The Boon of Alon

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I do get my nap after lunch, fortunately—and as far as I know, I'm alone in the dorm for all of it—and then I hole up in the archive until dinner.

Alinora mentioned all the dragons she met in her journal—many of the names are familiar, but many aren't—and Iamon is among them. She didn't say much about him at first; not more than the other dragons, anyway, except in frequency. About all I can glean is that he wasn't this ornery when she was a recruit.

I have just reached an entry that has the word "bond" in it several times—which is more promising than anything else so far—when the monastery bell rings for dinner. Dammit. If I'd napped for a little less time... I skim it over before I head to dinner. Alinora wanted Iamon to bond her, she liked talking to him, she thought she had a good chance... He likes people who think ahead, or, at least, he did almost forty years ago.

Gods, even if I can get him to talk to me, I'm not exactly his type, am I? I've spent most of my life with my future decided for me, and even though I've fought it every step of the way, it's not like I have any plans otherwise. I've been taking things day by day since I got here.

I put Alinora's journal back again and head to dinner. I'm going to reread that entry later—preferably tomorrow after a full night's sleep—but I can't wait for Iamon to talk to me to decide what I'm going to do. I need to make plans now.

Or at least think through my options. If I don't stay, where could I go? If I do stay...what would that look like?

Suthi doesn't try to talk to me at dinner, and I feel her look at me in the dorm, but when I glance over, she looks away.

In the morning when I head for the lake, Chama is already gone. I'm left to my own devices to find a dragon to oil—except not really, because plenty of recruits who've beaten me to it are happy to point me to someone available. I make a point of walking close to the water, where I have to skirt Iamon, as I search.

He's here again today, of course, still hunched and glaring at the edge of the lake. I don't get as close to him as before—it's not an accident this time—but I still call a soft "Good morning" to him as I pass. He growls back and I hurry onward.

The day goes surprisingly well. I trail into the archive after most of the other recruits, but since Chama isn't dragging me in, I don't suffer nearly as much attention, and Suthi watches me but says nothing. She's now across the table next to Jeddin; my usual seat between Lemi and Rev is free again. I sink into my chair and, trusting for the moment that Suthi getting across the table to attack would give me enough warning, turn my attention fully to Tack. I'm able to follow today's conversation, and Suthi keeps her distance.

For the rest of the day, too—lunch, training, and dinner are gloriously Suthi-free, except for the occasional glances that I feel like a ray of hot sunlight on the back of my neck. Instead of bothering me, she talks to the riders—ingratiating herself, maybe, getting them on her side instead of mine—and the other recruits. I even catch her coaching another recruit during weapons training. By the end of the week, she's going to have half the monastery turned against me.

Most of the week goes by the same way. The riders and other recruits stay friendly to me, for now, but some recruits have definitely picked a side, and it's not always mine. But hardly anything changes, yet—they just eat lunch with her and so on. "Friends," Rev says flatly when I point this out. Maybe so, but I keep my suspicion to myself after that.

On the brighter side, for two days out of the next five, I'm able to accidentally-on-purpose find myself at the lakeside near where Iamon huddles and say hello. The first time, he growls at me again, which is still terrifying, but since that's all he's done it kind of loses its edge. The second time, instead of growling, he narrows his eyes and lowers like he's going to pounce. I get out of there quickly.