AN: Everyone in Dragon Slippers talks about Milun the First like he was either the most horrible human being to ever walk the planet or a saint who saved his kingdom. The truth's gotta be somewhere in between, don't you think? So, here I am, attempting giving Milun the First a little humanity while not completely exonerating him from his crimes.

I haven't seen anything like this done so far in the Dragon Slippers fandom, so hopefully I did it right. I put that last line in there to hopefully whammy y'all with Creel comparisons. This is going to probably have two more chapters.

The first time he saw her, he was learning how to hunt with his older brother. The majestic azure dragon neatly swooped in and plucked up a young deer. All young Milun the First could do was stare in awe. How could such a large creature move with such grace? How could her scales gleam so richly blue? In short, the dragon was the most beautiful thing Milun had ever seen in all his eleven years of life.

The room was solemn. Nobles were decorated in shades of black and Milun's father was choking back tears. Milun glared at the beautiful coffin, bedecked in marble and gold and jewels, as if it were the reason his brother no longer breathed.

The aging Ur-priest climbed the steps to the altar with a slow and heavy gait. What right did he have to live so long? How was it fair that the Ur-priest lived to seventy and his brother till nineteen? With a grave face, the Ur-priest recited words of sorrow and offered prayers to the Triune that Corwin, fourth of his name, first born heir to King Corwin the third, would safely be received in the afterlife. Milun was numb to all of this, his eyes choosing to attempt to destroy the coffin with the power of his anger and grief.

Milun closed his eyes in attempt to block out this horrible world around him. No one wore anything except for black, and that seemed to be the only thing that made sense. Milun found his mind wandering to the dragon he had glimpsed only a year ago. The sunlight glinted off of her silver horns, and her elegant form was colored a deep azure. Truly, she was magnificent. Milun and Corwin had watched this queen among dragons with the sense that they were not meant to see her, and though they were royalty, they were lucky to merely be in her presence. A tear slipped from under his eyelid. His mother squeezed his hand gently, and Milun looked up. The Ur-priest was still droning on, but his mother whispered to Milun that everything would be alright, and somehow he felt better. At least his brother had seen something beautiful in his life. At least he had seen something beautiful.

"Human. Why do tears come from your eyes?"

The voice was rumbling, yet melodic. Milun had returned to the spot where he had seen the dragon before, huddled into a ball against a rock. He froze, and slowly looked up.

Her silver claws were tapered to a point. At a closer glance, her scales weren't actually all the same color: some were closer to a turquoise and others were a darker shade of blue. Together, they created an effect which made her scales look the color of the ocean. Her long, silver horns shone in the sun, and her green eyes pierced Milun and pinned him against the rock.

"Where is the other one that was with you?"

At that, Milun completely melted down and lost all semblance of normalcy. He cried and sobbed and hugged the dragon's foreleg. At some point he must have managed to get across that his brother was dead and it felt like the world was ending because how could the world go on without his brother?

The dragon simply leaned into his touch and soothed his sorrow.

"I'm sorry," Milun gasped out, "I haven't asked your name."

The dragon's sea green eyes caught his own.

"You may call me Velika."