Chapter 8: Wine and Wyrms

Aeris half-expected Maggie or Charles to come to question her about the time she snuck into the mansion. It was hard to believe anyone had never suspected her and she got away with it. But nothing ever happened, and she was more than happy to put the subject to rest. She wanted to, but she couldn’t get the box hidden in her master’s bedroom out of her head. A few times she wanted to ask Maggie about it but knowing it would mean explaining how she knew of its existence kept her quiet. So badly she wanted to find out what was in that box, but Charles had the key, and getting it from him was no easy task.

So for the last several days, she made a point of watching the old man. Whenever Charles was in the house, she followed him using the secret passages. So far it, only confirmed one thing: he never took the key off except to bathe. It was her only window, but the timing was prohibitively strict. She had no way of preventing him from seeing her during that time, and she shuddered to think of the punishment should she get caught.

In the end, she decided telling Maggie was the best choice for success. It was just a matter of figuring out how best to explain it.

She came into her room after spending the afternoon spying on Charles again with no chance to swipe the key presenting itself. She was especially upset that the wasted effort cost her a day of flying on such a fine day.

Lilith and Maggie were already in the room. Aeris stopped and put on the best smile she could, her tail wrapping close to her body.

“Ah, there you are,” Maggie said. “Where have you been? No matter. We need to talk.”

Aeris tried to keep her head up as she followed Maggie to the rest area of the room where Lilith waited. The woman didn’t give her the usual cold stare which was somehow even more worrying.

She sat in front of the mattress and braced herself for the lecture. “What-what did you want to me talk about?”

“Lord Strauss is taking you to a gathering tonight,” Maggie said. “Honestly, I wish he didn’t spring these things on you at the last second. It gives us nearly no time to prepare.”

Aeris lifted her head as her tail wagged. “Really? I’m going to another party?”

“This isn’t just any gathering,” Lilith said. “You’re going to the Scaled Banquet.”

Aeris tilted her head. “The what?”

“It’s a banquet for dragon-owning families and their dragons.” She raised a brow. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it.”

“Lord Strauss always turned down the invitation,” Maggie said quickly. “Until now it seems. I don’t know what made him change his mind, he was always so adamant about not going.”

Aeris dropped her head, her elation fading. She wasn’t sure she could handle another meeting with dragons. What if those dragons from the garden party were there? What if they told everyone about what happened? What if she did something to embarrass her master?

“It’s quite all right,” Maggie said. “Lord Strauss wouldn’t take you anywhere he thought you would be in danger.”

“She’s in danger, just not in the way she’s likely thinking,” Lilith said.

Maggie shot a scolding glare at the younger woman. “Forgive me, but that’s not helping. She’s nervous enough as it is.”

“As she should be,” Lilith responded coolly. “This isn’t like the other banquets. She can’t sit quietly in the corner and wait for Aaron’s instruction. She will need to take charge.”

Aeris scooted backward. “I don’t know if—”

“Aeris, you can do this,” Maggie said firmly. “If nothing else, I have faith in you.” She steered her towards the bath area. “We have little time, but we’ll go over everything we can with you until the time comes to leave.”

****

The moment Aeris caught the scent of multiple dragons, most of the advice Maggie and Lilith had given her went right out the window. The only thought in her head was the last time she was in a room with dragons. Each one was dressed up in a colorful, well-made vest and their scales were polished. What if they teased her again? What if she lost control again? Never had she been around so many dragons before. There was almost one dragon for every human there. It was strange to look at.

The one thing that hadn’t changed was that she was, once again, the center of attention. Nearly every eye was on her, human and dragon. Humans noticing her was something she was used to, but the other dragons sent strange looks her way. She kept her head down and stayed by her master’s side. She hadn’t forgotten what Reks and the others said about her being the favorite. That the humans often showed her preferential treatment and even bragged about her to their dragons.

Seeing the looks in their eyes, she knew it was true. She moved closer to her master and prayed he didn’t ask her to mingle with anyone.

