Chapter Nineteen: Evelyn

Beau looks up at the opulent Dragon Den. He has never seen such a building for dragons before up close. A dragon den to him has always been a place of nature such as caves. This place is beautiful, but it felt far too human. Fake...

The building is made of white marble and looks like a gigantic mansion. The doors are made of heavy oak wood, with handles that dragons can open and close with mag abilities or teeth.

"Dragons live here?" He asks Iymp again.

"Yes..." Iymp replies again getting annoyed by the question. It is the fifth time he asked. "This Dragon's Den was built thousands of years ago. Back in the day when gold dragons lived here. Your ancestor probably stayed here at some point."

"I hope not..." Beau says skeptically. Even though his heart yearned to see inside. The world was nothing like his father spoke of. At first, it was, as he said, being trapped in Inclementia and transformed into a monster dragon. Every moment of his life then was agony... Beau shudders thinking of it. Then Oleander appeared, a cruel lieutenant of the Shadow Emperor army... She forcefully rode him and treated him horribly. It felt so long ago. But then Iolene happened. She helped him without question and cured him of his pain. Not all humans are bad... As he also thinks of Aaron. The most confusing aspect of Beau's life And he does not understand why…

Beau imagined dragon cruelty in every corner, humans eating dragon flesh like a horror story. But Beau now knows the world is complicated, anyone has the potential to be cruel. Even himself... But he did not want to find that out. His only goal is to return home north with his herd. But the north is in Black country a place that is far too dangerous for him now.

"Oh please... Your ancestors owned Dragon City's den. Much larger, older, and more ornate than this. It stood for thousands of years until your crazy ancestor created the chain of events that ruined it. I would have loved to see it in its prime. The one in Vulkania is just molten rock, like everything else in that city..."

Beau sighs. My family was so grand... They had everything. Father never told me any of this. Was he ashamed? Or did he wish to forget what we once had? Did he even know? Estrela, the star of the desert is called. Tried to invoke slavery and tried to assassinate the little Empress in her bed. Her mate and children escaped from potential persecution. In a way... If my family didn't flee. I would not be here... The last gold dragon. Beau's disguised blue scales shined in the sunlight. His disguise has been used for so long that he felt that he is a blue dragon instead of gold. But he is glad that it did not feel as exhausting anymore. At first, it was a few hours, then he felt almost dead by the end of the day. Now he can hold it for days at a time.

"What do these dragons do all day? If they are second citizens and have nothing important to do." Beau asks.

"Glorified pets, they preen, talk, take their owner's A to B. Must be boring..." Iymp says. Cannot be any more boring than temple life... Cannot go anywhere without permission. Cannot talk back to anyone, priests and apprentices are not the most social bunch, meditate, meditate, and meditate... No wonder I enjoy stealing, at least that is fun. But Iymp realises he hadn't stolen as much since leaving Macdan. It's probably because Lei said many places chop off tails and claws for theft...

Iymp glances down at the invitations wrapped around his wrist. It was a sudden change of their plans to attend a party, than playing around and doing nothing.

"The queen has given you and Beau an invitation to the dragon pre-gala meet-up," Stein says as he wraps the specially made invitations.

"Was this your doing?" Iymp asks. "I was hoping to sit underneath a new tree today. The third one left from the gate."

"Constant, he is a friend to the queen. Her dragon's name is Evelyn, and the Kings dragon is Chanson. Charm them and try to become friends with them." He tells of the dangerous situation the queen is in. "King Gauthier will not help Iolene as he is planning to kill his wife. He cannot be trusted… But the Queen can assist if she is impressed by Iolene at the gala. The dragons can have information regarding the black empire and their influences."

"Humans..." Iymp says. "Dragons just kill each other face to face. Why do humans always have a need to stab each other in the back elaborately?"

Stein fake laughs. "Because people here like a show... I do not like this as much as you. But Mali did give a point, dragons can hold many secrets."

Iymp agrees… Dragons overhear conversations all the time and the people here do not care for dragon opinions. An untapped resource.

The two walk up to the den entrance, where five human guards and dragons stand in front. A human walks forward as Iymp shows him the invitation. The human nods as the large oak doors open, and they enter the opening hallway. It is a palace with tapestries, vases, and carpets decorating the walls and floor. Beau looks up as he realises it has a glass roof. The sky can be seen as a few dark clouds begin to hover over the city.

