Samantha Edwhan

End of the Winter Star

Chapter 4

The castle was cold. When Gerold looked out the windows on his way to the Great Hall, he saw only snow. It was times like these when he was grateful to be a Fire Dragon. He flared the heat in his chest until his whole body was a cosy warmth. It took a little effort and a small wisp of smoke trailed from his nostrils, but he preferred it to the cold winter air.

The sun was still low in the sky, barely poking over the mountains in the east. But the torches on the walls allowed Gerold enough light to see by as he walked down the hallway. Just as he reached the stairs he heard a commotion coming behind him. Gerold turned and recognised Griffin and Misti hurrying over to him.

“Good morning, Griffin, Misti,” Gerold greeted them. “You look rather happy today.”

“You won’t believe it.” Griffin’s dopey grin matched the excited tone of his voice. “I wanted to tell you last night, but you had already gone to bed. Misti and I are expecting eggs again.”

“Really? That’s wonderful news!” Gerold grinned.

“It really is,” Misti said, smiling. “I can’t wait to introduce Modesty and Clement to their new siblings.”

“One day at a time, dear,” Griffin told her. “We don’t even know how many eggs we’ll have yet.”

Gerold could see the excitement in Griffin’s eyes. It would be hard for him to focus with this news fresh in his mind. But Gerold could handle a few weeks without Griffin’s help.

“Why don’t you take some time off to focus on your family?” Gerold suggested.

Griffin blinked at him. “Really? Are you sure?”

“It’s important for you to be there for your family,” Gerold said. “Take the next couple of months until the eggs arrive to prepare and spend time together.”

“Thank you, Gerold.” Griffin’s smile stretched from ear to ear. “I really appreciate this. If you ever need me to do the same, just say so.”

“Don’t worry about it, Griffin. One day you’ll be High Caln without me. It becomes a lot more challenging to find time for your family while still being a good ruler,” Gerold told him.

“Of course. Thank you again,” Griffin said with a nod.

Griffin and Misti excused themselves to begin preparing. Meanwhile, Gerold continued down to breakfast. Adelaide had already gathered their sons and daughter at the head table. Gerold crossed the room and sat at the centre of the table like he always did.

“Good morning, dear,” Adelaide greeted him.

“Good morning indeed,” Gerold agreed. “Griffin and Misti just told me they’re expecting eggs again.”

“Oh really? How wonderful!” Adelaide grinned.

“Yes, it is,” Gerold said. “I’ve given Griffin the next couple of months off to spend time with his family before the eggs arrive.”

“Who will help you in the courts?” Adelaide asked.

“Well, I was hoping you and our family would,” Gerold suggested. “It is normally the responsibility of the Caln to aid with ruling the Calndom after all.”

Adelaide smiled softly, but somewhat reluctantly. “I suppose we can do that.”

“It would also be a good learning opportunity for Markos, Luana, and Jakob,” Gerold added. “We can show them what it means to be a good ruler.”

“Alright,” Adelaide said with a nod. “Let’s do that.”

After breakfast, Gerold led his family to the Throne Room for the daily courts. Adelaide sat to his right with Jakob close to her and both Markos and Luana managed to squeeze into Griffin’s seat on Gerold’s left.

Once they were all settled, Gerold nodded to the small group of dragons on the far side of the room. A yellow-orange dragon with blue markings approached the thrones and unrolled the scroll in her grasp.

“High Caln Gerold, Your Majesty.” She bowed her head deeply. “Caln Adelaide and Duchies. Today’s courts will contain requests from throughout the Calndom. All requests made are anonymous.”

Gerold nodded. “Thank you, Freya. You may begin.”

Freya nodded and began reading from the scroll. “Farmlands across the Calndom have reported difficulties feeding their livestock due to the snow. They have requested aid from the castle to help feed their animals and locate any that are missing. What does the crown say to these concerns?”

Gerold thought for a moment. “That is an interesting request. I’m not entirely sure where we would get extra workers from that the farmers couldn’t find themselves.”

“Perhaps they’re hoping to utilise the Protective Unit,” Adelaide suggested.

“Perhaps. But that would not be a good use of the Protective Unit. They are trained and employed in defence and upholding the law.” Gerold glanced at Markos and Luana. “What do you two think?”

Markos looked up at Gerold with wide eyes, then turned back to Freya. “Um… I’m not sure. Do they even need the help?”

