“Well,” Aeron said, “we’ve got you and Cheddar as candidates already, so, perhaps Millinith will approve four applicants?”
Sharrah twisted her lips. “I think there will be more than that.”
“Oh?” Aeron said. “Why?”
“They’re starting a new dragonlinked class, remember? Only having four students in it seems a waste of effort. There are eight in our class, now. And besides, only having six candidates seems a little unfair to the hatchlings. They should have more choice.”
“Those are good points,” Renata said.
More choice. For some reason those words made Aeron feel like he was forgetting something.
Sharrah glanced at Aeron. “I guess I now know how you felt when Willem was waiting.”
“Hmm?” Aeron glanced at her. “Oh. Yeah.” He’d been torn, too. Wanting Willem to be bonded, but also wanting his other friends to be as well. Those conflicting desires had not been easy to deal with.
“We should go.” Renata turned to Xochi. “Come on sweetheart, let’s get back. I need to give these to the Guildmaster.”
Xochi rumbled, touched her nose with Anaya’s and followed Renata toward the passage.
“Let me know as soon as she can sense anything about her eggs,” Sharrah said. She waved goodbye and followed as well.
“I will.” Aeron sympathized with her, but he had yet to meet a single person who wanted to be in the dragon guild for something other than bonding a dragon. And that was the whole reason they were taking these applications: to find candidates. Everyone in that line was there because they wanted a dragon.
He hoped the Guildmaster was making it clear that while bonding a dragon was amazing, that was not the be-all and end-all of the guild. It existed to protect people. That was why they needed more dragonlinked and dragons. And that was why he was so happy that they had four eggs waiting. He turned to the two sitting nearby and smiled.
Anaya was going to be a mother. He couldn’t believe it. That she’d finally laid eggs was amazing, incredible and . . .
He frowned. There it was again, something on the edge of his mind. After a fruitless minute or so chasing the elusive thought or memory, he sighed.
What was it he was forgetting?
+ + + + +
Jessip breathed out heavily and leaned back against the wall in Anaya and Balam’s den. This was fun for his bond-mate, but he was near to kicking something from boredom. If it weren’t that Zolin sometimes had questions for him about emotions or thoughts an applicant was feeling or thinking, Jessip could have been off doing something else. Instead, he was stuck here on this task, too.
The Guildmaster wanted Zolin’s help sifting through the applicants. The big dragon would sit here—well, lie here, the lazy bag of bones—and sense each applicant as Guildmaster Millinith interviewed them in the office next door. At the end of the day, he’d let her know which were the best suited candidates. All the other dragons were otherwise occupied this morning when the interviews started, so he and Zolin had been roped into this duty for now.
Jessip heard a dragon land. Is that Xochi and Renata?
It is.
He walked to the dragon door. There she was. He smiled, leaned on the door frame, and watched the three in the courtyard. Renata hopped off Xochi and dug through a saddle bag. Sharrah hopped off and, seeing Jessip, waved. He raised his hand in greeting and returned to watching Renata.
Every single time he looked at her, he smiled. It was the little things. Like how she occasionally nibbled on the tip of her tongue when she was thinking. She was actually doing that right now. Or, how she tucked her hair behind her ear, sometimes. And her passion for things. He would do anything to help her with whatever she was enthusiastic about. Whenever she smiled, excited about something, it was like she glowed. And gods be good but it made him happy to see her like that. There was how strong she was, too. If there was anything that could stop her, he didn’t know of it.
“Hey.”
Jessip’s entire body twitched and he slid, spun, and faced the speaker in a ready stance. It was just Renny. “Garathel’s great cock, man. Do not sneak up on a dragonlinked like that.”
The young man stepped back, eyes wide. “S–Sorry.”
Jessip sighed. “I’m not going to hurt you. You just took me by surprise, is all.” Renny looked scared, like he used to when Jessip got in a mood. “It’s been a while. What have you been up to?”
Renny cleared his throat. “Still in woodworking.”
Jessip nodded. “Ah, that’s right. Do you enjoy it?”
“I do, actually.” Looking a little more comfortable, he stepped closer and looked in at Zolin. “So. Dragonlinked.”
