A Royal Procession
As Commander Loric went back to organizing his men in cleaning up after the attack, I walked with Prince Leon back toward the carriage that held the maid and his sister.
Apparently there was supposed to be another cart that had held supplies and the like for the group, but it had gotten scared in the attack and fled back down the road.
Loric sent another two men to go hunt it down.
"Er, umm, I just want to say up front that I have no clue how I am supposed to act around royalty, so..." I said, wanting to get that tidbit of information out right away. If they knew I was ignorant, it might help prevent them tossing me in jail for insulting a prince.
Wait, can you put a dragon in jail?
Leon glanced at me with a wide, and maybe a little amused, smile.
"You are a dragon. You are not expected to bow or be polite to anyone.
" He said with a slight laugh. "Especially as a wild, female dragon.
For any other race to presume to tell a Dragonelle what to do and how to do it is the very height of folly. "
"Oh... well, good." I said, feeling relived. "I have to say that I'm a little embarrassed that you know more about dragons than an actual dragon."
This time he actually did chuckle out loud. "Most humans would not, but Orelious has a unique relationship with dragon kind. And I, myself, am in training to become a dragoon, so I know a little more than the average citizen as well."
I had so many questions. I guess I should start off with a simple definition.
"Dragoon?" I asked. My earthly knowledge told me that that had something to do with military men on horses.
In the French army... maybe? History was never my best subject in school.
That class was prime reading time as far as I was concerned.
If I had a dime every time the history teacher had to get my nose out of a fantasy novel and into my text book I'd have at least two dollars.
"It is a blanket term used amongst the nations who have a pact with dragons, used to describe those who work with dragons.
" He said as we neared the carriage. I saw that the three knights that had been sent ahead were standing guard around it, one holding the reigns of the horses.
"Once an initiate gets a dragon they can then decide to enter more specialized training to become something like a dragon knight, or dragon ranger.
Some even opt to become ambassadors that work more in politics than actual combat.
It all depends on both the rider and their bonded partner. "
I tried to rack my brains, hoping that my mother had left me anything at all that pertained to all of this, but I came up with nothing. Either she did not know, or she did not see it nearly relevant enough to be one of the few things she could leave me.
"I don't think my mother was one of these 'bonded' dragons." I said, fairly certain of that, at least. If she had been, wouldn't there be a human out there looking for her?
At that, Leon laughed out loud, causing the guards to turn and stare. "No, she most assuredly would not be. There are no female bonded dragons. Never has been and never will be."
"What, why?" I asked, minimally offended. Did they think that female dragons couldn't be knights or something? I was very sure my mother- not inhibited by a nest of eggs- could take out a country all on her own.
"Oh, please do not take offence! The main reason is that, when the pact was made, the dragons were sure to specify that no female would be bound in such a matter.
It's a pretty complicated topic, but, essentially, female dragons are far to prideful, powerful, and free, to ever even consider such a thing.
As an individual, or as a race. If humans and the like had ready access to a female, also, it was feared that they might try and force her to breed more eggs for them. "
"Oh." I guess that made sense. Though I had no clue how such a thing could be controlled or enforced. But I wasn't able to ask any more questions, as we had reached the carriage and I could here a child demanding to be let out.
"My Lady, You mustn't!" Stated the maid, insistent and reprimanding. I did not envy her her job.
"I want to see the dragon!" Stated the little lady, and I could hear a little foot stomping on the wooden floor.
Next to me, Leon sighed. "My half sister, Serenity." He said, glancing at me apologetically.
"She is a dragonelle!" Hissed the maid, out of my sight. "She is not one of those knightly dragons from around the palace, Princess!"
Leon was looking uncomfortable and awkward as we took the last few steps toward the carriage.
"I won't bite her." I said, both revolted at the thought, and annoyed that they thought I would.
I saw that Leon grew pale and seemed about to say something.
I had begun to notice a pattern of him trying very hard not to cause offence.
