War of Dragons (14 page)

"They'll meet us there," Daisy replied. "Arthur knocked on my door while I was getting ready and said that they weren't going to wait. They've gone ahead with Mark. Leah will take us."

"Typical," Jenna complained. "Well, let's get a move on. Let's not waste any more time here."

Twenty minutes later, they arrived with Leah at the presidential palace. Mark was waiting for them at the steps leading to the south entrance and was dressed very smartly.

"Welcome, ladies," he said with a smile. "I must say, you all look fantastic."

Jenna twirled on the spot. "We do, don't we? I must say, I quite like your country's taste in clothes. Perhaps we could visit that street again before we leave."

Mark laughed. "I'll leave that pleasure to Leah." He nodded to her politely. "You're looking lovely tonight as well, Leah."

Leah nodded curtly, clearly not pleased to see him. "Thank you. It's beginning to get dark. Shall we go in?"

Mark nodded, and they followed him into the palace. Crystal noticed that two burly men followed Leah, carrying heavy batons, and realised that she had seen them at Immigration House; they had followed them there.

"Your security," Leah explained, noticing her curiosity. "You're new arrivals and your friends are from a rather unpopular race. It's quite normal for new arrivals to be assigned some protection, especially at night."

"Daisy, Jenna, would either of you like a drink?" Mark asked, quickly changing the subject. "Some wine, perhaps?"

"You have alcoholic drinks?" Crystal asked. "But I thought Golden Dragons can't drink alcohol."

"We can't," Mark replied. "But look around. This city is home to a lot of other races, most of whom are represented here. We try to accommodate their customs, as long as they don't conflict with our laws."

"I'll have some wine," Jenna said.

"We'll go with you," Daisy added. Crystal guessed that she probably didn't want to stay with Leah. They followed Mark through the throng of people and Crystal realised he was right; the event was a mixture of many different races. She caught a glimpse of Clay waving over to them, smiling broadly, but then he disappeared into the crowd. Before they could reach them, they were intercepted by one of the members of parliament, still dressed in his official black robes and looking a little out of place in the party.

"Ah, Crystal, isn't it? I'm Elijah, the representative for the Rose Valley in the south-west. How are you enjoying being back home?"

Crystal hadn't thought of this place as home yet. "I'm not sure, sir; this is all rather new."

"Yes, of course; it will take time to get used to it. And you two, what do you think of our capital? Is it anything like what you had expected?"

Jenna shrugged indifferently. "We didn't know what to expect."

Elijah bombarded the three of them with questions and before Crystal realised it, she became trapped talking to him and two other representatives for almost an hour. Somehow Jenna and Daisy managed to escape, leaving her at the mercy of the dullest guests in the room. Eventually Mark rescued her and she quickly found Jenna, who was surrounded by a group of young men.

"I'm going to look for Daisy," Crystal said to Jenna, desperate for an excuse to leave the room.

"Fine," Jenna replied, not really listening. She was in her element, having their complete attention.

"I think I saw her go to the buffet," one of the men told Crystal before turning back to Jenna. Crystal shook her head in disapproval as she wandered off. If Jenna had any intention of trying to get back together with Arthur this was not the best way to go about it.

She put her cousin out of her mind and pushed her way through the crowd. To the side of the main hall was a large room where a long table had been laden with all manner of delicacies, which Crystal had been able to see whilst trapped talking to the representatives but hadn't yet enjoyed properly. One of the doors to the room was closed and she couldn't open it, so she struggled across to the other door and went in.

It was a big room, but it was surprisingly empty and it took a moment for her to register what was happening. On the other side of the room, six men had surrounded Daisy, who was backed into the corner of the room. One of them was just locking the nearest door, the one that had been closed.

"Think you're better than us?" the nearest man to Daisy snarled. He was very dark-skinned, and Crystal vaguely recognised him. That was it; she remembered seeing him from the trip to the Sanctuary yesterday.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know what you're talking about," Daisy replied, her voice weak and shaky.

