The Clutch of Sharys: Chapter Eight
Chapter 8: Deadlock with the drapery
In its jealousy, Nepthys festered and seeped its pain softly and slowly into the loneliness left in the first children's hearts by Shary’s single-minded obsession over the humans.
The chirping of some rudely loud bird outside her window woke Cara, but she let her eyes remain closed for just a few more moments, holding on to the last slipping dregs of sleep. She had almost fallen back into a comfortable drowse when something nudged her hand, pressing a smooth, insistently wiggling warmth into the underside of her fingers. Her eyes snapping open, Cara sat up so fast that she startled the baby dragon, who reared back on its little hind legs, screeching loudly.
Cara cocked an eyebrow, unamused by the little wake-up call she was receiving. Reaching out, she poked the little creature in its pale scaled stomach, sending it toppling over backward with an indignant, yet very cute, squeak.
"It wasn't a dream." Cara thought to herself, climbing out of bed and moving to the one window in the room, which also was the door to the sun pad. Pushing aside the curtain, the dull orange haze of dawn slid into the room, and Cara finally got her first good look at her partner-to-be.
The most obvious thing that caught her eye was the dull, pale grey of the dragon's body. It wasn't a permanent appearance. Its coloration wouldn't be too vivid until her baby scales fell out, the dragon's power and identity growing with the creature itself. Flopping over onto its belly, her new friend indignantly flared out pale lavender wings before snorting emphatically, tucking them back in and sitting down, tucking its long, thin tail around itself.
Blinking amethyst eyes angrily up at her, the dragon snapped its long, delicate little snout, turning it up and away when Cara offered a hand. "Don't pout; you shouldn't be a brat." Cara muttered, giving it a scratch along the pale lavender frills lining the sides of its head around her…
Quickly pulling the curtain further back, Cara took an amazed look at the little dragon, confirming that she had seen right. Smooth, unblemished, silver horns arched up and curved ever so slightly back over her dragon's graceful brow, and Cara's heart beat faster with excitement. "Well, well, hello there, your majesty." She murmured, scratching behind the metallic protrusions.
Apparently forgiving Cara for her heinous crime of scaring and poking, the baby dragon nuzzled into her affection, letting out a satisfied coo. Both dragon and girl jumped when the door to her room suddenly swung open moments later, a minor flood of people pouring through the doorway.
First came a Healer, dressed in a tightly fitted forest green jacket followed by an attendant, two servants, and her parents, Tigon and Isame of House Myzanti. Their usual hard, critical shell was broken; something oddly changed about their gazes as they looked at Cara and her dragon, silhouetted by the morning sun's warm rays.
"How are you feeling, darling?" Her father asked at the same time as her mother began fussing at her, "You shouldn't be out of bed!" The Lord and Lady of House Myzanti were dressed in their formal clothes for some reason, well maintained but markedly aged emerald green velvet with its white and gold accents. Cara eyed their odd choice of attire and even stranger attitudes, not responding to either of her parents and waiting for the other claw to drop.
Instead, she gathered up the tiny dragon near her feet, clutching it to her chest. The Healer had swept in, gesturing his attendant over as he took out a small piece of what Cara vaguely knew as Magicite, a magic-enhanced crystal that was commonly used in sound magic. Holding the stone a few inches over her body, the grizzled, grey drooping eyes of the Healer glowed slightly, the close range allowing Cara to see the way his iris illuminated as though a pebble had been dropped into a pond of light.
The crystal in his hand glowing slightly in response to power being pushed into it; the Healer slowly moved the rock in one long sweep up and down her body before taking a step back, nodding. "She looks much better than when she arrived, but Lady Cara should take it easy if possible for the next couple of days while her body and mind recover from her ordeal at the Trial."
Her father thanked the Healer with a small pouch of scale coins; the servants ushered everyone that wasn't family out of the room, leaving Cara alone with her parents. "It's good to see you better darling, you were out cold and positively wracked with a shiverscales attack when that poor farmer showed up with that rank-four brute on our doorstep." There was an icy disdain in her mother’s voice for the weaker ranking commoner, an unfortunate leftover from her childhood in the halls of the powerful House Calogira.
Cara caught the strained breath that her father took and let go, shooting a tired yet annoyed look at his wife before addressing his daughter. "Well done on your dragon Cara. We'll be able to do a lot with such a powerful creature." Protectively stroking the creature's head, Cara nodded in acknowledgment of her father's words, secretly pleased by his approval.
