Dragons of Marak: Book 1, Wings & Sword

#9

 "But dad," Ana said from her cushioned seat at the breakfast table. She was wearing a billowing dress, tight around her waist, with frills on the sleeves and the moon and stars embroidered on it. She scooped forkfuls of omelette into her mouth in between bites of cornbread. Across from her, her brother Orlos chewed loudly with his mouth open, egg falling onto his nice pants. "As a dragon—"

Her father slammed his fist down on the table. It shook. Tablewear clinked. The nice dress was doing little to ameliorate his view of her.

"Just because I have allowed you to train with him, and just because I am allowing you to keep your—your thing—does not mean that the rules of my house do not still apply," Ana's father said, his eyes as hard as stone. "You're not going. That's final."

He was referring to the pro league match. Ana so wanted to go.

"But—"

"I do not want it discussed at this table!" he shouted.

His view on the matter unsettled her. She had hoped he would have grown, after how open he'd been, letting her and Cee train with Jack. Instead, he was back to viewing dragons as objects—dangerous things—not to be let in your home, near your loved ones, or even discussed in front of kids like Mikel and Orlos. But though Ana agreed that dragons could be dangerous, she also viewed them as living, breathing, intelligent beings. They weren't things or objects. They were just like her, her dad, and her mom.

Ana's mother gently touched her arm. "Why don't we talk about the new fashion styles?" she said, and then smiled. "I hear that Ribek is designing a new line of coats."

Ana grumbled. For once she did not wish to discuss the new fashion styles. She wanted to see Jack. She hadn't been able to get the feeling of soaring through the air with him out of her mind. She wanted to ask him more about the wing equip. After the pro league match, who knew where he would be? But her father was being absolutely rigid about it, refusing to let her go. He'd found out about Jack's stunt, dropping her from the sky in order to help her get her wings, and he'd told Ana that she was never to do a thing like that again. She suspected that he would have told her no more training sessions with Jack, but they had had no more left anyway.

Ana hadn't told her father that Jack had not even warned her she would be dropped from the sky. Saying that would get him in even more trouble, and while she'd kinda hated Jack as she was falling, in hindsight she now found she loved having gone through that experience. She hadn't been hurt. Jack had been watching her the whole time. He would have caught her, surely, before she hit the ground, if she and Cee hadn't managed the wing equip. At the very least, he had gotten results. Her father should have recognized that. He was a results-oriented kind of man.

But also, he cared nothing for anything dragon-related.

Sighing, she began to converse about fashion, abandoning the topic of Jack and dragons for now. But even as their conversation wore on, she could not stop thinking about her father's absolute refusal to let her attend the pro league match. More than anger, she felt disappointment. Disappointment that he'd seemed to understand her desire to be a dragonbound, but now was back to his old ways.

Well, she would return to her old ways, too. Once breakfast was over, and her parents were occupied with the events of the day, she would find a way to sneak out. She just had to make sure that Gio, Sil, and the other slaves were not punished. Perhaps she could find a time to leave when they were waiting on her father. Then, surely her father could not blame them for it.

Ana lifted her fork to her mouth, chewing her food as her mother began to rave about how wonderful of a daughter she had. Ana couldn't help but blush at that. But between the embarrassment and the disappointment at her father, she took some small joy in the fact that her mother and father did both agree that she was wonderful.