Nikolai Myre

“I still smile, you shouldn’t worry about that too much. I’m the one who should be worrying about you, son,” Nikolai told his son with a pat to the younger man’s back. “Be glad it does. One day that’ll change you’ll miss that metabolism. I have one dessert and I worry your papa might leave me,” he joked.

“Probably nobody, still. Don’t get me wrong: a lot of men in Metia are gorgeous. But… I knew as soon as I met Minellas that he was the only one for me. Whether that be a matter of heart or body.”

**   the festival to celebrate the peace between all five kingdoms, celebrated through the efforts of dragon riders across all kingdoms to show their expertise to the willing audience that came from all corners of metia to watch them in the kingdom of valtolia. the royal family of sollia would be present like any other family, representing themselves as some of the sollian court owned a dragon – solaris did not own a dragon himself, the consort was not very fond of them anyway. to him, it were mere beasts that lacked any sophistication and were bound to someday break loose of the mental chains their owners held over them.

**   nevertheless solaris and the respective court of sollia had traveled towards their northern neighbour, to witness the festivities and represent their kingdom as best as they could. for the occasion the proper wardrobe was needed and thus, the personal seamstress of the consort had gone beyond their greatest activity to provide robes that were neatly decorated with symbolism that only screamed dragon and fire at anyone who’d pass by the monarch.

**   doing what he did best, the consort strutted through the crowds on a mission to look for wine that was remotely close to tasting like the wine off sollian descent. the valtolian wine was not necessarily bad, but it lacked the balance between the alcohol and a sophisticated taste of recently harvested grapes. “—may i ask you where i can find some more.. decent beverages, wine preferred??” the consort decided through approaching someone random he might get an answer.

If anyone knew Nikolai, they’d know at events like this, he always hand a glass of something. Water, when servants would notice he was getting too far gone, but normally it was something alcoholic. He’d moved on from wine hours ago, a nicely aged whiskey warming against his hand while he watched the festivities happening around him.

Everyone seemed so happy. It made a tighten in his chest for not just his people, not just his family, but for all of Metia. Arguments, war, disagreements -- all long forgotten in exchange for half a fortnight of celebration. And, yes, things would go back to normal after the event, but each year he could feel them becoming calmer and calmer as people realized just how alike they were.

He’d just finished his whiskey when another approached him in search of wine. His guard took the empty glass from him, probably to refill it, so he could turn his attention towards the other man. He wasn’t drunk, no, but his eyes did have a bit of a glaze to them and he was visibly relaxed.

“Yes, I was actually just about to go to a pub that serves a very nice dark wine, if you’d like to follow?”

“As king of Valtolia, I welcome you all into my home.” He spoke as he adressed the crowds of visiting royals and nobles. “Dragon Flight is a time of peace and unity through out all of Metia. It is time for us to put aside our differences and celebrate as one” He looked around wondering if any one even believed what he was saying. “As we watch our riders usher thier dragons into sky and new horizons i ask all of you to cheer as loud as you can as we as kings and nobles do the same with our kingdoms.” He smiled widely as some of the crowd cheered. “But for tonight we feast and dance as one people and one land. So please raise your glass with me and my family as we welcome another year of peace in the five kingdoms. ” He ended the speech with a raised goblet and smile to his family.

Once off the stage he moved to a small corner and put a bit of whiskey into a glass and drinking it. “Tell me did we at least look happy up there?”

Nikolai had attended the gathering with his family, but by the time the speech arrived, they had all dived away through the crowds to do their own thing. He understood, this wasn’t a noble gathering of any type, so they weren’t being watched too closely. He didn’t need them near him at all times like he normally would at personal parties in his own castle. 

He wanted them all to have fun, Minellas included, so as long as they stayed out of trouble, he didn’t bother keeping tabs or having any of his knights keep tabs. 

By the end of the speech, he was enjoy a burned wine, feeling pleasantly buzzed from the alcohol -- relaxed, and eager to get to the feasting part. He hated conflict when it could be avoided, so events like this, he craved them.

He was brought out of his musing by his fellow king, offering the man a smile at the words. It was tough running a kingdom and family, so he felt sympathetic. “You looked fine,” he found himself assuring the man. “Trouble in paradise? I can promise you you’re not the only one, more than half the people here can’t judge someone in that way -- though they still will.”

“He’s a bit spoiled, honestly.” Cato said, getting a slight growl from the dragon. “Oh hush. You know you are.” Cato said, getting a grin from the dragon this time.

Nikolai chuckled lightly at the growl, though it did startle him enough to remove his hand for just a moment. Once the dragon seemed to relax, he went back to petting him. “Yes, my son spoils his as well. I believe the dragon chambers are nicer than mine at this point.”

“Perhaps.” He hummed with a chuckle in his father’s direction. “I’m sure you could ask someone, or maybe just go hop on one yourself.” The youngest Myre teased lightly as he looked around. He had read much about all the different types of dragons over the years and even more in preparation for this event.

Rowan could obviously see where his own impatience came from as he watched the man. “You seem as if you’re about to jump the fence.”

“Hop on one myself?” Nikolai repeated, amused by the suggestion as his eyes ran across the field to get a good look at the few dragons out and about. They were big by dragon standards. And, usually, extreme size meant extreme dangerous. “I don’t think I’ll be trying it on any of those,” he claimed.

“Besides, your daddy would kill me if I were caught in a scandal of dragon thievery and then in a healer bed for falling off said dragon after only getting ten feet off the ground,” he claimed as he placed a hand on Rowan’s shoulder, tugging his youngest closer to him.

