"What a mess you've made, my son," Pyram scolded Syn for such a blunder. His pearlescent scales gleamed in the dim crystal light of Syn's room as he paced back and forth. His large splayed-out horns and thick scaly whiskers waved about with his agitated movements. But, he was mindful of his tail, for its tip was very sword-like. "And just a few days before your recognition ceremony."  

It had been two sunrises since that fiery night. 

Syn lay on the colorfully ornate floor before his father, the common position for someone listening obediently. He erected his long neck, high and proud, "I'm not sorry for what I did-" 

"-Of course you aren't, not yet at least," Pyram bellowed, a sharp sound as his tail clanged the floor. "I'm the one that has to deal with the consequences right now. Do you know how much this coverup has cost already?" His scaly whiskers stiffly raised. 

Syn was silent as Pyram sighed, then continued. "That is why I have decided to put you under house arrest, at least until after your ceremony. Hopefully the covenant overlooks this incident, and allows for a flawless ceremony." He shook his head, waving around his large splayed-out horns, "If our rivals catch word of this, they are not going to let it go to waste." 

"What is it I should be doing in the meantime?" Syn tilted his head. 

"Stay out of trouble, for one," his father wagged a single claw. "Perhaps go through the family chronicle, remind yourself what is really important. I'll allow you visitors, but do try to keep this a secret." 

"Thank you, father," Syn bowed his head. 

With that, King Pyram left the room, no doubt he would be even busier than usual for the next few days. 

*** 

Syn had decided to do what his father suggested and procured the family chronicle. He filled a bowl with munching minerals and opened his luscious red and gold curtains. The elaborate swirling engravings on the edges of the stone room brightened, and a suit of golden dragon armor shined on the wall. In the dark, his crystalline ceiling appeared like a starry night sky, but in the light it looked more like a cloudy blue sky. He could see a quarter of the city Draconia from his room high in the royal spire. 

Getting comfortable on his soft couch, he opened the old book to read in the pleasantly warm sunlight. He started with the most recent entries, the ones about his immediate family. He skipped the one about himself since he already knew that and it was incomplete anyway. 

He grabbed a mineral chip and crunched it in his mouth while he lounged. It tasted earthy. 

The next was about his late brother. Only a few years before Syn's egg was laid, his brother had died in battle in the same war that was still currently being waged against Draconia's rival, Draconis. Leaving Syn to grow up as an only child. 

The next entry was of both a brother and sister that had been assassinated by agents of Draconis decades earlier. The entry before them was of another brother, the eldest. Over a century ago he had been imprisoned by Draconis for some crime, and then been executed. That was what had started the current war that had lasted for so long. 

He then turned to the page of his mother, Queen Gelistine Sevis. She had married his father Pyram around 300 years ago and ruled by his side until her death shortly after laying Syn's egg. 

Syn wondered what his mother looked like, and just what kind of person she was. His father never liked being reminded, so hardly spoke of her. He wondered if his gold and dark scales were more similar to hers. 

Then he heard a knock on his door. "My lord, Lady Vispis Varn is here to see you," the guard said through the door. Syn was startled, he hadn't expected his long-term betrothed to visit. Although, thinking about it, it made sense she would see him before his ceremony in a few days. 

Syn closed his book and spoke up, "Come in!" 

The door opened and Vispis slithered in, her dragon handmaiden following behind her. 

Vispis was more serpent than dragon. Instead of hind legs she had a large tail-like body and the head of a cobra. Her pink scales were complimented well by the golden jewelry that she wore. The white patterns on her snake hood and back blended into the white of her feathered wings. Her fabric dress wrapped around her torso fashionably. She brought with her a familiar scent that calmed his nerves. 

"Good afternoon my dear, mind telling me what you're doing hold up in your room?" she questioned Syn patiently, resting on her coil in front of him. 

"Sorry, but I'm not supposed to talk about it," He scratched the spines on the back of his neck with a wing. "But it's good to see you, what pleasure do I owe your visit today?" He offered the bowl of mineral chips. "Want a chip?" 

Vispis took a moment to cutely munch one of the crunchy chips. Then continued. 

Vispis kept a calm and controlled face as she spoke. "I was concerned, but since you won't tell me... I guess I also wanted to ask," she paused and smiled, "Why wasn't I invited to your party the other day?" 

"Hey, that was a surprise for me too!" Syn defended himself, covering his dark chest with a golden leg. "Go ask Felix and Cyrus, they're the ones that planned it." 

"Oh, so now you're ssic-ing me onto your friends?" Her smile grew, her pierced hood flared, and her tongue flicked the air. 

Syn raised his chin and closed his eyes, declaring, "Well, they deserve it. They should have known to invite you, my fiancée!" 

Vispis broke and started chuckling. "Oh- chuckle- Ssyn dear- chuckle- don't be upset with them, they did invite me. I was just too busy that day to attend." The tip of her tail wiggled. 

He looked at her quizzically. 

She continued after she rubbed one of her petite gold-ringed horns with her feathers, obscuring her face for a moment, "I also wanted to surprise you, in my own way. Sso, that day I had a gift made for you." She motioned to her handmaid, who brought forth a wrapped box with a bow. "But you have to promise not to open it until after your ceremony. Alright?" 

"Yes, I promise!" Syn vowed and patted the box beside him. 

They both shared a smile, then Syn held her claws in his own. 

"Now I suspect you have expectations of me, hmm?" He rubbed the bracelet and smooth scales of her paw. "Are you excited about how we might progress after my ceremony?" 

