Drago:
I stood looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up a wall of my office. I was enjoying my coffee while appreciating the beauty outside. In my opinion, my homeland, Romania, was the most beautiful place in the world.
I heard footsteps behind me and saw my brother's reflection in the window, so I turned to see why he was here.
He slightly nodded his head to me before saying, "I just received a most interesting call from Ian and Hinda Stoica. They believe they have found a Royal Female."
I froze for a moment. A Royal Dragon Female was the most precious and rare thing in our whole world.
"Why do they think that, and where?"
"They said they met her at a farmer's market, and the location is in Ohio in the U.S."
"Do they have any proof?" I had heard of false findings before.
"Ian stated that they were able to get a small blood sample. They have sent it to us via international priority mail, so we should have it within a couple of days."
I nodded my head. "Tell Victor to look for the package, and as soon as it arrives, get it to the lab with a stat order."
He nodded to me and turned to leave, carrying out my orders.
The possibility of finding a Royal Female fills me with hope and excitement. I am probably going to be disappointed, but I can't help but hope.
As a species, we are close to extinction, especially the Royal Dragons.
As Dragons, our job is to police the rest of the supernatural world. We protect humankind and all supernatural species. We are the strongest and largest, and we possess special abilities that aid us in our role.
Technically, we are immortal as Royal Dragons, but we can be killed. My mother and Father were killed in a catastrophic explosion. It wasn't the fire that killed them, but the huge amount of steel and rock that crushed them.
One cause of our decline is that Royal Male Dragons are only able to breed with a Royal Dragon Female. There hasn't been a known Royal Female birth since my mother, almost 100 years ago.
Another issue is that female births have declined drastically among non-royal dragons. They are still being born, but the 50-to-1 ratio is beyond alarming.
So far, our scientists haven't found a reason for this decline. They are working with scientists from other species, hoping that one of them will find an explanation. Then, hopefully, if an explanation is finally found, it will be something that can be fixed.
For now, all I can do is wait. Wait and see if this becomes a celebration or disappointment.
It's been 4 days since I've heard anything, and I have been incredibly anxious the whole time.
Being so tightly wound, I am immediately aware when my brother approaches my office. He is smiling. My brother rarely smiles, so I know we have found a miracle.
"I spoke to Ian and Helena. They have given me the female's name, address, and phone number. However, they did say they are very sure she has no idea what she is. She displayed no recognition of their Dragons, even after their Dragons reacted so intensely to her presence. They also say she was talking to a human female about going to college. When they inquired, she stated she had been sending applications and requests for scholarships, but had no definite location planned."
"We will have to greatly reward this couple for all of their effort with her. Did they say what her name is?"
Ash pulled a notebook from his back pocket and opened it. Then he read, "Her name is Adriana, but she goes by Ria. Her last name is Dragoi." He smiled at that little bit of information.
"We need to talk to Cinder and Cole. We need to figure out the best way to approach her."
"I thought perhaps we could talk at dinner this evening. I will call them both to make sure they will be here."
"That's good, Ash, we may not have much time. I want it known that this must be treated with the utmost secrecy. The other Royal families can't learn of her existence."
Ash nods, "I will talk to the people in the lab, make sure they understand how serious this is."
I nod back and start pacing my office."I will call Constantine about having him run a full background check on her. I will have him get all of the facts from you."
"Okay, I will go call Cinder and Cole. I'll let you know if anything else comes up." With that, Ash leaves my office.
I sit back down and pick up my phone, which I had laid on my desk.
"Hello?" I hear Constantine answer.
"Constantine, this is Drago. I have a job for you that I need completed immediately."
"Okay, do you have the information I need?"
"No, contact Ash, he has all the details. Give him a few minutes; he had a couple of calls to make when he left my office." I tell him.
"Will do" with that brief agreement, he hangs up.
I lay my phone back down, turn my chair to look outside, and just let myself think of all the things this means for my family and my people.
I walk into the dining room, pleased to see all three of my brothers. I take my seat at the head of the table. I see Mary, our cook, look out of the kitchen door, and I nod at her.
Once she is done setting the food on the table, I thank her, and she retreats back to the kitchen.
Then we start filling our plates. When everyone is relaxed and has a full plate, I initiate the conversation we need to have.
"Cinder, Cole, Ash, and I have some news we need to share with you."
