Ragnhild

(wip)
(to this day Ragnhild does not realise that the colours of Hilbert's emblem are her colours. Everyone else thinks it's cute)

o o Lady Ragnhild, armourer and sister to King Hilbert

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When Hilbert was halfway between hatchling and dragon, when he was old enough to take some responsibility in caring for himself but still not old enough to be trained as a warrior in the traditional way of the Rasfura Clan, one of the clan elders told him that a dragon egg which had been left at the nesting grounds in the night contained his sister.

Hilbert didn't question this (which may go some way in explaining his character). Instead, he accepted the news with joy, and agreed to share in the responsibility of caring for the hatchling. He chose the name 'Ragnhild' after one of the war heroines in Rasfuran history.

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Ragnhild did not immediately inherit the principles which Hilbert appeared to have been born with. One Crystalline Gala when the Rasfura Clan was to hold a massive celebration with parades and food for everyone, a young Ragnhild awoke in the morning and immediately ran off in the direction of the celebrations, only to be stopped by one of her brother's hind legs appearing in her vision like a pillar from the ground. 

She tried to run around him, only to be swept up by his tail. She was still small enough for that back then. Thinking it was a game, she bit down on his tail, and he began to walk away with her attached to his fin.

Detaching her teeth from his scales, she shouted, 'Hey! The festival's the other way, brother!'

'We aren't going to the festival.'

Before Ragnhild could make another break for it, Hilbert tossed her into the air, over his shoulder, and into one of his foreclaws. Although she was grown large enough that he couldn't completely close his claw around her body any more, his grip on her was firm, his stride unwavering as he walked in the opposite direction.

'What?! Why not?' She squirmed in his grip but there was no breaking out of his claws. 'There'll be food at the festival! Food. For free! This is the first time in months we'll be able to eat until we're full!'

Only when they had reached the longhouse where all the clan orphans lived did Hilbert put Ragnhild down, and it was only a moment before his claw landed on her tail again. The longhouse was completely abandoned, everyone else having gone to the festival. Ragnhild looked up, and up again, to give her brother a sullen glare.

'Ragnhild, have you seen Dragor lately?' Hilbert said.

'I saw him last week. Why?'

'Have you seen him since then?'

'No. I don't know. I haven't noticed.' 

Hilbert gave her such a serious look that she was unnerved. Nor could she begin to guess why her brother would deny her a meal. He would usually do anything to feed her as much as possible, even starving himself so that she could have his share. 

'You haven't seen him lately because he was banished by Raban and his family. Did you hear about that?' Hilbert said. 

Raban was the clan leader, a terrible and greedy Imperial who had no qualms about keeping everything his own clan members earned, feeding only his family and inner circle of powerful friends, leaving the poorer dragons and the orphans to scrape together whatever they could to survive. 

'No, I didn't.' Ragnhild frowned. 'Why did he do that?'

'He said that he found Dragor planning to betray him. I think Raban is scared of him.'

She didn't say anything for a few moments, thinking about their friend. Dragor had been by no means a wealthy dragon - very few dragons were under Raban's rule - but he had had his own farm, from which he had often spared food to share with the orphans and those who couldn't afford to feed themselves. It was a blow for all of them to lose him. 

'Well, I'm sorry he's gone, but what does that have to do with the festival?' she persisted. 

'Raban stole everything Dragor owned when he had him exiled. That is where the food for the festival comes from - not just Dragor, but others too. The festival is only being held because Raban robbed others to hold it.'

'But - but - why does that mean we can't go to the festival? Even if we don't go to the festival, we can't do anything about bringing Dragor back!' 

'We can't go to the festival because I won't let you or I fill our bellies while Dragor and others like him are turned out of their homes, left to die from hunger or from the cold.'

'I'll die from hunger if I don't go!' 

'No, you won't,' Hilbert said, starting to sound irritable. 'I saved some hare from yesterday. That'll give you strength until tomorrow.' 

'A bit of hare isn't enough!'

'You will have to make do.'

Tears filled Ragnhild's eyes, then she was filled with indignant fury. 'You - you horrible dragon!' she shouted. 'You're not my real brother! There's no way my real brother would let me go hungry for such a stupid reason!'

A deeply wounded look crossed Hilbert's eyes. He shifted uncomfortably, opened his mouth to reply, but the slight movement was enough for Ragnhild to escape from his grasp. Yet she didn't try to leave, knowing that Hilbert would continue to stop her. She only scampered into a faraway corner where she curled up and sulked for the rest of the day. Nor was she able to forgive him until several days later - an impressively long time for a hatchling to hold a grudge. 

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It didn’t take long for Ragnhild to inherit her brother’s principles. When Hilbert made the decision to leave the Rasfura Clan, Ragnhild was naturally one of the foremost dragons to agree to go with him - indeed, he didn’t even have to ask her. Ragnhild became his deputy, his second-in-command, his most trusted warrior.

Hilbert was quickly considered a chief by his followers, but Ragnhild never accepted any formal title. When the Rasfurans arrived at Fleuyer, the courteous dragons of Fleuyer called her ‘Lady Ragnhild’, considering her status almost equal to the king and queen,