“Oh, poor Lali,” I said, wishing I hadn’t put such a strain on her. “It never occurred to me that it would have been so hard to follow my orders.”
“I opened it,” Ansel continued, his voice thick with emotion. “I must have read it and reread it a hundred times. I would have gone mad if Lali hadn’t been there.”
My heart sank, “Ansel, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought this up. I should have left it alone. I know now that leaving you that letter was a heartless thing to do. I wish I hadn’t.” I wanted to change the conversation. It seemed, though, that he needed to get it out, so I let him talk.
“It wasn’t heartless,” he said. “But, you were right. I would have tried to stop you after reading it. It was too late to catch you on the communication device. I tried, but Gallen said you’d already left. Lali urged me to leave immediately for Dorsal. She must have sensed that being with my aunt and at your home was the only thing that would have kept me sound during your ordeal.”
His brows furrowed and he bit his lower lip.
I stopped and turned to face him. I wanted only to smooth his creased brow and ease his memories of what I had been through at the castle. I put my hand to his cheek. “It’s over. Look at me. I’m here with you now. Besides a few new scars, I’m fine.”
I smiled up at him as a thought came to mind. “Ansel, I concede. You’ve won the final round.”
“The final round of what?”
“You’ve won. You’ve captured my heart. I surrender. My little white flag is waving.” I stood on my toes and pulled his lips close. I kissed him to seal this truth.
He put one hand on my waist, and the other held my face. He drew me closer. I melted into his lips. Heat radiated up my body. I left him no doubt that at last I’ve listened to my heart. This time I didn’t need any help from my dragon’s thoughts.
We parted and gazed into each other’s eyes, then joined lips once more.
“Hmm,” he breathed. You’ve surrendered.”
I nodded.
“I have a captive.” His eyebrows raised. His smile lit up his face. With a mischievous look, he said, “Maybe we really don’t need to go to the marketplace. We can just stay here, and I can enjoy my spoils.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled him back on our way, shaking my head.
“Your spoils are going to the marketplace.” I laughed.
But truthfully, my heart beat out of control. My knees nearly gave in. I put my arm in his. Not only to stay close, but to make sure I stayed on my feet.
We enjoyed ourselves as we wandered up and down the aisles between the colorful stalls. Just the two of us. Thankful we didn’t run into any of my acquaintances, we still drew a lot of attention from the townspeople. They’d all known me my entire life. I’m sure they wanted to know who Ansel was and why he would be in the company of a commoner like me.
The attention didn’t affect Ansel. He acted like I was the only person in town. I, on the other hand, became very self conscious, especially after the whispered snide remarks. With his newly enhanced hearing, Ansel caught the same rude comments I did — a repeat of the ones I’d heard at the Life Celebration Gathering.
“What does she have to offer for him to accompany her.”
“He is obviously of a much higher class than she. How embarrassing for him.”
He squeezed my hand and helped me to ignore them. I made up my mind to tune them out and just relish my time with Ansel.
The afternoon went quickly. Too soon it was time to head back to the Healer’s. We walked slowly arm in arm.
Back at home, the anticipation of Ansel and Sovann’s first flight together made waiting for dark very difficult. We sat at the kitchen table with the Healer and Gallen. Taking our time with our evening meal, I glanced outside often at the slowly waning light — willing it to hurry and leave us.
Gallen broke the silence. “So, Amáne, I heard you found out Eshshah has an attraction to Sovann.” He and Ansel exchanged glances.
I inhaled sharply and jerked my head toward Ansel, who sat on the bench to my right. He deliberately didn’t look at me, but suddenly found something of interest on his plate.
“Is there nothing private around here?” I asked.
“Come on, Amáne,” Gallen said. “Feeling our dragons’ emotions and having the urge to act on them is as old as the stars.” He glanced sideways at the Healer.
This time I really did turn on Ansel, “You ... you told him what I did?” Livid, the heat rose in my face — a combination of anger and embarrassment. “Ansel, how could you?” My eyes welled up.
