"My two natures had memory in common."
- 17th of Saun, 716
- The shrieks and laughter of children echoed from the Venora courtyards, their mothers perched under the shade of lush trees to wash the laundry or hang the sheets to dry. They women smiled openly, watching the young lord chase the gaggle of youth, each dressed in simplistic servant's clothing, but beaming with happiness. All of the children, ranged from anywhere from a toddler to ten arcs old, perked up at the new game the Venora had invented.
"Andra! Andra! I wanna be the maiden too!" a little girl with blonde braids shouted. She was jumping up and down in excitement and must have been around six or seven.
The young lord looked up from the laughing toddler in his arms, wrestling to keep her in his grasp while she kicked and screamed in delight, "Another maiden for me?" he grinned, a tiny fist colliding with his chest, "Say no more!" Letting out a mighty roar, Andraska swooped in and serpentined across the lawn as the boys of the group chased him with wooden sticks.
The knights let out battle cries and swung, but the dragon leaped out of the way. Nearby was a blanket that had been set up - a dragon's lair and the noble charged towards it, setting down the toddler and pretending to blow fire at his pursuers. One boy started flailing, falling to the ground while his partner 'revived' him.
András jumped and rolled across the green grass, his white shirt coming up with a streak of green across his back. Sometime during the game, the lord had discarded his tie and untucked his shirt, the thin black neck piece tossed aside along with shoes so shiny, it was very evident they were never worn for long. His socks had also come off, as his feet were bare when he ran towards the girl who had declared herself his next victim and he scooped her into his mighty talons. She screamed for help and the knights came charging. Lord Andraska tried to spin away to his lair, but when he turned to it, the little toddler was racing away across the lawn in a fit of giggles. "A princess and an escape artist!" he shouted, changing course last minute and trying to chase after the toddler with the other girl in his arms. The boys screamed battle cries and the dragon had almost recaptured the second maiden when the knights cornered him. A stick poked him in the back, and Andras swatted theatrically at the attacker. Another light hit on his leg, and down he crumpled to his knees, shielding the girl from any stray hits. One more mighty blow and he released the maiden in his arms and roared one last time, collapsing into the grass and dying.
The children cheered and then one of them jumped upon his chest, signalling the others to do it also. Each little weight pressed upon him and he grunted from the impact, unable to get up. They all were asking him a thousand questions. Can he be the knight next and the boys be the dragons? Were maidens allowed to escape? Were dragons real?
"M'lord?" a soft voice addressed him and immediately the children silenced. On any other day when Lord Andráska was away, they were put out of sight and out of mind from the household, left to do chores or chase boredom in tiny quarters. It was a nice reprieve for them all, but they knew the rules. They shuffled off him and he propped himself up, squinting the sun away to look at the servant girl before him. "Lady Celeste Andaris is here to meet with you."
She sidestepped to reveal a well dressed figure standing a ways off with deep ebony curls and a soft face. He sat up and brushed stray pieces of grass from his lap. It was no secret Andráska wasn't a fan of meeting with other nobles, one of the reasons he had put off on replying to her letter for so long. But he had agreed to meet and here she was. How long she had been watching, he wasn't quite sure. Andráska smiled at the pretty figure and waved, pushing himself from the lawn and walking towards her.