Candidate at Wild River Caer
"Why? They're dangerous enough as it is, they certainly don't need me to be their bodyguard." Rayv smirked. The twin cousins were packed, ready to leave, almost out the doors, really.
"Not for their safety. For the Caer's. If they start causing trouble, you're free to tell me."
"Snitch on my cousins... Hmn..." Rayv pretended he had facial hair (not many of his House did) and rubbed his chin. "Sounds risky either way..."
"To your uncle..." Darkhanis said, his bearded face a pleasant mask of deception. "For me. They will get into trouble, you know that."
"Yes, but I don't want them getting into trouble all over me, that's the problem, sir. Uncle. Lord Paveh, it isn't that I don't want to go to Wild River. Quite the opposite. But I've been working on a project."
"I know, a side project. You are a member of House Paveh, are you not?" Darkhanis' tone was very grim. Rayv stood straighter and summoned up his mother's born courage.
"Sir, it's my project to do as I see fit. My experiences are my own to decide. Yes, I am a House Paveh citizen. I certainly don't know when it became House Dawnlight."
Taken aback at the insult to his House, but more surprised that the half-housed lad had the courage to stick up for himself, Darkhanis leaned back and narrowed his orange eyes. "Fine then. You stay with the spy work for Engell. If you get fired from there, you be sure to remember that I'd laugh at you for it."
"You wouldn't," Rayv said. "Because you respect their work so much."
"Have I become that transparent in these years?" Darkhanis sighed, honestly wondering that very fact.
"No, sir. But remember who my parents are, and get back to me. I... I'll pack up. If you're going to send me to Wild River, I might as well be going in style. They aren't to know I'm following them, right?"
"They will not suspect, because they're going as candidates. You, keep your eyes open." Darkhanis pointed his finger in the air. Rayv nodded again. He exited the office, wondering...
Rayv wondered if in fact Darkhanis' powerful telepathic commands might have changed his mind so easily? He was after all unusually susceptable to things like that, he could hear dragon riders' commanding their dragons all over the place. It was very slightly distracting to him. But more, disconcerting to wonder about it. He would ask later.
But then again, no one ever asked Darkhanis if he'd been messing with their minds. Ever. By the time they remembered something about him and a question, they'd long since have forgotten that anything might have been amiss at all.
Such it was for Rayv, son of Rue and Vanya -- his father continually changed his place of residence, so he didn't really know if it was Vanya vanya, or Kalkin vanya, or just who. They rode a blue dragon -- which didn't help at all in identifying him. But Rue was much easier to peg: the Protectorate's official "Wife Of The Leader" figure, no one messed with Rue. Everyone said that Rayv's presence at all was a scandal. But no one brought it up in front of any of the concerned parties.
Certainly, Shard had never said a thing against Rayv's existence. He was actually a very nice guy, once you get past the blue skin. Rayv knew there was much more to the whole mess of Alskyr and ther other worlds than met the eye -- perhaps... He could find out more on his own. Before being transferred to the new Caer for observation purposes.
***
The ride over to the Caer was uneventful in so far as the girls did nothing completely untoward. The ship carrying the trio of House Paveh folk also carried fine grains and beans, coffee and silks from Paniya. It was not a remarkably fast trip, though. The girls busied themselves with talk of dragons and healing and servants and pain, many things which taken together made them a rather unnerving pair.
Rayv kept notes on nearly everything. He'd smuggled out a reference book from Paveh's library, which he'd try to get back to the place as soon as possible. Maybe right after the pair of girls either bonded or got sent home for crimes commited. He studied it, feeling mildly seasick.
There were worlds out there, which dragons could reach that no star-ship ever could. Places which overlapped in time, or space, but never quite collided directly. How odd. Rayv's keen mind made sense of it, but only after he'd upchucked every other meal he ate on the ship. Thanks to his father's inner ear he'd apparently inherited. He could balance himself on a thin wire, blend into shadows and not make sound over a dry-leaf forest floor. But he couldn't take this rolling and tossing. It was out of his command, therefore he was subjected to an endless bout of sickness while the ship went on.
Finally reaching their destination, Rayv was extremely glad to be back on solid ground. Veritas Isle lay across the world from Paniya, but the route was at least the equatorial one. If it had been the next set of atolls, the boat would have had to take the far northerly route, and frankly it was better to be heaving over the side of a ship in nice warm sunny weather than blasting back at you frozen solid...
Rayv deposited himself in the office of the Caer's leadership, after all the formalities of drifting around and asking directions had been over with. Lakhshmi and Sarasvati were introduced as healer-guild members, and they were taken in to the Caer's infirmary for the duration. That was good, it might keep them out of trouble...
Rayv on the other hand had to wait through an interview with Caerlady Teranoma. On Paniya, their leader was a man, half the other places on Alskyr had ladies running things. He wasn't sure how to take that. With a smile, he told her how nice the place looked, for such a new Caer.
"Your flattery will only get you so far. It's your House Lord's words anyway, isn't it?" She asked.
"He really HAS gotten transparent these last few years..." Rayv chuckled. He carefully -- and very quietly -- explained his situation with watching the girls. Teranoma was happy that he'd been sent. She had heard horror stories of some of these Paniyan folks...
Of course, Rayv was among them, too. Direct line to the weird. Everyone knew that. Even those who'd never stepped foot on the coffee-house island, knew that the Sengihr family along with the Blackstones and all those other guys, had something strange up their sleeves. Perhaps it was that they hadn't actually arrived with the rest of the inhabitants on Alskyr, but they certainly did fit in. Mostly.
"You're certainly welcome to help yourself to a caerlet, young Rayv, and the library is down the hall from here. Records must be kept in the records room, not ever taken out." She offered several other instructions, which Rayv was well used to hearing. Though, this time, he actually did listen and heeded them. He had a job to do here, and he wouldn't muck it up by stealing something or taking the wrong information out.
***
The dunes weren't full, which was a surprise to Rayv. There were only two other candidates, two more girls, waiting for the ten eggs to hatch when the boat arrived. After a couple days, Rayv sat back and looked at the eggs' dam. She was a pretty silver shade, smallish for a dragon. Little dragons were safer than big ones, Rayv decided. They could get into places that big ones couldn't. And even though they might tire out earlier, they could get closer to ants or rampage while they were still dangerous.
Not that Rayv wanted anything to do with a fighting dragon! The ones on Paniya were quite surly and dangerous to more than just their deadly enemies. Most of those which had come from the old world with them could only do so much -- but the Caer born ones had many more options to them. That was nice.
Rayv curled up in the stone nook he'd found in the hatching dunes chamber, it was nice and warm. He drifted off to sleep, his mind filled with the conversations around him done in what ought to have been private mental-speak.
He sought privacy. But he wondered... There were little, half-formed minds inside each of those eggs. They too drifted through his dreams.
It was when Lakhshmi went over to a handfull of eggs and cracked them open -- everyone was stunned but she had every right to worry about them -- that one small sized black fell from his egg and did not rise.
Though the other three surviving dragons bonded, the little black almost gave up. He didn't even creel loudly, he just flopped about. Finally, Rayv couldn't stand it any more.
He rushed to the black's side, and held on to his neck. "I won't let you die, Zasith!" he cried.
The dragon spoke to him, I'm not going to let myself die now that you're with me...
So, satisfied and suddenly aware that he'd bonded when he was only meant to come along for the duration, Rayv helped his little dragonet away, and wondered how he'd explain it to his uncle Darkhanis...