After growing tired of the stare down the Prince of Bengar turned his attention to the woman on his far side of the Hema la wafalme. 

The woman, realising that the prince was calling for her, slowly approached him. Her hands were poised downwards, and her head was bowed in submission to him.  

The woman wore a thin translucent black velvet cloth over her nose and mouth. Her red blush lips were full and looked soft under the canopy of her velvet cloth, her silky raven black hair was braided into one long ponytail with the end of it reaching the midpoint of her bum. At the end of the braid there was a gold hair restraint to hold the braid together and stop it from breaking apart. The woman's skin was a fair plump silky smooth olive peach. On her head she wore a beautiful golden ornate headpiece like spider webbing with glistening Chrome Tourmaline green gemstones which glistened when it was hit by Allights gaze. Each one of her gemstones was placed on each corner of the headpiece where the golden strings would connect and intertwine with each other. And to complement the gemstones her eyes were a piercing demantoid garnet green. Going down she wore a gold necklace and on her shoulders, she wore small plated gold, placed together like dragon scales. Translucent silk black cloth flowed from the plates. Her arms had four ring bands on each arm. From her waist she wore a long velvet black skirt that reached all the way to the floor. The bottom of the skirt was like a mosaic of colours like the wings of a butterfly. On the left side of the skirt was an aggressive sideways slit that went all the way up to the midsection of her bum.  

“Woman, bring us some refreshments.” the Prince of Bengar Ordered

The woman nodded her head then went to the refreshments table and picked up a clay jar of wine and two clay cups both ornamented with gold insignias of the house Kucha Juka (Dragon Claws) and house Mwinjiba on them. She then placed both the cups and the jug on a tray before slowly turning her attention to picking up some bread, grapes, oranges, papaya and avocado pears, before putting those on plates, then putting the plates on the tray. Finally with both hands firmly holding onto each side of the tray she slowly walked back to the table where both emperor and prince sat. Turning towards the Prince of Bengar she bowed low to the prince first allowing him to inspect the food and wine. Once he was satisfied the woman placed his cup on the table then poured the wine into it and once that was done, she placed down his food. All the time she served the Prince of Bengar the woman did not once stare directly at him. After serving the Prince of Bengar she turned her attention to the Emperor of Ayu and repeated the process for him. As she was bowing to present the food and wine the emperor caught a glimpse of something in her eyes, something that caught his interest. Reaching out he touched the woman at the top of her head. This caused her to jolt ever so slightly, before quickly regaining her composure. 

“You honour me with this food and wine. Woman, look at me.” the Emperor of Ayu said in a calm soft voice.

Slowly the woman raised her head and looked at him.

The Emperor of Ayu stared long and hard into her eyes. Even as the emperor stared at her, she still tried to avert his gaze. As he stared into the woman's eyes, he could see two things. On the surface he saw a deep and sorrowful sadness, eyes that had yet not lived, the eyes of a being born into eternal servitude and obedience never knowing the meaning of rebellion or freedom. But it was the second thing that he saw in her eyes that terrified him, something deep within. Finally averting his eyes, she turned her head down to the ground and finished serving him his food and wine. As the woman was still kneeling the emperor proceeded to stroke her hair calling her a “kipepeo mzuri wa jangwani.” (Beautiful desert butterfly) As the Emperor was stroking the woman’s hair it seemed to calm her and make her feel at ease. Continuing to stroke her hair the emperor went into a deep thought as he seemed to stare into space, until the Prince of Bengar spoke.

“Why do you take such interest in my woman? I never knew that the Emperor of Ayu took interest in women such as her.”

“Who I take interest in is none of your concern.”

“Do you want her? I have little use for her, so you can have her but there will be a cost.”

The king looked at the women's silk like hair, before making his decision.

“The equivalent weight in water will be paid accordingly.” 

This decision shocked the kings guard on Ayu’s side, as they both looked at each other confused at the emperor’s decision.

The woman in shock turned her head and faced the Emperor of Ayu. After realising what was going on the woman bowed her head in recognition and submission of her new master.

“I believe that we will not be coming into any agreement with this Waterland’s dispute, therefore I will be taking my leave. I hereby end this summoning of kings and bid you farewell, my Allights Sight guide you in your journeys.” 

