Dragons of Marak: Book 1, Wings & Sword

#3

 That moment with the dragonbound and his hadra played over and over in Ana's mind for the next few weeks. She returned home, leaving her new dragon with Leti as they'd planned. Leti actually was forced to care for three dragons, since Ana's slave had unexpectedly bonded with the crimson-scaled one. Leti was upset about that.

Ana slipped on a pair of sneakers. Standing at the front door, she gazed at her reflection in a full-length mirror. The sneakers had only been put on the market recently. Her father's friend had gifted her the pair just late last year.

She brushed her hair behind one ear, then turned and posed, admiring herself. Yes, this would do. She didn't want to wear anything that billowed out too much. It was going to be a casual outing.

As Ana admired herself, she couldn't help but wonder about those events back in the Zuma forest. Why had that spindelldra been so wild? And what had that man with the hadra meant when he'd said that the spindelldra got away from him? Ana was under the impression that dragonbounds usually only bonded with one dragon. Was that man somehow bonded with both?

Ana wore a straight dress, a pink one that hugged her body. It only fell halfway to her knee, so it showed off the skin on her ankles and lower legs. Her father would have hated the dress, if he'd seen her in it.

But even if the man—who had clearly been bonded to at least the hadra—was bonded with two dragons, that still didn't answer the question of why the spindelldra had behaved like a wild animal. Ana felt curiously guilty about the fact that she wasn't doing more to find out if the spindelldra had turned out okay.

She shook her head. The man had taken the spindelldra away. He had seemed unsurprised that the spindelldra had acted the way they had. Maybe he was going to make them better. They would probably be fine.

"Far be it for me to comment, Ms. Perez, but didn't your father ground you?"

Ana's butler, Gio, silently walked down the stairs. Somehow, he always managed to sneak up on her, despite the fact that he wore hard-soled shoes. They made a clacking noise when anyone other than him wore them. He claimed not to notice his own skill at stepping quietly.

Gio, like Sil, had much lighter skin than Ana. She had learned from her parents that they had both been born in the far north, where barbarians lived. A white, in plain language. Gio was dressed formally, in a dark tail coat and trousers with a white cravat.

"Heh...um...well," Ana said, sweating a little. "He did. But I won't be gone for long. You won't tell him, will you?"

Ana had been forced to admit something had happened to her after the spindelldra attack. She'd been half-naked, in a tattered dress when she had returned. The scolding look her father had given her still sent shivers down her spine. But at least she'd managed to send Cee and Sil's dragon Pero off with Leti before her father saw them.

Gio sighed. "And what shall I tell him instead, then?"

"Just that that I snuck out without your knowledge," Ana said.

Gio sighed. "I feel as if he will suspect that's not the case, eventually," he said. "But if that is what you desire, Ms. Perez, I must oblige you."

"Don't worry, Gio. It's worked before, it will work again," Ana said.

"Should I ask where you're going?" Gio said. Then he shook his head. "No, that's your business, and if you've knocked me out, he won't expect me to know."

"I won't be gone long," Ana promised. "I'll probably return before my father does. Don't look so worried."

She snatched a wide-brimmed straw hat off the coat hanger, then slipped it onto her head. Yes, it complemented her dress nicely. It would keep the sun out of her eyes, too. Tekor wasn't exactly a city with lots of shade.