“I hope this makes up for all the times I forgot,” she said, then added, “I hope you like it.”
The shift in weight of the box in her hands was her only indication that Jaax had accepted the gift. Jahrra turned and escaped back to her chair before he could respond to her strange dialogue. She busied herself with unwrapping the golden box. When she finally pulled the lid away Jahrra was overcome with another bout of shock.
It was a sword, a perfect, brand-new, never once a hand-me-down sword. Jahrra vaguely heard Jaax say something about her needing a real, serviceable weapon as she ran a finger down the cool, smooth steel. It was plain with a leather-wrapped hilt and steel cross guard, but the leather was dark blue and a blood rose was engraved in the pommel. Jahrra lifted it up carefully and sighed at the feel of its comfortable weight in her hand. It was balanced perfectly and it wasn’t too heavy either. Below the sword was a matching scabbard and belt.
When Jahrra finally looked up from her daze, she glanced over at Neira who was beaming at her while clasping her new bonnet over her head.
“And look what Jaax got me,” she declared as she picked up the corner of a piece of fabric and trailed it over her lap. “Several yards of that beautiful pattern I had been eying for months! Now I can make myself a new dress. And I think it will go with my new bonnet too!”
Jahrra smiled, then without thinking, looked over at her guardian. Just as quickly, her smile disappeared. He wasn’t scowling at her or glancing at Neira. No, he wasn’t looking at anyone at all. Jahrra followed his gaze downward and spotted the carved wooden box at his feet, its lid thrown open. Her heart nearly stopped in her chest. He had opened her present, it seemed. His face was still, neither smiling nor frowning, and Jahrra was certain she had detected more movement in her painting of Phrym.
When her heart decided to start working again it sank all the way to the tips of her toes. He hated it. Jaax was appalled with her gift. Of course he would be; what kind of a dragon wore jewelry? Jahrra kicked herself mentally, trying to convince herself that the tears she felt prickling her eyes were a result of her painting and sword. But really, if she was being truly honest with herself, they were the remains of bitter disappointment. How could she have misjudged her guardian so terribly? This only proved how little she knew him, even after spending months as his ward. How could he always know what she would like, but she couldn’t even pick out a Solsticetide gift for him without messing it up?
She wished she could claim tiredness and dart up the stairs to the sanctuary of her room but that wasn’t possible.
“Raejaax, what did Jahrra get for you?” Neira’s kind voice shattered Jahrra’s despair like a stone through glass.
Slowly, he scooped a claw into the box and brought the ring out into the light of the fire and what candles had not burned themselves out on the walls.
Jahrra cringed and started curling up into a ball. He was afraid to touch it.
Neira gasped as the firelight glinted off of the stone, scattering reflections of its blue and green facets across the room.
“Is that a spirit stone?!” she gasped in wonder as she cast her large brown eyes onto Jahrra. “Oh Jahrra, what a gift!”
Too bad she hadn’t had the ring made for Neira. The pure wonder and awe in her voice proved how much she appreciated it.
Finally, Jahrra faced her fears and glanced up at Jaax. He no longer looked at the ring but right at her, and if she didn’t know any better, she would have said his eyes were shining. It was such an unusual look from Jaax that she didn’t know what to do. He no longer seemed to be treating the ring as if it were a month-dead skunk. Instead, he turned it on the tip of his middle finger, examining it closely.
“Did you design this yourself Jahrra?” he finally said, his voice so quiet she had barely noticed it.
“Yes,” she answered back, just as quietly, still curled up in her chair.
He slipped the ring onto his finger and Jahrra watched in amazement as the stone flashed once before the metal of the ring seemed to glow as it grew, stone and all, slightly smaller to fit snuggly on his middle toe. Jahrra smiled, despite herself. Jaax may not think it was the greatest gift in the world but he was wearing it, and its design and colors did seem to fit him so well.
The dragon caught her eyes again and said, “No one has ever given me something as wonderful as this Jahrra.”
His words warmed her, but sent a chill down her spine nonetheless. This was the best gift he had ever received? Truly? Jahrra was torn between being proud of her purchase and saddened by the fact that, despite Jaax’s age, he had never felt as touched by an act of kindness as he claimed to feel now. Jahrra shook her head and focused on the real issue at hand. He liked her gift. He didn’t hate it.
She smiled up at him, slowly uncurling from her defensive position.
“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know how you afforded such a gift on the allowance I give you, but I will not ask.”
Jahrra blanched then relaxed. That was a close one, and a first. She beamed even more brightly. He must really like the ring if he was going to forget it cost a small fortune when he’d only given her a fraction of such a sum in the seven months they’d been in Lidien.
Eventually the fire died down and Jahrra grew tired. After the awe and excitement of their gift exchange had worn off, they spent the next few hours telling Solstice stories, with Neira pulling out a small stringed instrument she strummed along with the tales of old. Around midnight, Jahrra found that she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. Neira nodded agreement and shuffled off to the kitchen as Jahrra scooped up her sword and portrait of Phrym and headed towards the hallway. As she placed her foot on the first step she heard someone call out her name.
Freezing, she turned to find Jaax only a few feet away from her. She glanced down, her emotions still feeling raw for some reason about the spirit ring, and found herself looking at said ring, resting nicely on her guardian’s right foot. The tiny speck of red near the center of the stone winked brightly and then faded again. Jahrra blinked and shook her head, deciding it was her imagination.
“Thank you for the sword,” she blurted in order to fill the awkward silence.
Jaax merely smiled. “A sword can be created with mere steel and labor,” he answered. “But a spirit stone comes from the heart.”
Jahrra shrugged, not knowing what to say. Jaax lowered his head so that she was forced to look him in the eye.
“I will treasure this always,” he lifted the foot with the ring, “for it is proof that you finally trust me.”
With that, he turned and slowly walked back down the dark hallway, disappearing through the door to his study.
Jahrra merely stared after him as if someone had punched her in the stomach. Of course she trusted Jaax; she had for a long time. But hadn’t he known that? Apparently not, for he just admitted as much. And how did giving him a ring for Solsticetide prove she trusted him?
Sighing, Jahrra turned back around and climbed the stairs. Her brain was too overworked to do much thinking tonight so she quickly slipped into her night clothes and fell into bed, hardly registering the touch of her pillow against her cheek before she was asleep.
-Chapter Seventeen-
A Misunderstanding and a an Apology to Match
Two days after Solsticetide Jahrra was still slightly befuddled by Jaax’s reaction to her gift, but today she was determined to forget all about the inner workings of her guardian’s mind. It was her birthday after all and she wanted a day free of conundrums. Unfortunately, her over-active mind didn’t feel the same way. Her memory of the run-in with the saffron-haired Mystic from a few weeks earlier was being particularly stubborn. Like a spider web she had walked through, the details of that day in the Witching District continued to stick to her no matter how many strands she managed to pull off. If she ever saw the woman again, or her korehv for that matter, she wouldn’t leave their sight until she got some answers.