"Your crown!" Amethyst points at my head with mock seriousness. "You forgot your crown, Noah!"
Right. Can't forget the crown.
I reach over to the craft table to grab the plastic tiara, a bright pink with purple gems, and settle it carefully on my head. The elastic band digs into my skull a little, but fashion is pain, so I suffer in silence.
"There." I adjust it with exaggerated care. "Now I'm ready for society."
Amethyst stands up, folding her hands in front of her with the solemnity of a tiny purple duchess.
"It is now officially teatime."
I sweep the pointer aside with a flourish.
"You heard the lady! Let's blow this popsicle stand and head to the kitchen!"
Amethyst sprints from the playroom, her wings flapping as she races down the hall. I hear her squealing about being the first to pour the tea, her voice echoing through the house. The girls won't be drinking actual tea, of course. They'll be drinking organic apple cider in fancy teacups, but that's beside the point. The point is, they did their schoolwork and now they're both ready for a good time.
But Raelia doesn't follow her sister.
She stays in her seat, her small hands folded on the desk in front of her. Her bright-blue eyes are fixed on the worksheet in front of her, and her ivory scales shine as her wings fidget with the back of her chair.
My buddy.
That's what I call her in my head, though I'd never say it out loud. All three of these kids own a piece of my heart, but Raelia and I have something special. She's quieter than her siblings and more introspective. She's sensitive too—a rare quality for a dragon. She worries about things in a way that breaks my heart a little.
I crouch down next to her desk. "Hey. What's up, buttercup?"
She doesn't look at me right away. Instead, she traces her finger over the paragraph she wrote about her favorite animal, a dolphin, complete with an elaborate drawing in the margins. The faint smell of ashes that rises from her confirms her emotional state.
Something is bothering her, alright.
"I missed a test question yesterday," she says quietly.
"Okay." I keep my voice gentle. "What question?"
"One about fractions." Her bottom lip trembles slightly. "I should have gotten it right. But I made a mistake, and I missed it."
God, she's so hard on herself.
"Raelia." I wait until she looks at me. "You got nineteen out of twenty on that test. That's amazing."
"But I should have gotten a hundred."
I wrap an arm around her shoulders carefully, mindful of the small wings tucked against her back. She leans into me, and I feel some of the tension leave her body as the smell of ashes lowers, then fades away completely.
"How about this," I say. "After tea and cookies, we'll work on some extra fraction practice. Just you and me. Sound good?"
Her face lights up like I've just offered her the moon. "Really?"
"Really."
"Thank you, Noah!" She throws her arms around my neck, and I hug her back.
"Anytime, kiddo."
She pulls back and beams at me before scrambling out of her chair and racing after her sister. I follow at a more sedate pace, the tutu swishing around my legs.
I cut through the foyer just as the front door bursts open.
