There she is.
Yara glared from the balcony of the Yu home. The floors needed replacing; the drapes mended to keep out the cold air. The bitter wind slapped her wrinkled face with its icy hands, and yet she was unmoved.
There she is.
The girl took no notice of the elderly woman glaring at her from above. Why would she? Who was Yara to she, after all? The young girl in the fine, purple gown with elaborate silver peonies wrinkled her nose before spinning on her heels. Yara couldn't help the faint smile grow over her blue lips as she watched the girl draw back the fine drapes of the royal cart, coming face to face with the purple dragonling. Though she said nothing, Yara knew the girl was reprimanding the dragonling. The dragon made a tinkling noise; Yara knew that meant they were laughing. The girl rolled her eyes as the dragonling ducked below the window of the cart, disappearing out of sight as the village elder's wife strolled across to greet the girl.
Kai. That was the dragonlings name. Anh told her once the intended name. This dragonling was once promised to their child should they amount to being a Dragon Keeper.
Once was promised.
A screech behind her alarmed her of his presence. Though the jarring of the ancient door sliding across miniscule pebbles in the joints irritated her – yet another thing that needed repair in her home – she dared not look back. She knew who it was, anyway.
The door jarred and screeched again as the boy wrestled to shut it behind him. When they finally had their privacy, the boy remained silent and contemplative.
The elder's wife was taking up the girl's time. Yara read the girl's face. She was feigning politeness. Yara could practically smell the elder's wife brown nosing the girl, attempting to woo her with flattery and gain favour. Word spread quickly that she travelled with a dragon; and the village of Lu Lin needed all the luck a dragon could bestow these days.
"Grandma?" The boy whispered in a subdued voice.
The elder finally was leaving the girl alone. The girl heaved in deeply. Yara smirked, spitefully. She knew how the girl felt. Many, many folk feigned kindness towards Anh and the other Dragon Keeper's back in the day. Sometimes it was genuine. Others, plain greedy. It was a daily irk of Anh's life then.
A deep breath from behind her. "Grandma – "
"I want you out." Yara seethed through her teeth, not looking back at him.
The boy didn't stir. She fixed her scarf over her head to hide her baldness and reprimanded him again. "Out."
The boy took his time before acknowledging her distance. He was thoughtful like that. "Does it not please you?" He asked in a hushed voice.
The pit in Yara's stomach backflipped. "No." She said, turning to face him. He was meek and small for his age. His healthy growth stunted from poor nutrition the past few years. Though she never could say how, she knew it was her fault that the village, and the prosperity that was once bestowed upon her family, were thrown into damnation because of her. It all began after her last encounter with a necromancer.
Yet, it was all worth it.
Her grandson, Jun, eyed her intensely. He had questions. He had every right, too. Yara's lips tightened, refusing to answer.
"They're taking me to a hunting lodge just outside of Mang." He said fiddling with a cord around his waist. "To look after the dragonling. They're paying me to caretake for him, and we can finally start fixing the house and – "
"You're not a Dragon Keeper." Yara said bluntly.
The air between them in the damp, cold room was heavy. The boy's lips quivered as he met her eyes, but he intended to keep on with his justifications. "I have most of the skills – "
"Some." Yara corrected.
" – The position was meant to go to our family anyway – "
"To a Dragon Keeper in our family," Yara emphasized. "Yes, that was Lu Yu and Danzi's hope for our line. But you are not a Dragon Keeper."
The boy's eyes squeezed shut as he hastily took a seat across from her. The pressure to go was a lot for him, and yet the one force who advised him not too was the one who could not tear him away. "Why would they choose a girl?" Jun asked in almost a whisper.
"Because she is a Dragon Keeper. It's her right."
"But woman can't be Dragon Keepers?"
Yara cocked her head to the side. The veil over her head threatened to slip off, but it remained faithful. "No, Jun. Women have never been Dragon Keepers; but there was never anything to suggest they can't be."
She glanced out over the balcony. She couldn't see the girl anymore, but knew she was below still based on the pitter pattering of feet and the fleeting chiming noises that indicated conversation. "Do you hear that?" Yara asked. The boy nodded but Yara knew better. "Not the bell sounds he makes – what he says. Do hear him?"
Jun's dark eyes betrayed him. He looked down in shame and shook his head.
"She can." Yara continued. "I've been around dragons and Dragon Keepers long enough to know when they're speaking to one another. I also know they're left-handed, have special skills. Both things she clearly has. But more than that, do you know how I am so sure?"
