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Ember studied her reflection with curious trepidation. It was slightly strange for the dragoness, to see such a detailed reflection of herself. The idea that the dragon staring back at her was a perfect replica of herself was slightly difficult to believe. The ruby-red scales that adorned her body were shined and polished to a point she never had done before, creating a sparkling sheen that felt almost unnatural. Golden lace adorned her outstretched wings, the loops wound around her to make sure they stay put. Apparently, she could fly with such decoration, assuming she didn't try anything too strenuous. A golden ring was also placed around her left horn, close to the base. It was the most she allowed them to put on her, the bare minimum to appease the customs of her new nation.

A sigh escaped her as the anxious bubble in her stomach seemed to rise out of nowhere. She didn't know how to feel. Part of her wanted to through all the decorations off and flee into the night sky. While the other part of her knew that this was a necessary sacrifice. For the sake of her own nation, and for the battle they would have to fight.

"Don't sigh Ember, you look beautiful," a hand touched her flank.

The dragoness looked down and smiled at the human woman beside her, "Thanks, auntie Ana. That's not exactly what I am feeling anxious about, however."

Anastasia, her caretaker and partial mother, nodded in understanding, "I did not realise dragons did this sort of thing."

"Light dragons are a strange species," Ember replied, looking back at the mirror, "They have such ceremony for something that is meant to be a private moment between two who love each other, and want to spend the rest of their life together."

"Hey, we humans do it too," Anastasia said with a raised eyebrow.

"That just makes it weirder. I wouldn't think that light dragons of all creatures would adopt human customs."

The human laughed, "Being here has made me think that light dragons are more like us than any other species."

"I definitely agree. Though don't tell them that," Ember chuckled, taking a moment to glance around their chamber.

White marble walls surrounded her, stretching high above her head. Windows of stained glass allowed for the muted silver light of the full moon to shine down into the chamber, making the entire place glow like an ethereal palace. It was so different from the dark black stone of Ember's home. And she liked it. There weren't any clouds in the sky, nor was the ground burned and black. While the fire nation's castle was definitely stronger, robust, and intimidating, the light dragon's palace was the complete opposite. Beautiful, towering, and grand. Made to inspire awe rather than fear. She liked that.

"You know, you can still pull out of this if you want to. You can still change your mind," Anastasia said, "Your mother won't hold it against you."

"I know," the dragoness shuffled her wings slightly, "She's made it abundantly clear I can pull out if I wish... but I've already agreed. It wouldn't look good if I pulled out now. Besides... we need this alliance... and this seems to be the only way to achieve it."

"I know, but it frustrates me it does. Surely the King Lumiane could figure some other way to secure this alliance rather than forcing you to..." Anastasia let out a sigh, shaking her head, "At the very least it could have been your mother making this decision, not you."

"Mom doesn't want a mate. I do," Ember replied, "She questioned this as much as you are actually. And... well... Lumiane's reasoning was that bonds of blood were much stronger than any other contract. It would make it certain that mum wouldn't betray him."

Anastasia hesitated, before patting the dragoness's side again, "Well... if you're certain about this.

"I am," Ember replied, before letting out a carefree grin, "Besides, as a dragon of equilibrium, Kibre is quite a handsome drake, even if he does have feathers."

Anastasia rolled her eyes, "That isn't everything you know."

"I'm just looking at the bright side," the dragon retorted with a snort.

"The bright side is that he's a light dragon," Anastasia said far too seriously.

Ember just glared at her for a moment, before the two broke down laughing.

"Alright, alright, stop moving around so much. You're going to ruin all my hard work," the human said as they recovered, reaching out to tidy up some of the golden strings on Ember's wings.

When they were done the two left the chamber, walking down the hallway side by side. Ember was forced to walk with her wings slightly outstretched so that strings weren't damaged by her folding them too much. Her claws clicked against the marble stone, and she was forced to almost squint slightly to get over the brightness of the moon.

"I'm going to miss you, you know," Anastasia said.

"I will miss you too," the dragoness said quite sincerely, "It'll be strange not having you or Yova around... I think I might even miss mom."

The human smiled at that, "Well you will have to visit us. I'd love to meet any hatchlings you have."

"I don't think even Lumiane will be able to stop me," the dragoness stated with conviction, chuckling slightly, before growing somewhat solemn, "I wonder what Zymre would have thought about all this."

"He would have been quite against the idea," Anastasia said with a small smile.

