Fledgling

by Tabatha Palomo

Chapter Eight

  “So?” she asked. She ran her hand against brick wall as they walked, feeling the gritty texture press into her soft skin.

  Aiden blinked, “Austin, you hate it when people think you’re a guy.”

  “It’s more of a strong dislike,” she informed him. What she didn’t say was that she couldn’t bring herself to care about that after all that had happened.

  “Hm,” he said and they came to the end of the alley, where trails of light and laughter reached them, “Well, here it is. Water dragons know how to party.”

  “Oh, oh wow.”

  Lanterns lined the outer rim of the giant square and gave it and the people it held a yellowish glow. Blue streamers hung from everywhere it was possible to hang something on, and chalk murals were drawn on the brick ground. Everywhere she looked, there were people.

  Young and old people of all shapes, shades, and genders danced before her or gathered in small groups on the fringes. Some waited in short lines at one of the many stores or vendors. The only thing that they all had in common were the smiles on each of their faces.

  “It’s amazing,” Aiden agreed, but didn’t stop to marvel at the sight. He pressed on through the crowd and, with Austin following him closely, they made their way through to the other side, “Come on now, Austin. You need to meet your superiors.”

  “I thought everyone was my superior,” she said. She had been under the impression that Fledglings (not to mention Halflings) were at the very bottom of the food chain.

  “You thought wrong,” he informed her, squeezing through a group of teenagers, “You are my charge, and I have an important role. There are few others that you will answer to, besides me.”

  “How important are you?” Austin asked. Ever since they had actually entered the crowd, she had noticed the stares that they were receiving. They all seemed to be focusing on Aiden, especially the adolescent girls. A few guys were staring at him, too, in a very friendly way. The children and adults merely regarded him with respect. Naturally, their eyes would glide over to his companion –which happened to be her, in this case- but she didn’t hold their attention for more than a moment.

  “Very,” Aiden answered her, “Try not to say much. I forgot to give you instructions on what to and what not to say.”

  “I think I’ve got it,” she rolled her eyes, “As long as I don’t get anyone killed, I’m good. Right?”

  “Basically,” he allowed and they stopped behind a thickly built man with cropped, fiery hair. Aiden tapped the man’s shoulder, “Brandon.”

  The man turned around, his cheeks ruddy and his smile wide, “Aiden, I didn’t know that you were coming to Affelil today!”

  “Yes, you did,” Aiden said. He was obviously irritated at something that Brandon had done, or maybe at Brandon himself, “Kai would have told you.”

  “Ah, right. Kai,” Brandon nodded and Austin noticed the charm that hung from a heavy chain around his neck. She used to have one like that, she recalled. They weren’t exactly the same, but they were close, “The storyteller’s son. I thought he was just telling a story.”

  “You’re not nearly as funny as you think,” Aiden informed him, even though a smile had slipped onto his face, “It’s nice to see you again, brother.”

  Brother? Austin shot him an inquisitive look, but didn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say, other than that his ‘brother’ looked old enough to be his uncle, or at least his cousin. And he’d never even mentioned having a brother.

  “Well, where’s this Fledgling that we’ve all been hearing so much about?” Brandon asked, looking around. His eyes skimmed right over Austin.

  “She’s right here,” Aiden said, gesturing to her. She bristled as Brandon’s eyes raked over her, “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t look at her like that.”

  It hadn’t escaped her notice that, when his brother looked at her, his gaze had stopped at her chest.

  “She’s yours, then?” Brandon’s eyebrows raised, “My little brother’s gotten himself a girlfriend at last.”

  Austin couldn’t stand staying silent anymore. She crossed her arms, “I am not Aiden’s property or his girlfriend, thank you.”

  “Feisty,” Brandon held out a hand. She shook it, since that gesture seemed to be something that everyone in this world did, “Aiden’s going to have fun breaking you in. Oh, and that storyteller’s been looking for you. Kai, I think. I’ll have someone tell him that you’re here.

  “You do that,” she said. She kept her eyes on Brandon until he had disappeared into the crowd, dancing on his way. She doubted that he would be looking for Kai any time soon.

  “Do you have to be so disrespectful? It’s going to get you killed,” Aiden grabbed her arm and drug her through the crowd. She winced as her shoulder jerked painfully, but he didn’t seem to notice. They walked until they reached a near deserted stretch of brick wall.

  Aiden pushed her up against the wall and placed a hand right beside her head.

  “You can’t stand out, Austin. If you stand out, people will start to wonder who and what you are. And they will find out. I will not choose you over Affelil. If you slip up, you will die,” he hissed in her ear, “It would be best if you didn’t verbally attack my brother, who just so happens to be the representative for all Fire Dragons in the city.”

  “You’ve never mentioned a brother,” she said lightly. He didn’t appreciate the change of subject.

  “That is not the point. I need you to understand that if anything happens –anything at all- I will have to kill you, and I will not hesitate,” he said. Aiden didn’t have an ounce of hesitation in anything he said, but Austin couldn’t bring herself to take him seriously.

  This was all bull. Aiden was her best friend. There was no way, no way at all, that he would be able to kill her. He might want to, sure, but he wouldn’t, “I’ll act as normal as anyone, but I’m not going to be polite to some pervy, narcissistic-“

  “Yes, I get it. My brother isn’t your favorite person, but what if you slip up? What if you tell someone that you’re human?” he exhaled heavily. Austin noticed that he had stopped dancing around that particular subject. He was accepting her as she was.

