…or, Green With Envy
Barley had said she was going to be working with a mockdragon, so I headed for the force enclosure where they were flying around freely. I found her not far from that, surrounded by a group of children and students. The children were watching the green mockdragon she was leading around. So were some of the students.
It had a muzzle on its snout that was attached to a golden cord. The other end was attached to a leather bracer on her wrist. The string was solid to her and the loop on the back of the harness, but intangible to the creature. It skittered and jumped around on the ground without getting tangled.
I thought it was wingless, but then it hunkered down and pushed off the ground with all four legs. Its forelimbs spread out and the wing membranes flapped out to catch the air. It glided around over the heads of the gathered crowd, swooping to build speed and then flapping its wings to gain altitude and try to pull away from Barley.
“You can tell the mockdragon is not a true dragon because it doesn’t have separate wings,” Barley said to the crowd. “Like birds and bats and other natural winged creatures of the second age of creation, its wings are actually its front legs. The first mockdragons were created by elven wizards who wished to harness the power of true dragons for familiars, using life essences from lesser dragons and lizard eggs. Although they were not a natural creature, mockdragons were able to establish themselves in the wild and now, hundreds of thousands of years later, their draconian traits are one of the most prevalent reminders of the age long ago when dragons ruled the world.”
The excitable little green thing had exhausted itself. It was gliding lower and lower, flapping its wings less often. Barley held out her arm and it landed on the long bracer. Walking very upright, she walked over to a stand where three cages were hanging at arm level. One contained a gold mock. Another had a silver. She put the green in the third one.
“I’m going to take a little break so these guys can rest themselves,” she announced. “But if you come back in fifteen minutes, I’ll be taking Aurora out for a feeding.”
“Wow, you’re good at that,” I said, stepping forward as the crowd broke up.
“Oh, hello, James,” she said. “Thank you. I should be, though. I’ve been saying it for hours.”
“That was good, too, but I meant the handling of it,” I said. “The mock.”
“Oh, that,” she said. She gave a shrug, and tossed her hair. “That’s natural. I wasn’t sure how well I’d get along with mocks, since dracoforms are outside our purview and these guys weren’t a natural creation to begin with, but I guess there are enough true lizardy bits in them.”
“That’s good,” I said. Barley’s skin had been a light bronze to begin with. Her tan had deepened under the sun. She had to be used to that. The tan lines would probably a first, though. “How are you doing?”
“Good,” she said. “It’s fun. Outside of ceremonies, we really only help with animals when they have to be rounded up quick during emergencies, or when they get into our fields. It’s been nice getting to use my talents in class, and now I get to stretch myself a bit and deal with completely different creatures. And the mocks really are interesting. They have different personalities, just like the barn cats.”
“It sounded like you didn’t spend a lot of time in the barn,” I said.
She blushed.
“Oh, well, I probably did more exploring around the valley than most nymphs ever do, the last year or two,” she said. “I tried to stay out of the way, since I didn’t really know if I was supposed to. Nobody ever said I couldn’t leave my field, though, or that the barns and storehouses were off limits. One time, I walked all the way up the side of the valley to—oh, you don’t want to hear this. It’s stupid.” She ducked her head. “I’ve actually left the valley now and I’m still impressed with myself for peeking outside.”
“It’s impressive that you did it,” I said. “I really thought a nymph couldn’t leave her focus.”
“Most never think to,” Barley said. She scowled. I knew what was coming. “It certainly never occurred to Amaranth before she took the idea from me.”
“Barley, she can’t take anything from you that you don’t give her,” I said.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Barley said. “I probably should have kept my mouth shut until I was gone. I don’t know why I thought I needed to explain myself, or say goodbye to her.”
“Not what I meant,” I said. “You can’t undo that, but you don’t have to let it wreck the next four years for you. She’s here. She stole your idea. So what? It’s not like she took your place. You’re still here. She’s hanging out with a bunch of backstabbing bitches while you get to walk around with a tiny dragon on your wrist.”
“She also stole my—my opportunity,” she said. “With Mack. She did take my place there. I don’t think it would have ever occurred to her that we could be interested in one person, as a person, and she not only stole my idea but she stole my one person. Am I supposed to just get over that, James?”
“I don’t think that’s any real loss, from what I’ve seen of Mack,” I said. “What did you see in her?”
“Need,” Barley said. “She needs to be loved, and, well, I’m made of love. It seemed like a perfect fit.”
