by Audrey Faye
That was a reasonable idea—and a terrifying one. Or it would be if Lily wasn’t so sure the Dragon Star had been mistaken. After she managed a better night’s sleep or two, she would figure out how to fix the error before anyone did anything foolish. Making friends, however, seemed like a good idea.
She sent calm through the water to Oceana. “Lotus causes the most trouble of any dragon who lives in the village, and she’s the best flier here except for Fendellen.” That was a point of major pride for both Sapphire and Lotus. “Sapphire is kin with Lotus, just like you are with me, and she likes water better than most elves.”
Sapphire laughed. “I like your hot pool just fine. Swimming in the river in midwinter is for elves who’ve let their brains turn to berry mush.”
It was a ritual of Lily’s clan, and one the village never tired of teasing her about, but today wasn’t a day to worry about that. Lily used her free hand to rub the scales of Oceana’s tail as Lotus sidled closer. Making a friend in the village would be a good thing, especially if that friend was used to causing all the trouble and taking most of the blame. Sleeping in the soup kettle was tiny compared to some of the havoc Lotus had caused.
Oceana sent a picture that had Lily’s eyebrows skittering up. She stared at her dragon. “Seriously?”
The picture never wavered.
Lily groaned. She eyed the peach-pink dragon. Lotus was generally willing to try anything once, the more harebrained the better. “Oceana would like you to put your tail in her rain barrel so that she can talk to you.”
Sapphire’s eyebrows went up. “Why can’t she just talk to her mind?”
Lily shrugged. Her dragon didn’t seem to work the way all the others did. “Maybe she can’t, or maybe she doesn’t want to.” Oceana was emanating a curious feeling, and Lily suddenly want very much for this to work. “I think we need to try. She doesn’t know how to make friends. She’s probably never had one.”
Sapphire’s eyes looked worried. “Dragons don’t like water. Maybe yours does, but that’s going to be a hard way to make friends.”
No one understood that better than a water-loving elf in a dragon kin village. Lily scowled. “I know that.”
Lotus sidled a little closer to the rain barrel and then away again, like a small child who needed to use the outhouse but couldn’t work out how to get inside. Sapphire put a hand on her shoulder, offering wordless encouragement.
Lotus lifted up her tail and moved it gingerly toward the water, and then yanked it away, blowing smoke and billowing dust. She quieted, looking embarrassed.
Lily kept a firm hand on Oceana. There would be no flying antics this morning, not before half the village was even awake.
Lotus tried again, and this time she almost got the very tip of her tail into the water. Then she whipped it away, making a scared chittering noise. Sapphire jumped to soothe her, kind words about bravery and trying hard and making new friends.
Lily stopped listening. Oceana had that distant feeling again, the one that said something deep inside her was trying to leave. Her dragon regarded Lotus for a long moment and then turned her back, curled up, and laid her head on her tail.
The tail that was no longer in the water, willing to make friends.
Something inside Lily shivered. This was not good. Not good at all.
“It’s all right, younglings.” Karis added her voice to Sapphire’s soothing words. “That was a very good effort, Lotus, and there’s no shame in trying your best and failing.” A deep rumble sounded behind her.
Lily’s eyes shot up. Afran almost never came into the village. He was huge, and even walking as gracefully as he could manage, his bulk put things at risk. His big head reached over one of the smaller rondos to peer at the rain barrel. ::You’re a most beautiful color, dragon of the water. Greetings, and an honored welcome.::
Lily blinked, not at all sure how she was hearing his voice.
::I permit you to listen.:: Afran’s gaze was focused on Oceana, who still faced away, but whose eyebrow ridges had perked up at the compliment. ::I have come to meet the newest Chosen.::
Lily winced at the title, but ignored it. They could talk about the Dragon Star’s mistakes later. “Will you stick your tail in her rain barrel?” That might help pull her dragon back from the empty place—and if anyone could do something most dragons hated, it would be Afran.
Even a light snort from the big dragon was enough to cover them all in dust.
Karis looked up at him, surprised. “That bad, huh?”