For a second I found that, in and of it self, rather offensive, but then I remembered that I was a dragon.
I wouldn't let a child near a strange dragon either.
But, before Leon could make another excuse for perceived rudeness, a blue and blonde bullet came flying out of the carriage in the form of a small girl.
"Serenity!" Chided Leon at the same time a woman called: "Princess!"
Before I knew it I was nose to nose with what I could only describe as a China doll.
This little Princess, much like her older brother, was exactly what you would expect a princess to look like.
She was in a sea of a blue gown, little blue shoes, and a river of caramel blonde hair.
Pearly white skin and a set of blue eyes that looked very like her older brothers.
I heard her take in a deep, surprised, breath when she realized that she at nearly stumbled into the literal maw of a dragon. Panicking a little, she stumbled backwards where she was caught by her brother.
"Hello." I said, to the girl, making sure to keep my head low. I didn't want to tower over the girl and scare her. "I'm Allura."
Here blue eyes grew round, and a second later she broke into a bright smile. "Hello Allura! I am Princess Serenity Orelious, and it's a pleasure to meet you." She said, stepping away from her brother and curtsying like a true little princess. "Thank you for helping our brave knights, Allura."
"Ah, my pleasure." I said, my head nodding in a rather bird like manner.
"Sorry for my sister's abruptness." Sighed Leon. "She has become spoiled, having so many dragons near by at all times. I fear that she has forgotten her lessons about wild dragons, and how one is not supposed to approach them... Ever."
The little princess winced, shooting her brother an apologetic look.
Leon took a deep, calming breath, before reaching out and patting her upon the head.
"Allura seems to be a very personable and lenient young dragonelle, but Serenity, you know that most dragons are not as such.
Dragons are people, yes, but they are not humans and their customs are not like our own.
Just because our partner dragons are patient with our ways, does not mean that most dragons have no such dispositions. "
"Yes Leon..." Said Serenity, looking quite chastised, her fists in her skirts and her head lowered, looking up between her lashes. "I understand."
"Your brother is right to lecture you." Huffed the maid as she jumped out of the carriage and glared at the young princess, arms folder over her chest. "I understand that, living in the palace, you see many a dragon... But even there you have been warned against haplessly approaching them!"
"I Know Hannah. I'm sorry."
Hannah, the maid or assistant- I wasn't sure her actual job title- was a pretty lady in and of herself. He was tall, with shoulder length black hair, golden eyes, and if I wasn't mistaken: pointy ears. Was she an elf?
"So long as you understand. Come along now. We would be most helpful by not being in the good knight's way as they do their jobs to protect us. Back in the carriage."
"Alright..."
Serenity sounded so sad that it made me smile. Well, not literally, given my facial muscles did not let me do that. But my heart was smiling at how adorable she was.
I snaked my head forward, noting how the elf maid grew stiff, and nudged the little princess on the top of her head with my snout. "Listen well to your elders, little princess. If you like, when all is settled, we can always talk more."
Serenity immediately perked up and spun around, beaming. "Are you coming with us Allura?" She asked excitedly, even as Hannah hurried her into the carriage.
"Yes, I invited Allura to join us." Sighed Leon, closing the door behind the girl. But she didn't let that stop her, and I saw her pretty face appear in the open window of the carriage door.
"Really?!"
"Yes, really." Leon sighed, and I could hear the amusement in his voice. "Allura is looking for her missing family, and I am sure that our father would like to hear her tale first hand. So she will be accompanying us back to the capital."
"I am so happy!" Serenity smiled.
"Glad to be accompanying you Princess." I said, watching as Hannah had the girl sit back onto one of the bench seats and began tending to the girls slightly mussed dress and hair.
"Oh, please, just call me Serenity Allura. We are friends, after all."
"Very well." I chuckled, enjoying her bubbly innocence. Not to mention her bravery. Had I just gone though a bandit attack as she just done, at her age, I would have been a blubbering mess.
I pulled my head away from her window and saw that Leon was standing there looking a little worse for wear.
