Desiree

“Tell me a story.”

He lifts his eyes from his work. In the dim candlelight the room looks smaller, shadows eating the edges of his worktables, the scroll cases on their sides – and the hatchling at the doorstep, dark as she is, melts into them easily. Only her eyes glimmer, reflecting the light. He puts his quill down.

“You’re still up”, he chastises.

She steps a little closer, undeterred by his tone. “I couldn’t sleep. Tell me a story?”

Sighing, he reaches and pulls her up in his arms. For a while it’s him, holding her, holding her Pearl. He cleans his throat and starts a new legend, as he does so often now, she’s been restless lately-

“Once upon, when the World was still young, a young Emperor set off on a journey to find a cure for his dying mother. You see, many old and wizened Dragons had passed to offer her their medicines and their healing spells, but none had managed to cure the Shadow that coursed through her veins and ate away at her strength. Finally, as the young Imperial was losing all hope, a stranger draped in fine silks had stepped forwards. ‘I know who can save your mother’, he had told the young Imperial. ‘Who?’, the boy had asked, with newfound hope. ‘Is it a wizard, a healer?’

‘It is neither a wizard, not a healer of sorts’, the stranger had replied, ‘and it is neither an ordinary Dragon, nor a woodlands beast. It is a Construct, a prototype of when the Gods first sat down to craft our kind. They made many such constructs – of every kind of dragon – and, as the Gods put the effort to weave them with their very paws, they remain, undying, unchanging, wandering the land. They know no illness or death themselves, but it is said that the magic that exudes of them is so radiant, it could cure the gravest of sicknesses.’

‘And where do I find such a Construct’, the young Emperor asked.

‘That I do not know’, the stranger replied. ‘It is said that the unwavering meet a Construct if they walk the land long enough to prove their dedication. But beware, if you decide to leave – not all Constructs are benevolent. There are those amongst them who, when you tell them your heart’s desire, will do everything in their power to make sure you don’t get it. So be strong, young Imperial, and be brave – but, most importantly, be wise. Trust with care.’”

She cuts his story short, squirming in his arms. “Do Constructs like that really exist? Can I find one if I try?”

Her eyes, the brightest thing about her, glisten with intent. “They do in stories”, he tells her. “Why, do you have a secret wish you need their help with?”

Unsurprisingly to him, she nods. “But only from the mean ones.”

“…Désirée?”

Despite the alarm in his voice, she does not look up at him. “I don’t like what my heart desires”, she says instead, staring at the tiny Pearl in her arms.