Dragons live here… Beau thought.

"BEAUCEPHALUS AND IYMPETUS" The human servant announces.

Did they really have to use our full names? They both thought at the same time.

The meeting room is full of dragons of all diverse types as they stare at the late dragons. Iymp finds attention to another red she-dragon. Her long ears reach the back legs. Her scales are light red paired with magenta, a unique colour scheme. He purrs at the sight of her as Beau rolls his eyes.

Unlike Iymp and Beau, the rest are wearing clothes of cloaks, jewelry, hats, gloves, and even shoes.

Iymp leans to Beau's head. "We really underdressed for the occasion... I knew I should have brought my big feather hat."

"We are dragons... We don't need clothes." Beau says insulted. "Why does it feel like we are in a room full of humans." Beau turning his head, realising Iymp has quickly left making his way to the pretty red dragon. Beau rolls his eyes as he felt lost of what to do next. He can hear whispers of dragons talking about his appearance. The weirdest blue dragon, but the most perfect gold dragon... But being called weird with nicknames is better than imprisonment, enslavement, and death.

"Hello." Iymp says confidently to the young red she-dragon. She is talking to other female dragons. A blue, turquoise and another red dragon. The blue looks regal as she wears the traditional clothes of Lan-Se. Even wearing make-up to accentuate her green eyes. Even her roars, growls and chirps sound from the northern region. The other red is smaller and thick with a large mouth. She seemed nice enough. The Turquoise was a much older dragon, him estimating eighty to ninety years old. Her wrinkles and scales began to sag off her bones as her colouration have long begun to fade.

Blue looks at him up and down. "Hello, where are you from?" She asks. Her tone trying to be friendly as he interrupted their conversation. The pretty red remains silent.

"I am from Vulkania." He says happily. "And you lovely dragons?"

"Lan-Se…" Blue replied.

"Fyre Island." The small red dragon says.

The pretty red dragon walks away and ignores him. Ouch… Hurt the ego… He had no choice but to talk to the other three. They are friendly enough and he was happiest speaking to the small red named Pyrefyre. Speaking to her made him miss home. She smelt of smoke and pineapple. He did not know much about Fyre Island so it was nice to discuss it with a fellow country dragon.

Beau felt lost in what to do… Iymp was supposed to help him. He is surrounded by dragons playing humans at a tea party. He had no idea of how to connect to them.

He kept on getting strange looks as some even walked away from him. Am I really that ugly? Aaron and Iolene don't think I look ugly… They called me majestic.

As he walked pass the fancy dragons he finally sees one of the targets in front of him. Evelyn. She is an average size dragon that can carry a few humans on her back. Her body thin and snake like similar to the Black dragon. However their heads look different as their nuzzles are shaped like beaks. Her scales being light-blue on her belly and a dark Turquoise. Laying on a massive red velvet couch with gold arms and trim. She has bonemark shaped of a sound echo on her forehead. Surrounded by a simple crystal crown.

"Wow… Look at you. Where are YOU from?" She says surprisingly in dragon tongue. Much to Beau's relief many dragons in here don't speak human language. Iymp translates between him Iolene and Aaron.

"I'm from the wilds." Beau replies with no hint of shame. He knew he didn't have the best lying skills. Easier to use half truths than build a new life from scratch.

"You are a savage? My word..." Evelyn says mockingly. Yet her face showed massive interest. "Come sit next to me. Tell me of your home and savage ways. Not everyday you get to speak to a such a low being."

Beau felt flabbergasted of how she spoke to him. Savage? I am no savage… But he hid his annoyance with a calm fake smile. Be polite Constant told him softly. They use words as their weapons, this is a basic party. Do not be afraid of physical attacks or assassinations.

"No, thank you… I will not trouble you and your lady dragons. They look comfortable sitting there."

Evelyn did not like that reply as her eyes showed dismay.

"From the wilds… Do you have an owner? Is that why you are here?" Evelyn asks. She scopes him up and down with her yellow eyes.

"No… But I am here with a friend." Pointing to Iymp with his tail. Leaving Aaron and Iolene out of the conversation.

