Vellisia and the Jinx

A summer day. I remember exactly how it happened on that one day. It was during the holidays that my father returned once more from one of his long exploration trips.

We had been looking forward to this for a long time; we, that is my little brother Ri'nan and I, Vellisia. Our father was renowned all across Pelsatia for his research of foreign cultures; in other words, that meant he was away more than he was home. When he returned, however, he always brought fantastic souvenirs and tales from foreign countries back with him! That is mainly why I could never be angry with him, even if he didn't having much time for me - and also because he kept promising me he'd take me with him once I was old enough to be allowed to leave the safety of Avienot, the dragon refuge. But until then, the stories he'd tell us would have to do.

As was our custom, Ri'nan and I began to heap up an entire small mountain of pillows near the fireplace in the living room in preparation for story time. However, my father stopped us.

"Save your energy; I'll need to be on my way again by dawn."

He never really told us where he was going, but that didn't matter; all that was important - in a very woeful way - was that he wouldn't be staying long, and all hopes of hearing his long travelogues had just gone down the drain.

Now was the time for begging and tears, but no matter how heart-rending my wails were, he had already made up his mind, and he was going to stubbornly hold on to his decision like he always did. Trying to argue with father was like talking to a stonewall, the only difference being that the wall peacefully remained where it was instead of making such unfair decisions. Some people tell me I inherited this trait from him; I tell them I just don't want anyone to persuade me to do the wrong thing instead of doing what is obviously right.

Luckily, it looked like there would still be consolation: our father had not come back empty-handed! As was his habit, he had brought something new with him, probably another souvenir. He kept it inside a leather bag, and we were anxious to find out what it was.

However, when I could not bear the suspense anymore and finally asked him about it, all he said was: "It's not for you. You should keep away from it."

I frowned. That wasn't nice at all. It had always been his habit to keep things a secret for much longer than we would have wished, but this harsh reply was very much unlike him. Was there something really unusual about what he had brought? Maybe it was a dangerous magic tome, or some item of utmost importance to the Lord of Avienot that he did not want us to touch.

Unfortunately, prohibition boosts curiosity, especially for young dragons, so while Ri'nan seemed pretty willing to obey our father's words and despite my original plans to follow suit, the urge to find out more just wouldn't leave me alone. For the rest of the day, not a minute passed in which I wasn't thinking about that mysterious leather bag. 'Perhaps I should sneak a peek?' I thought. 'It wouldn't hurt, would it...?'

Finally, evening came. My father had left again, my mother had sent Ri'nan to bed before retiring to the living room lounge and my own bedtime was rapidly getting closer. It was quiet around the house, and that was inviting. I used the time I had left that day to sneak around a bit. No particular intentions, just curiosity...

And indeed, there it was: Father's leather bag! It was just sitting there, unguarded and inviting, in a corner of the entrance hall. He had not taken it with him as I had briefly feared, he had not even tried to hide it; he must really trust us a lot, I thought, and felt bad about the kinds of thoughts I had had. I'm a dragoness! Majestic and honourable, a paradigm to everyone! A dragoness does not betray her own father's trust. I tried to forget all about it and went to bed as soon as possible. Maybe if I could just sleep over it, things would look very different already.