Page 7 of The Dragon Maiden
After a couple minutes of walking—the size of the cave system never ceased to surprise me—Bethany stopped in front of a cave entrance and entered. “My Lord, I have brought the newest Maiden,” she announced, bowing her head.
“Thank you, Bethany, that will be all.” A voice came from inside, and Bethany motioned for me to go in.
I walked into a cozy room. An ornate emerald rug covered the floor and a fire was lit to the right of me. At the end of the room was a hallway leading to more rooms. On the left were bookshelves lining the walls and a desk filled with papers. To my surprise, an older man worked at the table, writing on parchment. He had a long, dark-green beard with long, wavy hair tied back with a ribbon. Round spectacles hung off the end of his nose, his shrewd green eyes staring at the parchment in front of him. He did not look up until he had finished his writing, motioning for me to take a seat in a chair in front of him.
“Sit, sit,” he said impatiently.
I moved to follow his orders, bowing slightly before sitting down. “I don’t understand, sir. I thought I was meeting with Lord Verhorn?” Maybe the Dragon Lord had a secretary to handle these matters for him.
He laughed, a warm sound. “IamLord Verhorn,” he said. “We met briefly yesterday. I am the green dragon. My son was the one who brought you.”
My eyes widened at his words. I had no idea that dragons could shift into human form. Once more, I bowed my head, hoping for his forgiveness, Lord Dracul’s earlier warning echoing in my head. “I am so sorry, my Lord. I did not realize.”
Lord Verhorn waved a hand, dismissing my apology. “It is not a well-known fact among the humans that we are able to transform like this,” he said. “But it certainly helps to be in a nimbler form when completing certain tasks.” He gestured to the parchment in front of him as an example.
“Do all the Dragon Lords use their human forms often?” Unbidden, the thought of what Lord Dracul would look like sprang to mind and I flushed slightly, though I did not know why.
“It depends on the Lord,” he said, steepling his fingers in front of him. “Though myself, Lord Lorka, and Lord Dracul are probably the ones who are like this most often. Other dragons in our clan go about in their human forms frequently as well.” He reached for a stack of parchment, rifling through it until he found the page he wanted. “Now, I have questions I’ll need answered so we can formally document you and ensure your family is compensated.”
“Compensated?” I asked, my brow furrowing in confusion.
He nodded. “Yes, each Dragon Maiden’s family is well compensated for her service. We provide food and money for each year she is with us. I will need your full name and where you are from.” He poised his quill over the parchment, awaiting my response.
“Um…I don’t have a family. Not anymore,” I said softly.
His eyes flicked up at me, reading me.
“I mean, I have a brother, but I don’t know where he is right now.”
“Hmmmmm.” He tapped his quill on the parchment, thinking of what to do. “Is there anyone else you would want the money sent to?”
I shook my head. “Not really,” I said.
“For now, we will put the money that we would normally send to your family aside,” he said. “I will discuss with Lord Dracul about what he thinks we should do. Now, I’ll need your full name and what village you come from. I need to make sure you reside within our territory.”
“Valora Marchton, and I came from Horstaad Village,” I said.
“That is located near the edge of our territory,” he said, nodding as he wrote down my answer. “Your village provides us with lumber.” He wrote additional notes on his paper before looking to me once more. “And Verlak already informed me that he gathered you from Sherok, so their tribute for the year has been met. For now, you have been assigned to Lord Dracul as his Dragon Maiden until he decides otherwise,” he said. “Do you have any questions for me?”
Hearing that I was to serve Lord Dracul was a surprise to me. The other Maidens had said that he had not had a Dragon Maiden for years. I tried to ignore the knot in my stomach that seemed to jump around in excitement at the prospect of working closely with him. I still was resentful that I had been brought to this place.
“What do each of the Dragon Lords do? Bethany mentioned that you handle the administration here,” I said. If I was to stay in this place, it was better that I knew more about the inner workings of this new world.
Lord Verhorn set down his quill and sat back in his chair. “She is correct. I handle the administrative affairs and ensure everything within the clan is running smoothly,” he said. “Lord Noxus handles the clan’s financials and ensures all taxes and tributes are gathered in a timely fashion. We work closely together. Lord Hiram is one of the eldest Dragon Lords; he provides counsel for us based on his previous years of experience. Lord Firenze oversees the army and battle tactics, and Lord Lorka is tasked with managing our farms, along with food production, collection, and storage.”
Hearing everyone’s tasks made me realize how much more went into keeping a dragon clan alive and well. “What about Lord Dracul?” I asked. Lord Verhorn had not mentioned anything about him.
“Lord Dracul holds the title of High Dragon Lord,” Lord Verhorn said. “That means not only is he the leader of our clan, but the ruler of all the dragon clans. We help him with day-to-day tasks so he can focus on bigger issues.”
“And what is my role then?” It sounded like Lord Dracul’s responsibilities were different from all the other Lords, so I assumed my duties would be different than the other Dragon Maidens. “The others explained that I would be cleaning, cooking, and completing administrative tasks.”
“As Lord Dracul’s Dragon Maiden, your responsibilities will be different than most,” he said, nodding at my question. “You will still be helping take care of him, but you’ll also be playing a more active role than most. He will be providing you with more details as you go, training you privately. You may receive training from the other Maidens from time to time, but for the most part, he will be teaching you himself as to what he wants.”
“If all Dragon Lords have a Dragon Maiden, why hasn’t he had one before?” I knew that I was dangerously close to overstepping my bounds, especially by the way that Lord Verhorn’s eyes narrowed at my question.
“That has been his decision,” he snapped. “So far, the other Maidens have alternated tending to his basic needs, but now that he has chosen you, you will be taking over all the responsibilities that a High Lord’s Dragon Maiden would accomplish. Up until now, he has been handling those matters himself. You are to conduct yourself with the proper respect of a High Lord’s Dragon Maiden, are we clear?” His green eyes glimmered slightly ominously, almost reminding me of Vimery’s.
I nodded and bowed my head. “Yes, my Lord. I’m sorry if I overstepped,” I said.