Saga cried.

She’d woken up in her bed at home, wearing her nightclothes and tucked in tight. She couldn’t remember going to sleep, but it only took her a moment of wondering how she got there before she had a flash of memory.

The Redlight had been whispering. It was so pretty she couldn’t look away. There was a blur of motion, a shout, and a scream, and then fire filled her vision, then nothing. She cried now, wishing the fire would go away, but every time she closed her eyes…

She reached up to her right eye, only just now realizing she couldn’t see through it. There was a bandage there; she could feel it getting wet from her tears. What happened to her eye? Was it broken? She reached for the edge of the bandage, her hand trembling, and started to pull at it when a voice made her freeze.

“Good morning, Saga.”

She turned her head to the side and saw Grandpapa sitting on her little stool, making it look littler. Her room was little too, but it was okay because so was she. Her bed was soft and her favorite toys were here, and that was enough for her. Next to the stool was a small table that she did her studying on, but it looked really small next to Grandpapa.

He was tall, really tall, like Mama, but his hair was white instead of blonde like hers. She wondered why sometimes, but he only laughed when she asked him like she said something funny. Sometimes he looked grumpy, like now, and his eyes reminded her of storm clouds, but they sparkled when he smiled and it made him look less grumpy. She liked it when he smiled. “I’m sorry, but you need to leave the bandage on for a little while.” His voice was deep, even deeper than Papa’s, and it made her feel a little better.

The eye under the bandage started to itch, and she reached up to scratch it before stopping herself. Miss Lessa always said don’t itch scratches or you’ll make them worse. “Why? What happened?” she asked. She was afraid of the answer, but Mama always said it was better to know than not, and Mama was smart.

He watched her for a second before replying. He kept looking in her eyes like he was waiting for something. “How much do you remember?”

Saga told him the little bit she remembered. “I can’t see out of it. Am I blind now? Will I have to wear an eyepatch like Master Toral? He’s nice but he looks scary.” She didn’t want to be nice but scary, though she wondered if she could get one that looked nice so it wouldn’t be scary.

Grandpapa chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry, little one. The healer said he was able to save your eye. The bandage is for the cut around it. It’s mostly healed, but we want to make sure it doesn’t get infected. How does it feel?”

“Itchy.” She reached up to scratch it again, but once more she stopped herself and held her hands together. “You should hold your own hand if you’re tempted to do something wrong,” Miss Lessa had told her, “so you can keep yourself out of trouble.” Miss Lessa gave good advice.

He smiled, like she’d made a joke. “I know, little one. Are you hungry?” Her stomach growled loudly and suddenly, which made her face hot, and she nodded. He nodded back, stood, and went to the door. Someone was standing outside, she thought, because he said something she couldn’t hear, then closed the door and sat down again. “Alright, breakfast is on the way. You need to make sure you eat it all, okay?”

Saga eyed him suspiciously. Why would he ask her to eat everything unless there was something gross? “What is it?”

He laughed. “It’s good for you. The healing spell saved your eye but it drained you. You’ll have to rest, eat, and finish healing so you can go back to studying and playing.”

She closed her eyes for a moment to check, and the fire was still there. She started to cry again. “Am I in trouble? Is Epic okay? And Papa?” she sobbed. She couldn’t remember anything that happened after the accident, and the worry was eating at her stomach more than the hunger.

She felt Grandpapa place his hand on her head. “They’re fine, Saga. Carver is already back to work, and Epic wasn’t hurt at all.” He chuckled, and gave her a crooked smile, which made her feel better. “Unless you count the scolding your mother gave him.”

Saga looked up at him as he pulled his hand away, suddenly indignant. “Epic got in trouble from Mama? But he didn’t do anything! It was my fault!” If she hadn’t been so distracted by the Redlight, or if she’d called for Papa sooner. Her mind was racing with all the things she could’ve done better, and then nobody would be in trouble.

“He’s been told before not to run in the Shapers’ Forge, especially near one of the forges.” His face was stern now. “If he hadn’t tripped, the coal dust wouldn’t have been stirred up and exploded. He’s lucky the blast was so small and no one died.”

