Underwear?
Yeah, smallclothes. That which you wear under your—never mind. Just . . . for future reference, don’t mention things like that about people. And let the other dragons know not to, as well.
I see. I will. Calm contemplation came through the link from Coatl. What is embarrassing to humans and what is not can be quite complicated.
It can. Fillion personally couldn’t care less if someone saw his smallclothes. Then again, he didn’t often wear skirts, so unless they came into his and Gregor’s rooms at night, or were in the bathing rooms as he changed, the odds of someone catching a glimpse of his underwear was practically zero. Be that as it may, different people were flustered by different things. Even he was occasionally caught off-guard by what embarrassed some, so it wasn’t surprising that dragons didn’t know the subtleties of what could be less than proper to speak of.
The way I think about it is, if it could embarrass someone, assume it embarrasses everyone unless you learn otherwise.
Coatl rumbled. That is good advice.
A few minutes later, Coatl lifted his head and turned to the trees. She comes.
Master Gella stepped out of the wooded area and said, “Alright. If you could drop me back at Stronghold, I can see how the security inspection of the inn she will stay at is progressing. I want it completed before she arrives there next week.”
Fillion nodded and Coatl stood.
As they mounted up, Master Gella said, “As much as I agree that she needs to go, I have this nagging at the back of my mind that she will be in danger there.”
Fillion glanced back at her. Had she told him everything? “You said no one knows she’s even going.”
“True, no one is supposed to know. But no one was supposed to know about the Korovite shipments either.”
Fillion blinked. Damn. Now he was worried, too.
+ + + + +
“Can I be a dragonlinked?”
Polandra raised her brows and looked down at Benji.
He stood by her side, staring, large eyes fixed on Ikan.
She shouldn’t have been surprised by his question. He was positively enamored of dragons and spent quite a lot of time in the square watching any that were here.
She reached down and tousled his hair. “How old are you?”
He didn’t take his eyes off Ikan. “Nine. My birthing day was last month.”
“So, you still have about four more years of school, right?”
He frowned. “Maybe. When I went into the Order, I had to stop going. I’m not sure what’s going to happen to us pesani when the Dragon Craft Guild opens here.”
“Well, anyone that wants to leave will certainly be welcome to, of course, no matter their former position. People could actually leave now, and in fact, some have. But everyone that is under fifteen will have to be let go.”
He turned to her. “Even if—”
“Well, the youngest allowed to join a craft guild are those who are at least thirteen.” She raised a finger. “If they have finished school and get permission from their parents or legal guardians.”
Benji nodded and turned back to Ikan.
“Still,” Polandra said, “we can only accommodate so many accepted at any particular time. There’s also the matter of how many members this Dragon Craft Hall will need. Guilds work a little differently than the Order did. There aren’t as many positions similar to what umeron did and only a few of those positions require assistants, so the number of former pesani we need is much smaller. Same with the crusani. While we will need more of them than former pesani, we still won’t need as many as the Order had.”
Benji glanced at her. “What will happen to all the extra?”
“The children will go back to their families. We’ll work to transition those of age into jobs in the villages or to different positions in the guild. But all of that is for us to worry about. For the time being, you just need to worry about finishing school.”
He stared at Ikan. “I’ll start again in the fall, learning what I missed before going on to the next lessons. At least if there’s room at one of the schools in my village.”
“If there’s room?” She drew her brows together.
He shrugged. “Well, you said that most of the pesani won’t be needed, so there will be a lot of us going back to school at once.”
Polandra grunted. That hadn’t occurred to her. “Maybe there’s something the guild can do about that. At any rate, once you’re done with school, you can apply to join the guild.”
“Will I be able to choose to be a dragonlinked? I don’t want to be just any old member.”
Polandra glanced at Ikan. Is he a candidate? I don’t want to get his hopes up if he won’t pass dragon review.
He is a candidate. You need not worry.
I wasn’t worried. She twisted her lips. Much.
