Avian (The Dragonrider Chronicles) (7 page)

“Daddy took Momma to see the doctor this morning. She was having pains all night,” she said finally. “So I have a little time to think it over. They probably won’t get back until late this afternoon.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“I thought we could go to the beach.” She smiled a little and came in to plop down on the edge of the bed. “So hurry up and get dressed!”

I noticed she was already wearing something she could swim in. It was a white cotton dress that came to her knees with no sleeves and little purple flowers stitched on it. She had sandals on her feet made out of knotted strips of cloth, and her long hair was hanging in two loose braids down her back.

I threw off the blankets and started rummaging around for my shoes. I didn’t have anything to wear other than what I had on. I definitely didn’t have anything that was made for swimming, but I figured I could make it work.

While I was hurrying through lacing up my boots, Beckah came crawling across the bed. Before I knew it, she was braiding my hair. I could just imagine what Felix would’ve said if he could see me sitting there with a girl fixing my hair.

“It’s gotten so long,” she said. I could hear the smile in her voice.

It made me really nervous to have her touching me like that. She’d always seemed fascinated by my hair. Human men usually kept their hair cut short, and mine had gotten very long over the past few months.

“My mom wanted me to keep it like this.” I told her.

She kept tugging on my hair, winding it down into a long braid before she finally tied it off on the end. “Is that something all gray elves do?”

“Yeah,” I said as I looked back at her. “Having long hair is one of their sacred traditions. Different tribes do different things, like weave beads into it for every year of life or major accomplishment. It’s a symbol of pride.”

She smiled at me and gave my braid a playful yank. “Okay then, Mr. Pride, let’s go to the beach.”

I helped Beckah carry a quilt, a bag of snacks, and a few towels back down the winding path that led across the dunes toward the beach. Eddy went with us with his tail wagging the whole way. He ran on ahead and barked like crazy while he chased flocks of seagulls.

The sun was warm on my back as we worked together to spread out the quilt. We anchored down the corners with rocks so the wind wouldn’t blow it away. The sand was so soft and clean that it literally squeaked when we walked on it. We sat together on the quilt, taking off our shoes, and talking about everything that had happened since we’d last seen each other. I was so busy telling her about all the new pieces of furniture I wanted to make that I didn’t notice she was packing together a ball of sand in her palm—until she threw it and hit me right in the face.

Beckah took off running into the waves, laughing wildly, and I chased after her. We spent all day in the surf and sun, chasing crabs and the little fish that darted in around our legs. She showed me how to make sandcastles by squeezing watery sand through my fist, and I let her bury me up to my waist. Beckah was a great swimmer, and she taught me how to dive down and find seashells in the deeper water. It was the most fun I’d ever had in my life.

When lunchtime came, we went back to sit on our quilt and eat some of the food she’d packed. She’d brought some leftover biscuits from breakfast stuffed with blackberry preserves, some pieces of cheese, and four huge, juicy peaches. We talked while we ate, leaning back on our elbows with our feet in the sand. Eddy was still running around, digging holes and begging us to throw a stick so he could retrieve it.

We talked about anything and everything. She wanted to know about my mom, and for once, it didn’t hurt so bad to think about that. I asked about her parents, things I knew Sile would never tell me even if I had the nerve to ask him.

“So is she going to be all right?” I asked. “Your mom, I mean. You said she was having pains.”

Beckah took a big bite out of a peach. “I don’t know. Daddy said she’s having a hard time with this baby. She’s supposed to have it any day now, but she’s been like this the whole time. She barely eats, barely sleeps, and she says she feels sick all the time. The doctor says there’s nothing more he can do. She just has to stay off her feet as much as possible and hope for the best.”

I looked down at the half-eaten peach in my hand. “I’m sorry, Beckah.”

“It’s okay. Momma’s strong. She can make it.” She got quiet for a moment while she chewed, and I could tell she wanted to change the subject. “So where are the dragons?”

I had wondered the same thing. Mavrik flashed an image of himself and Icarus sunning themselves in a grassy field, preening their scales, and basking in the warm air. I guess they’d worked out their differences, for now. “They’re close by. I think they’ve finally called a truce.”

