The Awakening (30 page)

Jaax smiled, any last traces of worry melting away. “Of course Neira, but if you’ll excuse me for a moment,” he nodded to both of them and disappeared down the hallway to his rooms.

“Oh, that reminds me!” she squawked, hands to her cheeks. “Presents!”

The housemaid disappeared through the kitchen door in a flurry of gray skirts, leaving Jahrra to stare at the fire once more.

An hour later the three of them were lounging around the great room, the meal finished and the fire whispering as the wood burned down to coals. Jahrra returned to her stuffed chair, Jaax reclined in his customary corner, and Neira sat upon the large couch in the center of the room.

Finally, the housemaid cleared her throat. “I wasn’t able to spend much but I wanted to get each of you something for the holidays.”

“Neira, you didn’t need to get us anything,” Jaax chastised gently.

Jahrra silently agreed.

Neira merely tsked as she handed Jaax a large box and Jahrra something smaller wrapped in tissue paper. Curious, Jahrra carefully pulled the paper away to reveal a small oil painting. She nearly dropped it in surprise as her eyes widened and filled with tears. It was an image of Phrym, standing proud and gazing through the picture frame with curious, smoky eyes.

“Oh Neira,” she whispered, clutching the picture close. “However did you manage this?”

The maid merely smiled. “A young friend of mine is studying to become an artist and he owed me a favor,” she said nonchalantly.

“Thank you,” Jahrra said, hugging the picture as if it were the real thing. Now she would be able to see Phrym every day, hanging on the wall of her room.

For Jaax she had ordered a large box of candied fruit Jahrra had seen him keep on his desk in his study. The dragon grinned and looked up at his housekeeper.

“I’ll be set for a whole year now. Thank you, Neira.”

Again, she brushed aside the gratitude aimed her way.

“I hope what I picked out measures up,” Jaax said, nodding to a large bundle wrapped in brown paper. “And for you, Jahrra.”

He indicated a long, narrow box wrapped in gold, topped with a ribbon.

Swallowing, Jahrra stood up and headed for the box, taking Neira’s gift and depositing it in her lap along the way. She had somehow lost the ability to speak for the time being. She lifted up the box, starting at its weight, and wove her way back to her chair. Before she went about the business of opening Jaax’s gift to her, she picked up the wooden box and walked over to her guardian.

The dragon gave her a curious look.

Jahrra managed a smile. “You didn’t think I’d forget about you?”

Her voice sounded meek to her own ears but before she thought too much about it, she bumbled on, “I mean, I know I forgot about you all the years before, that is,” Jahrra bit her cheek before she could finish the mess she had started.

She took another deep breath, never looking at her guardian’s face, and lifted the box up again.

“I hope this makes up for all the times I forgot,” she said, then added, “I hope you like it.”

The shift in weight of the box in her hands was her only indication that Jaax had accepted the gift. Jahrra turned and escaped back to her chair before he could respond to her strange dialogue. She busied herself with unwrapping the golden box. When she finally pulled the lid away Jahrra was overcome with another bout of shock.

It was a sword, a perfect, brand-new, never once a hand-me-down sword. Jahrra vaguely heard Jaax say something about her needing a real, serviceable weapon as she ran a finger down the cool, smooth steel. It was plain with a leather-wrapped hilt and steel cross guard, but the leather was dark blue and a blood rose was engraved in the pommel. Jahrra lifted it up carefully and sighed at the feel of its comfortable weight in her hand. It was balanced perfectly and it wasn’t too heavy either. Below the sword was a matching scabbard and belt.

When Jahrra finally looked up from her daze, she glanced over at Neira who was beaming at her while clasping her new bonnet over her head.

“And look what Jaax got me,” she declared as she picked up the corner of a piece of fabric and trailed it over her lap. “Several yards of that beautiful pattern I had been eying for months! Now I can make myself a new dress. And I think it will go with my new bonnet too!”

Jahrra smiled, then without thinking, looked over at her guardian. Just as quickly, her smile disappeared. He wasn’t scowling at her or glancing at Neira. No, he wasn’t looking at anyone at all. Jahrra followed his gaze downward and spotted the carved wooden box at his feet, its lid thrown open. Her heart nearly stopped in her chest. He had opened her present, it seemed. His face was still, neither smiling nor frowning, and Jahrra was certain she had detected more movement in her painting of Phrym.

