The Awakening (21 page)

“These are some of the finest dresses I’ve seen,” Torrell said, splaying the skirts of Jahrra’s moss and lavender dress out so she could admire it better.

Torrell may be tough but she did have her feminine side.

Jahrra merely shrugged, trying not to feel too abashed. “The ladies at the seamstress’s shop had the final say on the pattern. I only really cared about the color, and even then they made suggestions.”

Torrell dropped the hem of the dress. “Well, someone spared no expense on you.”

She crossed her arms and gave a smirk and Jahrra felt her face flush again. She really was doing that far too often for her own liking.

“Jaax has had a long time to accumulate wealth,” she said, “and he says I have to have appropriate attire if I’m to be taken seriously by the Coalition.”

Jahrra’s explanation sounded weak, even to her.

“Uh huh,” was all Torrell said to that.

Before the moment could grow too awkward, however, Dathian stepped through the door and looked around.

“Nice room,” he said.

Feeling slightly relieved, Jahrra gathered them up and led them out onto the patio, telling everyone to watch their head or their step as they passed through the open window.

The fire was already crackling, as Neira had promised, and the sausages and bread, butter, cheese and assorted fruits were spread out on the stone table waiting to be consumed.

“We can have apples too,” Jahrra gestured happily to her little grove on the opposite end of the terrace. “The fruit is finally ripe.”

As the sun set in the west and the stars started showing themselves in the sky, Jahrra, Torrell, Senton and Dathian settled down on the stone benches with spare blankets and cushions. They roasted the sausages and even tried roasting the apples, which turned out better than Jahrra had expected. At the end of their meal they tried the marshroot that Torrell had brought with her. Using sticks gathered from the apple trees, they speared the pale tubers and held them over the fire.

“Just until they are golden brown,” Torrell said.

Once they were done, Jahrra gave hers a tentative bite then looked up at Torrell as her eyes grew wide in surprise.

“These are good!” Senton spoke for her, his mouth full of roasted marshroot.

“I’ve never had this before, is it a family secret?” Dathian asked, doing his best to remove the sticky marshroot from his fingers with some dignity.

“Of a sort.” Torrell grinned. “The marshroot is native to the wetlands between Lake Hronah and Lake Aaryitt in the east. My mother’s family is from there so they brought the plant with them when the settled in Lidien. Luckily it can be grown in a pot on our patio, but the soil must always be very damp.”

She finished her story off by plopping a golden brown marshroot into her mouth.

The rest of the night consisted of everyone telling stories about family and friends or what had happened to them before they had met one another. Jahrra, naturally, had the most to say, for she had the longest history it seemed, except for Dathian of course. But obviously, the elf wasn’t about to divulge
his
family history to anyone.

“What’s it like living with a dragon?” Torrell wanted to know, her voice falling quietly to match the cadence of the low coals of the fire.

“Don’t worry, Torrell,” Jahrra said with a grin. “It’s not as if Jaax is standing below the terrace, listening to our every word.”

Her friend’s eyes widened at that, and Jahrra half suspected this was exactly what Torrell was thinking.

“I’d like to know too,” Senton added.

Jahrra glanced at her blond friend and grinned. She was grateful she hadn’t followed through with her original instincts that day she met Senton. He had proved to be such a wonderful friend; easygoing, and good-natured. Nothing about him was mean or cruel or forceful. She wondered what it must be like to be so carefree and she almost felt a pang of jealousy, for Senton didn’t have the same burdens she did. But then she mentally kicked herself. He had lost his mother. Perhaps he was just better at dealing with his sorrow than her.

“Honestly?” she said, finally answering her friends’ questions. “I don’t know. I don’t really have anything to compare it with. Ever since I was eight years old, I lived with dragons. I remember my parents, of course, but it was so long ago, almost ten years now.”

Jahrra’s voice dropped off, but she shook away the stale sorrow.

“I think the real question is,” Dathian broke in, piercing the strange silence with his calm voice, “what is it like living with Jaax? He isn’t just any dragon, you know. He’s the leader of the Coalition and has quite the reputation all throughout the western world as a dragon not to be trifled with.”

