The Dragon Kitten

The Nobles

The Kingdom of Panamalandia

        The kitten stayed in the company of Queen Sylvia for the following days, and neither of them left that room. The only other living things the kitten saw was the maids and the messengers that came from time to time.

        Queen Sylvia began to call the kitten Karina, which meant "dear little one". The kitten treasured this name very dearly. Karina began to grow larger due to her aging and consuming gems. Soon she couldn't fit in Queen Sylvia's palm anymore and had to scale her arm for rides around the hall. The queen didn't mind, and she felt a sense of pride in the fact that Karina transformed from a dirty, lost, tiny heap of fur into a beautiful young cat-dragon. 

        One morning, Karina awoke to a new face. This face had eyes like a piece of metal and his scales were shiny and black. Karina eyed this new face with interest.

        "She's woken!" The dragon announced with glee, flapping his wings vigorously. 

        "Ah, so she has." Queen Sylvia acknowledged. "Karina, this is my son, Prince Areoleus."

        "Arreeeooooolusssss." Karina squished up her face in the attempt to pronounce his name. 

        "Say air-ree-o-lus." Prince Areoleus said.

        "Areoleus!" Karina meowed with a proud smile.

        Prince Areoleus smiled back, looking into her stunning white eyes. As he looked closer he saw tiny tinges of blue.

        "I think it best you meet some nobles now," Queen Sylvia suggested. 

        "That would be nice." Karina smiled, shaking her fur.

                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        For the first time since she arrived to the Kingdom of Panamalandia, Karina entered somewhere different than the queen's hall. Marble doors swung open at Queen Sylvia, Prince Areoleus and Karina's arrival. Karina felt like she was in a dream, yet the pain of her father's absence proved this was not a fantasy.

        The room was almost as big as Queen Sylvia's room, and once again Karina felt tiny and forgotten. In the center of the room was a very large round table, with five dragons laughing and dining on their mid-day meal. At the presence of the queen they all rose and bowed until the queen motioned for them to rise and continue their fun.

        "Everyone, this is Karina. She was taken in by the kingdom almost a week prior to this day. She has grown and recovered from the many wounds she had suffered when she first arrived. I expect you all to treat her with the due respect she deserves." Queen Sylvia's voice boomed around the room, even though her voice was no more than a chatting tone. Karina felt slightly awkward that the queen spoke so highly of her yet she had to flutter a bit in the air for them to even see her.

        "Pleasure," Said a reasonable sized, stunning aqua dragoness with her eyes slightly narrowed.

        "Hey," Smiled a dragon on the small side with clear baby blue scales.

        A dark green dragon with golden hints scoffed quietly and merely nodded his head.

        "Hello." A navy blue dragon said. Karina took particular note in his violet eyes.

        "Nice to meet you." This dragon was something out of the pages of a book. Her white scales were frosty and sparkling, and she had piercing ice-blue eyes. Even with her striking appearance, she had a very warm glow to her, and Karina felt a bond that could be silly to feel with someone that had only said four words to you ever.

        "Karina, this is Lady Prismarine, Sir Bristol, Sir Arthur, Sir Parker, and Lady Opaline." Queen Sylvia introduced each dragon in the order they acknowledged her.

        Karina dipped her head in gratitude at all but Sir Arthur's warm acceptance.

        "Lady Opaline, as I have an important festival arriving, I would greatly appreciate if you could look after Karina and teach her about our history, educate her, and make sure she keeps growing." The queen said.

        "It would be my pleasure." Lady Opaline said. 

        "Good luck." Sir Arthur scoffed again. 

        Queen Sylvia caught him a disapproving glare, but he was too focused on his food to notice.

         After Lady Opaline finished eating, she nodded her head to Karina and led her out one of the doors on the opposite wall.       

        "Karina," Lady Opaline said as she pushed open door after door, weaving along different paths.

        "Yes?" Karina didn't know what else to say in front of a lady. She was so focused on keeping up and not getting lost that she didn't focus on etiquette.

        "We will have the best time together, and I'm sure of it."