The Bird and The Dragon

”Are you serious?” Ayu asked when she saw her father’s clothing. “You can’t even…do you know how to use that?”

Kvenrei was standing by his grey horse wearing a jacket and trousers of fiber-enriched cloth, complete with armor plates on the chest, knee guards, gloves, and a helmet. The man drew his sword showing its glasslike, blue shine. “I do and you will learn when this is over.”

“Young Kven used to be a promising fighter. I hope there is a chance to see what skills he has developed,” Captain Pakhui said from his saddle. The captain lounged on his horse displaying his proficiency in riding and lack of respect to Kvenrei’s authority.

Ayu stared at his father in disbelief. “I prefer a dress and playing a maiden in distress! Certainly, Uncle Patrik will let us stay if we handle this sensibly. He has always behaved with honor and respect, unlike some others.”

“I am sensible. This is the only sensible thing to do,” Kvenrei said with a grim smile and mounted. “Let’s go and talk some sense to the strategej.”

The two rode away bantering like the years separating them had disappeared. Ayu breathed deeply to calm herself and Tiago appeared behind the corner where he had been listening.

“Are you coming to watch that?” the boy asked.

“Where is Liida?”

“Already in the tower.” The house had a tiny tower intended for sightseeing and serving afternoon tea. It had no defensive purpose but provided a sight over the gardens and toward the road, where the two groups of riders had stopped. Patrik was on legal business - at least namely - and he was suitably disappointed when his access to the estate had been denied. Pakhui had earlier mentioned that this had been the standing order as long as Ikanji had been alive.

The three youngsters watched their father riding.

“He looks like he knows what he is doing,” Tiago said with respect in his voice and Ayu realized the clothing business was like a distant past where she didn’t want to return.

“Is he doing that because of us or…is that the real him?” Liida voiced their shared feeling. The man riding with a sword on his back and a rifle hanging beside his saddle didn’t resemble the idea of the absent father they used to have.

“He’s been like that since mom died,” Ayu said. In the distance Kvenrei met Patrik. Their speech couldn’t be heard in the tower, but the men talked and the strategej gestured towards the estate. The discussion seemed to go on politely and gestures told about the condolences given and accepted.

“Maybe Dad can talk him over,” Tiago said hopefully.

“He should, he is a border lord and an estate owner,” Liida answered absentmindedly, her attention given to the horses and their equipment.

“He created all the business contracts in the southern countries,” the boy continued.

“I doubt they were created using only words,” Ayu said estimating Kvenrei based on what he had earlier learned about his doings.

“But if Patrik wants this place why he doesn’t just surround us and attack?” Tiago wondered.

“The strategej must first ask politely,” Ayu started, but Liida interrupted.

“The terrain is sculpted to prevent a cavalry attack. The only reasonable route is the main road, and it is fortified. Captain sure has the outer circles occupied.” The siblings gazed at Liida in astonishment.

“Alright.”

“I take it you have received tutoring on other subjects besides riding,” Ayu said.

“I have been asking questions and the people here are happy to explain things. What do you talk about during your lessons?”

Tiago and Ayu shook their heads. In Sandau, Liida had been interested in boys and dresses and getting permission to join the social circles, but their mother’s death had changed her, bringing out a new, harder side.

The discussion on the road had ended and the two groups watched each other in tense silence. The strategej had about fifty men with him but Liida’s ideas made Ayu to look around for hidden foes. The men were in a loose formation along the road. Pakhui had his soldiers, the border guards with him. They numbered thirty.

Near the estate the road was visible in the scenery, a sandy line crossing the country. The estate was on a hill, surrounded and shielded by its gardens.

Patrik’s brown horse walked forward when the strategej commanded. Captain Pakhui touched his sword, deciding the weapon to use against the strategej, but Kvenrei pointed to his brother shaking his finger in a denying gesture. Patrik rode on, air shimmering around him, but much clearer was a line reaching downwards from the sky. It was like a fracture in the world, reaching the ground in front of Patrik’s horse, raising a pillar of dust.

The horse pranced backward. The strategej glanced at the sky and the road where a line of burned earth and molten sand was drawn, marking a clear border. The men on both sides looked warily around, but Kvenrei waved toward the sky and smiled.

“What was it? It came from the sky,” Tiago nearly jumped with barely constrained enthusiasm.

Ayu remembered her short meeting with the dragon. “Lady Agiisha has chosen her side.”

“How would you know that?” Liida asked sharply.

“I saw when Kvenrei talked with the dragon.”

“Don’t lie. You have only ever seen pictures of dragons. Was Dad talking to a painting?” Liida continued.

“It happened when Kvenrei took me to the theater. His real work is with the internal security organization.”

Liida seemed skeptical, but Tiago’s eyes shone brightly. “I always thought Dad was a smuggler and a gambler, but this beats it!”

