Chapter 5
EDEN
“To Eden!” Matty declared, holding his tankard high in the air. The amber ale sloshed precariously. “For surviving her first two days in the infirmary.”
We sat at a round table in the outdoor courtyard of the Wiggly Dragon Tooth.
The pub had been decorated for the migration with leather streamers in the shapes of flames and parchment dragon cutouts.
Even the drinks had been given fun names.
Tonight we were sampling the Blue Flame Brew, Dracon Stout, and Sizzling Cider.
“And to this darling girl for not puking on my shoes like the last nurse Gunther tried to hire!” Seraphine added. “What was his name? Lyle? Leon?”
“Link,” Reo said. He was a stocky guy in his thirties with cropped blond hair who apparently favored leather vests that showed off the dragon tattoo on his left forearm.
Talani, the last burntender on the team, sat next to him.
She was younger than Reo, with a strong, curvy physique, and the personality of a porcupine.
I couldn’t help thinking she and Vaela had been separated at birth.
I didn’t take it personally, though, since that seemed to be her default with everyone.
“Link, the poor bloke!” Seraphine said, clinking her tankard against Matty’s.
I didn’t want to ask what happened to Link, but by the sounds of it, even this tiny infirmary proved to be too much for him.
“Can I just say,” Nisse said to me, “that I am so impressed with how you’re holding down the fort in Gunther’s absence. We threw you into the deep end, and you’re crushing it.” She reached out and squeezed my arm. “I mean it.”
A hot flush prickled in my cheeks. “It’s really been more of a team effort,” I said. “Seriously. I couldn’t have managed everything on my own.”
Seraphine slurped her ale then hugged me close. “We do make a great team, don’t we?”
Her cheeks were redder than mine, her smile merry.
I wondered how many drinks she’d gotten through with Matty before I’d arrived.
Despite the fact that she was definitely tipsy, I couldn’t help but smile at the genuine warmth in her voice.
I’d never felt so at home at the academy clinics.
Worked to the bone? Yes. Stressed by the sheer volume of injuries coming through the door?
Absolutely. But never part of a team—I’d simply been another pair of hands.
I cleared my throat, raising my own tankard. It had a curled pewter dragon’s tail for a handle. “I appreciate everyone’s patience with me. And I look forward to working alongside you all during this migration.”
“What about after?” Reo asked. The inky dragon on his forearm flexed as he reached for the platter of soft bread and cheese in the middle of the table.
The bread had been brought in especially for the migration, baked in hearths lit by dragon fire.
It smelled divine and my stomach grumbled in answer to his question. “Will you move on?”
“I haven’t given it much thought,” I admitted. At the academy, I knew I’d needed a change. I’d been desperate for it. But when the dragons moved on from Ember Ridge after the migration, maybe it would be time for me to go, too. “Perhaps I’ll return to the rider academy.”
Nisse wrinkled her nose. “I’ve heard awful things about the way that place runs. I know quite a few of the apothecaries down there, and they say those trainees are put through hell.”
I nodded in agreement. I’d seen the treatment myself.
“They only want the best of the best for the kingsguard,” Reo said, sounding bitter. “The competition is tough. So they push those trainees to their limits. Half of every academy year flunks out in their first week.”
“You went through the training, didn’t you?” Matty said.
Reo nodded. “Made it a couple of months into the program before I broke. I wanted to fly for the kingsguard more than anything, but I couldn’t hack the conditions at the academy.
The worst of it was that my parents told anyone who would listen that their son was going to be a dragon rider.
I couldn’t even go home after I dropped out. Not for years.”
Hearing the way Reo spoke of his experience, I considered the incredible amount of strength it must have taken Vaela to make it through the wrangler program.
It was different from riding for the kingsguard.
I knew that. But in many ways, it wasn’t that different at all—the physical demands on the body, the emotional and mental strain of the job.
“For what it’s worth,” Nisse said to Reo, “I think you make an excellent burntender.” He smiled at that. “And I’m glad you made it out of the program unscathed. I’ve heard horror stories of other trainees being far less fortunate.”
I swallowed hard. I’d also seen that first-hand.
Seraphine threw back the last of her drink. “Well, this all took a very harrowing turn,” she said.
“Depressing,” Matty agreed, draining his ale. “Who’s ready for another?”
Reo lifted his tankard, rising to his feet. “I’ll help you get the next round. I need something to wash the taste of failure from my mouth.”
Matty clapped him on the back, showing off a flash of bicep as he gathered empty tankards and set off for the bar.
