41. Be Still
~ GRACE ~
As Bren threw the harness up, and over Koa’s withers, Koa shifted slightly—and the harness smacked her on the shoulder, startling her.
Her head shot up and her wings snapped wide. Her tail whipped around to counterbalance her weight as she threw her great bulk sideways—but because of the loft above the stable, the rafters weren’t as high. She cracked her head on one of the beams and shrieked.
The stable shuddered, and dust trickled down over our heads as Koa whipped around again, her tail narrowly missing Bren, who squawked and ducked, dropping to the straw with her hands over her head.
A good thing, because the harness fell to the ground with a smattering of thuds, and two of the buckles almost smacked her in the head.
When everything had stopped moving, I hurried forward to pull Bren back to her feet, as I tried to soothe Koa in the link. ‘I’m sorry! She didn’t mean to hurt you. She only missed!’
Koa wasn’t speaking in words. She’d crowded herself into the corner of the stable, the ear on the side where she’d hit the rafters, drooping. She shook her head again and again.
“I’m so sorry, Koa! You’re broader than Akhane and I misjudged—”
I rushed forward to grasp the harness and pull it away, because Koa seemed hesitant to move forward while it lay in the straw in front of her. Dear Lord it was heavy.
“She’s hurt her ear—she’s showing me the pain!” I said to Bren as I dragged the heavy leather toward the opposite wall.
“I’m so sorry, Koa—”
A heavy, deep snort sounded from the aisle and we both turned to find Kham standing outside the door, his head extended into the stable.
“Stop moving, both of you,” Voski said from where he stood next to Kham’s leg.
My heart trilled at the sight of him, but it dropped immediately. He looked awful.
Skin so pale he looked gray around the edges. Dark smudges under his eyes—like bruises. Far worse than yesterday when we’d arrived. As if trying to hide them, he’d let his hair fall over his eyes and he stared through it.
I braced for his anger, but to my surprise, his eyes were locked on Koa. One palm lifted in a gesture to stop, the other low, but extended out from his side, he stepped forward slowly, a soothing whist-whist-whist sound rushing between his lips.
Then he looked over his shoulder at Kham, who filled the doorway of the stable, his head weaving back and forth on his long neck, crooning.
And Koa answered him with little trills and a small scream.
Kham rumbled. Voski nodded.
“She hurt herself, but not badly—Kham’s making certain. He thinks she’s okay, but a little scared. Next time you want to harness, do it outside. You need more room when you aren’t as practiced.” He didn’t sound angry, which was a relief. But his tone was flat.
Bren grimaced. “I forgot how little room there is in the loft stables. It’s my fault. I should have thought of that.”
Voski shrugged, and didn’t look at either of us, just kept staring at Koa. “Kham says she’ll be fine. But I think it would be best if I helped with the harnessing this morning,” he said with a bemused sideways look at Bren.
“Will she let you?” Bren asked.
Voski nodded. “I’m her mate’s rider. She trusts me even if I piss her off,” he murmured, in a soft, tender tone that said he was grateful for the fact.
The warmth in his voice pinched in my chest. A bolt of jealousy crackled behind my ribs.
I had to swallow it back. I was glad that Koa trusted Voski—and that he would be kind to her.
But, why couldn’t he be warm to me?
I left the question unspoken as Voski slowly took the harness from me and rolled it up, but kept his eyes on the dragons.
“Let them go first,” he said quietly, then stood patiently, waiting for Kham to call Koa out.
Bren grimaced at me and whispered an apology as we followed them out the door, then down the aisle and out of the stable’s western wing entrance, into bright, early-morning sun.
I hadn’t been through this door before, and had to squint against the sunlight, but soon recognized the pathway we’d taken to the Academy buildings the day before, and several wide, lawns and grooming areas we had passed.
“You know where you are?” Bren murmured.
I nodded. “I didn’t. Until I saw this.”
“It won’t take long to become familiar with the layout, but pay attention, and learn it as quickly as you can. Ask if you aren’t sure. But don’t expect anyone to lead you around. After your first day or two, you’ll be expected to work it out.”
I nodded, watching Voski’s back. He walked a few steps ahead of us, the harness in his arms. “Bren’s right,” he said, turning his head enough to be heard, but not meeting my eyes.
“Pay attention. Gain your bearings as soon as you can—that way, if anything is urgent, you don’t have to waste time asking for directions. ”
“Got it.”
Soon, the dragons reached a wide lawn on the slope between the main Academy building, and the building that housed Donavyn’s office, where we’d gone the day before.
Kham kept nosing Koa’s neck and crooning to her, which was a beautiful sound. And she preened, hearing it, though she still shook her head occasionally.
Her pleasure in him made me smile. And a little jealous.
Voski stopped at the edge of the lawn, watching them, frowning.
I tensed, wondering if he would be angry now.
