I blinked slowly as I woke up. My mind was slow to respond and confused. It took me some time to get my bearings in the complete darkness. My biggest hint was the sound of Taureen’s extremely slow heartbeat.

Once more, he had me curled up against his chest as he slept. I didn’t recall falling asleep, but it didn’t surprise me that he refused to leave me alone after my anguish last night. I had no desire to move and simply rested there.

I must have dozed off again since I woke when I felt Taureen stir. I blinked sleepily as he gently pulled the covers back. He stroked my wings gently.

“How are you feeling?”

I uncurled a bit. “The pain and guilt are gone. I feel a bit of sadness, but it is distant and faint. Such emotions seem to fade swiftly with my kind if there is no direct and current cause.”

His voice was kind as he said, “Hopefully, it will completely fade, and the memory will lose its sting. The sun will be rising shortly, so we had best rise as well.”

The thought of the Morning Song was tempting, and I moved away from Taureen to stretch. I left his room to give him privacy to change. Taureen found me in the garden as I waited for the sun. His hunt for me wasn’t hard since it was our routine.

It didn’t surprise me that Aeria showed up earlier than usual. She didn’t disturb me, although no one ever approached me while I was waiting for the sunrise. She went to sit beside Taureen and spoke softly with him. Their voices were too low for me to make out, but I didn’t really try. My attention was on the sun.

I perched on the piece of driftwood as I gazed at the bright object that was starting to peer over the horizon. It seemed rather eager to greet me and appeared to rise faster than normal, although it was likely just my anticipation playing tricks in my mind.

The sunlight seemed to ripple as it signaled the start of the Song. I spread my wings to answer its call and took flight. Joy once more flooded through my heart and mind as I sang of the new day. I was more grateful for the Song this morning since yesterday’s events had come so close to silencing me forever.

I wove my gratefulness into the Song, and my song became richer and more tempered. I truly knew why I sang this morning. It wasn’t just for the sheer delight of it or because the Song called to me like a siren. It was because life is precious and another day had started.

I could finally see it now. Our Morning Song was like a crystal catching the plain light and showing the world all of the hidden colors within. It had been meant to share from the very beginning. We had subconsciously realized it when we had let the Kymari watch, regardless of how much we wanted to avoid them.

The joy and restoration of the Morning Song shone through me, overflowing my heart and soul. The Song was strong enough to dissipate the last lingering shadows of my grief, like strong sunlight burning off faint traces of fog.

The sun continued to rise, and the Song eventually faded. I drifted down to land on the driftwood to watch the sun for some time. The sunrise was cloudless, lacking the brilliant reds and oranges, but the sky held a million shades of blue; from the palest hint of sapphire to a rich navy blue. It was a brilliant tapestry that hid its splendor in its modesty.

I turned and flew over to land on Taureen’s shoulder, nuzzling his chin affectionately. He put a bowl of fruit beside him and pulled out the cleaning kit as I hopped down to his lap. I could reach the bowl easily from where I lay, delighted to see that the bowl mostly held my favorites. I picked out a piece and nibbled daintily on it while Taureen gently spread one of my wings and started buffing it.

“For some reason, I still have a hard time believing that you are able to talk right into my mind,” Aeria commented as she watched me.

I trilled my amusement. “I bet you would have a hard time coming up with hard evidence that it ever happened. Kymari like things that they can prove, things that say an event truly happened.”

Taureen chuckled. “She has you there.”

Aeria found it amusing as well. “That is true. For someone who claims to be unfamiliar with Kymari ways, you are quite intuitive.”

“Some things are clearer than others.” I shrugged lightly.

I could tell that they were trying to avoid any mention of yesterday’s events. Their caution was in vain though. The Morning Song had cleansed my heart.

Taureen began rubbing the oil in, and my muscles turned into putty. I half closed my eyes, but slightly resisted the desire to completely relax since I would probably fall asleep.

My mindvoice would be reflecting my relaxed and entranced state of mind. “As much as we are avoiding the topic, what kind of fallout should I expect from yesterday’s events?”

Taureen kept massaging the oil in; he knew the effect that the oiling had on me and was relying on its calming effects.

“Not as much as you are likely thinking,” he said. “Aeria went before the Elders to tell the story, and by Draven’s own words, he admitted to breaking the gate lock as well as his intentions to kill both of you in the park. The autopsy revealed that he actually had a rare disease that attacks the brain and causes irrational and obsessive behaviors. That particular disease doesn’t show up in a normal checkup, but it will turn up in a sample of spinal fluid. It isn’t contagious and tends to appear rather randomly.”

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I could barely concentrate on the discussion with the heavenly massage, but I had to ask, “If he had survived, would this discovery have changed the outcome?”

Taureen shook his head. “No. The moment he noticed that he was contemplating murder of a Kymari, he should have gone to the hospital. It’s well known that some blood imbalances can cause such tendencies, and they are easily corrected. He didn’t go, and that makes his plans intentional.”

He massaged the back of my neck, and my eyes slightly glazed over with the sensations. I was having a lot of trouble staying awake even with the topic we were discussing.

Taureen continued, “Had he gone to the hospital, they would have found the cause within the hour and none of this would have happened. The disease he had takes decades to get to such an advanced stage. Without treatment, it would have only gotten worse. It had several other symptoms that he would have noticed a long time ago.”

Aeria gazed at me in mild amusement as she changed the topic. “You sound like you are drugged. Is the massage that good?”

