In the middle of the huge airship port stood Queen Elisa and her dragon, Hadad; Hadad's quetzelcoatl mate, Annie; and Annie's Rider, Whiskers. Whiskers seemed almost out-of-place, being a person of very humble origins and really just a rank-and-file soldier, but he was dressed in the full regalia of a proper member of the entourage of a ruling queen monarch. Social class meant very little in Aquaria, and the rules of Aquarian society, at least for humans, were that one either did well at one's work or poorly at one's work; a poor monarch was not spoken of better than a talented blacksmith. However, being dressed the right way for an occasion meant everything, so Whiskers was flowing in the full pomp of his present station of duty. Both dragons were in full and elaborate tack and barding that would be terribly impractical for flying in, including false breeching that, while handsome, was not as functional as the true breeching that was used to keep a dragon's saddle in place during flight.
Flanking them were the queen's two human-born kilin, mounted on the backs of their dragons. On the left was the deadly-looking green kilin Oliver, and he was mounted on his dragoness Astrid, who looked to be made of old, tarnished brass and whose head was apparently fixed permanently in an ironic tilt. On the right side was the jolly-looking red-scaled kilin, Ethel, and Ethel was mounted on his dragoness Hilda, whose scales were a gentle shade of wheat but whose eyes were sultry and seductive.
Behind them were several dignitaries, ministers, and courtiers, and there were several children that had tiny dragons on their shoulders, which were probably the offspring of Astrid and Hilda by the seed of Karyu and Vrackie.
Far behind them were four companies of dragon cavalry and twelve companies of conventional infantry that included a handful of massive orcs, elven archers, and some short but stoutly built dwarves, and they stood at the ready as the airship approached the landing dock. The companies were all outfitted in their best dress gear, although rank-and-file cavalry were always ready to fight at a moment's notice. Their gear was, while well-polished, also incredibly functional. Their Riders, whether male or female, all wore the same Roman-style tunics that were the traditional costume of dragon cavalry, which just made the most sense for troops that spent the waking hours of their lives clinging to the backs of dragons as they rode through the air. The dragons were all attired in the stiff but shiny tack and barding that were traditional in Aquaria, and in spite of the complaints that had been made by Astrid and Hilda, it was known to be unusually strong and low-maintenance material, compared with that used elsewhere.
As the airship approached, the companies of infantry began to march forward, using a traditional marching pattern that was designed to impress as the captains called out the steps. It was both a show, intended to entertain and honor, and a display of strength, intended as a reminder that Elisa's kingdom was the equal of any, and it really constituted only but a mere fraction of Aquaria's forces. In the same motion, Elisa began to walk with her entourage toward the landing site of the airship, with drums beating and whistles sounding. "Hey yo! Hey yo!" shouted the infantry captains. "Hey ya! Hey ya!" the troops shouted back in unison, in time with the beating of the drums. As the whistles would sound, they would shift their step or formation, based on a beautifully practiced pattern that made them weave like tailored lace.
The colorful dragon cavalry surged forward with quiet menace, the cat-like bodies of the great mounts moving like devouring liquid fire. From each company, one squadron at a time raced forward and took wing, the best fliers going up in formation and putting on a fireshow with their magical firebreath and leaving trails of colorful smoke in their wake. The intermediate squadrons flew up also in well-disciplined formations but with fewer fancy moves than the first that did the show, and finally, the last and youngest--reservists too young to actually be put into combat except in situations of greatest extremity--flew up in a chaotic bumble of wings as the youngest members of the dragon cavalry played and danced in the smoke like the children they truly were, clearly not understanding this as anything except a chance to have a good time.
The airship landed, and there was a celebratory triumphal of brass instruments and a heartfelt round of applause as it successfully docked. A crew of operators folded the gangway neatly down and kept putting up more and more tethers and supports to hold and support the vessel, which was most incredibly important in this case, given that aboard the vessel was none other than King Adam and his dragon and consort Sephira. The royal couple were making a rare visit to another kingdom, which was the cause for the fanfare and circumstance.
