The Dragon's Kiss

Chapter 242 TWENTY THREE: Extreme Frustration

?

Things began to wind down at Pandreia quickly.

By the time Lucy had returned to her normal lively self, servants and soldiers alike were preparing a caravan to depart to Vitocia.

Calix and Kel were finally able to rest, given that the clean up of the aftermath was left in the hands of the newly appointed Regent.

Well, they would have been able to rest if the new Regent didn't require the Dragon Emperor's assistance so often.

He was capable enough to utilize Calix's advice, but not capable enough to come up with the solution himself. Just as The Emperor desired.

"You don't suppose there are more of them out there," Taegus remarked during one of their much too frequent meetings. "More.. rebels?"

"Even if there are," Calix replied, "you'll be able to handle them, right, dear Regent?"

"Oh.. y-yes," Taegus hung his head.

"What? Is all this 'power' not living up to your expectations?" Calix snorted.

He'd rather enjoyed watching the boy stumble along, clinging to him for guidance. If he'd tried to do anything on his own, he may have actually learned how to handle things independently, and the Dragon Emperor couldn't have a regent like that.

"It's just.. I'm glad you caught the rebels when you did," Taegus sighed. "Before things here ended up just like Mevani."

"Ah, the red rebels," the Emperor shook his head. "The difference lies in the leader--one driven by revenge and the other a bumbling figurehead."

Kel felt a prick in her chest when Calix mentioned revenge. Leif, her old friend and leader of the red rebels, wanted revenge for his uncle's death. A death that Kel, herself, still felt responsible for. A kind of bitter hatred, burning hotter than any fire, is what fueled Leif's rebellion in Mevani and made him successful. 

The Emperor was right, some greedy council members and their puppet prince couldn't even compare.

"Anyway," Calix went on, "I doubt you'll have to worry about any rebellions. Just focus on keeping the peace."

"Right.. just.. keep the peace." 

Taegus nodded, but his smile failed to conceal his apprehension. He had approached the Dragon Emperor so boldly only weeks earlier demanding a position of power in exchange for his loyalty, but now he looked like an overwhelmed child clinging to the Emperor's cape.

"Are you sure Taegus is a good choice to be the regent?" Kel questioned after the silver-haired boy had left.

Calix chuckled at her question.

"You don't seem to have much faith in your friend."

"Well, you know it too," Kel shrugged. "He's helpless!"

"He'll learn," Calix replied. "He will never become great, but I have full confidence that he will become adequate."

Kel couldn't muster the same confidence in Taegus, but she did trust the Emperor. 

Surely, he knew what he was doing.

The following night, when the royal caravan's departure to Vitocia was only days away, Kel awoke suddenly to some hushed voices coming from the terrace of the room.

Instinctively, she reached for a weapon, trying to rouse the Emperor as she did so.

"Ca-"

She paused, realizing the space next to her on the bed was empty.

With her sword drawn, she crept toward the terrace, feeling more unsettled with each step.

Was it more assassins? 

Where was Calix? 

Would she be better off calling for the guards?

Her worries subsided, however, when she realized one of the voices outside belonged to the Emperor.

Feeling relieved, but now curious, she crouched near the terrace doors, straining her ears to listen to the conversation.

"...care of things at Vitocia," Calix was in the middle of saying.

"Sir, do you really expect me to handle everything?" an exasperated voice demanded.

It seemed to belong to the Emperor's First General--the one Kel had been seeing an awful lot of lately but had never officially met.

"I told you, I have other plans during that time," Calix answered. 

"What could possibly be more important than uniting the continent, Sir? We're already so close to our goal," the man pleaded.

"I'm going on a honeymoon with my wife."

Kel could picture Calix's sly smile as he spoke.

"... you aren't married yet, Sir."

A puff of air escaped from Kel's lips as she attempted to hold back laughter. Both voices stopped momentarily at the noise, so she quickly slunk back to the bed before she was caught eavesdropping.

So Calix had been making plans to go with her to the White Mountains all along.

A nervous kind of excitement filled her chest at the thought.

With everything going on in the seaside territory, the journey to the White Mountains--to meet someone she thought she'd never see again--had seemed like a murky illusion. But now, it was right in front of her.

"It feels like the plot is finally starting," she breathed to herself.

For the next few days leading up to the caravan's departure, Kel waited eagerly for Calix to inform her of their plans.

But, in true Dragon Emperor fashion, he didn't utter a word about their journey to the White Mountains. 

When Kel had lost patience and tried to bring the matter up herself, the Emperor had responded with a simple 'yes'.

Yes, he was still planning on going to the White Mountains with her.

"When will we head out?" Kel had pressed, feeling extremely unsatisfied with the one word answer.

"The caravan leaves tomorrow," Calix had replied as if that would answer her question.

'You're so frustrating!'

In her mind, Kel had already beat him to a pulp with the pillow she was hugging against her chest to try and smother her irritation.

Calix did have a plan, right? She'd heard him talking about it with the First General that night on the terrace.

But why hadn't he included her at all? And why was he avoiding the topic even when she asked??

"Ugh. I can't take it anymore," Kel groaned, flopping back in bed. 

Next to her, Calix slept far too peacefully for a man causing her so much grief.

"Hey."

She frowned, poking his face.

"Hey. Tell me what the plan is."

"Mmmm," Calix hummed sleepily, grabbing her waist and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I said, tell me what's going on!" Kel raised her voice. "You want me to trust you and not run off on my own but then you keep me guessing and wondering-"

"Shhhhh," the Emperor patted her hair, his eyes still closed. 

"I've got it all figured out."