Riding around the skies around Byflair Manor, Adatar was testing his daughters riding skills. He knew that for one of them to claim the throne of Iotr, they had to be accepted by the Kingmaker. However, to get to the Kingmaker, they had to be able to fly to the peak of Mt. Istramail, where it resided.
So far, they showed great potential, Llorien, in particular, showed natural ability in controlling the usually unruly wyvern despite her timid nature. Knowing she had taken after her mother gave him a certain level of pride.
Nevertheless, looking at Eldraine, he could not help but worry. As the older and shorter of the two, she would naturally have the first claim to the throne, but judging by how she fought her pegasus- without weapons mind you- he wasn't sure whether she would make it up the mountain. The headstrong girl was unable to get the usually peaceful pegasus to behave for her, with it constantly bucking and ignoring and it was frustrating her.
"Eldraine, stop trying to force Standril to do your will. Otherwise, he'll just continue resisting you," he yelled at her. He might as well have been yelling at himself, as Eldraine’s attention was firmly on her pegasus, rather than on her father.
Her sister, on the other hand, had already started to learn mounted combat, and had quickly mastered the sword and lance, and was now starting to perfect the bow. And if his suspicion was correct, she might even be able to master magic. He had even spotted a few blue and green strands in her normally silver hair.
"Llorien, if you insist on trying to use your wyvern’s breath to set your arrow on fire, you have to release it faster than you are currently doing. If you don't, not only will you burn yourself, you'll put both Desdrail and yourself in danger."
She was a natural, he had to give her that. And she could easily take the throne for herself; the people seemed to love her more than her sister. Yet despite all this, she never upstaged her elder sister, always keeping her abilities hidden, especially when the two of them were in public, always opting to walk three steps behind Eldraine. But despite the difference in ability, he could always take solace in the fact that Eldraine would continue trying, and that Llorien would always support her, maybe even become the head of Eldraine's Royal Guard. But for that to happen, Eldraine would have to reach the Kingmaker first. Though, if Standril had any say in what she did, the two of them would be grounded eating the lush grass that surrounded the Manor to his heart's content. But eventually, she would make an excellent queen, hopefully. But of course, that would be dependent on what the Kingmaker decided. Honestly, he was praying to the goddess to protect his daughter, no matter the cost. He could only train her so far, considering that he would only be around for so long and thankfully, he could put all his attention on her as Llorien had everything under control. After a couple more rounds around the castle, the three of them landed in the courtyard, where the keepers were waiting to take charge. Well, at least some of them were. It seemed like the keepers of Desdrail were nowhere to be found, which was not unusual. Llorien's wyvern was known for its large appetite and fiery temper, and keepers just could not keep up with it. So they avoided it as much as possible. Not worried, she led her now moody wyvern back to its stable, leaving a wake of people in their track. Not that she cared. She adored her wyvern, and it seemed that it felt the same way. Though he knew that it did hurt her deep down that people weren't able or even willing to see Desdrail the same way she did, but she would never show it. He hoped that both his daughters could keep their love of their animals as they grew up. But for now, they had to deal with the fact that their relatively inexperienced mounts.
"What did I just tell you Eldraine? Stop fighting with Standril. You'll never form a close bond with him at this rate."
It seems like his comment had fallen on deaf ears. She was shouting at Standril, desperately trying to get his attention, and failing spectacularly at it. The pegasus was still more interested in the grass than his owner, who at this point was shouting herself red. Even Llorien, who was previously focused on her training, had landed Desdrail and was focusing on the pandemonium that was her sister and her pegasus. She tried to suppress her laugh, knowing that it would only make her sister even angrier, but quickly lost that fight. Even Desdrail, who was normally distant with everyone but Llorien, took notice of them, though he wasn't impressed with what he saw. Amidst all the commotion, he noticed one of the guards from the Manor was approaching the group. Motioning to the guard to come to him, he was curious why a guard would opt to come out of the Manor rather than wait for them to finish training.
"What is it Mendarail?"
"Sorry to disturb you while you were training your daughters sire, but there has been talk of The Silenced readying an army."
The Silenced were readying an army? There was no way that their queen would be that reckless?
"Are you sure? Where did this information come from?"
"Messenger hawk from Barbaria, and confirmed by the Holy Federation by raven mere minutes after the hawk landed."
That was troubling. The last time The Silenced had done this, two of the kingdoms had lost their rulers, and five others were left on their death beds.
"Go back to the Manor and tell my minister to get together the war council. I shall be there soon."
"Yes, sire."
And after a quick salute, he was off back to the Manor. Turning back to his daughters, he was relieved to see that things had calmed down.
"Alright girls. Training is done for today. I'll head back first while you finish up with your mounts."
The girls nodded. Satisfied with their answer, he walked towards the Manor, trying to wrap his head around what was going on. Knowing the current leader of The Silenced and what she was like, he was calling a bluff. But at the same time, he couldn't just ignore the reports from Iotr's allies. He needed to get to the bottom of this, and fast. Not only for his sake but Llorien's as well.
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