The next morning greeted them with an orange sun. The sky was tinted red, and Draco didn't like the look of it.

"There's an old saying that a red sky in the morning means bloodshed to be found within twenty-four hours," he mused, looking up.

Bowen laced up the saddle and climbed on. "Well if there's going to find bloodshed, we might as well let it find us. I'm not in the mood to go find any. Let's make tracks; I want to reach the next town by nightfall."

Aster got up and realized that her hip was sore. She rubbed it, wincing at the pricking pain.

"Anything the matter?" Draco called from where he was with Bowen.

"Just my hip. I must have slept on it wrong," she replied. She grimaced as she eyed the horse, imagining its rocking motion that would only help to cause more pain.

Draco eyed her hip and got a strange look on his face. He shrugged and waited for Aster to finally climb on the steed and for Bowen to start riding. The dragon pushed off the ground and flew on ahead.

"So, what do you two talk about at night…when I fall asleep?" Bowen asked, trying to start civil conversation.

"Oh, not much. We talk about whatever comes to mind, I guess. But we didn't say much last night. I could tell he was tired and probably didn't want to chat." She looked down at the passing ground, trying to control the dull ache in her joints.

"Sore?" Bowen asked, reading her mind.

"A little bit."

"So why didn't you ask to ride him, instead of this shaking horse?" Bowen turned around and inquired.

Aster's face went slack and she stared at him, amazed.

"How could you even think of anyone asking Draco for that? It's a sin for any human to ride a dragon! It belittles the pride of such an ancient and powerful race! How dense are you?" she demanded.

"It was just a thought. Jeez, you'd think I killed him or something, the way you react!" the knight commented snidely.

"Well I for one don't see why you need to use 'killing the dragon' as your example," she returned.

"It was just-…! Forget it! Just forget it, alright? Get off my back and shut up."

"I'm not on your back, and I don't see the horse complaining that I'm riding on his!"

"Just…just get off and go home!" Bowen spat.

A beat of silence passed. Aster sat still, not sure she heard him.

"You heard me! Get off my horse and go home! No one asked you to follow; no one wanted you to come along anyway! Just go home!" he bellowed, almost pushing her off.

She slid down and glared at him. "So you think you're better than Draco? You're only friends because one of you can't kill the other!" she yelled.

He eyed her suspiciously.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you owe him your life! Every night that you fall asleep next to him and he doesn't cut your throat is a time when you're entrusting yourself to his good humors!"

"And every night he falls asleep next to me is a time when he owes me! So we're equals!"

"Equals?" She laughed darkly. Tell me, knight! You may think so, but does he?"

Her words cut into him more than she saw. But he tried to evade the rest of the heated argument by sending her off.

"I told you to leave. Be gone! Live out your life knowing you've fulfilled your promise to both of us!"

Her face lit up. She remembered the whole promise now. She had sworn her life…to both of them.

With a scowl, she gave him one final edict before turning away. "You may feel that you two are equals, and he might say it, but I don't believe a bit of it. I'll leave, but not without telling you this: when you next see Draco, look into his eyes. You'll be able to tell whether or not he thinks you're in the same class as him."

And with that, she spun around and stomped off to the east.