Page 5 of Whispers of the Dragon
“It’s fine,” Eira said, knowing what was coming.
Her grandmother went to touch the dark hollow under her granddaughter’s eyes before she quickly remembered not to make contact. “You need tea to make you sleep. Not sleeping makes you look old and ugly. Then you’ll never get a husband.”
“Yes, you must get a husband.” Grandpa nodded in firm agreement.
“I do notneedahusband,” Eira told them for the millionth time, not taking any offense to how they were raised to believe. “I have you both, anyway.”
“We’re old and ugly,” her grandma stated. “You can do better. You’re still young and beautiful.”
Eira no longer thought of herself as beautiful, but instead of talking about herself, she laughed, taking the topic off her. “That’s not true, Grandma. You’re beautiful.”
Her grandmother didn’t yell this time, speaking in an octave only Eira could hear. “Okay, only he’s gotten old and ugly.”
This time, Eira had to stifle her laughter, not wanting her grandfather to ask what was so funny.
Sitting down, Grandma began filling up her own cup. “You need to go to the market and get things for your tea tonight. We’re all out.”
Eira didn’t doubt they were, but she knew why shereallywanted her to go to the market.
Blowing into her hot cup, her grandmother couldn’t help a sly smile. “And tell Kenji I said hello.”
“Yes, you must go get a husband.” Grandpa nodded in firm agreement, revealing his wife’s true intentions, as if they weren’t obvious enough already.
Oh my.
Refraining from rolling her eyes, Eira got up, grabbed her tote, and headed for the door.
“My bones are telling me rain is coming, so don’t be gone long, Eira, I want you hom—”
“Okay, okay, I got it!” she yelled back over her shoulder, in a rush to get going.
Quickly, she headed into town for the little market she frequently visited throughout the week, thanks to her grandmother. It was as if she fully expected her granddaughter to simply bring a husband home one day.
She scoffed, blowing a raspberry.First of all …
If Eira did want to bring home a husband—which I don’t—it wasn’t that easy. It wasn’t like men just fell into your lap.Well,not a good one, anyway. Plus, her grandparents seemed to always forget two things.
Eira looked the way she did, and she did not like to be touched.
Hell, she didn’t know much about having a husband, let alone having a boyfriend, but she was pretty sure looking and/or touching was frequently involved. Therefore, she was destined to die alone. Frankly, she had come to terms with that years ago.
While she used to dream about getting married one day, like most girls, she no longer did. These days, she only dreamed about finding peace.
When she entered the market, she kept her head down, trying to conceal her face as much as she could with her veil of hair as she went through the stands, buying the few things her grandmother needed to make her special bedtime tea.
The worst part was her hair didn’t help much from people staring at her as the color wasn’t common in these parts of the earth. She was just thankful not many people lived in the village, and most were used to the sight of her by now, avoiding eye contact with her as much as possible.
The last thing she needed was a root, and it had the young stand owner smiling from ear to ear when she came to buy one from him.
“Hello, Eira.”
“Hi, Kenji.” She tried her best to smile politely. It was easy at home with her grandparents, but out and with people she didn’t know or trust, it was hard.
“More root again?” he asked, continuing to smile.
“Yes, please.”
When he handed her the wrapped-up root, she knew Kenji was on her grandmother’s side, as he always seemed to give her the smallest bundle so she’d have to come back.