Jessip looked at Renata. “Yeah. Crazy, huh? Every now and then I wake up, terrified this has all been a dream.” He glanced at Zolin. “Then I feel the link, feel him through it, and my heart starts beating again.”
Renny stared at him.
“After who I used to be, all that I’ve done, I’m the last person in the world who deserved a dragon,” he thrust his head at Renata who was making her way to the investigation office, “who deserved her. Yet, here I am,” he turned to Renny, “dumbfounded, but very grateful.”
Renny glanced from one of his eyes to the other, expression unreadable. After a moment, he turned away from Jessip, looked inside the den, and said, “What’s his name?”
“Zolin. Want a closer look?”
With a short intake of breath, Renny whispered, “Hells yes.”
Jessip chuckled. “Come on.” He walked over to his bond-mate.
Renny stood a few feet back, leaning forward slightly, but with his hands behind his back, as if scared he might inadvertently reach out for a touch. “He is such a handsome dragon.”
Zolin’s happy rumble made Jessip smile. “Yes, he is. You applying for dragonlinked?”
Eyes still on Zolin, Renny nodded. “Yeah.” He chuckled. “Tales of fancy do not do them justice. Not one whit. I peeked in the doors the other day, saw a couple of the other dragons. But seeing one this close is incredible.”
You can tell him it is okay for him to touch me. Why is it that everyone always wants to do that?
Wanting to touch a thing of beauty is a natural reaction, I think. We almost don’t believe something so incredible can be real unless we touch it and feel that it exists.
I am a thing of beauty?
I think you are.
Zolin, chin resting on his forepaws, looked up at him. As are you.
Jessip raised his brows. After a moment, he turned to Renny. “He says you can touch him, if you want. Just . . . keep it within reason.”
Renny’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Jessip laughed. “Yeah. Go ahead.”
Zolin lifted his head from the ground and watched Renny take a step, hand outstretched.
“Hi, Zolin. I, uh, I’m going to touch your cheek, if that’s okay.”
Zolin chirped.
Renny let out a surprised giggle. “That was adorable!”
Jessip smiled. Dragons turned most people back into kids. Seeing Renny like this reminded Jessip of his little brother. It would have been great if he’d been here to see Zolin, to maybe get his own dragon. The sense of loss at his brother’s death had faded a little, but Jessip was certain it would always be with him.
Renny placed his palm on Zolin’s cheek. “Wow. He’s softer than I would have thought.” Running his hand down the neck to the large shoulder, he said, “And warm.” He stepped back and looked Zolin over. “Seeing something alive—someone alive—that is so big, so much larger than me . . .” He shook his head. “It makes me feel small.”
You are not small. People, regardless of their size, are not small.
Renny’s brows rose. “Was that you?” His mouth dropped open at Zolin’s rumbling laughter. “They laugh, too?”
He is a good candidate.
Jessip grunted. “Zolin says you’re candidate material.”
Renny turne
d to Jessip. “He did?” Turning back to Zolin, he said, “I am?”
Zolin let out a short bark.
“Golden,” Renny murmured. He did a quick bow of his head. “Thank you, Zolin, for letting me touch you. I know I’d feel a bit odd if people asked that of me all the time, so, thank you.” He turned to Jessip. “I best get in line if I’m going to have a chance at a bond-mate of my own. See you both around.”
Jessip waved as Renny left. “Good luck!”
It took two hours to get through all the applicants up to Renny. When he was done, Renny peeked in the dragon doors on his way to lunch for another look at Zolin. He chuckled, waved, and left.
This is the last applicant, I think. I do not sense any more people in line.
Jessip let out a breath. Thank the gods. I’m starving. Surprise came through the link and he turned to Zolin. What is it?
This girl. This applicant is Lord Baronel’s daughter. But she does not want to be? I do not understand.
What in Yrdra’s deepest hells? Jessip hadn’t really been paying attention to the quiet voices coming from the office. Now, he hurried to the doorway and carefully peeked in. The girl had her mother’s fair hair. If he recalled correctly, her name was something like Kora.
Korrie.
Ah, that was it.
