Dragons of Marak: Book 1, Wings & Sword

#11

 In the light of the early morning, before the temperature had risen enough to cause a sweat, Ana's carriage rattled up to the gates on the Ribek property line. The driver descended from his seat and sauntered over to the gate attendant. Ana watched them talk through the dirty window on the side of the carriage. She was seated on a cushioned bench.

Her father sat across from her. They were the only two inside. He sat forward in his seat opposite her. The smell of his cologne wafted over her. He wore his usual frock coat and trousers, and she wore a bronze-plated dragonbound dress, in preparation for the tournament, and sapphire-laced boots.

"How much can you see?" he asked.

"They're just talking," Ana said of the carriage driver and the gate attendant. "Though our driver seems to be very scared."

Her father smiled. "Good," he said.

After a while, the gate attendant started to grow angry. He raised his voice, and she could hear a few odd words here and there. Something about it being too early, and to turn back. But then, the carriage driver leaned forward and whispered something in the attendant's ear. Suddenly, all of his anger left him. The gate attendant backed up, his eyes wide. Ana thought she saw his hands shaking.

He opened the gate.

The carriage driver climbed back up front, and then he encouraged the alpacas forward.

"Why was he so scared?" Ana said.

Her father shrugged. "My carefully crafted reputation, no doubt."

As they trotted onto the property, Ana saw that the gardeners were already hard at work. A couple were pulling weeds, two were using scythes to trim a section of the grass.

The carriage stopped at the front of the house, and then Ana's father stood up.

"Wait here," he said. "I'll return with your dragon."

The carriage driver came around and he helped him climb down. Through the window, Ana watched her father walk up the stone steps and to Leti's front door by himself. The carriage driver returned to his seat at the front of the carriage.

Before Ana's father reached the front door, Leti's father opened up and slipped out into the sun. His hair was a tousled mess, he wore a one-piece evening suit made of light satin, and on his feet he had only slippers. Clearly he'd not been awake for long.

Ana could not hear what her father said to him, but she could see his face. Leti's father started off by frowning, and then he grew horrified. He took a step backward, but Ana's father stepped forward to close the space. He put his hand on Leti's father's shoulder, and he leaned forward and whispered in his ear. Leti's father nodded, eyes wide.

After a moment, Ana's father backed off. He looked large and scary. Almost thug-like. Ana had not known her father was incapable of instilling such fear, and it made her go numb with worry.

Leti's father opened the door and shouted something inside.

A moment later, Leti's white butler arrived in the door-frame. Leti's father whispered something to him.

The next time that Ana saw the butler, he was walking with Cee hovering beside him. The dragon flew out of the house and to Ana's father, but he backed away. He pointed to the carriage that Ana was in, and Cee zipped over to her.

"Hey," Ana said nervously as she opened the carriage door for her dragon. Her mind, and her eyes, were still on her father's fearsome figure.

Cee swirled around her and landed on the back of the bench to her side. He looked up at her.