I glanced at her with a half-opened eye before sending her a mental feeling of what I was experiencing. She blinked slowly, looking somewhat dazed, and I was reminded of the first time that I had sent pure emotion to Taureen.

I let both of them hear me again. “Sorry, I should have warned you. If it makes you feel better, Taureen looked exactly the same way the first time I shared a strong emotion with him.”

Aeria shook her head as if to clear it. “Well, I am certainly jealous.”

“What did she show you?” Taureen glanced at her in curiosity.

“I think it was how the massage felt in her mind. I have no idea how she can think straight like that. Although I must say that it’s rather odd to have emotions appearing in my head when they aren’t my own.”

“I know what you mean. Her emotions can be quite strong and single-minded to the point where nothing else can intrude. It does show how effective the oiling was when she didn’t trust me though.”

Aeria blinked in realization before asking, “How exactly did you two get to this point? I know from glancing at your training journals that she was far from thrilled to be your guest in the beginning.”

Taureen hummed lightly in thought before answering, “To be honest, I thought she was just an animal until quite recently. The first time that I clearly recall her speaking to me was when we dodged the tree at the waterfall. We have been talking ever since.”

“That you clearly recall?” Aeria tilted her head at the wording. “You seem like you are remembering another event.”

Taureen looked down at me while shifting my wing so that he could oil the underside of it. I was close to a rag doll at this point, simply listening to them in a half trance.

“Shortly after being designated her handler, I had been debating on a name for her. A name came to me in my sleep, but it was as if someone had whispered it in my ear. I had never heard that voice before, either. I did wake somewhat, but no one was in the apartment. The unfamiliar female voice and the odd name kept rolling around in my head, so I decided to go with it.”

“I didn’t even think that what we call her might be different than her own name.” She asked me, “Your name is really Tasha?”

I sent a mental confirmation, “Yes…”

She smiled warmly at the emotions in the background of my one-word reply. “No wonder you practically fall asleep every time.”

“Mmmm…”

They both chuckled at my response. I was past the half-asleep stage and didn’t really care.

~

I woke up and lifted my head, discovering I was still on Taureen’s lap, but they had moved inside to the living room.

“Good morning.” Aeria was quite amused by the fact that I had fallen asleep.

I yawned and shook my wings out lightly. “Good morning. By the way, this isn’t exactly a rare occurrence.”

She grinned. “I noticed that, although I don’t recall you falling asleep on me. I think you came close once or twice, though.”

I stood up and stretched, answering honestly and somewhat frankly. “You will discover that my mind and my instincts can often have two different outlooks. My mind is trying to accept you, but my instincts make me distrust any Kymari. It will take time, but if you two keep hanging around, I will get to that stage eventually. At the moment, my instincts simply won’t let me lower my guard that far with you yet.”

Aeria nodded slowly. “Thank you for that. Is that why you let me touch you even when you hissed or growled at others?”

I nodded as I sat down. “Yes. At first, it was difficult, but it is getting easier. I no longer have the desire to hiss or growl when you pet me. I would never scratch a child, but that is my own mindset. My tolerance of Kymari in general is unlikely to change.”

Taureen looked at me in curiosity. “Why did you let her pet you that day in the park? I clearly remember my surprise at your behavior.”

The memory of that day made me grin at him. Letting Aeria still listen in, I replied, “I saw the skin on your neck flush and knew you took a fancy to her. I was also aware that she had no current suitors since she didn’t wear a bracelet.”

Once more, the skin on his neck flushed, and I warbled my amusement at his reaction.

“You are one crafty and subtle matchmaker, although I am glad that you let her pet you that day in the park.”

Aeria nodded slowly in agreement. “So am I.”

I moved under the heat lamp to grab some extra heat before the day began. “What are our plans for today looking like?”

Taureen shrugged. “We are off schedule today, so whatever you feel like doing.”

I blinked at him as I tallied the days up. “It isn’t our usual day off.”

“After last night, I mentioned to the patrol supervisors that you were somewhat out of sorts, so they took us off of schedule today to let you recover. Is there anything in particular you want to do?”

I was surprised that they would take us off of the schedule because I had a bad day, but it really shouldn’t surprise me. They were careful with bond animals. I also suspect that if they had argued, they would have been dealing with Taureen, and he wasn’t in that great of a mood yesterday either. They probably knew it too.

I snorted lightly in amusement. “This just goes to prove that I will never truly understand Kymari. All I really do is ride around on your shoulder. You do most of the work. But who am I to argue? I wouldn’t mind visiting that park along the wall for a bit, although I hope we can avoid the area with the raptors. Before yesterday, I had never been there before, and it seems different from the other parks. I would love to explore it. Other than that, I have no real preferences.”

“I may do the walking, but you are the one who scents the crawlers and sicora. I don’t think I can really explain how much our society values bond animals,” Taureen said as he got up and began stashing a few weapons in his pockets. “We can go to that park, though. The raptors were found and captured last night, and the guards thoroughly combed the area for any danger, so it should be safe.”

In reality, I had a pretty good idea at this point about how they viewed bond animals, but I downplayed my knowledge in hopes that they would underestimate me. Creatures born in a forest simply should not understand how a highly-advanced society worked.

Serena, Tom, and I had already decided that we would never reveal that we had once been human. Even though they hadn’t spoken with Alec yet, we had agreed that whenever any dragonet was brought into captivity as a bond animal, they could talk with their handlers if they wanted. We would also inform that dragonet about what we could or could not share about our shady past.

Taureen picked up the harness. “Ready to go?”

I promptly flew over to let him put the harness on.