Ikan’s rumbling chuckle drew the attention of some of a nearby enchanting team. They glanced at him, then turned bored eyes back to the work the team leader was doing.
Benji’s brows lifted. “Was he laughing?”
“He was laughing at me. And yes, you can choose. When you become a dragonlinked, Benji, you’ll understand that dragons can be annoying sometimes, laughing at you for no good—”
“When I become a dragonlinked?” He turned to Polandra, eyes wide. “So then I can?”
Polandra nodded. “Sure. Dragons can tell if a person is a candidate for bonding, you see, and Ikan says you are.”
“Yay!” His squeal of joy made her smile and again drew gazes from the enchanting team.
Her smile faded a bit. “There is something you should know, though, before you decide you really want to be bonded to a dragon.”
“But I do, I do!”
“Benji.”
Something in her tone must have gotten through to him, because he stopped hopping on his feet and looked at her.
“Paying attention, listening, and weighing all information before making a decision is an important part of being a dragonlinked, so you might want to start now.”
He looked properly chastised. “Yes, ma’am.”
She blinked. Ma’am? Hmm. At least he seemed to actually be listening, now.
“I won’t lie to you.” Polandra looked at Ikan. “Being bonded to a dragon is one of the most amazing things that’s ever happened to me. But.” She raised a finger to Benji. “We work hard learning and training almost every day. There are long, boring patrols that we have to do. We also risk our lives fighting nahual, and, well, sometimes people, too.”
“I was here that day.”
She stared at him. “So you know I’m not making this up.”
He nodded.
“Being a dragonlinked isn’t all flying through the clouds with your best friend. It’s a lot of work much of the time, a great deal of it unpleasant.”
“So was being a pesan.”
Despite herself, she laughed. “True enough, Benji, true enough. But one’s life wasn’t risked very often as a pesan, at least not that I can recall.”
Benji made a dismissive sound. “You didn’t know the pesani I did, then. They were mean and heartless. At least as a dragonlinked, you get to have the bestest friend ever.”
He makes a good argument.
Polandra glared at Ikan. “Hush, you. I just want him to fully understand what he’s getting into.”
Large eyes, gold in the sunlight, turned to Benji and slowly blinked. He does.
Polandra hoped so. The look in Benji’s eyes as he stared at Ikan . . . it was awe, wonder, and determination. That boy was going to chase after his dream no matter what.
She smiled.
After a quick glance at her wrist-watch, she looked at Benji and said, “The enchanting shift still has some time to go. Would you like a ride around Bataan-Mok on Ikan?”
She hadn’t thought his eyes could grow larger. She was so very wrong.
“Oh my gods, YES!”
Chapter 20
Sulday, Diamy 18,
1875.
Morning.
Quillan took a deep breath and let it out. One step at a time.
The three of them, well four, counting Nantli, were on Chanté’s balcony. Quillan stood beside Nantli, and Chanté sat astride her. Elizabeth, looking far too comfortable, sat on the bedroom side of the table, the leg in its cast jutting ahead of her from under the dress. Her crutch leaned against the chair she sat on.
How could she be smiling? It had only been four days since she broke it.
“That you can smile with your leg broken is astonishing to me,” he said before looking at the riding cap on her head. “You didn’t have to help with the testing.”
Elizabeth waved a hand. “Pssh. I’ve felt worse things. As long as I don’t move it too much, it’s mostly just a dull throbbing, now.” She tugged on the chin straps and used the snaps to secure the cap. “And I’m interested in this gadget you’re working on.”
Quillan turned to Chanté. Sitting up on Nantli in his riding gear, breeze blowing the longer bits of his white hair about, he looked . . . golden was the word they used. He was staring at Elizabeth with a strange look on his face. That in itself was amazing because his face was usually blank around others.
When Chanté looked down at him, his expression changed. Though he smiled, he also seemed a little sad. “Are you sure you want to practice flying and test the new design for the communication sets at the same time?”
