Touch of Flame

"Did you experiment with dragon blood?" Nazneen crossed her arms over her chest.

Ares took a moment to think of what route he wanted to take. Say something to anger her and end this thing that was escalating between them and live his last days sailing away or try to ease things.

Unable to decide, he let fate decide for him and told things as they were. "Yes." He replied. "Who told you?"

"I overheard your men but it doesn\'t matter," she spoke annoyed and angry. "Why would you do that?"

"I was trying to find any way possible to fight back."

"So there are dragons somewhere out there that are being experimented on."

"Dragons that went out and were caught destroying and killing humans."

She took a deep breath as if to calm down. "What were you trying to achieve?"

"Strength, speed, and fast healing."

She shook her head. "Dragon blood is lethal. You are lucky you happened to be a breedmate but this is not an experiment that will help humans."

"I know now," he spoke calmly.

She looked at him for a long moment and he wondered what was going through her mind. "Now that I am a queen and plan to be a good one, I will need to protect my people as well."

"As you should, " he replied feeling like they were standing on the opposite side. If their people didn\'t get along, they both knew on which side they needed to fight.

"We should get back," she said after a long silence between them.

Ares took a moment to speak to his men and they decided which ones would stay and which ones would come with him. Noah, Eric and Jonathan followed him back to the X-clan.

Noah was a responsible man who took his role as Ares\' right-hand man seriously. He was often by Ares\' side, assisting him with various tasks and making sure things were running smoothly within the business. Ares relied on him a lot. He has a calm demeanor and was respected by the other members of the crew.

Jonathan was the intelligent one and the investigator. He often came up with innovative ideas but also found the missing gaps in their projects. Although he was spurious and passionate about discovering and learning new things, he had a more laid-back personality than Noah and enjoyed joking around with his fellow crew members.

Eric was the youngest among them. An orphaned boy, now seventeen years old. Ares met him when he was just a boy and he saw himself in the young boy. There was a fire in his eyes, a fighting spirit, a fearlessness, a playful nature, a determination, and a willingness to learn. Ares had felt that he would become a good addition to the crew and he did.

When they arrived at the royal house, Tenzin was still waiting for them, walking restlessly in the courtyard.

"Tenzin, come!" Nazneen casually motioned for him to come.

She introduced him to Eric, Jonathan and Noah. Ares was impressed by Tenzin\'s professionalism. He liked the man so far.

They all went ahead to have breakfast. Nazneen chattered happily with everyone. He could see that she enjoyed being surrounded by people she liked and he could understand that she longed for it after being locked away for so long.

He took notice of the book on the table, that she brought with her. The masked king. She must have asked one of his men for it. Ares guessed that Ravina suggested it but he had never read it himself so he didn\'t know what it was about. Politics? Or just a complicated sad story?

Afte the light chatter, they focused on what needed to be done on the first day as a Queen. The messengers came to help as well, and Ares explained his plan to them as well.

"You want to change traditional rules?" The head messenger raised a brow unimpressed.

Ares could reply but turned to Nazneen instead. She was the queen after all so he gave her the final word.

"Can I... not?" She wondered, where she sat comfortably in a red and golden armchair.

Enjoying where this was going, Ares turned back to the messenger. "Of course," Nimron replied, keeping his composure. "I just here to help and I am not sure if this is a good solution."

Ares looked at Nazneen again. He wanted to see how she would handle this. She looked back at him at first, wondering why he as letting her talk but she pulled herself together quickly. He knew she was a quick learner. She has surprised him last night and he wished to see more of that side of her.

"We can\'t know unless we try," she replied short.

Nimron gave a curt nod and they proceeded with the plan. They put out posters and the messengers went out to spread the message that everyone could apply to become a court member. They would go through different trails and those who scored highest would be chosen.

"What kinds of tests are you thinking about?" Noah asked.

"Well, what do we value in our crew?" Ares asked in turn.

Eric tilted his head as he replied. "Skills. Depending on the task, we need skilled people to perform the task."

Ares nodded.

"Being able to handle and work under pressure. Fast thinking. Problem-solving. Curiosity, loyalty, bravery." Jonathan added.

"You expect them to have all of that?" Nazneen wondered.

"They could have more or less of one thing or the other. They could score very high on one task and very low on another but the score will balance each other out." Noah explained.

"Yes. but we also need to keep those who score very high in a specific category. They could be useful in that category." Jonathan pointed. "For example, your advisers should score high in problem-solving and innovative thinking among other things."

"And for that, we could give them a real social and economical problem to solve," Eric suggested.

Tenzin and Ares only sat and listened to the brainstorming that was happening and that got Nazneen excited and she joined eventually, coming up with her own ideas of what she might need as a queen.

After they were done the smile faded from her face. "We are prideful. Those who fail will cause a problem."

"You already have skilled and smart people by your side then who will help you take care of it," Ares assured her.

"And also people who look up to you for being fair and feeling grateful that they were given the chance to use their skills to advance themselves," Jonathan added.

She nodded smiling. "Alright then. It will be interesting to see which people applied."