Opal Starreld

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“As gratitude for your services in aiding the Moonstone Kingdom, we a treasure that we’ve kept secret here for centuries...” the enchanting beautiful Queen Zoeva descended from the platform where her reclaimed throne sat, moving gracefully down the steps to the tall muscular form that was none other than the King of the Abyssal Mirror, Seth Drakon, one of the founders of the the Arcadian pantheon. She was impressed greatly by his stature and the amount of power he emitted, aside from having seen the Dragon in action with her own eyes.

She approached him and as she did, he kneeled before her, despite the fact that was leagues below him, even if she was Queen of her domain, she knew she was no True Fae. “Please stand King Drakon.” She commanded softly with a smile. She gestured with one hand to her newest advisor, a gorgeous changeling of pure white skin, pointed ears and inky black eyes, “Nyer, please bring the gift forward.”

He obediently with a genuine smile moved to push forward a cart holding a large diamond box containing an oversized navy blue egg speckled with silver and gold flecks.

Seth eyed the gift he was receiving for a moment before his vermillion gaze jump to the far right of the grand hall, where his husband stood with their son. He could already see the Mage’s mind a storm over the curious object, but his son held his breath as he looked at the grandiose scene, his fiery orange eyes locked on whatever creature was inside.

“While I appreciate the gesture, you needn’t give me anything.” Seth spoke quietly, but his voice seemed potent.

“Please, I insist...” Queen Zoeva smiled at him, Nyer hovering just a step behind her with the trolley, “Between Nyer, you and your husband, this land would’ve changed and who knows what might’ve happened. I cannot imagine what could’ve happened without you coming in when you did.”

“Very well then. I accept.” Seth barely finished speaking before the massive crowds behind them began cheering, the sound echoing and the citizens of the domain who were waiting outside the castle gates echoed the response.

“If you and your family would please, we can meet somewhere more comfortable to discuss all the details that have been left unfinished.” Queen Zoeva continued just loud enough for on,y those within a few feet could hear, “Please will you and your family stay for dinner? I promise nothing fancy.”

Seth glanced back at the two loves of his life, projecting his question of dinner to his partner, who returned the question in kind, causing Seth to smile, “Yes, I think we shall. But know that both may have a great many questions about any and everything. My love has an insatiable curiosity and our son has inherited it.”

Noah was quiet as he was prone to doing in such gatherings. He was familiar with the Fae of Seth’s Domain but not this place and so was keen to keep his silence as he observed the places customs.

He was keen to keep Slate at an arms length, he had always been protective but of Slate and Seth he was more so.

His inclinations for the Arcane tried to unravel the gift but such remind hidden to him and he would not press hard. He would follow Seth’s lead specially in this place.

Zoeva returned to her platform and gave another speech of thanks before her, her court and her guests ventured off. She had Nyer escort them to a waiting area in an open garden.

Seth looked at Noah, admiring the curious Mage, “I warned her about questioning. She’s fine with it.”

“I was not worried about that, I did not want to say anything that might embarrass you is all.” Noah said with a smile his head slightly to one side.

“The gift they gave to you seems very special.” Noah said quietly.

“She said she’ll explain exactly what it is over dinner... But based on it’s energy, I believe it’s a human fae, like what roams our kingdom, but I’m puzzled that it’s unborn.” Seth sat down on a bench, his arms crossed, looking puzzled.

“I am sure they will explain it all to us, now cheer up or you will make Slate worried.” Noah said taking a seat beside Seth and calling Slate over

“I will absolutely have a few questions of my own, although I promise the majority will belong to you two.” Seth smiled, watching as their child came toward them, “Hopefully we will not wait too long... I could hear someone’s stomach rumbling during the ceremony.”

“I wonder where he found his appetite.” Noah said with a bright smile lifting the small Slate on to his lap.

“So what do you think of this place, it is quite different then our home.”

“I will try and be civil with my appetite... I cannot help that I require such large amounts of food.” Seth replied, ruffling their son’s hair, “How are you holding up? You’ve been very quiet.”

