(COMPLETE)
Lady Mhysra Kilpapan was blessed from birth with a distinguished family, a glorious home and a giant eagle miryhl of her own. Fully aware of her luck, she wants for nothing in life - except a chance to become a Rift Rider. The elite force...
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"YOU ARE ONE of the luckiest people I know."
Blinking, Mhysra looked up from preening Cumulo. Corin leant against an empty perch, eyes closed, basking in a shaft of sunlight.
At the silence, her friend opened her bright eyes and smiled. "Well, you are."
Mhysra shook her head and returned to work. "I have advantages, but I'm not lucky."
"Why not?" Corin asked, watching the Riders arrive for their patrol. It was Starday and, despite being a free day for most, Rider duty never stopped. However, when Theryn didn't appear she lost interest. "Look what you have." She waved an arm, which Cumulo seized in his beak.
"Cue," Mhysra warned, and he let go with a snort. "Sorry."
Corin grinned. "Serves me right for waving it in his face, eh, Cue?"
Though fond of his reputation for being too arrogant to acknowledge lesser mortals, Cumulo occasionally condescended to notice certain people. Of Mhysra's new friends his favourites were definitely Dhori and Corin, so he gave a regal nod.
Mhysra poked him and glared at Corin. "Don't encourage him. All the attention he's had since we arrived has gone to his head. He'll think himself a god next."
"He didn't hurt me," Corin protested on the miryhl's behalf.
"But he might have."
Cumulo crackled his beak, swinging his head around to nudge her. "I am not an idiot," he grumbled softly enough for only her to hear.
"Be more tolerant," she chided. "You can't be grouchy when we're Riders. Other people will need to touch you from time to time."
"Not if they thump me in the face," he muttered, and she tickled his crest.
"Just be careful, please."
"I'm always careful." Turning away, he stuck his head under his wing to sulk.
Corin watched the exchange with a smile. "Lucky."
"What? Because I've been tied to this grump my whole life?" She yanked out a bent feather and stumbled as the reflexive twitch of Cumulo's wing knocked her sideways. "Believe me, there are nicer miryhls. I've met them."
"Lucky," Corin said again. "You had a dream childhood. And whatever you say about Cue, I know you don't mean it. If he was that bad half the Riders wouldn't have tried stealing him away."
Cumulo's head came up and he puffed out his chest. When he nudged Mhysra, fishing for compliments, she gave him a shove. "They only want him for his looks. And yes, growing up at Wrentheria was a dream – I'm not disputing that. But that's where I was born, and Cumulo's part of that."
"So what's not lucky about turning old enough just in time for the proclamation?" Corin asked slyly, picking up a feather from the floor and stroking it straight.
