Flashback
A lady and her husband stared from the short beggar in rags to the basket the beggar was offering. "What nonsense! What would we want with a baby?" The hard-faced woman scorned. She lifted back the ragged blanket to reveal a dark-haired, brown eyed baby innocently staring up at her. She dropped the blanket as if touching something filthy and made a face. "Why bother taking the babe to us? We certainly aren't going to adopt it." She said with disgust that showed up plainly in both her voice and her facial expression.
"My lady," the beggar pleaded, "She is so young, so undeserving. Please just take her in. Raise her to be a servant and keep her safe."
"Very well," the man sighed, "we do owe you a favor anyway. This is as good a time to repay it as ever." The man reached for a silver bell and rung it. A young, black-haired lady dressed in a servant's drab entered. "Fara, take the child away. Raise her to become an obedient and humble servant. I don't want to hear of any trouble that she's caused or of any extra money she's cost. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir." The servant murmured, curtseying. She delicately picked up the basket and left.
"I hope that settles our dealings. I have replayed your favor and am no longer in debt with you. Now if you excuse me, I would like to get some sleep tonight." The man yawned hugely to prove his point and dismissed the beggar with a wave of his hand.
End of Flashback
"Rina!"
Rina was jerked from her slumber. Rubbing her eyes, she discovered she had fallen asleep while washing dishes. Jumping at the though of being caught napping, she whirled around only to find Fara standing behind her, hands akimbo. A middle aged woman, Fara was the closest thing Rina had ever had to a mother. Dressed in a plain skirt, shift, and apron, Fara glared down at Rina.
"Fara," Rina sighed, clutching her hearts, "I'm so glad its you and not Terra. She'd kill me if she found me napping."
"Let me catch you asleep again and I just might call her."
"You wouldn't."
Fara sighed, " I do wish I had the heart to. Anyway, Connor told me to tell you you're needed in the stables. Run along, now. I'll finish the dishes."
"Be right there. Thanks, Fara." Rina stood on her tiptoes to kiss Fara on the cheek before dashing off to the stables.
Rina threw open the double doors of the stable and gazed in. The stable was huge. The center room was filled with a people dressed in servant's drab. A large desk stood in the middle of the back wall. To her right was an open wooden door. A small sign above it said "Weracore" in bold black letters. Peering through the doorway, she spotted rows of metal kennels. Low growling came from within the kennel. Rina shivered. She didn't know why the lord and lady of this manor kept weracores when there weren't any threat of war.
Directing her gaze to a less intimidating stable, Rina glanced though the door to the right of the main desk. Wooden stalls stood side by side. In them were many herrks, horse like creatures. She could see large, heavily decorated stalls at the end of the hallway. Those belonged to the prized herrks of the manor, including a lone striped herrk. Those could only be ridden by the lord, lady or their children.
On the other side of the colossal desk is yet another door. Having been in there before, she knew that the door led to the storage room for not only all the tack and gear but the food, grain, meat and bedding for the animals.
"Rina, you came." Said a voice behind her.
Rina turned towards the voice. It belonged to middle aged man in overalls. He was lanky and muscular with hair matching the color of the straw that stuck stubbornly to his clothes. "Connor," Rina exclaimed. "I heard you needed to see me."
"I've been dying for your help. Their majesties are visiting in a couple of days and the stables are in total chaos. I've been looking for someone to help with the dragons but all the idiots I get stuck with don't know the first thing about dragon care." Connor waved his hand at the servants scurrying to and fro. "Come with me. I'll show you what to do."
Rina followed him through a set huge double door, larger than even the main entrance that she had entered through. As she stepped through the door, Rina feasted her eyes on the sight before her. A quarter of a dozen huge, half-acre-sized, lots were fenced in with short wooden picket fences. Inside the lots were two huge bowls, one containing water, and the other empty. Heaps of trampled hay lay at the back of each lot. Most of the lots were empty; their occupants were away enjoying the sunlight outside. In one on them, however, a slightly graying, yellow female dragon lay slumbering.
Connor led her pass all the lots into the back of stable. A huge square of sand about one acre wide stood before her. The roof above the square had been removed to create a landing ground of dragons. The soft sand would cushion their landing. Sunlight streamed through the colossal hole.
Connor stopped walking and pointed to the landing pad and then a set of herrks saddled to a plow. "If you would sweep the landing pad and plow the sand with that, it would be a great help. When you finish, it would be great if you could go out back to supervise the team that's setting up extra beds for dragons who will be spending the night here when the monarchs come. Thanks Rina. You're a lifesaver." Connor squeezed her shoulder before leaving her with her tasks.
The next few days were pretty hectic to Rina. People everywhere seem to be nervous about the royalty's visit and needed help with chores. To add to her work, the lord's daughter, a pretty but arrogant girl, had enlisted Rina's help to prepare her for the monarch's visit, for she had heard, the crown prince would be arriving too. At night, Rina would collapse into her bed and fall asleep right away. Morning came all too soon. She was beginning to think their majesties were more trouble than they're worth.