“But…”

“Your powers have just barely started to wake, Saga. No one expects you to be able to understand the Redlights yet. Honestly, I’m impressed you figured out it was warning you about something. If you hadn’t, Epic might be dead.”

She lowered her eyes again. She was old enough to know what death was, and the thought of Epic dying was too horrible to think about. “Still…”

There was a knock at the door, and Grandpapa got up to accept some food from one of the servants. He thanked Lessa - she liked Lessa, she was nice, and she didn’t have an eyepatch so she wasn’t scary unless Saga was bad - and brought the food to the little table.

It was a bowl of porridge, some fruit, eggs, and bread with butter. Saga made a face at the sight of the porridge, but Grandpapa pulled it towards himself. “The porridge is mine, little one, don’t you worry,” he said with a laugh. “The rest is for you.”

She smiled and jumped down from the bed, but she suddenly felt dizzy and almost fell over. Grandpapa was there to catch her, though. “Careful, you’ve slept, but you haven’t eaten since the accident, you’re going to feel tired until you do.” He guided her onto her stool and pulled up another to sit across from her.

They ate in comfortable silence, except for when she asked him why he liked porridge. “It’s good for me, and it tastes good with raisins in it.” He seemed happy eating the gross stuff, so she let it go. Her food was good, and she was already starting to feel a little better. When she finished, she went back to her bed and laid down.

Grandpapa watched her thoughtfully for a moment as she lay there. “Do you know what you want to do, Saga?”

“I wanna itch it.”

He laughed, but she couldn’t stop herself this time. She was careful to only get the spot above the bandage, though, where a little bit of her skin felt weird. Grandpapa watched but didn’t say anything, giving her a smile instead, so she guessed that was okay.

He waited until she was done before he spoke again. “Besides that. I mean, when you grow up? Do you want to be a blacksmith like your Mama and Papa? Or something else?”

She looked up at him, confused by the question. “Papa said he wants to start my training early.”

Grandpapa nodded. “I heard. He thinks you’ll be very good at it like him and your Mama, but what do you want to do? If you could do anything.”

Saga sat up and scooted against the headboard, looking up at the ceiling. She knew what she wanted to do when she was bigger, but she was afraid if she said it out loud it would make Mama and Papa sad. “I don’t know. I like being with Mama and Papa and Epic, but…”

“But?”

She blushed and drew her knees up to cover her face, just barely peeking out over them at him. “I wanna be an adventurer like Adressa in the stories.”

“Oh? Do you, now?” He chuckled, but she didn’t know why, and it made her mad. Was he making fun of her?

“Yeah! She saved a bunch of people from the berserkers! I wanna be like her!” She had pulled her knees down and looked him in the eyes, like grown-ups do when they want you to know they’re serious. “She ran really fast, even though her feet hurt, and they couldn’t catch her! And she could dance really good, and went all over the world and saw all kinds of stuff! I wanna do that, too!”

Grandpapa raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn’t think he was making fun of her this time. “I see. Do you want to be a bard like me, then? Adressa was a bard, you know, a dancer.”

Saga made a face. Even though Grandpapa wasn’t the Craftking anymore, it seemed like he was always busy talking to important people or sitting at his old desk writing. The desk smelled nice, though, and if she was really quiet he’d let her sit with him sometimes. She wouldn’t want to sit at the desk all the time, though. She told him this, and he laughed. She liked his laugh, as long as he wasn’t teasing her.

“You know I used to travel all the time, right? I wasn’t always so boring.” He made a silly face as he said the last part, and it made her giggle. “I met your grandmother on the road, in fact. Did I ever tell you that story?”

She shook her head, growing excited. He hadn’t, though she’d asked him a bunch of times before, and he knew it. “Uh-uh. You said it was a story for big kids and I’m only seven.”

He chuckled. “I did say that. Well…I suppose you’re big enough now. You saved your brother’s life, after all. It takes a big kid to do something like that.”