A man whose frame and movements still decried years of military training despite letting himself go later in life, Lord Myzanti walked over, examining the piece of egg that had been laid out on the table by the door. "Did you have any idea that you had stumbled upon such a rare prize in the vault? A Queen of all things?" He asked, raising a dark eyebrow at his daughter, cunning hazel eyes flicking down to the hatchling in her arms.
Cara gulped, a sudden dry feeling coating her throat. "Mostly, I was trying not to die." She said, looking anywhere but at her father. "I lucked into the egg, really." Her father snorted, shaking his head. "Luck had nothing to do with it. You're my daughter and were destined to succeed just as your sister had."
Cara gave him a tight smile, saying nothing as she slowly stood, clutching the dragon to her chest. She marveled at the lack of pain as she crossed back to her bed, gently laying the baby creature down on its messy green sheets. "We won't know if she's a Queen or not until her testing is complete, though. Not all dragons have their ranking known at birth. In fact, many of them-"
Lady Myzanti cut in, tossing her tight red curls over her shoulder. "Yes dear, we know, but I think in this case, we can be fairly certain." She swept forward, spreading out her deep green skirts as she neatly settled on the bed across from Cara's dragon, wiggling a few fingers in the sheets to get its attention. "Look at how her horns already shine silver. Non-face card dragons don't have sheens like that." The snow-grey little dragon playfully pounced, tackling the moving blanket and wrapping itself up.
"Tsk." Cara's mother let the dragon play, turning her critical gaze to Cara and reaching out for one of her hands. "You really need to take better care of yourself, dear. I thought you said that your time at the Aerie was doing good for you."
"It is!" Cara said, drawing her hand back quickly, "Or it was; I’m not working there anymore now that I have the tiny one over there." Her mother's deep blue eyes flicked over Cara’s face as she pursed her lips in thought. "Mmm, you've put on weight and stopped taking care of your complexion. Did you not use the cream I sent you to block the sun off your skin? Those freckles are a menace."
Cara guiltily looked down at her freckled arms, knowing the light brown marks stood out bright against her pale skin. She had meant to use the gift that her mother sent, but there was never really enough time when she was getting ready in the mornings. Besides, it left her feeling like she had an oily, grimy layer on her skin that was just waiting to catch on fire.
"The freckles are fine, mom. And that would be the muscle I put on, by the way, not just 'weight.’"
Her mother's long-lashed gaze settled on Cara’s shoulders, a delicate eyebrow arching in response. "If you say so dear, but it might be best to try to lose it sooner rather than later." Lady Myzanti murmured, demurely looking away. Lord Myzanti snorted in response. "I very well doubt the girl can change how she's built before the presentation ceremony. No, we'll just have to include the fact that she's a bit more squat than usual in the negotiations for her Entwining."
Cara clenched her mouth shut as her parents began idly discussing who was still available for Cara to marry as if she didn't exist right in front of them. In her hands, the tiny dragon screeched in annoyance, and Cara realized she had been lightly squeezing her on accident as she watched her parents' discussion. They always acted like she didn't have an opinion or voice of her own, but it was a foolish thing not worth the time to listen to if she did. Her parents weren't as bad as her uncle, but having to choose between a scorned existence and an invisible one wasn't a choice that Cara wanted to be forced to make.
"Well, yes, but having such a rare ranking creature will certainly open some doors that were closed before, especially in the founding houses that haven't sat anyone on a throne in a while." Her mother said, neatly standing up and straightening her skirts.
"Face ranks are becoming more valuable with the number of fatalities in the Vault keeping more back each year." Lord Myzanti grumbled. Crossing his arms stiffly behind his back, her father strove over to the windowed door, the morning sun illuminating his salt and pepper beard, which was currently turned down in disappointment. "I mean, just look at the survival numbers off this year's batch of participants! Over half of them haven't returned, and the ones that did ended up in terrible states! It's an absolute travesty."
Cara tried to ignore the twinge of pain from her father's open criticism as he launched into a story of the splendor of his grandfather's triumphant Trial experience but kept her face devoid of expression as her parents continued their discussion without her. At this point, it was just a manner of waiting until they finished, and then she could try to sneak away and-
The door to her room swung open once more, the familiar thudding click of military boots on the wooden floor marching in, bringing her sister with them. The General looked as well kept as ever; lovely head bent over a sheaf of papers that she shoved into the chest of the servant following her, sending them stumbling backward as they bowed and left. Keti's hair was neatly pulled back into a curly black bun with a braid wrapped around it, a stray dark brown curl artfully reaching down to the deep blue shoulder of her jacket.
