Never Royals, After All

1: An Unlikely Friendship

            THE SUN SLOWLY ROSE over the ocean, the water glistening as each small wave rose and fell back over the sand. As the sun revealed itself with each passing minute, the light crawled inside a chilling black cave. It made its way over each pebble and ash left on the floor, soon hopping onto the nose of a mysterious creature.

The being twitched its large nose as if the sun rays themselves were tickling it. The light then reached the dark violet eyelids of the creature, until they fluttered open and revealed startling white eyes.

She glared at the blinding light that was beginning to fill the rest of her once-dark cave, seemingly bothered that the day had the audacity to begin so early.

Alas, Zamira brought her long legs under her stomach and pushed herself to a stance. As she awakened more, she shook off any signs of remaining sleep. Appearing weak this early in the morning was never an option for a dragon in these times.

Across the water there stood a glorious white castle, tall and dominating the acres of forest behind it and residential land before it. Between the two biomes and aside the castle laid the open fields filled with beautiful horses. They had been trained since birth, made into only the perfect creatures that would suit the nobles' riding needs.

The youngest of the team woke first, feeling blissful at the idea of a new day filled with adventure. It caught the other horses' attention, the rest of them awakened as well.

Just above the horse pastures was the window to the servants' quarters and, as the sunrise continued, it filled the inside of the room. The light revealed dark brown walls and several twin-size beds, where most of the maids had long been out of.

One bed in particular was, instead of already made up and empty, filled with a person....or what seemed to be one, at least. For at the head of the bed rested a single foot rather than a head, the traditional body part that would go there. Oh, but wait! There was a strawberry blonde heap of hair at the foot of the bed, peeking out from the covers. Maybe...

Ah, yes. The figure turned and squinted open two small, dark eyes. Below them sat a particularly large nose- thin from the front, yet the bridge of her nose was tall. Despite that extra space, the maiden had no sense of smell. It made the cook extra cautious when asking for her assistance in the kitchen, but Charlotte still managed to get her tasks done with minimal damage. 

Her thin lips were gracefully flailed open, helping an unbearably loud sound get through. Finally, when she stopped breathing for several seconds, her own choking woke her up.

"By God's bones..." She grumbled once she caught her breath.

"Well, well, she lives after all. You know, we were starting to believe that you were never waking up again." A new voice said from the doorway.

The young maiden looked up at the older woman and sighed.

"What time is it?" She said, shrugging out of bed and grabbing her coat. It always was the coldest of the year right before spring began, so early mornings required heavy layers to stay warm.

"It's about seven o'clock," The head maid told her, "Which is never acceptable for a trustable-"

"For a trustable servant looking to advance their career, yes, I know. You'll remember that I don't plan on advancing anything."

Back at the dragon's cave, the beast had just walked outside onto the sand. At the first sight of the beach, her mood was instantly lifted. She threw herself at the water, splashing and washing her dark fur. At first glance in the cave, that fur would appear black as night. However, every morning as she let the sunlight coat her body, someone lucky enough to see it would find the most vibrant shade of purple coating her.