Chapter 1
"You’re only going to get yourself killed by falling in love as a slave; it never ends well, Myrindel!" Syrrana snapped at me for the hundredth time.
She glared at me as I packed my belongings into a satchel. Inside the satchel were portraits of my beloved, and oh, how she despised him—not because they didn’t get along or because he did something to offend her, but no.
It all stemmed from the fact that he loved me.
And Syrrana was terrified of the trouble his love could bring us. My sister was right to fear; we were slaves to the Dragon Empire. Being a slave was the lowest rank in Kael’Drathis, the empire of Dragons.
But who could stop love? I stood up and slung the satchel over my shoulder, smiling at my sister.
"Even birds fall in love; you can’t keep hating. You should be happy for me and Dray, we…"
"You two will only get yourselves killed. You’ve seen what happened to Elyn, or the countless slaves who were caught in an affair; they ended up as dragon food," she snapped at me, and I rolled my eyes at her words.
"Well, I'll have you know that I and Dray and I are very careful and…" Suddenly, she held me.
"Please, Myrindel, think, this… is sucide…." Suddenly, I walked closer to her as I took her hands in mine, I placed my hands over her golden-brown skin tone. My sister was beautiful, outstanding, even though one of her eyes was missing. It was one of the things that reminded her of being a slave.
we were nothing, treated as if we were incapable of feelings.
"You can’t ask me not to live; I love him more than life itself. I can’t do what you ask of me. I’m sorry, but I…" Suddenly, she turned her back towards me as she sighed.
"I only wish to protect my sister. You can never be too careful. One day this is going to catch up with you; someone will know, and what if they… what if you fall pregnant? How are you going to hide it, or what if…" she sighed.
”we’re careful Syr….”
"You can never be too careful!" she snapped, and I swallowed the rest of my words.
"I have to go... Dray is waiting for me. I'll see you tomorrow," I said as I wrapped the scarf around my head.
I wore a dull ash fabric designed to make slaves invisible. It wrapped around my upper body in a fitted sleeveless crop, exposing my midriff. Below, the trousers fell loose and long, wide and flowing, heavy enough to swallow the shape of my legs completely. The fabric gathered below my ankles, hiding my feet.
It was the general uniform for slaves.
"Remember, keep your goddamn hair hidden, and stay safe. Please promise me you will stay safe," she said as she came close to me, holding my face. She worried a lot, and sometimes, though I knew she meant well, it pissed me off sometimes.
"I will," I said as I tied the scarf around my head... as I exited the room.
The city of Kael'Drathis was no place of peace for a slave like us. We were ranked the lowest of the low, below servants or merchants. And I certainly didn't look like a slave, thanks to my mother.
Unlike Syrrana, I had inherited my mother's features: golden hair that could be mistaken for gold threads, pale skin that shined in the sun, and sun-kissed eyes that shone... rare features, but beauty had also been my mother's curse.
Women with my features were rare in the Dragon Empire; hence, my mother feared I would become a courtesan just like her. So she made me disguise myself, so I stayed a slave, which was better since slaves were invincible, unlike courtesans.
My mother was a courtesan in the king's court. If you ask me, they were worse off than slaves, only branded with an imperial honor, but they were nothing but honorable, only for the court's pleasures.
That was how I and Syrrana came along. Children from courtesans became slaves, if officials never claimed them. The boys were trained to be soldiers, and the females were sold off. We didn't have much luck; my father had callously sold off my sister and i to be slaves. He never spared us a look, never acknowledged us as his.
Before I left my mother’s breast, she ensured that my features were concealed, and Syrrana had taken it upon herself to make sure I maintained that culture.
The path to the lake was illuminated with little light; in fact, the entire forest was. At first, I found it strange that the emperor would have his men light up the whole forest, a place where no one was allowed to enter. However, I didn’t care about the rules.
