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Heath hid a smile at the young dragon’s lofty tone. He hadn’t needed his grandmother to explain this other reason for the dragons’ involvement in the festival. Thanks to his friendship with Reka, he was well aware that dragons, for all their elusive majesty, were extremely fond of formalities and ceremonies.
Reka opened his jaws wide, and Heath’s full focus returned to the present. Even from the ground, Heath could feel the heat spreading from the dragon’s mouth as fire built within him. Icicles melted all around the basin, causing miniature waterfalls to flow down the castle’s stone walls.
Then Reka let out a gush of flame—orange with the slightest purple tinge—which engulfed the stone basin. The fire within roared back to full strength, and the crowd cheered. As if on demand, snow began to fall, gentle white flakes drifting onto Heath’s hair, and sizzling as they landed on Reka’s scales, still warm from the magic of his flames.
“All right,” Heath admitted to his brother, smiling in spite of himself. “The ceremony isn’t so bad.”
Percival chuckled, a slight edge to the sound. Glancing at him, Heath realized his brother’s admiration was mixed with a measure of fear. It was easy to forget that most people weren’t as used to dragons as Heath was. The magical beasts still unnerved most humans. And not without reason, he reflected, glancing up at the sheer size of them. It wasn’t just their physical strength, either. There was a presence about even the smallest of dragons. Only a fool would cross the creatures.
The dragons didn’t stay long beyond the lighting of the flame, but Heath found the opportunity to approach Reka while the king was exchanging formalities with the burgundy dragon.
“Why did you greet me like that?” he asked, when he had checked that no one was listening.
Reka did his rippling shrug. “It was my father’s idea, actually. He has noticed the increase in the time we spend together, and he suggested that the change should be marked.”
Heath frowned slightly, his gaze passing to the larger dragon, who was in speech with Heath’s grandparents. “What did he say about our trips to Vazula?”
“He does not know about Vazula,” said Reka calmly.
Heath raised an eyebrow. “I thought dragons don’t lie to each other.”
Reka gave a huff of irritation, and Heath tried not to smile at his friend’s lofty tone. “I did not lie. I never even considered such a thing. My father did not ask where we had been, just confirmed that I have been with you.”
“If you say so,” Heath said lightly.
His eyes traveled to his own father, standing respectfully behind his elderly parents as they conversed with the dragon Elddreki. Reka could act as grand as he liked, but the dragon’s omissions sounded suspiciously like Heath’s carefully crafted explanations to his own parents.
* * *
Heath drummed his fingers on the table impatiently, the good humor that had enlivened the Solstice ceremony, and the gala that followed, long gone. “What’s taking so long?”
Brody raised an eyebrow. “Probably the king doesn’t realize he needs to hurry up to suit your schedule.”
“You know I didn’t mean that,” Heath grumbled.
“Relax, Heath,” said Percival, stifling a yawn. “This process has been going for days, what’s another half an hour?”
“Days?” Heath shot his brother a look. “You mean weeks. It’s over three weeks we’ve been kicking our heels here.”
“What’s up with you, Heath?” Brody stared at him. “You’re usually the one keeping everyone else calm. What’s your hurry?”
Heath rolled out his shoulders. “I just didn’t realize that by coming to this registration discussion, I was signing up to move to Bryford. When I agreed to come, I thought we’d be here a week beyond the Solstice at most.”
“Agreed to come?” Bianca repeated, leaning around her brother from her seat at the long table. “It was a summons. Didn’t you have to come?”
“Gray area,” said Percival, helping himself to the refreshments set out in the middle of the table.
“Ah, of course,” said Brody, nodding wisely. “Because of the weak power thing.”
“Thanks for that, Brody,” said Heath dryly.
Both of Brody’s eyebrows went up this time. “Now I know something’s up. You never react to my jabs. Why are you so annoyed about being here?”
“It’s because he’s missing his weekly dates with Rekavidur,” Percival supplied helpfully, his words coming out thickly around a mouthful of pastry.
“Oho, who’s that?” Brody asked, grinning broadly at his cousin. “Is there a girl, is there?”
Heath could feel a flush rising, and was relieved when Percival unwittingly rescued him.