When her heart decided to start working again it sank all the way to the tips of her toes. He hated it. Jaax was appalled with her gift. Of course he would be; what kind of a dragon wore jewelry? Jahrra kicked herself mentally, trying to convince herself that the tears she felt prickling her eyes were a result of her painting and sword. But really, if she was being truly honest with herself, they were the remains of bitter disappointment. How could she have misjudged her guardian so terribly? This only proved how little she knew him, even after spending months as his ward. How could he always know what she would like, but she couldn’t even pick out a Solsticetide gift for him without messing it up?

She wished she could claim tiredness and dart up the stairs to the sanctuary of her room but that wasn’t possible.

“Raejaax, what did Jahrra get for you?” Neira’s kind voice shattered Jahrra’s despair like a stone through glass.

Slowly, he scooped a claw into the box and brought the ring out into the light of the fire and what candles had not burned themselves out on the walls.

Jahrra cringed and started curling up into a ball. He was afraid to touch it.

Neira gasped as the firelight glinted off of the stone, scattering reflections of its blue and green facets across the room.

“Is that a
spirit stone
?!” she gasped in wonder as she cast her large brown eyes onto Jahrra. “Oh Jahrra, what a gift!”

Too bad she hadn’t had the ring made for Neira. The pure wonder and awe in her voice proved how much
she
appreciated it.

Finally, Jahrra faced her fears and glanced up at Jaax. He no longer looked at the ring but right at her, and if she didn’t know any better, she would have said his eyes were shining. It was such an unusual look from Jaax that she didn’t know what to do. He no longer seemed to be treating the ring as if it were a month-dead skunk. Instead, he turned it on the tip of his middle finger, examining it closely.

“Did you design this yourself Jahrra?” he finally said, his voice so quiet she had barely noticed it.

“Yes,” she answered back, just as quietly, still curled up in her chair.

He slipped the ring onto his finger and Jahrra watched in amazement as the stone flashed once before the metal of the ring seemed to glow as it grew, stone and all, slightly smaller to fit snuggly on his middle toe. Jahrra smiled, despite herself. Jaax may not think it was the greatest gift in the world but he was wearing it, and its design and colors did seem to fit him so well.

The dragon caught her eyes again and said, “No one has ever given me something as wonderful as this Jahrra.”

His words warmed her, but sent a chill down her spine nonetheless. This was the best gift he had ever received? Truly? Jahrra was torn between being proud of her purchase and saddened by the fact that, despite Jaax’s age, he had never felt as touched by an act of kindness as he claimed to feel now. Jahrra shook her head and focused on the real issue at hand. He liked her gift. He didn’t hate it.

She smiled up at him, slowly uncurling from her defensive position.

“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know how you afforded such a gift on the allowance I give you, but I will not ask.”

Jahrra blanched then relaxed. That was a close one, and a first. She beamed even more brightly. He must really like the ring if he was going to forget it cost a small fortune when he’d only given her a fraction of such a sum in the seven months they’d been in Lidien.

Eventually the fire died down and Jahrra grew tired. After the awe and excitement of their gift exchange had worn off, they spent the next few hours telling Solstice stories, with Neira pulling out a small stringed instrument she strummed along with the tales of old. Around midnight, Jahrra found that she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. Neira nodded agreement and shuffled off to the kitchen as Jahrra scooped up her sword and portrait of Phrym and headed towards the hallway. As she placed her foot on the first step she heard someone call out her name.

Freezing, she turned to find Jaax only a few feet away from her. She glanced down, her emotions still feeling raw for some reason about the spirit ring, and found herself looking at said ring, resting nicely on her guardian’s right foot. The tiny speck of red near the center of the stone winked brightly and then faded again. Jahrra blinked and shook her head, deciding it was her imagination.

“Thank you for the sword,” she blurted in order to fill the awkward silence.

Jaax merely smiled. “A sword can be created with mere steel and labor,” he answered. “But a spirit stone comes from the heart.”

