisted personality.

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“What!! Reuben got married!?” Princess Lydia de la Avalier of the Zeldereth empire was given a start when she heard the news. She was a petite lady with a very beautiful frame, her face was as if cut right from the pages of a men’s magazine. Her overflowing raven curls were draped over her glistening flawless peach-like skin, and her eyes were a deep pool of restless gold, with a tiny tinge of caramel-flush around the outer portions of her iris. Her distress was evident in the crease of her lovely brow and the down-curve of her full rose-red lips.   

Princess Lydia was the second princess of Zeldereth and the second in line to inherit the throne. She was also Reuben and Alexteris’s childhood friend. This young princess who had just turned seventeen was the only person Reuben and Alexteris were close with other than lord Gilbert. Princess Lydia had heard of the many trials Reuben had to face to climb upto the throne and finally seize it, but she was unable to visit the two brothers after Queen Rumina’s death due to the various internal and external political clashes amongst the powerhouses of the country.

And now, when finally Reuben had successfully taken over the throne and everything was slowly settling down, she suddenly heard that her said fiancé had already gotten married to some other lady, well… no dignified princess would be able to take such a blow.

That’s right, Princess Lydia was to be the wife of Reuben before the demise of Queen Rumina. It was an arranged engagement between the two young children by the then two Queens of these two nations. Even if it was informal, Lydia always had envisioned herself to be standing beside Reuben since a young age.

And now that she was told that her marriage and fiancé had been snatched away by some other lady from right under her nose, this is something the prideful princess could never swallow up. Not to mention the fact that Reuben didn’t even think it to be important enough to inform her of such a huge matter, she really couldn’t take this insult quietly.

“Your Highness, please calm down. There must be some misunderstandings. King Reuben Edward the III would never take such hasty steps without considering you first. There has to be something wrong with this entire situation.” Freya Lavesh, Princess Lydia’s head consultant uttered in a panicked rush. She was not sure why King Reuben took such a frantic step without informing the princess, but she was certain the king of Reveldron had a fair reason for his actions, because she knew how much he really treasured princess Lydia and her company.

Lydia seemed to be lost in her thoughts for a moment and then said, “Prepare the Lahiyela, we are to sail to Reveldron at the earliest as possible.”

“As you command, your highness.” Freya rushed off to make the necessary preparations and the princess was left alone with her winding thoughts to marvel upon the various reasons about why Reuben had to marry without her knowledge. 

 To be Continued……..