She was so distracted, she didn’t even notice anyone approaching until she heard a familiar voice. “Aeris? I never thought I’d run into you here.”

She stiffened. Judging from the low growl despite the cheerful tone, it had to come from a dragon.

It would be rude to ignore the dragon despite her fears, so she turned around to face them. A female Genial stared her in the face. It was startling but she bowed deeply anyway, hoping her tail wrapping around her legs wasn’t noticed.

“Hello, Glee,” Aeris said. “Master Aaron, this is Glee. We met before at the garden party. Glee, this is Lord Aaron Strauss.”

“Hello, it’s an honor to meet you,” Master Aaron said, bowing slightly.

Glee bowed back. “Likewise, Lord Strauss. I’ve heard many things about Aeris.”

“Good things I hope!” He laughed at his little joke. Aeris didn’t find it funny but smiled in politeness anyway. Glee laughed, but it was hard to tell if it was genuine or not. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re the Morrison’s dragon, correct?”

“That’s right, Lord Strauss. They take very good care of me.”

“Yes, I can see that. I guess they’re serious about the scaled banquets this year. Think you’ll be grand wyrm this time?”

Glee chuckled but Aeris noticed the way her tail twitched. “I doubt that, my lord. I’m far too old for this anymore. The only thing I can do now is help younger dragons and make sure they best represent our kind. Speaking of which, may I borrow Aeris? I imagine this is her first scaled banquet.”

Master Aaron stepped closer to Aeris. “I thank you for the advice, but Aeris is fine.”

Aeris tucked her head. She would have liked some advice, but she dared not contradict her master in front of guests.

Glee bowed again. “Very well. It was nice meeting you, Lord Strauss, Aeris.” She took a few steps away then turned around. “Oh, I nearly forgot. Silly me. I’m not even that old by dragon standards and I’m already forgetting things!” She chuckled and continued. “Mr. Morrison is looking for you, Lord Strauss. He wanted to ask you something important.”

“Thank you for telling me. Aeris, I’m afraid I must leave you for a moment. Please remember what I said.”

Aeris didn’t want Master Aaron to leave, but she nodded anyway and said nothing.

The moment Master Aaron was out of earshot, Glee turned to Aeris. “Protective one, he is. Not that I blame him. Honestly, what’s he thinking bringing you here?”

“What do you mean?”

Glee sighed and looked around. She then motioned for Aeris to follow her. The crowd parted as they passed, each dragon throwing surprised or jealous looks their way. Aeris focused on the back of Glee’s head.

The dragoness led her to the farthest corner of the room away from any dragons or human nobles. Glee scanned the crowd before turning to Aeris and saying in a hushed voice. “I’ll be honest. The dragons here don’t like you.”

Aeris kept her expression neutral although the news came as a shock. “Why? What did I do to them?”

Glee chuckled. When she noticed Aeris wasn’t smiling, her expression fell. “You really don’t know? These banquets aren’t for our benefit. They’re competitions. The nobles want to raise the most beautiful, most talented dragon. Our masters spend thousands upon thousands of coin so that we look the best and make sure everyone knows it.” Her expression turned grim as she looked out onto the crowd. “That’s the point of the scaled banquet. To show off and get noticed and then the winner earns some stupid title called Grand Wyrm. It’s cutthroat just to get invited to a scaled banquet and you win an invitation every year without even trying, and you’re practically guaranteed to become Grand Wyrm, too. They hate that.

“That’s why I can’t believe your master would bring you here. He has to know the others would love a chance to take you down a few pegs. Then again, with all rumors flying around about you, he might have brought you on purpose to see how your competition reacts.”

Aeris tilted her head, her heartbeat quickening. “Rumors? What rumors?”

“There’re rumors you told off a clan-born for one. A lot of people say you’re wild and anyone who crosses you had better watch out.”

