“Those were some quick steps at the end of that one,” Willem said.
“Don’t I know it,” Aeron replied. After a few moments to rest, he stood and said, “I need to take a quick break, though, at the toilets. I’ll be back in a bit.”
He made his way around the courtyard and the crowds milling about. There was still about half an hour to sunset, and even though the sun’s red glow filled the western sky, the temporary street lamps were now providing a lot of the illumination along the walkways. He made his way as quickly as he could to the toilets near the tree line to the east. His gait was a little odd as his bladder was near to bursting.
There were lines in front of all of them. Long lines. He was in dire need, however, and desperately looked for the shortest queue. He bit his lip. Each toilet had at least five people in front of it. There was no way he was going to be able to wait that long! What was he going to do? He stood a bit back from the lines, bouncing a little on his toes. He clenched as tightly as he could and thought furiously. The trees! They were several feet behind the row of toilets, and if he could just make it in far enough, they would serve perfectly.
He walked off to the side of the toilets and, as casually as he could, strolled over to the trees. Once there, he worked his way a little farther into their depths. Taking quick short breaths in his need, he moved behind a tree and quickly unbuttoned the front of his pants.
BLISS!
“Garathel’s great hammer,” he said quietly, “I made it just in time.” A little later, after he was finished, he buttoned his pants, a satisfied smile on his face. “Sooo, much better,” he murmured. A quick stop at the sinks and he would be back in time for his next turn dancing!
He turned around to head back out of the trees.
“Well, well, well.”
“J-Jessip?” Aeron stared at the older boy. What was he doing here?
Jessip quickly closed with Aeron. He had a short blade out. “Don’t you dare make a sound,” he said, standing less than a foot in front of Aeron, knife up near Aeron’s face. Aeron took a step back, but bumped into the tree behind him.
There was enough light still from the sun, and the trees were just sparse enough for it to penetrate, so that Aeron could clearly see the knife in Jessip’s right hand, the edge of the blade glinting in the late evening sunlight.
“What are you doing here?” Aeron asked, staring at the knife, heart racing.
“It took me a long time following you and your puny friends around the fair to finally get you alone.”
“You were following me?” Aeron looked up at the taller boy. Jessip’s face was red, his brows were furrowed, and his clenched teeth were revealed by his lips, pulled back in anger.
“All day. Though I lost you for a while after lunch. I couldn’t follow you into the magic hall.”
The knife bobbed in front of Aeron, drawing his eyes back to it. He was really getting scared now. He’d never seen Jessip like this.
“What is it with you, runt?” Jessip leaned in closer. Aeron could feel Jessip’s breath now when he spoke. “Why is it that you get everything you want?”
“I-I don’t know what you mean.” Aeron couldn’t think with the knife in his face.
Jessip leaned in so close that their noses almost touched.
Aeron?
“DON’T YOU?” the older boy screamed. A bit of spittle hit Aeron on the cheek making him blink involuntarily. Jessip moved his face back a bit. “You always wanted to be a sorcerer, right? And now you are.” Jessip looked at the apprentice Magic Craft pin on Aeron’s collar and then tapped it with the blade of his knife. It made a bright ‘tink’ sound.
“You know? I thought I had finally gotten something that was better than what you had,” Jessip said and chuckled. “I had my own room. True, I shared it with three other people, but that was still better than the bunk room. And then,” Jessip paused and leaned in close again, “then I found out you have an entire room . . . to . . . your . . . SELF!” Aeron could feel the tip of the knife against his chest.
“Why,” Aeron began, pressing his back into the tree, trying to get as far as he could from the knife, “why are you so angry?”
“Why is everything JUST GIVEN TO YOU!” Jessip’s breath was hot on Aeron’s face, and Jessip’s scar shone nearly white against the deep red of his cheek.
Jessip again moved his head back a little. “Do you know what my job is right now?” he asked, weirdly calm.
He scared Aeron even more like this. Jessip’s outward calm was belied by an odd twitchiness. Aeron shook his head in response to the question, not taking his eyes off of the angry older boy. He wasn’t sure what Jessip was going to do.