Her eye itched again. She didn’t see it that way, but she didn’t dare tell him that in case he decided not to tell her the story after all. She stayed quiet, but gave him her best wide-eyed hopeful look, the same one she used to get treats from Lessa, and Grandpapa laughed again.

“Alright, alright. Put that face away, it’s a dangerous weapon. You must never use it for evil.” His face went stern when he said this, but his eyes twinkled so she knew he was joking. “Okay, settle in, and I’ll tell you about how I met your grandmother, Aurana.”

She did so, snuggling under her covers despite it being late morning as best as she could tell. Having situated herself, she turned her head to him expectantly, and he smiled. “So, where to begin…

“This was back before I was Craftking, or even the Bard Councillor. I was just Tale Lantos, Master Bard. I traveled the world in search of knowledge to add to the Academy’s Archives while earning my way as a Dancer. You may not know it to look at me now, but I was once a graceful dancer with my swords in hand.”

Saga had a mental image of Grandpapa holding a sword the same way Papa held Mama when they danced and stifled a giggle. Thankfully, Grandpapa didn’t seem to notice. He finished taking a drink of water, then continued.

“My travels at the time most frequently had me traveling through the Noblewood. Have I told you about that place?”

“Uh huh! It’s the big forest west of here with floating trees! You said it’s really dangerous and I should never go there without you or Mama or Papa.”

“Good, I’m glad you’re listening. Well, the main road west goes through that forest, and it’s common for traders and other travelers to hire guards for the trip. Many bandits reside in the deep corners of the Noblewood, hiding up in the trees or in dark caves. Since it’s too big for any of the surrounding territories to patrol, they can strike at travelers from the safety of their caves and camps. Since I was more able to defend myself than most other bards, I was the Master Bard most commonly sent that direction.

“On one trip, I was camping on the side of the road, enjoying my porridge-”

“Eww!” Saga exclaimed, giggling.

He continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “Enjoying my delicious porridge, full of raisins and cinnamon, just bowls and bowls of it as far as the eye could see.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Grandpapa!” She shouted again, and he finally laughed.

“Alright, alright, I had some sausages on the fire. Anyway, I was just getting ready to eat when I heard a woman scream. The sound had come out of nowhere, and I was on my feet as fast as you could blink! Out of the darkness, a woman came running, as if running from death itself.”

“She was clad head to toe in gold, with a hood covering her face. I knew something was off about her, but her pursuers left me no time to question her. A dozen bandits jumped out at me, but I was ready for them!” He jumped to his feet suddenly, acting like he was fighting with a sword, except he was holding his spoon and swinging it around. He looked silly, but she had to admit he did look more graceful than she expected.

“They rushed me all at once, but I danced circles around them with Zephyr, my redsteel sword. Every time one of them got too close, I’d give a flourish, and the sword would send them flying away. They had numbers on their side though. Dozens became hundreds as the fight dragged on-”

“You beat a hundred guys!?” She couldn’t believe he was so strong, but he was Mama’s Papa, and Mama was strong, so anything was possible.

“I sure did! It was tough, but I eventually sent them all running with their tails between their legs. That was when the woman took her hood down and revealed her golden hair.”

“Like mine?” She reached up and touched her long hair. People told her she got it from her Mama all the time, but she thought they weren’t very smart because she grew it all on her own.

Grandpapa shook his head, sitting down and taking a drink of water. He looked tired. “No, not quite. Your hair is blonde, but hers was actual gold, like the metal.”

“Grandmama had metal hair!?” That must have been heavy!

He shook his head again, holding back a smile. “It looked like metal, but I don’t think it was. And I never said she was your grandmother.”

She rolled her eyes. Mama didn’t like it when she did that but Mama did it all the time so it couldn’t be that bad. “Well, duh! You said it’s the story of how you met Grandmama, of course it’s her!”

“You know, stories can have more than one important character.” He winked at her. “You’re right, though. This woman introduced herself to me as Aurana, a noblewoman of The Red City traveling through the Noblewood.”

Saga furrowed her brow in thought. It made her eye itch, but she ignored it. “Where were her guards? Where was she from?”