Jahrra looked up from where she sat, her arms wrapped around her knees and as close to the fire as she could get. Everyone had moved down onto the ground, the blankets wrapped around them, the orange glow of the fire bathing their faces in light. She reviewed Dathian’s words. Now that was quite a question, followed by quite a statement. But what really forced Jahrra’s thoughts to come to a standstill was the irrefutable truth that reverberated through what he had just said.

Her first natural response to the question of what it was like living with Jaax would have been ‘A pain’, but luckily, Jahrra stopped herself. She thought about how, yes, it was very difficult at times to be the ward of such a powerful and influential dragon. But what about the other times, like when he’d stayed awake with her those many nights her nightmares chased any sleep away, or the other night, when he had so thoughtfully hinted that she should invite her friends over? No, it wasn’t a pain living with Jaax, but it wasn’t a grand delight either.

Screwing up her face in thought, Jahrra answered as honestly as she could, “It’s challenging. He’s very hard to live with on some days but on other days he isn’t. He expects much of me and pushes me to do my best and to achieve as much as possible, but he is fair and comforting when needed. So, yes it’s challenging to live with the dragon Raejaaxorix but he is the only family I have now, and I think I might be the only family he has left as well.”

Jahrra leaned her head against her knees and thought about the shocking truth of what she had just said. Was Jaax family?
I guess so
, she told herself. She tilted her head to the side and caught Dathian watching her. He smiled and bowed his head ever so slightly, as if telling her she gave a very good answer to his question. She grinned back at him, her eyes feeling sleepy.

The sound of horses neighing, followed by the clatter of wheels digging through the gravel drive brought them all to attention. Jahrra blinked at her friends and Senton sighed, rising and bringing his blanket with him as he walked to the edge of the terrace.

“Yup, it’s the coach. Must be time to go.”

Jahrra was thoroughly worn out but slightly pleased to hear the tinge of disappointment in her friend’s tone.

Torrell groaned and yawned, stretching as she too stood up.

She looked down at Jahrra and shrugged. “We decided to split a coach. Thought it’d be safer and a little easier if we all came together and left together as well.”

“Of course,” Jahrra said, rising to send her friends off properly.

They trudged back downstairs, the hall and great room relatively dark and quiet, save for a few lanterns that still burned along the stone walls and the glow of the dying embers in the fireplace. Jahrra bid everyone goodnight, telling them she would see them in class, and shut the door behind her, latching it securely. She leaned her back against the door and listened to the carriage disappear before heading back upstairs.

“I take it your evening went well?”

Jahrra only started a little, rolling her head against the back of the door so that she could see Jaax standing just inside of the archway on his side of the house. She shrugged and grinned.

“We had a good time, though I wish they could have stayed longer.”

Jaax nodded, but it was hard for her to see since the house was so dark.

“You must be working on something important,” Jahrra said delicately to fill the emptiness. “To have been kept busy all this time.”

A huff of breath followed by the rustling of wings was all the response Jahrra got, but after a while her guardian spoke up again, a deep voice emanating from the darkness of the hall.

“Not so much important, but necessary. Besides, I was trying to stay out of the way.”

Jahrra abruptly stood up from her semi-reclining position against the door and took a few steps in Jaax’s direction.

“You didn’t have to stay out of the way!” she blurted, then bit her lip for the feebleness of her remark.

Even to her own ears she sounded like a child caught excluding others for no real reason at all.

Jaax chuckled, but made no motion to move.

“No, really,” Jahrra wrapped her arms around herself, trying to get a better hold of what it was she was trying to say.

Finally, she took a deep breath and told the truth, “Jaax, I would have really liked it if you had spent some time with us. We could have just as easily roasted apples and sausages and marshroot over the fire in here. You didn’t have to make yourself busy with work.”

Again, the silence. Jahrra wondered if Jaax had as hard a time as her coming up with the right words to say. He remained quiet for so long she thought he might have slinked off into the dark; back to his rooms.

“Well then,” he finally said, “you’ll just have to invite them over again, won’t you?”