  Good.

  “I’m not human,” she said lightly, “As far as anyone’s concerned, I’m a pureblood fire dragon. Or maybe I’m half earth dragon. But it doesn’t really matter, does it? We all look human, anyway, so there’s no way for anyone to tell.”

  Aiden dropped his hand and looked at Austin, as if expecting her to move away. She didn’t, “You’re possibly the most troublesome Fledgling in Anathaem, Austin.”

  She smiled at the compliment, “Yeah? Ho?”

  That question brought the anger back into his eyes, but this time it seemed to be directed at himself. Aiden clenched his fists, “There are a few things that aren’t your fault, you know. If I had just found you sooner-“

  He cut himself off, and Austin’s heart did a backflip. She couldn’t imagine anything worse than being a Halfling, much less anything that Aiden could have prevented, “Aiden, what is it?”

  “Dustin kept you hidden from us for years,” his fists were still clenched. He was angry, angry enough to tell her things that she knew he hadn’t planned to tell her. Whatever it was that he was about to say, he hadn’t wanted her to know for awhile, “He could have turned you at any time. You could be worse than a halfling. You could be a Chaos.”

  “Oh, is that it?” she asked in spite of herself. Austin had thought that maybe she had cancer; did dragons even get cancer? It would be nice if they were immune.

  “You’re not getting it,” Aiden snapped, angry at her now. The laugh that he let out was hollow, “You could be one of them. A parasite.”

  “Oh no, I get what you’re saying. You’re just being ridiculous,” she assured him. Her heart was no longer pounding irregular beats in her chest. Aiden was wr
ong.

  It wasn’t that she thought Dustin was incapable of harming her. She had no doubt that, if given another chance, he would.

  What was strange was that he hadn’t, not in all the years that she had been his captive. Austin just knew that he hadn’t. She was unable to explain it, but her blood felt pure. She was uncontaminated by chaos or the darkness it created, “I’m not one of them.”

  “Fine,” Aiden gave up, his shoulders sinking. He wasn’t going to argue with her, in any case, “Fine. We’ll find out in half a year.”

  “What’s in half a year?” she relaxed, now that the conversation had started to move into a safer topic. She did the math. In half a year was April.

  “Your eighteenth birthday,” he calmed and adjusted his shirt, which had fallen into a state of mild disarray, “It’s going to be troublesome to figure out everything you already know about this world.”

  “I know the basics,” she said. He gave her an exasperated look.

  “Obviously you don’t,” he said condescendingly, patting her head like she was a dog or a child. That was a habit of his. Aiden’s hand froze mid-pat, and he quickly withdrew it.

  Austin guessed that he was worried about people seeing his domestic side. If only they knew him…well, she guessed that he wouldn’t be as respected as he was now. Maybe Aiden had a point with the whole ‘image’ thing of his, “Why don’t you just tell me everything, then?”

  “That would be dangerously close to storytelling,” he turned around and started to lead the way back to where they had been previously standing, “And storytelling is a role much below my own.”

  Austin opened her mouth to point out that he had a talent for telling stories, as had been proven by the Origin story, but realized that probably wouldn’t be a compliment to him. She shut her mouth.

  She liked stories, though. She thought that they were important.

  Aiden continued, oblivious to her internal monologue, “I’ll just have Kai do it.”

  “Kai’s a storyteller?” Austin asked. He seemed like such a cold person. She couldn’t imagine him sitting around and telling fictional stories, “Wow.”

  “It’s not impressive,” Aiden snorted.

  “Well why not?” she asked, irritated by his obvious prejudice. The Aiden she knew treated everyone as equals.

  “Books are for entertainment only,” Aiden shrugged. The crowd was parting for them, so it was easy to make their way back to the north end of the square, “Our military is second to only our government. Even so, some would say that-“

  “Affelil has a government?” she asked, interrupting him. She hadn’t thought about the mechanics of this world at all.

  “Yes,” he said, his voice clipped. His lack of details spoke volumes.

  “And?” she probed. Was there any role outside of the military that he didn’t disapprove of? Maybe she should rely on someone else for unbiased explanations.

  “We have a council,” he gestured upwards, where, past the nondescript buildings, they could barely see the top of a gray dome, “That’s where they meet to sort out issues. I only know what I need to to get them to work with me.”

  “So Brandon works there?” she checked, her eyebrows raised.

  “My family holds many high ranking roles in this city,” Aiden didn’t look for a reaction, which was good because she didn’t have one.

  “If you’re so important, how did you get stuck babysitting me?” she asked, tugging at her sleeves. It was starting to get cold.

  “If you weren’t so involved with the chaos issue, we would have never met,” he informed her matter-of-factly. Austin felt a pang in her stomach. Life would Aiden…what would that have been like?

  She took a deep breath, willing that sad feelings away. There was no reason to worry about what ifs, she reminded herself, “Then I’m glad that I’m in mortal danger.”

  “Is that supposed to be a compliment?” Aiden asked. Before Austin could worry that he was mad, he chuckled, “Idiot.”

  That strengthened her earlier beliefs despite all of his efforts to convince her otherwise, Aiden wasn’t going to kill her. Despite everything, he would keep her safe.

  She trusted him. Completely.