Ember nodded, "He would have probably threatened Kibre or something, and managed to find some way of getting into trouble."

"As always."

"As always."

The two reached the end of their walk, and Ember found herself hesitating as they reached the open doorway leading into the crowded cavernous chamber that the ceremony would be held in. Anastasia lay a comforting hand on her flank once again, and the two shared a silent glance. Ember gave her a small smile, before taking a deep breath as she stepped through the large doorway.

The scents of cooked meats and spiced food hit the young dragon full force, causing her to let out a grunt of surprise, shaking her head. Rarely did she have cooked meals, preferring the warm blood of a fresh kill, but she couldn't deny the enticing scent that reached her nose. She had entered on a small raised platform, with stairs leading down into the chamber. Hundreds of dragons were below. Most of them had the golden scales of light dragons, and many were dressed in gold, silver, and jewels, some to the extent that Ember wondered how they were able to walk around without them falling off. There were fire dragons present as well, several dozen of Ember's friends and family.

Her brother, Yova, was chatting with a red chaos dragoness, Elessia. The dragoness that had been Zymre's mate and was now quite a close friend for both Ember and Yova. Athaer, queen of the fire dragons, and Ember's mother sat on a small raised perch, next to the King and First Queen of the fire nation. Lumiane and Saetre. A light drake usually took multiple mates over the course of his life, but the first one they took was often considered of the highest importance, earning the title of first mate, or in the queen's place, the First Queen. It went against everything Ember believed in, but she was going to have to get used to the prospect. She was just thankful she wouldn't have to deal with it herself.

The next dragon that she found made her heart begin to beat fast with new nervousness, and her tail to twist with anxiety. Kibre sat on his own raised pedestal on the opposite side of the chamber, seeming rather stoic as he politely responded to the questions asked by the dragons around him. He was a strange dragon, his golden feathers making him stand out amongst his scaled peers. Despite his difference, they held him with a certain reverence. He was in line to become their next king after all, as the most powerful of the current king's sons. Ember had met with him before, and he didn't seem like a bad dragon, if a bit withdrawn. His mother had been killed due to his own equilibrium, and she could often see the pain in his eyes. She just hoped that he would become a little more open to her when they became mates.

As she walked all eyes began to look toward her and hesitated a moment. Again, she was reminded by Anastasia's presence by her side, and took comfort in it, slowly walking down the stairs and into the crowd of dragons. They parted for her, giving her respectful nods as she walked by. Many of her friends gave encouraging smiles hidden by silent anger, many of them against this decision. The light dragons looked at her with a mixture of curiosity, superiority, and muted anger themselves. Ember guessed that not many of them liked the idea that their future First Queen would be a fire dragon.

She ignored them, and focused on where she was going, holding her head up high, despite the nervous tangling in her stomach. She made eye contact with Kibre, giving her best smile toward him. To her surprise, he gave a smile back, the most genuine one she had seen from him thus far. Part of her wondered if he was just as anxious and nervous about this whole thing as she was.

With a wing-assisted jump, she made her way onto the platform beside him. He gave her a polite nod of his head, to which she returned, before turning to face the rest of the crowd before her. Silence echoed through the room as King Lumiane stepped forward.

"Thank you all gathering here today! Here we come to celebrate both the union of these two dragons before us, but the union of two nations! Light and Fire! I cannot stress the importance of this enough, and I thank you for the decision of both my son, Kibre, and the daughter of Queen Athaer, Ember, in binding together our families for a better future. May this union bring a strength unseen by the dragon world, and let it drive fear into the hearts of our enemies. For from today, our two nations become one!"

There were several cheers through the crowd, and even Ember couldn't help but find some excitement in the prospect. The light and fire nations were arguably the most formidable nations in the land. This alliance would make them unbeatable. It meant that they finally had the strength to move forward with their plans.

Athaer then stepped forward, and despite her being quite a bit smaller than her fellow monarch, the power that radiated from her was far greater, "I wish the same. I know many of you are reluctant about this union, but from it will come something far greater than anything we could wish for. I... I am proud of my daughter for making this decision, and I wish the best for the new couple."

The young dragoness blinked in surprise as her mother gave her a soft smile, one that meant far more than anything else she could have said. Ember smiled back. The two of them had never been close, but ever since the death of Ember's brother, Athaer had been trying to play a greater part within their lives. There were still struggles, but Ember respected her effort.

