Bathed and refreshed soon after, they took to the skies once more, flying long and fast, chasing the sun. As a result, it was still mid-day when they finally arrived at their destination.
It was even more beautiful than she’d imagined. Rylinn’s description when he’d casually discussed visiting it when she’d first arrived hadn’t remotely done it justice.
“It looks like something out of a fairy tale,” she gasped.
Braxxos chuckled with delight. “I suppose it does,” he said, pleased at her response. “Welcome to Gimballa. My home.”
He spun the ship, quickly setting down in a lush garden-like space just outside the main castle gates, flattening some decorative shrubs in the process.
“Uh, Braxxos?”
“Yes?”
“Is this a landing site?” she asked.
“It is for me.”
Margot shrugged and rose, following him to the hatch. A large ornately armored guard stood outside, ready armed and for a fight. In fact, there were about two dozen of them, all similarly geared up and on a hair-trigger, about to attack.
Braxxos, however, seemed calm.
“You have no authority to land here! Be gone at once or face death!”
“You willnotspeak to me like that,” Braxxos growled, pulling his odd pendant free from his shirt. Margot noted that for the first time it was not flashing red but had turned gold instead. “I am Braxxos. Son of Morvalia and Zayoos, and I am home.”
The men audibly gasped, several dropping to one knee, heads bowed. A few held their ground, unsure what to do. They looked at one another in sheer confusion.
“It can’t be. Braxxos is alive?” one of them wondered aloud.
“He’s dead,” another replied.
Braxxos stood tall, a confident look on his face of the sort that Margot had never seen before. He was putting on the airs of a leader. A ruler. And these men didn’t quite know how to react.
“I assure you, I am quite alive. And you know my sigil and seal. There is no lying. It reacts to my family’s blood and no other.” He pulled the pendant from around his neck and held it up high so all could see. “I am home. And I demand you take me to my throne.”
Margot swallowed hard.Did he just saythrone?
“Of course, my Lord. Please, forgive me,” the lead guard sputtered, hurrying to lead the way.
The others stepped aside, the doors to the castle swinging open as they approached. Braxxos walked quickly, outpacing the guards. He knew the way. After all, this had been his home once upon a time.
He burst into the main receiving chamber before anyone had time to announce his arrival. All heads spun, the king rising to his feet with a look of disdainful shock.
“Intruders in my throne room? Guards, seize him!”
The guards in the chamber reacted at once but the man accompanying him from outside stepped forward and spoke up before they could act.
“It is Braxxos, my king,” the guard replied. “He is alive!”
The king’s face went pale. “Impossible. Braxxos died years ago. His blood was tainted. He was unfit to rule, per our laws.”
Braxxos stepped forward, holding his bright gold proof of lineage high for all to see. “It was tainted, that is true. And due to your treachery, Cousin.”
“Preposterous. Seize him! I command you to seize him at once!”
Braxxos held his ground, unfazed. “I know it was you who poisoned my pigment when I was a boy. You knew it would be a death sentence for an heir to the throne, but my parents managed to have me secreted away without your knowledge, lying about my demise. A capital offense on their part if any found out. But you had them removed for entirely different reasons and claimed the throne for yourself.”
“Wild allegations you cannot prove.”