"Oh Syn, why, of course! But, I wasn't going to be pushy about it though." She looked into his glowing golden eyes expectantly. Her viper eyes blended in with her pink scales seamlessly, containing a diamond-like white pattern within. 

"Afterwards," he purred. "We begin planning our wedding." He finished by rubbing their snouts together. 

Vispis pulled away quickly, hiding her face behind her claws and refusing to look at him. 

Syn's smirk was satisfied. 

"It sseemss I need to go now," she rushed, wings fluttering and jewelry jingling. "There is much I need to discuss with- otherss!" She turned and began slithering out of the room, followed by her handmaid. 

"Until next time my cute little coatl," Syn cooed as she left. 

He caught a glimpse of the dragoness as she went. He thought he could see a smiling blush on her already pink muzzle. 

*** 

Syn spent the next couple of days reading through the family chronicles. His friend Cyrus came for a visit, also wondering what was up, but ultimately decided that this was the king's way of keeping him out of trouble. Instead, they read the chronicle together. 

His father King Pyram Sevis was born around 360 years ago. Despite dragons' capability to live to the ancient age of 1000, He was the most recent king that had managed to live so long. The numerous wars between Draconia and Draconis had made sure that very few lived that long. 

Pyram had inherited the authority of King from his father shortly after marrying Gelistine, Syn's mother. 

Syn's grandfather was actually adopted into the family, as a vicious war had removed all viable heirs at the time. In fact, he hadn't been the only adoption over the history of the family. One of the rulers had even been a griffin, though his reign was short. There had also been a dragoness ruler or two. 

Syn pondered, if something were to happen to him, who would replace him as heir? 

"I suppose you would be a good candidate, Cyrus," Syn mused, a claw on his chin while he lay next to his friend. 

"Wha- no, don't talk like that!" Cyrus' silver scales bristled. 

"Let's see: we're a similar age, my father knows a decent amount about you since we're friends, and your family is one of the most prestigious in the kingdom," Syn listed points off with his claws. "Oh! And your scales are more similar to his than mine are." 

"First, my scales are silver, not pearly. Second, I am the eighth born in my house. If anything, one of my brothers, or cousins, or uncles, or my own father would be chosen before me," Cyrus curled his tail around himself and thumped the floor. 

"Yes, but you'd be much easier for my father to control than any of them," Syn jeered with a toothy grin. 

Cyrus harrumphed a guttural sound and turned away, his tail waved, aggravated. 

*** 

Syn decided to take a break from reading for a day and instead visit Zeritha. After all, she was under house arrest as well and was just down the hallway. 

The guards allowed this, and soon Syn was entering Zeritha's room. It was sparse, but clean, and not filled with nearly as much glamor as his own room. Instead, it smelled of lavender incense. 

"My lord, to what do I owe this pleasure?" The hawk owl-snow leopard bowed slightly, crossing one arm and wing over her chest. 

"Relax," he urged her into a comfortable feral posture. "I came to see how you and your little sister are doing. I thought it would be nice to see a friendly face, since you haven't been able to talk to anyone about her rescue," Syn explained, looking around. "Where is she anyway?" 

"Here I am!" whistled a smaller barn owl-lynx griffin, as she popped her head out from behind the plain curtains. 

Zeritha turned her head but not her body in order to instruct her sister, "Sylphie, come out and greet the prince properly." She turned her head back to syn, "She has been enjoying her freedom so far. Though she is feeling restless and cooped up." 

Little Sylphie marched up and saluted, imitating her big sister, "Milord, greetings, my name is Sylphie Snowpierce, at your service."  

Syn lowered his neck and head to meet her at her level, so little as she was. 

The tattoo work had only just begun, but there was still a permanent mark on her belly where the skarsh had started. It looked faintly like a flower. 

Apparently, the Snowpierce family had bad spending habits, and poor debt management. Zeritha had eventually planned on taking her sisters away from her parents in order to spare them, but things had moved faster than she anticipated. 

Syn had attempted to help her situation by sending enough aid to keep the loan sharks at bay, but that hadn't worked out. 

Now though, their future wasn't so clear. Sure they had rescued her and Syn had burnt down some of the slavers, but their family still had other debts. Much depended on how King Pyram would handle the situation that Syn was involved in, and he wasn't sure how his father would spin it. But for now Syn felt that they had earned some rest. 

Syn spent the afternoon with them, and even stayed for dinner to be served, where they practiced table manners with Sylphie. 

*** 

It was the day before his recognition ceremony, and he was finally going to finish his family chronicle. He didn't worry much about the ceremony itself, as he had rehearsed it in the past weeks. So he settled into the warm sunlight once again. 

His family dated all the way back to the Myriad empire. After its fall and fracturing, many factions warred to gain control of its world spanning territory. These wars raged until two of the continents had been conglomerated into their own respective kingdoms. Draconia and Draconis. The third and original capital continent was so broken and unrulable that it had only small countries throughout. Of course this was a millennium ago, things were a bit different now. 

Before the fall, the empire had a recognition ceremony that would indicate potential successors to the Emperor's throne. The first entry of his family to have been recognized was also around the same time that the empire fractured into civil war. Nothing he read indicated why though. 

No emperor has ever been coronated since. And the Heartfyre that had been passed from emperor to emperor had been lost as well. 

At the very beginning were very obscure family members, from before the Sevis family gained any prominence. He figured they were mentioned because the original author still remembered them. 

Syn closed the book for good. It was the eve before his recognition ceremony, and he was going to get a good night's rest.