Guildmaster Millinith seemed troubled. “I’m assuming you spoke to your parents about this? As their eldest child, you stand to inherit the Caer.”
“I turned fifteen last week. I can enter into binding contracts without them, now.”
“Even so, you are not, um, a normal person, Lady Korrie.”
“Gods!” Her hands, resting on the armrests of the chair, closed into fists. “Don’t call me that. Do you know how tired I am of having to act a Lady, of having to take lessons on the running of a Caer and a business, of having to learn all that garbage about Lords and Ladies?”
Jessip raised his brows.
Lady Korrie leaned forward. “Gareth can have the pissing Caer, or Terra. And my blessings with it.”
Jessip blinked. I think I like her.
Humor came through the link. I think I do, too.
A sudden thought made Jessip frown. We want serious applicants, though. I hope she’s not applying to be a dragonlinked just to spite her parents.
I do not think she is.
“Lady Korrie.” Guildmaster Millinith had a look of sympathy on her face. When the girl looked to interrupt, the Guildmaster raised her hand. “First off, let me ask: Why are you applying to be a dragonlinked?”
“Once I turned twelve, the high-born lessons started in earnest. At first, it was interesting, different, but after a while, it became tedious. Year after year it was just memorization with no purpose. ‘Act like this, talk like this, learn these things.’ At least that’s how it seemed to me. I wondered if the rest of my life would be like that. Then, I went to the question and answer and saw Anaya.”
Her voice changed, became softer and yet more forceful at the same time. “I couldn’t take my eyes from her. You don’t know how difficult it was to stay the little Lady. Anaya was such a precious thing, and all I could do was stand there while my brother and sister got to help with her. Since then, I gathered every scrap of news I could about her and Aeron. I cheered inside when the guild was approved. From what I learned, dragons and dragonlinked were doing something. They were helping people, saving lives.”
“Your father, Lord Baronel, helps people. Every Lord and Lady, every head of a Caer does so.”
Lady Korrie made an irritated sound. “If I were to become the head of a Caer, I honestly think I would go mad from boredom. That is not the life for me. I want to be a dragonlinked.”
Guildmaster Millinith nodded. “I understand wanting, no, needing to follow your own path, believe me. But as I said, you’re high-born. You have responsibilities.”
“My cousin is a dragonlinked—Gregor has Kisa. Why can’t I be a dragonlinked?”
Jessip’s heart went out to her. Everyone had their own dreams, it seemed, even high-born.
Guildmaster Millinith tilted her head. “I never said you couldn’t. Gregor worked out an arrangement, in a manner of speaking, with his parents.”
“Yeah, he ran away. Sort of.”
“From what I understand, he spoke with his father a number of times before it came to that.” Guildmaster Millinith leaned back in her chair. “That’s all I ask of you. Speak with your parents.”
Lady Korrie sighed.
“Besides,” Guildmaster Millinith said, “both your parents are good people. They deserve the courtesy, don’t you think?”
The girl’s face wasn’t visible from this angle, but her head and shoulders slumped. “Yeah.”
“If you still can’t work something out,” Guildmaster Millinith clasped her hands on the desk, “at least I will have done my duty to the guild’s Lord Sponsor, and, as you said, you are fifteen, so I will have no choice but to accept your completely valid application.”
Lady Korrie’s head snapped up. “Really?” There was a great deal of hope in that one word.
“Oh, you’ll still need to have an official interview and make it through the process the same as any other applicant, but, yes.”
The girl stood and did a quick bow of her head. “Thank you, Guildmaster. I will speak with my parents tonight!”
Jessip pulled back into the den and watched her leave. Her enormous, happy smile lit her up.
After the door closed, Guildmaster Millinith’s voice came from the office. “Well? Your face gave away your like of her, but what does Zolin think?”
Jessip chuckled and walked in. “You never miss anything, do you? I do like her. She’s bold, knows what she wants to do, and is passionate. What’s not to like?” He turned to the door of the den. “Zolin? What do you think of her? And is she a candidate?”
The black dragon poked his head in the room. It is as you said. I like her, too. As far as being a candidate, I will need to spend more time near her. She is . . . difficult to read.
