Chapter four (8)

"You also have the feeling she is dangerous too, then?" the king asked her.

"No, I know for a fact that she is. You must never underestimate the women of the Thraine clan," she said and the king stiffened as though all life had left him.

"Thraine? Thraine clan?" the king's pupil shrank visibly.

"It seems you did not know. I guess none of the first-rate kingdoms would have told you. It would not be in their best interest anyway," she said, making her way to a chair and sitting.

"But..." the king tried to utter words, but his mind was already too muddled by the words she had spoken before.

"But what? You never wondered how your kingdom went from third-rate to first-rate overnight? First-rate kingdoms may still be under the ancients but are respected as equals to the ancients. This is of course in name alone; they are a world apart and only left alone to thrive because The Religion wishes it so. The only way for a kingdom to become a first-rate kingdom is to have both the means and power to cause the ancients to respect them as an entity, and it takes many years to reach such a feat. Another way is to have a member of the Thraine household living in your kingdom as her home," she said.

He, as the king, did not know how his small kingdom became classified as a first-rate kingdom that enemies refused to approach.

"The Thraine household is an ancient clan. I'd always thought they lived in their own territory as no one truly knows anything about them, but thinking about it, it's right for them to be all over the place; after all, it's a clan of women," she explained. Only then did the king react.

"A clan of women?" he asked.

"Of course. Though we know nothing about them, the only people ever known to be Thraines were women and truthfully, no one is sure how the inheritance works. The grand dowager empress of Khul is a Thraine; we know that, but, she had sons alone and none of them are considered Thraines. Her sons have daughters yet they too are not so lucky, except one. Her third son was not considered a Thraine, but his daughter, the granddaughter of the grand dowager empress, is. The female valley head of Lir before her was never a Thraine. You must understand that no one knows anything about how it works. One thing is for sure though, they are women and they are always blonde. An abbot that once came to visit my mother had only told us that the succession of Thraines is linked to the curse of their hair. But of course, he had died soon after, you speculate as to why," she said and the king shivered.

"So, they have managed to make people fear them, without anyone knowing anything about them," he said. The thought that one lived in his kingdom, he was sure was a good thing. But doesn't this mean his crown held no meaning?

"Worry not. They have never been one to interfere with little kingdoms; in fact, they usually support their home and that at the moment, is your little Kingdom," she consoled him.