Ian and Snick lighted down on the castle wall. Ian leaned forward to give Snick's neck a comforting pat as he unhinged his knees from the dragon's saddle. He had spotted his aunt giving his sister and his cousin an archery lesson in the lemon grove below. His aunt knelt down next his tiny sister and rotated her left arm under as she stood shaking with the intensity of the tightly strung bow. Ian laughed to himself, would Ava ever remember to rotate that arm? She had almost take her elbow off half a dozen times and still had a hard time remembering. He watched as his cousin Chloe, standing by with wide eyes, rotated her bowless arm in deep concentration.
Ava licked her lips then stuck her tongue in the corner of her mouth and let the arrow fly. His Aunt Robyn jumped up and down waving her arms with glee as the arrow reached its target, a hay stack tucked neatly in the shadows of two lemon trees. He could see a flash of white paper affixed to the stack of tightly packed straw.
Ian reached forward and touched Snick's neck. See, he thought as he stroked the shiny hard scales. Snick looked intently at the hay stack and through the touch Ian could see, Ava was using one of his own drawings for target practice! Just yesterday morning he had sat at the foot of his bed, mesmerized by a deer nibbling at the grapes that had just begun to grow in the small vineyard planted next to his parents' cottage. The fawn was a soft brown with a row of bright white spots running along its side. Ian had painstakingly blended his chalks together to get just the right shade of brown, and the shiny black of the nose as it nibbled on his aunt's grapes. And now, here was Ava trying to shoot a hole through it! Wait till he got within earshot, he would definitely give her a piece of his mind for rummaging through his portfolio again.
Ian was about to tap his left heal to Snick's flank when he caught sight of something rolling beneath the breezy pine tree growing just inside the castle wall he and Snick were perched on. He relaxed his ankle and settled back to study the scene.
He leaned forward again to stroke Snick's glistening neck. See, he thought. Through Snick's eyes Ian could see a young girl, about his own age sitting in a chair that had wheels on it. She was painstakingly rolling across a courtyard to a shady spot at the base of the pine tree. Her brow was wrinkled with the effort of rolling herself and the heavy chair till she was completely out of the sun. Her right ankle was bound. She reached forward to gingerly adjust its position on the leather strap that ran across the front legs of the chair upon which her feet rested.
Ian wondered for a moment why he had never seen this girl in any of his classes. Surely they were of an age and she should be attending Professor Shipwright's class with the rest of the ten and eleven year old children who lived in the castle or on the grounds. He looked at her face and saw that the sadness there was almost completely covered by a quiet strength, a strength of will that almost emanated from her. She had long brown wavy hair and warm brown eyes. She closed them for a moment and calmed her breathing. She seemed very focused on her breath and eventually the creases in her brow relaxed and her face took on a most peaceful expression. Ian wondered at the change that had come over her in the last few minutes. She had amazing control over herself, and apparently whatever pain she was feeling.
Her head snapped up as she heard footsteps coming across the small courtyard. There, walking with a tray loaded with fruit and a pitcher filled with lemonade and two glasses was a miniature version of the first girl. Ian did recognize this second girl, she was in class with his sister Ava, her name was, was, Moranda, that was it. Moranda had always seemed Ian to be a very severe girl who was always more serious than the other girls Ava's age. She was certainly more serious that Ian's passionate playful sister.
Then Ian's perspective changed and he felt as if her were being sucked up the trunk of the pine tree back to the top of the soaring castle wall and thrust back into his body. He was momentarily dazed then laughed out loud and patted Snick's neck affectionately.
"Sorry Snick, I must have gotten a bit carried away with my eavesdropping". Snick rolled a giant green eye in his direction and made his characteristic "snick snick" noise in the back of his throat.
Ian leaned forward and rubbed the dragon between the eyes and thought back to their first meeting.
