Antyny and Anya together cast a special enchantment upon Pearl that would make her reach adulthood faster than dragons typically did, though once she was an adult, she would go back to aging normally for a dragon. As such, while it would normally take a dragon decades to reach maturity, it only took her the same amount of time it would take a human – eighteen years.
In that time, Pearl had become used to her role as a pet. At first, she was showed off to dignitaries. Then, as Antyny and Anya had children, she became the children’s favorite toy. The babies and toddlers would pull on her tail and wings, the children would ride her like a horse, and the teenagers would treat her like a dumb animal. By the time Pearl turned eighteen, Antyny and Anya had ten children, with two more on the way.
Speaking of children, Pearl’s mother and father were the most productive concubines of the kings they had been sent to. Antyny and Anya made sure that Pearl heard of every single child they birthed. The former Queen had given birth to a child each year, giving her king eighteen children. The former King had similarly given birth each year, but more often than not, was carrying twins or more. As such, Pearl’s father was now the mother of thirty-one children, and showed no sign of slowing down. The worst was when the kings visited with their prize concubines. Pearl had to see her parents heavily pregnant and dressed in a concubine’s revealing uniform. Part of her hoped that her parents didn’t remember their former lives, just for their sakes.
Pearl’s eighteenth birthday was celebrated with much fanfare not just by the royal family, but by the entire kingdom. After all, Pearl was the only dragon owned by a human in Karagot or the surrounding kingdoms. She was a unique prize, though she was far too big to be kept in a gilded cage and paraded around on a leash. Now, she had her own private stable, made of enchanted solid stone so that she couldn’t burn it down nor escape through other means.
On the day of her eighteenth birthday, Antyny and Anya’s oldest child, Crown Prince Aren, came to visit her with news.