I caught Beckah staring at me with a weird look on her face, like she was amazed. “Can you really talk to him with your mind? What does he say to you? What does he sound like?”

“He doesn’t
say
anything.” I blushed. “It’s more like pictures. He shows me things, sort of like I’m dreaming only I’m not asleep.”

“Will I be able to talk to Icarus like that?” she asked.

I shook my head a little. “I don’t know.”

Slowly, a big grin started to inch across her face. “That is
so
awesome!”

I rolled my eyes at her and laughed. “I’m glad someone else thinks so.”

She took another bite out of her peach as she lay back on the blanket. For a few minutes, she didn’t say anything and we sat there together listening to the roar and crash of the surf. It was peaceful, and I felt so calm. I didn’t want to go back to Mithangol. I didn’t even want to go back to Blybrig.

“I don’t want Icarus to leave,” she said as she lay there, wiggling her toes in the sand.

I turned to look down at her. I had sort of been expecting this, but it was still surprising to hear that she’d made that decision so suddenly. “What changed your mind?”

“You,” she said matter-of-factly. “You always make me feel braver. And I can’t help but feel like he chose me for a purpose. Maybe there’s something I’m supposed to do for him. He wouldn’t choose me for no reason, would he?”

She got quiet then, and I wasn’t sure what to say until she sat back up and nudged me with her elbow. “When you’re at the academy, do you ever get afraid? I mean, I know they do some terrible things to you during training. I’ve heard Daddy and his friends talk about it. Does it scare you?”

I had to think about that. I had been through a lot during my first year of training, a lot of new experiences and challenges I hadn’t been sure I would survive. Now everyone was telling me the worst was yet to come.

“Yes,” I answered. “But when those times come, I just try to think about something good. Good memories always give me hope—like the times I spent with my mom when I was little.”

She reached over and took my hand. Her fingers were still sticky from peach juice, but when she looked at me and smiled, it was like seeing the sunrise for the first time. There was so much warmth and hope in her eyes.

“When things get tough this year, when you start to feel afraid, I want you to think about today,” she said.

“I will,” I promised.

We packed up our stuff and started back for the house. Being in the wind and sun all morning had worn me out, even though it was the first day in months I hadn’t gone straight from bed to a grueling workout routine. My arms and legs felt heavy, but my heart was full. I’d never smiled this much before in my life. It made my cheeks hurt.

“Look! Momma’s home!” Beckah pointed excitedly to where a horse and carriage were parked in front of the house. She went running on ahead of me, tripping over herself with her braids flying.

I could see Sile helping a very fragile-looking woman out of the carriage. I had never seen his wife before, but it didn’t surprise me that she was pretty. Or at least, she might have been. Now I understood what Beckah had said about her pregnancy being hard on her.

Her belly was hugely swollen, and she was so petite that it looked like might cause her legs to break under the weight. She had dark, reddish brown hair and soft blue eyes. Her skin looked almost ashen, and her cheeks looked sunken. Sile handled her like she was made of glass, easing her down the steps from the carriage to the ground.

When she saw me, Mrs. Derrick paused. Our eyes met, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t know how she’d react, or how much Sile had actually told her about me. She leaned a little closer to her husband and whispered something, Sile nodded, and then, very slowly, she started to smile.

It made me stop because when she smiled, even though she basically looked like she might collapse at any moment, I could see how much Beckah favored her. They had that same familiar gentleness in their eyes. She curled a finger at me to call me closer.

I went toward them hesitantly, not sure if I was allowed to talk to her. Sile was eyeing me over again like he was still looking for some sign of growth. I hated to keep disappointing him.

“He’s absolutely darling,” Mrs. Derrick said. She had a very soft, breathy voice.

“It’s good to meet you, ma’am.” I stopped a few feet away from her, and was about to bow… but she took a few hobbling steps toward me and put her hands on my cheeks. They felt cold to the touch, which was a little disturbing.

“Aren’t you just the cutest thing? Like a little lamb,” she crooned. “Such good manners. You should thank your mother for that every night in your prayers. Only mothers teach such good behavior to their little boys.”