Ian's father, Nathan was the captain of the Queen's Guard, and came from a long line of Queen's Men. Every three years when a new litter of dragonlings was due to hatch, all eligible men and women gathered to witness the event with quiet hopes of being chosen for an imprinting. Ian's father Nathan, had attended every imprinting since he was sixteen years of age. He came from a long line of dragon riders, though none in his line had been chosen since his great grandfather. Ian's grandfather, Nathan's father had pined his whole life to be chosen and in the end had taken to smoking forbidden herbs to soften the disregard the dragons had shown him and eventually wasted away to nothing. Nathan had watched his father's painful disintegration and though he also longed to bond, he vowed at a very young age not to let the desire overtake his life. He served the Queen well and quickly rose in rank to be captain of the Gaard at an impressive age.
When Ian was nine years old, his father brought him to the hatching grounds to witness a bonding. Ian sat very quietly and with great anguish watched his father stride the edge of the hatching grounds. Slowly, one by one the eggs began to break open and the small shiny lizard-like heads of the dragons began to appear between the cracks. Ian's breath was swept away as he saw the myriad colors of the jeweled heads that poked timidly up from the straw nests.
He watched as his father strode the outside of the hatching grounds with the other candidates, unashamed of the fact that he was a good decade older than most of the other aspirants, nodding his head if one of the hatchlings should make eye contact.
One of the newborns near to his father was the first to push completely free of his egg. Ian couldn't believe how beautiful the creature was, all gold and amber and glistening orange and fiery red. He looked up at Ian's father and locked eyes with him for a moment. Nathan stood completely still and nodded so deeply he almost bowed to the creature. Ian's heart lept to his throat and he willed with all his might that this, the most beautiful dragon he had ever seen would choose his father. He clasped his hands together and crushed his eyes closed and wished "please".
The creature who held Ian's father's gaze suddenly whipped his head around and turned his eyes to Ian. Ian's breath caught and he was completely frozen under the animals stare. He returned the gaze and was completely engulfed in the eyes of the dragon, they were emerald green, multi-faceted jewels that spun and whirred with an intelligence that Ian could almost feel. Then the dragon began to laugh, a very funny little laugh, "Snick snick snick"!
With dismay Ian watched as the dragon turned away from his father and began to walk out of the hatching circle. He brushed his big head affectionately against Ian's father almost knocking him down then lumbered on away from the circle toward the brush where Ian was crouching.
Ian watched with disbelief as the beautiful red gold creature made its way directly toward him. Hours seemed to pass as the dragon took its first steps away from its birth place, but Ian knew it was only seconds. Suddenly the creature was upon him, rubbing his chest and armpits until Ian was practically hugging the creature. He was frozen in place with surprise and overwhelmed by the warmth of the creature and the smoothness of his hide. Then he began to laugh as he realized the animal was making his funny chuckling sounds, "Snick snick snick" as he ran his nose all over Ian's body, knocking him flat on his back.
The crowd erupted in cheers as they witnessed the first bonding of the season. Ian sat up, arms around the dragon who was practically the same size as he was, and looked over the giant shiny head to find his father. He worriedly took in his father's expression, then relaxed immediately to find Nathan's face radiating happiness and pride from his crinkling eyes to his wide smile.
Coming back to the moment Ian put his heel to Snick's flank and said, 'We better get home. Mom will want to outfit us in some stuffy new finery for the prince's birthday feast tonight".
Snick and Ian took off with a great "whooof" of wings that made the girls in the courtyard below look up and the pine tree shake with the force of Snick's wings.
A shower of pine needles rained down on the girl in the wheeled chair below and her sister blew out her cheeks in a huff and said, "damned dragon riders"!
Snick landed gracefully in a pile of freshly mowed grass near the vineyard next to Ian's house. His mother Tracy came around the corner brushing flour from her hands onto her apron. Her cheeks were red and she looked severely at Ian as she said, "honestly, where have you been? You and your sister need to get in here and let me do the final fittings for your outfits tonight"!
Ian's mother was a court seamstress and she took great pride in her work. From time to time the queen would honor her by commissioning a dress to wear for an audience with a visiting noble or for festivities in the court. She took full advantage of having three children and a husband to model her handiwork on whenever there was an event happening at the castle.
As if to prove this, his baby sister Eleanor poked her head out from behind her mother's skirts, displaying a dress covered in such ornamentation, semi-precious jewels, elaborate stitching and ruffles that she could barely bear the weight of it. Ian groaned in anticipation of what his own outfit might consist of.