"Oh!" Evelyn roars with happiness. "I have a project!" She taps on the flaw with her long painted claws. "Beau, have you ever heard of the story of the Baron and the maiden peasant?" She asks excitedly.

"No… I have not…" Beau says unsure.

"Well! He's certainly uncultured is he not?" Evelyn laughs as her fellow dragons laugh with her. "Here is a summary. The wealthiest Baron named Alphonse Gucci needed, to find a woman who can pass off as wealthy. To make his old lover Janelle jealous. He finds a woman named Amelia Kitchener a poor merchant who sold fruit. Alphonse and her made a deal, he pays her a large sum of money and trains her to be a lady. They fall in love… Yada yada… But I have always wanted to another make-over it has been a while!"

So the moral of the story I guess is Alphonse sees that the poor girl is nice. Breaking the social barriers that humans seem to have. But all Evelyn likes is the makeover and façade…

"Thank you for the offer but no Evelyn… I am no project."

"I am bored!" Evelyn pouts. "My human has been too busy planning the gala… She has made no time for me." As Evelyn weeps to make a whining noise similar to a bird.

"She wants the gala to be perfect Eve…" The dragon on the right spoke. Speaking as if she was talking to a wee pup.

Iymp looked embarrassed for her as the shrieking went louder

Her dragon friends tended to her whining. Beau just stands there watching as the bird cries. "If you want me to be your… Project. When shall we begin?" Anything to stop the loud whining. The party stops as the dragons look at Evelyn. Everyone tends to her as they clean and adjust her makeup and outfit.

"Would you?" Evelyn asks Beau nicely. She tried to look sad as much as she could. Her left dragon friend tapped a tissue on Eve's eyes. Beau notes that she is not even crying.

"Yes…" Beau resigned. It's only for the gala… Once this crap is over, we can leave. Never to return…

The day was a long one as Beau managed to join Iymp. The two feel like outcasts trying to blend in. Beau finds some fascinating conversations with dragons from different empires. All have unique noises and dialects. The orange dragon with their visible brains couldn't help but unsettle him. But they are very fascinating as the orange dragons' reign the Empire. Humans are second-class citizens and slaves. My father's greatest dream apart from killing them all… But the stories Aaron speaks of are scary to imagine. Beau flashbacking to Mali revealing Aaron's mouth brace. An instrument of cruelty. Aaron is a good man… It was not right to do that to him. But Khafra is friendly enough, his human translator happily sitting eating fruit in a corner.

The purple dragons looked ferocious with their purple scales. They all looked identical except for the distinctive tattoos on each of them. Their large tails can carry their body weight and can leap high into the air. Beau connected with these dragons as they live in the wild as he did. Unlike Beau, however, they made their suffering well known as they complained about everything.

White dragons mostly stuck their own and pretended no one else existed. Beau thinks they are shy.

It was well into the darkness of night when the party officially ended with Evelyn doing a closing speech. Mentioning that Chanson is with King Gauthier and apologises for his absence. Probably not missing much…

Beau and Iymp were relieved to finally leave the Dragon Den. Exhausted as Beau wanted nothing more than sleep. It was a cold night as a chill can be felt in the breeze. Winter is coming…

"Who would cry that much for a human?" Beau asks Iymp.

"What would you do if Aaron or Iolene got hurt?" Iymp questioned with a cheeky grin. "If anything happened to Lexi. I don't know what I would do… I love that human. She has a good heart and she tends to my needs And I tend to hers. Evelyn is just a dragon in Mille Voix… They tend to be like that. Over dramatic, even putting too much salt in a soup is a tearful crime… I heard the chef was killed soon after that incident. But Beau… Did you agree to be her little peasant project?" Iymp wanted to know.

"You overheard that huh? Well at first I said no… But then I said yes… Didn't I? I just wanted her winging to stop."

"HA! SHE GOT YOU! Be very careful of that…"

"Careful of what?" Beau seriously asking.

"She got what she wanted… Her little project." Iymp taps Beau on the shoulder with his tail. "She made a scene for you to say yes. In fact the dragons around me whispered she is fighting for what she wants again…"

"How did this country survive?" Beau laughs after hearing that.

"Luck and bullshittery my friend," Iymp says as they reached the gate to Mercer Mansion. "Luck and bullshittery…"