In five years, I had sneaked out of the slaves' dormitory without ever getting caught. That’s how long Dray and I had been seeing each other. It took me less than three tiny minutes to reach our usual spot by the lake. Then I saw him; his dark hair was tied in a bun, and he was shirtless. As soon as he spotted me, I ran to him as he stood up and lifted me into his arms. I hugged him tightly as we untangled and kissed.
We kissed so passionately that he held me close. We separated as he smiled at me. Oh gosh, he was handsome! Sometimes I thought he looked like a noble, but that was impossible; noble men wouldn’t waste their time with slaves like me.
“I missed you,” I whispered.
“I was only gone a week,” he chuckled as he played with my nose, and I giggled while I rushed to the little sheets spread on the grass. I smiled as I spotted the cakes he had brought this time.
He rushed to hug me from behind. Whenever he came to see me, he brought all sorts of food, drinks, cakes, and pastries, most of which were meant for royals. I wondered how he managed to get his hands on them. When I asked, he never told me, so I gave up asking. Though these items weren’t new to me, they were the best things I had ever tasted.
Even the meals at my mother’s place didn’t taste this good.
“You do have a sweet tooth,” he said, and I giggled while he watched me as I enjoyed them.
"So... how was your week?" he asked me, and I paused... suddenly remembering something I had tucked away in the back of my mind.
"Myrindel... are you alright...?" he inquired as my eyes filled with tears…
"It's mother..." I whispered, as a sob broke through.
"She's turning forty in thirty suns..." I murmured as sobs overcame me, his body relaxed as he sighed. I knew he understood why I was so shattered.
Everyone knew what happened to the courtesans when they turned forty; they were too old to work anymore, sentenced to death or cast out of the palace to the nunnery to serve the god of fire until death.
I knew I would never see my mother again. My body trembled as the cake lay forgotten. The week had been so tense since mother had told us, and I had spent the days crying. The only reason it had slipped my mind was the joy of seeing Dray.
"Don't worry, nothing..."
"You can't promise me that. You can't stop it. Mama has sacrificed a lot to keep us safe. She's the reason I worked as a seamstress in the royal fashion house, and Syrrana does laundry, the safest jobs in the place. We rarely see the nobility or the concubines, especially the Serathyn. We would never have survived this long if we were anywhere else. If she's gone, there..." I cried out. He held me close, his hand curling at my chin…as he stared into my eyes.
"Listen to me, nothing, I promise you nothing... will happen to you, not to your mother, or sister, or you... I'll make sure of it," he assured me, and my eyes brimmed with tears...
I didn't dare utter a word as I remained silent. His hand found mine, gripping it tightly. I leaned against his chest.
"Sometimes I think about what the future holds for us, Dray, if we will ever have kids, or ever be free from the chains weighing us down," I whispered...
"I'll be here to protect you; I'll always be here," he said, now shifting away from sad talk.
"Tell me, did anything interesting happen while I was gone?" he asked, and I smiled as I turned to face him.
"The consort got into a fight, the first and Third Serathyn ," I whispered. If there was one thing Dray loved more than anything, it was gossip… as a man, he did love gossip.
The emperor had a large harem, but within that harem, he had no children. It was made up of three supreme Serathyn, who held the ranks of queens, whom he had married, and lower consorts, along with concubines. It was a wonder that the emperor, in his ten years of rule, had not produced a single child,with such a large harem.
There were many talks of the emperor being infertile, but no one dared voiced out such words…in fear of death.
"What?" he asked me, and I nodded.
"The first Serathyn was angry. I didn't know what they were fighting about, but there had been gossip among the slaves. It was said that the emperor himself is infertile ; they claimed he hadn't visited his harem for more than five years. Can you believe that?" I said. For the first time, he appeared frozen…
"Well, I'm sure he has his reasons. You can't expect him to try and please everyone in the harem," he replied, as he starched his head, he seemed awkward for some reason I couldn't place.
