Page 5 of To Fight and To Fold

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.