Noah smiled. “How could I have anything else to say, this right now to me seems like a perfect moment.”

He smiled and leaned close, gently turning Noah by the chin to kiss him, “I love you.” He then took Slate onto his lap, “How’s my little dragon doing? Make any friends?”

Slate held a bright and wide smile “everyone is my friend, there are so many smiles here.”

“Everyone here is very happy right now because they have such a friendly guest with you around.” He smiled, “Is this a place you’d like to visit again?”

“Yes but not alone, it is so dark here, very different from the castle.” Slate chimed.

“You won’t ever be alone.” Seth hugged his son close, beaming with pride at the creature he ad Noah had crated together.

A servant came out from one of the corridors to find the happy family and bring them to a modest dining hall with a table that could seat a dozen, although it looked to be a small group, aside form the trio from the Abyssal Mirror, being the Queen Zoeva, Nyer and Alexos, another of her advisors.

She smiled at they entered, “Welcome gentlemen, I do hope you weren’t bored while waiting.”

“Not at all, we greatly appreciate your hospitality.” Noah spoke softly as he held Slates hand as they enters the room.

Seth nodded in agreement with Noah as they entered and sat down, leaving Zoeva at the head of the table, Nyer at her right, Alexos next to him, and their guests at her left, “You have quite a lovely domain, and absolutely there is no possible way to admire it all in a single visit.”

Zoeva smiled as she sat down and immediately servants began bringing out two plates of appetizers for each person, “We are all in close company here, please do not be shy to start or ask for more of anything you so wish.”

“Thank you... Perhaps you have gotten wind of the voracious appetite of Dragons.” Seth offered as much of a joke as he could muster.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:54, Mon 07 Feb 2022.

“If they have not yet they will before the night is over.” Noah injected with some dry humor of his own before looking to Slate who was looking wide eyed at everything that was around him. The youth was clearly impressed by the elaborate elegance of the table before him and the finery that made up the decor.

“What will you do now that your issues have been resolved ?” Noah opened up conversation at the table

Every single one of Zoeva’s movements were filled with grace, even the simplest act of picking up and holding fork, “There is quite a lot to get back in order, as well as negotiations in settling all disputes with Chimera.” She smiled as she glanced at Slate, “You know if there is anything special any of you would like, just let us know.”

“No, we are gracious to accept whatever you may present us.” Seth spoke up as he eyed the salad in front of him.

“My Queen, gentlemen,” Alexos spoke up, his voice deep, “Perhaps we could meet another time to seek advice on dealing with Chimera, particularly considering the Great Dragon has obviously dealt with the creature before.”

“Indeed.” Zoeva agreed, “But there is the matter of sharing the information of our gift to you.”

“That would be good to know as it seems ... unique.” Noah pondered aloud while keeping an eye to Slate who by now had begun to fiddle with the things in front of him caring little for the adult conversation going on around him.

“This object seems to be one of importance to you and shaped by the very nature of this place, are you sure you are comfortable parting with it ?”

“We actually have a new nest of the dark phoenix eggs, although the original is missing.” Alexos commented rather casually, barely picking at his two plates of foods, both much different than anything else on the table, “Our court Oracle was able discern the identities of each egg as the Phoenix itself works rekindle others, much as the mythology goes.”

“Yes, but a small sect of the Court knows how to care for the eggs in case of such an event. But the Phoenix have mythical powers, each with their own properties.” Zoeva continued between polite bites of food, as servants brought more trays of which the diners could pick from, “I think this one in particular will be of interest to you Great Dragon. She was rescued into Arcadia from an abusive life in the mortal world.”

Seth raised an eyebrow, obviously intrigued, fork in hand and plates of green untouched, “So these eggs contain changelings?”

“So it would seem.” Noah brooded in concentration. “How should we take care of this egg now that it is in our custody?” Noah asked as he slowly touched to food.