Quillan straightened his shoulders. “No. But I’m going to.” He stepped closer to Nantli.
She lifted her foreleg and chirped at him.
Her leg was like a step! He smiled. “Thank you, Nantli.” He grabbed the climbing strap and, using her foreleg, pulled himself up and behind Chanté.
Elizabeth clapped. “Nicely done.”
Quillan chuckled. “I don’t think I deserve applause for that.” He snapped the riding mask closed.
Chanté twisted in the saddle and helped him with the safety straps.
Quillan had been issued riding gear—none knew of his fear save Elizabeth, and now, Chanté—and he’d been instructed in its use as dragonlinked were, but he’d not had much practice with it.
“There.” Chanté smiled. It was a happy smile, too.
Quillan nodded. “Thanks.”
After slipping on his riding cap, Chanté faced forward and grabbed the handholds of the saddle. Nantli turned away from the den and took a step toward the middle of the ledge.
Quillan’s arms were wrapped around Chanté before he knew it.
“Your arms are strong.”
The words were so quiet, Quillan wasn’t sure he’d heard them right. “S–Sorry. I’m a little nervous.”
Chanté twitched. “T–This is how people ride on horses, right? So, I don’t mind.”
Nantli made a stuttering, grunting sound.
It sounded remarkably like she was laughing. At him?
“She’s not laughing at you,” Chanté said, “if that’s what you’re wondering. She, ah, told me a joke. It wasn’t very funny.”
Quillan wasn’t sure what kind of jokes bond-mates told each other. “I see.”
It is true, I was not laughing at you.
He twitched and his eyes grew large. That had to be Nantli!
Chanté looked up over his right shoulder. “Shall we activate the devices?”
Quillan blinked. He knew that Chanté was not quite half a foot shorter than him, but for some reason he normally didn’t notice that. Another thing he hadn’t really noticed before was that Chanté’s large eyes were light brown with a darker ring around the iris. They were almost gold in the bright sunlight.
Quillan shook himself. “Um, yes. Yes.” He reached up to the small touch-plates and activated the devices, as did Chanté.
“Getting ready to take off.” Chanté’s voice came through very clearly.
Quillan raised his brows. The modification to the encoding enchantment made a big difference. “Acknowledged.” He held on tighter.
Chanté looked over his shoulder. “Acknowledged?”
Quillan nodded. “So you know I heard you.”
“Oh. Hmm.”
“What?”
“It’s a bit cumbersome, that word.”
“Oh?”
“How about . . .” Chanté looked up to the sky “. . . heard?”
Quillan shook his head. “I don’t think it should be too short, or it may be difficult to hear or recognize if the environment is noisy.”
“I see.”
“Noted, maybe?”
“Ah, yes. Two syllables. Short, but not too short.”
Quillan smiled. “Noted!”
Chanté chuckled, eyes full of humor.
“Can you hear me? I think I activated it properly.”
Chanté’s smile faded and he turned to Elizabeth.
Quillan cleared his throat. “Yes. Yes, you’re coming through very clear.”
“Oh! So are you! These are amazing.”
“Lifting off.” Chanté’s tone was neutral.
Nantli leapt up and began beating her wings.
With a gasp, Quillan shut his eyes and held tight, pressing his left cheek to the back of Chanté’s head. “N–Noted.”
Sorry. I should have warned you.
T–That’s okay.
All he could hear was the whisper of wind and the rhythmic beating of Nantli’s wings. It felt as if he, the three of them, bobbed with each thrust of her mighty limbs.
“Hey.”
How high were they flying? Fifty feet? A hundred? A thousand? During meals, dragonlinked often boasted about the altitudes they’d flown at. Heart beating very fast, he clung even more tightly to Chanté.
“Quillan.” A hand gripped and gently shook his arm.
“Y–Yes?”
A quiet laugh. “Open your eyes.”
“I–I’m scared to.”