“That’s the trick, you see. I knew as soon as I saw her that she wasn’t what she appeared to be, even before I saw her hair. ‘You’re lying’, I said. ‘No noblewoman as beautiful as yourself would travel without her guard, especially in the Noblewood and dressed so extravagantly!’ I held her at swordpoint, suspecting a trick, but she surprised me!”

Saga gasped. “Did she hit you?”

“No, worse! She laughed at me! Her smile was stunning, and her amber eyes looked almost as gold as her hair when they reflected the fire. Aurana took my breath away, standing there.” Grandpapa went quiet for a moment, and Saga thought he looked sad. She was about to ask if he was okay but he continued before she could. “She laughed for a moment, told me we’d meet again, then disappeared into the dark of the forest. I still don’t know how a woman dressed that brightly could simply vanish, no matter how dark it was.

“Some time later, I was heading through the Noblewood again. Just like the previous time, I heard a scream, but this time I was ready. Once again, Aurana came running out of the woods at me, but I caught the hint of a smile under her hood. Just like before, some bandits came pounding out of the woods after her. There was a big bas-” He cut off, coughing and clearing his throat. Saga wondered if he got some porridge caught in the wrong pipe, but he continued after another drink of water. “There was a very large man leading them.

“He ranted and raved at me, swinging his huge sword around in anger. Apparently, Aurana had been letting herself be seen by them and letting them chase her all over the forest, eventually leading them into some kind of trouble. I was curious about her motives, but I couldn’t ignore the brigands trying to get past me to kill her. I made it very clear that they would not be harmed, and they left peacefully.”

“They really left? Even though they were mad?”

He shot her a sideways glance and hesitated before smiling proudly. “Of course! I told them what would happen to them if they didn’t leave and they left. Your grandpapa is very persuasive, you know. So, they all left, and I was left alone with Aurana all over again. I was about to ask her to explain herself when she surprised me yet again!”

Saga giggled. “Did she laugh again?”

“No, she hit me! I don’t know where she’d been hiding the sword, but she came at me quick as lightning!” He was up and moving again, apparently having caught his breath. “Fortunately for me, I was fast too, and we crossed our blades before separating. The fight began in earnest, then, and we struck at each other again and again. Neither of us could gain the upper hand over the other!

“It soon became clear to me, however, that she wasn’t trying to kill me. No, no, she was dancing with me! I realized she was attacking me in ways that would force me to counter with moves I frequently used in sword dances. As soon as I had this thought, I broke away from her and lowered my sword. ‘You will not get a free performance from me, my lady,’ I said, but she laughed again and her sword vanished.

“She sat against a nearby tree, then, and invited me to sit by her. I obeyed, as a gentleman does, though I remained wary. She explained that she had been teasing the bandits in the process of looking for an artist.”

“An artist?” Saga was confused. What did bandits and fights have to do with art? This story didn’t make much sense, but she enjoyed it when Grandpapa told her stories so she didn’t tell him that part.

“Indeed.” He’d sat again, but on the floor this time, leaning up against her bedroom wall. “I made my confusion known to her, but thankfully she explained herself this time. She told me that she believed warriors are a kind of artist on the battlefield. Not just fighters and killers, she said, but true warriors, the kind of men and women they tell stories about. She’d taken a liking to me after seeing my first ‘performance’, and had arranged for an encore upon my return. Our little duel had been her final test, and she asked me to visit her again sometime.

“I was still a little confused, but your grandpapa wasn’t about to say no to a pretty lady making such a polite request. I told her I would visit her, and asked where I could find her again.” He shook his head, a faint smile on his face. He seemed sad again, and she wanted to give him a hug, but she felt too tired to get up. “She told me she would find me next time I came to the Noblewood. And like that, she was gone.”

Grandpapa closed his eyes for a second, smiling. “I made sure to pass through there as often as I could from then on, and every time I did, we met again. Sometimes she invited ‘guests’, sometimes we dueled, and sometimes…”

“Sometimes what?”