She didn’t even attempt to hide her dread. This was the worst possible outcome. If everyone thought she was a wild, unruly dragon, it would reflect poorly on her master.

Glee, seemingly oblivious to Aeris’ distress, looked around the room. “That could be why no one’s approached you. No one wants to confirm how true the rumors are.”

“No, no, no. This is bad. Everyone can’t be scared of me, my master will be so upset if he finds out!”

Glee chuckled. “I’m pretty sure he already knows or else you wouldn’t be here.” Her smile slowly faded. “Still doesn’t explain why he chose now to show up.”

“Does it matter?”

She motioned for Aeris to follow as she headed to the crowd. “Come on. If we sit in the corner for too long, the others will get suspicious. These parties are all about scoping competition and getting noticed. Something tells me that’s exactly what he wants. But on the bright side, no one will try to hurt you here. Unlike the savage clan-borns, we know how to be subtle. Besides, there’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight.”

Aeris nodded but didn’t mention how that last part made her more nervous.

For the rest of the night, they wandered around the room. Glee said it would help discourage some of the rumors against her if they met her in person. Even after years of dealing with humans, Aeris had no idea how to handle talking to the dragons. They weren’t like the nobles. In each of their faces, she saw fear and hatred. When they spoke, their voices were strained as they tried to remain polite. Aeris focused on her etiquette training and maintained eye contact, put on a brave smile no matter how much they insulted her, and never said anything that could be taken as an offense.

As Glee promised, she stayed by Aeris’ side the entire time. There were moments when she shot a dragon a scolding glare or quickly made up an excuse for her and Aeris to cut a conversation short, else, she remained a silent guardian.

It was a relief when Master Aaron finally called her over, hopefully, signaling the end of her nightmare. She thanked Glee for her help and nearly ran through the crowd to her salvation.

Those hopes were dashed when she found her master standing next to another human noble and a dragon. The human was a large woman Aeris had never met, wearing a long merlot dress. The dragon next to her was an aquarian short-snout wearing a matching color vest. But the two couldn’t be more opposites of each other. While the woman carried herself with an air of confidence Aeris envied, the drake beside her stood sort of hunched with his limbs tucked close as if trying to appear smaller. He was larger than Aeris but still shorter than the woman who stood taller than even Master Aaron. Aeris felt very small.

“Aeris, I would like you to meet someone,” Master Aaron said. “This is Lady Mariette Harris and her drake, Lanry.”

Aeris bowed. “It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Mariette You as well, Lanry.”

“The honor is all mine,” Lanry replied, bowing also and staring at the floor.

“There’s no need to be so formal,” Lady Mariette said. She tapped the drake on the back of the head with her fan. “And straighten up. Staring at the floor is a sign of submission.”

Lanry did as he was told although he didn’t maintain eye contact for long. “Forgive me, master.”

Lady Mariette sighed and turned to Master Aaron. “He’s as gentle as they come, but I cannot convince him to break that shell of his. He’ll never find a mate at this rate.”

Lanry tucked his head.

Master Aaron laughed and patted Aeris’s head. “Yes, I have the same problem with my dragon. But I worry so much about her well-being I can’t bring myself to encourage her.”

“It is our place to encourage them. Not too much mind you, but they can’t be wholly dependent on us. Lanry, why don’t you go and mingle with Aeris for a bit?”

Lanry immediately snapped to attention at the sound of his name. “Yes, Lady Harris.” He turned to Aeris and tried to hide himself again. “Would you like something to drink, Aeris?”

“Yes, she would,” Master Aaron said, giving her a small nudge.

Aeris nodded and followed the drake to the refreshments table. The long table was lined with small bowls for dragons. The servant nodded to them as they approached. Aeris sniffed the dark liquid and frowned. She never could stand the smell of alcohol let alone the taste. Once she tried some and it took forever to wash the taste out.

She turned to the servant behind the table and asked, “Do you have any water?”

