The Dragon King’s Substitute Bride
Chapter 67

MIDAS

Dammit all to f*****g Hades

The slew of swear words running through his mind are not particularly intelligent but they are the only words strong enough to convey the gravity of this situation to which he has awoken. He had known that the matter between the clans could escalate very quickly, spreading like a disease, infecting everything in its path.

But this...the death of Adarin's son, this is like striking a match in a forest full of k****e and wood and dry leaves.

A f*****g wild fire.

Adarin is not a man known for his patience, neither one of them is.

And now with his son dead, if the king did not ride out to Adarin and Rardath's territory right now and attempt to prevent a full out war, this fire could consume his realm and fast. Adarin and Rardath both had surrounding clans that were incredibly loyal to them.

If one attacked the other, the clans behind them would follow.

This could get ugly, fast.

He storms out of his room in the west tower where he had gone to change into his riding clothes and armored plates and to pick up his swords.

He ignores his throne room, striding straight towards the castle's main entrance.

He knows that even before Leo mind-linked him, the chief Ryder would have begun arrangements for his horse and a small battalion of Ryders to be ready and set to ride out with him the moment he gave the word. This has to be the storm that the kingmakers were referring to.

But even as he thinks this, he knows that he is wrong.

Besides the shadow realm that existed in a state of constant chaos, the dragon realm is known to have the worst rainy season in all of the 7 realms.

And in the weeks before the weather changes, the dragonkin would begin to read the signs, smell the rain and preparation to survive the weather and approaching storms would ensue.

And the day before the first rain, thunder, loud and fearsome would precede its arrival, and then the showers would begin.

Heavy and often with destructive proportions.

And he has a sinking feeling that this... situation with Adarin and Rardath is thunder, a mere echo of the c*****e to come. Midas resists the urge to shudder.

If this is thunder then he is not looking forward to the storm.

But when it came, it would meet Midas ready and whoever sent it, would rue the day they were born.

He steps out of the castle and into the busy front courtyard.

It is a beautiful albeit strangely windy day.

The sun is shining high in the sky and the air is ripe with a slight chill, announcing that last days of the blistering heat of summer are now here.

How ironic.

Every war Midas has ever fought always began on a beautiful day.

His chief Ryder meets him at the entrance with a quick bow. "Your highness."

There is no time to exchange greetings. "When did it happen?"

"I believe it was sometime late last night my King."

"How did word manage to get here so quickly?"

"A dragon Ryder, one stationed at the border changed into his dragon form and flew over with the news immediately it happened. The dragon landed in the castle in the early hours of the morning and immediately I heard, I tried to reach you." Midas stops in the middle of the yard. "Where is this Ryder?"

The solider appears as if summoned from thin air.

Great... Midas thinks and resists the urge to groan.

It is the shaky Ryder from the throne room, the one who had delivered to him the piece of a dark elf's cloth but who had also been too scared to even step forward much less speak properly. After his display in the presence of the king, the man's captain must have made him the designated messenger boy.

Just the kind of man he most definitely did not need in a crisis situation like this one.

The lad, who in the light of day appears to Midas as barely old enough to have started shaving, bows to his king and salutes the highest ranking Ryder in the land who stands beside him. "My King."

"Rise and speak Ryder and if you value your head and wish for it to remain attached to your neck, do not stutter. I am not in the mood to be patient."

Of course, his words have the opposite effect and do nothing to help the young soldier's disposition.

But as it turn out, the man does fancy having his head remaining attached to his neck for even though he does not look anywhere past the king's shoulders, he does not stutter.

"Are you the one who brought the news?"

"Yes my King."

"What happened?"

"The son of the chief of the clan of Adarin is dead my king."

Midas growls.

"I know that Ryder. I am asking you how is it that the boy in question came to arrive in the state of being dead when as of yesterday evening I received word that he was in fact very much alive." "......"

A warning look from Leo and the Ryder catches hris stutter at the last minute.

"We are uncertain as to the exact details my lord but the servant who has been nursing the boy ever since his...accident, went to his room last night to check on him and upon discovering the body, raised the alarm." "And the father?"

"Adarin is furious my King. He intended to march on Rardath that very instant convinced they were responsible but my captain managed to persuade him to wait for you arrival and sent me with news of the boy's passing." "How did he die?"

"We are unsure my Lord."

"What I am hearing from you solider is that no one knows if the boy simply died in his sleep from his injuries or if he had his throat f*****g slit?"

Midas' voice is deceptively calm and the Ryder looks fearfully away.

"There were no obvious signs as to what could have resulted in his passing my king however..."

The lad's voice falters and Midas knows that he had been about to reveal something that he is either unsure of or and this more likely to be true, had not be instructed to say.

The king's eyes narrow. "However what?"

"However before I left the camp, I heard rumors, whispers among the men."

The solider hesitates and Midas makes to reach for his sword.

"For Hades sake Ryder am I going to have to bleed this information out of you? Get to the point."

"The rumors said that the body appeared to have withered, shrunken in on its self. Almost as if..."

The man swallows, as if the mere words of what he is about to say are even more frightening than the angry king glowering at him.

"...as if his very life had simply been sucked out of him, leaving nothing but an empty shell behind."

Midas' heart slams against his ribcage and he can feel his dragon stirring, their thoughts racing as one towards the same dark conclusion.

Only one type of magic is capable of doing something as evil as that.

f**k a wild fire, this entire situation had just become a goddamn inferno.