Ansel concentrated on his plate and shrugged his shoulders, not daring to meet my eyes.
The Healer spoke up, “Gallen, when are you going to learn to think before you blurt things out like that?”
“Why does everyone feel a need to share everything I do?” My voice broke.
Ansel turned to face me. When he saw my eyes spilling over, his remorse was immediate. He put his arm around my shoulders. I pushed him away.
“Amáne,” he pleaded, reaching for me again. This time I let him pull me to him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He stroked my hair back from my face and kissed my forehead.
“I’ll know next time not to share anything with Gallen.” Ansel looked accusingly at him across the table.
I almost felt sorry for Gallen — the repentant look on his face was pitiful. But I wasn’t going to let him off that easily. I glared daggers at him. He shifted uncomfortably.
“Okay,” the Healer interjected “— we are a family. Amáne, you don’t ever have to be self-conscious about anything around us. Gallen and I understand everything you’re going through. We’ve been through the same thing. A family shares with each other.” She looked pointedly at Gallen .
He nodded almost imperceptibly. “Speaking of sharing, we have an announcement we’d like to share.”
I picked my head up from Ansel’s shoulder and raised my eyebrows looking first at Gallen and then the Healer.
“We decided,” the Healer said, “that after a hundred years of being each other’s friend and companion ... and more,” she looked at Gallen almost shyly, but with a hint of pain that she couldn’t hide, “we’ve denied ourselves for duty long enough. We want to finally make it official and to pledge our troth in a gathering of friends.”
Forgetting my anger, I screamed with joy. Jumping up from the bench, nearly toppling Ansel over, I ran to the other side of the table and threw my arms around the Healer. I laughed and cried at the same time. I felt guilty over my little temper tantrum — how trivial my concern became when they shared their exciting news.
Once I released the Healer, I moved to Gallen, instantly forgiving him as I gave him a formidable hug. Rising from the bench with me still clinging to him, he swung me around in a circle. Ansel had stood up and embraced his aunt, then gave Gallen a hardy shake, as they pounded each other on the back.
Caught up in the moment, Ansel wrapped me up in his strong arms and lifted me off of my feet. Our eyes met. Behind the happiness for his aunt and Gallen, was a shadow of envy. Did he wish it was us making this announcement?
Darkness fell heavily — no moon in the sky — perfect conditions. I stepped into the courtyard and watched Ansel saddle Sovann. Gallen oversaw the procedure. Ansel looked magnificent, his face glowed with excitement.
Dorjan joined us. He brought Ansel a gift from himself and Sovann — a riding helmet similar to mine, but made out of Sovann’s scales. The scales were attached to a leather cap-like piece. Another layer of leather was stitched over the scales. It buckled under the chin. Like my riding helmet, there was a lever on the side, near the temple. When flipped down, a pair of transparent highly-polished scales emerged from the top of the helmet — eye shields to protect from wind, dust and glare.
“Whatever you do, Lord Ansel,” Dorjan joked, “do not whisper Sovann’s name to turn these scales into gold. You’ll end up on your face, pinned to the ground by you
r helmet.” We all laughed.
Watching Ansel prepare for his first flight brought to mind Eshshah’s and my painful first try. I broke my nose the moment Eshshah left the ground. I was hopeful that Ansel and Sovann were trained enough to avoid that injury. Eshshah gave Sovann pointers for a smooth take off.
Ansel mounted and strapped himself in. He used the larger, basic saddle with the thigh straps that buckled at the hips. He lowered his eye shields and then looked at us with an unbridled joy. We all saluted him. He gave Sovann the go-ahead. Ansel had an advantage over most newly-trained riders in the fact that he’d already taken several flights with Eshshah and me, and was accustomed to the powerful thrust when a dragon launches into the air. Sovann, under Eshshah’s direction executed a perfect take-off and they were airborne without even a jolt — of course. I was a little envious, but Eshshah had to remind me that we were on our own when we took our first flight. Besides the lack of proper equipment, we had no way of anticipating the problems we faced. We did, however, remember the feeling we had once we were airborne — just Eshshah and me. There was nothing in this world more thrilling.
