The Dragon's mate

The Dragon Realm

The Dragon Realm was divided into three sections. The first was ‘The Core’, where the Royals and the nobility had their dwellings. This place was the grandest, not only from the perspective of mortals but, also from the perspective of the supernatural beings. It had comforts and luxuries that, one could only dream of. If one was born in 'The Core' they could laze around for eternity. While the chief of each household worked hard to provide comforts, the countless concubines and the children had to do nothing but spend the wealth that the forefathers had accumulated. Some indulged in the vices of the society, some studied hard and aspired for a position in the court. Those who did not make use of their time well led a miserable life once they turned older.

This fact held truer for the male dragons than the female dragons. The female dragons were mostly married of to others in the noble clan. The concubines' daughter could only hope to become a concubine. Only the daughters of the chief wife could become a chief wife to a noble male dragon. While mates did exist, very few were lucky to marry their mates. Marriages were mostly determined by a similar status in court. The mate, more often than not was, taken in as a concubine if her family's status in court was not at par with the male dragon's father. Even when, the status was at par if, the said mate's mother had been a concubine, she could become a concubine only.

The households of the noble dragons were shrouded in mystery and, power politics held centre stage in too many of them. Everything looked fine and glitzy from the outside. In reality the chaos and disturbance were well hidden. They would only come to light if a noble or royal had useless successors. In such a case scenario, the entire family would be banished to live in 'The Help'. This was a fate that all the royals dreaded.

 The second section was ‘The Market’. The traders and the businessmen had their dwellings and shops there. While those who lived in ‘The Core’ could own a place in ‘The Market’, those who lived in the latter could not live in 'The Core' unless they were honored with "The Knight’s" title.

The third section was ‘The Help’. Those who worked as laborers on the fields, the blue collared workers in various dragon establishments, the sales persons, the laundry boy, the cleaning lady and many others like them, who performed various miscellaneous tasks, had their living quarters here. Upward mobility in life was only a distant dream for them. These were the most ordinary dragons, with absolutely no special ability within them.

Sometimes, a dragon belonging to ‘The Help’ could be very fortunate. At these times they would have found a mate from ‘The Knight’ or even ‘The Core’. In these circumstances if, their mate accepted them they were destined to move up in life. However, the sad part was that, their families would continue to live like before. Many of them often had to comply with the condition of breaking up their family ties. Some accepted while some were forced to do so by the birth families.

Yet, a common occurrence was that their mate who belonged to the higher echelons would play with their feelings. Once, they had had their fill these upper class dragons would leave their mate forever and get into an arranged marriage setup with someone of their class. The female dragon, who belonged to ‘The Help’ often gave birth to an illegitimate child. This child grew up in a condition even worse than those belonging to ‘The Help’.

These kids remained slaves for lives. The male and female slaves were trained under tortuous conditions by the royal trainer. Any violation or hint of rebellion was punished severely. They could be maimed or burnt. None of them were killed, but, their lives were such that, death was a desirable goal for those who dared to rebel.Their future was set in stone. And, physical abuse apart from the long working hours was a life that they were resigned to lead. An even worse fate awaited some of these female slaves. They were often sent as gifts to a noble's harem as well as to other supernatural realms. A few of them had also been used to satisfy wierd fetishes of male dragon. 

The hierarchies were deeply entrenched into the minds of those who inhabited the Dragon Realm. The pyramidal structure was steep. Apart from the king or the queen their son alone had powers that others could dream of. While the crown prince Vern was indeed a subject of envy, many in the nobility and ‘The Market’ dreamt of marrying their daughters to him.

Some traders and nobles alike thought that, it would be great if the crown prince took their daughters as concubine. In due course of time the concubine could usurp the legitimate queen of her powers and privileges and become a favorite of the dragon prince Vern. Sky would be the limit for them then. And their ascent in 'The Core' would be something to look forward to . Much time was wasted by these people in building castles in the air. Perhaps they underestimated the prince's intelligence and took him as a fool.

"The Crown Prince" Vern was the only member of royalty who was appreciated and admired across all three sections of the dragon realm. He was respectful to the elders of 'The Core.' He was polite to the people who lived in 'The Market' . He spoke gently to those who belonged to 'The Help'. And most importantly, he was the only royal who treated the slaves with dignity. Every slave dreamt of being recruited by the crown prince. He was the only one, in the dragon realm who treated them decently. They were not at par with royalty, but, at least the prince treated them as an ordinary dragon.

For these slaves, who had grown up with the belief that, they were a blot to the society of dragon's, this treatment, was, indeed akin to a parched throat's thirst being quenched. These slaves as such, were fiercely loyal to the crown prince. Each of them knew that, if required they would gladly give up their lives for the sake of the crown prince Vern. 

The crown prince Vern knew the importance of these slaves in this society. He knew that, while they had been born in an undesirable way it was not wise to condemn them to a standard of living that was unfit for any being. He understood the anger that gradually brew within the hearts of these slaves. He understood that a spark could ignite their hearts and bring destruction to the dragon realm. While the chaos might be controlled the damage would be irreparable. The class divides in the society of dragons would become worse. And, while heavy force might be used to crush these slaves, beings from other realms, could take advantage of their discontent.

Vern had personally never found distinctions appealing. He knew that hierarchies were necessary for the society to operate. But, he felt that true merit and capability, and not one's birth should determine the trajectory of one's future in life. Strangely enough the Dragons Realm which prided itself in being the torchbearer of the Supernatural beings had vices of the mortal world. In the years to come it would perhaps be this crown prince who might make sweeping reforms in the Dragon Realm. For those measures to succeed he would definitely need support from his mate.

It was his mate who could add to his reservoir of powers. It was his mate who could complete him. It was his mate who would be his anchor in the most difficult times. The mate was Emily. Today she was unaware of how important she was. Today she thought that, she was an ordinary mortal. Little did she know that, she had the power to change the fates of all those in the Dragon Realm, and the Supernatural Dimension in general.