Misfits of Aquila (Aquila's Originals 1)

Chapter 18: Rhiddyl's Dilemma, Part 2

MHYLLA WRENTHERIN WAS exactly what Rhiddyl expected, and yet utterly nothing like it. During her previous visit to Nimbys and her travels with the Rift Riders, she had grown to know both Mhysra and her mother the countess well. Mhylla much more closely resembled her niece than her sister, being tall and weathered, with a great cloud of black curls. Her brown skin was a little darker than Mhysra's and her eyes were dark too. Their shrewdness was much more akin to the countess than the young woman Rhiddyl had known. They looked her over for a long, worrisome moment and Rhiddyl felt every last one of the imperfections that marked her out as not quite human.

"Am I right in thinking you don't weigh as much as a human your size would?"

As opening comments went, Rhiddyl had to give her points for originality. She blinked, taken utterly by surprise. "Uh..."

"Yes." Fortunately Dhori was there to assist, since Stirla was busy elsewhere doing captainy things. Or, since it was already dark, perhaps he was at home enjoying dinner with his wife. "Dragon bones are different to human ones. Lighter but stronger, hollow like a bird."

Not quite, Rhiddyl thought, but didn't feel like giving an anatomy lesson. It was a close enough comparison for now. Especially as she didn't have any examples to illustrate her point with. None that weren't currently in use anyway.

Mhylla nodded. "I suspected as much. That should work nicely. Come with me." She turned and marched into the main eyries, bypassing the temporary structure where all the other student miryhls had been housed.

Rhiddyl glanced nervously at Dhori, wondering if the great Mhylla Wrentherin was always like this or if, perhaps, she wasn't happy about surrendering one of her precious charges to a partnership with a dragon.

"A bit of background before I introduce you," Mhylla started talking, catching Rhiddyl by surprise and she skipped to catch up with the woman. "She isn't one of mine, but she's still excellent quality. There are a few small Lowland breeders we often work with, since miryhl breeding isn't easy work and we could never keep up with Rider demand alone. They throw up some interesting eagles now and then, and it helps keep the whole species healthy. Still, we've all been hard pressed these last few years to supply enough new miryhls to meet the demand, not just for the new students, you understand, but to replace all that were injured and lost."

Rhiddyl certainly did understand. She might not have been present for the initial fall of Aquila, when it had been taken by Yullik ses-Khennik, but she had been there when the Riders won it back. She'd seen the fighting and the destruction, she'd witnessed the grief and loss. So many Riders and miryhls had fallen, so many more had been injured. The Riders had suffered greatly and it was up to people like Mhylla to help restore them to greatness.

Mhylla smiled, but it was tight and not entirely happy. "Well, that pressure leads to things like this. There were twenty-three new students from Nimbys this year, a further sixteen from the Storm Peaks, add a good thirty or so full Riders in need of new mounts and you begin to grasp my problem."

Rhiddyl nodded, eyes widening. Almost seventy new miryhls, and that was for just one year. It took around eighteen years for most miryhls to mature enough to be paired with a Rider. Eighteen years ago the Rider population had been stable and steady. Rhiddyl didn't know the exact numbers, but she doubted anyone had planned for more than forty or fifty new miryhls required each year. No wonder Mhylla was looking so grim.

"There are seventy five new miryhls here this year. Of course, not all of them will go on to make a match. The older Riders can afford to be picky and some might be able to wait until next year, or even have time to visit a few farms for themselves and see what's on offer in the meantime. Still, we have to bring enough eagles to offer a Choice, not just to the older Riders, but to you students as well."