Cara's older sister walked to the middle of the room, stopping one step before reaching the exact center and sharply turning to face the three of them, giving her father a sharp Netian salute. His back straightening and his shoulders rolling back, Lord Myzanti returned the gesture, one hand over his collarbone, the other folded behind his back. "General. It is good to see you." Lord Myzanti said, his hazel eyes dancing with proud light as he looked over Keti's sharp, well-tailored uniform.
"Father." She nodded to him stiffly, "Mother. I've come for Cara." Keti said, her voice all business and formality. Her jaw dropping in indignation, Cara looked at the surrounding people in shock. "That's it?" She said, her voice exasperated, "You haven't spoken with your family for years, and that's what you lead with?" The little dragon at her fingertips squeaked defiantly at Keti, opening pale purple wings to make itself look more prominent.
Looking down with an expression of mild interest, Keti ignored Cara's question and reached over the baby dragon, neatly picking it up by the tail and turning the small scaly creature over as it attempted to get a needle-toothed nip in at her arm. "Put it down!" Cara protested, scrambling over the bed to get at her sister, who simply took two steps back, ignoring Cara and the squeaking dragon.
"She is quite impressive, even more so when these baby scales fall out, hmmm? Of course, we'll need to wait and see what alignment you turn out to be…" Keti mused half to herself, turning the tail back and forth to get a good view of the little creature before grasping it by the back and examining the curvature of its claws. "Stop that; it doesn't like it." Cara crabbed, reaching the edge of the bed and hopping off.
"Get dressed. We leave for Cebrene before noon." The General ordered, dropping Cara's dragon into her arms. "Once we've figured out some more about your magic, we'll be able to move ahead." Looking down at the creature, Cara anxiously stroked its little head, which was crossly growling in a flute's high pitch after being mishandled in such an outrageous manner. A thought crossed her mind then, and she sharply fixed her sister with a fixed stare.
"What did you mean, she is impressive? I haven't decided whether I want to check the gender." Keti waved a dismissive hand. "It was on the report by the Healers that attended you and your hatchling after your… unfortunate exit from the Trial." Cara thought back to the sheaf of papers her sister had been reading when she first entered the room as the General continued. "Besides, it only matters for breeding anyway. It's not as if power ranks exclude gender; they’re based on the purity of their blood in relation to a Godbeast. Be thankful one is willing to bear you on its back and share its power."
Keti turned her back on Cara and walked over to her parents, leaving a frustrated and scolded sister behind her. They began talking among the three of them while Cara got ready again as if she wasn't even there. Placing her dragon gently down on top of a nearby stool, picking one closer to the ground in case the little one went wandering, Cara walked over to the small side table. Picking up the neatly folded pile of clothes, she shuffled over to the changing screen in the corner, dourly watching her parents interact with her sister. There was a sparkle that came into their manner around her, a joy that she brought out within them, sparking some flame of life behind eyes that generally looked on the world with empty depths.
Lord Myzanti stood straighter, his voice full and loud and his manner of speaking boisterous as he discussed Keti's most recent victories in various political Shardbattles. Lady Myzanti smiled, laughed, and showed an empathetic comfort as her sister described her difficulties dealing with the pressures of court life and various lavish parties she had to attend. Cara watched through the screen at her family, feeling a pang through her chest as she saw more of who her parents truly were in the five minutes they had spent talking to their eldest daughter than she had seen in the past eighteen years.
It was hard not to be jealous of such preferential treatment, but that feeling had long settled into an acceptance riddled with dull resentment within Cara's heart. It was her own fault for being foolish to believe that a dragon would have been enough to change their treatment of her. Quickly, she pulled on the long, sleeveless tunic with slits up the side, embroidered with green and russet thread that stood out against the loose white pants underneath. Cara stepped back out, quickly locating her little dragon by the stool she had placed it on. The creature had indeed gone wandering and was now trying to chew off one of the tassels on the side of the furniture, growling promises of demise to the offending decoration.