Jahrra shrugged, not knowing what to say. Jaax lowered his head so that she was forced to look him in the eye.

“I will treasure this always,” he lifted the foot with the ring, “for it is proof that you finally trust me.”

With that, he turned and slowly walked back down the dark hallway, disappearing through the door to his study.

Jahrra merely stared after him as if someone had punched her in the stomach. Of course she trusted Jaax; she had for a long time. But hadn’t he known that? Apparently not, for he just admitted as much. And how did giving him a ring for Solsticetide prove she trusted him?

Sighing, Jahrra turned back around and climbed the stairs. Her brain was too overworked to do much thinking tonight so she quickly slipped into her night clothes and fell into bed, hardly registering the touch of her pillow against her cheek before she was asleep.

-
Chapter Seventeen
-

A Misunderstanding and a an Apology to Match

Two days after Solsticetide Jahrra was still slightly befuddled by Jaax’s reaction to her gift, but today she was determined to forget all about the inner workings of her guardian’s mind. It was her birthday after all and she wanted a day free of conundrums. Unfortunately, her over-active mind didn’t feel the same way. Her memory of the run-in with the saffron-haired Mystic from a few weeks earlier was being particularly stubborn. Like a spider web she had walked through, the details of that day in the Witching District continued to stick to her no matter how many strands she managed to pull off. If she ever saw the woman again, or her korehv for that matter, she wouldn’t leave their sight until she got some answers.

Thoughts of Kehllor also sprang up fresh for some odd reason. A pang of guilt had hit her the other day when something Jaax said reminded her of the younger Tanaan dragon. She hadn’t seen him since Sobledthe nearly a month ago. Well, she had seen him at the handful of Coalition meetings she tried not to sleep through, but she never was able to catch him outside of Essyel Auditorium for a chat. She had promised herself she would somehow wean him away from Shiroxx, yet she’d been so distracted by school and nervous over the spirit stone ring that she had put her grand plans aside and had completely forgotten about the golden dragon.

A soft knock at the door invaded her reverie. At first she thought it was her imagination but the knock came again, this time with a greeting.

“Jahrra? Are you awake?”

Jahrra breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Neira had rescued her from her scattered thoughts. “I’m awake,” she responded, rubbing her face and yawning. “You can come in.”

Neira opened the door with her usual gentle grace, balancing a rather sizeable box on her forearms.

“What’s that?” Jahrra asked, standing from her chair and forgetting her musings for now.

Neira grinned brightly. “Why, your birthday present from your guardian of course!”

Jahrra froze and then felt her stomach churn with caution. It suddenly occurred to her what sorts of things came in boxes of this size and shape.

“What?” she said in a harsh whisper, glancing inquiringly at the woman beside her.

“I had to keep it secret,” the maid replied, faltering just a bit. “Raejaax insisted that I not say a word to you until this very moment. He wanted to surprise you.”

Jahrra groaned. Surprises from Jaax were never good.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Neira said, keeping a cap on the excitement in her voice.

Jahrra took a deep breath and reined in her own anxiety about what she knew she would find inside. “You know, you could tell him that the sword was enough. I don’t need a Solsticetide gift and a birthday gift.”

Neira brushed Jahrra’s comment aside with a lady-like snort. “Oh please!” she said, “It’s not as if you are a child anymore. You’re eighteen today, practically a woman! That deserves a separate gift.”

Jahrra gritted her teeth and tried to see things from Neira’s point of view. No, it was still a little bit excessive, she thought, but the look in the maid’s eyes implored her to treat the wrapped box as if it was everything Jahrra had been hoping for upon waking that morning.

Biting her cheek she took the end of the ribbon with one hand and undid the bow. She stopped for a moment, not wanting to continue.

“Oh, come on now! I’m dying to see it! Master Jaax wouldn’t even let me look at it when I went to pick it up yesterday. Made me swear up and down. He was afraid I’d tell you before this morning!”

Jahrra closed her eyes and held her breath. She lifted the lid of the box and pulled it off. Neira gasped in feminine appreciation.

