Chapter 21
Chapter twenty-one
The Misters W— Ruin Themselves
by our trusted correspondent, Scaleheart
This has not yet been formally announced by the Crown Constabulary, but young Mr. W— has been arrested for buying a dragon egg. The egg has been confiscated to be hatched in the Royal nest, and the money that foolish Mr. W— paid for it has vanished with the underhanded sellers.
The law prohibiting the purchasing of dragon eggs is a wise one, or else we would see dealings like this all the time.
Any family with some money could pretend to the grandeur of being a dragon house and make it reality.
Only the crown can be trusted with purchasing eggs and dragons on behalf of the army.
Indeed, the W— family should accept their lot, instead of stirring up new trouble.
They lost their dragon, and will never be a dragon house again.
I do offer my condolences to the family.
The patriarch was recently killed in a street brawl.
My informant at the Constabulary said it was likely due to the comprehensive gambling debts that he accumulated in the last year.
Perhaps he could have paid them if not for the egg-buying of his son.
It is sad the family has fallen so far into complete destitution.
But perhaps that is the fate of all families who lose the status of a dragon house. Without the majestic beasts to prop them up, they collapse into ruin. It is a twisted curse that seems to bite upon the family, poisoning everything.
If only either of these men had accepted his lot with grace and courage, they could have avoided the sting.
If they had gone into the army, they could have used their dragoneering experience to assist matters there, and kept the privilege of associating with them — if only the most nest-tetchy and deplorable versions of dragons, as tend to end up in the army.