I sencerely apologize, for I am, in reality, not Scott Westerfield. (But one can only wish.)
A vibrant rainbow of colors was flung against the evening sky as the sun set in all its glory. The tough skin of the Leviathan cradled her as she rested her legs, caught in the moment. She was aware of every motion – every great breath – of the massive airship as it swayed to a tune heard only by its self. Deryn found herself lost in the serenity of the magnificence of nature, linked to life by every fiber in her body. How the chilling wind raced past and bite at her ears and how the view of the world below as seen by a great bird of prey could elicit such emotions in a human being is one of the unsolved mysteries of all time.
However, in the mind of a lowly midshipman such as herself, these sensations made her feel like she belonged. Yet Deryn knew, inside, that in the sea of lies and deception she had drowned herself in, as long as she reached for the skies, it could never be. She would have to reveal herself to Alek sometime or another and he had gained her trust in many accounts. Logically, it was high time to tell him, but hidden beneath her logic was a waterfall of emotions and she desperately hoped that Alek harbored emotions for her – something other than brotherly love, that is.
What was she thinking? Se must be positively bonkers! Why would Alek like his best friend? A friend, she thought, that he believed to be a lad like himself, not a silly little lassie playing dress up. In her internal battle between rationality and feeling, Deryn failed to notice Alek's approach, though each footfall sent shudders through the spine of the enormous beastie, until he was almost upon her.
"Barking spiders, Alek! Don't sneak up on me like that. I almost bloody ripped your face off!" Deryn was suddenly glad that her outburst masked the blush now blooming across her face from where her thoughts had been leading her.
"I sincerely apologize Mr. Sharp for interrupting your pondering, I simply wished to remind you that you and I had a previous engagement for which we are now overdue."
"Oh cut the clart, Alek. 'Course I'll fence with you." The other boy's face broke out in a silly lopsided grin that nearly flipped her stomach right off the edge of the airship. Keeping her secret a little longer was worth it just to see that smile one more time. But, no, she had to tell him because she was a good… friend. Oh how she wished she could be more, but alas it would never be.
"Alek, there's something I have to tell you. You see, the thing is…. Oh blisters, I'm a girl!"
"W-what?" Despite the warmth of the Leviathan's skin beneath his body, Alek turned deathly pale and it appeared as if he might faint and slip off the spine of the airship. "Dylan, I don't underst—"
"Stop calling me Dylan! That's not my name. It's Deryn, Deryn Sharp. And everything else I told you about me is true."
"I see. You just happened to fail to mention your true gender. Is that all?" Alek knew the instant Dy-Deryn spoke that she spoke the truth, he knew his friend well enough to see it in her eyes. Or did he even know her at all?
"I tried to tell you before, remember in the egg room when the bloody boffin walked in?" In truth, he did remember but his face remained stiff and cold as he stood and turned away. "You won't tell will you? Alek?" But all the imposter who had called herself his friend received was the sight of his back growing smaller and smaller as he left her there, shocked in to stillness in the light of a sinking sun. But really, what else could she expect from the Archduke of Austria-Hungary?
More chapters on the way!