Dragon Blood

Forty-Four: Little Things

The next three days passed by at a snail's pace. Skylar was stir crazy, even with Orion bringing her books and sitting with her until Nana shooed him away. The rest of the Alpha family visited her for short periods of time, but they were so busy. The only person she had yet to receive a visit from was Jonathan. No one talked about him either, and she always forgot to ask, as they had other things to talk about. She'd remembered once with Orion, but she wouldn't ask him. He would tell her, she knew he would, but she didn't want to hurt him anymore. The longer they went without claiming one another, the more on edge she could sense his dragon was. The mention of another male, no matter how platonic, would be too much.

Kellan and his clan had been spotted in the distance and would be arriving soon, so they were all distracted by that. Once they arrived, the humans would show up as well. She wanted to help, to do something but Nana was insistent that she needed to rest. Skylar felt fine, strong as ever, but the old healer wouldn't budge. 

Skylar strode over to the window, which looked out over the village out of the front of the Big House. In the distance she could see the clan gathering sleeping supplies and she could smell the extra food being prepared. There was also the distinct smell of a lot of leather being worked with, but Skylar could only assume it was to be used for armor. This she found strange, since the human army would all have their own chain mail and metal armor to protect them from Draco's soldiers. She glanced down in the yard and saw Nana walking into the house. Skylar was quick to jump back into bed, where Nana wanted her. 

The Big House was silent, everyone was out with their tasks. She'd seen Orion and Leo fly off with two dozen clan members, likely to train. Jed, Percy, and Zachariah were working with the human counterparts in the field, just in case something happened where they couldn't shift. Skylar wanted to out there, training with them. If she was going to fight, she needed to be ready too. But, she was female, so she would be with Victoria, Penelope, and Laura, overseeing the potential needs of the new arrivals. 

Cassie had been missing for three days. Skylar had been waiting for the girl to rush into the room to confront her for stealing Orion. The only problem with that was that Orion had never belonged to Cassie, not really, so Skylar didn't feel that she'd stolen him.

Nana knocked once on the door before letting herself in. For one, she wasn't carrying new bandages or something else that alerted Skylar she was going to be left in bed once again. Instead she was empty handed, simply walking over to press gently on Skylar's torso. It was tender, but she didn't feel nearly as tender as she did when she first arrived. She was healing and felt much better, so she was careful to keep her face neutral as Nana applied more pressure in an attempt to gauge a reaction from her.

"How do you feel?" Nana wondered, her gaze relentless against Skylar's. 

Skylar had heard that question fifteen times a day and she was tired of it. The answer was always the same: "Ready to get out of bed."

But, this time was different, and she knew that. "Like I could walk a hundred miles."

Nana smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Well, maybe not a hundred, but maybe ten. I'd say you're ready to get up."

Skylar didn't even wait to see if she really meant it. She shot up and hugged Nana. Nana laughed and began to help her change into the shirt, trousers, and boots that had been sitting on the dresser in the room, mocking Skylar. 

"Take it easy," she warned, "but you should be alright. Leo and Orion are out, and likely will be for the rest of the day, but Victoria and Laura are helping me prepare medicine so we have enough when the fighting starts."

Skylar sighed and shook her head. "I want to go watch the training with Jed and Percy."

"Skylar-"