Chapter Three: Ancient Secrets

Every morning there is laughter throughout the lair.  Ragnor is walking about again in a silly attempt to impress who he calls “a pretty lil thing”.  Cherna indulges him while making sure no one else tries to call her that by sheer intimidation. The early riser can find Cherna already elbow deep in chores, usually those that Darna would struggle with.  Of course the majority of chores will need to be done by servants and Darna gladly gives the interviewing and hiring of them over to Cherna.  Cherna jumps in enthusiastically, knowing she has the real authority to oversee Saber’s home.  Kitchen staff, from head cook all the way down to the lowliest pot scrubber, came first.  Quickly following were housekeeping, chamber maids, maintenance and hunters.  Normally there are so many more but Cherna knew that a lot of the lairs needs would be met by the castle.  Bee keepers, weavers, wheat and cattle farmers and healers, to name just a few, would all be accessed through the castle…at a stiff price, of course.

            The last area Cherna tackled was the nursery and that’s where Darna stepped back in.  Darna informed Cherna that Saber had granted her full charge of the nursery when it was under construction.  Cherna tried to hide her smile as she pretended to be disappointed.  In reality, Cherna had no desire to deal with that issue yet and she almost skipped down the hall away from Darna…well, as much as a two ton purple dragon could skip that is.   With a smile, Darna stooped over her sewing basket and settled to her embroidery, a pastime she hadn’t enjoyed in centuries. Cherna has brought new life to the lair, and touched each of them in her own unique way.  Days fly by, then weeks, as the lair comes to life and becomes a real home.

            One of those bright mornings, after peeing in the river to upgrade the poison, Saber decided it was time to talk to Ragnor about Torch and find out what was going on.  Saber wasn’t going to give Torch’s secret away but he still needed to prod at Ragnor to see what he could find out. Torch’s affectation of being simple minded was getting on Saber’s nerves and it was time to see why Torch did it. 

            “Good morning, Ragnor.  How are you feeling, Uncle?”  Saber sat close to better hear Ragnor’s weakened voice.  Everyone was surprised Ragnor had continued on this long.  Everyone except Saber.  Saber knew that determination and stubbornness and just plain orneriness for what it was…Ragnor still had unfinished business.  He also had never lost a fight and Ragnor would be damned if he’d just lie there and give up!  “So, I was wondering what you thought of all the changes around here and if you thought Torch was enjoying his rooms better.  I know he visits with you every day and I was hoping for some insight.”

            “Well there are a few things we should go over now, aren’t there?”  Ragnor asked quietly.  Ragnor knows it’s time.  Here is his keeper of secrets.  Saber has proven his trustworthiness and Ragnor knows it’s finally time to tell him.  Ragnor takes a deep breath and begins his tale...

           

            “Thousands of years ago, I was born into a mighty race of dragons.  We invaded and conquered this land and so many others.  We were the first dragons here and opened up this realm for all dragons since.  I fought in the first dragon war and in every war since then except this one.  This war came too late for me. I’m fading too fast just like my colors a thousand years ago.” Ragnor said.

            “Like your colors?  What does that mean?”  Asked Saber even though he already thought he knew the truth.

            Ragnor laughed quietly and sighed. 

            “My end is near so it is time.  This bright orange color was once a deep blood red.  I was the first Red Dragon.  I guess technically I still am but no one alive today could prove it.  Well, maybe Darna could if she ever guessed my other horrible secrets.” 

            Saber sat back, and absorbed this news.  He was the Prince of the Realm and he didn’t quite know if this information was important enough to go on record with.  He would think on it for a while. 

            “I have never heard of any war crimes from ancient times involving Red Dragons.  Just stories about their fighting abilities and how we owe our current life style and conquering L’Arne to them.  Why keep the secret of your colors these past thousand years?”