His scales writhed as the dragon shuddered. ::It is much as you would feel if I asked you to stick your hand in my fire.::
That brought images of cooking meat to mind that nearly made Lily sick. “It’s just water. It won’t hurt you.”
“It’s instincts,” Irin said, walking over from the nursery. “Water puts out fire, and dragons have always regarded it as an enemy.”
Afran puffed his agreement.
Irin reached a hand up to the big dragon’s nose. “You can work your way up to it. You don’t need to prove your bravery any more than Kis does.”
::Kis is braver than I will ever be. This is not about courage. It is about honoring the request of the Chosen.::
They needed to stop calling Oceana that, and fast. Lily opened her mouth to say so, and then she realized a huge, hulking shadow was sneaking toward the rain barrel. Afran’s tail. And the dragon attached to it, the most valiant one she knew, was literally shaking in his boots.
It was crazy—but it was also working. Oceana’s head lifted off her tail and pointed in Afran’s direction. Her eyes were still lidded, but she felt more present. Less empty.
Lily held her breath. Surely Afran could do this.
The shadow came closer still, and it was clear it would be a tight fit. Even the tip of his tail was nearly as big as the rain barrel itself.
Oceana scooted to her feet and plopped her tail in the water. Quivering. Eager.
Karis made a low moaning sound, her hands pasted to Afran’s forehead. Trying to help him somehow.
A breath later, tail met water—and a rain barrel was in the air, water flying everywhere. Afran’s tail smacked into a rondo and then into the puddle of water that had poured out of the barrel, sending mud flying after the water.
Lily spluttered as cold, slimy mud ran down her face. She tried to wipe it off with the sleeve of her tunic, with only marginal success. She peered through the mud. She couldn’t see Oceana, but she could hear chittering from a nearby rooftop.
Very cranky chittering.
Afran’s head hung almost to the ground, looking thoroughly chagrined.
“Well,” said Karis, rubbing an arm across her own muddy face and speaking with a brightness that sounded forced. “That was a good effort. How about some breakfast?”
Alonia, who had apparently picked exactly the wrong time to come visit, scowled and looked down at the muddy, soaking-wet loaves in her hands. “That might need to wait a while.”
Breakfast wasn’t the only thing that was going to take a while. Lily looked up at the rondo roof where a blue-green dragon was already turning her back on the world, and tried not to worry.
Chapter 9
Lily tossed herself down on the only bench in the entire village that was in shade and took a huge bite of the sandwich she’d filched from the kitchen. Oceana was finally asleep, tucked in a shadowy corner of Lily and Alonia’s rondo with a small pitcher of water for her tail and several mops nearby in case another mess happened.
Although to be fair, it hadn’t been Oceana spilling most of the water today.
Alonia strolled over, her eyes brightening when she saw the other half of Lily’s sandwich.
Lily tried not to grumble as she held it out. Alonia and Kellen had been working hard, trying to convince more dragons to stick their tails in a rain barrel.
Alonia blew curls off her face and shook her head as she sat down. “We can’t find any others who are willing to try.”
&nbs
p; That wasn’t a surprise—the last three candidates had all been teenager dragons like Lotus. Ones, as Afran put it, who didn’t have all the brains in their heads yet. Brandel, the youngest of the three, had come the closest, but he’d also scorched the side of the nursery when he panicked. “Irin probably won’t let us keep trying anyhow.” He wasn’t a fan of things in the village going up in flames.
“We could try the river,” Alonia suggested softly. “Maybe they wouldn’t feel quite so trapped that way.”
It was a good idea—rivers were hard to set on fire. But it didn’t do a lot to settle the churning in Lily’s belly. She set down her sandwich, appetite suddenly gone. “We can’t go down to the river every time Oceana wants to talk to another dragon.” Or at least, when they wanted to talk to her. So far, besides Fendellen and Lily and elves bearing food, Oceana seemed to have very little interest in anyone else, scaled or not.
Alonia chewed, the sandwich filling her cheek. “Kellen’s making berry pastries.”
One of the few reliable ways to get Oceana’s attention was with food. Which was a bit of a problem, because Lily couldn’t cook to save her life. “Maybe I should go help.”
