The Clutch of Sharys: Chapter Thirty

Chapter 30 - Unacceptable and Understanding

The humans would not hunt the dragons but would instead be given the ability to create a bond with one and only one dragon in their lifetimes, receiving elongated life and the ability to use their power over creation.

Bree was good on her word, and by the time she resurfaced that evening, her letter was written, sent, and a reply would be back before the end of the night, or so she claimed. Cara had no idea how Bree got the letter back and forth so fast, but she knew it had something to do with "pockets of shadows” that Bree and her rats could access and sometimes move through. Before they left Petra’s rooms, both she and Cara were solemnly sworn by Cheska to notify the monk the next time they sparred, and then the girls had the rest of the evening to themselves. 

Bree and Cara spent their time that evening discussing the following steps and discussing old memories, passing the time with the smooth swipe of time’s brush that only good conversation can allow. By the time the skittering of little paws sounded across the stone floor, Cara was nodding off in one of the leather armchairs that decorated the study. "Wake up!" Bree hissed, chucking a pillow at Cara's head. 

"I'm awake." Cara blearily claimed, looking around. Bree was holding a piece of paper flipped open between two fingers, deep blue eyes racing back and forth as she read its contents. When she reached the end of the message, Bree checked something before nodding, her expression satisfied. "Mother will send a message through the official channels telling them to expect us." She declared, rousing Cara out of the chair and dragging her out of the Study tower alongside her. Together, they tracked down Petra and Ahnn in the pools and Cheska in her room, gathering everyone in the Princess’s to tell them the news. 

"Perfect." Petra said, looking around at those assembled. "Since this will be the first time we fly out on business for the succession, we need to establish two things with the Baron of Cetna." 

Pacing away, Petra held up a single finger. "One." She said, turning on her heel as she spoke. 

However, the person who finished the statement was Ahnn, who stood off to the side and away from the Princess’s pacing path. "We need to establish a supply line that allows us to furnish the castle until such a time as we can move to the Capitol and enforce Petra's claim." 

Petra nodded as her lady-in-waiting spoke, continuing the moment that Ahnn stopped talking. "Which is when the second part comes into play. We need to gain Cetnan backing in the race, but their governmental structure makes it hard. A choice few Barons wield extreme power in the cliff cities, with several minor barons scrabbling for their favor ."

Bree exhaled, unimpressed. "Anyone can call themselves a Baron in Cetna; you just need enough wealth."

"Sure, anyone can call themselves a Baron." Cheska remarked. "That doesn't mean they'll have power, though."

Petra clicked her fingers to indicate the Farcan was correct and pulled another map from beneath the larger one. "As best we can tell, Barons Cardinna, Kay, Veshmi, and Parson are major players, and none of them like each other." Ahnn ticked the names off on her fingers as Petra spoke them. "Even if we only prevent any of the other Barons moving to help a different candidate, it's a victory." 

Bree leaned back, placing her feet up on the seat beside her and stretching. "That's the downsides of blasting voting on everything." She yawned, stretching her arms. "Takes forever to get anything done." 

Placing the map on the table, Petra looked up at the assembled faces. "That's what we're counting on." She said, putting a few polished pieces of quartz on the corners of the paper. "If they send aid for the succession, wonderful. But mostly, we want them neutralized." 

Petra had Ahnn take them meticulously through the flight plan they were to take to Avila, the central hub area of the Free Cities. The rest of the day was dedicated to planning, packing, and trying to outfit everyone with at least a set of warm clothes. Winter's winds cut firmly through the mountains, making the already cold air freeze to the touch and the breath to float out in clouds of mist, not unlike the swirls of steam that Cheska could summon. 

Cara had little to pack and so went to bother Bree, who was digging a few things out of her trunk in the study tower. Much like the library, the walls of this tower were lined with shelves, though these were covered in glass that protected the precious knickknacks inside. Glowing feathers, twisted forests of glass and jewels, pottery with strange pictures, and many other curiosities lined these cases, surrounding a rug-covered area that housed many comfortable chairs and couches around a large fireplace and an enormous glass window at the back of the room. In front of the window was an impressive mahogany desk, the wood slightly scarred and dulled with age, a tall-backed chair whose back had rotted out was placed behind it. 

