Chapter Eight: Quartet

When the trio returned from training that day they were each utterly exhausted. Even Genn was uncharacteristically quiet. They found Officer White sitting in the lounge area. She was talking with an unfamiliar girl.

“Good evening,” White greeted them, as they stumbled into the dormitory half asleep. “This is Barbara. Barbara, this is Lauren, Joseph, and Genn.” She pointed each of them out.

“Bobbie, or Bob, if you must,” was the only thing the girl said. Joseph studied her as he made his way to his seat.

She had jet black hair that was tied up in a ponytail, highlighting a fine-featured face. Her skin was so pale Joseph swore he could see blue traceries of veins at her temples. Did she never go outside?

She was wearing incredibly fine clothes, simple but well-made, and, if he wasn’t mistaken, stitched with enchantments of all things. She wore silver jewellery, several rings, a necklace, and some fine earrings, nothing overly ostentatious, but far more wealth than a commoner would ever have to display.

Joseph would bet his life she was a noble. If the clothes and jewellery weren’t enough, her expression was …bored, of all things. She looked utterly disinterested in everything that was happening.

Joseph raised a hand to her in greeting as he sat down. She saw the gesture and made no reply of any kind. Lauren approached her and offered her a hand and a bright, “Hello!” Bobbie looked at the proffered limb with a flat expression then, when she realised it was not going to be retracted until it was shaken, she deigned to give it a cursory clasp. Genn ignored the new girl, simply slumping into a seat with a loud sigh of relief and immediately putting his feet on the table. Lauren eyed his boots as she sat herself.

“Bobbie is the fourth and final member of your group. I’ve just filled her in on the specifics,” White explained. If she noticed any of the byplay between the group, she didn’t mention it.

“When are we leaving?” Genn rudely cut in.

“You have one more day here. I have a few final preparations to make before we leave. You’ll fly out the day after tomorrow.”

“White, ma’am, you mentioned a Royal Flight?” Joseph said.

“That’s correct. Her Majesty has seen fit to send you with Her Third Silver Wings.”

Joseph’s eyes went wide. The Silver Wings were renowned throughout the kingdom as Her Majesty’s personal flights. They were only used for the most critical of missions, and their riders were incredibly skilled. Genn seemed eager, and Lauren, apprehensive. Bobbie didn’t seem like she’d even heard the declaration.

“Wow,” was all Joseph could manage to say.

“We still don’t know why you four are so important, why so many of our Mystics have seen you. But the Queen’s trust in her Royal Intelligence Service Ensuing is absolute. If the First and Second Silver Wings weren’t already on flight, you would have had them instead.”

“The day after tomorrow… that seems a little soon…” Lauren said in a small voice. White turned to her.

“You will be fine. I understand this is all a lot to take in, but the Mystics never receive visions of inconsequential things. There is a lot hanging in the balance, with the state of world affairs currently. We cannot ignore this. Trust in each other, and you will be back before you know it.”

“But… but what if we run into reavers? Or the wrack? We’ve only had a few days’ training!”

“I wouldn’t expect you to fight reavers, let alone the wrack. That’s what the Silver Wings are for. If all goes according to plan, you’ll be at the impact site in less than a day, grab your eggs, and come straight back.

“Any dragonflight could do as much for you, though. That is why the Queen has listened to our advice, and tasked the Third Silver Wings with this. She wanted to be sure that things do go according to plan.”

Lauren still looked troubled. Genn seemed like he was half asleep. For Joseph’s part, he was incredibly excited to be going with any Royal Flight, let alone the Silver Wings.

“Are we sure this is all really necessary?” Bobbie asked in a breathy drawl.

White frowned at her. “Yes. As I have already explained, multiple times, it is. There is no other option. Four different people, all linked, all with fates obscured: it points to something. We cannot see what, but it is abundantly clear that you are all of critical importance. Must I inform the Queen of your reticence?”

Bobbie grimaced. “No,” she said under her breath.

“What was that? I’ve a meeting with Her Majesty tonight, as it happens, right after this. What shall I tell her?”

“Please, don’t tell aunty about this. I’ll go.” Bobbie slumped a little, resigned to her fate. White gave her a grimly satisfied nod.

Aunty? Joseph thought. But… that would make Bobbie the Queen’s niece! No wonder she was sending a flight of Silver Wings!

Joseph could see that Lauren had made the same deduction. She seemed torn between prostrating herself, and running away. Genn was frowning, alert now, looking between Bobbie and Officer White.

“She’s the Queen’s niece? No wonder she’s so uptight!” he said.

“Show some respect!” White barked at him. Bobbie just rolled her eyes.

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“I will when she’s earned it,” he fired back, bristling. “Just ‘cause she’s royalty doesn’t mean a thing unless her bony arse is on the throne.”

White stood. Her face was a thundercloud. Joseph and Lauren both unconsciously shrank back in their seats. Joseph could feel mana surging in White, boiling. He had thought her stern before, now, she was something else.

Genn puffed out his chest, holding White’s glare. “You will still show her respect. Not because she is royalty, but because she is your squadmate! Dragonflights are for life. You four will become closer than any siblings, closer than any marriage. And beyond that, our kingdom could be at stake! You were headed for the soldier’s life, where is your national pride?!”

Genn had shrunk further and further back in his seat as the tirade continued. Now, he was flushed red, his head hung low. “Sorry,” he said.

“Don’t apologise to me!” White barked.