Alonia shot her a skeptical look. “The last time you did that, we all had to eat burnt pastries.”
That wasn’t her fault. “Lotus trapped Inga in her rondo and I had to go help her escape.”
“Really? Do you see other cooks out rescuing people?”
Not while they were waiting to take pastries out of the oven. Everyone had been very clear on the severity of that particular dereliction of duty. “Kellen’s in charge. I could just help.” Maybe it would help build the kin bond that still felt so very fragile. Irin said actions mattered.
Alonia’s pat on her knee was kind. “You can help by eating and getting your strength back for when your dragon wakes up.”
That might be a long time. Oceana was an expert napper. “I’ll go see if Karis needs any more help.” Putting things right after Afran’s mishap of the morning was probably done, but the big dragon was terribly embarrassed, and that might mean he needed his kin. Which meant Karis’s usual chores would need to be done by somebody else.
“She’s on her way to have a bath.” Alonia’s green eyes filled with merriment. “She said Afran’s sulking, and she’s not speaking to him again until he remembers he’s a dragon and not a god.”
The big dragon had very high standards for everyone’s behavior, but none higher than the ones he held for himself. “Sapphire’s pretty happy that Lotus doesn’t hold the record for most impressive destruction of the village anymore.”
Alonia laughed. “If Lotus finds out there’s a competition for that, she might try to win it.”
They looked at each other and winced, mostly in sympathy for their friend, who was forever cleaning up after her peach-pink menace—and then froze as a scream rang out.
Lily jumped to her feet as the door of the bathhouse rondo flew open and Karis bolted out, entirely naked, looking back over her shoulder and yelling like the demon hordes were after her.
Until she ran straight into Alonia, who had a sixth sense for the wrong places to stand this morning.
Somehow the two of them managed to stay upright—and Karis stopped making the shrieking sounds that had brought everyone in the village running.
Kellen rushed up, holding out one of the big bathhouse towels.
Karis grabbed it, her cheeks turning pink and her eyes carefully avoiding anyone else’s. She looked at the trail of water behind her instead as she wrapped the towel around her middle. When she spoke, her voice held its usual dry humor. “Well. It appears both my dragon and I have made quite a mess this morning.”
Alonia giggled. “Afran’s was way bigger.”
Karis winked. “Perhaps we won’t tell him that.”
It was so weird to think of the large dragon as anything other than steady and wise. Lily edged closer, not at all sure how to help, but very familiar with being the butt of the villagers’ stares. Friendly or not, it wasn’t a good feeling.
Karis raised an eyebrow in Lily’s direction. “Now that I’m not holding a cup of tea and trying to talk some sense into Afran as I climb into my bath, I suspect that the creature I mistook for a snake in my washtub is perhaps more simply explained.”
No sane snake would ever come into a village full of dragons. Lily opened her mouth to say so and then realized what the rest of Karis’s statement meant. “Oh, no.”
Karis nodded wryly. “I do believe so.”
That wasn’t good. “She was asleep in our rondo—I only came out to eat.”
“That does tend to be when our dragons decide to do something rash.” Karis nodded calmly at the gathered villagers and put her hand on Kellen’s shoulder. “That was fast thinking. Thank you.”
Kellen flushed all the way to the roots of her hair. “I was already bringing towels to restock the bathhouse. I just happened to be nearby when you… um…”
Karis laughed. “Made an utter fool of myself?” She took the rest of the stack of towels from Kellen’s arms. “How about I finish that job for you, shall I?” She glanced over her shoulder at Lily. “The two of us will go explain to Oceana that she will scare someone to death if she keeps hiding in every tub of warm water in the village.”
Lily winced. Karis might forgive them. Inga most certainly wouldn’t.
She followed her towel-clad teacher into the steamy bathhouse, blinking in the sudden dimness. A happy chitter sounded from deeper inside. Lily groaned. “You’re going to be just as much trouble as Lotus.”
“She just might be.” Karis sounded amused. “The Dragon Star must have an unholy sense of humor.”
