Dragonknights

Chapter Eight

Evalon pulled her head up away from the book in her lap at the sound of a knock on the door downstairs. There was the sound of feet moving quickly along the wooden floor and then of the door opening and happy voices that carried upstairs where Evalon was, sitting on her bed, surrounded by the books that Elen had helped her unpack earlier.

Evalon looked around her. She had lost track of time after she had delved into one of her books-- again. It had been late afternoon when she had started, but now the sky outside her window was streaked with orange and purple and some storm clouds were gathering up above, just beginning to drop their moisture on Mydalr in an evening shower.

"Evalon!" Aunt Mylane's voice called from below. "Clerkes are here! Come down and wash for dinner, please."

Though she sighed at having her reading interrupted, Evalon obediently slipped off her bed and made her way downstairs. She wasn't too thrilled with the idea of having guests over for dinner, but Elen and Grayse were friendly enough-- overly friendly if truth be told-- and she could only hope that Mr. Clerke was as cheerful.

When Evalon arrived in the living room she saw that her aunt had done some more unpacking since she had last come downstairs. The sofa was neatly in place in front of the coffee table and a large number of the old knick-knacks and decorative items that had been on display in their old house in Gisla were neatly organized on shelves and tables. Pictures hung on the walls and the waterclock dripped merrily. The place looked more like home than ever.

Evalon went into the dining room, where Aunt Mylane, Grayse, Elen, and who Evalon assumed was Elen's dad were all seated around the table. On the table itself sat many pots and pans, each steaming and emitting mouth-watering scents, like grilled pheasant and buttered mashed potatoes and pressure-cooked garlic with onion herring.

There were two empty chairs, and Evalon took the one between Elen and Grayse, the other being between Mylane and Elen's dad. Mr. Clerke had dull green eyes and a receding hairline the color of ash. He didn't look intimidating, but he was tall and very muscular, and just being in the same room as him made Evalon feel small. No, she felt much more comfortable between the man's wife and daughter.

"Is Hyron still working late?" Grayse asked, noting the remaining chair.

Mylane nodded. "Unfortunately. The office is working him double time to try to figure out..." She paused, and with a quick, meaningful glance at Evalon and Elen, she continued, "...their little problem."

It seemed an understanding had passed between the two women, and when Evalon glanced at Elen she could tell that she had not missed the significance of it either. Obviously, whatever Hyron was working on was something Mylane didn't want the two girls knowing, which led Evalon to believe that it was the feral dragons.

"Well, let's not just sit here with our tummies rumbling," Mylane said quickly in a change of subject. "Let's pray and everybody dig in."

So they all bowed their heads and said grace before noisily passing around dishes with many muttered thanks. When the salad bowl came to Evalon she passed it on to Grayse without dishing some onto her plate. She was just about to accept the dish of pressure-cooked garlic and onion herring from Elen when Grayse said from her other side, "You forgot your greens, darlin'," and proceeded to dish a large serving of spinach and lettuce onto Evalon's plate.

"Thanks," Evalon said through grit teeth.

Thankfully, Grayse didn't seem to pick up on the sarcasm. She just smiled, patted Evalon on the cheek and said, "You're welcome, darlin'."

As the meal continued Grayse, Elen's dad, and Mylane talked contently, catching up on each others' lives for the last dozen-or-so year since they had seen one another. At first, Evalon tried to pay attention, hoping she might hear something more about the wild dragons, but to no avail, The small talk didn't hold her interest long and her mind began to wander to her awaiting book upstairs...