A Crown of Gold

Dragon Rider

The week had passed—my clothes should have been ready. Darius flew with us this time, Sephraim gave him stern instructions to remain by her side. She spoke Draconic to him, the language of the dragons, the one I couldn't understand. The words fell from her mouth in a strange whisper, foreign words to me comprehended easily by the hatchling.

He'll understand your mind as he grows, Sephraim had told me, For now, I'll teach you a few key words and phrases in Draconic.

Those words were No; Thrice, Home; Okarthel, Danger; Korth, Dragon; Darastrix, Fly; Austrat, Friend; Thurirl—among others I'd need to tell him. My tongue had a difficult time pronouncing the strange language, but Sephraim sounded them out for me.

We landed in the same clearing as before, this time in the late afternoon. Darius jumped about in the tall grass, a happy fanged smile on his face. I knelt down, rubbing between his horns as I discovered he loved. He closed his eyes, pushing his head up into my hand. I giggled, standing back up and making my way to the village.

-•-

The townspeople glared at me again as I navigated toward the seamstress's shop. I ignored them, for some reason feeling more powerful than the last time—as though I had something more than they ever would.

I marched through the village with my head held high, hand clutching my dagger at its hilt.

The seamstress wasn't alone this time, a child sat in her lap, his dark skin tone matching hers. Her green eyes flicked over to me when I walked in, the child eyeing me the same way.

"Hello," I greeted, nodding to the seamstress and smiling at the child, probably no older than four.

The woman stood, placing the child on his feet which he ran shakily to the back of the shop on. "Hello again, m'lady."

"You don't have to call me a lady," I told her shaking my head a little, "In fact I'd prefer if you didn't."

She nodded, pursing her lips, "What is it I should call you?"

"Asha, is fine."

She smiled softly, "Asha, a lovely title in its own."

I murmured a thank you before stepping further into the shop. "My garments, are they ready?"

She nodded, "I said they would be."

She walked behind a beaded curtain that lead to the back of the shop, the one the child had disappeared behind. When she returned, she held three fur wrapped packages in her arms. She set the first on the sewing table, letting her fingers graze over the surface, "This one is the gown." She set the next down beside it, "This the winter clothes, furs and things." I could tell that one had furs wrapped in it, as it was considerably thicker than the other two.

"And this," she said with a grin, pointing to the last package that still rested in her arms, "This is your riding outfit."

I stepped forward as she handed me the package. "Can I open it now?" I asked, my eyes grazing over the furs that contained it. She chuckled, "With the amount of gold you gave me, you can do whatever you like."

I set the package down next to the other two and carefully untied the twine that held it in place. When it came loose, I pulled the covering away from it. I looked to the seamstress, who smiled at me and then at her beautiful creation.

"Why don't you go and put it on? I'm sure you rode here didn't you?" She suggested.

I nodded, my fingertips stroking what was visible of the black leather. She led me to the back where I assumed her family lived. Beds lined the floor—three of them, and a supper table rested in the corner, reminding me of my own that I used to sit at with Nan. The seamstress pointed to a dark side room, "You can change in there."