by Avril Sabine
Amber turned back in the direction she’d been headed before the uncomfortable sensation of being watched had made her turn around. She’d thought it might be a wyvern, even though Kade had said they didn’t hunt during daylight. Striding silently along the footpath, she tried to ignore Maira who continued to walk beside her. Who did Kade think he was? She didn’t need a babysitter. It was daylight.
“So what are we going to do?” Silence greeted Maira’s words. “I guess it doesn’t matter, I’ll find out soon enough. Not that there’s much in this direction. You don’t strike me as the type to be headed to the park. Not to play on the swings anyway.”
Amber clenched her teeth together and bit back the words that threatened to spill. Why couldn’t Maira shut up? She began to regret letting Maira talk to her in the first place. She’d already known she was following because Kade had asked it of her. Why did she need it confirmed? Why did she always feel the need to ask questions? Amber held back a sigh.
“Silent treatment. Good call. It can be effective against a lot of people. Not me though. It just means I can talk without being interrupted.” Maira grinned at Amber, laughing when there was no response. “I’d ask you if you were going to the party tonight, but I guess it’d be pointless since you wouldn’t tell me anyway. I don’t even know if you knew about it. We could take you with us if you want to go and haven’t been invited. Jessica and Danielle are holding it. They’re not related, don’t even look alike, but you’d swear they were twins. It’s the way they act and talk.”
Amber walked a little faster. It didn’t slow down Maira’s words like she’d hoped.
“They didn’t want to invite us, but Flinn made them. I’m not sure which one is his girlfriend, or even if any of them are. They hang around him like groupies. He doesn’t seem to mind though. Kade hates it. I had to get rid of a couple of groupies that seemed to want to worship at his feet. I think it’s in the blood. Something about the power of their ancestors is even noticed by you humans. The more popular the person the more they seem to be drawn to the two of them.”
“Can’t you shut up?” Amber stopped, rounding on Maira. “And quit grinning at me like that.”
“How are you feeling after your run in with the wyvern this morning?”
“Just great.”
Maira chuckled. “Are you always so sweet natured or do I bring out the best in you?”
“Look. I’m not interested in talking. Or making friends. As soon as I can I’m out of this town. I’ve got a life. One that I like. And I’m getting back to it as soon as I can.” Maybe she’d make that her mantra. Got a life, like it, going back. Got a …
“Lives have a tendency not to wait on you.”
“I don’t want your little words of wisdom. Keep them for someone who cares.” Amber started to walk again.
Maira walked silently beside Amber for nearly a minute before she spoke again. “So, where are we going?”
“How the hell would I know? I don’t know anything about this town and I don’t want to.”
“So… what? Are you going to put your life on a shelf for the next few months and then pull it out again, dust it off and hope you haven’t outgrown it?”
“Why bother getting to know anyone here? I won’t see them again. Who’s going to drive the nearly four hours it’d take to come and visit me?”
“I could probably be there in an hour with a tail wind.”
“Really?” Amber stopped again and eagerly faced Maira. “Could you take me there?” She wanted to see Crystal face to face and demand answers.
Maira shook her head. “You’ll have to ask Kade. He’s stronger than I am. It’d take me a couple of hours to get there with a passenger. He could probably do it in an hour and a half.”
“Why won’t you take me?”
“Because that wasn’t part of my orders.”
“And you do everything Kade tells you to?”
“I try.”
“That’s…” Amber shook her head, at a loss for words. “How can you? How demeaning. It’s as bad as slavery.”
“You don’t understand our society. My family is full of well-known warriors. Many have served under famous Gold Warriors. This is my last chance to serve a Gold Warrior.”
“Is Kade famous?”
Maira shook her head. “No, but hopefully he will be one day.”
“Why’s it your last chance?”
Maira grinned wryly. “Apparently I have a major flaw.”
“Only one?”
Maira laughed. “Only one that they’ve listed the past two times a Gold Warrior terminated my services. I have a slight problem with remembering to follow orders. If Kade decides I’m not suitable, that’s it. No more chances. What is it you humans like to say? Three strikes, you’re out.”
“Why do you need warriors, anyway?”
“Why do you?”
“We don’t.”
“Yes you do. You call them soldiers.”
“To protect our country. And to protect those who are weaker than us and are being attacked.”
“Exactly.”
“Huh?” Amber frowned, trying to make sense of Maira’s words.
“There are millions of wyverns and sometimes they even attack in the thousands. Not to mention renegade dragons and those wanting more power than others. Just like in your world. And that’s only the start of the list.”
“But wouldn’t we notice if there were thousand of wyverns in the one place?”
Maira shook her head. “This conversation is getting into territory that’s becoming complicated. Do you know where we’re headed yet?”
Amber stared at Maira as she tried to catch up with the conversation. “What time does the party start?” She was pleased to see it was Maira’s turn to flounder momentarily.
“Any time after seven. Although it’s probably not worth going until nine. Only the desperate will arrive at seven.”
“Can you take off your bracelets?”
“Are you asking if I can physically remove them or if I will remove them?”
“My mum is strange about black jewellery.”