Chanté was moving, doing something. Was that the sound of strap clips? “Loosen your arms a little.”
Quillan’s heart gave a strong pulse, then raced even faster. “I’m not sure—”
“You don’t have to let completely go, just . . . I need a little leeway.”
Swallowing, Quillan loosened his clutching arms.
“Thanks.”
What was Chanté doing? It felt like he was . . . squirming?
Quillan felt something momentarily press or rub against his chest. Then something lay atop both his arms and atop both his thighs. Whatever was on his arms went away, and he felt Chanté moving again accompanied by the sounds of strap clips. Something rested on his shoulders and pressed against the back of his neck.
“Now, Quillan, take a deep breath and hold it.”
“W–What?”
A quiet chuckle. “Someone gave me that advice, once, to help calm me down.”
The memory of their talk came back to him and a short bark of a laugh escaped his lips. “Okay.”
Quillan breathed deep. After a few seconds, he released it.
“Again.”
Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out.
“Do you trust me?”
Nodding, he said, “I do.”
“Open your eyes.”
He took a breath and did so.
Chanté was looking up at him, only inches away.
Quillan’s world was wrapped up in those two eyes, gold in the sunlight, and the loud pounding of Nantli’s wings.
The arms over his shoulders briefly tightened. “I’ve got you, and Nantli won’t drop us.”
He took a gulping swallow. “P–Promise?”
Chanté’s gaze grew intense. “On my life.”
On both our lives.
Quillan nodded. “Okay.”
Gaze still on him, Chanté tilted his head and murmured, “They’re actually more green than blue.”
“So, were we going to test these gadgets?”
Quillan’s eyes grew large. He’d completely forgotten about Elizabeth.
A blush rising above the riding mask, Chant�
� cleared his throat and looked downward. “O–Of course. I just want to make sure Quillan feels safe.”
“Hmm.”
The improvement of the encoding was working very well. The nuances in her voice came through quite clearly. Quillan didn’t look down at her, though. That wouldn’t be wise from however high they were. He kept his gaze on Chanté and tried to ignore the blue vastness beyond.
“This is his first flight, after all.” Chanté looked back up, but at Quillan’s chest, not his face. “I want it to be as incredible as it should be.”
If he hadn’t improved the encoding enchantment, Quillan wasn’t sure he’d have heard that last part, so quiet had the mumble been. Heart beating faster from something that was most definitely not fear, he had to be very, very careful. He was fairly certain how he felt, especially right at this moment, but he needed to be absolutely sure about the rest first.
When Chanté looked up at him, though, the look in those golden eyes nearly undid Quillan’s plans. It took all his effort not to lean down and—
“As you say.” There was an odd tone to Elizabeth’s voice.
The brief flicker of annoyance in Chanté’s eyes almost made Quillan chuckle.
“Now,” Chanté said, “look over there.” He jerked his head to the left.
Quillan’s eyes widened. Look away? Look . . . out there?
“It’s alright. We’ve got you.” A brief tightening of arms was followed by a rumble from Nantli.
Staring into Chanté’s eyes—so gold!—he swallowed, and then he looked.
A green carpet of trees covered a line of hills that led off into the distance where they joined a purple-tinted range of mountains. Closer by, the hills gradually grew smaller and faded into a vast amber plain extending to the right as far as he could see that direction. Some ways off, a big brown smudge moved ever so slowly across that plain. And above it all was the giant sky, like an enormous azure dome of clearest crystal that covered everything from horizon to horizon.
He gasped. “Chanté! I can see the curve of the planet!”
Chanté’s quiet laugh was that of shared wonder. “Isn’t it amazing?”
“Gods, I had no idea.”
“Mayhap you can take me up, too, after the test.”
Not thinking, he looked down at Elizabeth. So far to the ground! He started panting and his vision kept going in and out of focus.
Of Gods, Trees, and a Sapling: Dragonlinked Chronicles Volume 4 Page 62
