Playing with Fire

Playing with Fire- Chapter One

Queen of Thieves is going nowhere right now, and I've got a new idea that I want to try out. Also, I'm casting actors for this one, so you guys can see the characters as I do. I'm not signing up for Watty Awards, because I doubt I'll have my story done by November.

Please enjoy the story, and I hope I can actually finish this one. :)

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The memories always came when I was meditating. Only when the Other World had complete control of my mind, only when my essence was drawn back past the layers into the very Core, did I see moments of my past.

I was lucky to be born into a Governor's family; otherwise I might have had to take on a less than pleasant job. Since women were forbidden from the Education Halls and only the rich were permitted to own foodshops, most of us had to sell our bodies just to provide meagre scraps of food for ourselves.

I was born in the Medic's Temple. My father had hired several midwives for my mother, so the screams echoed even louder when they cleaned and wrapped me. The silver tattoos winding themselves up the right side of my face were clear indicators of a Dragon Master, save for one small problem. Only males became Dragon Masters.

A girl becoming a Master. Never had it happened, not since the first days when Gregory Oakanovich merged his soul with the Red Dragon. Since then, children were brought from all over the world to the Dragon Isles. They're a chain of ten islands forming a circle, connected only by thin bridges over clear blue waters.

My fate was debated over twenty-three days, with several options to what could become of me. Most suggested just leaving it alone; why bring a girl into the purity of the Dragon Isles and disrupt the flow of Běnzhí. A fair amount suggested a Killing, saying that a girl had no right even having the Tattoo and that nobody could merge with the Silver Dragon until I was dead. The smallest side, yet strangely the side that ended up getting its way, suggested letting me grow up on the Isles like the other boys.

The Grand High Emperor, master of all the lands, agreed with the minority. That's probably what gave it the extra boost. His son was Red Dragon Master, living on the islands at the age of two. Maybe he wanted a girl there for his son to pleasure himself with, maybe he truly believed in me. I never got the chance to ask him, seeing as he died soon after his vote. Now the Red Dragon Master was also Grand High Emperor, making him the most important being on our world.

My mother reluctantly gave me up to the Messengers, vowing to see me whenever she could. Which was never. The life of a Master was a lonely one, never seeing anyone except the other Masters and our Trainers until the age of twenty-five. Then we graduated from Xuétú to Zhǔ (rather, Apprentice to Master). Only then were we permitted to leave the islands, to travel on the backs of our Dragons. Still, the Dragon Isles were our home, and we always returned.

I was the Silver Dragon Master, Diànlì shuòshì, Master of Power. Being Master of the most powerful Dragon evened out the low status I had been given because of my gender. Well, almost. Most other Xuétú treated me like a girl, like I was lower than them in every aspect of training.

Dragon Masters begin training in meditation at the young age of one year, leaving no time for the Demon Spirits to enter our bodies while we had no guard. The rest of the training, like learning our dual-swords or practicing the channeling of Dragon Power, began at five.

Every Xuétú wore Apprentice robes. They were the same design for every Xuétú, just different metallic colours to match the tattoos of the Dragon Masters. When we were younger the Tailors had it easy. I was built the same as the other boys, seeing as none of us had hit puberty yet. But while the others around me became broad in the shoulders and muscular, I thinned out. They didn't know how to make robes for a woman. I had a tall, slim build and a rather flat chest, and the years of training had given me muscular arms and toned legs. The slight curve to my hips and a delicate bone structure were the only indicators that I had a female's body, and not one of a scrawny male. Still the Tailors managed, and the tight-fitting top made the other Xuétú lose concentration, on occasion. I may not have been the curviest or most beautiful, but I was the only girl they'd ever seen.