UNMARKED

45: The Blue of the Sky

 Traveling with a baby dragon was not easy. More than once Blayre wished that she had left it behind or even allowed the Mountainers or Bartley to find the dratted thing. She was sure they would have lost patience with it before long.

Compounding the situation was the fact that Caval had to place a glamour on it so that it didn't look like what it was –a winged lizard the size of a small dog. Blayre couldn't see the glamour, but was informed by her two companions that the dragonling made for a very fat, contented-looking cat.

The dragonling had an insatiable appetite, and Blayre wondered how fast she (Blayre had suspected, and Caval had confirmed, that it was female) would grow at the rate that it wanted to eat. The roads they took were the more frequented ones, and they traveled by day in order to stick with the crowds, keeping consistent with Blayre's theory of hiding in plain sight.

All the while, Blayre could see Fletcher keeping a wary eye on Caval as they traveled, and her fellow Seeker never left her alone with the sorcerer for more than a few moments. She appreciated the security that Fletcher was offering, but it made it difficult for her to ask Caval why he'd and how he'd ended up on Bartley's side against those mountainers.

On the third evening, the trio made camp and Blayre finally sent Fletcher off to hunt on his own, a stern look paired with her words. He looked reluctant, but obliged, throwing a warning glance Caval's way.

Once Fletcher was out of ear shot, Caval let out a long breath. "Finally. I feel like he's been watching me like a hawk."

"Because he has." Blayre said, no hint of amusement in her voice. The dragonling latched toothlessly onto one of her fingers and she rebuked it with a flick of her other hand on its neck. The young creature let out a small screech of indignation, but ambled away on her short little legs and settled herself with a huff on a small rock that likely still held warmth from the day's sunlight.

Blayre turned to Caval then. "I am going to be straightforward with you, and I need you to be honest with me. Why were you teaming up with Bartley over there?"

Caval did not appear to take any offense to the question, and shrugged, "Survival. Those mountainers – their magic is potent. They draw from a natural source, not an internal source as a sorcerer such as myself or Bartley does. Therefore... their magic source appears to be almost endless"

"Until they drain an entire body of water, trying to make a rainstorm." Blayre said drily.

Caval laughed, "That is the absolute truth. One thing about them – their culture – is that they seem to have a great respect for nature. They believe that taking too much from nature will offset the balance of things – which it likely will. So most of their magical practices seem to be quite limited, unless they deem a cause worthy of making that sacrifice."

"Which, apparently, reclaiming a dragon egg was." Blayre sighed, glancing at the listless dragonling. The thing seemed so innocent and harmless right now. She was very glad that she hadn't killed it, but at the same time, wondered if she had made a vast mistake.

"At any rate, I knew I could take Bartley on my own, but I didn't think that I could handle them. So I told him I'd help him get the egg back, if he'd speak well of my actions when we returned to Conal in the Capital."

Blayre sucked in a breath, remembering, "Cav. Did you...did you know Conal knows what I am, and that he was planning to arrange a marriage between us. I overheard Bartley and Hans talking..." She trailed off and looked away, embarrassment clouding her face.

Caval was silent and still beside her. Both watched the steady rise and fall of the dragonling's chest as it slept.

"I knew." He said finally, and Blayre's head whipped to him, golden eyes piercing. He held up a hand when her lips parted to speak, holding off the torrent of words that might have spilled from her.