1. Date Night
DATE NIGHT
Three years later
“Wait, that was you?” Thea asked her, mouth hanging agape as Aaryn finished her story.
Heat rushed to Aaryn’s cheeks as Thea turned her full attention in her direction.
“I heard about that, of course, even when I was in the Sixth Guard.
But I didn't know…” She leaned back against the wall of the castle nearby and shook her head ruefully.
“It's a much smaller world than I think any of us realize,” she said.
“I swear, most days, it seems that’s all anyone remembers about me,” Aaryn said, the strokes of her large brush faltering.
Her dragon snuffled, nudging her with his nose in protest, and she chuckled before resuming her task.
“Except you, of course,” she told him affectionately, rubbing the middle of his snout with her hand before moving on to his neck.
Starspark—her dragon—was laying flat on the ground, feet and claws tucked politely beneath his body, barely visible.
She teased that he’d look like a loaf of sprinkled bread if it wasn't for the tail swaying happily behind him.
His neck was extended so he could lay his head down, patient and purring as she brushed him.
The bristles of the brush hissed softly as she cleaned his scales, removing the dust and debris from places it didn’t belong. He deserved it, because after all, he and one of Evergale’s knights had just returned from their travels.
The sun was warm and her dragon was soaking up every ray into his dark scales, lids lowered in comfort and still cracked in order to keep her in his sights.
When she moved, the sun caught him just right, revealing dashes of pale green and rich blush and gleaming deep purple, and little specks of pink winking to life.
Thea’s light armor clinked as she stepped into Aaryn's vision, on the other side of Starspark’s snout.
“You know, hearing about that—you—is what made me want to return to Evergale.”
Aaryn glanced up, hoping her cheeks weren’t as pink as she thought.
“Really?”
“In a way,” Thea continued, keeping a polite distance from the dragon and his caretaker. Starspark's eyes followed her movements. “That story made me so curious about the goings-on of the castle, I requested a transfer.”
Aaryn smirked. “Oh, you heard about a damsel in distress and had to make sure you were around to save the next one?” She was playing it casual, but inside, Aaryn’s heart was pounding.
She’d been Tethered for over three years now, and Thea had only been transferred a handful of months ago!
If what she was saying was true, it had to be fate that had intertwined their paths.
Or maybe you’re just a bit of a romantic.
“Who’s to say it’s not you I need to save,” Thea taunted, crossing her arms.
The braids from her temples swayed against her lavender skin and kept her long, dark hair free from her face, and amongst the dark depths were short heather horns pointed cutely toward the sky.
She’d hate being called cute, which made Aaryn lean into the thought all the more.
“I don’t know. Maybe you can put that dagger to use to protect me one day,” Aaryn pondered, nodding toward Thea’s belt.
It laid a few feet away and contained said dagger, as well as a baton and a sword, as was custom for the castle’s Second Guard.
All temporarily shed while Thea spent her afternoon break visiting Aaryn. “My savior,” she drawled, teasing.
Much to her delight, the color of Thea’s cheeks deepened, and the guard cleared her throat and glanced away.
Her dragon snuffled again, this time curling his neck around Aaryn, separating her from Thea.
Thea sighed. “He’s going to like me one of these days.”
Aaryn chuckled and patted him on the neck before slipping free, scrubbing the brush in his favorite spot to appease him. If it also got her closer to Thea, well, two birds with one stone.
“I don’t know why he hasn’t taken to you.” Like I have, is what she didn’t say.
“Maybe he’s jealous,” Thea mused.
Aaryn lowered her brush. “Jealous of what? Two friends?” She nudged at the boundary between them, testing the waters with a gently-dipped toe.
Thea met her gaze, and Aaryn paused, as did the world around them, seemingly. Would Thea join her in the waters, or were they to dance around the subject forever as if at a Solstice Ball?
Thea’s lips parted, and Aaryn studied their shape, the bow of her top lip and the full bottom one. The pair of them were usually thinned in a line, but Aaryn had gotten them to curl up on the rare occasion with nothing but her own wit.
Only a few feet separated them, easily traversed, and Aaryn swore she could feel Thea’s intent to step forward.
Thea’s eyes had darkened, and it made her breath hitch.
“Thea—“
Suddenly, the bells of the clock tower rang out, shattering the moment.
“Great scales,” Thea swore, and rushed over to her things. “I’ve got to report back. Apologies—I lost track of time.”
They both always did, and neither of them spoke about why.