“Oh, Jahrra, it’s beautiful!” She sounded almost envious, if Neira was capable of such a selfish emotion.

Jahrra braved a glance and dropped the lid of the box in numb surprise. It was a dress, as she had guessed, but it wasn’t at all what she had been expecting.

Neira pulled it out of the box, unfolding it as she did so, and draped it across the bed. The few gowns that Jaax had insisted on ordering for her important appointments and meetings with the Coalition were made of fine materials, but simple and unadorned. In her opinion: practical. The dress sitting in the box that perched upon the edge of her bed was nothing like the others. The skirts were twice as full and the cool teal fabric was thick and lustrous, like seaweed dancing just below the surface of a sun-gilded sea. The bodice matched the rich fabric of the overskirt, a swirling pattern of gold embroidery against pale turquoise and embellished with tiny glass beads. The sleeves, made from the same fabric as the underskirt, were loose and long with cuffs that tied at her wrists.

It was an elegant piece of clothing, far more grand than anything Jahrra had ever owned, and she found herself admiring it more than she would like to admit.
I think
, she said to her innermost self, the part of herself that was always honest,
I just might wear this overly ornate dress without being asked by Jaax or some other important diplomat.

“That dragon sure knows how to meet your standards,” Neira said, her attention still on the dress.

Jahrra gave her a wavering look but shrugged the comment off. She felt suddenly odd standing there in her night clothes, her hair a mess and her face pale. Going against her usual instincts she held the dress up in front of her, as if seeing what it would look like if she were to wear it. Her arms prickled in goose bumps against her will. When did she start liking fine dresses? She shook her head. It must be a result of her lack of sleep and her over worked mind.

As she admired the rich colors and the fine needlework on the bodice in the faint candlelight, another thought managed to break through her muddled brain. Why had Jaax bought the dress in the first place? She knew it was for her birthday, of course, but why a dress? He knew she was slightly averted to them, maybe not as much as she had been when she was younger, but she still preferred tunics and pants. And it didn’t matter that this dress seemed to finally be winning her over to the frilly garments. Did he expect her to go around in them from now on? Jahrra snorted to herself, drawing an unusual look from Neira as she kneeled to light the fire.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Neira said, slapping a hand to her forehead and dropping an armful of kindling. “You are to be bathed and dressed and ready to go an hour before sunset.”

Jahrra started from her contemplative stance. “What?” she sputtered.

Neira grinned as she dusted her hands free of dirt, then folded the dress neatly into the box, replacing the lid with a soft
thlunk
. “Raejaaxorix told me to tell you.”

“Why doesn’t he tell me himself?” Jahrra gritted.

What was he up to? She had nothing against surprises, truly, she didn’t, but the types of surprises she’d been experiencing lately weren’t the most joyful of events. And she especially feared surprises from Jaax. Did this have anything to do with the spirit stone?

Jahrra felt suddenly nervous. Had he lied? Did he just tell her he liked it? Or worse, had he done some investigating yesterday only to discover where Jahrra had purchased the ring? Had the jeweler told him how much she spent? Jahrra’s stomach churned.

“He wouldn’t tell me. Like the dress, it’s all a big secret,” Neira rattled off as she returned to the fireplace.

Jahrra sank onto the bed. She hated it when Jaax got like this.

“I might have plans,” she said. “My friends might want to take me out. It is my eighteenth birthday after all.”

Torrell had offered to take her out to lunch later but she had declined, knowing that her friend’s extended family was still in town. Instead, Jahrra planned to go riding along one of the trails just outside of the city walls.

“Just make sure that whatever you do it gets done in time for you to be ready this afternoon,” Neira responded in her usual cheerful way as she gathered a bundle of dirty clothes to take to the laundry.

Jahrra groaned and fell back onto the bed. Why did Jaax have to make everything so difficult? And why didn’t he just tell her all this yesterday afternoon before he’d left for some business meeting last night?
So I couldn’t tell him no
, Jahrra told herself bitterly. If she refused to follow along now it would make Neira look bad since the housemaid would consider it her specific duty to follow through with Jaax’s orders.