The servant nodded and directed Aeris to the far end of the table where a few bowls sat next to a large pitcher of water. The other dragons at the table rolled their eyes at her and moved away.

She started to thank the human when she noticed another shorter man beside him. In the second servant’s hands was a bottle and on the side was a label with the word “Warning” in bright red letters.

The servant noticed Aeris staring and nudged his companion who quickly stashed the bottle under the table.

Aeris looked away. She wasn’t sure what she just saw but staring any longer would cause a scene. Looking down at the water, she realized she wasn’t thirsty anymore.

Lanry appeared at her side. “I must say, you have very lovely scales. If—If that’s all right to say,” he added quickly.

“It’s fine. Thank you.”

“I’ve never seen a dragon with scales like yours. What species are you?”

Aeris stared at the floral-patterned tablecloth. “I don’t know. I was rescued from poachers as an egg.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. The dragons don’t like to talk about it, but it happens a lot.” He stepped closer, giving her a reassuring smile. “But it is comforting to see you’re still strong despite that. Honestly, I don’t think I could have stood up to a clan-born the way you did.”

Aeris stiffened. “What? You know about that?”

“Everyone knows about that.” His tail wagged as he beamed at her. “I still can’t believe told off a clan-born! Most of us are too afraid to even look at them except for Glee but even she doesn’t outright challenge them.”

Aeris was too stunned to correct him. That wasn’t at all how it happened. But even more worrying was what Master Aaron would say if he heard.

“Really, thank you. You’re an inspiration to me,” Lanry said. “I get so nervous around other dragons. I can’t even fathom doing what you did.” He dipped his muzzle towards one of the bowls.

Aeris wasn’t sure what to do so she stretched her wing, knocking several of the glass bowls off the table. Their collective shattering brought silence to the room.

Lanry tilted his head. “Are you all right? Why did you do that?”

“I…I…I couldn’t let you drink that.”

It became clearer with each moment what a bad idea it was to knock the bowls over.

Everyone in the room stared in their direction now. Master Aaron forced his way through the crowd, followed closely by Lady Mariette.

“Aeris, are you all right?” Master Aaron asked. “What happened?”

“I stretched while standing too close to the table and knocked some of the bowls over,” Lanry said quickly. He dropped his head and shuffled over to his master.

“You clumsy lizard!” Lady Mariette cried. “Go wait outside while I apologize for your rude and reckless behavior!”

Lanry nodded and headed towards the exit. Aeris started to follow. She couldn’t help it. Seeing him like that reminded her too much of the time she embarrassed herself. No one came to comfort her.

“Aeris, where you going?” Master Aaron said.

“Oh, sorry, master. I just don’t think he should be alone.”

Master Aaron smiled and patted her head. “That is very sweet of you, but he’s being punished.”

“Please? He’s been so nice to me. I don’t want to abandon him.”

Master Aaron looked at the onlooking crowd. Aeris kept her gaze firmly on her master. If she turned anywhere else, she feared losing her nerve.

“Well, I see no reason why you can’t,” Master Aaron said. “But you are not to stray from the entrance, understand?”

Aeris nodded eagerly then started to bound off after Lanry before remembering her place and moving at a graceful trot.

Lanry lifted his head when she exited, his expression hopeful. It quickly faded, however. She suspected he wanted his master to come and tell him it would be all right. “Oh, Aeris. I didn’t expect you to come join me.”

“That was very kind what you did.” She sat next to him and gave a reassuring smile. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Well, you acted to save me, didn’t you? You knew something was wrong with the water.”

“Not really. I just saw the servant with a bottle in his hand but it had a warning label on it. I don’t want to accuse him of anything, but I think he poured it in the drinks. I didn’t want you to drink it and get sick.”

“Wait, how did you know it was a warning label?”

Aeris’ eyes widened realizing what she just did.

Lanry looked around before leaning close and whispering, “Can you read?”

It wouldn’t hurt to tell him, right? She wondered. Since he did take the blame for her actions, it seemed the least she could do.

