Spoken for

In Dragon terms, to be spoken for is the human equivalent of being engaged, and thus the individual who is spoken for is no longer available for courtship or dating. Usually this doesn't happen in a dragon courtship for at least 5 years at the soonest, but often courtships can go on for 10-20 years before a decision is made to become spoken for, after which the next step is to become life mates, which is the dragon equivalent of marriage, and can never be broken by anything except death. Thus why dragons, given the incredible lengths of time that they live, take many, many years to get to know their potential future mate as well as possible to be certain that they are choosing properly. Flash relationships among dragons are rare, and more often than not end badly. Although there are some exceptions from time to time.