I had almost forgotten that he had just been facing a slew of bandits, nearly single handedly.
His royal cloths were in a bit of a state with several small rips and a few splatters of blood on the blue fabric, and I saw that the windswept appearance of his hair as much due to it being mussed than anything natural.
"Are you hurt?" I asked him, my head cocked to the side in what must have looked like a rather animal like maneuver.
"I am quite alright." He said, and smiled off my concern. "Perhaps a little shaken up, but I have been training for such encounters."
"And you handled it very well, your majesty.
" Came the voice of Loric as the captain made his way toward us.
I saw that, behind him, trailed the rest of his men and a cart pulled by a very agitated horse.
I guess they found it. "Despite ignoring instruction and exiting the carriage, that is. " He added, exasperated.
"Ah, right, sorry about that captain..." Said Leon, looking nervous and uncomfortable.
"I wish that you would keep in mind that it is my, and my men's job, to keep you and your sister safe. You may be an accomplished dragoon prospect, but that does not mean you can disregard the commands of your superiors in the royal guard."
"I am sorry Captain Loric. I didn't intend to undermine your authority."
Scratching the back of his head, Loric sighed. "So long as you understand, your majesty."
"Everything is all set and accounted for Captain Loric!" A man called from the very back of what was amounting to a small procession, with the carriage, the wagon, and several powder blue uniformed men.
"Good. Lets get this thing going then. Last thing we need is a second wave coming and making a run at us.
" The last sentence was more of a grumble to himself than anything else.
"Back in the carriage, your highness. Once we are more sure that we are in the clear, you may be permitted to venture out, but right now your safety is my priority. "
Leon nodded his head smartly to the captain, offered me a slight bow, and turned to join his sister in the carriage.
"Should I be any where specific?" I asked, feeling very out of my element.
"You are a dragon." Loric said with a rather tired smile. "You go where ever you want, and woe be it that anyone tell you otherwise."
"Even bossing around a bound dragon is not a very smart idea." Chuckled another of the guards as he passed, heading for the lead of the procession, while others set about patting down the horses, and another man hopped up on the bench seat, taking the reigns.
"I don't want to spook the horses or anything."
"No need to worry about that, Allura." The captain stated.
He flicked his wrist above his head and his men to the signal to get things moving, and I heard the reigns flick, followed by the clip clopping of the horses hooves.
"These are a breed of horse bred specifically for the use of royalty and for the guard.
They are trained from birth to not start around dragons.
Typically, you could dive bomb down right next to one of these girls and they would hardly bat an eye. "
"Impressive..." I said, finding that hard to believe. Not so much the outrageous claims of the horses sturdiness, but the fact that I could, successfully, pull off something as flashy as a dive bomb. I'm pretty sure the horses would laugh at me if I tried it.
We walked along for a good while at a speedy march.
The men seemed to have gotten out of the skirmish mostly unharmed, but those who were sore took the first shift at resting in the suply wagon, or seated on the back bar of the royal carriage.
They were all fairly tense at first, but after about an hour Serenity could be contained no longer, and she began to chat with me through the window.
To appease Hanna, I snaked my head up so I was nearly in the window, that way the princess wasn't standing before it, waiting for an arrow to strike her down. Once Serenity took her padded seat, the attendant seemed to relax a little.
"I bet you will be so amazed when we get to Helios!" She said excitedly, her feet barely able to touch the floor.
"Helios?" I asked, also more relaxed now that I was speaking to the girl.
"It is the name of Orelious' capital city." Said Leon, seated across from the princess and Hannah. "It is the grandest city in the seven kingdoms. In my opinion, at least."
"They call it 'The City of Water'." Serenity stated, head held high and proud. Clearly she was pleased that she had remember one of her lessons.
"Why is it called that?" I asked.
"It's built on 'The Edge of the World' amongst the islands there. So its all bridges, water ways and water falls."
"Okay... And what is the Edge of the World?" I laughed. It sounded ominous, but I was glad to be learning about this new world.
