Edric

He was the one that had been chosen to be the mate of Lady Arana's favored heiress. He had been born for this, this was his destiny...and he was fine with that. It had been arranged for the good of the clan, and the good of the clan was paramount, was it not? Besides, he's made every effort to be an agreeable sort, even if he absolutely can't abide doing menial labor of any sort—all it does is get him utterly filthy, and he's far too handsome for that! It...also means that most of what he did was simply speaking to the others and laying around all day, but he was intended to be the heiress' mate, and surely that meant something?

...Not that it was very easy being such a thing. Lady Arana was one of the sternest dragons he had ever encountered, after all, and at first, he had been secretly afraid that he was to be her mate instead! But no, she was just to teach him of their ways, and he quite readily agreed with everything she had told him. She was, after all, the only dragon in this clan who knew what had happened, and...what they needed to do to make up for it. It was harsh, yes, but...it was life. And life could be harsh, couldn't it?

So it was no surprise when he finally did commit to giving up all of his children with Anastasi to the Shadowbinder.

And then he met Anastasi herself, and she was even more beautiful than he had imagined. He could only stare as he walked towards her for the first time, enraptured by her--

But then his paw went straight into the mud, and a shriek of repulsion escaped him before he could control himself. He was shaking his paw rapidly, trying to get that disgusting filth off of him, and inwardly he was cursing himself for a fool. Who would want some dragon who couldn't go five minutes in front of her without making an embarrassment out of himself?!

She had started laughing, though, not looking at him with the disgust he thought he deserved, and when she came over to help him, carefully cleaning the mud off of his dainty paw, he couldn't help but give her a bit of an awkward smile...and thank her, of course.

And though their first meeting was filled with nervous giggling and tentative silences, even though they were still so new to one another, he couldn't help but feel that this...was meant to be.

And he could have sworn he saw Arana smiling just slightly, for just one fleeting moment.
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They were young and foolish, once, but now they are older. Wiser. And he is stronger in his convictions than ever before, even as his dearest Anastasi started to worry more and more over her sister.

Alaina. The dragon that had betrayed her entire family, and had run away to the fringes of the clan where no one could find her.

He personally took a more scornful view of her than Anastasi did, even though it sometimes leads to friction between the two of them. As far as he's concerned, Alaina had a chance to accept their teachings—very logical, if strict teachings—and continuously refuses to even to this day, so until she comes to her senses, she is dangerous to them, trying to sway them from the rightful path. Anastasi, of course, still holds hope that Alaina will see reason, but...he can't be mad at her for it, in the end. Her optimism and kindness were what attracted him to her in the first place, when they were introduced to one another by her mother, and he wouldn't change that for the world, even when it makes their lives difficult.

He'll just keep teaching their hatchlings (and those of the others) about their purposes and their eventual fates to serve the most glorious deity of the world. It is his purpose, and his only need in life, aside from his beloved.
Written by dariiksnake

by tiramosu