The dragon's harem

While Isdis and her maids were busy dealing with complicated matters of the kingdom, Arad and Alcott’s team were busy going around the whole castle, checking everyone’s magic.

Merlin was efficient but a bit slow, so it was taking time to be absolutely sure they didn’t miss anything. It might’ve only taken a minute to inspect someone’s magic, but with hundreds of people in the castle, that was going to take hours when adding in travel time.

Searching for the drakainas had started the way Arad expected it: chaotic, but it then quickly calmed down and turned into a boring series of inspections. It was nothing like he expected to be slowly going around his own castle trying to find two drakainas.

Alcott told him that it usually isn’t the case. Most dragons can get pretty aggressive once they sniff that someone is searching for them. Most of the time, it is the Metallic Dragons who are in hiding, but that doesn’t mean they won’t kill anyone.

“Listen, Arad, some may say that the Metallic Dragons are good and the Chromatic Dragons are evil, but I’d say they both are dangerous. The only difference between them is that the Metallic Dragons believe that what they are doing is good, while the Chromatic just don’t care if it’s evil or good.” He looked around, “Let me give you an example.”

“You know the story of red dragons kidnapping beautiful maidens and the heroes that try to brave the dragon’s lair to save their princess.” Alcott pointed at a bird that was kept in a cage in the castle, a pet swallow.

“Chromatic dragons are like humans. When humans see a bird they like, they catch and take it away, put it in cages to sing for them, and be a pet. The Chromatic Dragons do the same with humans. They see someone they like, so they catch and take to their lair.”

Arad looked at the bird, “They’ve got no reason to even think about it. And if the bird gets a bit too fat, they eat it. Dragons do the same. The maiden is beautiful and has a great singing voice, so they take her, but once they get bored, to the pot she goes.”

“Metallic do that too, but they’ve got laws about it. Like, the humanoid must agree to go with the dragon. But there is nothing in their law that says they can’t persuade the humanoid to agree.”

Once Arad heard Alcott’s explanation, he immediately called Malina, Kin, and Gin.

The two Royal maids looked at Malina for a long moment. The two of them didn’t expect a Steel Drakaina to show up, but here she is. It was surprising how rare steel dragons are. Even the Metallic Dragons rarely see them.

“I just want to understand something. Let’s say there is someone you want to get. I don’t know, for work or anything else. That someone is a humanoid but doesn’t want to go with you. How do you go about it?”

Hearing Arad’s question, the three Drakainas looked at each other for a long moment. The first to speak was Kin, the Silver Drakaina.

“Everyone has some dirt on them. I’ll dig for that and use it to convince them. Depending on what dirt I collect on them, I might even be able to enslave them and skip all the hassle.”

The two drakaina agreed with her, but each of them had a different method.

Kin looked around, “Usually, I’ll just send a royal decree that they are obligated to come and work if that’s what you’re asking for. But if I can’t do that, I might leave it to Kin or find out what price would get that person to move. You can buy everything for the right price.”

“That’s costly.” Malina shook her head, “For me, it depends on the exact reason I need them. But mostly, I can shift to someone else, befriend them, and then give them a reason to help me. They are person A, I’m person B, so I turn into person C to convince them to help me, person B.”

Arad looked at them for a long moment and then asked the biggest question. “If you’re trying to hide from me in this castle, where would you hide?”

The first to speak was Malina, “Why would we hide? The reason would change how we go about it.”

Arad scratched his head, “Short story- two Magic Drakainas are hiding in the castle from me. You should be able to understand what they want.”

Malina blinked, “Then it’s either they are too obvious and can’t hide, or too skilled at it that it doesn’t matter where they hide, it’ll work in the end for them.”

Kin nodded, “Yes, then getting as close to you as possible would work.”

Gin approached Arad and whispered to him, “You know that Metallic dragons can shift to objects as well, like, we’re metallic. I can turn into a silver ring, for example.” She looked at him, “At least, I can say none of your clothes is a drakaina. So start looking through your stuff.”

Arad could feel his head starting to hurt. He was first looking at people, but now he had to search for objects as well. “You can turn into something?” He asked Malina, and she nodded with a quick reply.

“Anything made of steel, from swords to armor to even horseshoes.” Her body flashed with light, and she turned into a long, thin, steel Longsword that landed in Arad’s palm.

A voice boomed from the sword, “If they are magic dragons, then they should turn into anything related to magic, like your staff or wand, maybe even a scroll or an enchanted bed sheet that stays warm in the cold days of winter.”

Kin looked around, “Or simpler, they could be morphed into humans close to you or your wives, where they come into contact with you or someone important on a regular basis.”

“I know that they were either maids or servants, that they knew about Alcott’s earlier missions, and that they have blue and red magic,” Arad explained, and Kin started thinking.

“So they have ties to the royal family, are servants or maids, and have blue and red magic.” She frowned, “Did you check Rey and Ray? They severed Isdis since she was a little girl. They were raised together, and I watched over them. I never saw anything related to dragons from them, so I doubt it’s them, but check again.”