“Yes,” she said after a lengthy silence. “I can read.”

“Wow. Can you teach me?”

Aeris blinked. Of all the reactions, that was not the one she expected. “Um…sure?”

He bounced for joy before sheepishly falling still. “So sorry. I’m just so excited! I always wanted to learn but my master is too busy to teach me. Now we just need to come up with a suitable time to meet.”

Aeris still hadn’t recovered from the shock of the events and just nodded. What was she going to do? She had answered him without thinking of the consequences and now she was stuck. Rescinding the offer now would be rude and after all the trouble the drake just went through for her, she didn’t want to do that.

A roar of disgust came from inside. Aeris rushed back inside with Lanry close behind. Another crowd had formed in the center of the room. Aeris squeezed through the masses, searching frantically for her master.

Eventually she reached the center of the gathering. Everyone had formed a large ring around a dragon with black scales and a human nobleman wearing a look of outrage. The dragon paid the human no mind as he was still throwing up on the floor.

The human shook some of the vomit off his leg. “Do you have any idea how much these clothes cost?!”

The dragon continued to empty his stomach and showed no signs of listening. The sound of his heaving drowned out the whispers shivering through the crowd.

Another noble ran over to the human. “Please, I’m so, so sorry! I’ll pay for the damages, I swear.” He knelt next to his dragon. “I told you not to drink so much!”

“You’d better,” the outraged human said, waving a threatening finger in the other man’s face. “Honestly, you can’t even control your dragon. This is a banquet, not a tavern.”

“Now I’m very glad you stopped me from drinking when you did,” Lanry whispered. Aeris jumped at the short snout’s sudden appearance. She had lost track of him while moving through the sea of dragons and humans.

“We should go,” Lanry said, gently pushing her away from the spectacle.

She eventually relented and allowed herself to be steered away. When she looked back, the outraged human was still letting off a string of insults before being swallowed up by the onlookers.

Her objective changed back to looking for her master. Even standing on her hind legs, it was hard to pick him out of the crowd.

“Aeris!” Glee cried.

Aeris stood on her hind legs again. It was easy to pick out the genial moving through the now thinning crowd as everyone continued with their evening.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Glee said. “Did you hear? Several dragons have gotten sick.”

“Several?” Lanry asked. “Oh dear, that is a worrying thought. We only saw one dragon.”

Glee shook her head. “He was just unlucky enough to excuse himself before it was too late. I’ve been looking after several dragons outside. All of them got just as sick.”

“It was the wine,” Aeris said. “I think one of the humans poisoned it.”

Glee growled. “He was probably paid off. Someone really wants to win this year if they’re already sabotaging the competition.” She sighed heavily and dropped onto her haunches. “Why can’t we have nice gatherings? Good thing you realized what was happening. How did you find out anyway?”

Aeris froze, unsure of what a good excuse would be. She didn’t dare reveal that she read the warning label again, especially with so many within earshot.

Luckily she didn’t have to as Master Aaron called out to her before she could say anything. Eager to get away, she quickly bowed and rushed to her master’s side before Glee could press her further.

Master Aaron stood next to Lady Mariette near the exit. Aeris had never felt so happy to see her master.

“There you are,” Master Aaron said. “I got worried when I heard the commotion.”

“I’m fine, master. Sorry to make you worry.”

“A lot of dragons have gotten sick,” Lanry said. “We just spoke to Glee about it and she thinks someone poisoned the drinks.” He glanced in Aeris’ direction and winked.

“Well, I guess your clumsiness saved you then,” Lady Mariette said. “If you hadn’t knocked those drinks over, you would have gotten sick as well.”

“Yes, I must thank you for that,” Master Aaron said, bowing low. “Your actions likely spared Aeris as well. If there’s anything you need, just say the word.”

Lanry smiled. “Actually, my lord, it’s not too much trouble. I was hoping I could be allowed to visit Aeris?”

