Pyrona was at a loss. How unusual! Here she was offering this juvenile dragoness a good home and loving parents, for her AND her sibling still in his or her egg to boot, and yet she refused! Maybe she needed to be reassured more.
"Come with me, poor young beauty. With me, you shall received the education and life of a Noble. A few complex spells will make you look like a Noble, with all our attributes. You will become a most sophisticated lady. I'll answer to that! And your little sibling can have the same! You will have a large cave to yourself, delicate jewellery, silky veils, toys galore and you shall discover what you like to collect for your hoard. My mate will simply adore you both as well! All dragons will fawn over you and wish to be your mates quite willingly! You shall be the most adorable little dragoness to bestow anyone's sight!"
Yes, Pyrona could already imagine it, that magnificent young dragon in her caves and decked in finery. And resplendent in good manners and skilled in art! What an enthralling picture! And she'd nurture this egg as if it had issued from her own womb. She could already love it most ardently as if it was hers. The golden dragoness too, actually. As for Karltin, he pouted. Really? Dragons indulged in these activities? Rich female dragons, at least? Seriously? How sappy! How degrading! He had yto get rid of this overgrown lizard wanting to play house with him fast!
"Yeeargh! And why not tea parties, while you're at it?" he said in pure disgust.
"You don’t enjoy tea parties? How strange for one like you," said Pyrona in astonishment.
"I like being here so thanks but no thanks."
Pyrona looked around. A delicate creature like that, rejecting the finest things in life and revelling in such a human hovel? Preposterous! She must have been an orphan for so long that she had gone quite mad. Such a beautiful creature! Well, Pyrona could not leave a little one so helpless, especially as her golden scales and figure promised to make her absolutely gorgeous in a few decades. Pyrona must have her for herself! She thus blasted her Noble spells of command. Those any dragons had to follow. Karltin was stunned but even though he resisted, he was eventually powerless to repel the orders.
"YOU ARE ADORABLE AND YOU KNOW IT. YOU WANT ME AS A MOTHER. YOU ARE FEMININE AND YOU LOVE IT. YOU ADORE WHAT IS FRILLY AND CUTE. YOU ARE EAGER TO PLEASE ME. YOUR ONLY DESIRE IS TO BE A LADY. YOUR ONLY MOTIVATION IS TO HAVE ME LOVE YOU. AND I WANT A DAUGHTER DRIVEN TO BECOMING A LADY AND A PRINCESS. YOU WANT NOTHING ELSE BUT TO BE THE PERFECT DAUGHTER. THE PERFECT GIRLY SWEETIE-PIE."
Karltin wanted to retch at such sugar-coated stupidities but his mind was already changing. Soon he could think of nothing but teddy bears, fluffy toys, dolls and a bath with lots of foam bubbles. The dragoness in front of him had promised lots of surprises. Oh, and pink ones! How neat! He... er she, could pretend to be a lady all day long. And help mommy be one too. And tea parties! With toys! How could she have frowned at that? Those were so much fun! Ideal to prepare to receive mates later and decide on a gentledragon-like mate!
"I... I..." Karltin stammered, his adult male mind still trying to tell himself that he could NOT like these corny things.
"Are you tired? Well, let's get you home," said softly Pyrona. "You can sleep in your new bed. The four-poster one with big pink ribbons and lots and lots of frills. Karltin smiled at the thought. Oh, it looked so comfortable! He followed Pyrona, his adult mind screaming at him to get his wits together but failing. Another part of him wanted very, very much to see the toys.