            “I was the first, don’t you see?  Every Red Dragon after is a part of me, and I am responsible for what the race became after me.  Every war since has begun by Red Dragons invading other lands, killing, raiding, plundering, and conquering.  Do you know how many dragons have lost their lives in the past wars?  How many humans, magic folk, and creatures have all fallen to a Red Dragon?  We even kill our own...”  Ragnor seemed to shrink into himself as he spoke. Saber tried to ease Ragnor’s misplaced guilt.  It was war and deaths occur during war.

             “Kill your own?”  Saber could not help but ask.

            “Yes, to my own horror, I have killed mine own.  Darna is the only life-mate I have ever had and our hatchling Torch is not our only young.  For over four thousand years I have had to kill my hatchlings due to their vivid red coloring.  Finally, I just couldn’t do it anymore. Darna had one last egg… I fertilized it, even though we were much too old, with a prayer to the Gods, they rewarded me with an orange hatchling.  Finally Darna had her hatchling she could be a mother.”  Ragnor collapsed on the pelts and closed his eyes.

            Saber sat stunned, he could not imagine killing his young.  Everything inside of him screamed at the brutality of it. 

            “There’s more,” Ragnor's voice was almost gone but he choked out the rest of it. 

            “On my mating day, I killed the Queen’s consort.  But I was too late and an egg had already been laid.  I couldn’t allow it to be hatched.  Her consort was my brother and he had seduced the Queen so that the royal bloodline would be forever infected with the Red Dragon gene.  The hatchling could have come out as a pure Red Dragon, and if allowed to continue breeding, we could today be under the realm of the Red Dragon Clan.”

            Saber’s mouth fell open; he could not believe what he heard.  No one must ever know this.  This was too much, five hundred years of castle intrigue never prepared him for this.  It was just too much to process all at once and he got up to leave. 

            “What happened to the egg?”  He asked in a stunned voice from the doorway.

             “I threw it into the Great Cavern.  I saw it break open, the hatchling, dead.”  Ragnor was done.  He closed his eyes and fell immediately asleep.

            Saber stumbled out of the lair.  He had to get to the castle and tell his mother.  No! No one must ever know this!  Ragnor is not a criminal… he thinks he saved the royal bloodline but truthfully it was never at risk.  The crown passes to daughters just because of this sort of thing.  A Red Dragon would never sit on the thrown because Red Dragons are always males.  There has never in history been a female Red Dragon. This is not the whole story.  Ragnor left out something why would Ragnor really kill his brother and steal an egg?      

            There is no Royal record of this event.  His mother took the crown five hundred years ago when Darna stepped down to mate with Ragnor.  Darna, life-mate to Ragnor.  Darna was Queen when she stepped down from the thrown.....to mate with Ragnor, who had killed the Queens consort.....Darna’s consort.......Ragnor's brother...an egg.....

            Oh  wow!  Talk about castle intrigue.  Note to self, Saber thought, don’t ever tell anyone.  This could knock his mother off the thrown.  No, he would keep this secret his entire life.  Just as Ragnor planned. 

            Saber kept Ragnor’s secrets but he never quite looked at Ragnor like before.  Ragnor didn’t notice due to his failing health.  In fact he slept almost all the time now and rarely ate.

His body was giving out on him and it was just a matter of time till Ragnor passed on.  Darna and Torch visited with him when he was awake but Saber never spoke to him privately again.

Always while Cherna told stories or Darna tried to get him to eat.  It made a safe barrier for both and the awkwardness of Saber knowing his secrets never showed. 

            Torch began dropping the façade and Saber watched as no one in the lair, not Darna, Cherna or any of the servants seemed to notice.  As if it had been a secret for Ragnor and Saber alone.  One evening at meal time, Torch smiled at Saber as he passed the wine,  “Thank you”.  He spoke quietly so that no one else could hear.

            Saber did not share Ragnor's belief of Red Dragons.  He supposed he didn’t have the same perspective as Ragnor, however, Red Dragons had always been revered during Saber’s time.  Mercenaries, warriors and protectors of the Realm.  To have a Red Dragon and their army fight for your clan was an acceptable practice.  Red Dragons were almost extinct due to the frequency of dragon wars but to be able to call one “family”… that would be a powerful thing.