Dinner was all very well and good, but the day was quickly starting to go by in a blurr. Shanny took one look at me once I’d finished eating and pronounced that a nap was in order, and I gratefully helped Evie find sheets and blankets for my bed and made it. I laid down almost immediately, but not five minutes later a great fuss in the hallway had me up to see what the matter was, and I discovered Evie, Graela, and my dragon all wrestling what seemed to be a very large, ovular pillow down the hall. I held the door for them as they dragged it in and positioned it neatly in my dragon’s nest, and then he promptly flopped on it like a dog on cool grass, declared it good, and pretended to snore. Evie laughed as they left our room, and I laid back down, but suddenly I wondered if I’d be able to sleep at all.
My dragon stopped his snoring almost at once when they left. He just lay there, eyes open and staring at nothing, for a bit and then swung his head up and looked at me.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” he grumbled, “Wasn’t fair of me.”
I didn’t answer; I wasn’t sure I forgave him.
“Go to sleep,” he muttered when I just sat there sorta watching him, and he turned his back, curled up, and was soon breathing softly.
It wasn’t long before I was too.
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He poked me awake--giving me the fright of my life--a few hours later. The sun was getting low and I realized with a start that I had been gone all day. My mother would be frantic.
I said as much to my dragon, and he rolled his eyes. “We’re taking you home,” he said with a grumble.
I blinked at him, not understanding. “But what about you? You can’t live on our farm. Oh no, surely they aren’t going to ki--”
“No,” he snapped, “You’re only going long enough to gather your belongings and say goodbye to your family. Now get your sleepy ass up.”
He turned away and went to the window. Again he tried the latch, but it wouldn’t open. He couldn’t quite get his teeth around it.
I came over and unhooked it, then walked away again. I heard him swing the window open, then a soft whoosh as he leapt out of it again, but I didn’t turn to look this time.
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I ended up riding Shanny with my dragon. For a human, riding a flying dragon isn’t too bad--they have special saddles designed to make it easy to both sit up and lay forward along the dragon’s neck so the wind doesn’t take you away. But my dragon had to cling to Shanny’s back in a very awkward way, and he was half on top of me, so he had to be careful not to squish me. His chin rested between my shoulder blades, so by the time we landed I had a sore spot there from it--I swear, it was like a rock.
He seemed even more glad to get off than I was, even rearing up to flap his wings a couple times to relieve them of the stiffness from having to hold on, and I cowered slightly, earning myself an obnoxious guffaw. Pouting slightly, I looked around--and remembered where we were.
I could have put a courier to shame with how fast I ran down the tree-covered lane to get home.
I slammed in through the front door and straight into my mother’s arms. Her yelp of surprise turned into an instant babble as she demanded to know where I’d been and what had happened. Her hand found my pocket, where the thread still laid, and she pulled it out and just looked at me.
I opened my mouth to explain when my dragon stuck his head in the doorframe, making her scream.
“I can’t run that fast,” he told me crossly, and, seeming oblivious of the fact that he barely fit through the door frame, came on in anyway. My mother was frozen in the middle of the room, until he walked up to sniff her, and then she backed up until she hit the wall.
“Stop!” I said hastily, getting right in his way and putting my hand on his nose and shoving back. “It’s tiny in here and you’re too big. Wait outside.”
He looked at me, offended, but then grumbled and shuffled around until he was facing the door, which he crawled back out through.
My mother whimpered one more time, then faced me, her shock growing. “Why--why is there a dragon with you?” she said, sounding a little hysterical.
I stifled a sob and hugged her. “He Anchored on me,” I managed to whisper.
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She snatched herself back and looked at me, shock on her face. "But... You were never in an eyrie."
I shook my head. "He was on his way to slaughter. I just passed him in the street..."
She heaved a sigh. "Now you have to leave... go live in that infernal place..."
I nodded. "I'm here long enough to pack."
"Knock knock!"
We jumped almost guiltily and turned to see Evie in the doorframe, smiling warmly. "Want any help deciding what to bring with, sweetie?"
I shook my head, but my mother busied over to greet her. "That would be best," she said briskly, "Tolla, life will be different there, you're going to want some specific things... Yes, go help her." She shooed the two of us toward my little room gently and then shut the door. I thought I heard her stifle a sob.
Evie was suddenly hugging me again. "I hate that we have to separate you like this... But your dragon needs to live in the eyrie, and you'll need an Anchor's education."
I nodded mutely against her neck.
We started going through my things. Evie didn't make me leave my favorite stuffed bear behind, which I was grateful of, but when she insisted that most of my normal clothes would have to stay behind, I was on the point of working up the nerve to object.
"You have lovely dresses and skirts, sweetie, but there's not much place for them at the eyrie. You've seen already how much trouble a skirt can be when on a dragon... And you'll be going through training and no doubt getting dusty and dirty. Trousers are the way to go." She slapped the thigh of her canvas pants and smiled. "You only have a couple... But we'll get you more, don't worry."
I picked out my two nicest dresses--the sort I'd wear to temple or a dance--and packed them along with my trousers. I kept most of my blouses, even though I knew they were too delicate to be useful, and then arranged all my other clothes nearly in my cedar trunk with a sigh. Maybe one day i’d be back to wear them, and at least I could not leave a mess for my mother.
I didn't have much in the way of personal belongings, but I gathered my sewing kit, my bear--of course--a nice leather knapsack that was my mother's when she was young, and a few odds and ends. At the last minute, I grabbed another, much larger stuffed bear and managed to fit him in the knapsack.
I shouldered the knapsack and Evie carried my other bag. My mother was again composed when we emerged, though she looked a little misty-eyed.
We hugged wordlessly, and then my dragon poked his impatient head in through the door again and I went to him, silently.
Evie talked animatedly as we walked back down the lane to the adult dragons waiting beyond the trees, but I didn't listen. I just followed my dragon's flicking tail, and then laid in silence under his knobby chin on the flight back.
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We didn't speak much the rest of the evening. I pleaded exhaustion and went upstairs as soon as I was able, and curled up on top of my bed, blankets and all, to cry silently.
By the time my dragon wandered in, the room had gotten quite dark. There wasn't much light coming in the window, and the lamp had long since burned out. I hadn't bothered to light it when I entered. He shuffled in quietly, seeming to think me asleep, but his wings made soft swishing sounds on the floor, and his tail thumped accidentally against the bedside table. It was clear that he'd soon be too big to move comfortably around this house.
He stopped, halfway to his nest, and sniffed audibly. "You're awake," he said softly, and walked over to the edge of the bed, half-curling himself on the floor and resting his chin not far from my feet.
I sat up and curled my knees up to my chest, putting space between us. "You can smell whether I'm awake?"
He snorted softly. "No, but I can see well enough in the dark to spot the shine in your eyes." He raised his head for a moment to look at me impassively. "You were crying again."
I didn't answer; I didn't need to. It was not a question.
He heaved a sigh. "Look, I'm sorry to yank you out of your boring little peasant life and me up your whole world and all that but... You're going to have to deal--"
"It's been one day," I snapped quietly. "You have to give me time." I buried my face in my arms.
He stared at me for a moment, then got up. "Fair enough," he mumbled, and went to his nest.
