Sannata

Sannata was a gifted young woman; and with two older sisters and a younger brother and sister, she was stuck in the middle - too young to be treated like an adult child, and too old to be coddled like a child. It drove her crazy.

Fortunately, her skill in music gave her some release. Her musically inept parents had no idea that her name was pronounced as a type of musical composition - it was spelled differently, of course. Some day, Sannata hoped to write her own Sonata, but wasn't going to rush it.

* * *

"Good things come to those who wait." Her aunt always told her. But Sannata was tired of waiting. She wanted something exciting to happen now.

She ran her brush through her long hair and took one last look at her dress. It was green, plain and simple. That's how Sannata liked many things. She didn't need frills, bells, or whistles. She didn't like anything subtle, she liked it direct. Of course, the young men of the Aerie were too dense to even consider talking to a pretty girl that way.

Sannata walked down the corridor. It was very strange. Zel and Maryt were gone, which made her the youngest now, but they weren't changing how they treated her. The gryphons had been busy, but hadn't taken anyone else off to be a bonder. Sannata spotted Jenx resting in his nest. It was quiet, and he turned to look at her. She stepped into the dorms and walked quietly to her uncles' gryph. In her pocket were the feathers Zel had given her, but the luck hadn't begun yet.

"Jenx?" she said softly. "Do you think anything exciting will ever happen to me?"

The gryphon gave a noncommittal shrug. "Maybe you should try to find something exciting for yourself."

Sannata's brown crinkled in confusion. "Like what?"

Again, Jenx shrugged. "Perhaps try something you haven't done before, and see where that leads you."

Sannata smiled. "I'll see what I can come up with."

* * *

The day progressed, and Sannata hadn't found anything interesting to do. After midday meal she lounged about, not feeling up to singing or working on her projects.

Suddenly one of the boys gave an impulsive shout. "Hey San! Want to go toboggan with us on the east hill?"

Sannata was startled. Usually girls weren't invited to sled down the steep slope. It was impossible to climb back up with one hand hauling the sled, so a young gryph with nothing better to do had to haul the snowy youths back to the top.

"Sure!" she responded impulsively. "Let me change..."

* * *

There was no gryph on east hill; instead an icy pale blue dragon was there to convey them to the top. While he carried Sannata, she chatted with him. "Aren't you cold? I mean, you've no feathers or fur..."

The dragon snorted. "Aerie children are all the same." He said.

"But I don't want to be the same!" Sannata cried.

The dragon laughed. "Who does?" he said as he dropped her off.

By the time they were all cold and tired of sledding, Sannata had struck up quite a friendship with the dragon. He even offered to fly them all back so they might have more time to talk. Of course, it took several trips, but that was all right.

Back at the Aerie, Sannata hugged the blue goodbye. "Come back and visit soon." She said.

The blue bowed his head. "I wish you could come with..." he said, suddenly his eyes went wide. "Sannata!" he cried, "you have potential! You could be a bonder!"

Sannata blinked. "For a dragon?"

"Well, yeah." He said, "It would be silly of me to go around choosing bonders for gryphlets, wouldn't it?"

Sannata laughed. "I suppose so!"

"Go make arrangements," he purred, "I'll wait for you."

* * *

And so something exciting happened to Sannata. She wound up at Wild River Caer, where she's waiting for Silver Freith's eggs to hatch, and is learning about Caers and dragons.