The Centenary Dragon Hunt

History Lesson

A few minutes later, Mouse came in, followed by three males bringing in more suitcases than she thought she needed. Mouse saw the disapproved look at the suitcases on Raynes' face. “Some are for the King, and one is for the baby.”

“Oh, thank you, Mouse. What would I do without you?”

As soon as the males were gone. Mouse gave Rayne a surprisingly strong hug. “This is the first time I've been alone with you all afternoon. I was told of my promotion right before we left. Thank you so much. It's such an honor to be your official maid,” Mouse said with pride and joy.

Although Rayne was happy that Mouse was happy, she wasn't sure why she was so happy to be a maid. “Please don’t take this rudely. But- why are you so happy to be my maid and haven't you been my maid this whole time? So, is it really a promotion?”

Mouse took a seat by the window and looked down at her hands. “Queens maids are usually much older. I’m the youngest one in history.” She looked up at Rayne with a shy smile. “Before you got here, I was a low castle maid. I did things like scrubbing floors and taking out trash. In a few years I might have been promoted to chamber maid or office maid, but mostly I just worked in the common areas.”

“If that’s so, how did you become my maid in the first place?” Rayne asked.

Mouse gave Rayne a small smile. “I get two days off every other week. I'm from the village that's next to the river. I take my family some of the money I earn. To help them get by. Money has been tight ever since my father passed away.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Rayne said sincerely, but I don’t get what that has to do with you becoming my maid.

“I'm getting there.” Mouse said with a raised hand, “Anyway I had to do a few things for my stepmother, and I was late getting back. The Queen mother thought it was a nice punishment for both of us; if I was your maid.”

Rayne started laughing. It wasn't long before Mouse joined her in laughing. “I think that plan backfired on her, don’t you? She didn’t think I would be Queen one day and she didn’t think you would be a good maid.”

Mouse nodded her head in agreement.

“I thought most of the maids were from the village at the base of the mountain. How did you end up here?” Rayne asked.

“Well, most of the castle workers are from that village, but there are a few from my village too. My father died soon after my first year of study and my stepmother and stepsisters aren't very good with money and they have no skills. So, I went to work here to help with bills and such. Both of my stepsisters are running in the hunt. If they find wealthy dragons, they won't need my help anymore. My stepmother thinks they’ll find royal dragons if not kings. They’ve been training for years now.”

“Training? Training for what?” Rayne asked.

“For the hunt. Girls from the villages start training years before a hunt.” When Rayne still looked confused, Mouse went on “you know they run. They practice running fast for long distances.”

“Oh, okay, that makes sense. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Rayne wanted to ask why her sisters got to run in the hunt, but didn’t. Instead, she asked “What were you studying? I didn’t know there were colleges here?”

“Oh well, yes. If you get good grades in school and show an interest in something, you can get a scholarship for that profession. I was studying to be a historian. There aren't many and my father was so proud of me,” Mouse said sadly.

Rayne felt sorry for her and wanted to help. “I could talk to Lightning. I'm sure he could get you back into the program.” Rayne said hopefully.

Mouse shook her head sadly. “No, too much time has passed, and I would be the oldest one there. No, I'm happy where I'm at. Like I said, it’s a great honor to be the queen's maid.”

Rayne wasn't convinced. “If you change your mind, all you have to do is ask,” she said, laying a comforting hand on Mouse's arm.

After a moment of silence, Rayne jumped up and clapped her hands. “If you were a historian, I bet you know a lot about the Hord. Can you tell me about them? Lightning keeps forgetting and he said it was a common enough story. Everyone should know it.”

“Yes, it is a common story. I should be happy to share it with you.” Mouse was always happy to share her knowledge of history, even if it was the common story of the Hord.

The girls took a seat in the large red cushioned chairs in the sitting area. This room was bigger than her room at the Lightning Kingdom and it was bigger than the room she was in when she was in the Fire kingdom last time. It’s more of an apartment than a room. It had a sitting area and a little kitchen area. The bed was the biggest she had ever seen, and there was a balcony big enough for a dragon to land on. This room was fit for a king for sure.

“I'll start with the origins of the Hord. Now keep in mind, I don’t know how much of their origins are really true. I guess if we really wanted to know how they came to be the Hord we would have to ask one of them.” Mouse said.

Rayne was thinking of the Hords’ men that was chained in the Lighting Kingdoms dungeon right now. She had a feeling it would be a big no, no to sneak down there to ask for a history lesson.

“It is said that the Hord was once human, and that they came from the Human realm. This was a long time ago when there were doors to each realm.” Mouse began her story.

Rayne raised her hand. “Wait, wait. There were doors. Like you could just go from one realm to another?” she asked.

“Yes and no. There were doors but there were guards on either side and each realm had its rules about going and coming. Anyway, because of races like the Hord who don’t care about rules or right and wrong. All the doors have been destroyed. Or so they say.”