Looking Cara up and down a few times as she entered, jumper over her loose nightclothes and cloak wrapped around her shoulders, Bree made a face at her attire, scanning it with her azure gaze.

"Hey." Cara said, dropping the loose sack of things onto the floor. "Oh. Hm. Unacceptable." Bree murmured in reply, turning back to her trunk and rummaging through a different section as she threw more things out behind her. 

Several piles of clothes, small boxes, and other odds and ends were strewn about her, and Cara had to nudge a couple of shoes out of her way to get to Bree. 

"Hi Cara, I'm doing great, I love seeing you, and you're my favorite person!" Cara intoned, mocking her friend's honeyed voice.

"Yes, that." Bree said, not looking up from her trunk. "Try these on." The countess ordered, suddenly shoving what looked like a pair of thick, fuzzy tubes at her. 

"Are these inside out or something?" Cara asked, accepting the garments and rubbing her finger over the thick, soft black fuzz. 

"Probably." Bree said, pulling out some hats and gloves. "For Nepthys sake, try them on. They won't bite you; they’re just socks."

“They feel weirdly soft.” 

"Water-silk." Bree commented, nodding towards the stockings. "Wonderful for wearing boots or tight shoes. They're lined with fire wool and- Cara, this is unacceptable." 

Cara turned to see what the Countess was talking about and found her dumping out her rucksack, which was filled with a few of the tomes Cara had found in the Library whose titles she could comprehend. "Where are your clothes? The ones that Petra gave you?" Bree asked, pulling out the few undershirts and underclothes that Cara had wrapped in the bottom inside a blanket. 

"They're too long. She's more likely to fit your height than mine."

Bree tilted her head at Cara, giving her a skeptical look. "You need to wear something that isn't a giant baggy sweater over nightclothes to see foreign dignitaries." She remarked, cocking a dark eyebrow. 

"Stop clawing at me and leave the flight jumpers be!" Cara said defensively, stroking the dull green wool of her sweater. "They're warm, comfortable, and you don't need to worry about sizing!" 

Bree pointed over at a pile of clothes to her right, back towards the trunk. "Get something from there. The pants may be a bit long, but we can tuck them into your boots." Cara made a face at her, and after receiving one in return, she walked over to the pile, nudging it with her toe. 

"Get on then, you can imitate a wooly shrubbery all you want while we fly there, but you'll have to change once we've made land." Bree's impatience let a bit of her Ataran accent peek into her voice, the vowels bleeding together as she tossed the books from Cara's pack off to the side. 

Cara found some heather brown riding pants in the pile of clothes, the supple leather reinforced with a liner for warmth and durability. Grabbing those, she searched for some shirts and instead found a couple of Netian overcoats. "I packed for Cebrene in case we went to the capitol." Bree explained, watching Cara trace the design of embroidered rat's around the cuff of one coat. 

"I noticed." Cara said, grabbing a few more pieces of clothing before quickly folding and depositing them, along with several others that Bree shoved into her hands, into the depths of her pack. Little girl sniffed at the now filled backpack before butting it over with her head, delightfully spreading her wings and snarling as it fell. Lately, the little dragon had realized she was growing and that with larger size came ample destructive possibilities. 

Removing the offending bag, Cara picked up the things that had fallen out once again, replacing the two books in their tightly packed spots. First was a book of children's tales, bound and embossed in gold and brown, then the other: an instructive tome on common cures and ailments, or so Cara had guessed. The binding was old and faded, but the impression of a tulip tree blossom on the cover below the word "Aid" had given Cara enough pause to peek inside before tossing it into her bag. 

They spent a few minutes packing in silence, during which time Cara's dragon burrowed her way into a pile of clothes and fell asleep, a tiny tail protruding from underneath a dark petticoat. "Bree?" Cara asked, a thought occurring to her. 

