by John W Fort
CHAPTER 10
The next sunrise Rocecé did not take Raef to the smithery with him. Rocecé said the shop was small and hot. Raef still wanted to go. He spent the sunrise trying to find younglings with his seasons to play with in the streets. All the Labor younglings were out in the fields working, but a few Merchant younglings remained home. He was a little taken back by their crude language and how they relieved themselves in plain sight in the ditches by the road.
Rocecé’s family returned for mid sun meal, and Rocecé took Raef out to see Rail again for a bit before returning to work. He never brought up sitting in Rail’s mouth, much to Raef’s relief. Raef did dare to ask Rail to spin him on its tail a little faster, however. Not as fast as Rocecé, though.
On the third sun, it was Raef who asked if they could go see the dragon after mid sun meal. Rocecé seemed happy to take him. They didn’t stay very long. That night Raef’s stomach began to feel tight, as it often did after seeing the dragon. He pretended to laugh at Rocecé’s jokes and stories that night, but he didn’t really want to listen.
He was glad when on the fourth sunrise Rocecé’s mother told him that his mother had likely returned and he could go home. It was late sun when he returned to the east side of the village where he lived. He was happy to be back in the Intercessors sector, where it was cleaner, more polite, and people had the decency to relieve themselves in closed privies. When he approached his home, his mother came out to greet him.
“Raef, you’re home!” Malta said.
“Yes, mother!” Raef said, running to hug her.
“I’d better get ready for lessons,” he said, stepping back.
“Oh, sorry Raef, but the men are still not back from Pine Creek. Lessons will not begin until sunrise next.”
Raef was a bit disappointed.
“Don’t be sad,” said his mother, “go out and play. You do not get this many suns free from lessons in a row very often.”
Raef left his bedroll with his mother and ran back down the street. His little neighbor, Nilo, ran up out of nowhere calling after him, but Raef dodged him and continued on to Domik’s home. As he ran down the road he came across Chaz, Keever and Liet. They saw him and ran toward him. They had no shirts on but wore leather straps diagonally across their chests with arrows behind in a quiver. Their faces were painted with colored stripes.
“Ho, Raef,” said Chaz, “you want to come hunting with us?”
Raef stopped and pondered this a moment. He was quite surprised by the invitation.
“Hunting what?” asked Raef.
“Rabbits!” said Liet, “Keever’s father is meeting us with the bows down by the creek.”
It kind of sounded exciting, especially if he could have paint on his face. Then he tried to imagine himself spearing and gutting furry little rabbits and he felt a bit sick. What if he couldn’t do it?
“Naw,” said Raef.
“Don’t tell me you are afraid of a rabbit,” said Liet.
“No, it’s not that.”
“Oh,” said Liet, nudging Chaz and Keever, “is hunting a little too manly for you?”
Chaz and Liet laughed.
“What? No, I…I’m an Intercessor, not a Warrior.”
“Then go play with ceremonial candles or something!” said Liet as he ran toward the forest.
Chaz and Keever followed Liet, laughing as they went. Raef hung his head and continued walking towards Domik’s home. He spent the afternoon with his friend, forgetting to watch the sun and almost returning home late for last meal.
Folor was home when Raef arrived, so Raef went immediately to wash his hands and arms for last meal. Raef sat mostly silent at last meal, listening to the stories his father told of negotiations at Pine Creek, which apparently went well. Raef did not care to listen closely enough to understand the complicated details.
After the meal Raef began collecting the used trenchers to take them to the poor. He remembered how at Rocecé’s home they ate them as part of the meal. His mother and sister were cleaning the cooking pot, and Folor had pulled a bench up against the front wall to sit and rest. Raef noticed his hands were greasy from the meat. Adults did not eat with their hands, but he still sometimes did rather than use the knife to hold meat to his mouth. Raef left the stack of trenchers on the corner of the table and walked to the washbasin. As he passed his mother and sister, he heard his mother gasp.
“Raef, what is that?” his mother asked.
Before he could turn around, Raef felt his mother pull something off the back of his shirt. He turned to see his mother holding up a thick, long strand. It was a dragon hair. Raef turned cold.
“What is it?” he heard his father ask, as he stood from the bench.
“Where did this come from?” his mother asked.
Raef looked up at his father as he approached and watched his face turn dark and stern. Raef’s mind raced to come up with and excuse. He blurted out the best he could come up.
“It was DeAlsím! He showed me!”
Folor took the hair from Malta, and Raef ran to his bed and hid under his blanket. He felt the whole Province crashing in on him. He heard his father’s heavy steps toward his bed, then he felt his bed sag as Folor sat on it.
“Raef,” Folor said calmly, “it’s okay, you don’t have to be afraid.”
Raef was too ashamed to uncover his head.
“Raef, I understand. You were just curious, that’s all. What did you do, find an old dragon nest? Did DeAlsím show you one, seasons ago perhaps, and you went back to look again?”
Raef hadn’t expected his father to be calm.
“Raef, don’t worry, younglings get curious about the dragon. Curiosity is understandable. Sometimes younglings go looking for signs of a dragon, hoping to spot one in the distance, or find where it has been lying. It’s just normal curiosity.”
Raef couldn’t understand why his father was making up excuses for him. None of this made any sense, but he began to relax, even though he was still quite confused. Raef felt Folor’s weight lift off the bed. He uncovered his head, and looked sheepishly up at his father.
“You’re older now, Raef,” Folor said, “so you should probably stop going back where ever you found that dragon hair. Okay? That’s for little younglings, not older ones like yourself. Older younglings know better.”
Raef nodded his head.
“Good,” Folor said, “now, you can come out and finish your chores whenever you’re ready. You don’t have to stay in your bed unless you want to.”
Folor walked back to the bench and sat down. The suspicious looks on his mother’s and sister’s faces faded, and they turned back to their work. Raef lay on his back and looked at the ceiling. He was greatly relieved, but he realized that his father did not understand at all. Raef was not curious about dragons; he already knew all about the dragon. Raef had not looked for dragon signs; he had talked to the dragon. He even crawled on top of it! No, his father did not know what kind of youngling Raef really was. But Zul knew. The Great Spirit knew everything.