“The snow is deep and thick,” Luana said. “It’s hard to walk through and even harder to fly through. If some of their livestock has gone missing, they might not even know where to look. The animal could be buried under the snow or just a few metres out of their field of view.”

“That is very insightful, Luana.” Gerold was surprised by her words. “What could we do to help with that?”

Luana frowned for a moment. “Ideally, we’d make the snow stop. But that’s not possible. Perhaps we could put an offer out to the Calndom to volunteer to help. We all rely on the food from the farmlands, and livestock especially in winter. Dragons who understand that will help.”

Gerold smiled softly. “That’s a very nice thought, Luana. Unfortunately, not all dragons are that selfless. Many will turn down the request for help because they don’t want to work out in the cold. Most dragons won’t even consider it as helping to keep their families fed. I think you’ll find that asking for unpaid volunteers will result in only a few offers to help.”

“Then perhaps we could offer to pay them for their time?” Luana suggested. “From the castle’s budget, so that the farmers aren’t facing extra costs in a time of hardship.”

“Nonsense,” Adelaide said suddenly. “The castle has a set budget to ensure there is no frivolous spending. We cannot just hand out money whenever no one else wants to pay.”

Luana ducked her head. Gerold felt bad for her. She had such a good idea and Adelaide immediately shot it down.

“We shouldn’t discard such an idea so quickly, Adelaide,” Gerold said. “Winter is a hard time for all dragons in the Calndom. If we can spare some money to help the dragons in need, perhaps we should consider it.”

Adelaide narrowed her eyes. For a moment, Gerold thought she might argue with him. “Very well, Gerold. But keep in mind that Luana is only eight years old. She doesn’t have the full picture of how this might affect the castle.”

Gerold glanced at Luana and noticed she had ducked her head further down and was leaning against Markos’s wing. Gerold sighed and turned back to Freya, who was still holding the scroll.

“Put that on my list of things to revisit later. I may need more time to consider all the options.” He said.

Freya nodded and made a note on the scroll. Then she read off the next item. “Businesses in the northern parts of the Calndom are requesting urgent financial aid. With the snow and fewer clients reducing their profits, many are worried they won’t last until the spring.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Adelaide spoke up. “The businesses shouldn’t need outside help to stay open throughout the year. Gerold, dear, you should deny this request.”

“Slow down, Adelaide, we need to consider why they’re struggling and if there are any other factors that could help,” Gerold told her. “Perhaps potential customers are getting snowed in and can’t leave their homes, or they could be experiencing financial hardships themselves due to food costs being higher in the winter.”

“We should look into it and see if there’s anything we can change to help fix the problem long term,” Markos suggested.

Gerold smiled at him. “Indeed, we should. That is a very good idea. What about you, Luana? Do you have any suggestions?”

Luana raised her head slowly. Gerold could see a mixture of hesitation and thoughtfulness in her expression.

“Markos is right. We should see what long term solutions might be possible,” Luana said. “Perhaps some businesses have already closed, putting some dragons out of work, or there could be a lack of jobs in general due to seasonal jobs only running during the warmer months.”

Adelaide nudged Gerold with her wing and whispered, “Why are you letting our daughter make suggestions? She’s not going to run the Calndom at any point in her life. She shouldn’t even be helping at her age.”

“Hush, darling,” Gerold whispered back. “Luana is very bright and has some very good ideas. It’s good to let her, and our sons too, practice thinking strategically. Even once I’m gone and they become nobles, they’ll benefit from knowing to consider the bigger picture.”

“It’s still not right,” Adelaide hissed. “She’s our little girl. We shouldn’t be putting so much responsibility on her.”

“I’m not. This is just encouraging them to think,” Gerold told her. He tried not to sound frustrated. “Our young have bright minds. We should be encouraging them, not hindering them.”

Adelaide frowned. “I don’t appreciate you using our daughter to get ideas for how to do your job.”

Gerold felt a flare of angry heat in his chest. He squashed it as much as he could but a thin trail of smoke still rose from his nostrils. Perhaps including his family in the courts was a bad idea.

“Freya, put the requests aside for now,” Gerold said, standing up. “I need a break.”

Freya nodded, though wide eyed, and began rolling up the scroll. Gerold exited the room in a rush, wanting to escape from view before he lost control of the fire in his chest.