Trevor groaned. Great, not one, but all three heirs were here. If the truth had been spoken. He looked at the Hermit, who seemed rather amused by it all.

"It's not unlikely that traumatic events block certain memories," the hermit spoke. "If you don't remember how your siblings looked back then, I can imagine it's hard to recognise them now. But I recognised each of you." He looked from Damien to Noble. "Rai is correct, she is your sister and you two are her brothers. And one of you will have to come forward to claim the throne. The honour usually befalls the oldest, but I don't mind who the heir to the throne will be, as long as you three all agree. And then you have to decide on a course of action. Will you gather an army and go to war? Will you go with a small team to assassinate the king? And don't forget someone must bring the small water dragon to the sea."

Mikhal stared at the three riders, but when Gnol spoke he snapped out of it and turned his head to face him. "Yes, I heard it all. The Tale Of The Three Heirs. I think that is what the title will be." He noticed he was holding something and looked at his bowl of soup. He quickly dipped his spoon in it to eat it, with everything going on he had forgotten all about it.

Rachel stared at Damien, all this time they knew each other and she had had no clue who he really was. "You could have told us," she said. "The Silver Order would have helped you. I would have helped you."

Meria listened to everything, but she didn't pay much attention to the conversation. While the revalation was unexpected, there was something more important. The heirs all had dragons and by the sound of it loyal followers. The water dragon had no-one, that was her responsibility.
"I'll be travelling to the sea," she said. "I could try to find the dragon sanctuary too, let the dragons know we're going to fight back and need more help. That if the new king is defeated they can return home."

The old dragon looked at Meria. "They won't allow humans in," he rumbled. "And I can't fly there. But the sea dragons could speak for you if you return their offspring to them."
He had lived long enough to see dragons and humans at war with each other, then the peace between them, and now dragons were once again hunted down. That had to stop. "I will do what I can to help. I say we burn the castle to the ground. Problem solved."
Trevor looked at the dragon. That was a strategy he could agree with. 

[hr]

"Wrong," the general said. "You will be fed soon, don't worry. We have some humans in prison, criminals and a couple of dragon riders awaiting execution. I can send them here so you can feast on them." He made a small bow for the king. "We have a possible location for the last hiding dragon riders, I will send our squad of dragon slayers to kill the dragons and their riders. Do I have your permission to send the condemned men here instead of the gallows?"