Her Dragon

In a time of faeries and dragons, there was but one rule amongst them. Don’t fall in love with your dragon. For most of the faeries this rule was very easy to keep, for a dragon was just another beast, meant to be a pet and nothing more. For others, this rule was a little more difficult to follow, and the consequences could be dire. If you were found to be lovers with your dragon, the High Court could punish both you and the dragon in several different ways, depending on what they deemed a fitting punishment. Most of the time they simply killed the dragon, other times they would force the faerie in question to become a servant of the High Priest and Priestess, while the dragon was sent to the army to be used in battle. The High Court was usually more lenient with the upper class, and more brutal with the lower classes. It wasn’t unheard of for one of the royals to be caught, though it was usually someone in the lower classes, but you would never catch someone of the High Court involved with their dragon.

When a faerie is born, a dragon egg is selected and trained for 18 years to obey, respect and protect their faerie. The faeries are brought up and trained for their job and who their parents are determines what their job will be. If your parents are on the High Court, then you will grow up to be on the High Court, but if your parents were farmers or mill workers, then that’s what you will be. There was room to move up in the chain, but only for those born into upper classes. Children born to parents on the High Court could marry into someone born from someone in the Royal class, but someone from the lower class could only hope as high as a marriage to someone in the middle class. For someone of the Royal or Upper classes to become involved with someone in the lower classes was almost as bad as becoming involved with your dragon, though not as deadly.

Nesryn was born to parents on the High Court, very important faeries on the High Court at that. She had bright yellow hair, just like her mother and eyes the color of amethyst, not too tall and with a slender body. As she aged, she had many boys chasing after her, but none of them interested her. Though very attractive, she entered adulthood without any official suitors, even though many tried. At 18, she was a very headstrong woman, who could take care of herself in any situation, and knew every law known to the faeries. She studied every law book of the faeries in preparation of her job, and trained on every weapon of the faeries. She spent her whole life trying to be the best at everything she learned, average was never an option, especially not with her father.

Nesryn’s father, Tybalt, had hair that was long silvery wisps and eyes the color of sapphires. He was the oldest and wisest faerie on the High Court and had helped set in place most of the rules and laws the faerie people had to abide by. His house was pristine, everything was cleaned, dusted, and washed daily. There was no room for dirty, ugly or broken. His children were all expected to make the highest marks in their classes, be the best at every spell they learned, and learn to use their weapons with more skill than any other faerie. There was no room for second best, mediocre or average.

Nesryn’s mother, Enndolynn, was one of the most beautiful faeries. At least to Nesryn she was. She had hair as yellow as the sun, and eyes that were the color of rubies. How her and Tybalt ever mated, is still a mystery to Nesryn. Enndolynn is a free spirit, she doesn’t like to play by the rules and would rather be out in the forest than sitting with the High Court. Her mother was always a gentle person, very soft spoken. She was never meant to be a faerie of power, but that’s what Tybalt wanted for his wife and she gave into his commands.

Growing up was very different for Nesryn, her father taught her to be hard, to fight, to use weapons. He taught her spells and incantations for war and battle. Her mother taught her to make elixirs, potions and a few incantations to help others, for healing, for love. She was taught to be hard and strong, to stand steady in the face of danger and be ready for anything. Yet, she was also taught to be light and gentle, to always lend a helping hand. It was very confusing when dealing with her classes that involved fighting and battle, because her parents had taught her two completely different ways to handle things. In the end, Nesryn became the best fighter in the land, but she was also the one who showed the most mercy towards her enemies, which infuriated her father. Tybalt hated the fact that every enemy his youngest daughter ever faced, was met with mercy and compassion to some extent, and because of this, when Nesryn was 15 years old, he sent her to live with his parents.

Nesryn’s grandparents had once been on the High Court, and were close friends with the High Priest and Priestess. They were worse than Tybalt in their harshness and unwillingness to bend. While living with them, Nesryn was taught to show no mercy to her enemies, to kill first and ask questions later. They turned what was a somewhat soft heart, into one of stone and ice.