41

It was an entire week before they got to the Volcanic Marshes where the twins Tai and Tao resided. Jason personally wondered how Muna managed to keep the ice base and igloo in one piece because it seemed like the atmosphere was getting hotter and hotter every day. By the fourth day, they were walking around practically naked.
Speaking of Muna, considering her less-than-pleasant reception of them on the Frozen Island, Jason was surprised to find that she was warming up to them quickly. Especially towards Barine. Bnut of course, that could just be as a result of the Binding and not her true intentions. Jason was still thinking about the Binding and how exactly it would affect him. So far, he didn’t exactly like what he was seeing and the idea of not having any sort of free will did not appeal to him at all. He sincerely agreed with Jaye; it would have been more convenient for Zemar to have Bound him when they just got to Erogon because he wouldnt be having all these doubts if he was already Bound. He just couldn’t seem to understand why she hadn’t done it then and why she didn’t even bother bringing up the issue now. Wasn’t it important to her at all?
And then there were his suspicions that something was going on between Zemar and Jaye. The tension between them could be cut through with a knife and Jason was at least glad that Zemar seemed to want to avoid Jaye at all costs. She was just a step away from asking Muna to make the igloo bigger so she’d have enough distance between she and Jaye. Jason couldn’t complain about that but the knowing smirks Jaye gave every time she pushed him away irked Jaosn. Something was up and he wanted to know what so badly, he was sweating from curiosity. Or was that the heat?
On the seventh day, Jaye called from outside the igloo, “Guys, come check this out! I haven’t been here in ages. Wow!”
They all rushed out, sweating despite their minimal attire (the women wore tiny dresses and the men wore only breeches) and gawked at the gigantic volcano in front of them. It was still a very long distance away but still looked huge. Surrounding it was a fiery island and they could see lava leaking down the sides of the volcano even though no smoke or ashes came out of it. The island looked beautiful from where they stood, slowly drifting towards it in the menacing heat. The island was a mixture of reds, oranges, yellows, greys and blacks that somehow managed to look exotic and beautiful instead of burnt and charred.
As they gawked, a huge creature leapt off the side of the volcano and spread enormous wings to fly towards the top of the volcano at lightening speed.
Jason pointed at it “What’s that?”
“A dragon,” Jaye answered, “angry beasts, they are. Very few have managed to actually tame them.”
“Let me guess, Tai and Tao are part of them,” Jason said and Jaye scoffed.
“Tai and Tao each have a pet dragon. Twins as well.”
They continued gawking as they neared the Volcanic Marshes bu their attention was snapped away when Zemar snapped, “What is it Muna?” irritably.
“Your Majesty, I was wondering if you would let me wait at the shore when we get to the Marshes,” Muna said in a voice so meek, they were all shocked, “Left to me, I wouldn’t come anywhere near this place.”
Zemar’s expression softened and she sighed, “Look, Muna, I know you and the twins are polar opposites but my court is not going to be like that of my father. The three of you will learn to get along and that has to start by getting comfortable with your opposing powers and domains. I have both your powers inside me. Imagine how I feel.”
“I understand completely, Your Majesty,” Muna said with her head down, “I would just rather not.”
“I get it, okay?” Zemar said and shifted her stance placing one hand on Muna’s shoulder, “you know what? You wont be the only one to suffer. Once all this is over and we make it out alive, I’ll send both of them to the Frozen Islands for a getaway weekend.”
Muna didn’t raised her head a little with a small mischievous smile on her face, “That would be nice.”
Zemar smiled back, “Don’t worry, Muna. None of mine will ever get burned. I would die first.”
“Thank you, my queen.”
Zemar nodded and turned back to the scenic marhses wondering what awaited them there. Tai and Tao were a duo of pranksters who found joy in any situation. Children were very rare on Erogon, not to speak of twins and their parents had spoiled them into getting away with almost anything. Zemar wondered how they would deal with having to be accountable for each of their actions once they joined her court. Frolicking was allowed oin their free time but onmce it was time to be serious, Zemar would tolerate nothing less.
She raised her chin and watched as the dragon finally reached the top of the ginormous volcano and dipped into the scalding hot crater.she could only take a rough guess of what was going on the Capital right now under Firgwan and her guess wasn’t pretty at all. She feared that the reality would be even worse. She needed to get her court together and she was running out of time.
A queen in her shoes did not dally.