Chapter 13 Kailin
"The greatest mystery of the bond is not how it extends life, but how it weaves two souls into one without destroying either."
—Shaman Arta Dawnkeeper
Icouldn't believe I had just told a stranger about having killed Shedun. I never talked about it.
Ednis, who had been with me in the watchtower that accursed night, had been thoughtful enough not to tell anyone about my kills before asking me if I wanted to take credit for them.
When I'd told him to keep it a secret, he'd said that I was brave and should be proud, but I'd told him that no one needed to know that my shots had been fatal.
As far as I was concerned, he could take all the credit.
Other than Ednis, the only ones who knew were my family and Shovia, and I trusted them not to share it with anyone.
The ale must have loosened my tongue.
Even if I was ready to reveal my part in defending our village, this wasn't the kind of thing to be discussed casually over drinks, and especially not with an upper-class Elurian, who'd probably never had to defend himself against anything more dangerous than a cunning business rival.
"Where in Eluria are you from?" I asked to change the subject.
"Vedona," Alar said. "The capital."
Of course, he was from Vedona. Everything about him screamed metropolitan elite, from his perfectly tailored clothes to his cultured accent and rich vocabulary.
I had seen pictures of the sprawling city with its gleaming towers that stretched toward the sky, but I'd never visited, and probably never would.
Few Elucians ventured beyond our mountains, unless they were dragon riders in pursuit of fleeing Shedun or on a mission to provide aid to Eluria by way of rescue operations that could only be performed from the air.
"Another round!" Codric called out, waving to the barmaid.
I shouldn't have any more ale when the first tankard was already making my head fuzzy, its warmth spreading through my limbs in a not entirely unpleasant way.
I pulled my watch out of my purse and checked the time. It was already half past eight, and I had promised to be home by nine.
When the fresh drinks arrived, I wrapped my fingers around the cool metal but only pretended to sip.
"I should probably head home," I said. "It's getting late."
Shovia shot me a look that clearly said I was ruining her fun. "I want to stay a little longer." She leaned closer to Codric, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I've never seen the guest rooms in the lodge. Are they nice?"
I stifled the urge to roll my eyes. I shouldn't be surprised that my best friend was intending to spend the night with a man she had just met.
Codric was Shovia's type, and the fact that he was a foreigner who could never be considered husband material was considered a bonus in her book.
She intended to party for as long as she could and to settle down only after she tired of all the partying.
Sometimes I wished I could be like her, carefree and adventurous, but that wasn't me. I was the fun-spoiler, the boring friend who wanted to be in bed by nine.
"I'll walk you home," Alar offered, rising from his chair.
"Thank you, but you don't need to."
"I want to. It's not safe for a young lady to walk alone at night."
I almost laughed. The streets of Skywatcher's Point were safer than most other places in Elucia, thanks to its proximity to the Citadel. The Shedun were a suicidal scourge who didn't care about their own lives, but they were not completely devoid of reason.
Besides, I could ask Morek to walk me home.
Nevertheless, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Alar just yet, and since he insisted on accompanying me, I wasn't going to argue. "It's perfectly safe for me to walk home alone, but it would be nice to have company. Thank you."
As we stepped outside, the cool night air helped clear my head. With the auroras overhead it wasn't dark, but it was still significantly colder now than when I entered the bar, and my dress wasn't enough to keep the chill at bay.
When I crossed my arms over my chest to keep some warmth in, Alar shrugged off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. I wanted to protest, but as warmth trapped inside the fabric enveloped me along with the scent of his cologne, it felt too good to say no.
"Thank you." I smiled at him. "That's very gallant, but aren't you cold? I'm more used to the mountain weather out here than you are."
To his credit, he didn't try to deny it.
"It's much warmer in the province of Catonia, where I'm from, and even warmer in the city because the heat gets trapped between the tall buildings.
" He tucked his hands into his pockets, probably to keep them from freezing.
"Do you learn Elurian geography and history in your schools? "
I chuckled. "As much as you learn in yours about ours. Only the basics."
"Do you know that most of the Elurian Federation is on flat land?"
I nodded. "I also know a little bit of its history.
It used to be seventeen separate countries, with Catonia being the largest and strongest, which is why her king became the elected ruler of the newly formed federation and his descendants have been ruling over Eluria ever since.
" I scrunched my nose. "Let me see what else.
The Council of Seventeen answers to the king or queen, who are always Catonian, and the ruler can't decide anything that affects the other provinces without getting the Council’s approval.
He needs a majority vote." I looked up at him. "How am I doing so far?"
"You get an A, but I bet you have no idea about the shenanigans and bribery it takes to get anything passed."
He was right that I didn't have a clue. That sort of unethical conduct went against the Precepts of Truth. But what I wanted to know was how a member of a merchant class knew about those shenanigans.
"Is that what your newspapers report?" I asked.
"Some of them," he said without looking at me. "Most are controlled by the Council and are its mouthpieces. Rumors of shady dealings are only published in the underground papers."