Slate remained preoccupied with his plate nipping at the strange food before him

One of Alexos’ tendrils gently poked at Slate from beneath the table, offering him a sugary candy that was the shape of a snail’s shell, while he spoke distracting everyone else from the young Dragon, “To be fair, we should tell you both that there have always been a set number of ‘offspring’ for lack of a better work, of the the Phoenix, but the number has dwindled, which is why there’s a bit of concern about the future of this breed. I actually advised strongly against giving away one such treasure, although our Queen was persuasive. I do hope you do not take offense to my line of thought, or why we opted to leave Sini in your care.”

“Offended? Likely not. Orpheus and I have a rather eccentric view of the worlds and the inhabitants of each.” Seth plucked some fruit from the new platters placed down, as well as some form of dried meat, “But what made you change your mind about this egg, who’s name is Sini?”

“She’s... she’s been the weak link in every reincarnation. The runt of the bunch. You know well what that means.” The half-man half sea-creature continued, “She’s been least likely to reproduce given the current circumstances. No one has been sure why she’s been such a whelp. But Queen Zoeva thought there was no better place for Sini to flourish than under the care of you two.”

Slate took the sweet keen on hiding it away from any onlookers with little more then a mischievous grin on his face.

“That seems intriguing ...” the Mages Insatiable lust for knowledge began to stir. “That is a subject I would love to learn more about.” Noah was already crafting theories in his mind. Despite years of experience the Wyrd remained a most illusive subject for him to comprehend

“The way I view this is that your family gains an addition, and she gains a new lease on life because I believe you can perhaps give her something we’ve missed every time.” Queen Zoeva spoke up, signaling for the plates to be swapped out, “No one here is completely aware of the type of life she had before Arcadia. Maybe she even needs a new name.”

“Yes, that is intriguing, but I’m unsure about having to raise a baby again...” Seth glanced at Noah and didn’t miss the sly grin on Slate either.

“She will age fairly rapidly until she hits about five years of age and will she not be able to come to a human form for quite some time, until which point, she could be considered a family pet.” Alexos continued to bleed information as the small plates were cleared and drinks refilled, “Typically the others have not obtained humanoid forms until early adulthood, but they’re not completely normal looking as you might imagine.”

Slate was keen to make eye contact with Seth tossing the sweet in his mouth in an act of defiance. He knew he was caught but he was undaunted.

“We will do our best to give her what is it that she needs.” Noah smiled to Seth.

Given they were guests, Seth let it go. Kids would be kids.

“Is there anything you wish to know about her?” Queen Zoeva offered, “Alexos is a wealth of knowledge and surely can answer most questions you may have.”

A big grin came over Slates face with the sense of childhood victory.

“I think there is beauty in in uncovering what is unknown, we will take this opportunity to learn and maybe at a future point we can exchange information.”

The rest of dinner and dessert carried on with friendly conversation of both idle and grand topics. At the end of the evening, the Drakon family made way for home with their gift.

———————

About a week later, Seth was sitting on his obsidian throne in the empty grand hall of his palace, staring at the egg which sat in a nest to one side of his seat.

“It has been a long time since I have seen you with such an intense expression, what is on your mind ?” Noah asked as he entered into the hall. “Do you think it was the right thing to take this egg ?”

“I’m concerned about the whole scenario.” Seth was easily able to break his gaze away to Noah, “Am I becoming horrible because I wasn’t appalled by the idea of having it as a family pet?”

Bosh was quick to rush across the room and take Seth into an embrace. “Never describe yourself as horrible again.” No exclaimed with certainty. “What we do with it will be our concen when the time comes, they seemed to struggle with it maybe we can help it become something more.”

Seth’s arms found their way around the Mage and pulled Noah onto on his lap. He nuzzled against his husband’s neck, “I had the idea to let Slate raise her and start him on the pathway of knowing responsibility, but the more I thought about and envisioned it, the more I felt like a monster for not minding treating this girl as a pet. I just... I cannot down that road. I don’t want to be a terror amongst our domain.”