Sephira was presently four months pregnant with her first dragon-born kilin offspring, which was possible to happen thanks to the magic of Anija and Vrackie. Unlike human-born kilin offspring, dragon-born kilin went through the normal gestation for a dragon, and they would be quadrupedal for the first couple of years of their lives. Only as they grew older would they learn that they could walk on their hind-legs, and they would spend their late childhood switching freely between both bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion. As they became literate and learned more skills requiring hands, they would increasingly prefer to reserve their forelimbs for fine motor tasks, gradually coming, towards their adulthood, to resemble slightly more draconic versions of Oliver and Ethel. Sephira, being recognized now as Adam's bride, was dressed in beautiful blue silk barding that flowed around her forefeet. Social acceptance of dragon-human unions had grown, thanks to the royal endorsement, and Adam was determined to seal the deal by making sure that his bride was dressed in attire befitting a lady, while still being in barding proper for a mount.
Following Adam and Sephira were the three Shen Lung, "god dragons," with their Riders marching next to them down the gangway. The Shen Lung included Karyu, whose Rider was Luka; Anija, whose "Rider" was Vaestro (he actually just fucked her, therefore the quotes); and Vrackie, whose Rider was Avelia. The divine principles they represented were, in the order in which they proceeded, these: the principle of war and law; the principle of love and prejudice; and the element of nature and chaos. Each of these divine principles, it was known, had both creative and destructive natures, being both prayed for and feared.
Luka and Karyu went down first. Karyu, who was also the mighty dragon god Madurai, was a dragon of both law and war. He had a dark and authoritative nature, and he was clearly a creature to be feared if not heeded. The fact that he was a part of King Adam's entourage was lost on nobody, and the blessing of such a powerful demon-god meant that King Adam was destined for incredible greatness. Karyu was dressed in barding that befitted a Hindu deity...or, rather, a Hindu deity that was also a mount. His saddle was beautifully tailored. As always, under the barding, he was dressed in highly elaborate tack that included sophisticated breeching, a three-strapped surcingle, a crupper that was attached to his tail by a short sleeve that made it far more comfortable to wear than a conventional horse-crupper, a breastplate that fitted him almost like a tank-top, and other sophisticated accessories that were needed to help keep a dragon's saddle in place during flight. With his barding on, Karyu was arguably the most overdressed dragon in history.
Second in the procession of divinities were Vaestro and Anija. Because Anija's nature was partly based on fertility, she walked clad only in a humanoid version of Karyu's tack, her breeching accentuating and drawing attention to her ass and doing positively nothing to hide it. Her breasts, framed by her breastplate, were on full display and full with the milk she used to suckle her offspring, and she even wore a bridle that advertised her sexual nature as surely as a harem girl's veil, doing more to draw attention to her beautiful bestial face than conceal it. With every step, she radiated sexuality and fertility, which was a very pure kind that nobody ever thought to hide from children; very much like a great Renaissance painting, to hide her purity of body would be a crime, and it seemed that even her being in coitus would be decent and moral enough to show to anybody. However, something that many people missed about Anija was that she was capable of piercing judgment, and if she ever chose to be hostile toward any creature, she could cause it to sicken deep within its heart: it would either kill itself in despair or come down with a terrible wasting disease, so cruel could her judgment be. Although Anija was, in one part of herself, an angel of mercy, her untapped powers as an angel of judgment could be terrible and cruel. Those powers were so horrific and foul that Anija, herself, refused to tap into them voluntarily, having been reared by Vaestro to be an intelligent and compassionate creature.
Avelia and Vrackie were third behind the royal couple. Vrackie represented the principle of nature, and sie seemed to be almost as much of a plant as a dragon, walking in the squat manner of an ankylosaurus. At hir command were the same powers that brought order and beauty to the tame oak forests. Hir better nature was the force that made moss always grow on the same side of oak trees, so travelers in those woods would never be truly lost, and the lonely wisdom of centaurs and the mysterious magic of dryads and water nymphs were at hir beck and call. Vrackie was also capable of bringing forth natural chaos, and if slighted, sie could bring forth plagues, infestations, blights, and other terrible weapons of nature. She was the same spirit that was inherent in Godzilla. Like Karyu and Anija, sie wore beautifully fashioned tack that was comfortable and soft, and hir barding was light and practical, being inspired by the garments favored by a hedgewitch.