“I’m cleaning water closets,” Jessip said. “I clean people’s SHIT!” The knife now hovered near Aeron’s chin. “I wanted to be a guard. I think I would have looked good in a guard uniform, don’t you? And especially in the full armor.” Jessip paused and his eyes lost focus. His gaze soon enough returned to Aeron. “But instead? I clean up after sloppy people who can’t even be BOTHERED to sit on a toilet properly. Who can’t even be bothered TO FLUSH!”
Aeron heard some kind of commotion out beyond the trees at the fair. Had Jessip’s screaming carried out to the guards? Maybe they would come soon.
“Why is it that you get everything that you want, and I always get NOTHING!”
Aeron needed to stall for time. Desperately, he said, “I tried.”
Jessip drew his brows together in confusion. “What?”
“Yes,” Aeron said, “I wanted to be a sorcerer. So I applied to work for the Magic Craft Hall. And I did everything they asked of me to the best of my abilities.” Aeron paused, looking at Jessip. “You said you wanted to be a guard. But did you ever ask at the barracks what you needed to do to become one?”
Jessip, thinking about it, backed up a step. “I, well . . . no.”
Aeron glanced at the knife.
I AM HERE!
A flash of movement caught both their eyes.
Aeron stared at his dragon companion as she charged into the small clearing. “Anaya?” he said, unsure how she could be there.
Time seemed to stretch. He heard his heartbeat pulse in his ears once as he watched the slowly paced scene unfold before him.
The young dragon was running as fast as she could for Aeron’s attacker. Leaves and other debris, kicked up each time her paws left the ground, arced gracefully behind her and fell lazily back down in weird slow motion. Aeron heard his heart beat again and blinked, looking to Jessip.
The older boy had backed up another step and was watching Anaya charge at him, a look of confusion on his face. He was in the process of raising his hands reflexively to ward off her approach. Aeron again heard the slow pulse of his heartbeat and his eyes widened. Jessip was still holding the knife.
No! Anaya wasn’t paying attention to the knife, probably didn’t even know what a knife was. Instinctively, Aeron wove Tikhon’s Thermal Shift on Jessip’s weapon, using a link to a nearby tree. He saw the magic take form, felt the brief pulse of it, before it faded away. Aeron’s heart beat loudly once more in his ears.
As Anaya barreled onward, Jessip’s mouth opened in a scream, and he released the knife. Anaya launched herself at Jessip, but Aeron missed her slow progress through the air, his attention fully on the weapon. It fell slowly, rotating. Aeron’s heart pulsed again in his ears, and light glinted off the blade before it hit the ground. Just then Anaya’s forepaws met Jessip’s chest. The sound they made, a hollow thump, was very loud to Aeron’s ears and seemed to break the odd slowing of time.
Jessip let out an involuntary grunt and went flying back, rolling to a stop to Aeron’s left. Aeron’s heart was now pounding at a frightened and frantic pace.
Anaya, not taking her eyes from Jessip, moved between him and Aeron. She rotated her ears back and let out a defiant roar.
Aeron had never heard her roar before. And so loud!
She backed up a little closer to Aeron
, turned her head, and looked him up and down. You are unharmed?
“I’m fine, Anaya. I’m fine.” He walked to her and hugged her neck tightly. He released her, and they both looked at Jessip.
The older boy had sat up on the ground. His right hand was held in the other as he stared at Anaya. “She’s . . . You have a dragon?” He whispered the last in confused awe.
Anaya rumbled angrily at Jessip.
Aeron tried calming her down. “It’s okay, Anaya.” He stroked her cheek and neck. Still looking at her, he sighed. “Yes, she’s a dragon.” He turned back to the bully.
Jessip was silently crying, staring at Anaya, tears running down his cheeks. After a moment, he closed his eyes and slammed his fists into the ground, though he only did it once. His right hand appeared to be hurt.
Why is he crying? Anaya sounded as confused by this as Aeron was.
“I don’t own her, though,” Aeron continued, unable to make sense of Jessip’s actions. “If anything, we own each other.”