Aeris could have sworn she saw Master Aaron frown, but his expression quickly switched to one of amusement so she assumed she imagined it.

“That’s a wonderful idea,” Master Aaron said. “And perfect timing as well. We were discussing a way for the two of you to spend more time together.”

“I guess it’s settled then,” Lady Mariette said. “What say you, Lord Strauss? A week from today?”

“That’s a wonderful idea.” “Come, Aeris. It’s time to go.”

Aeris wanted to say goodbye to Glee, but she couldn’t see the dragoness in the crowd and there was no time to look for her.

****

The moment Aeris entered her room she found Maggie inside waiting for her. Maggie rushed over and began examining her.

“Maggie, I’m fine. What are you so worried about?”

“Forgive me, Aeris, these banquets are so cutthroat—in some cases literally from what I’ve heard. I can’t believe Lord Strauss would even think to take you--”

She fell silent as the door opened and Master Aaron entered the room.

Maggie quickly stood up. “Lord Strauss, I was just—”

“It’s all right, Margret. Could you give me an Aeris a moment? I need to discuss something with her.”

Aeris dropped her head to hide her fear. This was it. The moment when her master would confront her about the rumors had finally come.

A heavy silence fell over the room when Maggie left. Aeris continued to stare at the floor and didn’t dare move.

“So what did you and Glee discuss?”

“W-We didn’t talk much. She said the dragons don’t like me much and they think I’m wild and dangerous. But I would never—”

He silenced her with a light pat on the head. “I know you wouldn’t. That is why I don’t want you talking to Glee anymore. She’s filling your head with these wild notions that other dragons hate you. I can assure you, that’s not true and anyone who says otherwise just wants you to doubt yourself.” He gently lifted her chin. “That includes Lady Mariette as well. She was polite this evening but I promise you she only cares about advancing her agenda.

“We’ve come too far to let rumors divide us. People will say anything to drive a wedge between us. I always hoped to protect you from this but some people just can’t be trusted. But know that you can always trust me, okay?”

“Of course, Master.” She wanted to believe it, but it felt like a lie. She knew the other dragons didn’t like her. The jeers from Reks and the others still rang in her mind. The way the Genial looked at her simply for being a domesticate.

She knew how the dragons felt about her, making her wonder why her master didn’t see it.

But what she did know was that Master Aaron could be trusted.

Master Aaron smiled then left the room. The moment he left, Maggie entered and helped Aeris get undressed. Maggie didn’t say anything but it was clear from her hurried movements and the way she avoided eye contact that something bothered her.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. “Maggie? Is something wrong?”

“There’s nothing wrong,” Maggie said quickly, her voice breaking. “I just…” she wiped her face on her sleeve. “Aeris, just promise me no matter what you’ll trust your instincts, okay? No matter what I or Lord Strauss or anyone else says. Understand?”

She didn’t but she nodded anyway if only to make Maggie stop crying. She had never seen her cry before and she didn’t want to ever again.

Maggie quickly finished helping Aeris undress then ushered her to bed. Instead of leaving, Maggie climbed into bed behind her and held her close. Aeris said nothing and accepted the comforting gesture.

She lay there in the silent darkness, feeling Maggie’s soft breathing against her back. It felt comforting for once, not being alone.

Her mind drifted to past conversations and everything she had learned. She had exactly one week to figure out how she was going to teach Lanry how to read and keep anyone from finding out. Maggie’s warning plagued her thoughts. But it was too late to back out now.

But what if someone found out? Her master was counting on her, that much was clear and now these rumors floating around were only going to make things harder for him.

That couldn’t happen. If nothing else, she needed to prove to the others she wasn’t wild or a threat to anyone.

But how was she supposed to do that? What was she doing wrong? She hoped Aubrey would know. She needed to see her again. Aubrey would be able to tell her what she lacked and needed to learn.

She drifted off to sleep thinking up new questions to ask when she saw the dragoness again.