Page 63 of Tailwind

We left the entryway, leaving our heavy coats and shoes behind. We passed through a thick cloth curtain into the restaurant proper. The shape of the building could easily be seen in here, one long rounded wall encasing it all. Long tables were sunk into the floor and the seating was the floor itself, with cushions scattered around.

The heat really kicked in. The arcanite furnaces under the tables filled the room with a cosy warmth that was already sinking into my bones. I couldn’t wait to let my legs toast while I stuffed my face.

‘Lena!’

I was too drowsy to be alarmed at first. I searched the groups of people for whoever had called and easily found them – Colly was waving a long arm in the air, hailing us. When I saw who he was with I let out an involuntary groan.

Colly, Quinn, Theo, Omar and Jas were sitting around a long table.

It wasn’t too late to pretend I hadn’t seen Colly.

‘We have to leave,’ I muttered to Josie. I was grasping at non-existent straws to find an excuse.

Josie marched us forward. ‘I am not going back out there.’ She tapped the host on the shoulder. ‘Excuse me, we would like to join our friends for dinner, please.’

I didn’t know how to say ‘No, please don’t make me do this’ in the language of the Kuramines, and Colly’s waving had grabbed the attention of everyone in the room.

The host gestured for us to sit and handed us a menu. I looked down at the group of riders and used my last hope.

‘Hey guys. Mind if we join you?’ In a perfect world one of them would say no, undercutting Colly’s invite.

Colly was already nodding, he had a blue paper dragon hat identical to the host’s. It was very close to falling off. The others joined in, welcoming us.

‘This is Josie, by the way. She’s a keeper at Kiestral too.’

‘Hi, I’m Colly!’ He knelt up and knocked into the table as he leaned across to shake Josie’s hand. Bottles and plates rattled. ‘So you look after Rosinder, Bach’s dragon, right?’

I tried my best to tuck away my smile. Colly’s zest for life and everything it encompassed had baffled me and I was interested to see the effect it would have on the far more practical Josie.

‘Sorry, Josie,’ Theo said as we sat down.

Poor Colly looked confused. I didn’t know what Theo meant either, but expected it to be a dig at me somehow. I slid into the seat opposite him and next to Quinn. Josie sat next to Theo.

‘You’ve had to put up with Bach’s number one fan for a long time already. If I were you I’d want a break from talking about him for the evening.’ His eyes shone as he gave me my title. ‘Do you still have his poster up on your bedroom wall?’

Great. Theo had not only embarrassed me in front of everyone for being a major Bach fan, but had also announced that he knew what my bedroom looked like. I made a promise to myself that once this was all done I would kill him. I’d enjoy it too.

‘You lot all raced together, no?’ Omar leaned in to look down the table at us, his rounded eyes kind. He sat at the far end opposite Jas, who was also wearing a blue paper dragon hat. ‘Theo talks about you all the time.’

To my delight Theo was giving his teammate some serious side eye. I grinned, about to ask him for more details, before Josie answered Omar’s question.

‘No, just these.’ Josie pointed to me, Theo and Quinn.

‘And Colly.’ I added. I didn’t want the kicked hatchling look to make a comeback. I looked down at the menu I’d been handed only to realize it wasn’t a menu at all. It was a sheet of blue paper, with pockmarked lines crossing over it.

‘Yep! I joined in Lena and Theo’s last year.’ Colly started rattling off all the races we’d flown together, then the ones he’d watched of us with Quinn in the years prior.

I looked around for a way to order food, but instead Jas caught my eye. The second-best rider in the whole of Volitant Chroma gave me a smile and waggled the paper dragon on his head. Ah, that’s where the hats were coming from. I gave him a smile and set to folding the paper.

Despite being one of the more mature riders – more so in attitude since he was only twenty-eight – Jas had plenty of reason to be wearing the goofy blue hat. He was local to the Kuramines mountain range and had started his Volitant Chroma career with Prevere. The fans still happily claimed him, often wearing his racing number on Prevere blue hats, scarves and coats.

As I placed my admittedly ill-formed dragon on my head, the food the guys had ordered arrived. Platters of cured meats, cheeses, heavy rye breads – anything that would last in the cold mountains. It was served for us all to share, so Josie and I could dig in happily to the feast laid in front of us.

I pulled out my favourites, layering them up and biting into the salty, fatty goodness.

‘What is that?’ Colly was staring at the line up of cured meats. His face, for once, wasn’t happy.

‘Dragon meat,’ answered Quinn as he helped himself. ‘It’s a local delicacy. You should eat it or you’ll offend them.’