Dragon Reincarnated (Working title)

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.