“Guide me away from the fence, then. You’ll need to be the responsible pair of us for the day.”

What he was expecting was the king of a Medes to turn to him and start speaking. It was safe to say he was intimidated to the max though it was clear this man was in a jolly mood pertaining to the festivities and the dragons present.

“Would a test flight be a good idea? Or would that tire them out? I don’t know much about dragons.” He admitted, pushing some of his hair behind his ears.

“Do you know how to ride them?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Nikolai claimed. Which was a surprise to most, with how big of a fan of dragons he was. They were magnificent, alluring creatures. The appeal was too strong for most avoid, hence the such big turn-out for the flight. 

“I suppose I’ll just need to wait just in case. I’m entirely too impatient for these types of events, we usually only come on the last day so I don’t need to wait too long,” he added with a chuckle as he leaned against the fence separating them from the dragon’s field.

“No. I always wanted to learn, but I had other duties.”

But Teegan let his father’s enthusiasm win. It was hard not to. The man was charismatic, and soon Teegan’s own fingers were drumming against his thigh, a smile bright on his face. “But yes, it is exciting,” Teegan took a step closer to the dragons, “Just look at them. Dragons are beautiful and terrifying creatures. Makes me wonder what they’d be like without all the harnesses and training. Would there even be a kingdom for us to rule? Would the only royal family be a family of dragons?”

“Either way, it’s nice to see you again. For a while I was sure under all that kingly nonsense you’d gone away for good.”

Nikolai gave a quiet chuckle at the question. He leaned over to gently nudge at his middle child. “I’m partially aware,” he joked lightly. “Ellion is getting a little possessive, isn’t he? Let’s hope with all that time spent training, he’ll go somewhere with his dragon riding.”

He had little doubts any of his sons would have a problem moving forward with their life. He watched his son move closer to the dragons for a better view. “There would be a kingdom,” he said surely. “We’d just be worrying about wars outside of the human race,” he claimed. It was a terrifying, dangerous thought. Luckily, they had trainers who knew what they were doing -- could get just about any dragon in restraints and trained to be somewhat docile. 

He snapped out of his thoughts at the words and arched a brow. “I know I get caught up in my duties, but I’m always here, Teegan. If any of you boys need me for anything at all, I can always step away.” Well, not always, but he’d try his best. 

“I smile plenty, Tavin. Especially when I’m around any of you. You needn’t worry about me, son. I promise I’m getting as much fun in my life as I am the serious matters,” Nikolai found himself promising his son. Heart warming at the thought that the other may be worried about him in the slightest. “Food first, then pie. How do you not have a gut? You eat twice as much as I, and I couldn’t fit into a pair of my trousers yesterday.”

it looked like the rest of house myre had already arrived at dragon’s claw and made themselves comfortable as seen by a buzzed king nikolai who had a sollian wine in his hand. but the long way was always his favorite and nymma loved to fly over the continent, seeing the beauty of the continent natural landscape and bonding with his dragon. no portal brought him that comfort.

“don’t get mad at me, old man” he teased his father - the banter was friendly and there was no harsh words behind it; though this wasn’t how one spoke to a king, it was how ellion spoke with his father and sassed him in times like this. “sorry, you know how nymma and i love to take the scenic route here” he said, this was common knowledge. “i’ll let him know soon, i’m sure he has found a way to entertain his boredom though”

“I haven’t the faintest idea where you boys get your cheek from,” Nikolai claimed naively as he brought a hand up to his chin to show he was really thinking on it. In reality, the five boys were entirely too much like him. It was a wonder how Minellas hadn’t gone crazy from them over the years.

“You best do so, don’t make me hunt you down in these streets and drag you to the castle by your ear. I know you think you have better things to do than be around your old, stuffy parents, but you don’t,” he told the boy as he placed a hand atop his head to pat his head.

“Perhaps once we get home, I’ll think on it,” Nikolai claimed. Though, he knew, between dealing with family matters and king matters -- he had very little time to enjoy such a thing. Most of his free time these days was spent in the privacy of his own quarters either napping or catching up on some reading for the courts. “Oh, we will be. That much is for certain. And, who am I to deny such a request? We are here on a break, might as well gorge ourselves.”

“These dragons are trained for riding, I do not think they would appreciate taking flight with someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing,” Nikolai admitted softly. His hand rubbed at his son’s shoulder to comfort him. “Your brother is good at what he does. We can only cheer him on,” he claimed. “Come now, enough watching them. We’ll go get something to eat.”

“That image is probably a little too easy for you to imagine, son,” Nikolai guessed. His fascination with dragons was no secret among the family. Words could not express how proud he was when Ellion informed them he’d be participating as a rider this year. “I know the basics. Fire bad, sharp scales, will probably bite my head off,” he listed jokingly. “I hope so. But, as long as your brother tries his best, I will not return to Medes upset.”

Nikolai took note of how close his son was and gave him some reasoning by moving an arm across the boy’s shoulders to pull him close into his side. “Do not tempt me, Tavin. Though, I think your dad would kill me if I suddenly was being arrested for stealing a dragon,” he guessed jokingly. He turned his head so he could press a kiss to the top of his son’s head in a comforting gesture. “You confuse me for a dragon expert, though I will say, Nymma is a bit smaller than most here. Which means she must be faster than the bigger, heavier ones, I’m guessing.”

Nikolai gave a curt nod of his head as the young prince guided him through how to pet the dragon without harming himself or annoying the beast. His hand pressed gently against the head as suggested to get a feel of the powerful beast under his palm. “He’s magnificent. You take very good care of him, I can see that much.”