It was a tense twenty or so minutes walking through the castle crawling with soldiers. A majority of the soldiers here were draco and drakken, but there were a few humans and beastkin of various kinds as well. The longer we walked through this fortress, the less likely I thought we would escape unharmed if things turned out badly. The only suggestion I had been given on what this could be about was the murder of Luna's father, so I was on high alert. I think the only reason we haven't resisted already was that they hadn't attempted to take our weapons or our gear away yet. That might be concerning on its own.

  We were finally led to a door on the fourth floor of this gigantic fortress complex. One of the soldiers motioned for us to wait while a different soldier walked up and knocked on the door.

  "Enter," a woman's voice called through.

  The soldier opened the door and we were ferried in, still surrounded by the soldiers who had escorted us here. The room we were led into was some kind of parlor with a large table. At the head of the table was a tall woman with... interesting features. She was a beautiful woman who looked like she was in her mid-thirties. On top of her head were a long pair of fox ears with black tips, but her resemblance to a regular beastkin ended there. Shiny blue scales trailed up the side of her face, and her eyes were a bright sky blue and slit. A large sapphire-scaled dragon tail curled out from behind her and settled around the chair she was sitting in. She looked up from what she was working on and set down the paper she had been studying. Her wrists and arms were likewise covered in the same blue scales and looked powerfully muscular. The woman smiled and her expression turned excited as she looked over our group.

  "Excellent! Everyone else out," she said.

  "Your Highness—"

  "Silence. They can't hurt me," she said coldly to the guard.

  "They are experienced delvers and they haven't been disarmed," he argued.

  "They are, but that does not change the fact that they do not pose any threat to me. Now leave before you annoy me further," the woman said sternly.

  "Y-yes, Your Highness... we will wait outside the door." The soldiers nearby gave each other worried glances before filing out of the room and closing the door behind them. That left only the six of us standing across from the dragon-woman who sat behind the table.

  After a moment's pause, the woman's expression eased and she smiled again with a somewhat intimidating toothy grin. "Thank you for accepting my summons. I hope that the walk through the castle was not too distressing for you." Curiously, the woman's focus was on Luna. "It seems you are engaged now... that is... interesting."

  Maxwell was caught off guard and turned to glance at Luna, and I guessed that a quick silent conversation transpired between them. When they seemed to reach some sort of consensus, Maxwell turned back toward the dragon woman. "I'm afraid we haven't been informed with who we are speaking. Would you do us the honor of introducing yourself?" he asked.

  The woman looked at Maxwell with a raised eyebrow before gently nodding. "Perhaps that would be for the best... My name is Celeste Forsythe Titannus, dragon-princess fourth in line to the throne of Ironcastle. I have only just returned from a long stay in a neighboring territory where my betrothal... did not work out for various reasons."

  I think the weight of her words hit all of us equally hard. We weren't just dealing with someone important. We were dealing with a princess of Ironcastle and all of us were out of our depths here.

  Maxwell's anxiety was clear in his voice as he began to introduce us. "My name is Maxwell, I'm the leader of this group of hunters. This is my sister Piper, our healer. Luna, our mage. Luna's fiancé and our skirmisher, Helena. Aria, our scout and archer. And finally, Iris. She's an orphan that we just picked up. She has strong wind affinity so we're helping her become a delver. How may we help you, your Highness?"

  The woman's brow furrowed and she looked directly at Luna. "He's the leader of your party? Not you?" she asked. Luna looked just as surprised as we were to have been singled out.

  Maxwell cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, but Luna is mute. She cannot answer for herself, but if you wish to speak with her specifically, we can relay anything she says using our telepathy rings."

  "What?!" Celeste shouted angrily as one of her fists hit the table. The sudden shift in mood made Maxwell step back in surprise. The door flew open, and one of the soldiers stepped in with a hand on his sheathed sword.

  "Get out! Do not disturb us!" she yelled at him. The soldier froze in place before hurriedly closing the door. She turned back to Maxwell. "Why is Luna mute? What happened?" she snarled.

  Maxwell glanced at Luna, clearly cautious after the change of atmosphere. "Someone tried to kill her a few years ago, and when we found her, she needed to be healed immediately. Her throat hadn't healed properly as a result." I could see Piper's jaw flex in response to Maxwell's explanation, but she didn't say anything.

  The royal pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath to calm herself. "I... see. Do you know who tried to kill her? Are they still alive?"

  Luna and Maxwell exchanged a glance before he straightened up. "Her... father tried to kill her. He died in a fire the same night after he had been drinking."

  Celeste whispered to herself, but my ears were good enough to clearly pick up what she said, "If he had still been alive, I'd have flayed him myself. I can't believe he would betray me. That son of a whore. Bastard." The muscles in her hand flexed as she seemingly struggled to keep her rage in check.

  After a long pause, Maxwell broke the silence. "You have us at a disadvantage. Is there a reason you have summoned us here?"

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Celeste sat up straight in her chair and her eyes coldly regarded Maxwell before shifting to Luna. She had a subtle but pained looking expression on her face. "Luna... I am your mother. Your bastard of a father was keeping you safe for me while I... was taking care of things. I got word of the mansion burning down around the same time my official children were murdered in Clyclostro. I thought I had done enough to keep you safe but it appears I had trusted the wrong person with you. When I found out that you hadn't died in the fire with your father, I had some of my people begin searching for you. The only lead I had on you for the longest time was an enchanter that disappeared before I was close enough to have her questioned... I believe she was the one who sold you those telepathy rings. I only arrived in the city today, and I got word that a group matching your description had spent some time at the hunter's association. I assumed you would head into the dungeon eventually, so I had people wait for you there. It was good timing. They didn't wait long at all."