“So,” Seraphine said, inching closer to me. Stars glittered above and narrow candlesticks flickered on tables, casting soft yellow light across her flushed face. She took one of my hands, cradling it between hers. “Sounds to me like you’re not sure what comes next for you.”
“That’s literally what she said,” Talani muttered. Nisse elbowed her.
“My nan was touched with the sight,” Seraphine whispered, tilting her head in my direction. She rubbed the back of my hand before flipping it over, narrowing her eyes as she stared at my palm.
“Here we go,” Talani said, rolling her eyes. “A couple of drinks and she starts with all that mystic nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense,” Seraphine said. She hiccupped. “Excuse me.”
Talani barked a laugh. “It’s rubbish. A trickster’s art. And you know that.”
The flush in Seraphine’s cheeks deepened. “Just because you don’t believe it, doesn’t mean it’s rubbish. And I’ll have you know…” Her words trailed off as her fingertip ran along the lines on my palm. “Mmm, yes. I see now.”
Nisse’s lips twitched as she caught my eye. I bit my cheek to keep from laughing, indulging Seraphine’s drunk musings.
Talani crossed her arms and slumped back in her chair.
I understood her reluctance and suspicion.
Cai’amar was a land that didn’t believe in such things as enchantments or illusions or divination.
Even a bit of palmistry, however silly it might sound, would be frowned upon in most circles.
And in front of actual authority? It just wasn’t spoken about.
A person didn’t typically mention magic unless they wanted to attract the wrong kind of attention from the kingsguard. But here, now, with a bit of alcohol in me and Seraphine tripping over words. Well, it was just a bit of silly fun.
“Ah, sweet girl. You’re looking for something,” Seraphine said.
“You should be looking for your good sense,” Talani quipped.
Seraphine stroked my palm. “Something fulfilling.”
My thoughts drifted to the sketchbook hidden in the cottage. The one I’d hastily stuffed away when Nisse had dropped by earlier.
“Maybe she’s looking to be fulfilled by a pretty dragon wrangler,” Nisse said lightly, averting her eyes and sipping her drink.
What? My gaze cut in her direction as a laugh caught in the back of my throat. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m just saying,” she said. “Vaela doesn’t usually make a habit of lingering around the infirmary. She’s more of a drop-the-patient-and-go kind of person. I don’t think I’ve seen that much of her—”
“Because the holes in her hand are flirting with infection!” I said, cutting her off.
“Someone’s definitely flirting with something,” Nisse muttered. “I can’t be the only one who noticed the tension between you two?”
“Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm,” Seraphine agreed, hiccupping again.
Talani groaned, looking like she wanted to smack her head off the table to free herself from this conversation. I might just join her.
“The only thing I want is to see the back of Vaela Frixsar,” I said. “Riding away from the infirmary.”
Seraphine nodded sagely. “She’s got a rather nice backside.”
“Seraphine!” Nisse cried, covering a laugh with her hand. Talani looked perplexed. A wave of heat nipped at my cheeks.
“What?” the woman said. “Have you seen those leather trousers of hers? I should ask her how she gets herself in such shape, but I suppose it’s from hauling herself up and down that dragon every day.
And I don’t fancy doing that much work. Perhaps I’ll just get myself a pair of leather trousers, too. ”
Nisse threw her head back and cackled. “And to think I was going to let Poppy come tonight.”
Seraphine wiggled her eyebrows. “You know what they say about dragon wranglers anyway.”
“The good ones die young?” Talani said.
My heart thumped unevenly in my chest.
Seraphine scowled at her. “Psssh… No.”
Talani shrugged. “It’s true.”
I grimaced. She didn’t know how right she was, and a dark ache flared inside me, rooting itself behind my ribs.
“Look, nice backside or not,” Talani said. “It’s best everyone keeps their distance from that one. The thrill isn’t worth it in the end.”
Seraphine sighed and patted my hand. “Don’t listen to that spoil-sport.”
I managed to laugh it off, unbothered. But I didn’t need Talani to tell me about the fate of dragon wranglers. I still remembered the charge nurse at the academy saying that a dragon rider’s fate was inevitable. The very beasts they tamed would one day claim their lives.
Wranglers were no different.
And if anyone knew the truth of that, it was me.
“What a sad life,” Nisse mused, an air of melancholy in her voice.
I hummed in agreement just as a dark shadow swept overhead. A rattling wind whipped across the courtyard, snuffing out several of the candles.
And then, with a thunderous crash, something came skidding off the roof of the pub. I yelped as it dropped onto an empty table, crushing the wood before rising to its clawed feet and turning the table remnants to ash with one heated breath.