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Jralli
All Kilija would do was smile fetchingly at the young man and he’d smile back then give his father a look that could only be read as, “Is she for real?” Jralli had a very hard time containing her laughter as his father mistook the look to be one of approval and would smile back encouragingly. The only thing that saved her were the occasional questioning looks Bodril would throw in her direction. She blushed every time he looked at her, knowing she was giving him the wrong impression but unable to stop herself. Finally the torturous meal came to a close and Bodril’s parents departed, leaving their son behind. Everyone was dismissed to go about his or her business and Jralli could no longer contain her laughter when she saw the dismayed look on Bodril’s face as Kilija took his arm and offered to show him around the Hold. Fortunately her sister missed it and Jralli ran off to the gardens. Once there she fell back onto a bench and howled with laughter. She quickly decided all the work she’d had to do the day before had been worth the comical interactions between her sister and Bodril. She was just about to launch into another bout of laughter when she heard footsteps coming around a bend in the path. She heard the voices before she saw who it was and so was very surprised to see not just her sister and Bodril coming around the bend, but Domic as well, trailing behind them as if he’d rather be anywhere else. In fact, Bodril looked like he’d rather be back talking to Domic than walking along with Kilija clinging to his arm, not saying anything, merely smiling up at him as if she expected a compliment to fly from his lips at any moment. Jralli stifled her laughter and nodded pleasantly to the three of them as they approached. If Kilija had had her way they would have kept right on walking but Bodril stopped and gave Jralli a pleading look and she nodded to them all pleasantly in greeting. “Are you enjoying your tour, Mister Bodril?” she said, smiling up at him. “Quite,” he replied then arched his eyebrows as if he’d suddenly gotten a brilliant idea. “Perhaps, Miss Jralli, you might be so good as to show me the stables. I’ve been known to be quite the horseman in my day and your sister refuses to take me there.” “Why on earth would you want to go look at all those smelly creatures?” asked Kilija, obviously appalled that he wouldn’t rather spend his time with her. “Some people find horses to be quite beautiful, Kilija, though I wouldn’t expect you to think so,” smiled Jralli to her sister then turned her attention back to Bodril. “I would be glad to show you the stables, Mister Bodril, and Domic is welcome to join us.” Jralli applauded herself internally for thinking to add that and almost beamed when she saw Domic’s nod. The three of them left Kilija gawking in the garden and headed quickly towards the path to the stables. “So, how do you like Gerlik Hold so far, Mister Bodril?” she said pleasantly as they walked along. “Please just call me Bodril, Miss Jralli, and I hope you don’t think I’m rude for asking, but does your sister ever speak except to compliment herself?” Jralli couldn’t stand it; she burst out laughing and almost tripped from the way her body doubled over as she did so. What made things worse was that Domic did the same and before long Bodril joined them with a deep pleasant chuckle. “Call me, Jralli, please,” she said when their laughter had finally died down, “and truly, my sister does not know much besides her own beauty.” “And that’s all she wants to talk about as well,” said Domic with a smile as the three of them started walking again. Bodril just shook his head in amazement. “Granted she is quite beautiful, but who would want a woman like that? Surely she would be absolutely worthless when it came to running the hold?” “Well, you never know, my father married a woman much like my sister,” said Jralli, then bit her lip, berating herself for speaking ill of her mother. But the two gentlemen just nodded as if they’d already realized that and she continued. “Apparently my father had to take care of everything concerning the Hold.” “Ah, was it your father then that had my rooms cleaned and arranged that incredible feast?” asked Bodril and Jralli blushed as she was forced to admit to her own part in it all. “No, Bodril, that was me. I took those duties away from my father several turns ago, though I truly never realized it was he who had to take care of them before that,” Jralli blushed as she saw the approving looks given her by both young men. They were at that moment passing through the courtyard and stopped as they heard the sound of beating wings above. All three of them were somewhat astonished to see a green dragon landing in the courtyard before them. The green’s rider hailed them as she dismounted and smiled as she strode up to them. “Hello, I’m Serzona, rider of green Aphorath,” she said looking over the three of them curiously. Jralli stepped forward, “I’m Jralli, my father is the Lord Holder here. Can I help you?” “Jralli! Just the person I wanted to see,” said Serzona with a delighted smile. “What?” asked Jralli in confusion. “The brownrider who was here earlier said that his brown took notice of you,” the greenrider explained, “and as he’s not a Searchrider he thought you might be worth looking into. So he informed me, and Aphorath and I came straight here. Have you ever considered being a dragonrider, Jralli?” “A dragonrider? Me?” said Jralli in disbelief. Once the wonder of the thought had worn off she frowned and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Serzona, but I’m afraid that’s impossible. I’m much too needed here.” And with that she turned and walked off, forgetting that she was going to show the young men the stables. She wandered back to the gardens, which were her constant refuge when she needed time to think. Imagine her as a dragonrider! But she immediately shook that thought away, reminding herself that her father needed her to continue the running of the hold and she didn’t want to leave him with all the responsibility again. She sat down on a bench and firmly guided her thoughts away from the Searchrider and what she’d said. She thought about Domic, about Bodril, about her father and her mother and how silly her sister could be, anything she could come up with to keep her mind away from being a dragonrider. The last thought she gave that subject was that she would never tell her father the real reason she’d turned down the offer, should he ask. She knew he’d only insist that she go, despite how hard it would be on him to lose her. Continue... |