Dragon

Chapter 1

Maay hummed as she worked the old loom, the dull clack of wood a lullaby to her ears. Sunlight blazed into the solarium, the normally stifling heat cooled every so often by a gust coming through the open windows. She cocked her head to the sound of footsteps echoing from down the hall. Men. It had to be, for their boots hit the stone with such a racket and the occasional, punctuating clink of metal.

Frowning at the woven threads before her, she idly looped another through the strands. It sounded like guards. What would they be doing here? Not many men came to this quarter of the castle, mostly servants with their soft shoes and the irritating habit of blending into the background.

She glanced over her shoulder and perused the room. Her gaze settled on the plants that separated the solarium from the other rooms and screened the bulk of the sunlight from those entering. The green leaves bobbed in the breeze. Bright, inviting and absent of extra shadows.

Yes, she was still alone. Figures. The first time she wanted a servant nearby and there were none around. But was that not why she'd chosen this section of the castle in the first place? To be alone?

Perhaps she was imagining things. Why earlier, Maay could have sworn she'd heard the mighty whump of wings overhead. Although she'd hurried to the window and risked falling as she leant out to see, nothing untoward had caught her eye. She could seek out answers. Someone would know. Except, in leaving her weaving incomplete, she risked returning to discover someone, like one of her sweet younger sisters, had lovingly unravelled it.

The shuttle skipped a thread. Grumbling, she redid the line. She had to finish it before the autumn banquet next week. This would be the year she finally completed a tapestry in time. Allowing herself to be treated like a child until the next year was unthinkable. Not when this autumn marked her eighteenth year.

Why were the men here? Were they emissaries on their way to greet one of her siblings? She recalled a few proposals made to some of the ladies, but no mention of acceptance. And the others of age would've already completed their tapestries by now. Perhaps they are knights. Surely, after almost two decades, the castle was due for a visit.

And with knights, came dragons.

Perched on the edge of the stool, she held her breath and strained to hear anything other than the tramp of boots. Leaving her work, she padded to the nearest window. Birdsong came in on the breeze, the flit of tiny wings filling the void between the tweets. Another window revealed cattle grazing in the paddocks far below. Surely they'd kick up a fuss at a dragon's presence.

Foolish to think there could be something as exciting as dragons nearby. That was something her young siblings were likely to believe. Such mighty beasts hadn't flown over Byron's Peak since before her birth. They were too busy guarding the kingdom's borders to travel this far inland.

Maay sighed. It had probably been a duck. But it had sounded so big. Not duck-like at all and many of the geese had already left, not to return for some months.

Shaking her head, she returned to the loom, hoping to regain the comfort she found in being blissfully alone. The footsteps no longer sounded urgent and rarely could she find time without her brothers and sisters, both the older and the younger, dogging her. One day, or so her adopted mother believed, she'd miss their presence and the foolish games they'd played.

A smile tweaked her lips at the memory of her siblings' cavorting and laughter. She stilled. That last giggle had sounded all too real. "Ilsa?"

Another giggle came, more muffled than the first.

I can hear you, sweet one. The words sung in her mind. "Guess I'm all alone then." Her gaze lazily followed the course of her fingers as they wove the shuttle through the upright cords. For the moment, the thread was a soft white. Below it, all neatly woven, sat the dark green wall of the castle's standard. "I suppose that means there's no one to tell me what's happening outside." Maay forced a sigh. "And I so wanted to know. Oh dear, what a shame." Wood resumed its rhythmic clacking, once again in counterpoint to her over-loud humming.