DRAGON MARKED (On Hold)

9

Blayre

The food in Solpor was not as rich and hearty as the food in Emares. Instead it was refreshing – a necessary taste when the climate was so warm. Breakfast was served in the dining hall and was rich in nuts and fruit. Citrus in particular thrived in this climate, and Blayre savored the juicy sweetness of an orange. The brightly colored fruits were a stark contrast to the storm that raged outside, darkening the sky and roaring against the windows in a cascade of water.

"Here they grow most of their fruits and vegetables with cultivating magic in experimental greenhouses," Coneesa explained. "But these oranges are grown naturally in groves here."

Fletcher snatched his second from the center of the long table they sat at and began to peel it. "Fine by me," He said, closing his eyes dramatically as he popped a section of the fruit into his mouth.

Later that day, Blayre watched as Nazar Seferian interacted with Azure. Caval stood beside her observing, and the tension between them as they leaned against the courtyard wall was a rope pulled taught at both ends.

When she looked at Caval, Blayre pushed down the memory of their first formal interaction. When Caval had charmed – or irritated her, into dancing with him in the Dragon Room. Had he planned this all along? The rebel group, the dragon caverns, the trip to Solpor? Had he always intended to use her as collateral?

"Here in Solpor money is not as valued as knowledge." Coneesa had said. The words had echoed in the chambers of Blayre's mind ever since that day.

So Caval, it seemed, in order to keep Azure a secret until they arrived, had sold Blayre's secret. Blayre had been the valued trading piece to get them across the ocean and to the greatest University in the world. She didn't blame him for it – what else could he have possibly done to get them there, without risking Azure?

Now she only blamed him for not consulting her on the matter. For if he had simply asked her, she felt would have agreed to it. Even if it would have scared the shit out of her, she'd have known it was for the greater good. He should have known... 

Even if the outcome would have been the same - a chance at getting here to Solpor - she wouldn't have felt betrayed or like the floor had dropped out from beneath her and she was falling in that cavern again. Down, down, down. But this time, Caval was not there to break her fall. For he had been the one to push her.

Azure chirped, and Blayre's mind returned to the warm courtyard, beneath an overcast sky, gray with the prospect of rain.

And to Caval, standing close enough to touch. But, she still wasn't ready to bridge that gap. 

Professor Seferian had brought along one of his dogs, and Azure played with the hound, which at first had sniffed her, unsure of what to do. But before long, the two creatures were chasing each other in circles around the open yard.

"A dragon's intelligence far outweighs a dog's." Professor Sefarian said after a long stretch of silence and observation. But a dragon as young as this, seems to be on a similar level to a dog, though I suspect she understands our language a bit more than Ebony here does.

The black hound paused at his name, but then continued to play.

"She's grown a lot over the short amount of time we have been here," Blayre said. "Is that normal?"

Professor Sefarian scratched at a salt and pepper beard. His face was creased with age, though the man did not look frail. "According to the texts, a dragon's size will increase rapidly over a short period of time. I only hope that the time spent traveling across Emares did not stunt her. In addition to a steady diet, young dragons especially, feed off of magic sources." He turned his dark-eyed gaze on Caval. "The caverns you mentioned discovering in the mountains beyond Emares. They were brimming with magic. So too is this Peninsula. That is why the University was established here. The sea has some as well, though not the right kind for a creature of land and sky."

"We have much to learn, Professor. I wish that I had spent more time here in my training years." Caval said.

"It is never too late to learn."

When the brief observation was over, Professor Sefarian caught Blayre by the arm as she moved to follow Caval out of the yard.

"Miss Blumore, I understand that you have the Sense of the Mountainers, as you call them on your continent."

Blayre flinched at his words. Before long, everyone at this damned university was going to know about her ability.

"You should think about learning to master it, rather than being ashamed of it. Whether you choose to use it only for yourself, or to use it for others is up to you."

Blayre didn't know what to do, aside from seethe with frustration inside.

"You don't have to decide now, but when you are ready, come see me."

****

Lord Darach had hired the woman under the guise of academic tutor, during a time when Blayre's stepmother, Lady Marianna, had taken an extended trip to visit her relatives. And so, their time together had been brief. The woman's face had been lined with age, her hair silver. And she had known so much. So much about the strange feelings that Blayre experienced whenever someone used magic near her.

But when Marianna returned home, she immediately sent Teacher away. Not even allowing Blayre the chance to say goodbye. And soon after that, Blayre had been sent to the Capital to her Aunt Aphria's household, to prepare her for her time at the Academy where she would follow in Aphria's footsteps as a seeker.

It was a bitterness that Blayre had always held balled up within her like a fist. The worst offense Marianna had committed against her was robbing her of an education – even if Lady Marianna had not known the extent of that education, and what it had meant to a young girl who felt so alone and unsure.

Becoming a Seeker had filled that void for her. It had allowed her to fit in somewhere.

But now... now she didn't even have that. She didn't know who she was, or if she had a purpose beyond being the accidental guardian of a dragonling.