Honahlee

For a long moment, Eliza just stared at the huge form that was crouched in front of her, fascination overcoming any semblance of fear. She had seen a number of strange things in her life, things that any reasonably sane person would have run away from but she had been taught from an early age to show no fear. To look for things that most would not notice. This being, as odd as he was, was not not hostile. Indeed, he seemed bemused by Eliza. For her part, Eliza was fascinated. She liked odd things. Tenno were one of her fascinations, ever since an early escapade involving chocolate and a banister. The Royal Guard had been aloof for some time, but they had wavered under her unrelenting determination to understand these odd beings in armor that was and was not metal. She was never rude, but she never gave up either and they could appreciate that. They could be scary on occasion, but nothing like this.

"My name is Elizabeth." The girl said politely as the huge winged beast eyed her, the streams of silver falling form its eyes still seeping, if slower. "Thank you."

"What for?" The voice was still deep, but gentler as the huge head came down to her level. The mouth could have easily swallowed her whole, but for some reason, she felt safe. Not afraid at all.

"For not eating me?" Eliza asked and then clamped her hands over her mouth, mortified. Was that a smile that curved the huge snout? Hard to say.

"I don't eat little girls who haven't been bad." The dragon said in a haughty tone that was oddly mocking and comforting. One huge eye slowly closed and opened. Had he just winked at her? "Have you been bad?"

"I..." Eliza slowly shook her head. "I have been bad, occasionally. But I try hard not to be." She offered and the dragon chuckled.

"That is good." The huge being released her and shrank back into the shadows. "Your tormentors have fled, child Elizabeth. You should go."

"Do I have to?" Again, Eliza wanted to drag the words back into her mouth as soon as she said them. She reached out slowly to touch the massive scaled jaw and the wetness there. "You are beautiful!" She all but gushed and the dragon smiled, but it was melancholy.

"For the compliment, I thank you, but you should go, child."

A rush of warm air surrounded Eliza and she jerked as she sat up in her bed! Had she dreamed that? No. She stared down at her hand. Something glistened in her hand. Something wet and silver. A tear.

The next day

Eliza had been a model student in her singing class. The instructor was a harsh being, but fair in his own way. She didn't mind that he took umbrage at her lack of ability. She did too and promised herself that she would get better. It would take time and not a little of it, but she would get better. She had already mastered the basic scales that he had given her and had time on her hands. There were many things that a very young princess could do when not in class, but the last thing she wanted to do right now was talk to any of her siblings. If one of them were to blurt out happily that they had torn her garden down, she would likely react badly and wind up in punishment again. She had no problem with the sensory deprivation chamber that her family used for such. She found such very relaxing but it always wasted time. Time that was always short.

And right now? She was on a mission.

The tear had vanished when she had tried to analyze it with her room's basic sensor suite. It had been real, she knew that. That meant that the dragon was real. But that also meant that if she told anyone, they would either send the Royal Guard after it, which could get bad, or if her siblings found out about it, they would try and take anything she liked from her. It was what they did.

So, she was very careful about how she eased back into the area she had fled into the day before. This time, she was wary of pursuit and laid trails for her tormentors to follow. The halls were just as empty as they had been before and the shadowed section beckoned to her. She was-

"Elizabeth? What are you doing here?" A soft voice called out and Eliza stilled as a dark skinned young woman stepped out of the shadows ahead of her. Her skin was far darker than Eliza's but that made sense. Naomi's mother had been from the African continent where Eliza's had been from the European one. Skin bias had gone the way of the dodo when Orokin had risen. Gold was good, everyone else was lesser. For her part, Eliza was torn as her elder sister Naomi stepped out of the shadows ahead of her. Naomi was weird. She was sixteen, on the cusp of womanhood. She was not nice, but she was not mean either. Sort of neutral? What Naomi said next had the little girl freezing. "Turn around." Naomi said with sigh. "Please?" Was she begging? "Elizabeth, please turn around."

"They burned down my garden." Eliza went totally still as Naomi did.

"What?" Naomi asked and then she groaned. "Oh, those stupid little brats." She knelt down and beckoned to the girl. "Elizabeth. You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have been here yesterday." Eliza froze. Naomi knew about that? "You need to come with me."

"No." Eliza said with a growl. "I have my personal time for the next hour! I can do what I want on my personal time! I want to do this!"

"Elizabeth! You do not know what you are doing!" Naomi begged as she held out a hand. "I will find you help to make a new garden! Just please… Come with me."

"No." Eliza said with a snap as she took another step towards the shadowed corridor. "I can't trust you! You are with them." Fury sang in her tone and she fought it back. It never helped to get angry with any of the ones who hurt her. Never.

"Technically, yes. I am your sister." Naomi looked as if she wanted to cry. "Please don't hurt her!" That wasn't to Eliza.

A huge sigh came from the shadow and then it lifted, showing a stone corridor that arced away from the Orokin hallway.

"I won't. You might as well both come in." The voice of the dragon was resigned. "She is likely to be almost as stubborn as you are, Naomi."