“We talked. I told her about my travels, and she told me about herself. We continued to meet whenever we could, but after months of meeting every few weeks, I was…forced to go somewhere else for a while. I didn’t see Aurana again for about a year. When I finally visited her again…she was carrying a baby in her arms. Lorana, your mother. She told me that I wouldn’t see her anymore, that she had a duty to fulfill, but that she’d enjoyed the time we’d spent together.”

Grandpapa fell silent for a while. Saga laid there, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about the story she’d waited so long to hear. Grandmama seemed weird, but Grandpapa was weird sometimes too and it was okay. She hoped she could meet her someday. She turned her head back to Grandpapa to ask if he thought she might but found him staring at her with an odd look.

“Do you know anything about your powers?”

The question surprised Saga, and she shrugged. Her eye itched. “I know Mama has them too, but Epic and Papa don’t. Mama has horns, and she said I might have horns too one day.”

“Did she tell you where it comes from?” When she shook her head, he continued.

“Well, Aurana, your grandmother…she’s a dragon.”

Saga opened her eyes wide. “Grandmama was a dragon? Does that mean Mama is a dragon?” She gasped. “Am I a dragon?”

Grandpapa laughed and shook his head. “No, you aren’t a dragon. Not entirely. People like you, like your Mama, are called drakes. You have the blood of a dragon in your veins, but you’re still human like anyone else. You have the potential to be great at whatever you want to do, provided you put in the work. You can be a great smith, like your father wants. Your ability to talk to Redlights will give you an edge in that. You’ll also have some natural ability at magic, though, again, you’ll have to work at it like anyone else to be great.”

Saga’s head felt dizzy, but not the same kind of dizzy from earlier. “If I don’t want to be a blacksmith like Mama and Papa, or a mage like Master Lukas, can I do other things too? Do you think I can be a bard like Adressa?”

Grandpapa stood and walked over to her, leaning down to hug her tightly. “You can do whatever you want to do, little one. If you want to be a bard, then I bet you’ll be the best bard we’ve ever seen.”

Her eye itched again. “What if I want to be normal? What if I don’t want to have horns and dragon blood and powers?”

He pulled away a little, but still held her. His smile was warm, and it made her feel a little better. “You were born with power, Saga. You can’t change that. However, you can choose if you want to use it, and what to use it for. Don’t let anyone take that choice away from you.”

Saga nodded quietly, thinking, and he stood up straight again. “Alright, little one. It’s time for you to sleep.”

“Can you tell me one more story?” She looked up at him, giving him that wide-eyed look again, and he laughed.

“You won’t get me a second time with that trick, young lady.” Why did people only call her a lady when they thought she was up to no good? Grown-ups are weird. “You need to rest so you can get back to playing, alright?”

She sighed dramatically and settled into her blankets. “Okay.”

As Grandpapa walked to the door, Saga heard a rustling sound from one of her shelves, the one that had her sewing supplies the weavers from the Stitchers’ Works had gifted her. He froze and turned his head to the shelf. “Did you hear…”

Before she could say that yes, she did, the sound came again, and the basket of supplies tipped over onto the floor. She heard a tiny squeak and a chitter and peered over the edge of her bed to see what had happened. Grandpapa approached the pile slowly, like he was scared. For a moment, nothing happened, and if it weren’t for the basket now being upended all over the floor, she might have thought she’d imagined the noise.

Then the chittering came again, and a spider the size of her fist crawled out from the sewing basket. It was grey and fuzzy, like a mouse with eight legs, with a black stripe running down its back, and big eyes that peered up at Grandpapa, then at Saga. The thimble that seemed stuck on its head looked almost like a hat, and she couldn’t help giggling at the sight. It tilted its head at her when she did, then turned to look at the thimble when it fell off, seeming confused.

“Huh, I didn’t know you had a roommate.” Grandpapa smiled down at the tiny creature. “You’re a beatweaver, aren’t you?” The spider looked back up to Grandpapa and, to Saga’s surprise, nodded!