She heard the smile in his voice and couldn’t help smiling herself. She felt her shoulders relax a bit then wondered why she had been tense.

“Good,” she said, feeling her spirits perk up just a little, “because they had a
lot
of questions about you.”

With that final statement, Jahrra swept across the ornate carpet of the great room and disappeared up the stairs before Jaax could come up with any sort of response.

Only after she was dressed for bed and had her head resting on one of her down pillows, did she dare let her mind wander freely. It had been a wonderful night. In fact, it had been the best night she had had in a very long time, so long she couldn’t remember. She would definitely be inviting her friends over more often, especially if Jaax stuck around to take part in the conversation. For some strange reason, the idea was not only daunting, but pleasant as well.

-
Chapter Thirteen
-

Sobledthe in the City

The weeks following Jahrra’s successful night of playing hostess were crammed with school lessons, Coalition meetings and practices in the afternoons with her friends. She still attended the same classes as last term and wouldn’t sign up for new ones until after the Solsticetide break, which was a little over a month away. As the days grew shorter and the weather grew cooler, Torrell, Dathian, Senton and Jahrra found it harder to practice as long as usual.

“I have at least one of the days of the weekend free,” Jahrra told them one afternoon as they returned their practice gear and bundled into their jackets. They had left class only two hours ago and already it was growing dark.

“Let me check with my father,” Senton said, stretching out his arms and legs.

That just left Dathian, who claimed he had both days free most weekends, and Torrell who also had to check with her parents.

“Sometimes they need me to watch Renaya,” Torrell said, making a face at the idea of wasting a weekend keeping an eye on her baby sister.

Jahrra had visited Torrell’s house once to pick something up before practice and she had found the younger girl charming.

“Obnoxious brat, most of the time,” Torrell had sniffed, out of her mother’s hearing range of course.

Jahrra had merely stifled a grin, for although Torrell had tried to seem serious, it was apparent that she loved her little sister dearly.

Jahrra tightened Phrym’s saddle, the sound of leather and buckles now occupying her thoughts. Once everything was in place she climbed onto Phrym’s back and turned to face her friends.

“Before I forget,” she said, “what are all of you doing for Sobledthe?”

The harvest holiday was still a few weeks off but Jahrra thought it best to get her plans in order early. After talking to Jaax about enjoying the entertainment the city of Lidien had to offer then having her friends stay over for the night, she was eager to finalize everything before her guardian had a chance to change his mind. To her surprise, however, he seemed to think it a great idea. That is, as long as he was present for the duration of the night.

“Of course you’ll be!” Jahrra had answered him in exasperation. “We need to stay up all night anyways and you promised to join us the next time I had friends over.”

She took a deep breath and nudged Phrym in the ribs to get him to move forward. Her friends followed suit with their own mounts.

“Depends,” Senton said in response to her question, “what have you got planned?”

She explained it to them; about venturing through the city to see what it had to offer then ending up back at Jaax’s estate on the hill.

“Jaax has promised to be there so you’ll have all night long to ask him whatever questions you’d like. That is, if you aren’t too afraid to,” she said, casting Torrell a mischievous grin.

Torrell crossed her arms and took on her domineering stance. “I wasn’t afraid, Jahrra. I just didn’t realize he would be so big, close up.”

Jahrra snorted a laugh and Dathian and Senton joined her.

The next few weeks passed by quickly. Jahrra’s history class was starting to broach subjects that she didn’t have any knowledge in yet, the concepts in her math class were becoming easier to grasp, and Anthar was taking his class on more and more field trips. One fine afternoon he even had them meet at the docks. From there they took a large sailing vessel out into the bay to search for fisher hawks, kelp trowp, and starglow sea pixies.

“Now, the kelp trowp are normally found in the kelp forests of the coast and open sea but since Lidien Bay is so large there are a few isolated schools here,” Anthar told them, his voice carrying over the lap of the water against the boat and the sharp snap of the wind whipping the sails.

“The starglow sea pixies are even harder to find, for they are small and elusive. The only reason we have them here in the bay is because of Felldreim’s magic. Otherwise, you’ll only find them in the warm waters of Torinn.”

