Alexandra

Alexandra had been a fine lady, once.

After a childhood filled with the arrival of more and more siblings and her mother getting increasingly busy as her string of suitors loved her and left her, eggs in nest and no support in sight, Alexandra had decided her life was going to be different. *She* wasn't going to be taken in by a mere male.

Of course, that's exactly what happened. When she was least expecting it, a duplicitous rake stole her heart and also her children. She never saw them again. She didn't even get to name them before her lover had taken them off to learn the art of war. Those siblings had defected from their father, refusing to go to battle (so she had heard), but they had still gone to serve a deity, even if it was different from the one their father served.

It had taken her a long time to get over that betrayal. That wounding. That grief.

And then she'd met her prince. He had treated her like the fine lady she was, keeping her bedecked in jewels and silks. And she had been happy. They had been happy. They'd had many fine children together and some of those had gone off to serve their chosen deity but it had been their choice to become warriors and she was proud of them and their achievements.

There had been an accident around the time of her second nest with Wynn. He had been away and Alexandra was incapacitated. When it came time to name the hatchlings, the only thing Alexandra had been able to say was Felicity. And so they were all named Felicity. All four boys.

She recovered in time and while she did try to get them to let her rename them, the boys all thought it was a tremendous joke and would constantly play pranks around their shared name. They were a handful but she loved them and couldn't be angry with them.

When they had left home, three sticking together and one striking out on his own, she was a little saddened that there would be no more Felicity mayhem in her life and so her very last child, a girl, was named Felicity in honour of her older brothers.

Eventually, Wynn told her that he, too, had heard the call to arms and he was going to follow one of his sons to serve Lightweaver. Alexandra was distraught. They'd had many children together but in terms of actual time spent together, it had been far too short. After all her lonely years nursing her broken heart, she felt that she was losing him too soon.

As badly as Wynn felt about leaving her, he couldn't deny the pull on his soul any longer and he departed amidst many tears and hugs and professions of love.

Alexandra was a shell for a while, putting on her finery like armour against the world every day. She left the lair where they had been so happy together, unable to cope with seeing the pity on the faces of her friends day after day. And she wandered for a time, slowly coming to terms with the fact that, while she had lost much, she had also had much. She'd been rich in so many more things than just gems and jewels. And she decided to focus not on what she'd lost when Wynn left but on the good things she had been granted and the experiences she'd had. She'd loved and been loved in return. Not all dragons get to say that.

The day came when she decided that it was up to her to take the next step forward and make some new experiences for herself. She was going to switch things up a little, put off the things she was accustomed to, and take on a new adventure. Her old life might be over but her life wasn't over. And as she put on her steampunk goggles for the very first time and the opportunities opened up in front of her, her future began to look very bright indeed.