Chapter 19: The Royalty Council (2)
While a dragon rider's abilities are mainly reminiscent of its dragon's strength and uniqueness, I find it's different when it comes to a trifecta bond. The witch bond therein causes a paradigm shift in the powers that the dragon and the dragon rider will possess… It is the ordinary powers and abilities of this witch that will largely dictate just how formidable the dragon rider will be… or how ordinary.
- 'Dragons, Riders, and Sorcery' by Witch-Dragon Observer Anise.
While they were busy debating her fate, Vinnandra had all the time in the world to think of her place in their world.
Dragon rider, witch, or something in between? That was the real question was it not? What it is that she could be. She might not have all her answers now, but somewhere along the line she definitely will. For now, what she was sure of was who she is…as a person without any extraneous title slapped against her name.
She wasn't Vinnandra Albridge.
She wasn't Vinnandra the hateful.
She wasn't Vinnandra the dragon rider, nor even Vinnandra the witch, or if it even made sense at all, she was not Vinnandra the something in between.
Who was she then? Today, she guessed, they will all find out.
"Who am I?" She asked in a voice she never knew she possessed. Lilith, stealthy, and steady. "Is that not what you're all curious to know? What powers could this red-haired forbidden offspring possess?"
The woman who sat at the head of the council table, Zenerox Attamas, scrunched her face in a manner that suggested that Vinnandra was saying something highly distasteful.
"Who you are?" The woman started, her voice commanding the room and the entire council in the same way it always did. Despite the equal parts of mockery and condescension always tinged to her words, Vinn could see clearly that she was someone who commanded so much respect and power in the room.
"Isn't it clear? You're a traitor who should have been executed, but your life was spared because of your… contribution." She said the last word distastefully and Vinn guessed by her so-called contribution, she was referring to her mother's death which was once a mystery to her, but now a horrible living legend.
At this point, it seemed not everyone in the council was in agreement with the direction the Zenerox was taking the whole proceedings to.
While it was obvious they conformed with the fact that Vinnandra is a traitor, they were more curious about how it was possible for her to manage a trifecta bond.
"Council head," Xander addressed Zenerox, "I hear your witch is here… perhaps he should come and confirm if what we say is really true." He concluded, his eyes daring the woman to do otherwise.
Her witch was here? Vinnandra knew of the few but not scarce people in Dragonia that possessed the trifecta bond… and among all of them, the most formidable of them was Zenerox Attamas.
Save from the fact that the Attamas elder and royalty rode a dragon who happened to be an indirect descendant of the Melbourne line, and was just as menancing and powerful as lord Lenklock's dragon… It was rumoured that Zenerox's additional bond with a witch granted her and her dragon the power to read minds when she made contact. Such power meant no one exactly yearned for her touch, as that would expose every dirty laundry one had in their mind.
But whether the rumours were true or not, one thing for sure was the fact that Zenerox was equally as powerful as the witch she was bonded to.
Everyone in the proceeding turned to Zenerox, awaiting her approval or dismissal. Vinnandra's heart beat faster at the thought of what would happen next… while it would seem that the council meeting was not moving in their favour, it wasn't exactly against them either. The witch's observation might tip the final scales
"Have Alakan enter." Zenerox decided, and the door to the hall opened for the first time since the hours it had been shut, revealing a dark skinned man with black hair and strange cloudy-white iris.
He looked as if he was blind, and yet he could walk on his own perfectly so perhaps he wasn't blind.
"This girl," Zenerox started, pointing at Vinn, "she's the hateful and she claims that she is bound to Heir Xander Lenklock. Could you check and find if they are telling the truth?" Zenerox said dismissively, barely looking at the duo still standing side by side awaiting their sentence.
The man, Alakan, rested his almost white eyes on them, taking the two in.
For a brief moment, Vinn wondered if he could somehow read their minds. Perhaps he possessed the ability and could do so without the need for bodily contact.
Meaningfully, the man looked at Vinn, although it felt more like a creepy stare. Without the presence of a well-defined iris, his eyes were white and they creeped her out. She felt chills and goosebumps wash over her.
"She is bonded indeed." He declared, and the whole crowd broke into yet another chatter again.
"And what abilities does this bond bequeath to her?" Zenerox stood from her chair and pressed on, her icy glare restoring silence in the room.
Alakan rested his eyes on Vinn again, and this time, Vinn felt like her privacy was being invaded. A chill washed over her, and she attempted to widen her hearing as she felt like Alakan's lips were moving. With the bond, she found it was surprisingly easy to hear better, and she heard the man speaking words sounded like spells.
Vinn was stunned, he wasn't even touching her, just looking into her eyes, and yet…?
"It's hard to say… but her bond looks like every other bond, and feels the same too, although I can't really say for certain." Alakan finished his observation, his empty eyes still on her. He didn't look to be more than thirty, but Vinn knew from everything she studied that he could be older than he looked.
Afterall, witches had a way to preserve their youthfulness.
"Council," This time around council member Brienda spoke, being the oldest at the table. "Our history tells us nothing about who the red-haired one is. The experiment conducted on witch-spy Lanasis' son centuries ago is insufficient knowledge. I would suggest that we should not be in a hurry to dismiss this new development. It's unprecedented, but we could learn a lot from it."
Were they suggesting they use her as an experiment? Vinnandra didn't know whether to say that was better than being an official slave.
"I agree," council member Ironheart accedes to the idea, "if she is bonded indeed, her status will have to be revoked. It's unconventional, I know, but would it not be a disservice to Heir Xander Lenklock if his bonded is an official slave. To protect his standing, I fear it's not right."
Many more council members voiced their agreements but Vinnandra wasn't deceived. She knew their concession was not on her behalf or to save her, or even to protect Xander's standing... They simply saw her as something new and shiny they should test out.
Something unusual.
"Before this open council then I will call for a vote. Those in favour of having Vinnandra the hateful's status as an official slave revoked shall show it by a raise of hand." Zenerox declared, looking anything but thrilled at the idea.
Surprisingly, all eight members of the council, including Lord Lenklock who had been silent throughout the proceeding raised their hands in favour of Vinn's status as a slave to be revoked.
This was them, the same people that once persecuted her, now, they were the ones saving her.
Vinn didn't know what to make of it.
"In that case, I declare Vinnandra the Hateful a free woman… Whether she will continue to be royalty or not, that will be left at the discretion of the Albridges."
Vinnandra, not finding the strength to be happy at the news of her freedom, scoffed at the idea of her returning back to her family. That would be a twist in her sordid story that would never happen.
Never.
The crowd filed out, each person having their own opinion on what just happened. Some wore confusion, others hatred… while others were just surprised at the way the event abruptly unfolded and ended. As for Vinn, she could hardly muster any emotion, especially since she thought that Zenerox abandoned her fight way too easy.
Almost as if she had some hidden communication with Alakan when he entered the room, but she was too tired to think of it or make sense of it.
Vinn realised that she had not rested in over seventy-two hours since the whole trifecta bond incident. She had had the longest three days of her life, and fatigue took over her body as she fell freely, strong hands catching her by the waist.
The last face she saw as she gave into the darkness calling out to her was that of a scowling Selene who was approaching them with hurried, impatient strides.
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