Rhiannon - Dragonrider

Chapter Thirty Six - Markesh-Dwynwen

Much too soon, Dee was shaking me awake again. "Come on, love," she was saying. "You've got to get going. There's porridge with fruit and a cup of tea here for you. Old Rhiannas is wanting to take you out flying and it doesn't do to keep his sort waiting."

"What time is it?" I mumbled.

"It's four o'clock in the afternoon," Dee answered. "You've slept for five hours."

I was still knackered but it wasn't the same brain numbing exhaustion it had been when I'd arrived. I picked up a spoon, but then looked up to Dee. "If you don't mind me asking," I said, "who are you?"

"You eat, I'll talk," she told me.

So I set to work on the porridge.

"Like I said, my name's Markesh-Dwynwen, but everybody calls me Dee. I'm a retainer of the Family of Markesh and have been since the current Markeshnon was a lass. Markesh is a vassal of the House of Rhian and, as Rhiannas is not too hot with servants..."

"He looked too hot for one! I saw the bones!"

"Keep eating. Yes, you've got to get used to that sort of thing if you're around dragons for any length of time. Anyroad, Rhiannas can't really manage servants of his own so he asked Markeshnon to send someone up to look after you.

"Now, if you're done, go and get yourself dressed. There's clean clothes for you in the bathroom."

After throwing on the clothes, I hurried out into the main bit of the lair where I found Rhiannas relaxing on his dais. When he saw me, he told me to collect Liberty.

The sleek, black dragon had been fed and looked surprisingly fit after our morning's exhausting session. I locked him, brought him out onto the veranda and buckled on my spurs.

"You chose to take him through a vigorous ride this morning," Rhiannas said

"Yes, sir. I wanted to make as much use of today as possible. I hoped that, if we did some hard work this morning, you would be able to concentrate on technique this afternoon."

"That in spite of your evident fatigue," he said as he made his way down the chamber in long, wing assisted hops. "The due import you are applying to the upcoming challenge inspires optimism."

"I have no intention of failing, sir," I said, carefully shielding my thoughts as I made Liberty bow down to let me mount. He probably didn't want to know what I thought about the whole 'due import' thing.

"Admirable! Then, to business! We fly." Rhiannas stepped casually off the veranda and, as ever, held his wings closed for a moment to build up speed before scooping in the air and pulling up towards the mouth of the Edifice in graceful circles. Liberty and I followed. He let us pull ahead of him so he could study us in flight.

"He is a powerful and enthusiastic beast, though young, yet, and unschooled," Rhiannas observed dryly after a few moments. "Your choice is sound."

He continued his inspection as we flew out of the Edifice and began to fly in long circles around the mouth. "The beast has a tendency to clip the end of one wing stroke in his zeal to attack the next," Rhiannas observed after a while.

"He also has a tendency to hang with his wings in the advanced state prior to catching the air," he added after more inspection. "Not only is this inelegant and wasteful, but it also contributes to his somewhat erratic balance."

Liberty must have heard. I mean... he didn't much like being criticised but I could tell he was trying to sort the things out!

After watching for a bit longer, Rhiannas flew back to join us. "You must remain ever vigilant against those defects," he warned me, "for they will doubtless re-emerge at times of heightened endeavour."