First, I needed to find out whether I even had the gift. Then I needed to make it through the training and rise in the ranks without getting killed, all while hoping that the Sitorian Union wouldn't be ready to turn on Eluria before my ambitious plan came to fruition.
It was a crazy scheme, and it rested on a sliver of a hope that my tiny bit of Elucian blood would miraculously make me gifted, but I had to believe that the powerful pull I had always felt toward Elucia and its dragons was more than just a boy's infatuation with a dream of becoming a rider.
Perhaps I was answering Elu's call.
"That's why I'm here," I said. "As a dragon rider, I can help defend Elucia, and as long as Elucia stands, Eluria is safe, right?"
Kailin's smile was genuine as she lifted her tankard. "Let's drink to Elucia's survival."
I lifted mine and clinked it against hers, and as our eyes met over the tankard, there was a moment of connection between us, but then she averted her gaze, and it was gone.
Kailin took a long sip of her ale and put the tankard down. "I hope you will not be disappointed. Very few are touched by Elu, and fewer still are Elurians."
I smiled and lifted my tankard again. "Good luck to both of us."
Kailin lifted hers but didn't say anything.
Unlike the Elucian pilgrims I had spoken to so far, she didn't seem enthusiastic about the prospect of bonding with a dragon. "What fate are you hoping to receive at the top of the summit?"
She glanced at her friend, who was busy flirting with Codric, and then leaned closer to me. "I wish for something noncombat related. I would be happy with a desk job, like a posting inthe mapping department or even supply procurement. I could also accept a position in the infirmary. I'm apprenticing at my grandmother's apothecary, and I know a lot about using healing herbs. I'd rather heal than kill."
I nodded. "I hate sounding like a boastful male, but I think women are better suited for those kinds of posts. They should leave the ugliness of killing to men."
A shadow passed over her eyes. "I'm not afraid for my life, but I'm not eager to kill even though our enemies more than deserve it."
"You don't have to explain. I understand."
"Do you?" She lifted her tankard and drank what was left in it. "Have you ever killed anyone, Alar?"
"I have not."
"I have." She put the tankard down with a thunk. "I still have nightmares about it five years after I was forced to defend my village from a Shedun attack. It was ugly. It was horrific, and I don't know how many I killed that night, but it was quite a few. I would do it again if I had to, but it's not something I would intentionally seek."
Dear Elurion, Kailin was just a kid when her village was attacked. What a lousy hand of fate she'd been dealt, having been exposed to unimaginable horrors and forced to defend her people at such a young age.
13
KAILIN
"The greatest mystery of the bond is not how it extends life, but how it weaves two souls into one without destroying either."
—Shaman Arta Dawnkeeper
Year 862 of the Dragon Pact
Icouldn't believe I had just told a stranger about having killed Shedun. I never talked about it.
Ednis, who had been with me in the watchtower that accursed night, had been thoughtful enough not to tell anyone about my kills before asking me if I wanted to take credit for them. When I'd told him to keep it a secret, he'd said that I was brave and should be proud, but I'd told him that no one needed to know that my shots had been fatal.
As far as I was concerned, he could take all the credit.
Other than Ednis, the only ones who knew were my family and Shovia, and I trusted them not to share it with anyone.
The ale must have loosened my tongue.
Even if I was ready to reveal my part in defending our village, this wasn't the kind of thing to be discussed casually over drinks, and especially not with an upper-class Elurian, who'd probably never had to defend himself against anything more dangerous than a cunning business rival.
"Where in Eluria are you from?" I asked to change the subject.