He allowed himself to be scuttled into the house, trying to ignore the wry "snick snick snick" he heard behind him.
As he entered the the sewing room with his mother holding his shoulders firmly to guide him, he scoffed out loud at the outfit the cotton dummy wore. He knew that the queen had chosen another seamstress to outfit the royal family tonight and it seemed that his mother was taking her disappointment out on her own family. The shirt and jacket that she had constructed for him certainly would rival anything the prince showed up in tonight. And it was his sixteenth birthday party, not Ian's.
Ian's mother carefully removed her dusty apron before tenderly removing the outfit from the mannequin. She was just finishing his buttons as they heard Ian's boisterous sister come crashing in through the front door.
"Ava Isabel Russell! Where have you been!?" His mother's attention was thankfully torn from him for a minute so he could inspect himself in the reflection of the window showing the setting sun outside. He grimaced and tried to remove a few of the jewels from the overly embellished sash running from his left shoulder to his right hip. Giving it up as a bad job, he sneaked past his mom as she dragged Ava to the wash basin and made it outside to check on Snick before they left for the banquet.
When he got back to the pile of grass in the side yard, he found Snick curled up eating a raw bloody rabbit his father had just thrown to him. For this, Ian was very thankful to his father. He never had a stomach for hunting, and never enjoyed meat himself, so Snick's diet was far from his favorite thing to worry about. Luckily he need not worry much as Snick was very capable of fending for himself in this regard. He did have a bad habit of not noticing whose livestock he dove for, and time and time again Ian had to poke his flank and remind him to head to the forest when he became a bit peckish.
But Ian's father loved to dote on Snick and Snick loved him in return for it. Ian watched his father lean against a grape trellis and lovingly pat Snick's rump as he threw down the rabbit whole. For the millionth time Ian wished there was someway to share his bond and his good fortune with his dad, but resigned himself to let his father's joy in his son's bond wash away the guilt.
"Ah, I see your mother has already gotten her hands on you", his father chuckled. "She has also had her way with me," he spread his arms wide to show the display of sewing prowess his father was bedecked in, and tried not to read to much into his father's comment. Sometimes his parents had an embarrassing lack of restraint around each other.
He looked at his father's tall lanky frame, that belied the true strength of the guardsman. Many an opponent had mistaken him for being simply tall and thin, but his long arms were corded with muscle.
Thankfully Kors had been a peaceful kingdom since Ian had been born, and his father's days of action were well behind him. His Aunt had retired from the mounted archery company when her horse was wounded and fell on her. She left the company with another soldier and they married and had three children of there own, Ian's cousins Chloe, Phoebe and Roland.
Finally his sister and mother appeared on the front steps of their cottage dressed in matching frocks, his mother's long brown curly hair and his sister's long straight blonde hair pulled severely back into tight buns. Ian picked his baby sister up and and the family was ready to begin the short walk up the hill to the castle.
Ian enjoyed banquets at the castle very much. He knew tonight would be extra entertaining since the the feast was in honor of the Prince's birthday. He was not disappointed as they strode up to the entrance of the banquet hall, jugglers and musicians were already performing outside. The guard at the door waved them in merrily and patted Ian's father on the back "Gaard Rrrrrrussell"! he sang as Ian and his family entered the hall.
"Gaard Shipwright"! His father called back and they clasped arms at the elbow. Gaard Shipwright was the husband of Ian's Professor at school, and one of his father's best friends.
They found their seats quickly enough and were pleased to see their friends and neighbors sharing a table with them. His mother fell quickly to chatting with Lady Lis, midwife and nurse to the queen. He watched his mother scowl and nod her head to the table where the seamstress who had won the evenings honor sat. Lady Lis scowled and bent her head toward his mother to continue their conversation.
Ian smiled at his aunt across the table and shoved Ava and Eleanor a bit to the left and right of him to give himself some room to dig in to the food that lay waiting on the table. Salty white goat cheese, sweet figs and crusty bread. Ian dipped his imaginary hat respectfully to cook wherever she was, for her wonderful taste in starting off the meal.