"What is it?" The Countess asked, pausing from her packing. 

"Are you sure you're able to break from the court for this long? I know you said your duties kept you extremely busy as of late." 

Bree winced slightly, barely second a flash of emotion crushing her face before she turned away, placing the folded bundle in her hands into the traveling bag. "They're no longer a concern to me." Cara paused, looking over at Bree's face and slowly rising to comfort her. She said nothing, giving Bree the space and silence she needed to speak if she willed it and to calm if not. Placing a hand between Bree's narrow shoulders, Cara gently rubbed her friend’s back, offering what she could to help an unspoken hurt. 

"I'm going to quote you back to yourself." Bree said softly, looking back at her. "I'm just not ready to talk about it right now." Looking at her face, Cara was surprised to see that she wasn't crying, nor were her eyes red or upset. Instead, they just held some deep, hollow emptiness, holding in something too terrible to say right now. 

"I understand." Cara said, giving her a bitter smile. 

"Lady Bree! Are you in there?" A voice suddenly came out of nowhere, causing both of them to jump. 

"Yes? What?" Bree responded, glancing around for who had spoken. Cara followed suit but found no one, despite the voice sounding extremely close. 

"I installed one of a set of Kenit crystals in the study while her highness was residing there, and I am utilizing that now." The voice said flatly. 

Cara exhaled slightly, changing her search to look for a rock, which was a hopeless endeavor given the number of different stones displayed around the room. However, she knew only one person that stubbornly insisted on addressing everyone by their title before everything else. "Lady Bree, there's been important news. Please collect Lady Myzanti and come out to the hall quickly." The voice disappeared after that, right as Bree pounced on a small gold box holding a black shard of rock within it that was placed on a table near the door. 

"That's Magicite." Cara said, gesturing towards it. "Not a Kennel crystal or whatever she called it." 

Bree looked over at her quizzically before closing the box and heading for the door. "They're Kenit crystals all right. Magicite is just a layperson's term used to refer to the same thing." 

They walked out into the hall, still talking about the rocks. "I shouldn't be surprised that she has some, given her family's trade, but I'm shocked that the church didn't suss it out while she was in Cebrene." Cara mused. 

"She probably picked it up after you left. When they contacted me, it was through a merchant who passed me their letter scrawled on a piece of paper." Bree replied, shutting the door behind them. 

"Wouldn't it need to be a massive piece of crystal to have a network that far, though?"

"Not really, just as long as you have pieces from the same crystal, you're all connected no matter the range." Bree replied. 

Lowering her voice, the Countess murmured, "It's more likely that they simply have a wide, well-equipped network of spies, holding onto shards of that crystal." She finished speaking before they stepped out into the hall where Petra was wildly brandishing a map and a piece of paper in her hand. 

"-completely lengthens the trips we have to make, which risks our position." Petra was saying as they stepped in. Ahnn held a map of her own in silent contemplation, and Cheska leaned against the boxes of food and supplies they were bringing, everything condensed into two large crates. The monk looked bored despite the flustered nature of the events in front of her, peacefully playing with a carved wooden ball. 

"What happened?" Bree asked the pair of girls in front of her, squinting slightly in the torchlight that failed to fully illuminate the hall. There were large bronze lanterns overhead that could be refilled, but that would require oil and effort, so their group had primarily used candles or torches for light. "It seems that there were some issues with my family sending my papers." Petra said, voice short as she offered Bree the piece of paper. "And now they've sent two trusted servants our way that are supposed to meet us in some coastal town to follow us back here." 

Bree looked at the letter, eyes quickly scanning back and forth. "What's the problem?" She inquired. "Corfu's not too far a flight from here." Cara clicked her fingers to get her dragon's attention, urging her away from their food supplies. Reluctantly, the dragonling left the crates behind and wandered back towards the group. 