“I enjoyed your company, as always,” Aaryn told her. “Tomorrow, same time?”
Thea buckled her belt on, sword hanging by her side, dagger close at hand.
“Actually,” Thea said, lingering, as her hand went to a pocket. “Are you… free tonight?”
Aaryn’s heart leapt. “Yes.”
Thea sucked in a breath, lips parting softly. Aaryn tried not to stare.
“Well, that’s great. I’m also free. If you’d like to… here,” she said, and thrust a letter between them. “If it doesn’t greatly inconvenience you, meet me here? Around sundown.”
Aaryn accepted the letter, resisting the urge to tear it open immediately. “I’ll be there. Should I bring anything?”
“Just yourself will be more than enough,” Thea said, cheeks still that deeper mauve, still averting her gaze.
Cute, she thought again.
“It’s a date,” Aaryn said, just to watch the fleeting war of delight and panic take place in her expression.
Thea nodded, and her steps were quiet as she began to walk away, as the ringing of the bell tower died. “I’ve got to... I’ll see you. Tonight. Bye!”
After her steps faded, dark hair disappearing around the corner of the courtyard and back into the castle, Aaryn released a long, slow breath, followed by a giggle as she ripped open the letter.
In Thea’s predictable simplicity, all it said was the name of the location and the time. Thea’s scrawl was messy, and Aaryn would have expected nothing less. It only endeared the guard to her even more.
Aaryn let out a little squeal as she read the name of the location, and leaned against her dragon. “It’s happening, Starspark! Oh my skies!”
To the locals, this particular hill was known as Lover’s Peak.
As it was only midday, she had hours to go before her rendezvous, and a whole dragon to care for as if he was royalty.
Starspark snuffled and nudged her as gently as he could, demanding attention.
Aaryn carefully refolded the letter and tucked it into a pocket before facing her dragon. “When I’m done with you, these scales are going to be the shiniest in the sky,” she told him, and got back to work.
His chin lifted for more scratches and his purr rumbled in her palm.
Beneath the afternoon sun, he was baking like a lizard in the great yard behind the castle, along with a few others. The rest that weren't in the sky were in their caves to the west, carved out of the craggy mountains that framed Evergale Castle.
A directive put in place by a king over a century ago, the stone caves were excavated enough to house fully-grown dragons, and it took years to finish sculpting in order to retain the mountain range's integrity.
From her vantage point in the yard, she could only see two of them, but many more surrounded the left side of the castle, and were reachable by foot. Assuming one could get past the many guards, like Thea.
Starspark lived in one of them, and even if he was the newest addition to the kingdom’s sky forces, he had been welcomed by the other dragons easily.
It was identical to her own story, and she suspected it was why she and Starspark were so close.
“If only you could fly me to my date later,” she told him with a wistful sigh. Aaryn was not trained in dragon riding, because her responsibilities as a Tethered did not include such things. Her job was to care for the dragon, not take him up into the sky.
Or feel the wind in her hair…
No, stop that. Be grateful! she chastised herself.
She was grateful that the Great Dragon himself had seen her fit as a Tethered, someone with a bond to dragons, someone who could look after one, care for them.
She planted both hands on Starspark’s snout and tried to look him in an eye. It was comical how large he was in comparison, and yet how gentle he was with her.
“You’re about to get the brushing of a lifetime,” she told him. "And you'll be pleased to hear I won't have to trim your talons until next week."
Air puffed out of his nostrils, billowing her loose trousers. She laughed as she grabbed her brush and got back to work. She would stroke around his snout and neck, then down his back and tail to his ticklish feet and deadly talons.
As always, she paid extra-special attention to his scars, particularly the ones near his neck.
It was almost like a burn, the reptilian flesh there unprotected by scales, and mottled from heat or something similar.
“Like you got in a fight with a Terror,” she told him.
He purred affectionately as she brushed him, watching his toes twitch happily.
“Your scales will shine so bright they’ll reflect the clouds around you the next time you fly, like camouflage,” she murmured, and attached her brush to an extender so she could reach his shoulders and back.
“Then we can decide what to wear tonight. I think I should dress up. She hasn't seen me in skirts in a while." Her trousers fluttered easily around the tops of her boots as she moved. "Skies, what will Thea wear? Oh, Starspark, I’ll have to tell you all about it tomorrow.”
He huffed, uninterested, and she couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You’ll have to come around to her eventually. I like her, you know,” she muttered, and Starspark remained quiet.