I was beyond embarrassed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Beckah giggling at me, and Sile was rolling his eyes.

“Don’t patronize him, dear. He’s seventeen now, right? Not a kid anymore,” Sile said. He was at least trying to defend my masculinity. I couldn’t thank him enough for that.

“A-actually, I’m sixteen, sir,” I stammered.

“Sixteen is hardly a grown man, Sile. Look at him. Such a sweet little boy.” Mrs. Derrick gave my cheeks a tug before she let me go. “It looks like you’ve both had too much sun this morning. Beck, dear, you’re as red as a cherry. Come inside and help me get settled. We should make a good supper for our guest tonight, don’t you think?”

She started trying to walk to the house, and I realized then why Sile was so intense about helping her. She could barely take a step without shaking. Her body looked incredibly weak. It was worrisome to me, and I’d only just met her. I couldn’t imagine how it must have made him feel to see her that way.

Gently, Sile took his wife by the arm and helped her up the front steps into the house. As I stood there watching them go, Beckah came up beside me and nudged me with her arm.

“I knew she’d like you.” She winked at me. “Don’t take it too hard, little lamb. It’s because she’s got babies on the brain. She talks to everyone that way.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, I guess I’ve been called worse.”

We followed them inside and Beckah took all our things to put them away. It took Sile a long time to get Mrs. Derrick settled in a big chair at the head of the dinner table. The chair was covered with blankets and cushions so she was comfortable, and he wrapped her up in a quilt carefully. I watched him kiss her forehead.

There was love between them—I could sense it. But I could also sense a lot of tension and frustration. There was something distant in their eyes when they looked at each other. I didn’t understand why. He regarded her like she was an artifact to be preserved. There wasn’t much tenderness in his expression whenever he gazed at her. It was like he was just going through the motions, doing what he knew he should because he didn’t know what else to do. And when she looked at him, it was like she wanted to say something, but didn’t know where to begin. She just seemed so lost.

Sile started making dinner while Beckah helped him. They were washing and peeling vegetables, stoking the cooking fires, and working together like a well-trained unit. They’d obviously done this before. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I felt like I should be helping, too.

“Come have a seat, dear.” Mrs. Derrick was smiling at me as she patted the chair next to her at the table. “Your name is Jaevid, isn’t it? Beckah told me all about what you did for my husband. You must be a very brave little boy.”

“He’s not a little boy, Lana. He’s about to start his avian training. He’ll be a war-hardened soldier this side of next year. Quit babying him.” Sile growled. His tone was harsher than it should have been for talking to someone as fragile as she was, but his wife didn’t seem to pay him any attention.

“You know, of all Sile’s students I’ve met, I think you must be the first one that’s ever come to visit,” she said as I sat down next to her. “You’ll make such a handsome little soldier. Honestly, those no-good rich boys that take up dragonriding these days could stand to learn a thing or two from you. They’ve never had to do an honest day’s work in their lives! They can’t appreciate how hard others have to work to get where they are.”

I wasn’t sure if it was safe to answer. Sile kept shooting us glares out of the corner of his eye. “Thank you, ma’am.” I decided that was the safest thing to say.

She reached out to brush some of my hair out of the way, just the same way Beckah had when we’d first met. She touched the pointed tips of my ears with her cold fingers. “Fate was cruel to have cursed you with mixed blood. Look there, dear, and hand me my stitching.”

She pointed to a basket sitting near the fireplace. I brought it to her and she started to take out little pieces of soft fabric, needles, and thread. While she talked to me, Mrs. Derrick sat beside me sewing baby clothes by hand. I recognized the same stitched flowers that Beckah had on her beach dress.

“You shouldn’t be worrying with that,” Sile grumbled as he filled a pot with water. “We can afford to buy clothes, Lana.”

She frowned down at her work. “Things like this should be made with love—not that you care to understand anything that’s important to me.” The sharpness in her tone startled me a little. It made things awkward immediately.

Sile glared at her, but he didn’t say anything back. It was uncomfortable. I caught Beckah looking at me with a hopeless look on her face while she was chopping carrots. She seemed so sad. It must have hurt to see her parents acting that way.