While Cara forcefully disentangled the emphatically struggling creature from its deadlock with the drapery, Keti casually passed a glance over the pair of them. "Good. You're ready." The General remarked, cutting off the conversation with her parents. "We'll be leaving now, though she'll need a jumper." A pit formed in Cara's stomach as she paused in her actions, looking up at her sister.
She must've had quite the expression on her face because Keti gave her a look and said, "What? You're a rider now; you’ll be traveling by dragon, not by carriage." Fixing Cara with a skeptical expression, she added, "Besides, it's hardly the first time you've been on dragon back. Some poor farmer's rank four brought you home for Glade's sake."
Cara wished she had died and gone to the Everlasting Glade, rather than having to face a ride back to the city stuck with her sister on top of a flying dragon with no way off. "I was unconscious for that," Cara muttered, walking over to the bed and pulling out a pair of old boots from underneath it. "You can't wear those; they’re peeling apart." Her mother sniffed, lifting a hand towards the door. Lady Myzanti's eyes glowed a gentle orange-red as the door quickly opened, the two servants reentering in response to the candle by the door spontaneously igniting. "Get my daughter some decent shoes and a flight jumper. Make do with what we have already." She ordered, voice imperious. The servants quickly bowed, hustling out of the room and closing the door behind them with a click.
Cara inwardly groaned because she knew what the phrase "Make do with what we have already" meant. It was a famous phrase uttered around the Myzanti house, and it meant "dig in storage for whatever you can find.” It was what you were forced to do when there was little to no income besides her father's salary from serving in the military, which was barely enough to make ends meet and keep the staff that her mother insisted on having employed. Sure enough, when the servants reappeared, they had a pair of black boots that were about a size too small and pinched Cara's toes, along with a dull forest-green sweater that reached her knees when she put her head into it. Jumpers were supposed to be roomy, but this had clearly belonged to someone far bigger than Cara.
"Couldn't you have found her something that fits better? Shows off her figure more? She looks like a crooked Kitisalian Swamp Hag in that thing." Lady Myzanti fussed, tucking back the jumper so that it clung to the curves of Cara's body. Shaking herself loose, Cara pulled down on the sweater, preferring the comforting warmth of depths to the tight, suffocating hold her mother wanted. "It's a jumper, not a dress, mother. They're not supposed to be fashionable; they’re supposed to be warm." Keti intoned, leading the way out the door, followed closely by their parents.
Cara watched them go, frustrated and sad, scared and excited, but altogether thoroughly frozen to the spot as she stroked the warm little lump in her arms, which was now happily attempting to eat the ends of her hair once more. "This way, my lady, General Myzanti said to make haste." An older servant spoke to her, gesturing towards the door. "Further clothes and possessions will be collected from here and Admiral Calogira's house and sent to the castle." Stirring out of her emotional turmoil, Cara shook her head and began to move. "Don't bother; anything I care about is stored in a crate outside the Kirgan Aerie."
Following the servants outside, Cara found her mother and father sadly saying goodbye to her sister, a copper dragon with peach red wings waiting behind them. As she passed them and hugged her mother goodbye, the "helpful" advice began flowing. "Behave, don't get into any fights or give any lip. And try to lose a bit of that weight; we’ll need you less pudgy when we introduce you to suitors in a few weeks." Lady Myzanti said, tucking Cara's hair back and fussing with her collar. Cara tried to disengage from her mother, the sting of her words souring the farewell. "She'll be fine so long as she keeps her mouth shut and her manners sharp." Her father's low voice rumbled nearby, clapping her on the shoulder."Make us proud, daughter."
Keti had already climbed up the forelegs of her partner and reached down a hand to where Cara stood, clutching her dragon within oversized sleeves. Cara looked up at her sister's impatient face and then back to her parents, who had already turned their attention to Keti. She took her sister's hand, letting herself be pulled up onto the saddle behind her. Tossing a leg over and scooching up, Cara held on to the thick leather loop on the back of the strap that secured her sister's waist to the saddle. Moments later, the great copper creature underneath her shook, large wings quickly taking them off the ground and into the air in a slow, ascending spiral.
Below them, her parents called out farewells, reminding them to write, behave and make them proud. While their figures shrank away, Cara felt guilty at the fact that the only emotion filling her chest was anticipation and anxiety instead of sadness and heartbreak for leaving her family behind. Looking over her shoulder at the fading figures, Cara whispered two words snatched away by the winds flowing past as the dragon accelerated its pace.
"I will"