“This is so crazy. So, there could be a secret door somewhere?” Rayne asked with excitement. She loved a good mystery.

Mouse just shrugged her shoulders. “I can't say for certain but there's always whispers of one. Anyway, a long time ago, a group of human men fought their way into the Myth realm. Which is the worst realm. Honestly, from what I know about the Myth realm. I’m surprised a human can survive. It’s one of the first things that doesn’t add up to me. But that’s how the story is told.”

Rayne wanted to ask questions about the Myth realm but didn’t want to distract Mouse from her current story about the Hord. She decided she would tuck that question away for later. She decided if she was going to be a good queen, she would need to know about the dragon's history. She was lucky to have Mouse as a maid and friend, her knowledge will come in handy.

“The human men wanted power. They probably thought they were going into the Fay Realm and ended up in the Myth Realm instead, if you ask me. The Myth Realm has very little magic. It's mostly just wild beast. Once the men were there. There was no going back, and they had to learn how to survive. They wanted to be the most powerful beings, as most males do.” Mouse rolled her eyes.

“They didn’t have any women, so they stole women from the trolls. The trolls are ugly and dumb, but they were big and strong. They thought if they could breed with the trolls, they would have man's brains and the troll's strength. Most of the children they got from the trolls were weaker than the trolls and not as smart as the Humans. So next, they took women from the Ork's. Ork's are not as big as the trolls, but they are bigger and stronger than human men and they also are somewhat smart. That’s how they ended up with gray skin. It's why some are tall and muscular with sharp faces, and some are rounder with faces that drip snot and slobber everywhere. After a few generations of breeding with Ork's, trolls and who knows what. They still weren't the strongest in the realm. They came into our realm asking for sanctuary. We have given sanctuary to a few creatures over the centuries, like mermaids.”

“Stop” Rayne stood up. “ You have mermaids here. Like half man, half fish, magical, beautiful mermaids.”

Mouse gave her an odd look. “Yes, well, I haven't seen one for myself. They live in the Ocean Kingdom, as you can imagine. I've seen pictures though. They are half fish and, well, I guess the upper half kinda of looks human. I wouldn’t consider them beautiful though. Their noses are very small, their eyes are very big, their carnivore teeth are so big they don’t fit in their mouth. You can still see them when they close their mouths. They have long claws and sharp fins. Some have a little magic though. A few can sing so beautifully, you’ll do anything they say, and some can control the water.”

Rayne looked at her, surprised. “ That's not how they are described in my world. In my world, their upper half looks more human. They are supposed to be beautiful.”

“I didn’t know there were mermaids in the human realm. Maybe there are different species” Mouse said, confused.

“Oh, there aren't mermaids in the human realm. Just made-up ones, adults tell children about.” When Mouse looked even more confused. Rayne decided to drop the subject. “The mermaids aren't important. Tell me more about the Hord. Why do I feel like their after me?”

“As I was saying, the Hord came to us asking for sanctuary. At the time, we only knew them as the Hord. They told us the Orcs had stolen all their women and they just wanted to live in peace until they died off. But they lied to us. It was them that were taking females and none of the women they had taken produced girls, so they had to keep taking them. The Orcs declared war on them. When they saw they were going to lose, they came to us. By the time we found out what they were really about, it was too late.

They started taking the dragon females. They thought they could breed a new species of dragon and take over our realm. A few of the offspring of the Hords men and the dragon females did have wings, horns and are little bigger than the others, but they did not produce dragons or any females. We’ve been trying to eradicate them for years, but they live underground and move around a lot. After a few decades of women being taken, they stopped reproducing altogether. That’s why Moira started bringing humans over. Now, like the dragons, the Hord are desperate to save the species they created and have started taking humans as well. The reason I think they want you is because,” Mouse pointed at Raynes' daughter, “is because they know you can not only reproduce but have a female.”

Later that night, Lightning came in looking tired. “Why don’t we skip dinner and just have a relaxing dinner in our room tonight”, Rayne asked.

“As nice as that sounds” Lightning said, looking Rayne up and down with hunger in his eye. “it would be rude to not show up at dinner. Plus, it would be a nice time for you to meet the other women.”

“Meet them? But what if I make a fool out of myself and embarrass you? What if I say or do the wrong thing? I still don’t know a lot about your customs.”

Lightning smiled “Rayne, most of the other women came from the human realm like you did and don’t know any more about our customs than you. From what the other kings have said, they’ll all be running in the next race, even the one who was born here who knows about our customs will be running. And considering I'm the only king who has found his true mate” he said, giving Rayne a pointed look, “you, Rayne, are the highest-ranking female here. If you can survive a dinner with my mother, you can do anything”

Rayne thought about what Lightning said. She hadn't realized she was the highest-ranking female. That made her feel like she had even more pressure put on her shoulders. She had to set a good example for others. Lightning was right about one thing though. If she could survive a meal with his mother, she could do anything.