As the speeches finished Lumiane announced the beginning of the feast. Human servants came forward with massive platters of various meats, making their way through the crowd of hungry dragons with surprising calmness. A large plate was put on the platform in front of Ember, and the tangy scent of herbed spices and cooked flesh caused the young dragoness's stomach to grumble with eagerness. But she didn't go in straight away, unsure if there was some proper way of eating these meals that she wasn't aware of.

"Go ahead," Kibre said, "You must be hungry."

She glanced at him, before looking over the rest of the chamber to see many dragons simply tearing into their meals with a ravenous hunger that seemed a little out of sorts for such a formal gathering. Ember shrugged her wings, she preferred it that way anyway. She leaned forward and tore off a chunk of what she guessed to be some sort of antelope, letting out a rumble of satisfaction as the rich taste flowed over her tongue. Several bights later she hesitated, looking at the light dragon with slight embarrassment, wondering if she had gone a bit overboard with her eagerness for a meal.

He gave a slight smile, "Don't worry, there is plenty to go around."

Ember sat back, licking her chops, "Sorry, all these... customs are a bit strange."

"I imagine they are," he replied, "We tend to go a bit too far with all our expectations and regulations."

"It was a headache trying to remember them all," she responded with a small smirk.

"Oh, that I definitely understand. I grew up with it, so I'm kind of used to it all, but I pity you for what you're going to have to deal with," he responded with a light chuckle.

"Aargh, don't tell me that," Ember took another bite of her meal, going a little slower this time to allow herself a moment to savor it.

Kibre joined in the feast as well, though he was far more careful with his teeth than Ember, gripping and ripping off small pieces that he quickly swallowed. He saw Ember's questioning look and gave her a slight smile.

"Feathers are a lot harder to clean than scales. Getting these juices all through them can be quite annoying."

"Aah," she said, "I don't know if it's rude for me to ask this, but what is it like having feathers?"

"Ask me any questions you want, I won't get offended," he responded, "Having feathers... I mean I've never had scales so I can't exactly give you a proper comparison... but from what I've seen they require a lot more cleaning and pruning to keep them neat and tidy. But they do weigh less than scales and allow for more streamlined flight. They won't protect me from claws and teeth, but I can outfly nearly any other dragon."

"Oh, that's cool. I'm quite a fast flyer myself," Ember said, "Maybe we can have a race... if you guys do that sort of thing."

Kibre's eyes lit up a little at the challenge, "Hmm... I'd get behind that. You're not one of those dragons that get all upset when they lose right?"

She chuckled, "I should ask you the same thing."

The two continued to talk through the meal, sharing tidbits about their lives and revealing more and more about their personalities. It felt strange for Ember to think that she was actually enjoying herself somewhat, despite the situation. She began to relax, and she saw he did as well. While they had met each other before, never had they had the opportunity to simply sit down and talk. She was quite happy to find that Kibre was a rather laid-back dragon and seemed to enjoy the conversation as well. As hatchlings of royalty, they had some common ground, but it was strange to find out how different their lives really were. Ember shared details of her training with her fire, tell him how she had succeeded in creating a firestorm, while he explained what equilibrium felt like, and the awesome power that it wielded. They complained about the business of their parents, and Ember had to admit that Lumiane seemed to have more aloofness toward his offspring than her mother did. She was surprised to find out that Kibre had fifty brothers and nearly as many sisters. Most of them were half-siblings, but it still amazed the dragoness.

"What about you? You have two brothers right?" he said.

Ember's eyes darkened for a moment, and she went silent.

"Oh... wait... I'm sorry... I forgot..."

"No, no it's alright," she gave him a small smile, "It was a while ago now. Yeah, I had two brothers. Yova is here somewhere, and the other was Zymre. He probably would have disliked you."

Kibre frowned, "What? Why?"

Ember laughed, "Not directly of any fault of your own. He just had a... dislike for all things proper. He would hate the idea of a relationship for the sake of an alliance."

"Ah... do you... hate the idea?" he said, seeming a little hesitant.

The dragoness was silent for a moment as she thought about her answer, "Honestly... I don't like it. I think that there could have been another way. But... well... your father's reasoning behind it was understandable... and it's not like I was forced to be here as so often happens in your society. It was my choice... and I'm okay with it."

Kibre nodded thoughtfully, "I feel the same... I think. Da... I mean, the King, didn't give me much of a choice, and, if we are going to go forward with some honesty, I really didn't like the idea of becoming joined with a fire dragon. But... you are alright so far."