“Alright,” Guildmaster Millinith said. “Still, she’s to be treated the same as all of the other applicants, hear? Every one of them is to be judged on their own merits.”
“Of course.” Jessip wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Now, I think it’s time we both got some lunch. I don’t know about you, but I am starving.”
Jessip chuckled. “Oh, you’re not alone in that.”
At the Dining Hall, he found Aeron, Willem, and Sharrah still at the tables.
“So,” Aeron said, “how was your monitoring session?”
Jessip shrugged and sat down. He removed his lunch from the tray. “It was fine, if a little boring. Renny dropped by to apply. Someone surprising did, as well.”
“Oh?” Willem said.
“Yeah.” Jessip looked around and lowered his voice. “Don’t tell anyone, but Lady Korrie applied.”
“What?” Sharrah’s eyes were wide.
Jessip chuckled. “That was my reaction, too. Guildmaster Millinith seems fine with her application, though she is making the girl talk to her parents about it. Once she does, and whether or not Lord Baronel and Lady Rora agree with it, the Guildmaster said she would accept the application.”
“Oh really.” Aeron looked impressed.
Jessip shrugged. “Lady Korrie is fifteen, after all.”
Willem nodded slowly. “Ah, yes.”
“It’s kind of nice.”
Jessip looked at Sharrah.
She smiled. “We have people from all walks of life in the guild.”
“That’s true,” Jessip said. “High-born down to low-born.”
“Lords and ladies,” Willem said, “fighters, sorcerers, healers, zoologists, farmers . . .” He smiled. “We do have an assortment, don’t we?”
Aeron gasped. “That’s it!”
Willem glanced at him. “What’s it?”
“I’ve been trying to remember something all day long.”
Sh
arrah paused in piling her dishes back on her tray. “What did you remember?”
“I made a promise, of sorts, just over a year ago.” Aeron frowned. “I hope I can keep it.” He stacked his dishes on his tray and stood. “Willem, can you take me back to the clutching room? Anaya and I have an errand to run before lessons.”
As he watched them leave, Jessip wondered what promise Aeron had made. And to whom.
+ + + + +
Sitting with her eggs oftentimes brought her mother to mind. Anaya wondered what had happened to her. Would Malina have been happy to see her daughter’s children?
Anaya lifted her head and looked at them. These precious eggs were the most amazing things she had ever done. She could feel the life in each, two little ones, her children, growing stronger every day. Soon, as they developed, their life-pulse would not be all she would be able to sense. The anticipation of learning more about her children triggered a tiny flutter of excitement in her belly. Had Malina felt the same way about her own eggs?
From her memories, Anaya knew that Malina’s intention with having children had been to rise in House standing. To improve her family’s lot, as well as her own. Not so much from the having of the babes as from who the father was: Naum. His family stood just below the First Family. Several of Naum’s ancestors had even come from the First Family. That is why his family stood so high in House Yaot.
I am related to Queen Ixtab.
Anaya blinked all her eyelids at the realization. Had Queen Ixtab known this? Was that part of why she had exiled Anaya and Aeron? There hadn’t been time to think more about her lineage on that rushed day at House Yaot. There hadn’t been time to think of anything but of convincing the Queen to help them, and when that failed, of getting away. Now she wondered: Had the High Mother felt threatened by Anaya?
Movement at the doorway drew her attention. Two people had walked in and were talking as they studied the area near the door. Architects, Aeron had called them. There had been talk of putting places on that side of the room for friends and family of the candidates, so that they might watch the choosing and the bonding. She liked the idea. Perhaps those two were working on the plans.
A sudden blooming of warm rhythms, three familiar life-pulses, made her heart beat faster. Balam was back, with Willem and Aeron. It was easy to sense them here. There weren’t that many people near her, flooding her with thoughts, feelings, and sounds. Not like there had been in Bataan-Mok that evening in the courtyard. There had been so much noise. She’d been very happy when Aeron had arrived. And, when the man had started talking, everyone else had gotten quiet to listen. That had been good, too, even though his words had been silly.
A Storm in the Desert: Dragonlinked Chronicles Voume 3 Page 54
