the clutch of sharys: Chapter two

Chapter 2: Family Words

Where Nepthys hollowed out the sphere in space, Sharys followed, filling it with life and creation, an endless cycle of divine purpose. 

Roughly shepherding her sister up the castle stairs at a breakneck speed, General Keti shot an icy, tight-lipped smile to anyone that passed them by. While moving, she was constantly urging Cara forward with the pressure of her hand between her shoulders, not saying a word to her and blatantly ignoring any protests until they passed through the dark wooden doors to her office.

"I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but this takes the dragon egg," Keti muttered under her breath. Using one hand to smack the door open, her sister shoved Cara into the room with the other. All it took was a quick, hard thrust to Cara's lower back to send her painfully propelled forward. 

"Were you planning on telling any of us? Or just running off and getting killed without so much as a goodbye?" Keti's voice rose as she slammed the door and began pacing around Cara, who stood with her arms crossed in the center of the room. "Thank the Godbeast I checked the roster for the Trial today, or else we'd be lucky to find your corpse weeks from now in a city gutter after worrying and searching for nights on end!" 

Keti rounded on Cara, the same hazel-green eyes she shared with her older sister flashing at her in righteous indignation. "When are you going to stop being so reckless and grow up? The Trial is not something you can just switch into doing at the last moment because you feel like being rebellious."

Cara glared at her. "I didn't just switch into doing it," she snapped, putting a sarcastic emphasis on her sister's words. "I've been planning to do this for quite a while and have been studying dragons at the Aerie for over two years. I have a good idea of what I'm dealing with, I'm fast and strong and-." 

Keti scoffed, brushing errant dark brown curls that had escaped her tight braid behind her ear. "You think because Uncle had you placed in some cushy job scooping dragon dung that you're suddenly an expert? Sister, please tell me you realize how inane that sounds."

Cara bit her lip, trying to keep a cool head. The problem with arguing with Keti was that her big sister knew just how to rile her up; what buttons to push that drove her crazy. "You're the one talking about what you don't understand, Sister," she bit out, failing to keep her tone from being combative. "Dragon keeping takes a great deal more knowledge and skill than just scooping dung, which you would know about along with my intent to take part in the Trial if you ever read any of the letters I sent you every single month for the past three years!" Cara realized she was shouting by the way her sister's eyes shot towards the door. She struggled to lower her voice as the words continued rushing out. "Don't act surprised when this ignorance is your fault." 

Keti's eyebrows slammed down as her mouth curled downwards in angry displeasure. "I will not be shamed for sacrificing personal time to complete my duties, little sister. My Loyalty is always to the Crown and Netis," Keti quoted, slapping her hand on the desk for emphasis as Cara loudly huffed in response. 

"Wrong family words, in case you've forgotten. Those are the Admiral's, and Uncle didn't give birth to us last I checked."

Her sister's lips pinched into a thin line as she looked away from Cara instead of responding, tapping a finger on her arm. A strained silence followed, deadening the room and pulling tight on the already stressed bond between them. "How are they doing?" Keti asked finally, voice pained and slightly quiet. "Do they like the new house?"

Cara fixed her with a look of disgust, shaking her head. "You would know the answer to that if you read their letter. Godbeasts, Keti, do you just burn them on sight or something?" 

Keti threw up her hands in frustration. "What do you want from me, Cara? I'm constantly occupied, and I don't have time to read and respond to every letter that crosses my desk. Every second of my day is some new paperwork or problem that I need to fix, lands that need defending in Shardcombat, and the responsibility of recruits to train for that purpose. I have my military career to focus on and very little extra time, which is why it infuriates me when I have to spend that time guessing which route my little sister would take into the castle while she is actively trying to avoid me." 

Cara made a face at Keti, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. "So what if I was trying to avoid you? I was just trying to get in quickly so I could do my duty." She threw the words back at her sister. "It's none of your business, either way, you know. I'm of age, and Netian law dictates that it is my decision as a member of the nobility whether to acquire an egg through my own means or attempt the vault to gain power." Cara gulped hard, pulling her chin up and looking her sister straight in the eyes. "Well, I've made my choice despite Uncle's plans otherwise. Neither you nor he can stop me under the laws of the crown that you serve so diligently." 

Keti looked down her perfectly sloped nose at Cara, taking several deep breaths before shaking her head. "As headstrong as our mother," she muttered, looking out the window. 

"And the better for it, considering the place she left behind," Cara shot back. 

