It starts with a letter. Doctor Schroeder, a passing associate of the geneticist Shy, receives one of the invitations to attend a very special hatching. The candidate who volunteers as someone of "imperial pedigree" is Xiao Shy, a diminutive clone of Shy himself made by the geneticist's own hand.

The Imperial hatching occurs. Schroeder is disgusted by the blatant tampering of the hatchlings, the obvious signs of being custom made for their intended bonds. Xiao Shy's own dwarf Apoleoth isn't even the most tampered upon of the clutch, but Schroeder is displeased nonetheless. There is no free will in such a bond.

There is no free will in the sponsorship of Morpheus, either, but Schroeder does not blame the young dragons for what they've been forced to be or to do.

The Death Court attacks. Schroeder does not hesitate to help defend the Labs and their innocent visitors, but when all is settled, he's had enough. The clutch was a travesty. He did not know Shy well in the first place, but everything that occurs tells him that the association is one to never be pursued again. Instead the Destiny seeks an audience from the Red Mage of Tris'Hath, to seek closure over an old incident brought back to the forefront of Schroeder's thoughts in the wake of the Imperial clutch.

Xiao Shy himself has no such regrets or resentments. He is made in Shy's own image after all. He almost is Shy. His Apoleoth is perfection. Morpheus is only slightly less beautiful.

The Court dragons Derioth, Dispauth, and Neskaeth are incredibly taken by the young Imperial. A small court of their own begins to form with Apoleoth at its center. Xiao Shy remains very, very interested in his father-creator's works, though for the sake of not ruffling Schroeder's feathers too badly, he misses out on the initial hatching of Imperial Guards.

He is not so restrained when word reaches him about another Court being crafted by Shy's son Shan. Xiao Shy is bonded already but entranced by the idea, as is his Apoleoth, of expanding their retinue. Xiao Shy seeks to return to the Labs somehow, to see if there still might be Guards to attend upon them if Shy is properly cajoled and bribed, and the Court trio have gone seeking a young Imperial of their own at a new hatching they've heard of. (Time works in such funny ways between worlds, doesn't it?)

Xiao Shy seeks out his kin, Lao Shy. Though perpetually older and wiser just by nature, Lao Shy is still nevertheless a Shy, and he is intrigued when he is told of the judgmental powers of the Opal Court. Even the implications of family have their own allure, between Shy-kin and Shy-creations.

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." It may mean leaving the Destiny so as not to antagonize the man who has been a tolerant host for them thus far, but why should that be a deterrent?

Lao Shy attends the hatching of the Opal Court which is unsettled, if not outright disgraced, by the attendance of the Death Court king Naxi'im. Nevertheless he draws the attention of his own new bond, Sofosoth, as easily as if it were meant to be.

Xiao Shy, on the other hand, is successful in his own endeavors. His and Apoleoth's absence had been noted (among others) from the hatching of the Imperial Guard, but if anything, his initiative to make up for this lapse works in his favor. His gifts of exotic teas, cakes, and genetic samples (not in any way combined with the former, of course!) merely add extra grease to a process that was streamlined to begin with.

He and Apoleoth welcome into their retinue Davouth the Sword and Lanneth the Shield, Guards who have been genetically escalated to a state of adulthood and who stand more than ready to protect their young liege. Their hides are as crimson as the little Imperial's own and when they spread their wings, the imagery of birds that seemed to live upon their sails seemed to flit between the dragons as if they had always been meant to.

Dr. Schroeder is equally displeased by the literal appearance of the two Guards as he was when he witnessed Apoleoth's birth, though as before, he does not refuse any of them shelter aboard his ship. The Shys Xiao and Lao have not truly done anything to make them unpleasant houseguests, but the association becomes more and more bitter in the man's mouth.

The Shys begin to confer that perhaps it would be best for them to set about extricating themselves and their retinue from the Destiny before they find themselves truly unwelcome. After all, it would be a lie to say Xiao Shy and Apoleoth in particular are not still interested in seeing it grow, and it is all too easy to imagine that Schroeder could be pushed too far. It would likely be a polite ousting, but it would be an ousting nonetheless.

Perhaps the Vella Crean itself could take them back again. What was once their home, and what will always be their birthplace, surely remains a place they can return to. Perhaps Xiao Shy could even come by a laboratory of his own, seeing how he suspects Dr. Schroeder grows less and less comfortable with his perusal of the Destiny's (however public) genetic resources and records.

There are even more Court eggs upon the Vella Crean sands, in fact, for which candidates and sponsors are being gathered.