Maira stared at her for a moment before she glanced around. The street was deserted. She pressed her left arm against her chest and covered it with her right hand. She ran it along the length of her arm and the bracelets disappeared. It looked like she slid them off and yet there were no bracelets left in her hand when she finished.
Amber blinked, staring at Maira’s bare arms. “What the-”
“Scales. I reform them instead of completely changing. It was hard to maintain when I first started doing it. Not many of us can. Most of us can only be one or the other, not both at once.”
Amber took a deep breath. “Help me talk my mother into letting me go to this party. I might as well go. Anything’d be better than staring at my bedroom walls.” She strode towards her grandmother’s home, ignoring the ache in her legs. The rest of the trip back was silent. She glared at Maira. Typical of her to be quiet when she needed a distraction.
Amber went straight to the kitchen and found it empty. Her note was still stuck under the magnet. Taking it down, she shoved it in her pocket and went looking for her mother. She found her in the back downstairs room, which was a sewing room, or torture chamber, if her mother’s expression was anything to go by.
“What a surprise. You don’t show up when there’s work to be done unless you have a buffer.” Helen’s eyes landed on Maira as she spoke the last word.
Amber tried hard to ignore her grandmother’s words. They dug into her and made her want to deny the accusation. Instead, she turned to her mother and focused her attention on the person who’d say yes or no to the party. She glanced towards Maira. “This is Maira. She’s in my Art class.”
Donna rose from the sewing machine. “Nice to meet you, Maira.”
Maira smiled slightly. “Thank you.”
“Maira and her brothers are going to a party tonight and asked if I wanted to go too,” Amber sai
d.
“For someone who hated it here and wasn’t interested in nothing or no one, you’ve changed your tune pretty quick,” Helen said sharply.
Amber continued to watch her mother. She wouldn’t let her grandmother bother her. She hoped. “You did say you wanted me to be more involved. Or was that just talk?”
Donna turned to Maira. “Will there be adult supervision at the party?”
Maira shook her head. “No. And Kade’s my cousin, not brother. And Brann is no relative.”
Amber shrugged. “Brother, cousin. He’s still family. So can I go?”
“Well…”
“Look, Mum, don’t take all day to decide or I’m going to change my mind again. I had planned to lock myself in my room, but Maira insists anyone not at the party will be considered not worth knowing.”
“When will it finish?”
“Late. Which is why I thought I might stay at Maira’s place.”
“And is there adult supervision there?”
Maira shook her head again.
“I guess that means I’m hanging out in my room again. Thanks, Mum. I told her you wouldn’t go for it. Glad to see I can rely on you to be consistent.” Amber turned to leave.
“Don’t try that reverse psychology on me. It won’t work.”
Amber shook her head. “I wouldn’t think about it. I told Maira I’d only come if I could sleep over. It looks like I’ll get out of having to go after all. Thanks.”
“Are you going to let her get away with talking to you like that, Donna?” Helen demanded.
“Mum-” Donna began.
“Don’t worry about it, Mum,” Amber interrupted. “It’s Hicksville. How exciting will a party be here? Half the people are probably inbred morons.”
“You will stop calling my town Hicksville,” Helen snapped.
Amber shrugged.
“Don’t give me that attitude, miss. I don’t go calling Brisbane Murderopolis.”
Amber grinned. “Way to go, Grandma. I didn’t know you had it in you. I actually quite like that name.” She had no idea if it was accurate or not and didn’t care if it was. All she cared was that it was her city and she wanted to return to it.
Helen turned to Maira who stood quietly watching the drama unfold before her. “I don’t know what you see in my granddaughter.”
“She’s new to our school. I thought she’d be interested in making friends, but I’m beginning to wonder.”
“Who’s having the party?” Donna asked Maira.
“It’s at Jessica Chambers’ place.”
Donna nodded and turned to Amber. “You’ll ring me and check in when you arrive, when you leave and when you get to Maira’s house.”
“You’re letting me go?” Amber feigned surprise. Although she hadn’t been completely certain her mother would let her go even with all the guilt she’d probably be feeling over tricking her into moving.
“You have got to be joking,” Helen exclaimed.
Donna ignored her mother and continued to face Amber. “I grew up here. I know Jessica’s mother. She was always quiet at school. I’ll have all the details of the party by Monday afternoon. You might want to remember that.”
“Just great. Small towns suck. I might as well stay home. It’ll be as bad as having you there holding my hand.”
“Come on, Amber. Why don’t we go and see what you’ve got to wear?” Maira glanced between Amber and Donna.
Amber grunted, turning towards the doorway.
“Nice meeting you.” Maira looked first to Donna and then Helen before she followed Amber.
“That girl is going to end up ruining her life and causing you nothing but heartache.” Helen’s words followed Amber out of the room.
She took the stairs two at a time, closing and locking her bedroom door the moment Maira stepped inside. “Thanks.”
“I’m not sure how I helped, or if I helped at all.”