The Healer wanted Ansel and Sovann to share this moment alone for a while. She told Ansel that after they had flown for a bit — and if Sovann wasn’t too tired when they returned — then Eshshah and I could fly with them. We were beside ourselves, hoping that we would be able to join them.
Heading back inside, we expected them to be gone for quite a while, enjoying the thrill on their own. Before I reached the kitchen door, Eshshah told me they were on their way back. At first I thought something was wrong, but I didn’t get that feeling from Eshshah. She told me Sovann and Ansel wanted to share their flight with us without delay.
Sovann’s powerful wings backstroked, whipping up the wind around the courtyard as he and Ansel came down in a perfect landing — of course.
“Healer, we’re ready for Eshshah and Amáne to join us.” Ansel called out.
The Healer raised her eyebrows and tilted her head, looking a bit surprised. She already knew how her nephew felt about me. Smiling, she nodded her assent. Without delay, I ran to my chambers to change out of my gown. I pulled my boots over my tights and raced back out to the courtyard, helmet in hand. Gallen had saddled Eshshah for me and gave me a leg up. I put on my helmet and strapped myself in the saddle. In my eagerness, I wanted to give Eshshah the go-ahead before I finished buckling in, as was my habit. But this was Ansel’s night, so I forced myself to wait for his signal. Being a gentleman and always so calm, he waited before he gave Sovann the okay.
“Don’t be gone too long or go too far, you two.” The Healer got in while we could still hear her.
Eshshah launched and with a powerful downstroke we were airborne and following closely behind Sovann. Tears of joy streamed from my eyes, I could barely keep the shout in my throat. I hoped they headed toward the water and far from land so I could scream out my elation.
Eshshah soared up abreast of Sovann. Ansel and I turned toward each other. Our eyes locked, his face reflected my joy. We saluted simultaneously, and then laughed that we both had the same impulse at the same time. My heart swelled to the point of bursting. Our bond, that had already been strong, was now profound.
Amazement washed over me. How is it that I, a common girl from Dorsal — whose dreams and aspirations had been exceeded by far — be so fortunate as to have the love and attention of this dragon rider who flew by my side? The heir to the throne of Teravinea, no less.
I made a mental correction. I used to think there was nothing in this world more thrilling than Eshshah and me airborne. I was wrong. We had found a new thrill — Eshshah and me airborne with Ansel and Sovann. I sang a silent song of thanksgiving and reveled at the thought that I was in love with my best friend.
Three weeks passed since Ansel and Sovann linked. Their training progressed quickly. Like Eshshah and me, they were fast learners.
I took time out of my practice to watch. They worked on their tail mount and wing mount. Both were escape mounts. If a rider was being chased and needed to get into the saddle quickly, both methods would get us in the air faster than the standard of climbing up the dragon’s foreleg.
For their tail mount, Sovann held his tail straight behind him. On his first try, Ansel ran up his dragon’s tail and in three bounds he traveled over Sovann’s back toward the saddle. Before he got past his wings, he slipped and slid down behind Sovann. I cringed as I heard him hit the ground with a thud. On only his second try, he reached the saddle and leaped into it. He buckled in as Sovann brought his wings in a downward stroke to take-off.
The thought of my first try that ended in a crotch-drop on Eshshah’s tail still made me wince. I’m sure Ansel was very thankful that he avoided my unfortunate mishap.
I lingered a bit longer as Gallen instructed Ansel on the wing mount. I used this method when I escaped the castle with Sovann’s egg. Ansel started at a distance from Sovann, who held his wing at the height where Ansel could just reach it. Ansel ran toward Sovann’s wing and grabbed the bony “finger” that protrudes from the bend in his wing. Sovann lifted his wing too quickly and Ansel swung too forcefully. Instead of landing in the saddle, he catapulted over it, landing in a heap on the far side of his dragon. Executing a wing mount correctly was not an easy maneuver.
I only had the heart to watch a few more unsuccessful attempts. I left their practice to take up my own on the other side of the barn.
