Dathian followed Jahrra’s gaze.
“Ah,” he said quietly, “that one. She might be the largest leech I’ve ever met. Intent on draining all the joy out of a room. You should go ask what type of blood she prefers.”
Jahrra stopped her laugh in her nose and had to cover her mouth with her hand. Jaax, who was standing near the podium, listening intently to one of the member’s concerns, turned his gaze on her and gave her a withering look. With some effort, Jahrra managed a straight face. With regards to questioning Shiroxx on her preference of blood type, Jahrra was pretty sure she already knew. After growing bored with glaring at Jahrra, the female dragon’s glance fell upon Jaax. Jahrra tried not to shiver but she feared she failed.
To get her thoughts off of the red Tanaan dragon, Jahrra looked next to her golden scaled companion. The other dragon appeared smaller and younger than both Jaax and Shiroxx but it was clear he was of Tanaan descent. From her seat on the stage Jahrra couldn’t quite make out all of his features, but there was a great scar running up one side of his neck. She wondered how he’d received it but before she could think any further on it, Dathian was there to assist her again.
“Our lady Shiroxx’s companion is Kehllor. I don’t know much about him but I do know his parentage and history are relatively unknown.”
“Where did he get that scar?” she whispered back as her guardian’s voice filled the assembly hall, answering the queries that had been laid before him.
Dathian merely shrugged. He seemed to know everyone here and what their specific role was in the Coalition. If he didn’t know much about this Kehllor then maybe no one did.
Jahrra decided to let her curiosity go for now. She had seen the younger dragon at a few other meetings and although they hadn’t yet been introduced she was sure it would happen at some point in time. Whenever she saw him during these gatherings in Essyel Auditorium, he was always with Shiroxx and the other black Tanaan, but Kehllor always stayed close to her side as if she held him there with a leash. Jahrra snorted at the idea, her usual feeling of disgust towards the red dragon creeping up a bit. She would have let the same feeling apply to Kehllor, but there was something in his eyes that held her at bay. Was it fear? Loathing? No, worse, something she had felt too often in her life: helplessness.
A strange realization crept over her then. Kehllor was being controlled. And Jahrra had an idea of who was to blame: Shiroxx. She didn’t know the female dragon very well but she had seen her in action. After that first official meeting in the library Jahrra had been on her guard. Even a week later, when Jaax had made good on his promise to walk with her in the gardens, she knew better than to skip along and pretend like everyone was on their best behavior. Shiroxx was trying to control her, or Jaax, as well. Yes, she was trying to direct Jaax in one way or another. How could Jahrra have missed it? But there was one little problem to this scheme of hers: Jaax was impossible to control.
Jahrra let her eyes wander to the pair of Tanaan standing off to the side once more. Gratefully, Shiroxx’s other companion, Rohdann, wasn’t present. Dathian had told Jahrra about him at the last Coalition meeting. She would have just ignored the black dragon but there was something about the way his pale blue eyes had considered her, as if he was planning to hunt her down and eat her for breakfast. His coloring didn’t help either; the blackness of his scales drawing the eye the way a dark shadow spread across the ground forces one to take notice of it. When Jahrra had asked what he was like, Dathian merely sniffed and told her he was just like Shiroxx.
Jahrra shook her head and got back to her previous thoughts. She could consider Rohdann later, perhaps when he was actually present. Instead, she turned back to the idea of Shiroxx controlling Kehllor. It was as plain as day now. The female dragon, resplendent and looking regally bored as ever, and Kehllor, a bronze statue beside her, eyes hard as flint, scowling and looking as if he waited for the simplest of instructions so that he could please his mistress.
Jahrra shivered and Dathian cast her a curious look. “You can’t be cold,” he whispered.
He’d returned to his laid back stance, listening to the political banter once again.
“No,” Jahrra said automatically, taking what seemed like the first breath after holding it for a very long time. “Just thinking.”
Dathian chuckled quietly. “A very dangerous endeavor, I should think.”
Jahrra narrowed her eyes at the red and gold dragons once again, ignoring her friend’s jibe. She decided then and there that she would try, though she had no idea how she could succeed, at getting Kehllor out of Shiroxx’s claws. As if hearing her thoughts, Shiroxx turned her head and spoke a few quiet words to her young companion. Kehllor hid an infinitesimal flinch but nodded his head and stood to leave.
“Yes,” Jahrra whispered, her eyes glued to the Tanaan dragon now leaving the hall, “a very dangerous endeavor indeed.”
She stood up from her place on the edge of the stage. Dathian gave her a surprised look and formed his mouth in a question.
“I need to visit the privy,” Jahrra hissed and scuttled off, taking one of the side exits so as not to disturb the entire congregation. Or to draw Jaax’s attention away from his current distraction.
Jahrra pushed the door open and bolted up the stairs that would take her to the main foyer. She sprinted out into the hallway, hoping to see Kehllor, but cursed and began moving more quickly just as the golden tail of a dragon disappeared through the doorway out onto the plaza.
“Kehllor, wait!” she called, shocking herself at her own brazenness.
Was it just a few short weeks ago she’d dreaded meeting anyone in the Coalition? Now she was chasing after members she had not yet been introduced to.
To her surprise, the Tanaan dragon stopped and cast her a confused but disgruntled glance over his shoulder. She hurried down the stairs to keep up.
“Hello,” she breathed. “Sorry, you don’t know me, but–”
“I know who you are,” he said, his voice as cool and clipped as Shiroxx’s, but deeper and smoother.
“Yes, well, most people do by now,” Jahrra responded with a grin. “Do you mind if we go over there?”
She pointed to the shade of the large oak she liked so well. Kehllor hesitated, looking her up and down as if studying a potential enemy. Jahrra took the time to catch her breath and study this new dragon just as carefully. He was smaller than Jaax, perhaps a few feet shorter and not as broad in the shoulders. His scales, upon closer inspection, had a slight green tinge to them but were spangled with gold, bronze and copper flecks.
“I just wanted to introduce myself properly, since I didn’t get a chance to speak with you the other night.”
Finally they were in the shade and Jahrra took advantage of the short stone wall encircling the tree. She sat and gave Kehllor her full attention. The scar that ran up his neck continued past his eye, something she hadn’t noticed from a distance before. It was a wonder his eye, a dark blue, hadn’t lost any of its function. It must have been a terrible wound at some point and Jahrra wondered once again how he’d received it. An image of Shiroxx slashing her claws in anger flashed into her mind. She did away with it just as quickly as it arrived. The female dragon was too controlled for violence of that sort, and it seemed too cruel, even for her.
“I’m Jahrra,” she finally said, “and I’ve been told your name is Kehllor?”
The dragon nodded, his rigid stance relaxing a little.