"I know." How had Naomi suddenly reached Eliza's side? Why was Eliza suddenly frozen in place? Naomi scooped the girl up and held her gently. Was she was crying softly? "She is a good one, my lord."

What? Naomi was a daughter of the Emperor just as Eliza was! She was a Princess of Orokin! She called no one 'Lord' except the Emperor!

"What have I told you about calling me that, Naomi?" The dragon's voice was somewhat harsher now, but Eliza felt her incipient fear fade as Naomi carried her into a larger cave where the huge scaled form from yesterday sat eyeing them both.

"Not to. I apologize. I am stressed." Naomi sat, and arranged Eliza in her lap carefully holding the girl both to restrain and to comfort. "It is all right, Elizabeth. It is going to be all right." She started stroking Eliza's hair. Hair that was far too long for Eliza's tastes but her mother insisted that she keep it down to her waist and Orokin tech allowed for it to be cared for properly. "Shhh, easy girl. Easy."

"She is a good kid." The dragon said heavily. "I shouldn't have shown myself to her yesterday, but she was hurting so badly and she walked right through the wards to get away from those idiot bullies. That should not have been possible."

"No, it shouldn't have been. I know what that means, but she is not even six!" Naomi's hands were so gentle, so soothing. "I want to help her and I can't. I will do as I swore. Our family's duty remains and we will abide by it."

"Naomi? Wha-?" Eliza managed through whatever was holding her.

"You know what duty is, Elizabeth." Naomi said sadly. Eliza managed a nod as Naomi's hands continued their gentle massage. "I know you do not sleep through the classes on ethics like so many of our esteemed peers do." That was sour. "Something very bad happened a long time ago and I have to try to mitigate it. It cannot be undone. I am needed. You may be too someday."

"I don't understand." Eliza said weakly as she snuggled close to Naomi who let her. The kindness that her elder sister was showing was totally out of character for any of her kin.

"I know." Naomi's voice was coming from far away now. "Please, my lord? If she is a potential, then she must be protected from those who would warp her."

"Such protection can cause more harm than good in the long term." The rumble of the dragon as oddly comforting. "That said? I will see what I can do. She is a good kid, but that does not mean she will be a good woman."

"No, but better her in the role than any of our other kin." Naomi sighed deeply as her hands stopped their caresses and Eliza perked back up. "Silly girl." Her voice was kind as fingers tweaked Eliza's nose.

"What is wrong, Naomi?" Eliza pleaded as she carefully wrapped her arms around her elder sister. It felt right, if totally unnatural. She was hugged back. Royal siblings did not hug one another. It just wasn't done! But here? Now? Who cared?

"You won't see me again, Elizabeth. At least, I hope you don't." Naomi was sad, but her tone turned proud. "You make me very proud, girl. I thought that none of my siblings had the strength of will or character to do what you did, but you have, haven't you? You have transcended your fear and become what the Royal Family was supposed to be all along. Protectors, not takers. Five years old and already well on your way to your destiny."

"You are going away?" Eliza pleaded. "No..." She begged as Naomi hugged her again. "Don't!"

"I have to, Honey." Naomi was so very sad now. "But I love you, Elizabeth. Stay strong. Be yourself. Don't let them, whoever they are, hurt you. Don't let them win."

Then Eliza was sitting on the floor as golden energy swept Naomi's arms from around her and her sister was gone!

"Naomi?" Eliza asked, staring around wildly. But she was alone in the cave with the dragon who bowed his head. "Naomi?"

"She is gone, child." The dragon scooped her up like Naomi had and settled her on scales that were oddly soft under her as Eliza started to cry. "It is okay, girl. It is okay."

"Why did she wait until now to be nice?" Eliza all but screamed that as she sobbed.

"Because to many of your family, kindness is a weakness and weakness will be taken advantage of." The dragon replied. "As she said and I say now; Idiots. Naomi was anything but weak. You are anything but weak." His tone was so soothing, so gentle. "You gave me your name but I did not give you mine. That was rude of me. Names have power in many of the places I go, but you may call me 'Will'. That is not my true name, but it will suffice."

"Did Naomi die?" Eliza asked manifestly against her will. She understood far more than a human child would at age six, but she knew she had a lot more to learn.

"No." The dragon said heavily. "But if you ever see her again, run." Eliza stared up at the huge scaled snout, eyes huge and the dragon nodded. "What she has to do is awful and it will warp her into something truly horrible. I hope that you will not be called to take that role. I truly do."

"I… I do not understand." Eliza said weakly. "Is this something I won't understand until I am older?" She asked a bit petulantly and stepped hard on her tone.

"I certainly hope you do not understand it until you are older. If ever." The dragon replied. "You will need to get back to your life, little Elizabeth. Grow tall and strong. Remember your sister's courage and kindness. She was a good role model."

"That is why you were crying, wasn't it?" Eliza asked and the dragon bowed his head. "You knew yesterday."

