The Clutch of Sharys: Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter 27-Soup Pots and the Southern Stairs

 The Godbeast taught the humans to ride, clutching to the beast’s back and claws, but distrust soon ran rampant between the still bleeding wounds left by the dragon’s attack.

Slapping her way up the steps, the intruder barged into the kitchen with an agitated air, flinging the door open with little ceremony and much application of frustrated force. The Princess’s short, pale hair was dark with moisture, and it clung to the sides of her face, sending small rivulets of water off the smooth curve of her cheek. Her body wrapped in a long white towel, slightly wrinkled and flat with age, yet still doing a wonderful job highlighting the angry red glow of her pale skin.

"What did you do to the water?" Petra demanded, voice tight as she looked around the group in the kitchen. 

"The water?" Cara said, glancing back towards Cheska, who shook her head in confusion. 

"Yes, the water, I was taking a bath, floating along in a peaceful bliss, and next thing I know, the water's boiling like it's a soup pot, and I’m in the middle, cooking like a chunk of potato!"

"Your Highness. You'll be fine." Ahnn walked over to her lady, leaning in and examining the scalded patches of skin. "You should, however, get dressed before continuing this conversation." 

Petra grimaced, shying away from Ahnn's prodding fingertip that was aimed at her raspberry red shoulder with cruel intent to poke clear in its poise. 

"Fine. But after lunch, I’m borrowing Cara for the southern staircase." Quickly, the Princess turned on her heel and marched from the room, dodging one last poke from her friend before she made the door.

Cara squinted after her, a small rush of heat curdling in her chest about the fact that she hadn't even been asked if she wanted to help Petra with whatever it was she was doing but was being forcefully requisitioned like one would a bucket.

"Well. Since you're now busy after lunch, do you want to try helping me make it?" Cheska asked, frowning as she looked into some of the boxes. "I'm sorry, I know I'm not a cook, but whatever we come up with can't be worse than another day of grain porridge." 

Shrugging, Cara pulled out some dried fish and potatoes and glanced over to where the large containers of flour and lard were now neatly stacked atop a stone counter, pushed against the back wall in a neat line. "I can make us a fish pie if you'd like." She offered, the words quickly drawing Cheska's grinning head up from the crate she was searching. 

"Absolutely, sure. Just tell me what you need." 

Cara found that as she asked for ingredients and explained her recipe to Cheska, it felt nice to have someone listen to her for once instead of interrupting or talking over her. Even if it was just something as simple as a meal, having another being to care enough about what she was saying just to take it in and consider her words felt fulfilling.  A lifetime of older siblings, distant parental figures, and admittedly self-chosen isolation had a way of creeping into one’s heart and making them believe they weren’t worth listening to in the first place.

When Cara placed the steaming pastry down on the table a while later, Cheska placed a stack of plates and cutlery nearby, pausing before looking up at Cara with a quizzical expression. "Why haven't you been doing all the meals?" The monk inquired, gesturing towards the fragrant pie. Cara inhaled, blowing the air out through her lips and making a small face. "There is that whole abduction bit." She said, and Cheska's lips twitched downwards, nodding solemnly. 

When the monk had learned of the situation as it pertained to Cara's involvement, Cheska had been displeased but understanding of the motives behind Petra’s actions. Once Ahnn matter-of-factly explained that the legal paperwork already named Cara individually to Petra's claim, Cheska had nodded and waved off the rest, walking off to meditate with a furrowed brow. Now, her warm brown eyes flickered at Cara with some unspoken opinion that she was biting back. 

"I understand," Cheska carefully said, "but things may change. You may change." A grin broke out across Cheska's face. "Your mind may change. If it does and you want to save me a plate, that'd be-" 

The door to the tower swung open once again as Petra once again entered, blond hair slightly damp but brushed back and dressed in her usual fashion. "Ah-ha!" Petra loudly said, her sharp eyes quickly finding the pie on the table. "Ahnn, I told you she was holding out on us!" Behind Petra's white-clothed shoulder, Ahnn's bushy head bobbed up as she leaned around the princess to see. 

The two girls quickly found their way to the table, and Cara sat down and threw her arms up with a small sigh. Looking back, she should have known it had been inevitable that they would come for the pie, but that didn't stop her from hoping that perhaps they might have been otherwise occupied. A triumphant, flute-like cry rang out from above upon seeing that Cara’s lap was wholly unoccupied, and a flash of silver scales accompanied the blur that dove towards her arms.