Jahrra listened intently, jotting down notes in her journal as their professor spoke. The breeze was salty and cool, the essence of fall permeating the air. The waters of the bay spread out far around them, deep blue and crystal bright on the surface.

“Look! Over there!” someone shouted, holding up a pair of binoculars and pointing to a crop of pines clinging to the edge of the far shore. “A fisher hawk!”

Jahrra spun around in her excitement, and she would have fallen overboard if it hadn’t been for Dathian’s gentle hands grabbing her shoulders and steadying her. She blushed in embarrassment, murmuring her thanks as he gave her a short bow no one else seemed to notice.

Feeling slightly flustered, she untangled her binoculars from her neck and held them up. There, on the top of one of the trees perched an eagle, a glimmering fish clutched in its talons.

“Ah, wonderful!” Anthar said, his hooves thumping against the wooden deck. “Look at its coloring, beautiful! And look closely at its middle toe; shorter than the others so that it might grasp its prey better.”

Jahrra did, trying to memorize every detail from its rusty colored neck and legs to its brown wings, black tail and cream body. She gazed at it until it flew off to find a less open perch in order to finish its meal. Quickly, Jahrra sketched it in her journal, writing down every detail when she was finished.

“You sure take this class seriously, Jahrra,” Senton almost grumbled next to her.

She blinked up in surprise, blowing strands of hair out of her face. “Oh, I guess I just like wildlife.”

She shrugged as Senton turned to look out over the bay again. She sensed something was wrong in her friend’s stance, but she couldn’t place what exactly it was. Maybe he didn’t like being on a boat. No, that couldn’t be it. She chewed on the end of her pencil as she studied his back. He hadn’t seemed himself these past few weeks, maybe even longer than that. Jahrra couldn’t quite put her finger on it but it was as if he’d learned some new secret about her that made him uncomfortable because his normal, amiable personality seemed to have faded. She heaved a sigh, filling her lungs with salty air, and released it. She would worry about Senton’s odd behavior later.

On their way back to the dock, Anthar reminded them all to be on their best behavior that long weekend while they enjoyed the delights of the Sobledthe festival.

“I will be out and about so remember, if any of you are planning any shenanigans I very well may see you in the act.”

He gave them all a harsh glance that Jahrra knew wasn’t all that serious, so she didn’t try too hard to hide her grin.

“So, we’re meeting in the main plaza of the University tomorrow at noon to go shopping, right?” Torrell asked as they finished up with archery practice that afternoon.

Jahrra nodded, barely able to keep the look of glee off her face. She wondered if Lidien had a scavenger hunt like Lensterans but thought it might be wise not to take part, after what happened the last time.

On their way home, Jahrra asked her friends if they had made costumes for the festival.

“Costumes are for the children,” Torrell said matter-of-factly.

Jahrra inclined her head, only slightly disappointed to hear such news, but she didn’t have anything to wear that might even resemble a costume so the four of them decided to use their day off tomorrow to purchase masks.

At noon the next day Jahrra met her three friends on the plaza below Emehriel Hall. From there they wandered out into the main part of Lidien, finding a quaint little store only a few blocks away from campus that had been set up specifically for the upcoming harvest festival. It was overflowing with costumes, magical charms, trinkets and a whole assortment of autumn decorations.

“How about this one?” Senton said once they were inside the shop, holding up a mask that resembled a grotesque goblin.

Jahrra had been looking at some small spell books, but when she turned to see what Senton was talking about she nearly cried out in terror. The mask he held was dark red and chillingly resembled the demon she had seen in the nightmares she’d had after her parents’ deaths.

Dathian had been just behind her, catching her as she nearly fell over in her shock.

The elf cast Senton a perturbed look. “Are you trying to be funny?”

Senton dropped the mask, his face slightly flushed. In embarrassment or anger, Jahrra couldn’t tell.

“No,” he spluttered. “I was just wondering if she liked it, but apparently she doesn’t.”

He sounded indignant and Dathian’s grip on Jahrra’s arms as he held her up was becoming uncomfortable. All of a sudden she felt unbearably foolish. Clearing her throat, she regained her balance and placed a hand on Dathian’s arm.