"No, you wouldn't, Princess," a second man snapped. "Don't recognise our faces, do you? Just another race you attacked and stole land from."

"I'm sorry, I know some of our history, and I know we did some terrible things, but that was a long time ago—long before I was born."

"Sorry?" the first man said with a laugh. "You're sorry because you're in here with us. Not holding your nose now, are you Princess? But we heard you yesterday. We saw how you looked at us. Not enough to have murdered our ancestors, you feel the need to insult us as well?"

"I really don't know what you mean—"

"Liar!" The man raised a knife to Daisy's face, who shrank even further into the corner.

"Leave her alone!" Crystal cried in alarm. The men swung around to notice her for the first time.

"Oh, look, one of our Golden masters," one of the men sneered. "Here to give us our orders? It's dark, little mistress. Can't transform now, can you?"

Another man spoke up from behind her, making her jump. He closed and locked the door through which she had entered the room. "This little Red insulted us; we will have satisfaction. Stay out of this unless you want to get hurt."

"I'll scream," Crystal warned him, backing away from him in fear.

The first man who had spoken shrugged. "And then we'll leave this knife in her eye and still be out of here before anyone can get through that door. We were planning on just leaving her something to remember us by, just a little carving. Your choice."

"There'll be none of that." Crystal swung around to see that Jonah had entered the room through another door, one which led outside the building.

"Really?" the first man asked. "Seven to one? How were you planning on stopping us?"

Jonah nodded, smiling before calmly punching the man who had just locked the door in the throat, catching him by surprise. He dropped to the ground silently, clutching his throat and gasping.

"That'll be six to one," Jonah replied casually. "Who's next?"

The nearest three ran at him, and Crystal retreated in alarm, finding herself trapped in the corner of the room. Jonah, however, moved towards them, quickly singling out the one on the left. The man swung at him, but Jonah ducked underneath the punch and moved to the outside of the attacker, seizing his head in both hands, and lifting his chin and tipping his head backwards. As the man began to fall Jonah punched him in the nose and he crashed to the ground with a loud squawk. Jonah kicked him in the head as he lay on the ground, and he went limp and fell silent. Jonah didn't even look at him, moving on swiftly to face his next opponent.

The second man made a sound that could only be described as a growl, lunging at Jonah with both hands as if to throttle him. He never even came close, felled by a vicious kick to the groin. The third man snatched up a carving knife from the table and Crystal cried out in warning. Jonah appeared unfazed by the menacing blade, and deftly seized the man by the wrist as he tried to stab Jonah in the face. He twisted the man's hand violently, and the sickening crunch of the man's wrist breaking was followed by an agonised scream. Jonah proceeded to kick the man's ankle hard—more of a stamp than a kick—and the man fell to the floor, now clutching his ankle and continuing to scream.

The three remaining men were more furious than afraid after seeing their friends disposed of with such ease, and didn't shy away from attacking Jonah. Daisy was thrown into the corner as if she was a toy, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor. Two of the three now had knives, and the third grabbed a skewer from the table. Jonah also found himself a weapon, although a less deadly one: a bowl of red sauce that was next to the roast meat. He flicked several handfuls in their faces as they advanced on him, the sauce sticking to their faces and getting in their eyes. Whatever the red sauce was, it had a startling and immediate effect on the men. All three of them dropped their weapons and began to scream, trying to wipe the offending liquid from their eyes. Jonah showed them no mercy and proceeded to knock them unconscious, using his elbow to deliver powerful blows to their heads. Within a few seconds all three lay silent on the floor.

"Unlock that door," Jonah instructed Crystal, but she didn't have a chance to do so as it burst open, the lock breaking as two of the guards assigned to them charged through the door.

"What's happening? Jonah? Is everyone alright?"

"Relax," Jonah replied calmly. "It's under control now. You may want to wash these three's faces. Not that they deserve it, of course."

Only two of the seven men were conscious; one silently bent double, clutching his groin and the other whimpering pathetically. The other five were lying unconscious where they had fallen. The guards set about securing the men while Jonah turned his attention to Daisy.