That wasn’t even a little bit funny. “I think it made a mistake.”
“Oh, really?”
Lily knew skepticism when she heard it, even in the dark. “She hates fire and she doesn’t even really like other dragons. And she’s too small for us to fly to wherever the other dragons are.” Periodic scouting parties flew out over the sea and limped back, and none had ever caught a glimpse of land. Oceana was a fast flyer, but she tired quickly. “I don’t see how we could possibly be useful.”
Karis grunted noncommittally.
Lily didn’t really want to know what that meant, and right now she had more important things to attend to. Like the blue-green swamp creature currently paddling happily in the steaming tub that had been meant for Karis’s bath.
Karis shook her head, watching Oceana’s antics. “It’s so very strange watching a dragon enjoy water that much.”
Lily’s belly wobbled. “Irin said Kis knew a story of other water dragons just like her.”
“So he told me,” Karis said gently. “Perhaps there were others of her kind once, or maybe they still exist in faraway lands.”
There was no way she was traipsing around the known world seeking the remnants of a single tale remembered by a dragon who had been literally everywhere there was to go. Three days on the road with Oceana had been plenty. “She belongs here.” For the first time, Lily was glad of the mark on her forehead that no one but Fendellen could see. “We’re marked, so she must belong here.”
“I have no doubt of that. Neither does Afran.” Karis leaned against the high shelf that held bath towels and spare tunics. “But it won’t be easy to help her fit in here.”
Something in Karis’s voice sounded as unsettled as whatever wobbled in Lily’s belly. “We’ll just have to work hard at it.” Which sounded hollow, even to her ears. She’d been here for more than half her life, and fire still made her skin itch. Water and fire were things of instinct, and that didn’t seem like something that would change very easily.
Oceana splashed with her tail, sending a rain shower of water out of the bath and over the rondo’s occupants. Lily sighed. It was going to take work just to keep the village from turning into one big mudslide. “I’m sorry she got in your bathtub. I thought she was asleep.”
Karis chuckled. “I�
�m used to dragon hijinks—I just didn’t expect to find them in the bathhouse.” Her forehead wrinkled in thought. “I think the bigger issue might be that Oceana won’t feel settled in a rondo.”
Lily made a face. “Not unless we put a pond in ours, and Alonia won’t like that idea very much.”
Karis snorted, amused. “It might be a bit of a hazard in the middle of the night.”
It couldn’t possibly be more of a problem than a dragon who snuck into bathtubs and soup pots. If Inga got startled and ran through the village naked, the consequences would be dire. “I don’t know how to help her feel more comfortable.” The village wasn’t set up for anyone who loved water—nobody knew that better than Lily. Her friends had put out buckets of water everywhere they could think of, but that didn’t really hide that the village was entirely set up to be welcoming to dragons of the fire-loving kind.
Karis raised an eyebrow. “Have you taken her down to your warm pool? I could ask Afran to heat it for you.”
Lily ducked as Oceana splashed with her tail again. “I thought about it, but I might never get her out.” Their bond felt really fragile to deal with that kind of temptation. Getting her dragon out of the soup pot had been hard enough.
“Maybe you don’t need to.” Karis hummed, thinking. “We could set up one of the travel tents down there. They aren’t nearly as warm as a rondo, but the nights are warm yet.”
It sounded like a good idea—but something inside Lily wasn’t happy. It felt too much like being evicted from the village. “How can she get used to being here if we take her away?”
“It’s not far.” Karis got the vacant look that said she was talking with her dragon. “We can all come down to visit. Afran says there’s a nice grassy spot close by. He can come and breathe fire while Oceana is in the pool. Maybe that way she’ll feel less nervous.”
Lily crossed her arms, not sure why she wasn’t in love with this idea. Possibly she was just cranky. It had been a very long night of sleeping on a stool and an even longer morning of watching her dragon’s abject failure to make friends. If Oceana liked the warm pool, at least they could both get a decent night’s sleep. She nodded. “Could Afran warm it up, please? He’s better than anyone.” Which was true, and it might also help soothe his embarrassment.