"It's kind of scary." Said Serenity, a slight frown on her face. but it quickly vanished as she went back to her descriptions. "But its this huge waterfall where it looks like the world just ends! From the towers in the palace it is like you are in a never ending sky!"
"It is a major drop off." Laughed Leon. "One of the wonders of this world, really.
It is like the gods struck the earth with a great sword and it broke in half, one section rose up to the heavens, and the other fell far, far down.
Orelious is situated on the upper side, while down below grows a great jungle and the kingdom of Moonmere. "
"That sounds interesting." Now I really wanted to see this place. It reminded me of old earth stories about the edge of the world, where the ocean just ends and the water tumbles off into nothingness.
"Moonmere is the elf kingdom." Said Serenity. "It's where Hannah and Leon's mother are from. Elves are so pretty..." She added wistfully.
"What do you mean?" I asked, laughing. I was having a little trouble walking with my head in a moving carriage, and I was sure I looked foolish, but it meant I could chat, so I would live with it. "You are also very pretty." And she was. She looked like a little doll!
"Thank you! But you never saw Lady Sillia, she looks like a goddess... No wonder Papa loves her so."
"Sillia is the second Eldest daughter of Queen Dasha of the Dasha family.
" Said Hannah, taking on an air of a teacher.
My guess was that she rarely passed up the opportunity to hammer some useful knowledge into her low attention span charge.
"Moonmere is the name of the kingdom as a whole, but each elven family is lead by their own queen, and the queen always take the name of the family as their own. "
"What family are you from?" I asked before I could stop myself. I had no way of knowing whether or not I was treading into touchy subjects, after all. I was already surprised to learn that not only were Serenity and Leon half siblings, but at least on of their mothers was a concubine.
"I am not from a line nearly as grand as Lady Sillia's. Though, I am part of a branch family of the line of Strouser. It is the Strouser family that lives closest to Helios, located in the jungles below The Edge of the World."
"Oh." I said, feeling a little awkward. Hannah didn't sound offended or anything, but she had a way of speaking that felt sort of cold. Like being poked with an icicle.
"I am sure that, if you so wish it, Queen Strouser would be delighted to meet you as well." Said Leon, clearly used to Hannah's way of speaking.
"Why?" I asked, confused. I wasn't anyone at all.
A large grin spread across Leon's face. "You really do not understand how much of a rarity you are.
Female dragons almost never have anything to do with the other races, unless they are eating them.
Which, admittedly, has drastically decreased since the formation of the Pact.
It is seen as bad taste, from what I have been taught.
But like we have said before, no one can tell a dragon- especially a female dragon- what to do.
you could try, but it likely would not turn out well for the person who made the attempt. "
"Most unbonded dragons- male or female- also do not bother to learn any language beyond their own.
" Added Hannah, smoothing out her uniform dress.
"Not to diminish your grandeur to some kind of side show Allura, but it would be a rare and exciting treat for anyone to speak with one such as yourself, as we are doing now. "
"But you guys talk to dragon's all the time, don't you?" I asked, confused. They had already told me that they were a kingdom who rode on dragons for goodness sake.
"Dragoons are not as common as you seem to think." Said Leon. "Each of the three nations are given only a small number of eggs at any given time. Some years there are none at all."
"Most dragoon prospects never see themselves bonded to a dragon at all.
" Stated Captain Loric, speaking up for the first time in nearly an hour.
I pulled my head back from the window so I could see him.
"You are looking at a former prospect right here.
" He said with a small laugh, pointing at his chest. "Many who do not receive a dragon tend to migrate to the royal guard.
At least we can still put our combat training to good use. "
"I'm sorry. That must have been disappointing." I said. I wasn't sure about the process, but it must be awful to dedicate so much time and effort to something, only to fail due to conditions out of your control.
Loric shrugged. "It was a blow at first. But there are far more who do not become a dragoon than those that do.