Jessip opened his eyes and looked at Anaya. “My little brother and I both wanted dragons when I was a kid.” His eyes became shadowed for a moment, and then his expression cleared. “Later, my father would beat me when I talked about . . . about dragons.” He looked at Aeron, chuckled and sniffled, wiping his nose and eyes with his left hand. “Actually, toward the end, he would beat me for just about anything, so I ran away.”
Aeron wasn’t sure what to say. Jessip seemed to have changed completely. He was quite calm now, the twitchiness was gone, and his face was a more normal color.
Anaya, sensing the change as well, sat down on her haunches.
Jessip looked at his right hand in confusion. Part of his palm looked badly burned.
“I’m sorry about that,” Aeron said.
“You did that to my knife? Made it hot?”
“I am a sorcerer. And I didn’t want you to hurt Anaya.” Aeron placed his hand on Anaya’s shoulder.
Jessip nodded as he stared at the angry blisters already forming on his hand. He looked up at Aeron, no expression on his face.
Aeron shifted on his feet. He didn’t know what to make of the look Jessip was giving him. Out beyond the trees he could still hear some commotion from the fair, though there wasn’t any shouting anymore.
“Tried.”
“What?” Aeron, distracted by his hopes that someone would come, was taken off-guard by the comment.
“You’re right. I never tried. I never . . . try . . . anything.” Jessip struggled to his feet.
Sharrah and Willem burst into the space between the trees. “Aeron!” Sharrah said, catching her breath. “Why did Anaya—” She stopped when she saw the older boy. “Jessip?”
“The guards are coming!” Cheddar said as he ran in behind Willem. When he saw Anaya, his eyes almost bugged out of his head.
Willem glanced at Cheddar before glaring at Jessip. “What are you doing here?” he asked the older boy angrily.
Jessip looked uncomfortable. He glanced at Aeron and looked back at Willem.
“Oh, good,” Aeron said, taking his coat and satchel from Willem. He rummaged around inside his carry-all and removed the large salve jar. He tossed it to Jessip. “Use that on your hand.”
Jessip caught the jar awkwardly in his left hand. “What is it?”
“I got it from the infirmary for my black eye. It should help with the burn.”
Jessip clumsily opened the jar and looked at the salve. He dipped a finger in and rubbed it over his palm. “Oh, that does feel better.”
“I’ll just keep this in exchange, if you don’t mind.” Aeron picked up the now much cooler knife from the ground, folded it closed, and dropped it in his satchel.
Sharrah gasped when she saw the knife.
“A knife?” Willem asked, angry. He moved toward Jessip.
“Willem,” Aeron said, taking his arm. “Stop.”
Willem paused a moment but then shook his arm free. “That’s a knife, Aeron. He had a pissing knife!” Willem’s face was darkening in his anger and confusion. “Why do you protect him? He’s never done you any favors! And now he confronts you in here with a knife? He could have hurt you!”
“Willem,” and Aeron took his arm again. “It’s okay. We’ve,” and he looked at Jessip, “had a talk.”
Jessip looked at Aeron, at Willem, and nodded.
Suddenly, three guards burst into the small clearing, bearing lances and swords.
“What’s going on here?” asked the one in front. Then he noticed Anaya. “What in all of Yrdra’s deepest hells?” He stood a moment staring at her. “I thought you were drunk,” he said over his shoulder to the other two. “But that is definitely a dragon.”
“We told you, Sergeant,” said one of the others.
Two more guards ran into the space between the trees, saw Anaya, and took a step back.
Aeron moved between the guards and his dragon. “Don’t hurt her. She won’t hurt anyone.”
The sergeant said, “I heard that roar from out there, young man. It didn’t sound friendly.” He stood watching Anaya, apparently thinking about his options. After a moment, he looked at Aeron. “Will she come quietly with you?”
Aeron nodded nervously.
“Alright, then.” The sergeant looked at them all. “Let’s go. I don’t know what to make of this, but we’re going to see Lord Baronel. He can decide what to do.”
