Chapter 56 - The Deal

I

The Dragon Lord sent one of his dragon warriors to the Sussex Palace to convey his message to the King of Sussex. The Dragon Warrior returned with positive news. The King of Sussex agreed to speak with him and to meet him.

“That is good news my good warrior; I will fly then to the Sussex Palace now,” The Dragon Lord said. Thereafter, he shifted into his mighty Dragon form and flew.

When the Dragon Lord landed inside the palace of Sussex, in front of their palace gate, the palace guards bowed their heads to him. He shapeshifted and tell them his appointment with the King.

“Come with me my Dragon Lord. The King has been waiting for you at the throne’s hall,” one of the guards said as he guided him going to the palace’s throne’s hall.

“My dear Dragon Lord, my friend, what can I do for you? It was such a pleasure to hear your warrior telling me that you would like to visit me.” The King of Sussex said all his pleasantries to the Dragon King.

“I am here for an urgent purpose.”

“What about my friend?”

“Your Duke took my son’s wife and I am here to negotiate before a war between the Kingdom of Sussex and the Kingdom of Gold Valley with the Dragon Land beside it, would ensue because of that.”

“My Dragon Lord, I will not allow that to happen. The Kingdom of Sussex has been in good terms with the Kingdom of Gold Valley much more with the Dragon Land,” The King of Sussex exclaimed. Evidently, he has no knowledge of what his Duke has been doing lately.

“Then let us make a deal to stop this hullabaloo between my master dragon and your Duke. Your Duke has been consistently pestering the Village of my son Dareon, the Thregonad Village. Lately, your Duke attacked the village and killed many Thregonad people and worst kidnapped the First Princess of the Kingdom of Gold Valley, who happened to be the wife of my son, Dareon.” The Dragon Lord stated with calmness yet firmness in his voice.

The King of Sussex was so surprised by all the things that he was hearing from the Dragon Lord; the Duke of Sussex is his youngest son and he never knew that behind his back, he was doing things to ruin his Kingdom. He knew how powerful the Dragon Lord is, and he cannot afford to have war with him. The Dragon Lord can vanish his Kingdom in just one move of his magical hand.

II

“What the hell did you just do Duke Simon?!” The voice of the King of Sussex was like thunder as he confronted his Duke. He could not contain his anger. He even fired the head of his Army and threw him into the dungeon for hiding things from him.

With bowed head, Duke Simon spoke with a tremor in his voice, “I just did what I thought was right my King. Dareon was the first to steal my supposed fiancee and I just get her back from him.”

“You are mad Duke Simon. We had agreed on that already. She was not yet completely your fiancee. She was just about to meet you to finalize your fiancee's agreement when that jet accident happened. You have no claim yet over Princess Shelyca!” The King’s voice was roaring in madness.

“I love Princess Shelyca Father and no one has the right to wed her but me!” The Duke’s voice roared too.

“You have just mistakenly banged your head on the wall Simon for you have just stolen the wife of the son of the Dragon Lord! Dareon is the master dragon, the adopted son of the Dragon Lord, the next in line to be the Lord of the Dragon land! Do you hear me?!”

The Duke was stunned. He never thought that Dareon is such a strong one and a master dragon at that. He felt so doomed but his anger towards his belief that Dareon snatched Princess Shelyca from him, overwhelmed his mind more.

“I do not care father if he is the master dragon. He snatched Princess Shelyca from me and that all matters to me now.” Duke Simon said with fury.

“Then you have to face the consequences of your actions. The Dragon Lord came to our palace a while ago and laid down a challenge to you. He wanted one-on-one combat between you and Dareon, in order to stop you from ruining the lives of some innocent people who are mere bystanders to your dispute.” The King of Sussex announces.

“What do you mean Father?”

“In your human form, without using each of your magical powers and supernatural strengths; you will have one-on-one combat to be witnessed by everyone. If you will win, Dareon will accept his defeat and it will be Princess Shelyca’s decision that will be followed. If you will be defeated, you have to put an end to all your warring actions and stop chasing Princess Shelyca!” the King of Sussex said.