Pryor's Hill (solo)

[Dracosius]

Dracosius Estate, Moriah approximately 10 years ago

Early morning light glowed gently through the thin summer curtains. The soft light illuminated a richly decorated bedroom. A young couple slept peacefully in the large mahogany bed. A large fireplace dominated one wall, though at this time of year it was empty and clean. Arranged in front of the fireplace sat a couch and large armchair. Each had a small table beside it. A few pictures hung on the wall of various family members. Some of the pictures were quite old, while others contained pictures of a black-haired little girl and a pair of brown-haired twin boys.

Outside the bedroom door three small children giggled as their leader, the black-haired girl, slowly started to turn the handle. The siblings had woken extra early today; unable to contain their excitement they had come to see if their parents were awake yet. It was a special day, for today they had been promised a special trip to see their mother's adopted relatives in the Nadai Jungle.

“Ready?” Siela whispered, her eyes alight with the mischief of sneaking into her parents' room.

Her brothers giggled and nodded in answer. As she flung open the door, all three ran in screaming at the top of their lungs and pouncing on their sleeping parents.

“MOMMY! DADDY! MOMMY! DADDY! WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!!!!

Zerith sat up quickly and caught the younger of the twins as he landed, “AJ! What got you up so early?”

“Can't sleep! Going on a 'venture today!”

Jasmine sat up and let the other two children get a little more comfortable, “An adventure? Where are you going?”

The older twin, ZJ, sighed, “Don't you a'member Mommy? We're going to see Nana!”

Jasmine smiled, “Ooohh, that's right. I remember now. But we haven't even had breakfast yet, ZJ.”

The small boy considered that for a moment, then brightened, “We can eat on the way!”

Zerith and Jasmine laughed and started shooing the kids off the bed so they could get up. “As fun as that sounds, son,” Zerith chuckled, “Let’s get dressed and go to the breakfast room. With it being such a special day, I wouldn't be surprised if Cook made an extra special breakfast treat.”

All three children's eyes went wide in wonder at what “extra special” might mean. A moment later, they were scrambling across the room, out the door and back to their own rooms to get dressed. Jasmine watched them fondly, then grinned at her husband.

“Pay up.”

“What!? No, you owe me!”

The former queen shook her head as she began unbraiding her long, black hair. “We got a whole extra hour of sleep this year. Check the time yourself if you don't believe me.”

Zerith looked over at the intricately carved table clock on his nightstand. It was a beautiful work of ingenuity in engineering and magic. Sure enough though, the time was a full hour later than what it had read on this day last year when Siela had burst into the room, with her brothers right behind her. He scowled briefly at his wife's back then grumbled, “Alright, you win. Five gold piece it is.”

Jasmine laughed and came around the bed to kiss her husband, “I'm going to go check on the children. See you at breakfast.”

A few minutes later the whole family was sitting down to a breakfast of bacon, sausage links, pancakes, eggs and fresh fruit. For an extra treat a small dish of sweetened whipped cream sat beside each child's plate to dip their fruit. Once breakfast was done the family gathered the few belongings they would need, a few wrapped packages and headed for the Nadai Jungle.

Half a dozen or so years ago, their planned journey would have been unheard of and incredibly dangerous. Jasmine and Zerith had worked hard with the natives of the jungle though, and had managed to make some trade relationships with some of the tribes. As a result, there was now a trading post outside the safest entry to the jungle. Despite the trade agreements, or rather in part because of them, only a few select people could safely enter the jungle at will. Jasmine and her family were among those few both in repayment for negotiating trade and because of her adopted status as a member of one of the tribes. Even so, once they were in the jungle the standard dangers of traversing a wild jungle remained.