Chapter 15
Leday, Duody 29, 1873
Evening
How did you get here? Aeron asked Anaya as he put on his coat. They were walking out of the trees. The sergeant lead in front, followed by Cheddar, Sharrah, Willem, Aeron and Anaya. Jessip trailed behind them. The other guards all made up the rear.
I flew! Anaya said excitedly as she walked along next to Aeron. I felt you were in trouble, and how scared you were, so I came to where you live to help you. I remembered how to fly, remembered my mother flying. I was not sure I would be able to fly, but I did!
She must have searched her mother’s memories on how to fly, Aeron realized. His thoughts about that were interrupted as they emerged from the trees. He saw that a large crowd had gathered near the toilets. When the crowd spotted them, murmurs started. They grew in number and volume when the crowd saw Anaya.
“A dragon!” Aeron heard a young voice say.
“Clear the way!” the sergeant bellowed, raising his hand as he walked.
The crowd parted, leaving an opening to the walking paths. Even so, many were trying to press forward to catch a glimpse of Anaya. Two of the guards quickly came up from behind and took up positions to either side of the sergeant.
Anaya, oblivious to everything other than the novelty, looked around at everything and everyone as they walked along.
So many things, so many people. What is that?
Stay near me, Aeron said, placing his hand on her shoulder. We can talk about all this later. For now, stay near me and don’t do anything without asking me. We have to be on our very best behavior.
Sharrah was walking in front of Aeron. He tugged on her sleeve and whispered, “What happened?”
“She appeared out of nowhere,” Sharrah replied quietly over her shoulder. “She came flying in from the south over the trees, from the sinkhole I would guess, making an odd sound. That’s what caught our attention. She landed over there.” Sharrah nodded her head to their left, to the clear area beyond the crowd. “She made the sound a couple more times as she looked around, like she was very worried. Then she seemed to figure out where she was going and bolted for the trees.” Sharrah glanced at Anaya with a small smile. “We followed after, unsure why she had come.”
Willem, who was walking to Aeron’s left, looked at Anaya. “Well, it wasn’t how we wanted it to happen,” he said quietly, “but everyone knows about Anaya, now.”
Ahead of them, the guards, light glinting from their chain armor when they passed one of the temporary street lamps, lead them at a steady pace. And once they were on the
road, the butts of the lances striking the cobblestones, the shimmery sound of the chain armor, and the stomp of their metal-reinforced boots, made for an ominous accompaniment, every step a blunt reminder of their destination. The walk to The Residence was agonizing.
Aeron wondered what was going to happen. He had wanted to get the two masters on his side before introducing Anaya to Lord Baronel. Now, he was only going to have his friends to back him up, and because none of them were above apprentices, their opinions wouldn’t carry much weight.
He watched Anaya as she walked beside him. She was looking around at everything, curious. He felt her excitement clearly through the link. If anything happened to her, he was sure he would die. He closed his eyes. Please, he begged, though he wasn’t sure of whom, I don’t care what happens to me, but please don’t let anything happen to her.
Anaya, sensing his emotional turmoil, pressed her head into his hand. We are one.
He opened his eyes and caressed her cheek. Yes, we are. Through the link he could feel her love and support. He rested his hand on her shoulder, feeling a little better.
Behind them, many a person followed along, eyeing Aeron and his friends and, mostly, Anaya. The crowd was made up for the most part of young men and boys, though there were also a few older men, as well as a few girls and women. Aeron could hear them talking and chatting excitedly. The conversations were too low to make out many words, though he caught ‘dragon’ often enough.
After what seemed an eternity to Aeron, they were there, walking up the steps to The Residence. He had never been inside before. This wasn’t how he imagined his first visit would go.
The main hall of The Residence was rather impressive, Aeron thought. Large stone columns lined the walls, supporting the roof with enormous arches. There must not be a second story above the hall, he reasoned, because there wasn’t room. But as he looked at the ceiling, he supposed there could be a third floor above it.
The guards escorted them to a room off the hall. Once inside, the sergeant looked at Aeron and asked, “Your name?”
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