She tilted her head at him, "I'm alright am I?"

"Yep," he said with a slight smirk.

She let out a sarcastic sigh, "Well, I guess I have to lament that my future mate finds me 'alright'."

He gently nudged the side of her head with his snout, causing her to freeze for a moment. It was the first time he had initiated any physical contact. The feathers on his snout were soft. They reminded her of a pillow in her nest. His presence was rather warm and cozy as well, though she guessed that was more because of the aura of his equilibrium than anything else. She looked at him in slight surprise, and he just smiled back. With a smile of her own, she gently nudged him back.

"You are 'alright' as well," she said.

He let out the first genuine laugh she had heard from him, "I'll take it."

For the rest of the ceremony, the two shared more touches and nudges. She even allowed him to clean off some of the juices around her muzzle. When they had finished the meal, dragons came forward to offer them congratulations, as well as many gifts. Gold and jewels were piled before them, and even human servants offered with gusto. It made Ember a little angry at the thought of them being treated as objects to be given away. Being raised by a human, she knew that they were every bit as intelligent and worthy of respect as dragons were. But the humans didn't seem upset. If anything, many seemed quite eager to serve. So, Ember gave the dragons her thanks.

Ember felt a shock of surprise when Athaer stepped forward to give her a gift. The queen looked at her daughter with solemn acknowledgment and gently passed forward what looked like a golden necklace with a white glowing stone in the centre. As Ember studied the necklace with curiosity, she felt another bolt of shock run through her body, and she glanced at her mother with open amazement. The queen of the fire nation gave a nod of affirmation to the unspoken question.

"Be careful with it," she warned, "And if you ever need help, you know what to do."

Ember nodded her head in silent thanks. From the corner of her eye, she saw Kibre frown at the interaction, but he didn't say anything. Athaer looked at him, gave a respectful nod off her head, before stepping back to allow more dragons to come forward. Her brother, Yova, gave her an engraving with a depiction of the two of them with Zymre. She had to hold back tears as he gave her a hug. By the end of the night, she had more gifts than she knew what to do with.

Both her and Kibre were then ushered away into the castle, their gifts being collected by several human servants. Ember felt her heart rate rising as they were introduced to a large sleeping chamber with a single nest in the centre. It was similar to her old one, though with gold and silver fabric blankets and pillows instead of the ruby red of her home. They were then left alone, a door sliding shut behind them to lock them into their private sanctuary. The dragoness sat down on her haunches, looking around at what would be her new living quarters.

"So... uh..." Kibre began, the nervousness evident in his voice, "Welcome to my sleeping chamber."

"It's... big," said Ember, giving him an anxious smile.

The two fell into silence. They both knew what was expected of them, but neither felt quite comfortable enough to bring it forward.

Eventually, the light drake spoke, "You know... we don't need to do anything tonight... if you don't want to. We would have to keep it a secret though..."

Ember shook her head, "No... It's part of your customs for all this. Besides, we are meant to become mates, so we should... you know... mate. It might take a little for me to actually be brave enough to do it."

"Well, why don't we continue talking then?" Kibre said, leaping into his nest, "Just for a little while."

She smiled, "I'd like that."

He lay down, and raised his wing, beckoning her forward. She took a couple of hesitant steps, before shaking herself and stepping into the nest, laying down and allowing him to cover her with his wing. This was the closest they had been, and Ember marveled at the softness of both his body and wing. It felt as though she were covered in a blanket.

"What should we talk about?" he asked.

"Well..." she thought for a moment, "Before all this alliance stuff, was there someone you were considering choosing as a mate?"

Kibre smiled at that, "Want to know if you should be jealous of anyone?"

"What? No! Just... curious you know. There has to be someone."

"Alright, alright," he sighed, "There is this one dragoness I was quite close to... at least before I reached equilibrium. Her name is Shyal. We were quite young back then and used to talk about becoming mates all the time. But... well... after I reached equilibrium I had to leave for a while. And when I came back was when discussions for our courtship started... so yeah. What about you?"

Ember felt a surprising sense of guilt, knowing that Kibre had been forced to reject a choice of his own mate for the sake of his nation, for the sake of her, but she quickly shook it off and replied, "Well, there have been a few drakes over the years that have interested me. No one that really stood out though. I was in a relationship for a couple of months once... but it didn't end up working out."