Keti neutrally examined the cuffs of her neat black and blue overcoat for loose threads."That would be the same one she sent us back to for education, so it clearly wasn't that bad for her."

Cara tried not to jealously eye the garment that was immaculately tailored to her sister's body, a far cry from the straining shoulders and unbuttoned front of Cara's current trial jacket. "We both know what a load of dragon dung that is.”

Deeply sighing, Keti tightly turned on her heel, clasping her hands behind her back as she looked at Cara with a disappointed expression. 

"Stop that." Cara said, shifting uncomfortably, "You look like the Admiral when you stand like that, and it's just too weird."

Exhaling her annoyance, Keti broke the pose, hopping up to take a seat on her desktop and gesturing for Cara to sit in one of the round, velvet-lined chairs in front of her. 

Cara reluctantly trudged forward, preparing to throw herself down but pausing mid-motion. Looking up at her sister, she said, "I'm still not changing my mind, you know." 

Keti rolled her eyes in frustration, placing a hand solidly in the middle of Cara's forehead and shoving her back into the seat. "Just sit down, brat."

Cara swatted at the offending limb as she sank back into the chair, her efforts only earning her a quick slap to the wrist from her sister's quick reflexes. Nursing her sore hand, Cara glared at Keti, who matched it back with one of her own dirty looks, the two sisters staring daggers at one another in silent combat.

"Listen here, you petulant beast," Keti spoke first. "What you've gotten yourself into is dangerous. People regularly die in this Trial, Cara, often because they're unprepared, soft lordlings who get used as Faded bait." 

Cara opened her lips to respond, indignance filling her chest with a wave of warm anger. 

The General cut her off, continuing her rant. "Just because you've worked with some high-ranking dragons still fully bonded to their riders at an upscale aerie does not mean you are ready to take on the Vault. There isn't a dragon alive in there below Face Card rank, and as if their power wasn't enough, they're Faded, Cara. They're outside of the Seal." Keti impatiently hopped up, walking around behind her desk as the heels of her black boots cut an agitated rhythm across the brownstone floor of the office. 

She laid her hands on the dark wood that matched the room’s framing, leaning forward as a dark lock of hair swept a curl up her cheek. "There is no rider to stop them from attacking you, no Seal of Sharys stopping their flames or fangs from harming you, nothing to protect you except whatever little experience you have coaxing non-feral dragons to do fancy tricks." 

Cara scoffed, leaning backward and shrugging. "Please, I would've thought that the Great General Keti would know silly child's tales when she heard them. Just because dragons become faded when their riders die doesn't mean they just automatically lose all sense and become feral." 

Keti lowered her head, shaking it back and forth slightly as she exhaled. "You foolish girl." Pushing herself up, Keti stalked back over to the large, round glass window at the back of her study, overlooking the graceful copper scaled beast napping in the afternoon sun outside. "There is more than one way for a Dragon and Rider to fade," the General said, her voice soft enough that Cara had to lean forward to catch her words. 

"If a dragon attacks a human or commits a malicious attack against anyone using their magic with deadly intent, they lose their power. They exist outside of the safety of the seal until the end of their days and more often than not are hunted down and slain like the beasts they become." 

Cara shifted slightly, annoyed that her sister was lecturing her on basic principles. 

"Netian law requires all Face Card dragons of the royal family to be retired to the vault, Cara. All of them." The General's black booted foot began tapping a rhythm against the stone floor. 

Inwardly flinching at the grating noise, Cara kept her mouth shut, waiting for the inevitable continuation of her sister's lecture. 

"Are you listening to me?" Keti asked, giving her a sharp look. 

Cara shrugged, wiggling a hand in the air to signify "More or less." 

Letting out a groan of frustration, Keti crossed the room, squatting in front of the chair and grabbing Cara's hands. "Listen to me. Get your head out of the clouds and focus for once." She squeezed, her grip strong. 

"There are more than a few dragons in Netian history that got the taste for violence and human flesh, and whose riders thought that because of their family's power they were above suffering consequences. These dragons will hunt the participants there for sport rather than to defend the eggs like the other beasts. If you're still going to do this, you had best pray to Sharys you don't cross their paths." 

Cara shrugged, tugging her hands away."Yes, Keti, because when I find a Faded dragon in the vault, I'll have time to pause and look at it before going 'Hmmm, I wonder if you're one of the ones that likes to eat me.'" 

