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I knew it was only a matter of time before the other humans would respond to my taking of the village. If nothing else, they would be enraged by my refusal to pay their tithe. There was not a lot of trade on the forest trails leading from the village back to the larger human nation; the village itself was completely self sufficient. However, the fact that there was now a dragon in charge of Devonshire would not be long contained regardless. I knew it was likely that Lord Dominic, the man to whom Sir Ronald had pledged fealty already knew about what had happened to his small province and possibly was already gathering a retaliatory force. I had to legitimize my claim in terms that the humans understood or face inevitable open warfare.

Tobias gathered together some of the brighter minds in the village to help me craft and put into writing a proclamation of succession. The village of Devonshire, an unremarkable dot not included on most maps would become its own tiny country on the edge of the Dragon Wastes. While I had simply taken the village because I was strong enough to do so and had a mind to domesticate the people here for the benefit of myself and dragons in general, my strongest argument on paper was that the nation of Lyrond provided inadequate protection against dragon predation. With a little help from Tobias and several new friends he had made over the course of the past months, they raised a general outrage over the many missing people who had been taken over the years. I alone could offer protection against the other dragons across the mountains. Thus, a week after Tobias and Richard had been official knighted in a grand ceremony to break in the new amphitheatre, I had my proclamation signed by the majority of the who's-who's of the village. It made sense after all, a dragon would be able to protect them from other dragons. With the village bustling and the year's taxes largely refunded to the people, not a soul was left in Devonshire who mourned the passing of Sir Ronald.

With the paperwork signed and sealed, there was nothing left but to get the message to Lord Dominic. I felt apprehensive about sending my star servant back into the clutches of danger. I thought a lot about flying him through the passes myself to meet with the Lord, but I did not know the way - and couldn't be directed by a human I held in my claws - and furthermore, I did not want to create a panic in the city which would likely create more rabble rousers than the disappearance of one tiny hamlet alone. "I'll be fine." Tobias said. "I'll have Jacob, Christopher and Michael with me." The young Knight was referred to his three bodyguards, two of which were formerly close friends. "Besides, Lord Dominic is high nobility. His kind take things like diplomatic immunity far more seriously than brutes like Sir Ronald."

I was still uncertain, but it had to be done, and a human matter such as this was best left to human hands. "Watch yourself, Tobias. I would hate to have to train up a replacement." That was as affectionate as I got with the young man. He understood the joke and grinned.

"I will be careful, Sir Dragon." He said. "By the way. Who shall I say is the new lord of Devonshire? Sir Dragon does not sound very serious on paper, you know."

I frowned and looked away for a while. I supposed the time had finally come. I would have to define my identity with these tiny folk. It was a shame; I enjoyed the nebulous fear and respect of being known as "the dragon" amongst most of the people. I spoke. "You are right, Tobias. Tell Lord Dominic that the area known as Devonshire is now under the rulership of Lord Ladonius

"...Ladonius..." spoke Tobias slowly, sounding out the syllables. I hoped I had not fabricated something too difficult for the human tongue. "Lord Ladonius. I has a nice ring to it, Master."

I purred softly, rumbling pleasantly in my throat. "Let the people know of the change on your way out of town, Tobias. It would seem strange if they did not know my 'name' if someone from the nation were to visit."

"Of course... Lord Ladonius." Tobias said with a conspiratorial wink.

I stopped purring. "Don't take advantage of it now. I still prefer Sir, or Master." I said, leveling my large slit eye on the young man.

Tobias took a step back, bowing. "I meant no offense..." he hesitated, my eye still on him. "I'll see about making preparation for the trip then, M'lord." I watched him go and afterwards padded to my comfortable stone bowl and curled up to sleep until noon.

I did not see my first servant again until well after that year's harvest. When he finally returned, he brought along with him an ambasatorial delegation.