As the Shen Lung assembled behind the royal couple, Adam and Sephira, to demonstrate their blessing, the other members of the Crew drifted down, these looking shy and out-of-place compared with the more formal members of the procession. There were several that included several courtiers and ministers, and one was an annoyed-looking little man that a group of peasants had insisted upon sending as the representative of their constituency, which Adam routinely called several names that included "unctuous chimp," among other slurs. Adam loved the peasantry as a general rule, but if anything, he considered their choices of political leaders to be evidence for the need to build more schools for them. Ones with a heavy focus on civics. However, the ones that came down first had longtime "friends of the crown" standing.
Tammy and Teach came, with several very young dragons and kilin on Teach's back. They were babysitting for the more formal members of the procession, and the children, being very young, had absolutely no idea that this was anything except either a grand, old time or an opportunity to finally get off that cramped airship. A couple of them looked very bored and resentful and like they would rather be back at home playing their favorite games, and others were beaming with excitement. Anija's twins were alternating between grooming and quarreling with each other or sometimes managing, seeming to both despise and deeply love each other at the same time. Although Tammy and Teach officially were not even loyal to Adam or to anybody, they had come to be very close informal friends.
Second down were the wild dragon, Oakmoss, and his prospective Rider, Celestia. Oakmoss, who looked a little bit like an oak tree with moss seeming to grow over his body in a splotchy pattern, was not truly as wild of a dragon as he might tell others. He just tended to prefer the companionship of witches, which was part of why he had begun to like Celestia, who--because she was so young and lithe--was riding on him bareback with her arms wrapped around his neck as she looked up wonderingly at the fire-show. Celestia was a young chemist-in-training, and she was shaping up also to be a promising, young witch. Celestia was unlikely to become a true hedgewitch, though: as a member of an aristocratic family, she was most likely going to end up becoming a priestess of a rather domesticated earth-goddess, most likely Hecate. Oakmoss jumped the last few feet off of the gangway, and he ran over to join his mate, Karyu, giving his neck an affectionate nibble. As some more conservative members of the crowd gasped in a bit of shock at the male-on-male affection, Karyu decided to double-down on it by delivering Oakmoss a hot, wet kiss, their tails entwining together in a heart shape. After all, who was going to challenge a fearsome Shen Lung over his choice of mate?
As the reception was completed, the members of both parties that knew each other met together with warm embraces and conversation, and there was a round of cheering and celebration. At this point, the reception broke out into some festivities, food and alcohol were served, and the crowd quickly lost interest in the purpose behind the party. As all of Aquaria celebrated the visit of a king, they soon were celebrating more their collective geniality as a community, and the royals had an opportunity to escape.
As the parties entered the sprawling castle, Elisa and Adam quickly waved off most of their their respective parties, telling them to go and exchange corruption and lies with each other in a set of meeting chambers. Remaining in the party were the The Crew, King Adam and Queen Sephira, Queen Elisa, and her Kilin body guards with their mounts. Tammy and Teach had joined Hadad, Annie, Whiskers, and several children upstairs, where the nursery and a small private library were. The royals, meanwhile, entered a small private room that was acceptable for holding a slightly informal but important discussion, and they quickly settled in. Oddly, the wild dragon, Oakmoss, had been invited along with the royals, and Celestia had been allowed to tag along.
"It is good to see you again, Adam," Elisa said fondly as Oliver handed her a drink.
"It is also good to see you, Elisa," Adam replied, taking a great, big stein of mead from Ethel. He sat down in a comfortable seat, having shed most of his fancy regalia and was down to his underwear. "You have the best mead in the world," he said truthfully.
Elisa blushed. "Thank the brewer, you silly man," she said, smiling as she sprawled out on a small couch, with her drink in hand. "I would be glad to introduce you to him. He would be grateful for some extra business, especially from foreign royalty."
Adam chuckled. "So he is not too xenophobic?" he said humorously.
Elisa flipped her hand dismissively. "I would not do business with a xenophobe, Adam; you know me that well," she said.
"So what is this highly important diplomatic mission that you have in mind?" Adam asked.
Elisa sighed. "Well, it's an alliance that I have been trying very hard to firm up, Adam, but it has not been going very well. There is a foreign country that has financial assets that I would like to be able to capitalize upon, but dragons that live among them tend to live as equals. Everybody there practices at least some form of witchcraft. They are incredibly wealthy, although they rarely show it. It is hard to figure out what form of government they have, too. It's confusing. My obstacle, when dealing with them, is this: every diplomat that I have sent has done something to offend somebody, usually by treating a dragon as either a wild animal or a mount that must obey humans. It has been making me feel increasingly embarrassed, and I feel fairly horrible about the entire situation."