Keti looked down at the floor, lips pinched as a vein in her forehead pulsed in annoyance. After a few moments of silence, Keti spoke, her voice an indistinct murmur. "You'll know them by the scars. They love to fight and keep their instincts sharp, so they quarrel with whoever they can find, or more often, among themselves." She sputtered, and Cara drew back slightly to look her in the eyes. 

"Did the great General just break a rule? You're not supposed to talk about what takes place in the Trial." She whispered delightfully, her voice teasing. 

Keti glared at her and shook her head. "I'm just warning you and telling you a bit of what every single other noble child has no doubt been fully briefed about what to expect. I doubt any of the families hesitate to give their candidates every advantage possible." She waved at the air with the back of her hand dismissively before refocusing, her face growing hard once more. "You need to take this seriously. It's not an exaggeration when I say that people die or worse, Cara."

"I know, I-'' Cara almost got out before Keti's voice overpowered her once more, sending flashes of fiery anger through Cara's chest. 

"Not just die, they get disfigured or worse they...they… people get hurt, Cara. This isn't a game, it's a gamble for power, and more likely than not, the payoff won't be worth the cost."

Cara leaned slightly to the side, looking pointedly around Keti and out at the sleeping dragon on the balcony. "Ooh, did you tell Plythia you felt that way? She must've been crushed to hear it." 

Keti gave Cara a look, shooting daggers out of her eyes. "That's enough joking, Cara. What do I need to do to get you to be serious here?"

“I am serious. I'm just trying to relieve the tension." She looked up at her sister through her eyelashes, an idea forming in the back of her mind. "Would you happen to remember where the portal home you used was in the Vault?" She babbled, hurtling the words out, "It would help me form a plan. That or any layouts you remember."

An odd expression flashing across her face, Keti drew away, crossing her arms and changing her glare to an expression of disdain. "Do I look like your gossipy best friend? That information is highly confidential and not for me to tell my little sister because she doesn't want to do the work once she's inside. The portals are as wild as you are." 

"Excuse me for asking for help." Cara resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "But that's not the case and you know as well as I do that I don't have any gossipy friends." She paused, silently adding "Or really that many at all." 

Cara had friends from childhood, of course, but most of them had been the children of servants. Once they had been moved to her uncle's however, any contact with 'lesser classes' was immediately cut off. Not that all the nobility of her age she met wasn't friendly, but that owing to what else went on in that house, Cara had fast developed a proclivity for solitude in the company of books.

"That would be at your own behest," Keti said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yes! Because the only girls the Admiral found ‘suitable’ were insipid nobles whose families he was allied with or wanted to manipulate. I figured that if I wanted to waste time sitting around with a bunch of puffed-up creatures constantly talking to hear their own voices and flashing their colors about everywhere, I would rather just go outside to the henhouse." 

Keti threw her hands up in frustration. "Our Uncle only wanted you to make good connections for later on in your life and-" 

"So he can use them." Cara cut her off, not interested in listening to her sister defend that man. "You know as well as I do, the Admiral has no plans to bring me into the military. I don't get some illustrious career handed to me." Cara's voice was more bitter than she would have liked, the pain of old wounds surfacing. 

Her sister crossed her arms, face stoic. "Yes, and whose fault is that? You won't listen to basic orders." 

Cara shot her a dirty glare, feeling betrayed by the mostly accurate assessment. "Meaning I wouldn't just stand there and let him hit me every time something wasn't perfectly up to his standards," she spat back, taking the low road. 

Her sister visibly winced, turning away to face the window of her office and look out at the rising sun, her chest rapidly rising and falling."He just wants what's best for you, Cara. And this course of action today isn't the best idea. It's a last-minute decision of rebellion." 

"You mean it isn't his idea, but it is my choice. And I've made it."

Keti said nothing, continuing in her thoughts as Cara stood, the chair scraping loudly across the stone. 

"It'd be nice if you could rustle up some words of encouragement since Mom and Dad can't be here," Cara said softly, taking a step forward. 

Traditionally the families of the candidates all congregated to wait for them to emerge from the portals placed around the city. However, since they were from a fallen family and Keti hadn't bothered to see their titles at court restored, their parents were not invited, and Cara had gone out of her way to hide it from her uncle's family. 

Taking a deep breath, Keti gave Cara a slow, somber look before she spoke. "Keep your wits about you. If someone falls, keep moving. The only person whose survival matters is yours." 