Cheska was forced to duck her head as the dragon awkwardly flapped to a stop, nearly bashing the monk in the half-shaved head with one wing. "Hey!" Cara exclaimed, standing up and catching the dragonling before it could cause any more harm. "Be more mindful where you land. You’ll put an eye out." A little head gently butted into Cara's chin in apology, and she gave her dragon a gentle pat as she sat back down.  

Across the table, Cheska began cutting into the pastry as Petra and Ahnn took their seats, the Princess shooting an accusatory glare at Cara. "I told you I wasn't the one who made that mess on the stove." Petra said, voice petulant. 

Nodding, Ahnn glanced over at Cara in an uninterrupted, unblinking accusation, the effect slightly minimized as she accepted a plate of pie from Cheska. A platter with a generous portion was quickly slid towards Cara as well, with a notably smaller slice finally sliding towards Petra. "No more talking." Cheska said, cutting off Petra's opened mouth as she sat down to her own serving. "Just eat." 

Cara bit into the pie, savoring the rich flakiness of the crust and the savory flavor of the fish and vegetables, baked to approximate perfection in a metal box over the kitchen fires. Silently relishing the warm taste of the gravy, Cara was reminded of an old memory from a simpler time in her life when things still worked and her family was still whole. Her father, the great soldier with his sleeves rolled up over his elbows and flour on his nose, laughing at their attempts to make pie crust and ending up with something more akin to glue. This was before Keti and Toby had left to study with their uncle, and Lord Myzanti had been teaching them how to make the dish for the Lady Myzanti, who still expected a certain standard of living despite her current means.

Petra’s nod of approval brought Cara out of her thoughts, just in time to meet Ahnn’s unmoving eyes as she continued to eat her pie, not lowering her glaring gaze or moving beyond the motion of her hand and the mastication of her mouth. Wanting for something to do that wasn’t being pinned to the spot by a pair of amber eyes, Cara took another bite of her meal and broke off a piece of crust in one hand. 

Swallowing a mouthful of food, Cheska looked over at Cara while she fed her dragon part of her slice. "No offense meant, but you look older than most new wings I've met." The monk observed, taking another bite. 

"I waited a couple of years past sixteen," Cara admitted, scratching her dragon's chin. "In Netis, the best eggs are a little hard to get unless you wait for the Trial." Nodding, Cheska turned towards Ahnn and Petra. "How aged are the two of you? I know Kitisal does not have such customs for its riders." Ahnn's gaze finally broke from Cara at this question, her eyes sliding down as she remained quiet. 

"I've passed twenty-five this summer." Petra remarked, glancing over at Ahnn, who remained silent. 

"Ah, you've got two springs on me then." Cheska remarked, returning to her pie without further question. Cara’s attention was drawn towards Petra’s face, where the Princesses glance had turned into a sly look, her eyes slitted with amusement as her mouth curled at the corners with mischievous intent. 

Looking up and seeing Petra's expression, Ahnn’s eyes widened as she began, "Your Highness, y-" 

"Ahnn's a year younger than Cara!" Petra blurted out, and Cara looked over to the short-browed girl in surprise. Despite her shorter stature, the girl seemed far too serious and mature to be younger than her, though, by the storm clouds gathering in her amber eyes, this opinion was better left unsaid.

"Really? Why does the 'Favored Princess' have a lady-in-waiting that’s so young?" Cheska inquired, looking between the two girls."Surely the King could find you companions your own age?" 

Grinning at her somber friend, Petra looped an arm through Ahnn's drooping elbows. "I've companions enough, but Ahnn's my Speaker and my personal Lady in Waiting. We've been together for years, ever since we were young because of her father’s position as a diplomat." 

"Your Highness. Do not go sharing things about others like that. It's an invasion of privacy." Ahnn flatly scolded Petra, who was looking quite pleased with herself.

Cara looked at them, the way that Ahnn interacted and facilitated Petra's chaos making more sense in the new context of their roles with each other. 

Cara finished her food and took the plate up to the kitchen, partly lost in her own world of thought, though enough so that she only barely registered or even acknowledged the reminder that Petra called after her about the staircase. Escape seemed genuinely impossible at this point, with her dragon still too small to ride and Cheska preferring to acclimate rather than depart. 