I tilted my head to look at his handsome profile. "And how does a respectable merchant get his hands on underground papers?"
Alar chuckled. "Who says I'm respectable?"
"Now you sound like Shovia. For some reason, I got the impression that you are a serious guy who doesn't partake in mischief."
He winced as if I had insulted him. "I'm here, aren't I? Most of my friends think that an Elurian joining the Elucian pilgrimage in the hopes of becoming a dragon rider is a daredevil or a fool."
"Good point." I huddled under his jacket. "The pilgrimage is meant to be an ordeal for Elucians, and it is so much more difficult for flatlanders like you who are not used to the thin air up there."
Mountain sickness was real, caused by the lower levels of oxygen in the air and, as a result, the blood.
Flatlanders were more vulnerable to the effects of high altitude than Elucians, who had been born and raised in these mountains.
Still, the whole point of trekking up to the summit while fasting was to induce hallucinations or, as the shaman called it, open the inner eye, so Alar and his cousin should welcome the effects.
"If I want to become a dragon rider, I need to get used to high altitudes. Perhaps one of the pilgrimage goals is to weed out those who can't handle it."
That hadn't occurred to me, but he was most likely right. Those with a fear of heights would also get weeded out.
Climbing to the summit of Mount Hope would be more difficult for me than most pilgrims, but I wasn't going to share that with him or comment that he had little agency over his body's tolerance of altitude, and he couldn't just wish the sickness away.
I had my own demons to contend with, and my fear of heights was probably a bigger obstacle than the one that he had to deal with.
As we reached my house, I stopped in front of the wooden gate set in a low wall of rough-hewn stone. Feeling a little self-conscious. I could only imagine how quaint it must seem to someone from Vedona.
"This is where I live." I reluctantly started to remove Alar's jacket.
He shook his head and sat on the low stone wall. "I don't want to call it a night just yet. Can you stay with me for a little longer?"
I should be in bed, but I was flattered that he wanted to spend more time with me, and the truth was that I still wasn't ready to say goodnight to him either.
I sat down beside him. "Skywatcher's Point must look so quaint to you."
"I love how peaceful it is here." Alar tucked his hands under his thighs, probably to keep them warm, and I felt bad for keeping his jacket. "I like the quiet, the clean air, the way you can see the auroras without all the light pollution of the city."
I laughed. "Peaceful is an illusion. Anywhere in Elucia, the Shedun could burst out of the ground at any moment, but this is probably the safest place because of the proximity to the Citadel and the aviary. The riders can be here in minutes."
His expression grew serious. "We are told so very little about these attacks in Eluria. Is there no warning? The worms must make noise when they're tunneling through rock."
"They do, but it's localized. That's why the Shedun usually tunnel up in unpopulated areas and then attack on foot.
" I gestured toward the nearest watchtower, its silhouette dark against the shifting lights above.
"We have civilian patrols in every town and village.
We also have seismic sensors, but sometimes that's not enough.
They know how to work around our defenses. "
The memories of that night five years ago came rushing back.
"In my old village, the Shedun sent a stealth assassin team to kill the watchers first. If not for my dog sounding the alarm, they would have slaughtered us in our beds like they had done to so many others.
" I glanced toward the house, suddenly realizing that Chicha wasn't barking despite a stranger intruding on what she considered her domain.
"I'm surprised that my dog is so quiet with you being here.
Normally, Chicha would be barking her little head off. She must be getting old."
"Your dog deserves a medal." Alar glanced at the living-room window where Chicha usually sat watching the street.
"She does." I sighed. "I hate that her time is running out. Chicha is my family, and I'll be inconsolable when she passes."
"Maybe if you become a dragon rider and Chicha comes with you, she could live forever," Alar said with a straight face. "You could make a special carrier for her and take her along."
The image that his words painted in my head was so absurd that I laughed. "You are funny."
"I'm serious. She could be the wing's mascot."
"I don't think it works that way. Chicha would also have to bond with my dragon, and I doubt she has the gift."
"That's a good point. But what do we know about the bond? Perhaps animals can bond with dragons as well."
"I doubt that, but you are right about how little we know."
I didn't want our conversation to end, but we couldn't just stay here all night.
Through the window I could see a shadow move, and guessed that it was my father, keeping watch over me.
He trusted me and was confident that I could handle myself, probably more than I was, but that didn't stop him from being a dad. It was hardwired into his psyche.
"I should go in," I said reluctantly, and handed Alar his jacket back. "I'll see you at the blessing ceremony in five days?"
"I look forward to it."
He gazed into my eyes as if he was expecting a kiss, and I was so drakking tempted to do it, but at the same time, I knew it was a bad idea.
I wasn't like Shovia, who could go through bed partners without giving them a second thought. If I kissed a man, it was because I felt a connection and hoped a loving relationship would grow between us.
That could not happen with Alar.
He was Elurian, and the chances of him making it onto the Dragon Force were almost nonexistent. Once the pilgrimage was over, and his hopes were undoubtedly crushed, he would return home to Vedona, and I would never see him again.