Chapitre 51: Chapter 50
"Nyssara"
Nyssara lifted her silken skirts and hurried down the winding corridors of the palace, barely suppressing her giggles as she escaped her mother. She escaped her lessons once again, and even though she knew she would be punished for it later, it was worth it to her.
Not that the punishments were ever really bad - mostly it was just extra chores or grounding, anything she would heartily put up with to escape her lessons.
With a cheerful smile, she ran around the next corner, only to bump abruptly into a pair of legs. She bounced against muscular legs and almost staggered back before someone quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and kept her from falling.
She looked up and realized it was her two older brothers, Kaelon and Sylas she ran into.
"Who do we have here. Look Sylas, it looks like we caught a very naughty girl running away from mom again" Kaelon said, nudging Sylas with his elbow.
Before he could reply she squealed and hugged Sylas's waist.
"Then I guess we'll have to do our duty as good sons and put her back where she belongs," Sylas said as he stroked her hair.
She cried out briefly when she heard that, "Please, anything but that," she begged, giving them her best puppy eyes.
As expected, Kaelon and Sylas collapsed under the full weight of her watery eyes.
"All right." Sylas relented, "but why did you run away this time anyway?" He asked.
"I know my letters and my history, but every time we come back to the same thing. It's sooooo boring" she whined.
"Please hide me from her," she pleaded as she heard footsteps approaching.
Kaelon and Sylas looked at each other before coming to a compromise.
"Okay, come on" and showed her a secret hiding place that the two had found themselves years ago. They weren't sure if it was wanted, but it was there anyway and they used it whenever it was of help.
Shortly after she hid herself, her mother came around the corner.
Her eyes scanned the corridor before stopping at her two sons. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised an eyebrow.
"Have you seen your little sister?" she asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice.
Kaelon and Sylas exchanged a quick glance before Kaelon, the older of the two, raised his voice. "Nyssara? No, Mother, we haven't seen her. Perhaps she is with father or with the dragons"
Seraphine ran her eyes over her two sons, looking for signs that they were hiding something from her. But their faces remained innocent and calm. She sighed slightly and shook her head.
"I know she's here somewhere," she murmured, more to herself than to either of them. "Her lessons are important, and she can't run away from them forever."
Sylas nodded seriously, while Kaelon did his best to keep his expression neutral. "We'll let her know when we see her, Mother," he promised.
Seraphine shook her head once more, but then turned and continued down the hallway in search of her daughter.
Kaelon and Sylas waited until their mother's footsteps faded before turning to the hiding place. "You can come out, Nyssara. She's gone," Sylas whispered.
"Thank you!" she whispered, hugging her brothers quickly. "You guys are the best!"
"No problem," Kaelon said with a wry smile as he lightly tapped his little sister's head. "But we should leave now if we still want to go to Verdralys and Lūmorax. Otherwise, it will be dark and too late to ride them out." Sylas, who was always more the taciturn of the two, nodded in agreement and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"See you later, Nys. And good luck with Mother," Sylas chuckled, a cheeky grin flitting across his face.
Verdralys and Lūmorax were their dragons.
Verdralys, Kaelon's dragon, had emerald green scales and was a beautiful dragon in her eyes. He completely matched Azorath and his surroundings with his green color.
Lūmorax, Sylas' dragon, was a pale, almost golden yellow that looked especially beautiful at sunrise. The she-dragon was very much in line with Sylas' temperament, and was also very gentle with other people who were not her rider.
"You're going to the dragons, can I come with you?"
Sylas glanced quickly at Kaelon before looking back at his little sister. "Mother will have our hide if she finds out you're going with us."
"So I can come with you?"
They both shrugged their shoulders with a grin. "Sure".
"Where is Father by the way?" she asked as she strained to keep up with her older brothers. Her short legs made it a far more difficult task than it should have been.
Her father was a busy man who often had little time for them, even when he wished he did. He made an effort to delegate his work to others to make time for them whenever possible, but it was never easy.
Not only had he built an entire city out of nothing when he was the age Kaelon and Sylas were now, but he also ran a world-spanning business that delivered as far away as Asshai. Although in Asshai there didn't seem to be much demand for the drinks her father produced.
she couldn't understand the reason for that, of course.