What was worse to Cara, however, was the fact that despite how she got there and her voiced reluctance, she was slowly finding herself becoming a part of things, smiling at jokes and looking forward to seeing them in the mornings, sometimes even receiving a smile as she came into a room. She was growing attached, which wasn’t conducive to her strong desire to leave and resume her life back in Cebrene. Every moment and laugh was ridden with an undercurrent of guilt and impending betrayal and feeling like she belonged made Cara feel like she was living a lie, and one she didn’t deserve. In turn, it seemed like the others were also slowly opening up to her more, revealing their true personalities and quirks that made them human in her mind. 

She hated that she was falling into this group; Cara wanted just to ignore them and continue in her isolation, where nothing was expected of her, and they could treat each other with cold indifference. Something about Cheska's inclusion in their dynamic had changed everything, the warmth and force of personality she brought acting as the catalyst between Cara and the others. 

These thoughts swirled in her head as she pumped some cold water into the sink, scrubbing off her plate and leaving it to dry in the nearby metal rack. Heading down the stairs, she passed Ahnn, holding two sets of dishes and trailed by Cheska with her own used utensils. "Cara, hurry up." The Princess demanded below, the creak of hinges sounding after she spoke. 

Descending the remainder of the stairs, Cara scooped up the dragon waiting on the bottom and draped her across her shoulders, following Petra out. Once they exited the dining tower, the impetuous blonde made her way across the smooth, marble stone of the hall and opened the door directly across from the one they had just left. 

Ahnn's reports of the residential tower over the weeks had said that while most of the lower rooms were too damaged or unfurnished to live in, the master and guest suites on the upper levels should still be decently habitable. The issue was that the staircase, whose wooden core had gotten damaged at some point, had made the structure liable to break and crumble if climbed. 

When they arrived inside, Petra lit a torch from the lantern kept near the one simple room that Ahnn had cleared out to sleep in. Although it was midday, the lower portion of the tower could get rather dark, as many of the windows not located in rooms were higher up near the tower's roof. 

Petra also looked up towards the top of the tower, gazing at the patch job Cheska had done the previous day, carrying wood and nails on her dragon’s back to stop up the holes overhead. "Well, what's the plan?" Cara asked, looking over at the princess. 

"I'm thinking just encase the wood with stone, all the way up." Petra replied, looking down and motioning with her hands, flicking them upwards to indicate the entire height of the structure and tapping a section that was bowing out towards her; the wood cracked. 

Clapping her hands once, the Princess turned to Cara, drawing her sword and flicking the blade upward with a quick twist of her wrist before turning back to the stairs. A thin, clear spire of stone shot up out of the ground near Cara's feet, causing her to take a jump backward away from the crystal. 

"I wanted to try something." Petra said, her back facing Cara. She was conducting a slow, steady ring of dull black crystal to grow around the base of the stairs, her blade tracing a circular path through the air. 

"Do you need your sword to do your magic?" Cara interrupted, a sudden hope forming in her chest. "Is that how you always summon gems and shining rock instead of usual earth and stone?" 

Petra looked back over her shoulder, glancing at Cara with a cat-like smile before returning to her ring of rocks. "No, that's more to do with Lysander's power and my interpretation of it."

"My sword helps mostly aesthetically for direction, but no, it's not at all necessary." Petra turned towards Cara, pointing the saber toward her chest. "If you would be so kind as to assist me, but I want to see what happens if you pass your light through that crystal first." The green-eyed girl gestured towards the spire she had grown, and Cara looked at both it and her a few times, waiting for an explanation.

"Have you ever shone a light through a prism, Lady Myzanti? See the famous Stained Orchestra perform?" 

Cara shook her head no to both, and Petra gestured for her to do so now. Quickly scooping a handful of torchlight from the nearby brackets on the wall, Cara extended it towards the crystal, the light shining through and splitting into a neat, sequential cascade of colors. 

"Perfect." Petra said, stepping out in front of the light, its illumination staining the white of her shirt into a glowing rainbow as she raised the tip of her blade. "Now, let's see if it does anything different when you boost me with the light like this." 

Dubiously, Cara watched her walk over and raise her sword, swallowing the feeling that making the light look different would not change what it did. Pouring her power out, Cara extended the shining beam to Petra's hand, watching as it poured over it and up and into her chest. 

Without further hesitation, Petra swept her Sabre upwards in a near sweep, pausing once it was pointed at the ceiling. Creeping upwards in the path indicated by the sword, the shiny black rock slowly consumed the wood, forcing it to the center and firmly encasing it. Cara could feel the drain fast burning through her and looked down slightly to swallow the wave of bile rising up her throat. 

