Dragon Crowns: The Broken Throne - Chapter 2
Welcome to ScaleHeart, Capital of The Draco Imperium.
All eyes were on Blaze.
It was as if he were some monster coming into their midst. Royal soldiers stood flanking him and leading him as they walked from the carriages to the Court.
He tried to ignore their eyes and look around this new place called ScaleHeart. This was the capital he grew up hearing so much about, or at least it was its former shell.
A black granite wall with depictions of dragons sealed the central part of Scaleheart from where the people lived. This sealed space was the city that magic sealed off when the last Dragon Emperor died.
It didn’t seem to bother the people around here that they had such a huge secret right before them. Weren’t they curious to see what was inside?
Blaze turned to look at the people. Both those staring at him and others. They were all just like him. No fancy clothes or shoes. Nobody looked like someone who lived a better life than him.
Then Blaze turned his gaze towards the soldiers surrounding him. They looked like they lived a good life. They looked healthy and muscular, and their full plates looked polished and well-preserved.
The wall intrigued Blaze. He could have sworn someone looked at him from that direction, but no one was there. People were actively avoiding the wall for reasons yet unknown to Blaze.
As Blaze was about to turn his gaze back, one of the Dragon depictions on the wall turned his head towards Blaze. Gasping, Blaze accidentally stumbled into one of the soldiers’ backs, and they all immediately drew swords at him.
“What are you doing?” the offended soldier asked.
“The wall, the dragon was moving!”
“He’s trying to plead for insanity even before he gets to see the judge,” one of the soldiers said and started laughing. His friends joined him.
The Judge… Blaze suddenly remembered where they were headed and steeled himself.
As they kept walking in silence, Blaze suddenly noticed a shift in smell. There was no recognizable smell as they entered ScaleHeart itself, but there was a strong smell of spices, fish, and meats here. They were walking through a bazaar on their way to court.
A woman at the bazaar winked at Blaze and threw a slice of apple in the air. His hands were tied behind his back, but he managed to catch it with his mouth, just barely. He nodded at her as he chewed on it. It was juicy and delicious.
Heading out from the market on the other side, Blaze saw three relatively big buildings that did not look right. They were old and seemed to have carvings of dragons' heads, wings, and potentially other identifying signs of the actual dragon empire instead of whatever this government was.
The remaining people of ScaleHeart claimed these buildings and turned them into municipal buildings, thanks to their origin. One was a larger building, on which they put a sign reading “Palace.”
The one Blaze was being led to had the sign “Court,” and the last one was too far to see.
“Right, we’re here.” the soldier in front said. “You three can leave. I will accompany our… guest.” the soldier said with a specific tone of disdain.
Going into this building felt to Blaze like the time before his grandmother died, and she invited the family to stay at her house. His family had room to sleep in but did not make themselves at home by using the wardrobe or doing things in the house. His parents tried to keep everything the way it was without trying to touch things too much. The same feeling of not owning a place existed in this place. There were papers everywhere, bags, and other materials. If they needed to leave, they could vacate the building in minutes.
The soldier led Blaze to a large room that had been used as a courtroom. The back of it was stuffed with old shelves of books, and the air was stuffy and dusty.
An older man dressed in an all-black robe entered from a different door, and everybody stood up. As he sat down, everybody else followed.
The man turned his gaze towards Blaze.
“Right, let’s begin.”