“Thank you,” she said, then turned to face Senton. “I’m sorry, Senton, I know you weren’t being mean. It’s just, I used to have nightmares, and that mask . . .”

Senton looked down at it, his grey eyes growing wide. Quickly, he thrust it behind his back.

“I’m sorry, Jahrra!” he said, his face flushing anew.

Torrell eyed them from the corner of the shop, her eyebrow arched in keen interest. Jahrra felt mildly uncomfortable, for her other friend seemed to watch them as a magician might watch the progress of his potion in a cauldron.

“How about these then,” she said, whipping her arm around from behind her back, four masks, all of a different color, hanging from strings she had looped around her index finger.

“Two of them are a little more feminine than the others, so Jahrra and I will wear those ones.”

“Yes. Fine. Let’s get them,” Jahrra said, taking hers from Torrell without even looking at it and walking to the counter.

Senton and Dathian were the first to leave the shop, Dathian as casual as ever, Senton still looking a little wound up from the mask incident. Jahrra moved to follow them, but Torrell’s arm blocking the doorway stopped her short. Blinking up at her, Jahrra opened her mouth to make a protest but her friend beat her to it.

“So, what’s with the love triangle?”

Whatever Jahrra was going to say crashed into the back of her throat on its way out.

“What?!” she managed after a long moment.

“You. Dathian. Senton. What’s going on there?”

Torrell didn’t sound angry, she never sounded angry, only curious.

“I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”

And that was the truth; Jahrra didn’t. She knew that Senton had been acting strange of late but she never thought it might be what Torrell was suggesting.

Torrell moved her arm and crossed it over the other one, leaning against the door frame and plastering Jahrra with one of her demanding looks.

“You mean you haven’t noticed how Senton has been a little more aware of you these past several weeks, or that Dathian has been the first one to rush to your rescue if you are in trouble?”

Jahrra bristled. “No one has rushed to my rescue! How ridiculous, I haven’t been in any trouble!”

Torrell examined her fingernails. “On the boat, when you almost fell overboard, and now, when that mask frightened you. Dathian was there to make sure you were alright.”

Jahrra opened her mouth to argue, but then paused. Ethoes above, she was right. But it wasn’t what she, or even Senton, thought. Several weeks back, Jaax had made the entire Coalition swear, to Jahrra’s great chagrin, to keep an extra eye on her whenever they were in her company. And Dathian, being the honorable elf that he was, had taken the oath very seriously. He had no romantic interest in her; she knew that for a fact. But if Senton did? And if he was interpreting Dathian’s overly protective actions as Torrell had . . .

Jahrra groaned and covered her face with her hands.

“Uh huh,” Torrell said. “The kindest thing would be to tell which of them you prefer so the other can move on.”

Jahrra shot her eyes up to meet her friend’s.

“I don’t prefer either of them!” she hissed. “I mean, yes, I like Dathian and Senton immensely, they are my friends, but not in
that
way. Please Torrell, you have to believe me. Think about it from my perspective. Dathian’s an elf, and Senton is Resai. And I’m human. Even if that wasn’t the issue there is still the fact that I will be moving on one day, to face down the Crimson King. I don’t have time for, for romance.”

Jahrra felt strange talking about this for she never really had a reason to before now. She had always had more pressing things on her mind.

Torrell merely shrugged. “Maybe I’m wrong, but I doubt it.”

Jahrra groaned again. The last thing she needed was this mess. She didn’t want to lose Dathian’s or Senton’s friendship, but she was afraid that if her friend was correct she might not have a choice.

“Well, let’s just see how it plays out, okay? I don’t want this ruining our Sobledthe holiday,” Torrell said with a pat on Jahrra’s back.

Jahrra merely scowled at her.

“Then why bring it up at all?” she mumbled.

Torrell’s dark face cracked in a wide grin. “Because you were completely clueless. At least now you can be prepared if anything does happen, like if Senton starts taking a swing at Dathian. The boy has made vast improvements in his fighting skills but Dathian is still much better than any of us.”