"Lady Bree. The issue is that Lady Aspas sent them yesterday to gather some dressmaking supplies as a cover. They'll be watched for a while until they get to Corfu, which is when we'll need to collect them before they're there too long. We are now forced into a timetable." Ahnn responded, crouching down slightly as she spoke to pat the little silver dragon walking by. Drawing a sharp inhale, Petra gestured them over to her map. "So if all goes well in Cetna, we can leave directly there and go to the coast, but I can't see what the distance is… Cara, help?" The Princess said, looking up. 

Reaching into the torchlight, Cara sent a sphere to float above their heads, beaming fire's yellow luminescence down on them. Curious, Cheska abandoned her ball and came over to look at the map, offering a few suggestions as they plotted their course. After several arguments, a quick dinner, and an impromptu nap by Cheska, a plan was set, and it was decided they would head straight to Corfu after obtaining support in Cetna. 

The next morning Cara awoke, gently poking little girl awake before shoving her feet into the socks that Bree had lent her. Immediate warmth greeted her, the fuzzy insides cushioning and warming her feet without feeling bulky. The pants followed, rather tight in the hips and long in the leg, but well enough made that the supple riding leathers stretched to accommodate a figure other than Bree's narrow curves. 

After she got the rest of her clothes on, flight jumper included, Cara pulled on her boots and clambered down the ladder to the main floor of the library, picking up and double-checking the contents of her sack. Eventually, a pair of sleepy wings, flapping weakly, carried little girl down to the ground where Cara scooped her up, the dragon now filling her arms instead of being a tiny little shoulder ornament like she had been so long ago in Cebrene. 

She made her way out into the hall, blinking in the early morning light and nearly smacking Cheska's face with the door. "Good morning to you too, little bones." Cheska said, easily catching the door before it swung too far. 

"Godbeasts." Cara said, pulling the door shut behind her. "Sorry Cheska, I'm still half sleeping." 

The monk grinned down at her, already fully awake and in a chipper mood. "You'll get there soon enough." Cheska said, patting her head gently before moving over to her dragon. 

Petra was in the middle of securing the straps that held the crates to Lysander's saddle while Ahnn buckled herself into her kneeling position. "There she is." Bree said, appearing from nowhere, throwing an arm around Cara's shoulders. "Want to ride with me?" 

Cara gave pause to this because had it been any other opportunity to spend time with her closest friend, she would've accepted it in a wingbeat. But the problem was… Bree was a wild pilot when it came to flight. The Ataran riding style resulted in dragons that grew to have great speed and maneuverability, though smaller in size, which meant she could take risks that most riders wouldn't, either because of their dragon's size or just basic common sense. Neither of those things limited Bree, and Cara had witnessed some terrifying feats of aerial acrobatics while watching her fly both in person and in shardcombat. 

"She'll be riding with me." Petra announced, sliding down Lysander's green scaly flank. "Unless you packed a passenger belt, or Cara wants to be lashed to the saddles like cargo."

Her brow creasing, Bree's eyes raced back and forth as she considered something before shaking her head. "No, all of my spare seal boots were left behind. I do have some rope, though." The Countess shot Cara a playful smile, dodging the answering poke aimed at her ribs. 

"Lady Myzanti. I'm not sure your dragon will be suitably secured if you also hold on to the flight loops on her highnesses belt." Ahnn observed, looking down at the silver creature who had come over to her looking for affection. 

"Just let the creature fly." Cheska called from over by her dragon. "We know it can, and I doubt she's had the chance to greet the open sky in a while." 

Cara looked out of the large doors of the castle, towards the rising sun over the white peaked mountains. "If she gets too tired, she can just rest on Lysander." She mused, looking towards Petra, who pressed her lips together. 

"A different resting spot would be better. My King doesn't care for things suddenly touching him while he flies." 

"I'll send her to Kirial or Lilibet then." Cara shrugged, following the Princess as she climbed up the extended leg Lysander offered. With that settled, she slid into the saddle behind Petra, placing her bag in front of her as she looped her arm through both its handles and the passenger belt's loops. As they departed, doors of the castle pulled closed behind them, and the dragons took wing, followed by a little zipping blur of silver that excitedly shrieked its greeting to the morning sky.