But he glanced at me from the side and there was no heat in his eyes.
“You weren’t to know—and we aren’t accustomed to dragons who haven’t grown up in the herd, or spent many years around us,” he said quietly.
“So, don’t carry this. It wasn’t your failure. ”
Bren winced, but he didn’t accuse her of anything.
“What we will do, is make sure we don’t have issues again. I’ve had Kham ask her permission for me to harness her, and she’s said yes. But it’s etiquette to ask you as well, since she’s yours. May I harness your dragon, Grace?” he asked carefully.
“Of course!”
He huffed, but finally turned to look at me, though his face was expressionless.
“Thank you. Now, since you’re here, we might as well start working on your training.
Once I get the harness into position, you’re going to do the buckles.
Then I’ll take the dragons to the clearing while you two get food. ”
He looked pointedly at Bren. “She’s tired. Make sure she gets something filling. It’s going to be a long morning.”
The look that passed between them half-thrilled, and half-frightened me. But there was no time to wonder what they knew that they weren’t saying.
Voski stepped away, approaching Koa softly, while Kham hummed. Her ears flickered, but she stood still as he threw the harness in a high, wide arc that landed near-perfectly over her withers, the long straps dangling, slapping against her sides and legs.
She twitched, but didn’t back away, turning her head to sniff the leather as it hung down her sides, and fluttered her wings.
To my surprise, Voski put a hand on my arm and drew me forward, walking quickly, but keeping his voice low.
“I’ll make sure it’s in the correct position.
Since this is the first time it’s on, we’ll have to measure the buckle holes and show you how to make sure the straps are tight enough to be secure, but not so tight they hamper her movement or cause pain over time. ”
Then, as if nothing had ever passed between us, as if he’d never been angry, or called me whining princess, he spent the next twenty minutes walking me through how to measure the straps—how to pull them together, make certain they were untwisted, and test under each buckle for room to move.
“…your fingers—well, for you, it’s probably a palm—should slide under the leather and be held securely, but not tightly.
If you’d eventually limit blood flow if you left your hand there, it’s too tight.
If you press your hand into her belly and the strap hangs, it’s too loose.
When you’ve got it right, make certain every buckle is flat, and the leather straps firmly in their keepers.
Loose, excess strap can catch on limbs or tangle other straps while you’re flying and pull the buckles open. Do you understand?”
I did. I followed his instructions, ignored the way the hair on my arms rose when he took my hand and placed it under the girth strap to show me where to test the tightness, ignored the goosebumps pebbling down my neck when he leaned over me to make certain I’d secured the buckle on her leg-strap correctly.
And then he unbuckled everything and told me to do it again, alone. Without his instruction.
I remembered how to check the buckles and to put all the straps in their keepers when a buckle was secure, but I secured the neck strap on the wrong spot at her chest, and had to undo half my work to get the chest-strap right.
But eventually, we stood there, side by side, and my dragon was harnessed.
Koa lifted her head and called. Kham answered her immediately, pride ringing in his cry.
Voski stood next to me, arms folded, nodding at Koa. “Well done,” he said. “You got it.”
“Mostly.”
“Trust me, that was good. You pay attention.”
“You’re a good teacher.”
His head snapped to look at me, and my cheeks heated—that rush and prickle on my skin washing from the side of my face where he stared, down my arm. But he turned away when Bren spoke.
“We don’t have much time. We’ll hurry, but she needs to eat. Do you want me to get you anything?”
“No, thanks. I’ve already eaten. I’ll go with the dragons—give Kham time to make sure Koa isn’t overwhelmed. She hasn’t met all the herd yet.”
“Donavyn said there wouldn’t be as many as there was at mine. Too many on patrol—is that right?”
Voski nodded, his lips thin. “That’s what I understand, too. But don’t worry, Grace. The squad is here. You’ll get your Acknowledgement, even if we’re the only ones.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, except that this was really happening. I would really be a dragon rider today. But then my jaw dropped as I looked at Koa, harnessed and ready.
“Am I going to have to mount and take off with her?” I squeaked, looking at them both, alarmed. I hadn’t ridden a take-off or landing without falling unless Voski held me into it.
“No, don’t worry,” Bren said with a reassuring smile. “But, it’s going to be a long morning all the same.”
They looked at each other. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “What is it?” I asked, looking back and forth between them.
“Nothing,” Voski said.
Bren chuckled. “It’s a day you’ll remember for the rest of your life, Grace. Don’t worry. Now, let’s go get you some food. You’re going to need your strength.”
Then she led me north, toward the dining hall at a pace much faster than she used to walk the halls of the Fyrehold castle when we met.
Then again, we were both in trousers. And though my breath grew faster, I could keep up.
It felt strange and wonderful to walk through the Keep in leather, alongside a Furyknight. I stared at Bren’s pin whenever she wasn’t watching. And I prayed that one day I’d have one of my own.