Eventually the music died down, then the chatter in the great hall as King Alexander came walking out from behind a long thick velvet curtain holding Queen Danielle's hand. The King cleared his throat and announced, "Thank you all for coming to celebrate with us the sixteenth birthday of our son Prince Justice Korsgaard"! Queen Danielle beamed as her son walked across the platform toward his parents. Everyone knew she doted on her son as much as any other mother. Ian had to admit he was a striking figure with his long curly black hair and bright blue eyes.
The prince joined his parents at the center of the platform and waved to great applause. The kingdom was very proud of their handsome prince. Ian was very pleased with his short speech. "Thank you all for joining me this evening, now, let the festivities begin!"
With that, a beautifully choreographed bevvy of servants spilled from the kitchen to deliver platters full of roasted quail, pheasant and rabbit. Ian quickly filled his plate up with cheese and bread before the servants whisked them away. He was pleased to see large terrines of a hearty vegetable soup coming his way, and it smelled delicious. His father even winked at him and slid him a glass of well watered wine. Ian dug in merrily.
The jugglers and musicians had made their way inside and were entertaining the guests while they ate. Ian's attention was focused on a group of fire eaters that were performing to the right of the platform where the Prince and his parents were eating. One of the fire eaters, a tall woman with olive skin and long silky black hair was throwing batons of fire into the air and catching them again before dousing them in her mouth. He could not tear his eyes away from her, and was slightly worried for her costume catching fire. It consisted of bloused pants made of a turquoise colored silk and a tightly fitting shirt with wide sleeves, exposing her mid section. She had a pierced navel and many thin strands of gold around her waist. His mother turned her head away from Lady Lis when she caught her sister smiling at her nephew. She glanced at Ian, then at the fire eater and her scowl deepened.
Ian's reverie was broken when the light from the fire eaters flying batons momentarily lit of the space behind the heavy velvet curtains near the royal family's platform. For just a moment, Ian saw the smiling face of the girl he'd seen earlier in the afternoon, the girl in the wheeled chair. His eyes fixed on that spot and he waited for the fire to illuminate the space again. Yes, this time he was sure. She was sitting in her chair just behind the curtain, her momentarily lit face dazzled with the fire eaters performance.
Ian pushed his plate aside and made to get up from his bench. His mother caught his intention and said, "Ian, where are you going?"
"I just wanted to check on something over here..."
Then he felt a large hand on his shoulder and turned to look up at Gaard Shipwright smiling jovially down at him. Professor Shipwright was just behind him and Ian smiled to see her pixie-like facing beaming down at him.
She stepped up behind Ian's mother and Lady Lis and placed a hand on each of them.
"You should see the drawing Ian did in class yesterday! He is really improving by the minute. I am sincerely impressed with his ability and imagination."
Ian's mother's face glowed with pride.
"If only he'd work on his numbers in the evening," his father chided and ruffled his hair affectionately.
His teacher and her husband sat down at the table with them and began to fill their plates. When Ian looked up again to see if the girl was still behind the curtain, he could not catch sight of her.
After dinner the tables were cleared and the musicians took over the platform. The dancing began in earnest now that everyone had had their fill of wine. Ian noticed a few of the bottles were even from his aunts own vineyard and he smiled to himself knowing how proud she would be.
Eventually he found Eleanor sleeping in the heap of his father's robe on the ground in front of the fireplace and he picked her up and went to find Ava. Ava was sitting on his mother's lap in between Lady Lis and Professor Shipwright.
"But did you see him fall down the stairs?" the professor was asking Lady Lis. He tumbled head over heal and I heard his ankle pop when he landed at the bottom. Honestly, our handsome Prince is one of the most clumsy sixteen year old boys I've ever seen!"
"Well, its a good thing he is so lucky and heals so well", Lady Lis said, looking down into her hands. Then looking up brightly eyeing the dancing prince she exclaimed, and look at him now, so light on his feet?"
They all turned to admire the Prince and his young dance partner as they took a turn around the floor.
"He does heal amazingly well," Ian's mother added.
"Well, its time for us to be off, I see Ian has found Eleanor sleeping in some corner of the castle. I should get her home and put her to bed."
The Russells said their goodbyes and made their way sleepily down the hill.
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