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"I didn't say that. I was just curious why you chose that particular one out of the bunch." He is careful to leave out his opinion and avoid singling my purchase out as the worst in the lot.
My guard subsides a bit when I realize he is genuinely asking. I turn his question over in my mind, trying to give him an answer that's real.
"He is wild and spirited. But just because he isn’t bending over in submission as their captive doesn't mean he shouldn’t have a chance to live a different sort of life." I glance back at the tent where he had been tethered to such a short lead, where he would have lived out the rest of his life like that until they fed him to this ‘dragon’ of theirs. "You never know what he could be capable of without those chains.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The sun is falling behind the mountains, and I realize this is the first time I have seen a sunset since arriving in Jokith. I can't deny that it is uniquely beautiful, reflecting off the pristine white snow and bathing the treetops in a golden glow.
The igloos around us have multiplied, and it occurs to me that it's a lot of work to put into something temporary. The people don't seem to mind, though.
"How can they see whatever lights these are from inside the igloos?" I asked the king, noting the solid roofs of the dome-like structures.
He chuckles.
"They can't. We gather outside for that."
"Then why..." I don't finish my question, because the answer seems painfully obvious now. They stay the night in these tiny igloos. And likely, we are expected to do the same. I'm not sure what expression flits over my face, but the king takes note of it.
"We don't have to stay," he says in a low tone. "It isn't generally safe to travel at night, but I suspect your usual terrifying expression will be enough to frighten anything that would think to attack us." He throws his head back and laughs.
"Indeed. If not, I'm certain that thing on your face would finish the job." I gesture to his beard with a small laugh of my own.
I see the townspeople shooting as surreptitious glances, and I know I have only one real choice here, despite his words.
"You want to stay, don’t you?"
The corner of his mouth stretches upward as he exaggeratedly shrugs his shoulders. It tells me everything I need to know, and I laugh.
"Then we shall stay."
He smiles, his eyes brimming with unspoken thoughts.
And for all my natural skill and careful tutelage at reading the nuances of human emotion, I can't for the life of me discern his right now.
It's well past sundown, and I haven't seen any of these alleged lights we are all waiting on. Something in my expression must show how I am feeling, because the king shakes his head with a soft laugh.
"I think it's safe to say patience is not one of your many virtues," he comments.
"I'm flattered you think I have many virtues," I respond with a soft laugh of my own. "All I'm saying is, these lights must be very impressive to be worth all this effort." I gesture around me to the hundred or so logs that have been set out around the subtly glowing warm rocks. And beyond that, to the igloos that outline the entire festival.
"Oh, they are unlike anything you have ever seen." Not for the first time, he looks at me when he says that, as though he's talking about something else entirely. Then, he glances around at the camp and up to the sky. "Of course, it's not just the lights. We also come for the dragon."
This is the second time a dragon has been mentioned, and I can't deny that my curiosity is piqued. I raise an eyebrow.
"You don't believe in dragons?" he asks me.
"You have to admit, it does seem a bit far-fetched..." But even as I say the words, my eyes flit to Khijhana, the giant tiger-like animal that grows twice as fast as anything in nature should. I think about the king's wolves, nearly as tall as I am. The Jokithans themselves with their unnaturally long lifespans. And even the Mayima, the race of people who live in the water off the coast of Delphine.
I realize my skepticism is probably misplaced.
"All right," I allow. "Let's assume I do believe in dragons. What would make this one so special?"
He looks around before taking a breath.
"Legend has it that this area used to be filled with dragons, but as the humans came in, the dragons began to leave — or were chased out or eradicated, no one really knows — but of course, the first version is the more romantic tale, the one that has made it down through history."
I find myself nodding along, already caught up in his unlikely skill as a storyteller and unwilling to break the spell of his carefree and open disposition. It’s so unlike his usual closed-off personality.