“Can it understand you?” Saga asked breathlessly, having climbed down out of her bed to kneel on the floor in front of the creature. She knew some people were afraid of spiders, but this one was fuzzy and cute and seemed nice. The spider - a beatweaver, Grandpapa called it - looked back at her and nodded again, waving its two front arms around.

“These are beatweavers, Saga. They’re commonly seen tapping the ground, and if they hear music they tap along to it, which is how they got their name. Some people think they use the tapping to talk to each other. They’re just like regular spiders, but bigger and sentient.”

“Sent yet?”

“Sentient,” he repeated slowly, allowing her to hear how the word was pronounced. “It means they have thoughts and are intelligent. They can understand human speech and can sometimes learn to communicate back. They like to hide and watch humans.” He gave the one on her floor an odd look. “This little fellow appears to have taken a liking to you. Otherwise I think he’d have scurried off by now.”

The little spider nodded again, then looked up at Saga, waving a single arm at her. She giggled and waved back, and the little creature chittered and hopped onto her lap before crawling up to her shoulder. She gasped at first, surprised, but then giggled uncontrollably. “That tickles!” It settled down finally, and she could almost feel it relaxing.

She looked up at her Grandpapa. “Can I keep him? Is it a him? Or a her? What’s her name?” She was suddenly full of questions, and she wasn’t sure she could sleep now even if she wanted to. She wanted to know all about her knew friend. Without waiting for Grandpapa to answer, she turned her head so that she could just barely see the little one. “Are you a girl? Tap my shoulder once for yes or twice for no.”

The beatweaver seemed to think about her words for a second, then tapped her twice.

“You’re a boy? Do you have a name?”

Two taps.

“Would you like a name?”

One tap.

She smiled wider. He definitely understood her. She looked up at her Grandpapa again, who was watching the pair with interest. He didn’t seem afraid, so the little one was probably safe, right? Or maybe he was just doing that thing adults do where they’re worried but don’t want you to know it. Her eye itched, but she didn’t care this time.

“Well, he’s not exactly a wild animal, he can make his own decision on if he wants to stay with you. I must say, though, he did look rather dapper with that thimble on his head.” He chuckled as he bent down to pick up the thimble in question, offering it back to the beatweaver. “Would you like your hat back, sir?”

The little one took the thimble and set it back on his head, and Saga giggled again. “Is dapper when someone looks nice?”

“Indeed it is.”

She turned her head back down to her new friend. “How about Dapper for a name? We can make a bunch of hats for you to wear!”

The beatweaver tilted his head back and forth, as if thinking. He almost lost his thimble-hat again, but he was ready this time and put an arm up to steady the load. Eventually, he nodded and gave her a tap.

“Dapper it is!” Grandpapa smiled and stood up. “Alright, Dapper, I don’t know if you were listening, but Saga here needs to get some sleep.”

“But Grandpapa!”

“You need to rest, little one.” He gave her his stern look, and she knew she wasn’t going to get any more time out of him. She pouted, then climbed back into bed with his help. Dapper scurried down her arm and onto the headboard, over her and out of the way while she got settled. Grandpapa leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Sweet dreams, little one. And Dapper?”

He looked up at Grandpapa.

“Keep watch over her, will you? I can trust no other with the task.” Grandpapa winked, though she wasn’t sure if it was for her or her new little friend. Above her, Dapper waved his arm in what she guessed was his version of a salute, and Grandpapa nodded in return. “Very good.” He stood, and silently left the room, giving her a smile before closing the door behind him.

Saga watched him leave, giving him a wave and smiling back at him, then looked up at Dapper. “G’night, Dapper.” She thought it was strange to be going to sleep in the middle of the day, but she admitted she was tired.

As she drifted off, her mind raced with the events of the past hour. Knowing Papa and Epic were okay was good, and she was glad she finally got to hear the story of how Grandpapa met Grandmama, but she still felt guilty about the accident the previous day, and uncertain of her future.

Wait, no.

She immediately realized that last part wasn’t true. After talking to Grandpapa, she knew what she wanted to do. All she had to do was get Papa to agree to it. She spent a few minutes thinking of the perfect face to make while asking him before finally drifting off to sleep.