"Several of your years ago, Naomi met me the way you just did. She was bit older and curious about things that it was better not to be curious about." The dragon replied. "That said, yes. She was my friend and I knew this was her last day here. I came to be with her here and now. Until her time came. But this is good too."

"It is?" Eliza asked. "How?"

"She did not go alone. She went knowing she was loved. You know the loneliness. The fear. The pain. The degradation." The dragon was so gentle now. Then he was crying again, shaking his head. "No. I shouldn't do this to you. I should take your memory and let you wake up in your bed. I should-"

He broke off with a gasp as Eliza surged up and grabbed his neck with her hands. She couldn't get her arms even a quarter of the way around the massive neck, but she hugged it as tight as she could.

"You are not alone!"

For a long moment, there was utter silence in the cave. Then it was broken by a sob from the dragon.

"Don't do this." The dragon begged. "Don't do this to yourself! You don't even know me!" He sighed. "And that is a good thing. Elizabeth, please! This will cause all kinds of problems."

"Every time I find something nice, my family destroy it or steal it." Eliza said with a growl. "No more! I won't let them win! I won't let them change who I am. I will talk to my mother, tell her I do not want to be a singer. I want to be an artist, not a singer."

"Your mother is dangerous, girl." The dragon warned. "Be wary."

"I know." Eliza sighed deeply. "I know I am just a foolish child, but I also know that I will stink as a singer."

"I highly doubt that." The dragon eased her away for his throat with a gentle claw and held her as she curled up in said claw, safe and warm. "If you are anything like Naomi was, then trying to make you change your mind will hurt." He chuckled. "That said, I do understand the loneliness and yes, it hurts. This will cause problems." He warned Eliza who yawned and snuggled closer to the warm scales.

"I don't care." Eliza said with a small smile as she started to drift off. "Just… Can I ask for one thing?"

"If it is within my power, certainly, my friend." Someone else was singing softly. Something about 'Puff the Magic Dragon'? An odd lullaby but it worked. The voice was female, but Eliza was too tired to look for the singer.

"Only family calls me Elizabeth and I don't like them." Eliza was drooping, energy all but spent. "Call me something else?"

"How about 'Liza'?" The other inquired. "Close enough, but totally unique. Totally you."

"I like it." Eliza smiled and then stiffened, scrabbling weakly for a pocket. "Oh. Yeah. This is for you. Oh." She moaned as she fumbled what was in her hand and it flew away. It halted in mid-air and she smiled as the small thing flew back to her. She waved it away. "No. No, it is for you. Chocolate always make me less sad."

"Oh, girl." The dragon was so sad as Eliza finally dropped off. "Sleep. You are safe here." He did not look up as a clap of power heralded his mate arriving. Her gasp of shock said it all. "Yes. And yes." He said sourly but softly. "Don't wake the poor kid. She has had a bad day. She was here with Naomi when Naomi left to take the governorship of the prison."

"She is only a kid! She cannot become a Darkstorm." The brown scaled form of his mate should not have fit into the cave but it morphed into larger as reality did around its wardens. The silver scaled dragon looked at her and she hissed. "Do not even think about it! You know what Sharlina will do if you start altering people into the role! Let alone what the rest of us will do. Even with volunteers, the job is bad enough as it is. Let the kid grow up. We have nothing but time."

"She is one of the good ones, Raviine." The silver dragon said sadly. "All honor and duty. Just like Naomi." He pulled the floating tiny foil wrapped thing to him and smiled as the foil flew off the chocolate and vanished. The treat flew into his mouth. "And I do like her taste in chocolates."

"Idiot." The brown scaled form said with feeling as she stared at the sleeping girl. "You know this won't end well."

"I know, but I have to try. Naomi came back when asked." The silver one said sadly. "This one will assume the role if needed as well. She is the same as Naomi was."

"Hopefully not quite as impulsive as Naomi was." The brown scale dragon shuddered. The silver one just shrugged his wings and the brown one winced. "That bad?"

"Worse."

"Joy." The brown one slowly and carefully eased the slumbering girl into her own claw. Eliza gave a tiny cry on loss but eased as the brown claw warmed to her and soothed her. "You get to talk to the Emperor. He won't be happy."

"This is his family's mess!" The silver dragon morphed into a blonde haired human in formal Orokin attire, but the sword that hung at his side was anything but Orokin in nature. It wasn't even Tenno, but they would recognize it as an ancient style called a 'Spatha'. "Naomi didn't have to do that! She could have stayed with us!"

"She made her choice, husband." The brown dragon said sadly as she cradled Eliza close. "Now we see what choice this one makes."

"You know what she will say, Raviine." The dragon in human form said sourly as he laid a hand on Eliza's hair. "Rest well, Liza. I will be right back."

Then he was gone.

The brown scaled dragon sighed as she curled up protectively around the slumbering girl in her claw.

"Yes, I fear that I do know what you will likely say if you are anything like Naomi Darkstorm was, dear Liza. I truly fear that. You do not deserve the hell that is our lives as wardens."