Getting out of his seat the emperor called for a mwangalizi wa mazimwi (watcher of dragons) to fetch him his bond. A mwangalizi wa mazimwi responded to his call and quickly hurried off to the patio where the emperor’s bond was waiting. There on the black stone patio the emperor’s bond rested soaking in the heat from Allight’s rays, its eyes closed. The bond took in deep heavy breaths of air as its torso expanded and contracted showing its plated scales overlapping on each other. The scales going from his neck down to the bottom of its tail were quite reflective. Its head was massive, approximately 2 duats with sharp razor-like teeth. Getting closer to the bond the mwangalizi wa mazimwi went on all fours to approach it, being very careful not to rudely disturb the dragon's slumber. Getting close enough to the nostrils of the dragon for it to sniff its presence. Taking a deep breath, the dragon could smell the mwangalizi wa mazimwi and immediately opened its eyes and stared directly at the mwangalizi wa mazimwi. The mwangalizi wa mazimwi bowed their head to the dragon to show respect to it. The dragon noded its head and started to create a low frequency clicking sound coming from the back of its throat, as to acknowledge the presence of the mwangalizi wa mazimwi.

Getting the attention of the emperor’s bond the mwangalizi wa mazimwi slowly led it to where the king was waiting. As the dragon emerged from the corner of the Hema la Wafalme it stretched out its wings out wide and on full display. The full wingspan was approximately 21 duats. From its head to its tail, it was about 18 duats in length. Finally reaching the emperor the dragon stared at him, its head raised up high, the emperor also looked at him in a casual manner. Then the dragon looked at the woman behind him, she two looked at the magnificent creature but quickly averted her eyes when it stared at her. This got the interest of the dragon, and it slowly approached her. The woman looked somewhat shaken from the approach of the dragon but remained still. Coming right up to the woman the dragon took a long sniff taking in her scent. The dragon would incircle her multiple times to get a good look at her. Realising that his bond was making the woman uncomfortable he called it. 

“Avrion, we need to go.”

Heeding the call of the emperor, the dragon turned its attention from the woman to stretching its wings.

The emperor’s bond then lowered its wing closest to the emperor to allow him to climb on top of him. Holding out his hand towards the woman the emperor invited her onto his bond. Hesitantly at first the woman reached out her hand for the emperor. Grabbing her hand, the emperor pulled her on top of the dragon. Slowly the woman places herself between one of the dragon's scales in order to balance herself and stop herself from slipping off.

Looking behind him the emperor made sure the woman was securely placed on the dragon's back. After clarifying that the woman was securely on his bond, he turned his attention elsewhere. Looking up at the blue cloudy sky, the emperor wondered about the future, fearing for the worst.

“High king, we are ready to escort you back to the capital.” one of the emperor’s kingsguard spoke to him.

“Good, let's get moving.” he replied to the rest of the king’s guard. “Avrion, lift, slowly.”

Avrion, seeming to want to toy with him, suddenly spread its wings and shot itself into the air without warning at tremendous speed, making the woman scream at the speed the dragon was flying at. Without the king’s guard realising the emperor and the woman were already several hundred metres in the air.

“My lord waits for us. Kings guard hurry, to the air!” A king’s guard ordered. Shortly the kings guard were in the air and quickly catching up to the emperor. 

Finally having his fun Avrion slowed down his speed to a gentle cruise across the air. 

“Avrion what’s wrong with you why are you trying to scare the woman. That’s not funny.” The emperor reprimanded his bond. However, his bond considered it to be quite the contrary as it gave the emperor a grin and a deep low pitched giggling sound. 

The king turned to his head and stared at the woman. The woman was tightly holding onto the scales of the dragon, eyes shut tight as tears started to fall down her cheeks. Getting up the emperor walked forward onto the dragon's head perfectly balanced as the dragon glided gracefully through the sky. Bending over, the emperor slapped his bond at the top of its head. The dragon then groaned as to question why he did that. 

“Don't give me that, look what you did to her.” The dragon then turned its head to look at the woman, realising that he had scared her a little too much he gave the emperor an apologetic look. 

“We’ll talk about your behaviour later.” the emperor warned Avrion. Turning around, the emperor walked down the dragon’s head back to the woman. Placing his hand on her head the emperor spoke to her. “It's all right you don’t have to be afraid; Avrion has slowed down his speed.” slowly and hesitantly the woman looked at the emperor, tears dripping down. “Look.” the emperor pointed to the clouds. There was a beautiful colouration of blues, pinks and purples in the clouds as Allights gaze shone through creating God rays piercing all the way to the ground, making bright patches of light and shadow. “See the sky is beautiful and the clouds are soft.” The woman looked in awe at the sky and its beauty and wonder. “Woman, I bid you, tell me your name.”

The woman looked at the emperor before slowly opening her mouth.

“Nimiri, o’high king.”