  I jumped to support Luna when she looked like she was about to fall backward. She had tears streaming down her face. ("She... what? But my mother died in childbirth...")

  "Luna says that her mother died in childbirth..." I said to the woman.

  Celeste frowned. "Is that what he told you? I apologize. For... hopefully apparent reasons, I wasn't able to see you grow up or claim you as an official child... But I wish I had been able to. You've grown into a lovely woman... powerful too, from what I can tell..." She sighed. "I am sorry, Luna."

  ("A-ask her why she's here, what does she want?") Luna said to me.

  "Luna wants to know what you're doing here and what you want with her," I repeated.

  A flash of sadness crossed Celeste's face for a moment before she cooled her expression. "I'm afraid... I need you to make sure you're safe. You've become my only living heir, and I fear that your life is already in danger because of me. Whether I'm involved with you or not, you will be targeted by the ones who are seeking to end my bloodline. I wished to spare you from this conflict but I no longer have any other choice. It's not as if my plan to keep you pampered and safely away from danger outside of Ironcastle had even worked, considering how experienced of a delver you've become."

  Luna shook her head and turned to bury her face against my chest. Unfortunately, I was still wearing my armor, so it wasn't able to properly comfort her.

  The dragon-woman sighed. "I understand this is a lot to take in. I know that you probably do not have any love for me, especially after the situation that I've just put you in, but I'm afraid neither of us have a choice any longer. I'm happy you've found someone to care for you, even if it makes things... more complicated for me. I will do everything I can to make things right between us, but I'm afraid I cannot let you leave the castle..."

  "You're holding us here?" Piper asked angrily.

  Celeste regarded Piper. "I am. The rest of you are free to leave or to stay here with her. I remember the two of you from her father's letters. I trust the two of you more than anyone else to keep my daughter safe right now." She turned her eyes to me, and I felt an intense hostility that made my umber hound instincts prickle in worry. "I know less about you, miss fiancé. My people haven't found anything on who you are at all... I have more on the two orphans than I have of you. It's as if you dropped in out of nowhere."

  "If you can trust my word, you can trust Helena," Maxwell said confidently. "Helena has saved all of our lives many times and has no ties to royalty. That I can guarantee."

  "I will continue to be cautious... but if you are so confident, then I will trust her for now. To put it bluntly, I am worried that Helena is a spy. Though, a spy would have had at least some semblance of a background, so that only leaves me confused. If someone pressured that bastard to kill Luna, then her identity has likely already leaked. Someone could have planted Helena here to take advantage of the situation... However, it's not as if I can swoop back into my daughter's life out of nowhere and force her to abandon her fiancé when they've clearly already begun to bond." Celeste's eyes focused on the braid of Luna's hair that hung from the collar of my armor. "I am already stepping into a situation I'm likely unwanted... But, I expect you to have a long conversation about where you come from and consider the possibility that she is not who she says she is."

  Luna shook her head and tried to squeeze me tighter despite my unyielding armor.

  The dragon-woman shuffled around some of the papers on her desk. "I think that is probably enough of a conversation for tonight. I'm sure I've already given all of you plenty to think about. You'll stay confined to the fourth floor, but you may go anywhere on the floor without being barred. That includes the atrium and the kitchens, but do not test my patience. If I have to hunt you down, I will. You will make it through this alive, even if I have to drag you the entire way myself."

  "Seilfreid!" she called out. One of the soldiers opened the door, and a human man quickly stepped into the room. "These six here are guests. They are to remain confined to the fourth floor. If they want to leave, any of them other than the foxkin can leave, but they cannot return if they do. If any of them attempt to harm the foxkin, restrain them if you can and take them to the dungeon for me to sort out later. Otherwise, they may go anywhere on the fourth floor, including the atrium. Post soldiers on them at all times except in the baths, restrooms, and their private chambers. In those cases, merely watch the entrances. Understood?"

  "Yes, Your Highness!" he replied.

  "Good. Luna, you may... you may have your friends pass along a message to any of the soldiers if you wish to meet with me again... I am interested in getting to know you better if you would be kind enough to give me the chance."

  I patted Luna on the back. "I will be sure to pass the message along if she wishes to see you," I replied.

  "Good... All of you are dismissed." She poured herself a drink and sighed as the nearby soldiers began to lead us out of the room.

  "I told you she was a noble," Iris said under her breath as we walked away.

  "Shut it, kid. Now's clearly not the time," Aria said while flicking the mousekin's ear.

  "Oww, that hurts."

  "That's what you get for being a brat," Aria said with a laugh.

  Maxwell sighed. "Let's see if they'll feed us something... this day was exhausting before we were led into the castle..."

  "We'll start at the kitchens then. Dinner has already been served, but there should still be cooks there at this time," Seilfreid said.

  I squeezed Luna's hand. She had pulled her hood over her head and was watching the floor as we walked. She stayed quiet and lost in thought as we walked through the halls.

  Hello! Luna's mother appears! I always feel a little bad about cliffhangers like that but they're fun every once and a while. At least I'm not ending every chapter with them! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading!

  Here's a link to the community Discord:

  If you would like to support my writing on , you can read up to 10 chapters ahead there!

  Please leave a favorite and/or a rating so I can get my story in front of more eyeballs! If you really enjoy the story a review would help me a lot! I would greatly appreciate it!