'To bond with a dragon was a rare thing. Dragonblood did not run through family trees. It was a flip of the coin. Some wait their entire lives hoping their dragonblood will appear. Non-dragonbloods have gone up to dragons with the intent to bond only to be burned for trying. Every infant is given a dragon egg. If it hatches, a bond has been completed. If not, that person is not a dragon blood. It is possible for a person to bond with a dragon later in their life, however. There had been exactly two counts of such a thing in the history of Enethor. The dragon and the rider are, then, bonded until one of them dies. Their life forces are connected. Some say, if the bond is strong enough, the human will live longer. Sadly, the last part is just a myth. Stories say a man lived to be one hundred whilst looking forty simply because his bond with his dragon was so strong. Though, this is strongly disputed as there is no proof of this man ever existing.
An already existing dragon had a previous soul bond; it was said to be almost impossible to bond with one of these dragons. Only two people had, according to the records. Both are dead now. Dragons that refuse to bond after their first bond has died disappear. No one knows where they go.
The oldest dragon in all of Enethor was Nisaria; she was five hundred years old. No one knows what happened to her old bond. It is written in the books that he died during the war. It was said she threw a fiery fit, killing thousands of people in her rage. After she was finished, she ripped her rider's saddle off with her teeth and burned it. She flew off, then. She has never been seen since.
Along with the oldest, she was said to be the largest; her giant figure was enough to shadow an entire village. Her skin was pure wh-'
A nine-year-old Amaris was startled from her reading as her friend appeared in front of her, "There you are! I have been looking for ages!" she said, taking the book from her hands, "This book again? You have finished it more times than I can count!"
Amaris looked at her friend, Princess Anastasia, and said, "It's practice, Ana. I don't know all of the words yet. I need to be able to teach Luce correctly."
Anastasia smirked at her friend, the expression unbefitting of a princess, putting the book down on the rock Amaris had been leaning against, "I think you want a dragon."
"Everyone wants a dragon, Ana! I am not the only one!" Amaris told her, almost yelling.
"There is still time for you," the princess comforted her friend.
"Perhaps," Amaris conceded.
Anastasia held out her hand to help her friend up, "Supper?"
Amaris took her hand, heaving herself up and dusted her skirts off, "I promised Luce I would eat with her tonight."
Anastasia squealed, "I can join you!"
Amaris squeezed her friend's hand and told her as gently as she could, "Ana, you treat her as if she were a wild animal that happened to wander into the castle. She is a person, not someone for you to gawk at."
Her friend brought her hand to her mouth, "Do I really?"
She nodded, "Luce is my friend, and if you want her to be yours, you need to treat as such. No more 'I can't believe I'm spending time with a servant!' comments. They're mean, you know."
Ana's eyes filled with tears, "Oh gods, I am horrible. I was not even aware I was saying such things!"
Amaris knew this. Anastasia had a tendency to speak without thinking. She distantly wondered if her friend would ever grow out of that. She reached out to wipe a tear that had fallen from her friend's eye, "You can eat with us, but you must apologize to her. Like equals."
Anastasia nodded at her friend and sniffled, "I will."
Amaris linked arms with her friend, and they made their way to her rooms to eat.
***
They entered her rooms to find Luce already there, setting the table. Anastasia rushed over to her, "Oh, Luce, I am so sorry! I have been a deplorable friend! You are not just a servant to me!"
Luce looked over the crying princess's head at Amaris, her eyes wide and asking for help. Amaris stood off to the side, making a hugging motion to her oldest friend. Luce awkwardly wrapped her arms around the princess, patting her back. Amaris sat down, smiling at her friends. Ana pulled back and grabbed Luce's face, squishing her cheeks, as she asked, "You know this, right? You are my friend. I promise to start acting like it."
Luce's eyes shifted to Amaris who shrugged before they went back to Anastasia. She slowly nodded at the girl. Ana nodded back and let go of her cheeks. She clapped her hands once, "Good! Shall we eat?"
She gave Luce a kiss on the cheek before making her way to her seat. Amaris snickered at the look Luce sent her. She motioned for Luce to sit, and she did. The three friends nodded to each other to ensure everyone was ready before they started to eat.
***
Supper, as always, had passed by uneventfully. She and Ana, after a look from Amaris, had helped Luce clear the plates away. Anastasia left afterwards, with a kiss to both of her friend's cheeks on her way out.
Amaris was preparing herself for bed while Luce laid on her bed, reading through a book. Luce usually helped her get ready for bed, as per her job, but not long ago, she had expressed her wanting to learn how to read. Luce was lowborn, meaning she did not learn how to read like Amaris did. Amaris all but demanded Luce take her books to start learning. She refused to let Luce help her prepare for bed or even prepare for the day, letting her friend use the time to study. It was not entirely unselfish on Amaris' part though. If Luce could read, she would have someone to speak of her stories too. It made Amaris giddy with excitement at the idea.
Amaris finished fussing with her hair, it would do for the night, and started to look for her dragon book so she could continue her lessons with Luce, but she could not find it. She walked to the table. Not there. She picked up the cloak she had on earlier. Not under there.
"What is it?" Luce had looked up from her book.
"Do you know where I put my book?" Amaris asked.
"Which one?"
"The one I came in with."
Luce appeared confused, "You didn't come in with a book."
Amaris was about to argue when she thought back to earlier. Anastasia had taken it from her and placed it somewhere. Amaris smacked her forehead, "Oh! I know where it is."
She put on her cloak, clasping it, "I will be back in a moment, Luce."
Luce got up, "I will come with you."
Amaris shook her head, "No, that is okay. I know where it is, and I will not be long. You can stay and practice."
"Are you certain?"
"I am. I'll be back," she started towards the door, turning with her hand on the handle. "Oh, if my father asks, I'm in the bath."
She heard Luce laugh and voice her affirmative as she opened the door and slipped out.