The next day passes uneventfully. I'm popular with the dragons now, and honestly probably with the recruits too, judging by how many call out to me as I pass, but Iamon doesn't show at the lakeside that morning, so things stay quiet.
The day after, Rev gets bonded.
It just happens at the lakeside that morning, with no particular build-up or ceremony, which means I miss the start of it. It's only the sudden cheering—and Rador, the green I'm oiling, all but shaking me off to go look for himself—that gets me going over to see what's happening.
Rev stands in front of Arnelia, shivering. She's shed her jacket and pushed up her sleeves, and one arm is outstretched in front of her, bleeding from a long cut down most of her forearm. Arnelia licks the wound, quick as a snake, then tucks her head under one wing like a swan.
There's a jerk, and Arnelia emerges with something pinched between her teeth—one of her scales, dripping with her own blood. She drops it into Rev's outstretched hands, and Rev grimaces, but brings it to her mouth. Blood for blood. I'd assumed the bond was wholly magical in nature; is the blood necessary, or just for the ritual of it?
Rev shudders, face screwing up, but she lowers the scale from her face and looks up at Arnelia. She says something—I'm too far away to hear it—then pauses. Then grins.
Arnelia isn't touching her at all, but I think they're speaking anyway—the bond has formed. Rev is going to be a rider—no, she is a rider.
I clap as the gathered riders and recruits cheer and holler; some of the dragons roar, and Molla bursts out of the crowd to sweep Rev up into a tight hug. Rev yelps, holding out her bloody arm away from the both of them.
"Damn." Chama joins me in the ring of spectators, breathing hard like she just ran here. "I came down as soon as Arnet told me what was happening, but it looks like I missed it."
"Surely you've seen it plenty of times before," I say.
"Sure, but it's always nice to be there." She sighs and puts her hands on her hips. "Well, that's nice, anyway. We'll have a little ceremony tonight so she can take the oath, and Molla will teach her how to ride."
"So she'll still be around for a little while?" I ask hopefully.
"A few days, minimum," says Chama, patting my shoulder. "But Molla's been itching to get back out there, so I don't think it'll be much longer than that. It's not forever, kid. Rev'll come and go—you'll still see her plenty."
Damn. So once you're bonded, that's it—you really are a rider. That's actually terrifying. It's one thing to have ostensibly acquired the skills necessary for the work, but another to...go out there and do it, for real.
The crowd disperses as Molla tends to Rev's arm—I think it's stopped bleeding, maybe because Arnelia licked it, but Rev winces everytime Molla touches it. Chama claps me on the shoulder and heads back for the trail. I head back to finish oiling Rador, but I stop when I see Lemi—she's huddled against Sidian's shoulder, face hidden.
I thought she'd be first to be bonded, before Rev; I guess she thought so, too.
"Lemi?" I ask softly.
She turns away, at first, and I would leave it be, but Sidian nudges her shoulder and then Lemi does face me.
"Sorry," she says, wiping at her eyes. "I don't—I'm really happy for Rev, I promise."
"I know." Lemi has never struck me as the envious type.
"Don't tell her, I just... We've been waiting for Corren to get back," she says—ah, that's why. "I haven't even heard from him for weeks, and..."
YOU ARE READING
The Boon of Alon
Fantasía*Updates Mon/Thurs* Della has the boon of a god, a fated soulmate... and the ire of the rebellion wreaking havoc across the kingdom of Pangessa. She doesn't know how the rebellion thinks she's going to stop them, just that a prophecy says so. Frankl...