Patrik’s group left following the road and the siblings rushed to the front yard to meet their father. Marie brought Meina there. Kvenrei rode in and made his horse step an extra circle to show off to his kids. He jumped to the ground and hugged them.

“Are we safe now?”

“Have you met the dragon?”

“What the strategej wanted?” Liida and Tiago were asking questions.

“Slow down, I’ll try to answer.” Kvenrei stepped to Marie to take Meina. The little girl held on to her father sleepily, she had just awoken from a nap.

They walked to a bench and sat down beside a tall flowering bush.

“It was my half-brother, strategej Patrik. He had heard about the…deceased and gave his condolences. He also claimed the estate for himself. I didn’t accept it and mistress Agiisha emphasized my opinion. And that was it. We also talked about the murderer. Patrik took this all badly, but I’m sure he won’t openly question the dragon’s will.”

“How does Lady Agiisha know about that?” Ayu asked watching his father closely. The man grinned boyishly, but Ayu noted how thin, pale, and tired he looked.

“She just knows. She visited me.”

“Like here?” Tiago asked.

“Yes, in her human form. Your grandfather knew Agiisha, and I met her when I was your age, Tiago. Her visit here was a brief one, I had no time to make introductions.”

“Did she fly in from the space?” the boy continued.

“I don’t think so. I have only ever seen her moving by walking with two legs.”

“What she was after?” Ayu felt that this was a part of a larger whole. Kvenrei was too good at keeping up masks and fakes and very bad at working with the items he had hidden behind them.

“She wanted me to find Jenet for her, alive.”

“The dragon is going to punish him,” Liida said.

“She might say so, but I don’t believe it. I don’t trust Agiisha, and I say this aloud so you can do the same. Neither trust in strategej Patrik.”

“Is he still trying something?”

“But the dragon is on our side?”

“Who can we trust?”

Kvenrei waited for the flood of questions to stop and removed Meina’s fingers from the handle of his sword. The girl was impossibly curious. “Mistress Agiisha stands alone. Patrik is on the dragon’s side, at least in most items. Commander Anhava has visions of strengthening the New Freedom and Patrik works to bring those visions alive. But those ideas are not compatible with the dragon’s opinions. Or that is what she says.”

“What you are for the dragon?” Ayu’s question surprised Kvenrei.

“Probably she considers my existence to be mildly hilarious. I ran away from home to sit one winter by her feet. I was young and stupid and imagined I was in love.”

“Those poems were not a metaphor?” Ayu said in disbelief.

“Unfortunately not. They were terrible. Luckily, she did not take my vows seriously. As I said, she thinks I am funny.”

“Was grandfather also funny?” Liida asked.

“No. He was too intelligent and skilled and thought he was equal to the dragon in some areas. I believe Agiisha is lonely in her great matrix. All her siblings were left in the old world.”

“Woah, grandfather was a friend to the dragon,” Tiago said.

“No, not a friend. But they remembered the same world and history. Agiisha wants Jenet of Ardara alive because that woman is a keepsake. A replacement to Ikanji.”

“But the murderer was a man?” Liida frowned.

“Yes…” Kvenrei stopped to think. “Jenet’s memories are in the body of Aldermei Veringe and he was a young man. Agiisha called Jenet a she and it makes sense considering how he or she moves. Anyway, my solid plan is to transfer Jenet’s existence into the past tense, regardless of his or her gender.”

Ayu opened her mouth. After the incident at the theater, she had done her best to gather information about her father’s family the pursuit leading her deep into politics. “Strategej Patrik is planning to increase his influence and holding this estate would benefit him together with the loyalty of its guards. It would have a great symbolic value.”

“True. Your grandfather forsook the hero’s crown, but Patrik wants to polish and wear it.”

After the rebellion, the ainadu in Watergate had chosen a democracy, but in every conflict, the talk about a strong leader would arise. It would be easy to guide the tentacles of the southern wars towards the north and it would be Patrik’s cue to claim his father’s position.

”What shall we do now?” Tiago asked straightening Meina’s shirt. He adored the baby sister. “Will you ride to Sandau?”

“No. We will continue like this. This is my home and your home too if you want.”

“But of course, you will claim your heritage in public and inform the nation about the deaths,” Ayu said seriously.

“Probably. The dragon can do the proclaiming, she is good at such,” Kvenrei said quietly, he didn’t want a part in the ceremonies and politics that would follow. He had postponed sending the message and he didn’t even know who to send it. Ikanji had spent the last decades separated from society or at least done his socializing with a fake identity.

“It is politics. You must take the initiative or someone else does,” Ayu snapped.

“He was a national hero, that is true. But for your generation, he was just a historical person. Even people of my age believe he died a long time ago. Your grandfather didn’t participate in any decision-making and I will continue that tradition.”

“You already have a role, whether you like it or not,” Ayu said.

“Not really…” Kvenrei shook his head. The responsibilities felt heavy. “I am just a widower to the clothes merchant. Your father.”