"Are you alright, my dear?" He helped Daisy to her feet. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Daisy was quite pale, but shook her head and managed a polite smile. "I'm fine, thank you."

"Who are they?" Crystal asked. "And why would they attack Daisy?"

"They're known as Mud Dragons," Jonah said. "I have no idea why they would attack Daisy, or who these individuals are. I don't recognise any of them and I'm certain they weren't invited."

"I've seen them before," Crystal replied. "We passed them yesterday in the street. They were in the Sanctuary."

Mark ran into the room, shortly followed by another Mud Dragon; a much older man, who looked horrified at what he saw.

"What is the meaning of this?" he cried in horror. "What are these men doing here, and who has done this to them?"

"They were here to harm the Red Princess," Jonah replied. "They had cornered her and had a knife to her throat. I intervened."

Mark's face turned white. "Are you alright, Daisy? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"Not really, I'm just a bit shaken. Jonah stopped them just in time."

Daisy didn't look alright though, and was visibly shaking. Crystal found that she was as well.

Mark nodded, looking a little relieved. "I'm glad you were here, Jonah. But Daisy, you look a little pale. Perhaps you should go and sit down." He nodded at one of the guards. "Please, escort the Princess back into the main hall and take her to her brother."

Daisy nodded and took the guard's arm before disappearing through the door. 

Mark turned back to Jonah. "Let's get these men out of here. I'll send help to secure these men."

Jonah shook his head. "I don’t think they'll be a problem for the moment, and help is coming anyway. I'm more interested in who they are and why they're here. Ambassador, do you know any of these men?"

The elderly Mud Dragon nodded. "They're not residents here, but are just here to do some maintenance work on a number of our buildings in the Sanctuary. I don't know them personally or why they would want to harm that girl, other than because she is a Red Dragon, of course."

Jonah frowned at him. "I hope you're not suggesting that that's a valid reason, Ambassador."

"Of course not, Jonah. I have no idea why they have singled her out. Let me ask them." He turned to one of the men that was being bound by two Golden Dragon guards. "You! Explain yourself!"

The young man looked the Ambassador straight in the eye defiantly. "These are Red Dragons, Ambassador. They that destroyed our home; it's bad enough to have to even see them walking and breathing in this city, but that one, the young girl, she dared to insult us! We could not let that lie!"

"When?" Crystal asked angrily. "Daisy wouldn't do that!"

"Yesterday, in the streets of the Sanctuary. She called us unwashed savages."

"That wasn't her, that was Jenna," Crystal replied. "The other Red Dragon girl," she added, after noticing their blank faces.

The young man shrugged. "They look the same to me. We thought it was this one."

"Take them away," the Ambassador said in disgust. "Deal with them as you see fit. If it isn't harsh enough we will add our own punishment," he added, glaring menacingly at the sullen youth.

Jonah nodded. "Our laws don't allow for very harsh punishments, so you may wish to carry out that threat. But they will be banished from the city; we can't allow any threats to our residents. You understand, I take it?"

"Of course, and we're grateful for the protection you extend to us as well. These men do not represent us and I assure you they will be suitably punished when they return home. If you ever see them again do not expect them to have as many fingers as they do now."

Mark shook his head. "I respect that you have your own laws, Ambassador, in your own land, but I do not approve of such punishments. They are no credit to you. And this crime was committed here."

"Daisy would be horrified," Crystal added. "She would not want that to be done for her sake."

The Ambassador shrugged. "But as you say, we have our own laws. Jonah, please come and see me when their punishment has been decided. Young lady, please excuse me."

Crystal watched the Ambassador leave the room, followed by Mark, who was still arguing with him. She turned her attention to Jonah. "Will they really cut their fingers off?"

Jonah nodded. "Probably the head of the ringleader. They're not a forgiving people—which you've already learnt; that insult was hardly reason enough for attacking Daisy. The real reason was the history between their two nations and that goes back a very long way. Over a thousand years."

Crystal shook her head. "I'd never heard of them before I came here. I don't know anything about what we did to them."