Amber grinned. “If I act too eager to go anywhere, she always thinks something is planned. So when I don’t want to go, I act like I can’t survive if I don’t get to go and then sulk for a couple of days when she doesn’t let me. My brother figured it out and told me in exchange for not dobbing on him when I caught him sneaking back in one morning.”
“How odd. You humans are such strange creatures.”
“Are you telling me dragons always say exactly what they mean?”
Maira grinned. “No, not at all. We have our politics, but our parents can’t be so easily fooled.”
“Can they read your mind or only talk in your mind?”
Maira laughed. “By the time we’re teens they can’t enter without permission. But then that’s a dead give away at times. They also give us more freedom. They believe in survival of the fittest. I don’t suppose it’s easy for them, but if you want to make a place for yourself in our society, then you have certain… I guess you could call them rites of passage to pass. Otherwise you could end up being ostracised and that’s as good as a death sentence.”
Amber stared at Maira, her words making her glad to be human. A death sentence for not fitting into society? “What do you get for murder?”
“Huh?”
“If one dragon kills another. What then?”
“It depends. If it’s a renegade who has attacked you, then nothing. Okay, maybe congratulations. If you’ve attacked a dragon weaker than you, probably death if the family finds out. Our laws are different to yours. Survival of the fittest. Clans. Warrior ties. It’s complicated.”
“You… you get away with… murder?”
Maira shrugged. “Not exactly. And it isn’t always murder. We still have battles to the death. If you invoke that right it’s usually over something serious.”
She had enough problems in her own life. She couldn’t start taking on the problems of an entire society. She pushed the disquieting thoughts from her mind and strode over to her open wardrobe. “What sort of clothes will everyone be wearing?” When Maira didn’t answer, Amber turned to face her.
Maira looked puzzled. “Clothes?”
“Yeah, what are you wearing to the party?”
Maira shook her head as she slowly walked over to the wardrobe. “Clothes. Your mind jumps around like a cricket.”
Amber frowned, tempted to argue that comment. It had been a perfectly logical question.
Chapter Seven
Amber sipped the drink in her hand as her eyes scanned the noisy, dimly lit room. It was crowded with people from school as well as others she didn’t recognise. That didn’t mean they weren’t from her school, just that if they did, she hadn’t noticed them or they didn’t warrant her attention.
She sighed heavily and watched as Kade glanced her way before he turned back to talk to Maira and Brann. They were several metres from her and she wondered if he’d actually heard her sigh over the sound of talking and music or if it was a coincidence he’d turned towards her at that moment.
Her attention was caught by a boy walking towards her. He smiled when she looked at him. The last thing she wanted was to put up with someone trying to hook up with her. She looked him up and down and gave him her most disdainful expression before she turned slightly, her shoulder in his direction. She watched as Kade continued to talk to his companions. Or would ‘warriors’ be the correct term? Amber’s lips smiled slightly. Maira and Brann looked as far from warriors as it was possible to be.
Brann had draped his arm around Maira’s shoulders and his fingers lightly brushed back and forth. They wore black clothes and Maira had her usual jewellery, glinting and gleaming as her bare arms moved when she spoke. Her dress was long, the only concession she’d made to the cooler night and Amber believed it was made of the same leather as Brann and Kade’s pants. The dress was probably warmer than needed with the press of bodies that kept the chill at bay.
“Hey.”
Amber glanced at the boy who stood beside her. He was tall, blond and athletic looking. She made sure her expression showed how uninterested
she was, mentally cursing Kade for deserting her within minutes of arriving. What was so important he’d had to take Maira and Brann aside? “Not interested.”
“You don’t know what I’m offering.”
“Still not interested.”
“I noticed you came with Kade. You’re wasting your time there.”
“My time to waste.”
“And making friends with Maira won’t help. Enough have tried that trick.”
“Mind your own business.”
He held out his hand. “Justin Chambers.”
Amber ignored his hand. “You’re related to Jessica?”
“Our parents tell me we’re siblings, but I swear one of us was adopted.” He grinned and lowered his hand.
“Why are you hassling me?”
“Because I’m not blind.”
“How much?”
“What?”
“The bet. How much?”
“What bet?”
Amber let her gaze fall on the two boys who had watched Justin’s progress, or lack of, talking and elbowing each other the entire time. “And what were the terms? Dance? Flirt back? Kiss? Go with you to your bedroom?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
Amber smiled, her eyes cold. “You wouldn’t be the first, and you won’t be the last. Your mistake was thinking you could goad me into spending time with you. I’m a master at that technique. Run back to your friends and pay up. I have better things to do with my time.”
“Like what?”
Amber’s smile became warm and she handed him her drink. Without answering, she turned and wove her way through the scattering of people between her and Kade. He looked up before she reached him, his eyes meeting hers.
“What are you planning?”
“I thought we weren’t to use this method of talking?” She came to a stop in front of him, her smile still in place. Maira and Brann nodded towards her and, with a grin and wave from Maira, departed.
“We’re shielded. I’m close enough to you it isn’t difficult. Now, what are you up to?”
“I hope I didn’t scare them away.”
“Amber.”
She grinned, placing her hands high on his chest. “Dance with me?” She took another step closer. There was only centimetres separating them.