Cara clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "I was hoping for something more like 'I believe in you little sister' or 'You can do this, Cara!'" She purposely made her voice more nasal as she mimicked her older sister's tones. 

Keti shook her head, looking up to the ceiling as if for guidance. "Sharys help me," she muttered, looking back down at Cara. "I am not here to coddle you or whisper white lies to soothe your naïve ego. Someone needs to put it plainly to you, and as your sister, I am putting it as kindly as I can."

Keti enunciated each of her following words slowly, as though she spoke to a very young child. "If you are smart and extremely lucky, you stand a chance. But I warn you that you will end up hurt or dead if you panic and run around like an idiot. Am I clear?" 

Cara gave her a dopey look, mouth hanging open, and slowly gave a wide-eyed, exaggerated nod, mocking the pace of her sister's carefully enunciated words. 

Keti gave her a disdainful look, shaking her head. "Godbeast forgive me; I hope you can at least be serious when the time for the Trial comes." She murmured, turning away and tucking back the curling tuft of black hair behind her ear that had escaped the circular braid tightly pinned around the general's head. 

Cara looked at her back, feeling the stinging rejection of her sister's words and recalling a time when her antics would've cracked through Keti's veneer, sending her into laughter. Lately, though, her jokes had simply elicited small smiles or chuckles, with the last few times receiving nothing but scorn. It seemed the farther her sister rose as a star in the military world, the farther her back was turned when Cara or their parents tried to reach out. 

"Are you…" Cara's voice trailed off as her sister's shoulders tensed the moment she spoke. Swallowing the lump that was rising in her throat, Cara forced the words out. "Are you happy, Ket? Because I don't remember the last time I've seen you smile, really smile." 

Keti's head snapped around, her eyes meeting Cara's. "I…" She trailed off momentarily, and Cara looked as those hazel eyes that used to hold so much affection and warmth flickered with something different now, a cold vulnerability that was gone in a flash as the general's eyes flicked down. 

"Of course I am, and it's rude of you to imply otherwise." Keti's classically full-lipped mouth had slammed shut into a tight line of displeasure at Cara's prying. "Mirana and I are doing fine, by the way, thank you for asking." 

Cara snorted, crossing her arms and giving Keti a sardonic look. "Well, I'm sorry, sister, maybe I would ask about your wife more if you had bothered to invite me or our parents to the wedding."

Keti flicked her hand in the air as though batting Cara's comments aside. "It was a private affair which meant the number of guests was-"

"-Limited. So you've said," Cara said dryly, her tone making it clear that they both knew what a flimsy excuse it was. 

Before their bickering could continue, a series of rising and falling tones began floating down the corridor, marking the hour that the Trial candidates were to assemble for the Portal opening. 

"Guess that's my cue," Cara said, her voice rasping as emotion slowly took control.

"It would seem so if you're still set on doing this," Keti said, staring at her, those matching hazel eyes full of a pointed, unspoken meaning. "You can always change your mind and just stay here, and I'll contact the best egg merchants around, and we'll get you the highest quality money can afford. If buying an egg works for every other citizen of Netis, it'll serve you just fine." 

Cara glared at her, shaking her head. "You know nothing below a Rank Seven sees any decent occupations, let alone being allowed to take part in serious shardcombat. The Trial is the only way I can do this." 

Keti tossed her head back in a groan. "You do know everything in life doesn't revolve around shardcombat, correct?"  

Cara looked over at her. "I know. But getting a high-quality dragon does matter, and when the law states that the highest quality of egg that you can purchase is an Eight, there's no other choice but to approach the Trial." She gently spoke the next words. "l can't afford to be stuck in your shadow forever, Ket. Maybe I'll even perform better than you, get a better egg, and emerge just fine." 

"Just be careful that you don't pay too much for that performance," Keti softly replied, eyes flicking down to the floor. 

Cara headed for the door, shrugging her shoulders up and down to try to release the tension that had gathered there, aided both by her sister and the poor fit of her clothes. 

"Cara." Keti's voice called after her, hesitant at first. "In life, as with dragons…."

Cara felt a small, bitter smile creeping across her lips as she finished their family words, the fallen House of Myzanti, whose crest she wore that day and whose honor she hoped to restore. "...attack with a quick wit." She tossed the words back over her shoulder, a small smile crossing her lips.

"So you do remember where you came from," she whispered, quickly twisting open the door handle and leaving. 

Cara was closing it behind her as she heard her sister mutter to herself, "But I also remember who raised me."