Oakmoss chuckled softly. "I think I know the people you are talking about," he said, smiling handsomely. "I have never visited with them, but the witches I have known seem to prefer going there for vacations during the summer. They say it's far too cold in the wintertime for them to like living there."
Elisa looked a little bit aghast by a dragon speaking out-of-turn, her mouth opening and closing a few times, but then, she blushed a little bit and remembered that this very reaction, by her, among her subjects had gotten her into this predicament. "Well, you are the one I really wanted to see, Oakmoss," she said.
"Me?" he said. "Why me?"
"Because," Elisa said, "you are the only dragon that is known, by either of our kingdoms, that is both a freethinking individual and on relatively good terms with humans."
Oakmoss rolled his eyes. "So let me get this straight," he said, "you are calling me before you in order to beg me to take part in some stupid dog-and-pony show, where I am to try to convince these foreigners that you don't really treat dragons as slaves, knowing that, as a matter of fact, you do."
Luka objected, "Now, Oakmoss!" she objected, looking hurt. "I'll have you know that, just to honor you, I have been pressing for some reforms."
"Not enough of them!" Oakmoss said cattily. "You Shen Lung Riders might be on informal terms, but rank-and-file dragons in your king's cavalry still get beaten if they even speak for themselves!"
"I put a stop to that!" Luka said.
"You COMMANDED a stop to that," Oakmoss spat, "and commandments get broken if you don't enforce them diligently, you stupid heifer!" At this, some chaotic argument broke out for a while.
It was broken up as Elisa picked up and tapped on a small gong that she had produced from a pocket in her robes, and she held it up as it resonated. "Enough," Elisa said sternly. After everyone had calmed down, she intoned, "I am very sorry for what you view as shortcomings of our kingdoms, Oakmoss," she said. "The relationship between Dragon Riders and dragons, among our kingdoms, is deeply entrenched in ancient traditions. It is only recently that we have quit having dragons castrated for such miniscule crimes as speaking out-of-turn, mostly out of an increased need for drakes to be intact and powerful for combat. I and Adam have both been conscientious about leaning on our generals and our ministers to pick up the pace on the reforms. I come before you as someone who is ashamed for not being able to make her government go faster than it has been."
Oakmoss nodded his head appreciatively. "I suppose that abolition cannot occur overnight," he said tentatively.
"Even if I ordered full abolition today," Elisa admitted, "dragons in my and Adam's kingdoms were raised on the idea that they are animals that are either obedient and therefore good or disobedient and therefore bad. Their freewill is stripped away from the moment that they hatch from the egg. The freeborn dragons have been changing things, although slowly. I have no right to beg for patience. I have only the need for it. I apologize for that fact."
"What is my role to be, then?" Oakmoss countered. "What are you asking of me?"
"Adam has told me a lot about you in his letters, Oakmoss," said the queen. "I am very impressed with what I have heard about you. I want you to become a part of a diplomatic mission that will include my two bodyguards and their mounts. Also going along will be Adam's representatives, Luka and Karyu."
"Can I come?" said Celestia.
Elisa nodded. "You will be important and instrumental in this mission, and your father will most likely approve because you will be safer in this place than you could ever be among either of two war-torn dynasties.
"And you'll get to meet some handsome kilin!" Astrid said with grin. "Oliver was born there, and he says that kilin are really a majority."
Oliver stroked Astrid's neck gently. "Yes, Astrid, but most of them are either mostly dragon or mostly human," he said. "Very few are like me, a first-generation offspring of a pure dragon and a pure human. Few are either pure human or pure dragon, and if they are, they tend to be intensely disapproving of the intermixing of species, which is why my mother and father were both disowned by their families...which resulted in a state of poverty that gave me an incentive to seek employment with Elisa."
Oakmoss thought for a moment. "So what is the purpose of the mission, then?" he asked. "To gather information or to make a better impression?"
"To establish better ties, in general," Elisa said. "Adam's kingdom and mine must finish moving on from their dark ages. We finally have gained some amount of traction in dealing with the cultist problem. Now, we need to start reconciling ourselves with the outside world, which thinks a lot differently from how we do."