The Last Dragon

        “Alyssa!”         Her voice echoed across the courtyard. I flinched. Mistress was certainly in a mood today. This would make the third time she had called me by name and the sun had barely risen. I rose from my place in the gardens, wiping my mud stained fingers on my apron.      “Alyssa!” She screeched once more.         “Coming, Mistress!” I called back. My threadbare shoes barely made a sound against the cobbled stones as I made my way into the rather large estate that I’d called home for the last eight years.          I’d been brought to this place at the ripe age of ten, after a plague had ravished my small coastal village. I’d been left an orphan. With no older siblings to care for me, the elders of the village had sent me to Mistress Hadid. She was known to take in wayward children with no other place to call home.         Mistress Hadid wasn’t overly cruel but neither was she kind. She was somewhere in the middle. I didn’t get beat or starved but, alas, I was often treated as nothing more than a servant. Which, I suppose, was exactly what I had become. Originally, I was brought it as companion to her young daughter, Tessa. Now that Tessa was of age, that left little use for me now.         Mistress Hadid stood in the foyer, Tessa at her side. Neither acknowledged me as I came to stand behind them. Hands folded before me, I stood there in silence. Once upon a time, Tessa and I had been the best of friends. I held fond memories of friendship between us, memories that I was certain would fade in time for me just as they had for her.         With hair the color of the setting sun, eyes the color of the sea, Tessa was quite the beauty. She was a year younger than myself. Mistress Hadid had begun searching for a suitable husband over the past year. Alas, that search had proved fruitless. No man came close to being worthy of Tessa’s hand.         “I have found Tessa a match.” Mistress Hadid spoke without turning.         “That...that is wonderful news.” I stumbled over the words. They were a lie. Despite the distance that had erupted between us over the past year or so, I would be sad to lose her.          Mistress Hadid clicked her tongue. “It is.” She finally turned to face me, her almond shaded eyes appraising me for a moment. “Alyssa. You have grown from a scrawny child into a woman. Perhaps it is time we consider what the future holds for you.”         I felt the color drain from my face, a hollow pit forming in the center of my stomach. Before that moment, I had never considered what the future would hold in store for me. I assumed that I would continue to serve Mistress Hadid until I grew withered with age. I’d never pictured another life. Would she send me from this place now that Tessa was to leave? What would become of me?         “I do believe she thinks you intend to marry her off.” Tessa blurted after a few moments of silence.         Mistress Hadid offered a soft smile. “That is not my intention, Alyssa.” She stepped forward, taking a loose strand of my straw colored hair between her fingertips, “Though I do pray that, someday, you find a man willing to have you. Marriage is nothing to fear.”         I blinked. In the eight years I have lived in this place, Mistress Hadid had never laid a finger on me. I’d received not even the smallest gesture of kindness. What had changed? With a sigh, she distanced herself from me.         “It is my intent to travel with my daughter to meet her future husband. Be that as it may, I’m afraid I no longer have any use for you.”         The day I had feared has finally come. I was being sent away. My eyes dropped. I did my best to swallow the lump that had lodged itself at the base of my throat. Mistress Hadid and Tessa were the only home I had known aside from my own. What would become of me now?         “Have no fear. I have found the perfect place for you.” She offered a smile of comfort. “You will travel to the Temple of Astor. The Ladies in White are in need of someone to help with the upkeep of the Temple. They will provide lodging, food, all the small comforts you have found here. And fret not, you will not be forced to take the cloth. If circumstances allow, you will be able to wed should the time ever come.”         The Ladies in White were a mysterious lot. Very little was known of them. The Temple of Astor sat upon a moutain top in a secluded part of the region. They never left their precious temple. They had what little provissions they seemed to require delivered to them.          I did not have a choice in this matter. Well, maybe I did. But if I declined this offer, what would become of me? I would be just a girl, alone in this world. I would have nowhere to go, no protection. I could do nothing but accept Mistress Hadid’s offer.          “I appreciate your kindness, Mistress. I shall do my best to make your proud.”          “Oh, I know you will. Now, go. Pack whatever belongings you wish to take with you. I have arranged a carriage for you. It arrives tomorrow.” Panic settled into my breast. Tomorrow? That was hardly enough time to say goodbye to the place I have called home for the last eight years. I did not argue. I simply dipped into a low courtesy before turning and escaping from their presence lest they see my tears. I fled to the safe haven that was my room. It wasn’t much but it was mine. It was nestled just within the barn. I would wake with the call of the rooster and fall asleep to the gentle sound of the barn animals. I began to pack. Mistress Hadid had very little servants within her household so there wasn’t anyone in particular I wanted to wish farewell. Tessa already knew of my departure. I had remained distant from the others for just this very reason. I did not wish to become attached to someone I would inevitably have to bid farewell.  Sleep did not come easy. I tossed in my small bed, restlessly waiting for the sun to peak over the horizon. At some point in the night, sleep claimed me. I awoke to the soft chirping of birds just outside my window. Today was it. Today was the day I bid farewell to what I considered my home. I wasn’t ready to face what destiny had in store for me.