The Blood's Flame (The Dragons of Flareia Book 1)

Chapter 20 - Flae

The Palace Beach

26th Year of the Ocean

3rd Moon

"The trick is," Olivier said, running the comb down Flae's scalp to part her silver hair, "rather than folding three strands around each other as you do in Ignisia, we split the hair in two, taking smaller strands from each section and switching them to the other. We call them Fishtails."

"That sounds far too complicated." Flae muttered. "I can barely even braid my hair normally – Mother Ember id it for me until I was fifteen!"

Olivier laughed. "Why did you struggle so much?

Flae reached down and scooped up the dry sand of the dunes, letting it fall through her fingers. "Mother Ember used to say my hands were too small to hold all my hair."

"Who does your hair here?" Olivier asked.

"Lady Ameira. Frankly, she's better than my Ladies in Waiting at the House of Lava. Most days it felt like they were having a competition to see who could pull the most hair from my head." Flae grumbled.

"Her veil," Olivier started, referring to Lady Ameira, "does she wear it because she's a Priestess?"

Flae chewed her bottom lip. "Maybe?" She muttered. "All the other Women of the Volcano I've seen wear the headscarves but not the veil, but I've never met another Priestess before."

"She's an interesting woman." Olivier commented, but she sounded distant. Flae didn't need to see Olivier's face to know she was staring across the dunes to where Kylan and his cat sat in the shade – he sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his hands resting in his lap. The cat sat beside him, its single gold eye glinting in the sun.

"What do you suppose they're doing?" Flae asked Olivier. "Meditating?"

"Practising." Olivier said simply.

Flae's brows furrowed. "Practicing what?"

Olivier's hands stilled in Flae's hair, and twisted Flae's head so she could see the Umbrassi Dragonheir better. As Flae watched, the cat stood up and wandered a short distance away before sitting down once more. Slowly but surely, the shadow of the sand dune grew until it reached where the cat sat – then snapped back to its original position with alarming speed. Kylan's shoulders slumped and he opened his eyes. Flae saw him say something to the cat, but she couldn't hear his words. The Dragonheir rubbed his head as if he were in pain.

"He seems to be struggling." Olivier commented, her hands continuing to braid Flae's hair.

Flae nodded in agreement to Olivier, but to Ignotus she said, The Umbrassi Dragonheir seems to have difficulty harnessing the Shadow Dragon's powers.

Hmmmm. Ignotus mused. It is interesting, considering that Tenebrille has not shared his power for so long, one would assume he'd be quite liberal in doing so.

It seems that simply moving shadows across the sand has given him a headache. Flae told the Fire Dragon.

Interesting. Ignotus murmured. Flae sensed his confusion more than she heard it in his voice, but didn't get the chance to question him.

It seems he lacks agency. Said a different voice in Flae's mind.

Both she and Olivier jumped at the voice, and turned to find Lymphario sitting beside them, his gaze resting on the Umbrassi Dragonheir.

"Agency?" Olivier asked. Flae could imagine her dark brows furrowing in confusion.

He has little motivation; it clouds his ability to use Tenebrille's power. It is likely that if he were given good reason to use it, say, to protect someone, he would be fine. Lymphario explained, suddenly spreading his wings – but only to rise high enough to perch himself on Olivier's shoulder. It almost seems as if he is over-extending, using too much power, but he is not. Lack of agency is the only thing I can imagine would cause him to struggle so much.