Those who hope to become a dragoon enter the program when they are about fourteen, and since the dragon eggs seem to prefer younger partners, the prospects tend to give up by the time they reach eighteen. "
I looked back at Leon. "Do you have a dragon?" I asked. It seemed obvious, after all, if he had one, would it not be with him?
Leon flashed me a wan smile, his eyes a little sad. "No, I have yet to be chosen."
He didn't seem to want to elaborate, so I let it drop. One thing I did know was that he looked to be in his late teens, and therefore nearing, or already passed the age most prospects flunked out of the program.
Instead I turned back to Loric. "So the young dragon chooses from within their egg?" I asked. I knew that was possible, after all I was aware within my own egg, and chose to hatch when I felt the need. "But how do they know when the right person is there?"
At that Loric laughed. "Well, I suspect that you, yourself, know better than I what a dragon's standards are for an adequate partner.
All I do know is that, when a new egg is brought to one of the three kingdoms, it is brought to each of the available prospects who have completed their basic training.
Each boy- it is not always a boy, but usually- then takes the egg for twenty-four hours, and, if the egg has not begun to hatch in that time, then it is passed to the next. "
"What if it doesn't hatch for anyone?"
"Then the egg is brought to one of the other two capital cities, where the processes is repeated. Only rarely does an egg need to cycle through candidates more than once. When an egg is brought to be bonded, it typically finds its partner within a month, two at most."
"Okay... so what makes these dragon/human partners bonded then? a spell or something?"
"No," Said Leon, his face appearing in the window, causing Loric to frown. "Nothing so in depth as all that. Dragon life spans are a great deal longer than a humans or an elves. There are some dragons who have several partners before they die."
Loric nodded. "And, it is rare, but sometimes the bonded pair has a falling out, and one or the other doesn't wish to continue the partnership."
"So, what does a fully grown dragon do when it looses their partner then?" Though I supposed the question could be asked the other way around too. I just assumed it more likely that the human half of the deal was more likely to kick the bucket.
"Normally? I guess you could say they take a vacation.
Typically, if a partnership breaks, it is due to a death.
As I am sure you are fully aware, even dragons mourn the loss of a friend.
But, once they are ready to take a partner again, they choose from the available candidates.
Some, waiting years before they find a partner they think comparable to the one they lost. No one is foolish enough to force a dragon to take a partner before they are ready. "
"I wouldn't say 'no one'." Mumbled Leon, causing Loric to chuckle.
"True. Some of the foolish old men who think they know everything, but spend their days attending parties and playing with their money have been known to be so fool hardy.
The Pact has been in effect for so long now, that some bureaucrats think the dragons are hardly more than pets, or shiny horses.
Fools. Luckily, most people with any authority know better. "
But Loric sighed then, shaking his head, and I saw a dark look pass over his ruggedly handsome face.
"Still, it is probably those foolish old men who have caused your current predicament, Allura.
Bandits would not just attack a nesting dragon for fun.
And, typically, if they did hunt a dragon it would be for things like its blood or hide.
Stuff they could sell. To attack a nesting mother, abandon her corpse, and take off with eggs?
I could only assume that there are some nefarious plans behind something like that. "
"Yes, hence why I think Allura should bring her story to my father directly.
And with any luck, the scouts might have a lead on where to find the scoundrels that took off with her nestmates.
" Stated Leon, a look of indignation and righteous anger on his face now.
I suppose it was nice to know that not all humans in this world thought it a good idea to kidnap baby dragons.
"Your majesty... Away from the windows, please." Said an exasperated Loric.
I couldn't help but chuckle as Leon pulled a sour face before disappearing back into the depths of the carriage.
This was nice, having people to talk to again.
Its not a phrase I ever thought would cross my mind, being a rather antisocial person in my last life and all.
Maybe a girl had to spend a couple months alone in a monster forest with noting but a non-communitive bird to talk to, to really appreciate the ups of companionship.
What ever the case, I felt much better now that I was with Leon and the others.
Not to mention all the more closer to finding my siblings.