Yara took Jun's hands in her own. His fingers were long and skinny compared to her. What gave away their relation were the callouses on their fingertips from years of working with boiling water to harvest silk from cocoons. She brought his hand over his heart.
Jun trembled slightly under the fleeting moment of affection. His eyes narrowed, lost in confusion.
Yara held his hand there with her own and whispered, "She feels it here. The bond, Jun. Wherever she goes, her heart is connected to that dragon. Anyone who disapproves of her can see that no matter how they deny it. But you don't have that." She removed her hand from his and spelled it out for him. "Because you're not a Dragon Keeper."
Jun squeezed his eyes shut. Yara regarded the meek boy. They had once been close. That was before her brush with the necromancer, cutting her families ties to dragons once and for all – or so she thought. The universe toyed with Yara in response, showing her the meaning of irony when Jun took an interest in dragons. Partly inspired by their families sudden thrust into poverty and desperate to find a solution, but also, deep down, because it was in his blood. He should have been a Dragon Keeper. But he wasn't. And Yara wanted so desperately for him to see that.
They had once been close. That was before her brush with the necromancer, cutting her familial ties from dragons once and for all - or so she thought. The universe toyed with Yara in response, showing her the meaning of irony. A surprise visitor came by months later with an interest in Jun.
A surprise visitor who brought with him a little girl.
And, consequently, when Jun began to become very interested in dragons. Partly inspired by their family's sudden thrust into poverty and desperate to find a solution, but also, deep down, because it was in his blood. He should have been a Dragon Keeper. But he wasn't. And Yara wanted so desperately for him to see that.
Yara had cast a distance of mountains and oceans between the two since their surprise visitor years earlier…
She was the only one who had argued for him to not go to Ming Yang Lodge and train with the Dragon Keeper. She was against the idea from the beginning. For a fleeting moment, she believed she had finally gotten through to him and almost reached out to offer him her hand.
Jun stared up at the old woman and under his breath he said "I don't understand you. Anh was a Dragon Keeper. You even flew on Lu Yu – many times!" He shook his head.
"They killed my husband."
"One dragon did." Jun added. "The others stayed by your side and fought for you…"
"They're unnatural."
"Is that why you hate dragons so much?"
Yara scoffed. "Hated them?" She added, "No, Jun, I worshipped them."
She looked back out over the balcony. The girl and the dragonling were gone now but their presence in her heart lingered. "Every person in my village growing up knew of dragons in the nearby mountains and longed for their fates to be tied with them. And of all the wise merchants, the pretty women and brave warriors of the Qin Kingdom, it was mine who's fate was bound by a dragon."
An unfamiliar sensation grew upon her lips as she spoke softly and fondly. It was a smile. "I still remember flying on dragon back with Anh. The first time. It was New Years Eve and on a whim he convinced The Black Thunder to take us to Jade Mountain. I'd never been so close to touching a star before that night." Her eyes sparkled at the memory of the diamonds in the sky. "He loved The Black Thunder. He was his best friend; they were bound to one another. And still, The Black Thunder killed him out of spite of me. Only an unnatural animal could love someone and then do such a thing."
She could see Jun visibly shaken from the tale. He knew how it ended. "My husband was a corpse and Hei Lei a self-appointed King among dragons. When he declared Anh's murder he celebrated by proclaiming leadership over the dragons, and one by one, each abandoned their Dragon Keeper and joined him. And now there's only one left – only one dragon and one Dragon Keeper standing against the odds, and they are both out there right now."
Yara then leaned forward. "You won't last."
"I can try." Jun whispered. "If it brings our family out of this rut then it's worth it."
"This lie is not worth it." Yara seethed between her teeth.
The silence that fell between them was palpable. It almost brought Yara to a sinister chuckle. It had been the longest conversation they had had in years.
Jun swallowed, looking once more like a boy and not the young man he wanted to be. "I suppose you feel like history is repeating itself. But honestly grandma - what harm could Anh's ghost do to us that we haven't said or done to each other a thousand times already?"
Yara pursed her lips. A stinging sensation built behind her eyes. "You want to know the terrible truth, Jun? I don't even remember what he looks like anymore." Jun's eyes widened at the confession. A lone tear escaped from the corner of the old woman's eye. "All I know is that dragon took him from me. And not even our entire family – yourself included – could ever fill that hole that he left in my heart."