Grumbling, Jahrra got dressed and decided to make use of the morning. She spent most of the day as she had planned: riding Phrym along the horse trails in the wooded areas just outside Lidien’s walls. By the time she and her semequin had their fill of the fine winter weather she returned him to his stable and began her walk back home, noting that the sun was low in the western sky.

Neira was waiting for her when she walked through the door.

“Oh, thank goodness!” she chirped, taking Jahrra by the shoulders and directing her up the stairs. “I was worried you might have decided to disobey your guardian.”

Jahrra tried not to be irritated at the assumption. After all, she hadn’t fought with Jaax in weeks, if not months, but tonight just might bring out the old rebel in her once again. She had tried all afternoon not to be annoyed at the whole situation. Jaax hadn’t ordered her to do anything in such a long time that she had thought the arrogant side of him had finally been appeased.

They breached the top of the stairs and turned down the hallway and headed towards the washroom. Upon entering, Jahrra noticed that the copper tub was already half full of steaming water. Despite her reluctance at the idea of getting ready, Jahrra was eager for a bath.

Neira left to attend to house chores while Jahrra relaxed in the hot, soapy water. Halfway through her bath she heard the approach of a small party and the quiet chatter of voices.

Wrapping a towel around herself, Jahrra crept into the hallway and peered out one of the open windows facing the patio. She caught a glimpse of her guardian standing in front of the house, nodding his head at what looked like a group of elvin and Resai men. Jahrra thought the diplomats sounded urgent, as if they were pleading with Jaax about one thing or another. They rocked on their feet nervously, their long cloaks sweeping over the crushed gravel of the drive, several of them wringing their hands with imploring looks in their eyes. Jahrra wondered what they wanted.

“I cannot spare any more time for this issue tonight, gentlemen.” Jaax’s voice rose enough for Jahrra to hear him. “I have important plans this evening and I cannot cancel them for any reason. Perhaps we can meet in the morning?”

Jahrra caught a glimpse of a weak nod from who she assumed was the group’s spokesperson.

“Don’t worry,” Jaax reassured the group, “your concern is valid and you have good reason for it, but I assure you nothing will come of it during the night. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am already late for my next appointment.”

The men ducked their heads in gratitude and then gathered themselves together, walking back down the lane in quiet discussion. Jahrra returned to the wash room and tried to relax back into her bath, but the urgency of the men’s muffled voices worried her. Was there really a problem? Or did everyone consider their problem to be of utmost importance and in need of the earliest remedy? Jahrra popped one of the bath bubbles and told herself that if there truly was an emergency, Jaax would take care of it as he always did. The issue, whatever it was, must not be all that imperative.

Finally, the water grew too tepid to enjoy. Checking to make sure she was entirely clean, Jahrra stepped out of the tub and wrapped herself in her towel once again as she headed to her own room down the hall. Her damp feet left footprints on the pale stone floor as she moved quietly to her bed. Using one hand to secure the towel, she reached out and fingered the shimmery dress that Neira had laid out for her. She didn’t know why she liked this garment so much when before she had hated dresses with a passion.
Perhaps it’s because I’m getting older
, she mused.
Or maybe I know that I can still wear my other clothes and not just dresses.

The sound of the door swinging open startled her. She quickly stood rigid, wheeling around to find Neira holding two more boxes. The woman grinned broadly and stepped forward.

“The rest of your birthday present,” she said gently.

Jahrra blinked in surprise. This was all supposed to be for her birthday? Then she remembered the conversation she’d heard from the window. Jaax had told the men below that he had an important meeting that could not be cancelled tonight. Jahrra was certain it would include her, hadn’t Neira said so earlier? Was Jaax trying to make up for whatever he was going to drag her to tonight by buying her gifts? Jahrra suddenly felt ill. She didn’t like that conclusion; it meant that whatever business Jaax had tonight would be excruciatingly tedious.

Sighing, she slumped on the bed next to her beautiful dress, clutching the towel closely. Neira came forward with the boxes, setting them on her desk instead.

“Why so forlorn?” Neira asked, taking a seat next to Jahrra.

“I thought I’d met everyone of importance already. I hate being taken before dignitaries and clan elders and the like and flaunted like some all-powerful weapon,” she admitted.