I wait until they are both looking at me before continuing, "4 days ago, Ash came to me after he received a call about a possible Royal Female Dragon, and they sent a small sample of her blood."
They both freeze, and the forks hit their plates. "Today, we got a notification from the lab that she is, in fact, a Royal Female."
"Holy shit, what are we going to do? Does she know about us? Where is she?" Cinder fires out question after question.
I hold my hand up to stop the barrage, "the couple that saw her stated she showed no acknowledgement of their Dragons, so they think she doesn't know."
I take a breath, "Her name is Adriana Dragoi, and she lives in Ohio for now."
Ash adds, "The Stoicas, the couple who called, stated she was talking to a human female with her about college. They asked her about it. She stated that she had been sending out applications and requests for scholarships."
"So what are we going to do?" Count on Cole to be the calmest of my youngest brothers.
Cole and Cinder, our two youngest brothers, are very different from each other. Cinder is always, more impulsive, and excitable. Cole is his opposite with an easy, calm personality, and Cole is actually our medical professional on the team, and here at home.
Ash jumps in, "I actually have an idea, but I haven't even run it by Drago yet."
"Well, Ash, please let us hear your idea," I tell him.
He relaxes back in his chair and slowly twirls the stem of his wineglass at the edge of the table.
"My idea is to provide her with what she's seeking. Set up a full-ride scholarship to a college where we have some pull. Then we go and meet her. If she feels the connection to our dragons, we can help her understand what she is."
He takes a drink," If she doesn't, we will still be there, and we can get to know her and she us. Then we can court her and win her over. Then we will explain everything."
I think about his plan, "It has the potential to take some time. We may be away for a while, so we would need to think of the leadership in our stead."
They all nod, then Cole adds, "She might be wary of several large men trying to garner her attention."
Ash looks thoughtful, "What if we had Natalia come and befriend her. If we make them roommates, the possibility of them becoming friends increases. Then maybe she could introduce us to her."
"That might work, but we need to be able to explain why a whole family is present at the college." Cinder chimed in.
I thought for a few minutes. "We can purchase a house in the town. Natalia wants a college experience, so she is staying in the dorms. Her brothers live close, and we have a close-knit family, so we spend lots of time together. It would also pave the way for us to invite her to the house quite often."
"Yes, and having our sister present would help her feel more at ease around us. That will facilitate us being able to court her." Cole added.
"I like this plan. We need to talk to Victor and Constantine to get the plan rolling. We will all meet in my office first thing tomorrow to initiate plans."
They all nodded their agreement, and we continued with dinner.
I had spoken with both Victor, our house manager, and Constantine, our tech specialist, the evening before, after dinner. So, I was pleased to see everyone waiting for me.
I moved around my desk, sat down, and put my phone down. Then I looked at everyone and started our discussion.
"We are trying to implement a plan we came up with regarding a found Royal Dragon Female. We want to make meeting us as smooth as possible, so we have come up with a plan."
Victor and Constantine looked completely shocked and said nothing for a moment.
"Does this have anything to do with the woman you had me run a background for?" Inquired Constantine.
"Actually, yes, what did you find?"
"Well, between the ages of 14 and 17, there is a gap for which I can find no information. She was born Adriana Nicoletta Dragoi in Dallas, Texas. Her mother, Collette Dragoi, remarried a Braun Zavitnik when she was 4, after her father's death. She entered a private school at 5, and then was removed when she was 10. After that, the school records are from private tutors. Mother died at age 11 Zavitnik adopted her."
He turned the page in the file he had, "She entered foster care at 14. It shows her stepfather was arrested, but there seems to be a lot of missing information around why. The next thing I could find was her in Broken Bridge, Ohio. She was fostered in the home of Elizabeth Drayton, where she remains, even though she is beyond the age of foster care, as she's 18,, but will turn 19 on the 24th of September."
We all sat and absorbed the information.
"Well, keep trying to find the missing information. It's not overly important as regards our plan, but it could be important later. Now let's go over the plan."
They both nodded, and the 4 of us laid out the entirety of the plan to both of them.
We spent several hours on phone calls to Gregori my head of security, government officials, school administrators, real-estate agents, banking facilities, and Natalia.
By the end the pieces were all coming together. There were just a few more pieces to put into place. Then we could go and finally meet our female.