Page 61 of The Baby Dragon Cafe
Aiden faced his father, clearing his throat. “Soon,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. He didn’t want to talk about it then, in front of everybody.
Luckily, Emmeline could tell. She changed the subject, and the conversation moved on.
Saphira didn’t ask Aiden about it after dinner, though he could sense that perhaps she wanted to. He wanted to discuss it with her as well, but not yet—not before he could understand exactly what it was he wanted to say. Sometimes he needed to hold onto thoughts or emotions in his head for a bit before letting them out into the world.
He appreciated that she didn’t push him, not even the next day. He was still trying to figure out how to talk to her about it and had anxiety regarding the entire subject, which resulted in him getting hardly any sleep all night.
Mount Echo was where baby dragons went for their first flight. There was a kind of priory up there, of those who held the ancient knowledge and rituals pertaining to dragons. There were rituals involved with a baby dragon’s first flight—very important customs that his mother called him specifically to remind him about.
He didn’t tell his mother this, but Aiden didn’t want to do it. It would help Sparky with flying, yes, but he feared what that would entail for Sparky’s future as a Sterling dragon, the inevitable dangers of racing.
At the same time, Aiden couldn’t stunt Sparky’s growth, either.
Hence the dilemma.
The next evening, when Aiden met Saphira in the garden for Sparky’s training, he was fidgeting, the underlying worry distracting him. They sat on the grass in the sunlight, basking in the warm weather.
Her idea of a playpen was brilliant, and now that the garden was cleaned up and refurbished, he was just designing the space to have different sections for the baby dragons to play in and socialize.
At the moment, their baby dragon was attempting to climb the fence he’d set up along the perimeter of the garden, and Saphira chased after him, pulling him back.
“Sparky, no,” she ordered, giving him a piece of wood to play with to distract him away from the fence. She turned back to rejoin Aiden on the grass.
“I didn’t think about this when I had the idea for the playpen,” she said to Aiden. “Maybe we need a higher fence?”
He made a thoughtful sound as she sat down across from him.
“I’ll think on a solution,” he said, though he could hardly come up with anything at the moment, he was so preoccupied. That spoke to the level of tension he was feeling, for usually when he was around Saphira she was all he could focus on.
“Hm.” She was looking at him whilst contemplating something, twirling blades of grass between her fingers. Saphira pulled her knees up, bumping hers against his.
“What’s wrong?” Saphira asked. She had noticed, of course she had. He was always startled to find how well she could read him, yet also relieved, as if he no longer needed to pretend, as if he could just be.
He hesitated, and she cocked her head. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” she said, somehow knowing that he needed a little push to get out of his head.
He was in constant awe of her. Even now, she looked radiant, resplendent, sitting in the sunlight, her dark hair pulled back in a loose braid, tendrils framing her face. She had such positive energy. It was mind-boggling.
“How are you so happy?” he asked, curious. “You have no one.”
The words stumbled out before he could stop them. Her face flashed with hurt, eyes welling with tears. Guilt knifed through him. God, he was the worst!
“I’m sorry, that was terribly put,” he said, grimacing. “I meant it in a good way, I promise.”
“It’s good … that I’m alone?”
“No! Of course not. That’s out of your control. But how you react to it all, thatisin your control, and I’m astonished by it. How you choose to be happy, despite, despite.”
She processed what he’d said, no longer looking hurt, which was a relief. “One of my favorite poems,” she told him, “says to love life, to love it even if you don’t have the heart for it. It’s something Nani-Ma would say to me, and I think it’s true. You have to make the active decision to be content.”
“That’s beautiful.” Again, he was awestruck. She never ceased to amaze him.
Saphira gave him a peculiar look. “Is that what’s been bothering you?”
“Ah … no.” He took a deep breath. “Do you remember my father mentioning something about Mount Echo at dinner the other night?”
“Yes,” she replied. “I figured all the brooding lately had something to do with that.” But she wasn’t complaining, only teasing. He smiled.
“It’s where some of the older Drakkon families take their baby dragons for their first flight,” he explained. “It’s this really ancient tradition.”