Genn looked at Bobbie. “I’m sorry. I do want to be a proper dragonflight. Forgive me.” He sounded genuinely apologetic. Joseph was forming a better picture of him; brash, prone to acting without thinking, but not a bad person.

Bobbie waved a dismissive hand at the apology. “It’s nothing, you’re forgiven. It’s not like I like being a noble, after all.”

White placed her hands squarely on her hips. “Rule number two of dragonflights: Squadmates before everything. Remember it.” She stared at them until every one of them nodded their acknowledgement.

“What’s the first rule?” Joseph asked, curious.

“Dragons before your life.”

It made sense. There could be no dragonflight with no dragons.

“You’ve got one training session left before you leave. I suggest you make the most of it.” She made for the door, stopping once she reached it. “This mission needs to be a success. I will not have any of you fuck it up. Am I clear?”

They chorused their assent back to her. She left, closing the door perhaps a little more firmly than necessary.

“Heavens, she’s scary,” Joseph said, to no one in particular.

“That’s nothing, you should see aunty when she’s in a tiff,” said Bobbie. She seemed surprised that she’d spoken.

Genn had recovered from his telling-off. “The Queen’s niece, eh? I wondered why we’d gotten Silver Wings.”

“For what it’s worth, I think aunty would have sent them regardless if I was along or not.” She sighed. “Look, if we’re going to be a dragonflight, I don’t want everyone making a big deal of my parentage. I’m not even in line for the throne. Lauren! Stop looking at me like that.”

Lauren had been staring at her wide-eyed, her mouth slightly ajar. She blinked, and her mouth clicked shut.

“I’m nothing special, alright? I don’t even want to be here.”

“Why not? I’m going to be the best dragonrider in the kingdom!” Genn bragged.

Bobbie rolled her eyes. “I was always going to be a dragonrider. I’m a noble. But this mysterious, clouded-fates, Mystic-importance nonsense? That sounds like a whole lot of work to me. I don’t want any part in that.”

Joseph wasn’t surprised that a noble, who had been catered to her whole life, never wanting for anything, her future always assured, would be lazy. As long as she came to get her egg, he could deal with it, though.

The group broke up to go to bed soon after, the day’s exhaustion fully catching up with them. It seemed like no time at all had passed between him closing his eyes and opening them again, but the enchanted clock on Joseph’s wall said the full night had passed. Blearily, he hauled himself out of bed, and made his way to the shower.

In short order, he was dressed and ready, and the others were not far behind. Bobbie took the longest, by a good margin, but eventually slunk out of the bedroom hallway to join them for breakfast. Not an hour later, Teal arrived, and they soon found themselves back in the training room.

They began with strikes again, and Bobbie lit the target up in red on her very first attempt. A thin pink line connected her to the target for a brief moment, before the beam flashed thicker with a deep, coppery light. She was Heartsworn, but the ease and control she displayed in handling her mana was also incredibly impressive. Joseph would bet she had had far better quality tutoring growing up, being royalty, and it showed.

They moved to shield practice, and Bobbie declared it unnecessary for her and wandered off to sit to the side. As a Heartsworn, she couldn’t produce a shield, just as Lauren could not make strikes. Even so, Teal tried to cajole her into using one of the training swords, but her attempts at persuasion had no effect. She sat cross-legged at the side of the room, a bored expression on her face.

Genn’s shield was still wobbly, but he made measurable improvements when Lauren gave him some pointers on mana control, and defining the area he wanted. After that, the white, fiery discs he produced were much more stable and cohesive.

He had no trouble with flinching or cowering when he and Lauren traded off attacking his shield with swords, even moving with their advances, and turning the shield as they attacked. He gave them both pointers, and Joseph was embarrassed to find that Lauren was the better swordsman than him, by a decent amount, too.

Still, it could not dampen his enthusiasm. This was everything he’d ever dreamed of, or close to it, anyway. He was on his way to becoming a dragonrider, and these skills were necessary for that. He might not be the best at them, but he was improving, and he was determined to keep doing so for as long as it took.

By the end of the training session, Joseph felt like he was starting to get a hang of sword work. His stances and steps still felt awkward, but Genn said it would pass in time. He had made improvements with his shield, and he could now thicken it, or widen it to almost six feet, and could push the edges out away from himself to form a cone. His strikes had made the biggest improvement: he felt his control and definition getting better with every one he threw.

Lauren’s shields had gotten drastically better. She could manage a width of seven feet now, even wider than Joseph’s, and she now only faltered when they were particularly aggressive with their attacks. She still lacked the fluid integration with her own movement that Genn had shown, though. She seemed to need all her concentration on where the attacks were coming from, and couldn’t spare any for her feet.

Genn’s shields were the smallest of theirs, but he had at least gotten them consistent. His strikes were fearsomely strong too. It gave Joseph no small comfort to know that they would have a Lifesworn with them that could heal them.

Genn’s swordwork was still his best skill, and though it didn’t improve that Joseph could see, he had definitely helped him and Lauren with theirs. Joseph was grateful to the large boy: though he was blunt to a fault, he had his heart in the right place.

Bobbie was a bit of an unknown, as they only saw the single strike she performed that day. Joseph was willing to bet that she was probably more competent than any of them, given her background. He decided not to worry about it.

That night, as he lay in bed, thoughts of flying through the air with a flight of Royal dragons tumbled through Joseph’s head. He was so excited he could barely lay still.

Tomorrow, he thought. Tomorrow, I get my egg, and become a dragonrider. Finally.