I open my weary eyes and look around my sparse bedroom. The wardrobe holding my spare clothes and shoes. Polished glass mirror on the wall above my wash basin. The chamber pot under my bed that I will need to empty before I start my day.
It's choosing day! The day when unpartnered dragons visit my village and see if anyone is their match to become a dragon warrior and serve and protect our shared home and country.
There are some requirements that are simple and not so simple.
One: must be the age of majority, in this case at least 25 years old.
Two: must be willing to live and work with the dragons. Even if it means leaving your home village and moving far away.
Three: must be able to bespeak silently to dragons as they do us.
These first rules are the most basic ones. Most people can hear the dragons' silent speech, though not everyone can. My father cannot, though he has the upmost respect for them.
The hardest rule of them all is that the person must be able to hear the dragon's song. A song that is unique to the dragon. Many different people may be able to hear a certain dragon's song, but it is up to the dragon who they will choose as their partner.
For being partnered with a dragon is a dangerous one. Protecting our people from our enemies and riding on the dragon's back. It is a life of duty to king and country.
But it is also about family and love too. Being as tightly bonded to their dragons, the warriors also tend to find true love in either another warrior, a tradesman, or just a run-of-the-mill person.
That is the relationship that my parents have. My father is a leather maker, so his skills are in high demand among the dragon warriors for armor, saddles and such. That is how my parents met.
My mother is a dragon warrior. Her dragon partner's name is Bellisama. Bellisama helped raise me and has taken me aloft many times. Her scales are a deep bluish green and her eyes are the stormiest gray.
As I sit up in my four-poster bed, I glance out the window into our courtyard and spy Bellisama resting out there waiting for my mother to finish getting ready for the day. As the leader of the local dragon warriors, my mother has an important role in the choosing. More like a master of ceremonies.
But before I could think more about the ceremony, I hear my mother holler up the stairs.
"Missy, time to get up or you will be running late."
"I will be right down, Ma. What are we having for breakfast?" I ask as I climb out of bed and start gathering my things for the day.
"Your Pa has gotten some eggs from the chickens outside, and I am frying up some sausage right now," Mother replied. "You will need your energy because it will be a long day."
As I start getting dressed and washing my face, a voice as old as time itself sounds in my head. It was Bellisama.
"Are you excited? Today may be the day that you might continue your mother's legacy! I know you will make any dragon a wonderful partner. You have helped your mother with my care and needs since before you could speak."
I look out my bedroom window and see one of Bellisama's stormy gray eyes looking at me. Apparently, as I was daydreaming, she had decided to check on me as she has done all of my life.
"I am going to be ready as I will ever be," I replied. I finished getting dressed and walked downstairs.