Two months later, Pearl awoke in her egg and began to scratch at the walls of her prison. It felt like it took hours, but she managed to break through, falling out of the nest that her egg had been placed in. She sat up, blinking in the light. Karltin approached, beaming.
"Hello, Pearl," he cooed. Pearl tried to scream all the curses she knew at him, but only ominous hissing came out. "Much like humans, dragons cannot talk until they have aged a few years," Karltin informed her. "I am assuming by your reaction to me that you still recall who you are?" Pearl nodded. "Yes, I chose to forgo any spells when I decided to sell you. Additional enchantments would make you less valuable, after all." Pearl's stomach rumbled. She let out a hungry chirp. "I will be right back with food for you."
Karltin went into another room. Pearl explored her surroundings. Her egg had been placed in a nest made of fabric, which was itself in a cage. She reached between the bars, only to feel a sting. She hissed in pain and withdrew her hand.
"Don't bother trying to escape," Karltin, who had returned with a plate of dried meat, said. "I have enchanted the cage to keep you in there." He picked up a piece of the dried meat with tweezers and stuck it between the bars of Pearl's cage. Pearl ate it, and every other piece of meat he offered, hungrily. "You probably are wondering if you were sold." Karltin put a small cup of water in the cage. Pearl lapped it up frantically. "The answer is yes. If you truly were a Prince once, it will be a homecoming for you."
Pearl looked up curiously.
"The new ruler of the kingdom, King Antyny, has purchased you from me. When you began to hatch, I sent word to his men. In fact, they should be-" There was a rapping on the door. "Ah! That must be his men!" Karltin left.
He returned a few minutes later, happily going through a bag of gold. Two men wearing the royal seal were with him. They opened the door to the cage and took Pearl out, looking her over. Pearl tried to bit and scratch them, but they must have been wearing enchanted gloves, as nothing happened. After lifting her tail to inspect her draconic womanhood, the King's men put Pearl back into her cage.
"She is a perfect specimen," one man said, "and worth more than the gold we have brought. More will be sent to you later." Karltin bowed.
"Give the King my deepest thanks," he said. One of the men picked up Pearl's cage and carried her outside. She was strapped to a saddle. The men mounted their horses, and they were off, taking Pearl back to the palace that had been Prince Jasper's home. As they traveled, Pearl could only wonder what Antyny, an estranged friend of Prince Jasper's and powerful witch, intended to do with her.