Page 142 of Courting the Dragon King

Konrad pressed his lips together.

Wraith exhaled. They began to walk, Gerard and the others a few steps behind them, perhaps giving them some privacy.

“I know you think necromancers and the undead army are evil, but that’s not true,” Wraith said.

Konrad opened his mouth, but Wraith spoke first.

“I’m not evil. Right?”

“Yeah. But you’re an exception.”

Wraith’s lips pursed. “In some ways. I get it, the methods we use are dark and scary and can be used for evil.”

Konrad nodded.

“Just like how a dragon could scorch fields and farming villages, with innocent people being caught up in it all,” Wraith said. “Which is something your people did during the war.”

Konrad stopped nodding. He could not deny that there had been instances where farmland and villages had been burned to stop the supply of food to their enemies. Nor could he deny that innocent civilians had died in those operations.

Konrad wasn’t proud of it. But he wasn’t proud of quite a few things Draconia had done during the war. “I see your point.”

“You want to know about dread knights?” Wraith asked. “They come from the poorest of the poor. From small villagers facing constant starvation and poverty, where their only chance for something better is to join the eternal army. So these villagers, wanting the best for their children, send them to camps to train to be dread knights.

“For years and years, these children work relentlessly, dreaming of joining the eternal army when they are of age, because becoming a dread knight would mean a better life for them, for their families, and their villages.” Wraith’s eyebrows pulled together. “What they end up as is … unpleasant. But they were just doing their duty and making the most of a terrible situation.”

Wraith continued, “You might not like how they were created or what their duty is. But they should not suffer an eternity for it. Remember, they were once just children, wanting a better life. Then they were just following orders from their higher-ups, as your own soldiers do. You should not want them to suffer forever because of that.”

Konrad took a moment before speaking. “Thank you for explaining that.”

It would be so much easier to just see all necromancers and their undead armies as evil monsters. But Konrad could admit that there was some nuance.

Wraith tended to the dread knights, breaking their bonds and sending them through the Bone Door. Then Konrad and Wraith headed to their quarters.

Most of those who’d come to the White Monastery from the different kingdoms had already left. But a few remained, partly because they had waited for Wraith and the other injured from the battle to recover enough to travel.

Konrad, his family, and the rest of the Draconians would head off tomorrow.

The East Tower had almost completely burned down. The fire had spread to other parts of the monastery. That had been contained eventually. No one knew what to do with the rest of the monks. They guessed that most were not aware of all the plotting. But surely some had known.

Several monks had stepped forward to continue running the monastery. No one knew if they could be trusted or if they should be stopped. Honestly, all the kingdoms were pretty thinly stretched right now, and no one wanted to deal with the White Monastery and the monks.

However, they would need to work something out.

Konrad and Wraith entered their quarters. Voices and laughter came from one of the dining rooms. Konrad smiled. For their last night in the White Monastery, some of those that remained had decided to eat dinner together in the Draconian royal family quarters.

“Come on,” Konrad said. “Let’s join the others.”

Chapter

Seventy

“I’m really sorry about zapping her with lighting.” Elias gestured with his goblet towards Umbra, who slept on a rug by the dining table.

“Don’t worry about it,” Wraith said.

They’d crowded together around the table in the dining room, which was designed to hold about half the number of people who currently squeezed around it. The sound of cutlery scraping and glasses clinking mixed with laughter and chatter.

“Umbra said it didn’t hurt her at all,” Wraith said.