Cara inhaled sharply when she saw the quick, blurry image within the fingers of light, wavering like air on a scorching day as it displayed a brief perspective of two people walking down a familiar hall. Before Cara could investigate or look closer, Petra's sabre lowered, and Cara let their connection go before she poured too much of herself into it. A wave of shuddering revulsion swept her stomach, followed by an immediate sense of relief as she let her hand lower, breathing deeply as though winded by a long run. 

"That didn't feel any different." Petra remarked, waving to Ahnn as she entered and examined their handiwork. 

"No, not really." Cara said, silently keeping the oddity to herself. 

"We did a good job, though! This takes so little effort with your help. I barely even have to think about it!" Petra patted Cara's shoulder happily before departing, heading over to converse with Ahnn. 

Cara took a breather, sinking down near the wall and numbly petting her little dragon, watching as the girls tested the strength of the steps. Soon enough, Cheska arrived, giving an appreciative whistle as she examined the shining staircase with its crystalline core. "That's well and fixed up, I'd say!" The Farcan said, looking up to where Ahnn was carefully testing the second-floor landing. 

It only took Cheska one more moment to spot Cara's pity puddle and make her way over to check on her. "You alright there?" The friendly monk asked, offering a hand down to Cara. Looking up at her, Cara hesitated for a moment before she accepted, placing her hand in Cheska's and letting her help her up, giving a tired nod of her head.

"The balconies on the second and third floors are stable." Ahnn called down to them, and Cara followed Cheska up to the second floor, her short legs taking each step while Cheska’s took two with ease. Circling the stone balcony that separated the first floor from the second, Cara noted two sets of rooms on opposite sides of the tower. Their wooden doors were left ajar, a small trail of dust edging the spaces of Ahnn’s footprints trekking through on her investigation. Cheska wasted little time pushing her head into one of the rooms, taking a moment to look around the space without actually entering.

"Suitable, though I prefer smaller spaces." The Farcan commented before reversing and dashing up the stairs to look at the next floor. Peeking her head in, Cara spotted covered shapes of furniture against the far wall through a doorway that connected the bedroom to the main receiving room. A pair of doors looked like they led outside, and a couple more led off into various washrooms and closets, but none interested Cara more than what she already had in her library. Closing the door, Cara walked back down to the bottom of the stairs; the weight of her earlier feat still draining her body, and her conflicted mind didn’t help put her at ease.  

From the sounds of things, Petra would take over the master bedroom, and Cheska would be moving out of the library, which left Cara on her own once again. She was more than fine with this course of action and was fast looking forward to a nap in her newly regained solitude. Leaving the others behind to explore the tower more, Cara walked back to the library and shut the door behind her. 

She still wasn't feeling at peace, fully committing to Petra's cause, but days like today made her want to. The simple joys and moments that Cara experienced where she saw an attractive, human side to Petra warred with the image of the ruthless woman who had held a knife to her back not that long ago. Both sides clashed against each other as Cara tried to place a mental image of who this princess was and who she would be as a leader. 

Cara closed the door behind her little hatchling, crouching down to give the dragon some scratches. When bent down like this, her little head now came up to the top of Cara's knee, and few of her scales remained their original dull gray. "You're going to need a name soon." Cara murmured to the dragon, who regarded her with silent purple eyes.

"Violet? Giseka?" Cara suggested, looking to see if the dragon reacted. When nothing changed, she listed off a few more, waiting to see if she could get a reaction. "Tafel? Korami? Leeane?" All she got was a draconian tilt of the head in reply, wide purple eyes still flicking across her face. She sighed, wondering why she even bothered in the first place. To her, nothing fit or made sense because she didn't feel like she knew her dragon yet. She was still relatively young and very energetic, but most dragonlings were, and Cara could feel herself lean towards waiting for some age to put a name to her. 

"Maybe soon." She whispered, nudging the little scaly nose with her own. Scooping up her dragon, Cara ascended to the curtained windows, pulling aside the curtain to watch the early winter light fade over the mountains. She pulled a few books off the pile from below, some of the genuine tomes she was looking through to see if she could even understand their written language. 

Several books written in the looping, vaulted vowels of Ataran later, Cara found her eyes drooping. The words on the page were slowly losing meaning; she had to read several sections repeatedly to make sure that it was in another language. Shaking her head, she tried to make it through a couple more lines, but little girl crawled atop the open page, laying a warm chin on Cara's hand and slowly closing her scaled lids. Yawning widely, Cara lay her head down to catch some rest in the last few warm rays of sunshine from the sinking orb behind the cold grey mountains.