"But consider this. These women would go to great lengths to have the emperor look at them, my mother used to say. The harem is much more perilous than the palace of courtesans; the women are constantly at each other's throats, competing for attention. They wouldn't think twice about removing anyone who gets too close to the emperor," I whispered…
He was silent at first, as he walked under the moonlight shining on the lake, I followed his gaze… admiring the stunning view.
Suddenly, his head turned sharply towards me as he leaned in to kiss my forehead.
Reaching for my scarf, he pulled it off me, letting my hair cascade down from my head as he ran his hand through my hair.
"One day, you won’t have to conceal your hair, or our beauty, or wear such humiliating clothing… even in the moonlight, my sweet, you shine like the sun," he whispered… as he kissed my hair, then leaned in to kiss my lips… his words were always so peculiar, but when I pressed for more explanations, he withdrew, refusing to provide me with further insight into what he meant.
So such words I regarded as mere bluster; there was no escape from slavery, the Dragon Empire ensured that, if caught, you became dragon food.
"You speak such words, far too potent for a soldier, my dear, we still need to be cautious about getting caught out here, and now you speak of such stories," I whispered… he placed his face next to mine… for a man with golden irises, I could see the red in them… when he was close enough.
"What if I had a harem? Would you agree to love me as you do, would you give me your heart?" he asked… breathlessly.
"No… I can't imagine sharing my love with a hundred women, and no, silly, you're just a soldier; you certainly can't have a harem…" I laughed, and he smiled, but there was something behind that smile, something I couldn't quite identify.
The night was blissful, his hands on my body, pulling me closer and holding me…against the cold night, his body was so warm, too warm or should i say hot.
I lost count of the number of times we made love under the moon, we laughed at each other's jokes, chased each other over the lake, swam across the lake, as naked as the day we were born.
Being with Dray was the only time I felt____ free, so free.
The night wasted away, and in the morning, he stood at the tree line watching me disappear, into the slave dormitory. My heart ached as I watched him go… fade away… into the tree line.
Three hours later
I sat in the corner of the weaving house, stitching the silk together that would be worn by a concubine. Just then, murmurs filled the room; we were twenty low-grade seamstresses. The women gathered around, speaking in hushed voices…… I knew whatever they were saying had to be exciting. I had been here long enough to know that nothing is more entertaining to a slave than gossip.
"That's not possible. If no one has come forward to claim the egg, then by no means…"
"Maybe it's a woman outside the palace. The first supreme sun was angry; rumors say she ordered a servant's death for walking incorrectly. But… it certainly isn't her," another slave said. I stood on my feet and approached them.
"What's happening?" I asked one of the slaves, who turned to look at me in astonishment.
"You haven't heard?" she asked.
"Heard what?" I replied.
"The empire has an heir; the golden dragon has finally laid an egg!" she exclaimed, and my eyes widened.
Dragons were linked to their riders, and when the emperor conceived a child, their dragon laid an egg. When the child is born, the egg will hatch and be linked to the dragon, producing an heir who would definitely be a male child.
Everyone knew this.
"Well, it surely has to be one of the concubines then," someone said.
"Are you mad? Everyone knows the king never visited the harem, not in five years. He never touched any of the women or even allowed any of the consort, never less share his bed," one of the slaves hissed.
"Then how would you explain the child? Do you think…"
"Enough!" Suddenly, the matron walked into the room. She was an older woman in her forties. As soon as we spotted her, everyone rushed back to their seats as we stood.
She walked in; the matron was known to be cruel, though she wasn't a slave. Gosh, she hated slaves. We slaves had a collar around our necks; I had one too.
"You all better be grateful that we have the Sun Festival coming up, and we need to finish the harem's dresses. If not, all of you would have gone home with a broken leg," she growled at us as we looked down at the ground.
It was forbidden for a slave to look up at the Maron or anyone above our class.
"We're sorry, Maron," we said in unison. "Get back to work!" she spat as everyone settled into their seats, and no words about the gossip went around again.
But I could see everyone was anxious to know who the Emperor's woman was…
Even I.
