10. Darian
Chapter ten
Darian
Darian made his way home slowly. He plucked a long piece of grass from the meadow before he entered the forest, letting it tap along the tree trunks he walked past.
Things had been different today.
Celia had admitted that she liked having him around, and if his uncles had asked him when he went out this morning, he wouldn’t have guessed she would say that.
But hearing her admit it had made that thing inside his chest—the thing the baby dragons called a spark—flare to life.
He still wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
He hadn’t talked about it with anyone, definitely not Celia. It wasn’t even until the last day or two that he’d known for sure that the feeling in his chest was the spark they were talking about.
But now he couldn’t deny it. It was brighter whenever she was around, and when she was gone, his chest almost hurt. He had no doubts that the hatchlings were right.
She was his mate, but he didn’t know what that meant, or what to do about it.
And what did you do if a woman who was meant to be yours showed no signs of wanting to be in a relationship?
She was warming up to him now, and he would do whatever it took to change her mind, even if he still wasn’t quite sure what that meant. All he knew was it had something to do with the dragons.
This couldn’t be normal, or more people would talk about it, and he could only imagine that it was somehow tied to the reason he could talk to dragons.
But what did it mean if she didn’t have the same ability? Did she feel the same tightness in her chest every time he left? Or were the dragons the only ones who seemed sad to see him leave?
He was deep in thought as he walked into the store, nearly running into Thea Alder and her husband, Nathaniel.
“Oh, sorry,” Mrs. Alder said, giving him a big smile as he quickly moved to hold the door open for them.
“I’m sorry,” Darian said, smiling back at her. “I didn’t see you there.”
“You seem lost in thought.”
“I am,” he admitted. “I hope you are having a pleasant day and that sales are going well.”
“They are,” she said, smiling at her husband. “Nat convinced me to leave Linnea in charge so we could come get a few supplies.”
“I’ll have to come by soon,” he told her. “I need to get my hands on some of those pastries you make. My mouth has been watering for them ever since the last one.”
“I’ll try to remember to bring you one next time I come,” Thea said with a smile. “Have a good day.”
“I will,” Darian said, letting the door shut behind them. Thea had become a new person after marrying Nathaniel, and it was fun to see her transformation.
His mouth was watering at the thought of her pastries. He should bring Celia to the Cozy Cat Café one of these days—she would love it.
She loved good food, he knew that much, and she deserved to be spoiled with delicious food that she didn’t have to make herself. And since his skills in the kitchen were decidedly lackluster, the least he could do was bring her to the café.
“There you are,” Uncle Amos said. “What are you up to? You’re back early.”
Darian shrugged, making his way behind the counter and pulling his shop apron over his head.
“She was helping an air dragon,” he said under his breath in case there were any customers he couldn’t see.
“The air dragon didn’t want to talk to me, so it didn’t seem like I was needed, and I thought I’d come back and actually do my job for once. ”
It had nothing to do with the fact that it was almost painful to be close to her and not talk to her about the way he came to life when she was near.
Not that it was any easier to be away from her.
His uncle laughed. “That is a good point. You have been absent of late. But we don’t mind, do we, Bram?”
Uncle Bram put his head around the corner. “We don’t mind,” he said. “You deserve to find happiness, my boy, and your destiny.”
Darian narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”
His uncle’s eyes twinkled. “Surely by now you’ve noticed you have an unusual relationship with the dragons.”
“Well, yes,” he admitted. “But what does that have to do with my destiny?”
“Quite a lot, actually,” his uncle said. “I don’t know much about it, but I know enough to know that you should be figuring out more and more the more time you spend with them. Your mother said it would come to you.”
“What do you mean my mother said it would come to me?” Darian asked. His head felt hot. Were they finally going to tell him more?
“We don’t know much more than that,” Uncle Amos said.
“That’s what you said last time,” Darian pointed out, and Uncle Bram laughed.
“Well, yes,” he admitted, “but I really don’t know much more. She didn’t understand much of it herself. It’s from your father. As far as we know, your mother was just like us and didn’t have that connection to the dragons. Your father… I think he had an extra connection to them.”
“I think I’ve noticed something like that,” he admitted.
The hatchlings seemed to know something about him and his family innately, even if they didn’t know any details.
“Your mother also said that her marriage to your father felt different. I don’t know if you’re feeling that yet—”
“What does that mean?” Darian interrupted.
“Just that,” Uncle Bram said, with a shrug. “We don’t know what ‘different’ meant.”
Darian ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He was finally getting more answers, but they only gave him more questions.
“I don’t know what to do,” he admitted. “I feel things I don’t know how to feel, and I can hear things no one else can, and I don’t know what to do with any of it.”
“Does she help?” Uncle Bram asked quietly.
“More than anything,” Darian admitted. “When I’m with her, it’s the only time it all makes sense.”
His uncle smiled. “That’s what I thought,” he said. “Stick with her, kid. If she helps now, it will only help more in the future. And I know that it might not make sense now, but soon it will.”
“How soon?” Darian asked. “Because right now it’s not making any sense.”
“I don’t know,” Uncle Bram said. Darian let his head fall onto the shop counter in frustration.
“I wish I could help more,” his uncle said, reaching out to ruffle his hair like he had when Darian was a boy.
“But we’re normal and don’t have what you have, so we can only tell you how proud your mother would be of the man you become.
She told us that you were meant for more, and we are so proud of you and hope that someday we get to see the man you become. ”
“Why wouldn’t you?” Darian asked in alarm.
Uncle Amos stepped in. “We don’t know where your journey will lead you, but I do know that you have only shown that your mother was right, and you are meant for something greater than running a general store.”
“Hence all the extra lessons,” Darian teased.
Uncle Bram shook his head. “We thought for sure you would figure that out at some point.”
“Figure what out?” he asked, shaking his head. “The fact that you were making me do a million extra things? Yes, I figured that out quite some time ago, I just couldn’t figure out why.”
“Do you wish we’d told you sooner?” Uncle Amos asked quietly.
Did he?
Or was he grateful that he hadn’t known until now that he had something different in his future?
“I’m glad you waited,” he said quietly.
A customer walked in and his uncles turned to her with their customer smiles on. “Help her, please,” Uncle Bram said, clapping him on the shoulder, before his uncles hurried away, probably to talk about him.
Things were finally starting to make sense. Even if he still didn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle, he had enough for now.
Celia was an important part of his future, and so were the dragons.
Whether his future was the meadow with her, or something else, he wasn’t sure, but as long as she was with him, he was ready for it.
Even now, as he helped the customer standing in front of him, something was calling him north, toward her, toward his destiny. He knew it was there, and the fact that his uncles knew it too was reassuring. Because if they knew it, then it had to be true.
Celia and the dragons were his future, and he would just have to drag his uncles along with him if necessary.