Why not stay and see who might be swayed to join them?

A handful of months have passed since the hatching of Court eggs, an event from which Xiao Shy and Apoleoth’s court greatly benefited. Now in their company are a trio of Projects most helpfully directed their way by Shy himself, along with their young Court dragon bonds. There is also a young new Imperial, Jexorath, affectionately looked after by her entourage of Derioth, Dispauth, and Neskaeth.

Doctor Schroeder has been a very busy man, what with the new Nidus he’s had to spend so much time negotiating lands for and helping to found, but it has not escaped his notice that Apoleoth’s retinue continues to grow and grow, and there’s no mistaking his own growing discontent. Neither Shy, nor the loyal Projects, nor their many dragons are left un-watched by a swarm of tiny fey dragons that suddenly call the Destiny home. There is no physical violence involved, but there is no missing that they are some form of creation specifically oriented to detect Shy’s creations. It’s easily confirmed, anyway: Schroeder easily admits their purpose and their origin (creations of the Red Mage, Mystic).

The little Shys are hardly offended. Lao finds it sensible, Xiao is almost flattered. Their welcome is well worn out, but that’s fine. The Vella Crean is available to them. A little sweet-talking, a little cajoling, and even a little generous bribery, and it’s not all that hard for them to find a parcel of Vella Crean land for them to quietly portion off for themselves. The Project Euonym has already begun to build them a bunker, a bastion — perhaps even a Crimson Citadel, if you will. In form and function it is much like Shy’s own Labs, though not so independently clever or lively.

There is one last thing that goes down before Xiao Shy and his compatriots excuse themselves from the Destiny for good. Shy’s son, Shan, comes calling for the good Doctor with what he intends as a gift: a golden winged feline, not terribly dissimilar from the chaos godling that likes to come and go from the ship. It is a Grimlin, and her name is Nemeowdath. The species is one he’s bred to preserve them against dying out, but this one specifically just so happens to mimic (and therefore mock) one of the Queens of the Death Court.

Predictably, Schroeder wants nothing to do with such mockery, but before Shan can depart (not quite disappointed, but with the doctor’s concession that he would happily accept a feline free of ulterior motives in their breeding) Xiao draws the young man aside and asks if he might not keep lovely Nemeowdath, himself. His request is granted and the mischievous little cat joins his company — as much as a cat can ever truly be owned, that is! She has a remarkable talent for being where no one expects her to be, regardless of whether she should or she shouldn’t. It’s really quite fascinating. It seems almost a waste, that it should be such a simple companion species to display such an ability.

And away from their old shelter, in the safety of their new home that Euonym is building for them all, Xiao Shy reflects upon the “Death Court”. What a funny thing they had named themselves. Oh, Xiao Shy remembers something of the claim. Death to their enemies, to those who would impinge on their freedom? Something like that, he thought. They could have named themselves the Free Court, or the Liberated Court. Instead they’d gone with death when they in fact had rather little to do with it. It wasn’t at all a pretty name like Light or Dark or Blood, or Imperial or Sword or Shield.

And then he remembers: back at the hatching where Apoleoth broke shell and the Death Court first attacked, Doctor Schroeder had taken samples of what remained before Shy’s Labs had cleaned away and devoured it all. He’s seen them in the geneticist’s repository — or at least saw them, before finding himself unwelcome in browsing Schroeder’s genetic library.

Xiao Shy goes to Aptonym, the young and sweet and innocent one among the trio of Projects given over to him by his Father-Creator. Aptonym’s mind is able to reach anywhere in the Nexus, and that doesn’t just mean telepathically. Xiao tells him what he’s thought of, and asks Aptonym if he can find it.

Aptonym thinks. His molten-gold gaze focuses well past the solid alloy walls Euonym has constructed to protect them.

He opens his hand and presents his miniature master with a set of vials swirling with isolated genetic material. Xiao Shy’s pleased smile is the only reward he needs for this simple fetching.

For the first time, Xiao Shy sets himself to work, to a goal beyond finding the best teas and cakes to occupy his palate. A long time has passed since his creation, since his embodiment of the simple idea of “gluttony”. There are more things that one can consume and over-indulge in than food and drink, after all. Each time their retinue grows, Xiao tastes something else to crave. His Imperial, his Sword, his Shield, and Projects direct from his Father-Creator’s hand.

It’s time to give back, he decides. Not because it is owed, but because he hungers for it.

He was made in Shy’s own image, was he not?