“That’s all, though?” I asked. “The heart wants what it wants and all that, but is that all there is to it? Did you like something about her?”
“I didn’t get to know her that well,” Barley said. “But there might have been something. Anyway, everybody else gets to have a go at her.”
“Yeah, she sounds like a real winner,” I said. “Considering the choices she made, I really think you’re better off.”
“It just doesn’t seem fair—”
“Fair? They all have to live with each other, and you don’t,” I said. “If anybody’s getting screwed over, it’s them.”
“But even still, they have a place they belong,” she said. “And even if they’re all horrible to each other, that’s more than I have.”
“You’ve got a place. With much cooler people, even.”
“Not really,” she said. “You’re very sweet to let me stay, but it’s your place.”
“What, didn’t Violet talk to you?” I asked.
“Violet?” Barley said. “She kind of waved at me, but I was feeding Verdant. She kind of wandered elsewhere.”
“Oh,” I said. “Well, Violet wanted to talk to you about something. So, handling meat doesn’t bother you?”
“I could make a joke there,” Barley said. “But no, it doesn’t.” She shrugged. “It’s part of the natural order. The world wouldn’t work if animals stopped eating each other. It’s just not for me. Not that I haven’t been curious, every once in a while.”
“Why can’t you?” I asked. “I mean, your body looks human enough.”
“It is human enough, really,” she said. “It’s just a divine edict.”
“Does Mother Khaele actually preach vegetarianism?”
“No,” she said. “I mean, her worshippers, maybe more of them are vegetarian or vegan than the general population, but it’s not required.”
“So why are you guys veg-only?”
She shrugged.
“Just the way it is,” she said. “I don’t think it matters, though.”
“Can’t miss what you’ve never had, you mean?”
“No, I mean, I don’t think it would matter if I did have meat,” Barley said. “Especially now, but even before. Amaranth is the golden child, don’t you know? The Great Mother just drops everything to pop in for tea. Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I’d wonder which was the goddess and which was the servant.”
“That’s, uh,” I said, at a loss for words. “Wow. That’s, um, a little close to blasphemy, isn’t it?”
“Maybe,” Barley said. “If Mother Khaele notices or cares, that’ll be a first.”
“I guess there could be some nice things about having such an easygoing deity,” I said.
“Well, if she’s done with me, I’m done with her,” Barley said. Not sure what that was a response to. She didn’t seem to have heard what I said. She turned to me. “You want to go get a burger tonight?”
“Uh, are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Don’t care if it is or not,” she said.
“Well, anyway, I’m going to the skirmish match,” I said. “Iason’s on the team.”
“Oh, right,” she said. “I’m supposed to be healing, but I think I’ll skip it. Amaranth signed up at the same time as me, and I really don’t want to see her face right now. I don’t think they’ll miss me. It’s all illusionary, anyway. The only real injuries are from accidents.”
“The weapons are fake, but things can get pretty brutal without weapons,” I said.
“Oh, yes, but it’s not like they rely on student healers,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
“Well, if you’re not going to be healing, do you want to come with me?” I said.
“No, I think that might be a little, I don’t know, tacky?” she said. “If I have a chance I’ll tell them I can’t make it, just on the off chance that it does leave them short-handed. I wouldn’t want to turn around and show up in the stands.”
“Yeah, that’s probably good thinking,” I said.
“There she is!” Barley said suddenly. The same smitten look on her face she’d had earlier told me who she’d spotted before I turned and saw the purple hair. She waved wildly. “Violet! Hey, Violet!”
Barley missed the quick grimace before Violet smiled and waved back Not comfortable with a nymph having a crush on her, I guessed. If I was put off by sex, that would be the last thing I wanted, too. Was she reconsidering? That would be a shame, with Barley feeling so left out.
Not fair, Violet thought, heading towards us. I haven’t changed my mind, but don’t try to guilt me into this. Wouldn’t work, but it’s still not fair.
I wasn’t trying to guilt you, I thought back. I was just thinking.
Well, think you could leave us alone for a minute?
You sure? I sent back, and felt a shove on my back.
“Hey, I’m gonna go find Marlot,” I said to Barley. “She went to look for an indoor bathroom, I think.”
“Yeah, okay,” Barley said, and she gave me a shove of her own.
Cool as it would be to have Barley next door—cool as it’d be for her to have a place—this seemed like it might be a bad idea, with the unreciprocated crush and all.
But then, I wasn’t the mindreader.
You’re damn skippy.