"Ah..." he said, seeming to hesitate a moment, "Am I allowed to ask a personal question?"

She smiled, "Go ahead. Better we get to know each other than remain aloof right?"

He chuckled and nodded, "Well, I know you fire dragons don't have as strict a society around this sort of stuff, so have you mated before?"

"Aah," she said with understanding, "No, actually. I haven't. Many dragons want to try things with others before settling down... but I don't know. I just... well... I wanted to save such a special action for the drake that I was going to spend the rest of my life with, you know."

He nodded his head in understanding, "Well, I'm sorry you have to settle for me."

"Hey, as I said, you seem like an alright dragon. Maybe we don't love each other yet... but it could happen."

"That's true."

"Besides, I have other motives for making this work as well," Ember rumbled.

He looked at her curiously, "I know part of the deal made between our parents would be that our nations would help each other when it comes to war. I know the king wants to destroy the shadow dragons... as do I."

"Is... is this something to do with how you reached equilibrium?" Ember asked hesitantly, wondering if she was going too far into her prying.

It seemed as though Kibre was about to deny it, before he sighed and shook his head, "Yeah. A duo of shadow dragons caught me inside a labyrinth that was once outside the city. They tortured me and tried to make me show them a secret way into the city. When that didn't work, they tried to lure someone else to our location by... by tearing off my feathers. My mother came down to find out where I was... and well... when they went after her something in my just broke. That labyrinth is now a massive hole in the ground."

"Wow..." murmured Ember, "I'm sorry."

He shrugged, "It's not your fault."

The dragoness let out a breath, hesitating a moment, before launching into her own story, "My brother Zymre... he... he was killed by a spirit dragon."

Kibre frowned, "A spirit dragon? I've heard of them, never seen one."

"Not many dragons do and live to tell it," growled Ember, "They are white all over, and are actually quite small compared to most dragons. But they can transform their bodies and possess you, controlling your every movement. My mother has been long planning to destroy their sanctuary. The death of my brother spurred her into action... and now we hope that through this we have the strength to destroy them once and for all."

"They are part of the mental nation... right?" Kibre asked.

"Yeah."

"That would be a difficult fight."

"I know. But... well... mum is the most powerful dragon alive. I've only seen a small bit of what she can do... and from what she has told me... well... I don't think that the mental nation knows what is coming for it."

Kibre narrowed his eyes a little, "Dad says she has been working with element stones."

Ember hesitated a moment, before slowly nodding her head, "That is true."

He shuddered, seeming to get lost in thought for a moment, "That's what she gave you right? The stone in the necklace, it was an element stone."

"Yes..." The dragoness found herself growing a little nervous.

He sighed, "Well... if her presence is anything to go by I'm glad we've chosen to be on her side. You know, the King is hoping to control her with this union."

"We both expected as much," Ember replied, "All I want to say is good luck to him."

Kibre gently nuzzled her neck, "Politics are a difficult thing."

"That they are," she responded with a soft rumble, "But we shouldn't focus on that now."

"I agree. There is going to be enough time for that later."

The two faced each other, looking at each other. Kibre's golden yellow eyes were relaxed, soft even, like his feathers. The tortured look she had seen on him previously seemed distant. Despite the situation, and everything that had gone into it, she honestly felt as though she was beginning to like this strange feathered dragon. There was a lot more to him than she had originally thought, but she supposed that was true for anyone.

"I don't think I've said this yet, but you are quite a beautiful dragon," he told her.

She chuckled, "More than 'alright'?"

"More than alright," he replied with certainty.

He gently leaned forward and nuzzled her affectionately. She purred back at him, before she pressed forward, and before she could second guess herself, gave him a dragon's kiss. He let out a grunt, before accepting her offer. It was then she decided, despite the situation, to accept him as her mate, not only in her mind but her heart as well.

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Thank you for reading this story! I hope you all enjoyed it! This was one of the first chronicles I came up with, and it is one I have been looking forward to writing. This also concludes the trilogy of chronicles about Athaer's hatchlings. I'll probably do more from their point of view at some point, as they are quite interesting characters, but we'll see. As always, vote and comment, and tell me which Chronicle you would like next!

The Dark: Vyt'al, Lightning drake - 31Yrs BTA

Cascading Earth: Vigon, Ice drake - 44Yrs BTA

The Hidden Side: Aurum, Metal drake - 29YRs BTA

See Ya!

Pennator^^