“Besides, the energy it would take to find . . .” Jaax began again, but stopped himself and shook his head to clear it. “No, like I said, it’s not an option.”
Viornen broke the awkward silence that followed with a light-hearted chuckle, “You’ll just have to make do with us then. We’ll start with the basics after tea. Did you test her already Jaax?”
Jaax didn’t answer at first. He was staring at the ground, his thoughts clearly somewhere else. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a sharp breath, releasing a miniscule stream of smoke as he exhaled, “Yes, and I would start at the beginning. She has some skill, but it wouldn’t hurt to start her from the bottom and work your way up.”
“Will you join us for tea, then?” Viornen queried.
“Oh no, I can’t. I have business outside of Oescienne that I’ve neglected for too long as it is. It’s taken precious time stopping in Oescienne at all, but it had been so long since I checked in on the girl,” Jaax said coldly, without emotion.
Yaraa, unable to be fooled by Jaax’s iron facade, smiled lightly. She donned a maternal look and placed a gentle hand on the dragon’s scaly foreleg, “Someday I hope to see you back to your old self Jaax, before . . . well, everything. Until then, promise me that you’ll stop every now and then to relax a little and enjoy this life, however dismal it may seem.”
Jaax gazed back with those silver green eyes of his and said shortly, “Life can’t truly be enjoyed until the Tyrant is purged from his throne. Goodbye Yaraa, Viornen. I’ll see you again, but at what time I don’t know.”
The two elves nodded somberly, as if honoring some ancient code that had been long since forgotten. Jaax returned the gesture just as quietly and just as slowly before turning to leave. As he started back down the lane he spotted Jahrra in the yard behind the cabin, bent over with her hands on her knees, examining the deep blue flowers the elfin children were pointing out to her. He must have lingered too long, because Jahrra turned her head and saw him. She stood up straight, said something to the children, and walked over to the dragon.
“Where are you going?”
Jahrra’s question sounded sincere, catching Jaax a little off guard.
“I have to leave, but you are to stay here and begin your training. I take it you remember how to get home?”
Jahrra’s earnestness vanished the instant Jaax’s sarcasm registered, taking her feelings of disappointment with it.
Her cobalt eyes darkened as she crossed her arms ferociously and took on an unyielding pose, “Oh, so you’re just going to leave me out in the middle of nowhere with perfect strangers while you go off to tend to your “business”?”
Jaax felt the beginning of a dry smile as he turned his gaze down the lane. He took his time to answer, something that chafed at Jahrra’s patience.
“They’re not complete strangers,” he finally said with an amused sigh. “I know them quite well and am not at all worried about leaving you here with them. I just hope they can make something out of you.”
Jahrra had grown too irate to answer, her face turning red like a boiled thermometer.
When she didn’t reply to his rude statement, Jaax continued, “I’ll see you in a few years, if I get a chance to visit this part of Ethoes again. If not, good luck with your training.”
Jaax snapped open his giant wings and lifted effortlessly into the blue sky, leaving a flustered Jahrra to kick at the earth in irritation. She was angry that she had actually felt disappointed he was leaving; angry that she didn’t have a snide reply for him. Now she wished she hadn’t apologized earlier for hitting him so hard with that branch.
Jahrra tilted her head so that she was looking at the canopy of the giant oaks, closed her eyes, and exhaled slowly. She was overwhelmingly tempted to gather up Phrym and leave this bright little cottage for good. Alright, she thought to herself as the light from the sun filtered through the green leaves and onto her face, I hate doing anything that Jaax says I have to do, but on the other hand these so called ‘lessons’ could be very useful against the twins.
She smiled as she imagined dropkicking Ellysian and sparring with Eydeth in front of the whole school, only to leave him sprawled in the dust. Oh yes, that would definitely be worth giving into Jaax’s wishes. And besides, it’s not like he’ll be around to spy on me and make his rude comments.
Feeling that Strohm, Samibi and Srithe were quite fine on their own, Jahrra headed back down the shaded lane to where Viornen and Yaraa patiently waited, watching her like a pair of attentive hawks. She felt guilty that they’d been kept waiting as it was, but she didn’t want to approach them when she was still in a temper over Jaax.
Of course, the elves knew this already and used the time it took her to walk up the road to discuss their own private thoughts.
“That dragon sure has gotten into the habit of quick fixes,” Yaraa whispered amusedly to her husband.
“He does seem to be in such a hurry these days,” Viornen answered, just as quietly. “I wonder sometimes if he even thinks his decisions through.”
Yaraa hugged her elbows in thought. “The girl is quite young, that’s for sure, but she has spirit and although I admire her own unique wisdom, there is much she needs to learn.”
“She’ll be alright, I think,” Viornen murmured as Jahrra closed the gap between them, leaving all other speculation for another time.
“Sorry,” Jahrra said bashfully, “your children were so excited about showing me their garden, and then we found the toad . . .”
“Don’t worry about it,” Yaraa cut in kindly. “They do have a way of kidnapping newcomers; we don’t get many visitors out here. Besides, it’s only natural you’d want to talk to Jaax before he left.”
Jahrra flushed at this statement. She hadn’t realized they’d been watching her for so long.
“Oh, well, I wasn’t . . .” she stammered, not wanting to admit she’d wanted to say goodbye to the dragon and feeling a bit ashamed they’d read her secret thoughts so easily.
“He shouldn’t have left you so suddenly like that. You have every right to be angry.” Viornen’s kind smile seemed to relax their surroundings.
“How did you know I was angry?” Jahrra asked humbly, knowing that she’d done her best to let that emotion pass before approaching the couple.
“Well,” Viornen said with an impish grin, “other than the fact that you attacked the road with your foot when Jaax flew off, I was born with the ability to sense the slightest change in moods.”
Jahrra stared blankly. “You can be born with that ability?”
Viornen released a good-natured laugh, and Yaraa smiled along with him.
“I’m sorry!” Jahrra said apologetically, flushing once again. “That was extremely rude of me!”
She was completely mortified by now. These elves could read her emotions like words on a page and she didn’t even know them.
“It’s quite alright, I assure you,” Viornen chuckled. “It’s not as simple as that, so I’ll explain. People, of all races and species, have a chance of being born with magical properties. Some have stronger ties to magic than others and some have none at all. It’s not detectable at first, but once it is, depending on one’s level of magic, they are trained to use it and recognize it.
“Now, elves are more inclined to be magical and so are dragons and dwarves, but that doesn’t exclude all the other races. I myself happened to be born with a slight level of foresight. I can’t read the future; in fact, a mere fortuneteller would put me to shame. What I can do is sense emotions in other people better than most, and I can bring out the good emotions in other living things as well. That’s why our plants and trees seem so happy.”