Novel Full Chapter 379: Zephyr Nightvale
Chapter 379: Zephyr Nightvale
“The Stonefang attacking us right when we were at our weakest—it is too convenient for us to simply regard it as luck.”
“Are you saying…?”
“Someone informed them about the weakened state of our Wall.”
Korvath spoke with a solemn look on his face, and once again, short breaths were taken in as the ones sitting at the meeting table felt tense.
What Korvath said wasn’t new for them; every single one of them had thought of this as well, but with Korvath speaking things directly, things were different.
“Are you saying the traitor is in the Watch?”
Draksis, the Leader of Forge, questioned as he looked at Korvath.
It would make sense—thinking objectively, the Men of the Watch would have the time to play such games. They are the only ones who aren’t working for more than twelve hours a day, and an empty mind does attract… not-so-attractive thoughts.
Also, if the traitor was indeed amongst the Men of the Watch, the Stonefangs learning of their situation so quickly and reacting accordingly would make sense as well.
But…
“It isn’t necessarily true.”
Aelindra, the Warden of Provision, shook her head.
“Every single Velmourn saw the Men of the Watch flying in the skies, moving east. Rumors travel fast—even if the traitor did not see them himself, he would have heard about it somewhere and informed the Stonefangs.
Singling out the Watch just because of the Stonefang attack alone isn’t clever.”
The rest of the elders nodded at those words.
The Men of the Watch were extremely loyal. None of them wanted to think that the traitor was amongst them, especially when every single one of them had risked their lives today to protect Velmourns.
“The possibility of Drakthar informing the Stonefangs cannot be denied either.”
Suddenly, Nymeris, the High Chronicler, added.
“The Drakthars would obviously know the Velmourn army would react if they came here the way they did.”
Nymeris then suddenly turned towards Lavinia and—
“Lady Lavinia, would you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Of course not, High Chronicler. Please ask.”
Lavinia nodded properly.
“Out of everyone here, you know Drakthar the best.”
Nymeris began. Since Drakthar knew so much about them, it was only right that they even the playing field using their princess.
“Can you tell us something about that Regent? About what kind of man he is, what he does, and what his reputation is like in Drakthar?”
The oldest elder questioned, and Lavinia… she momentarily paused, as if collecting her thoughts.
“Lord Zephyr… he is one of the three Demi Gods in Drakthar.”
The princess began, and her first words surprised every Velmourn.
“He… is a Demi God…?”
Korvath questioned, somewhat shaken.
He obviously knew what a Demi God was, but…
It has been centuries since a Demi God had appeared amongst the Velmourns. Matriarch Morvain was the closest being to a Demi God they had on their side, and since she was still comparatively young, many Velmourns believed that she would break through eventually, but as things stand now, Velmourn did not have a Demi God.
So if that regent truly decided to start a war…
Things wouldn’t have ended well for any of them…
When they thought about it, all the elders took a deep breath, their faces pale.
Lavinia, on the other hand, had just begun.
After all, Zephyr’s strength wasn’t the scariest thing about him.
“He is the Head of the Nightvale Family, one of the Three Founding Families that specializes in assassination, intelligence, and internal stability. They are called the Shadow of Drakthar, and their Head…
He is hailed as one of the most resourceful heads of the Nightvale Family. He single-handedly brought the weakening Nightvale Family back to where it belonged.
He is the King’s closest aide.
It is said that if the King wants something to be done, he turns to Zephyr—and Lord Zephyr makes sure the King gets what he wants… through any means possible.”
Lavinia answered, looking at the Velmourn elders with a meaningful look in her eyes as she said those last words.
“…we did not know we were standing in front of someone… with such a reputation.”
Aelindra commented, getting nods from the rest of the Velmourn elders.
“If it is someone like him, then it makes my suspicions much stronger.”
Nymeris muttered with a cold look on her face.
“What do you mean, Elder Nymeris?”
Morvain asked respectfully. Nymeris stared at the woman she once raised like her daughter and—
“The one who informed the Stonefangs was Zephyr. As a man with means like his, it shouldn’t be a big task.”
The elders nodded. Lavinia was the same—someone like Zephyr could definitely do it.
“This would do two things.”
Nymeris continued.
“If we had accepted Drakthar’s offer and allowed their army in, they would get the opportunity to see our defeated state and become heroes, gaining the support of the people, making it much easier to not just get Princess Lavinia but Dragon Rider Kael as well.
This was probably the reason he was prepared to give up so much just to get his hands on Princess Lavinia and not Dragon Rider Kael. His true goal wasn’t Princess Lavinia, but to enter the Velmourn Land. He must have planned to gain our people’s support after defending our land from the Stonefangs and later use that to put pressure on us.”
She spoke as she glanced at both Kael and Lavinia. The two of them did not know how the talk between Velmourn and Drakthar went regarding them,
Lavinia too, blinked at her words.
“What…?”
She tilted her head, confused.
“We will discuss that later, Lavinia.”
Morvain spoke strictly.
Lavinia hesitated for a moment, but then—
“Yes, Matriarch.”
She nodded.
Morvain then turned towards Nymeris and nodded, telling her to continue.
“And of course, if we had refused his offer, then just as it happened now—he would turn back silently, the Stonefangs would attack us, annihilate the pitiful army we had left behind, take our food, leaving us helpless for the rest of the winters, and then—he would have returned, offering help, leaving us no choice but to accept.
He would then get his hands on both Princess Lavinia and Dragon Rider Kael—
All without breaking the Treaty of Vorgath.”