DRAGONS IN THE SKY

My mother, the queen of the kingdom of maerin, home to all selkie's, decided upon a ball to celebrate the new treaty between the selkies of maerin and the dragon lords of adilan. After 300 years of Cold War, we are finally uniting against a common enemy. It will be the grandest event all of maerin has and maybe will ever see.

The royal family, Me, prince Leòll of maerin, third in line to the throne, my brother prince paiu of maerin, second in line to the throne and the queens right hand, my sister, Princess seiva of maerin, next in line to the throne, commander of maerins naval fleet and my parents king Aondro the 4th, husband to the queen, her royal majesty Sírdra, ruler of all of maerin on land and in sea rode out to the front gates of our kingdom to welcome the dragon lords of the fell.

First they will sign a treaty in blood following the customs of the 5 kingdoms, then gifts will be exchanged in good faith, if it goes well, it will be a long night of drinking and dancing.

All I could think about were the dragons, I had never seen one, sister once described them to me as the most daring thing she ever saw, I kept wondering what it would feel like to see one, my heart racing with excitement and eagerness.

"Relax Leoll." the stern but warm voice of my mother crashes into my thoughts. I smiled at her, and she and my father smiled back, even though they were trying to put up a confident front, I can see the uncertainty in my mother's eyes. This will be the event that will define her monarchy, it will be talked about for generations. My father reached out and held her hand. not too tight so it doesn't appear like she needs the support but tight enough so she knew he was there.

A loud growl filled the air and I knew they had arrived. With the sun just about to set, the sky was flooded with dragons, the most incredible thing I had ever seen, over 100 dragons, some in shades of red, some in shades of brown, it was completely unbelievable. Everyone one else seemed completely unmoved by the view, like they see this every other day, like it was normal. I guess I should have taken my royal training more seriously, but since I was destined to never rule, I figured what was the point.

As the dragons began to descend, I could see almost all dragon lords had the same hair color as their dragons.

"Do they dye their hair to match the dragons ?" I asked my sister.

"No, all dragon lords are born with the same hair color as their dragons".

I was about to ask her how but my eyes caught something, I was quickly interrupted by the view of the most spectacular thing I had ever seen, a white dragon.

"There it is.....the white dragon of the fell." My sister stated, a proud smile on her face.

"What makes it so special ?" I asked, my eyes fixed on it while in complete awe.

"It's the only dragon that breathes fire and ice." My brother responded "The first one in a 1000 years...imagine the power when we take it to the gates of adarof"

"Nothing powerful about freezing a kingdom paiu" my father replied, he's gaze remaining fixed on the arrival of the dragon lords.

I sometimes wondered why he chose that life, why he chose to marry mother and become king. Out of all of us, you could tell he wasn't destined to be king, he frequently spoke down on the power and privileges that came with ruling and spent most of his time under water with the mermaids of liev or with commoners in the capital tending to civil disputes. For a man with a whole kingdom at his feet, he behaved like a man with nothing. My respect, admiration and love for my father is unmatched.

The white dragon descended and its lord began to alight, my eyes set upon him and my heart imploded, tears drowned my eyes, I could barely breathe. I couldn't believe the beauty that had descended from the white dragon. His curly hair white like the crystals from the sea, his slim body adorned in a silver and a blue long garment, his dark brown skin made the blue sapphire necklace he wore look ethereal, I couldn't take my eyes off him, I could barely move.

My parents began walking towards the lords from the fell and so did they. As customs demanded, they would meet in the middle of the grounds, i only was here to escort mother, to make sure we make a good first impression, but I found myself cowering behind my sister, trying to make sure the lord with the silver hair couldn't see how flustered I was, a complete fool i was, what are you doing leoll? Why does he make me want to run away? I am a prince and a grown man! I said to myself repeatedly.

"Your Highness." One of the lords of the fell greeted us as we arrived at the middle of the grounds. Unlike maerin, the fell was not lead by a monarchy, they were lead by high lords who govern affairs of its kingdom, *The 7 high lords of the fell*.

However, one lord is always voted in as the representative of their circle. Lord xetes of the fell. A very shrewd looking man one might say, his presence was somewhat intimidating, his eyes dark as night, he had to be at least 6ft2, shoulders so long i could build a bridge between maerin and the fell with it. As intimidating as he was, my mind was too occupied by the presence of the lord with the silver hair. It wasn't until we arrived at the center of the grounds to sign the treaty that I realized he had glowing blue eyes and the longest eyelashes I have ever seen. In the past I had been told that the people of the fell were somewhat barbaric in nature and only ever had strong masculine features, but the man that stood before me was anything but that.

My mother and lord xetes gracefully signed the treaty and exchanged their gifts of diamonds, jewels, wine and art as customs demanded, everything seemed to be going just fine including my plan to avoid the gaze of that man.

"Let me introduce my son." Lord xetes said, a beaming smile on his face as he signaled the lord with silver hair over. "My 1st born, Aderryrs fron." He bowed elegantly and kissed the ring of mother following maerin's customs.

"Lord xetes you brute, he is nothing like you for sure" my mother replied as they both shared a laugh.

it was nice to see that uncertainty in her eyes disappear, it looked like she could finally breathe. mother began to introduce her husband and children as well, this is the part I was completely dreading, of course i always hated royal engagements because my mother would never skip an opportunity to parade her children like goods waiting to be sold but I especially hated that moment, I wanted to jump into my own skin, introducing me to him meant we would have to look at each other, I was already so red from being flustered.

"...and leoll my third born" mother signaled me over, I bowed and shook the hands of lord xetes following the customs of the fell.

grip the palm with your right arm and hold the elbow with your left hand while you bow and touch foreheads. We had spent the previous day learning at the hands of the royal trainer how to properly greet the lords of the fell according to their customs, it was important as a symbol of acceptance and respect.

a simple bow from the lords of the fell would mean acknowledgment but when foreheads touch that would mean respect and acceptance. I silently prayed that he wouldn't lean forward and touch foreheads, I swore to not look him in the eyes but then...

"Your majesty..." he's sweet warm voice softly called out to me, with a soft smile on his face.

"Lord Aderryrs." I replied, keeping my gaze on his sapphire necklace. I slowly stepped forward and shook his left hand which he held out to me, he certainly was a man of style, he wore diamonds and sapphire rings on almost all fingers.

I shook his hand quickly and began to step back, hoping he would break the hand shake without the touch of acceptance, but immediately I took a step backwards, he took a step forward and leaned in touching my forehead, and just like that, the promise I had made to myself to not look at him vanished. our eyes met as our foreheads touched, his blue eyes engulfed my soul, i could smell his lip balm, it smelt of a mixture of cherry and lavender, my legs started to shake and my heart began to race, I quickly pulled back, falling to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Lord aderryrs asked, trying to help me stand up, I quickly got back on my feet, Avoiding both his gaze and that of mother. Even without looking at her direction, I could feel her burning a hole through my brain with her stare.

"I am eager to see all of maerin, our new friends." Lord Xetes stated.

"Let's make you wait no longer." Mother replied. The formal greetings and treaty signing was over, now it was time to live away the night.