For one thing, she had no idea about such businesses, and for another, she had never tasted the whisky herself. She didn't know what was so special about this drink, but everyone said she was too young to understand it.
A stupid statement, she thought. Why should she be too young to drink anything?
Kaelon, the oldest of the three, cast a quick glance over his shoulder and replied, "With Grandfather, as far as I know."
Nyssara furrowed her brow and paused for a moment. "With Grandpa? But he's in the capital, isn't he?" asked Sylas, who was now curious as well.
Kaelon nodded. "Right," he confirmed.
Nyssara thought for a moment. "Then dad is in the capital too?" she asked.
"Yes," Kaelon replied calmly. "It seems to be something important. But if you want to know more, you should ask Mom or Lysandra, I'm sure they'll know more."
Lysandra was not only like a second mother to Nyssara, she was actually technically her second mother. Her parents and Lysandra were united in marriage, an unusual constellation, but one that she accepted without giving it a second thought.
At the moment, however, she was much more interested in what her father was doing in the capital. He usually spent most of his time in Azorath and only left when it was really necessary, mostly for political matters that were of little interest to her.
As these thoughts swirled around in her head, she realized that they had already arrived at the large door that separated them from the dragons.
Two Warborn stood motionless at the door, serving as guards for uninvited guests.
They were there less to protect the dragons than to make sure that no one accidentally walked up to them, because who could hurt a dragon?
As Nyssara and her brothers approached, they opened the doors without saying a word.
The Warborn were creatures that always frightened her. Their appearance and their motionlessness creeped her out. She could never really explain it, but it was just the case.
When the three siblings stepped outside, they saw several dragons lying in the sun, lost in a peaceful slumber.
But they soon realized that they were not alone.
Their half-brother Lorion was sitting near their half-sister Calaena and their aunt Adema with a book in his hand.
Typical, she thought to herself. Lorion was, in her opinion, the dullest of her siblings. He had only one love and that was books.
It happened several times that he didn't show up for dinner because he was so lost in his books that he lost track of time.
Her half-sister Calaena and her aunt Adema, on the other hand, stood together by Aerthion, Adema's mighty dragon, whose shimmering scales glowed a deep blue. The two women gently stroked the dragon's rough skin as they were involved in a conversation.
Lorion finally looked up from his book as the three siblings approached.
"Look at that, someone actually made it out into the sun for once. I was worried that your skin would soon be as pale as your hair," Kaelon mocked lightly and gave Lorion a roguish grin.
Lorion looked up briefly from his book, raised an eyebrow and replied with a sharp undertone, "Some of us prefer the company of words to standing around pointlessly in the sun. But I suppose it takes a certain amount of intelligence and patience to read a book from cover to cover - two things not all of us have in abundance."
Kaelon's smile faded briefly," You think reading books makes you intelligent, huh? A book won't exactly help you much in life, but I'd be happy to let you find out for yourself"
Lorion was about to answer when Adema interrupted her, "Stop this nonsense! You are siblings and should not be fighting."
Kaelon was about to talk back to her when she raised her hand. "Don't you dare talk back to me, otherwise you can be sure that I'll tell Seraphine and Lysandra and you both don't want that."
Kaelon and Lorion immediately seemed to drop any remarks. They knew that would only cause problems.
Instead, Kaelon said nothing and headed for his dragon while Lorion resumed reading.
Adema heaved a slight sigh and said to herself, "You two, really. Why can't you just get along?"
Kaelon and Lorion had never really gotten along, and it seemed like that was something no one could easily change. Their personalities were simply too different to get along with each other in harmony.
Nyssara hoped that the two would eventually get along. Even if she did find Lorion rather boring, he was still her brother and she did not want Lorion or Kaelon to end up hurting each other.
She was about to go to her dragon when she heard a very familiar voice from behind her.
"Nyssara Baelaeron! If you don't come here at once, you can forget about ever getting close to Vertana in your lifetime".
She winced slightly when she heard her mother's voice. It seemed as if she had finally driven her mother's anger to a breaking point.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time Skip, yeah.
Yours,
Jasonenrick!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone