Dragon Mage II: Author's Note (post chapter 56)

I'm going to put a spacer here for those individuals who haven't read the previous installments, can see this preview without a spoiler.  Scroll down to below the lines ~~<{O}>~~ to read the actual note.

This is a first for me, by the way, but there were some complicated things that I had fun while writing, and I hope you enjoyed.

I'm not sure how long to make it, so I'm going to babble on a little bit because I want to make absolutely certain that no spoilers will inadverdently be revealed.

Frankly, while I kind of appreciate the preview function for written work on DeviantArt, I have to say that in this particular occasion, it can be a little annoying.  I just have to ramble nonsense for a while longer.  To those who have read and are just seeing this, I apologize.  But to those who have not read the last installment and are seeing this bit, well, I can hope you'll thank me.  And if you don't, well, I suppose it's the thought that counts.

Ready?

The note is below.

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Some of you may be wondering what has happened, to lead to this point.  Jasper, Jarrod, York, and Tevyn are all dead.  They were all dragons who were on the Council, without the knowledge of the Council.  Tevyn supported Eric's nomination to the Council, and later Executive, while Jasper opposed it.  Tevyn was also sent to seize Eric's child.  Finally, there was a palpable animosity between Tevyn and Jasper.

Yet, in this last intsallment: Tevyn, York, and Jarrod are all trying to kill Eric and those helping him; Jasper is killed in the process of defending Eric.

To understand events, one should remember that to some of this group, Eric was nothing more than a political football.  Also, keep in mind, nobody knew there were dragons on the Council.  Of those who did, nobody knew who the dragons were.

Tevyn and his crew supported the notion of allowing dragons on the Council as members.  As a dragon, Tevyn knew the history of the Morphos Dragon and the desired end of their efforts.  He was quite familiar with Eric's family, as was hinted when he mentioned Odarc's name.  For him, Eric's presence on the Council represented the presence of a known part dragon on the Council, and could potentially pave the way for a full dragon to be on the Council.  He needed Eric's support.  When Eric did not provide the support he wanted, Tevyn revealed that Eric was descended from a dragon – not just any dragon, but a Morphos Dragon, one of the least desirable for association.  The move was calculated, and was almost a Xanatos Gambit:

• Tevyn thought that Eric would fear being expelled by procedure (if the dragons aren't allowed, then neither is he), and thus push for support;
• If Eric did not push for support himself, the Council would either approve the measure to allow dragons, for Eric's sake, or expel Eric;
• Failing that, he would kill Eric to rid himself of an obstruction.

The entire reason that Tevyn supported Eric's membership on the Council, was to gain a foothold for his own purposes.  The reason he put Eric's proposal, to do away with the policies against Dragon Mages, was to gain leverage over Eric.

Jasper, on the other hand, knew Tevyn's motives exactly.  He knew Tevyn saw Eric as a foothold.  Additionally, Jasper did NOT want dragons on the Council.  He viewed his own presence as an unfortunate exercise in duplicity, since he bore the burden of being on the Council, in an attempt to keep Tevyn in line (and Tevyn knew this).  Under the circumstances, of having dragons on the Council, especially those who wanted dragons on the Council, it was not good to have Eric as a member, much less an executive member.  Thus, another exercise in duplicity: while Jasper fully viewed Eric as human and supported his membership on the Council and later the Executive, he felt that he had to do everything in his power to avoid it.  He was trying to protect Eric from what he knew would happen.

Now, I've been wanting to explain chapter 42 for quite some time.

Given all of this, remember the incident when Tevyn arrived at the Townley's, regarding their new daughter.

Given what Tevyn felt toward Eric during the hearing (or at least, that he knew that Eric was not supporting him), why didn't he say anything about Eric's ancestry at that time?  For several reasons, actually.  The least of them was that Jason had spoken with Tevyn before everything happened, reminding him of Eric's exemption and advising him to avoid upsetting Eric.  The original plan at the time, was for Tevyn to speak with Eric, and return without the baby after a brief interview.  Of course, the first thing that failed was the plan.  Then, Jason spoke with him again.  Second, but primarily, Tevyn had his own reasons to not harm Eric or want him off the Council at this point.

One thing that will be revealed to Eric later on, is that dragons do not lie.  Nothing that Tevyn said on the stand was a lie.  But wait, what about his answer to being threatened?  There are two ways to consider this:

• Eric never actually uttered a threat.  He assumed a defensive posture.  While this can be, and is, intimidating, the entire purpose was to be ready.
• No matter what Eric said, Tevyn was not threatened by him, because he was a DRAGON all along, and unimaginably more powerful than Eric.

As Tevyn said, Eric simply reacted in a manner that he felt a reasonable person may, should they fear their family may come to harm.  Thus, Tevyn responded truthfully.  As a dragon, he would not lie.  Besides, Eric still had use to him, so the answer he gave was “technically correct” but “lacking in detail.”

Now, what about Jasper's visit after Eric's return?  Jasper was on his own information gathering mission.  He knew that Eric would be in serious trouble if Eric had found the dragons.  The friendly chatter was a cover; Jasper had read Eric and already knew what was happening.  Of course, Eric could still learn some things about “not providing a dodgy answer in a manner that makes the answer obvious.”  If Eric had asked, he would have helped (and sorted it with Jason and Serene later).  He knew that he made Eric uncomfortable, so he decided to drop the subject, leave, and not mention it again.  The most he could do after that, was try to watch the others.  But Jasper sincerely respected Eric as a person.

Now, how much of that was obvious?