The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 503: Suspicious Motivations

The drizzle turned into steady rain as Dominic sat on the balcony of his office under a newly installed awning and listened to the radio while watching the party unfold.

[We are arriving at the designated location outside Lympsbury. Elapsed time, three hours and fifty-eight minutes. Average speed over ground calculated to eighty kilometres an hour.

Delivery is being made now, we will update as needed.]

That was what Dominic had been waiting for among the sea of evacuation messages and emergency requests.

With that bit of information at hand, he headed back down to join the guests, and see how the list of requested weddings was coming along. He assumed that some were holding off because there were sure to be more coming to the region, but once they found a good match, many of the Nobles wouldn’t wait to get some security.

However, he had not expected that nearly a third of the Natural Sons were either on the list already or in serious discussions with at least one of the ladies.

They were moving much faster than the other young Noblemen, and Dominic could guess at the reason why.

If they were starting with a family, they would normally be granted more land than a single Nobleman who had no dependents. For the Barons, it wouldn’t change much, they would be expected to gain an heir eventually.

But the Knighthood wasn’t hereditary, only the Noble status that came from it.

There were quite a few others on the list as well, Dominic noted, and a few who were requesting leave to head back to their families. They would take care of the marriage there, with a full ceremony, instead of the rushed circumstances of the mass weddings during the event.

They were also eager to get back inland in Cygnia, and further from the extreme weather.

Compared to Dominic’s worries of extra guests and mass marriages, the other senior Nobles of the region had much more dire concerns.

In the Cygnia Royal Palace, the King and his two oldest sons were sitting across from each other in front of the fireplace in the King’s lounge.

"Alex, repeat that to me again. I don’t think that I followed you the first time.

You’re saying that the King of Shersdonia is not working against us, but that he’s also behind the Mage Sects that have been helping summon monsters all across Dagos and Skiple?"

"And into Axbridge, Mitfield and Stansia Province." The second Prince agreed.

"My investigations tell me that there is more to it than trying to help Dagos obtain monsters, and I suspect that this extreme weather is the natural outcome.

If you look past his actions to the outcomes, and try not to guess at his motivations, you’ll see that almost every member of the Dagos Royal Family and High Nobles who took part in the attacks on Wavemates are now dead.

Many of their holdings have been reassigned, removed from their families, if they have any left.

Sentiment on the continent has firmly turned against them, and the Royal bloodline of Wavemates has returned to their home territory.

Not to the old Capital, but to Royal holdings, nonetheless."

The King took a long drag on his cigar. "You’re saying that he’s been handing the Dagos Nobles just enough rope to hang themselves? That he’s been stoking the fires of war as a way for what? For the Dragon blooded to get vengeance on the ones who wronged them?"

"That is one of the three primary deductions, and the one that I am most inclined to believe. The other two are that he is actually attempting to expand his territory, but for some reason didn’t mobilize all the mages under him, and didn’t touch the Modlian Theocracy at all.

Or, that he is entirely unaware of the actions being undertaken by the Mage Sects within his territory.

That is a possibility, but he is still receiving regular updates from informants, and his castle has radio reception. The odds that his staff and Nobles have managed to keep something this large from him seem extremely low, given that many of them are undead under his control."

"And what do we do now that he’s managed to cause a natural disaster?"

Prince Alex shrugged. "Well, I can’t control the weather on that scale. It’s not going to seriously affect his territory, so he can get away with taking very little action.

However, we are part of the northeastern alliance, and there are a huge number of refugees leaving the cities. We are going to need to send supplies to them for at least a year after the storm passes.

Alseale on the coast of Chip was just confirmed lost to the storm surge. Tens of thousands dead and nearly fifty thousand refugees have fled inland, with an unknown number of additional casualties due to storm winds over three hundred kilometres an hour and extreme rain.

The storm has started to come inland, and Penilme, in West Keria, has been calling for assistance, as they have received nearly two metres of rain in seventy-two hours.

We don’t know for certain how bad things have gotten in Dagos, but the last radio reports said that the Theton River had fully breached its banks, so the city of Staptondon is likely flooded as well. That’s a hundred and fifty thousand people.

The cities along the northern coast have been completely silent."

Prince Claudius cleared his throat. "King Gustav has requested any aid that we can send to his territory, and is willing to negotiate a deal as soon as the storm passes.

Albroles is likely to end up flooded as well, by the way. The river runs right through the city, and they will be in the eye of the storm by tonight."

The King sighed. "That does not sound like something that the King of Shersdonia could have done on purpose. No matter what he was intending, even if it were to set off a war to get vengeance for his old friend the Dragon King, I can’t see a way that he could have caused this storm, and that is far more important than the war at this point."

Prince Alex smiled. "Why don’t we invite his people to Wistover for the meetings? The envoys are still there, and I can go represent your throne if you don’t object.

Bringing them to the table might give us more insight into what their intentions are, and what is actually going on behind the scenes."

"See that it is done. Claudius, you will be the face of the relief efforts for the northeast. As the next King, building reputation in advance matters more than anything else during this crisis."