That evening, Ansel trudged into the kitchen late, disheartened. He hadn’t mastered the wing mount by the end of his first day — and I had. I gave him a smug look. It was unkind. My competitive edge got the best of me. When I saw how disappointed he truly looked, I regretted my taunt. I put my hand on his arm as he started to walk past me.
“I’m sorry, Ansel. That was rude. But you always made everything else look so easy. Finally, there’s one thing that I could do better than you.”
He still didn’t look at me. I tilted my face under his so he had no choice but to meet my eyes. “Ansel?” He focused on my face and I smiled, trying to cheer him.
“Here’s what I think: You two are trying too hard. You’re using too much muscle trying to swing into the saddle, and Sovann is using too much power to catapult you to it. If you would swing with less force and Sovann slow his uplift — relax and just let your natural momentum get you there, you’ll hit your mark.”
“We’re trying too hard?”
“Yes, you two powerful males think it’s all about muscle and strength.” I said in a gruff male voice, “But it’s timing and grace.” This time, in a soft voice.
I could see his eyes light up as my advice sunk in.
“I’m surprised Gallen didn’t give you that pointer. Eshshah and I did the same thing. Gallen had to keep telling us that it shouldn’t take that much effort. Once we finally listened to him, we got it.”
He kissed my forehead and turned abruptly to head back to the courtyard. “Sovann,” he said out loud, “I’m sorry my friend, but can we just try it one more time?”
“Aren’t you tired?” I couldn’t believe he wanted to go back out.
“Truthfully, I’m exhausted, but I won’t sleep tonight unless I try it once more with your suggestion.”
I walked outside and watched as Ansel ran toward Sovann, who was in the ready position, his wing at the right height for his rider. Ansel reached up for the wing “finger” and with just his forward momentum, he swung upwards as Sovann raised his wing. Just like that, first try, he landed in the saddle. They took flight, Ansel whooping at his success.
Watching from the courtyard, I jumped up and down and clapped. I shook my head as I thought about the fact that he succeeded on his first try after my tip.
“I’m going to strangle Gallen,” he said laughing as they landed.
“I’m sure he was just as tired of your constant successes as I was. He probably planned to make you work for this one. You’d better not tell him that I was the one that let you i
n on the secret.”
He slid off his dragon and gathered me up in his arms, swinging me around as he buried his face in my hair. He stopped and put me down. His eyes turned serious, his brows furrowed.
“What?” I stiffened at his sudden change in attitude.
He sighed, “Like you said at the Dorsal Outpost so long ago, how quickly time goes by, but all things must come to an end.”
My throat tightened.
“ I’ve been here for too long,” Ansel continued. “I can’t deny that it has been, so far, the best part of my life. Linking with Sovann. Seeing you every day.” His eyes softened as he pushed a strand of hair out of my face.
I fought the panic that rose in my chest.
“My life keeps getting better, but I have a manor that I need to run, a silk business to oversee, an army to raise. Too many responsibilities, and it’s time I take them up again. Sovann and I must leave at dark tomorrow.”
The wind sucked out of my sails, my spirit sank. I didn’t want him to see how disappointed I truly was, because I knew he felt badly, too. So, I forced a smile, “You mean we can’t just continue to live here in bliss for the rest of our lives? Close our eyes to everything out there?”
His mouth curved up in a half smile. “In our dreams, yes. I know that’s how you prefer to go through life — with your eyes closed. But I’m afraid I’m not capable of thinking that way.”
I abandoned my effort to hide my distress. My eyes welled up. He pulled me closer and whispered. “Soon, Amáne. Soon all of our efforts will come to fruition. Because of you — my girl of the prophecy — and Eshshah, we’re closer to our goal. But ... we’re not there yet. We have no choice but to continue the fight.”
He gazed into my eyes and said, “When it’s all over, we can look into the living-in-bliss part, and you can teach me how to close my eyes to everything else.”
Amáne of Teravinea - The Prophecy (The Teravinea Series Book 2) Page 23
