Ulla

Female, age 19

Stands 5'9" tall, is built delicately but has strong wiry muscles, nicely padded but could use some weight

Dark brown hair, brown skin, and bright green eyes

Rain fairy drak from DesCas

** 2023 - note she has mothered at least three children with Istvan...including Iolanthe and Iosef**

"I ... I just wish there was some way to take it all back... To just," she gasped with a sob, pressing her face into her hands, "just make it all go back to the way it was..."

"It won't be long," said a guard, from the doorway. "Make your peace soon, woman." He had an unpleasant smile on his face. His beard obscured a scar which ran up his cheek, and Ulla had realized that to take such a wound would have meant he was quite a warrior. She couldn't possibly escape through him, if she tried to fight her way out.

The prison chambers were hard to breathe in. Ulla's life had been spent outside, in the sun and the rain and wind. Here under the stone column of the prison walls, she felt almost as though she were going to collapse in on herself. It didn't help that she'd been caught aiding a group of raiders stealing supplies from a storehouse across the town, and in the fray between the raiders and the guards... she'd managed to kill one of them.

She was going to be put to death, in the morning. And it was quite late in the night already. She felt glad only for the fact that the guard seemed not to find her attractive in her grimy clothing and covered in the dirt and oil and blood of the fight. It wasn't like they would have allowed her time or the luxury to bathe - she was a pretty girl to begin with, before her stint with the raiders.

She sobbed into her hands, and heard the guard draw the thick wooden door shut and the big bolt across it to lock it. Though she had thiefly skills as well as talent in riding, she knew that she could never fight him to get out.

It turned out that she did not have to. There was a faint sound of another man's voice, quiet and low. She could not hear what he said, but the guard's voice was clear enough: "Of course you can, are you a friend come to see her before her sentance is --" he paused, "I see." His voice had grown flat, suddenly. Ulla heard his booted feet cross the stone floor, and then he drew the bolt away from the door. "Step back, prisoner," he said, harsh. "Someone here to see you."

Who could it be? This late? All her raider friends had been captured or killed already. She looked up as the door slid open, and with a sharp breath she realized that there was a rider, a Knight? here to see her? He was very tall and darkly skinned, with black hair - she could hardly make out his features because it was so late at night and there was but one oil lamp in the chamber. His eyes were eerie, black instead of white, and with a piercing blue iris. He stood with an ease and posture that showed Ulla he was a fighter, but ...

"Who are you?" She asked, her voice broken from her long hours sobbing. "Why are you here?"

"I think you might like the answer to the second question more than the first," he replied. His teeth were big, and it took a moment to realize that he was smiling widely. "I'm here on a search, you may be the one that I'm looking for."

"... search, you're not a Knight?" Ulla said, faintly disappointed. If he had been a knight, couldn't he have just taken her out of there? She had read of such things. Of course, the stories universally ended when the Knights were cornered by well-meaning Mobs trying to get their women back...

"I am," the man continued, while Ulla's head was in the clouds. "Cephari has told me that this building houses someone, afraid and alone, and you look to be both." He put his hand out and Ulla cringed back in fear. Oddly enough, so did the man, a split second later. "Sorry - I just want to," he said haltingly, and with a faintly embarrassed expression, "My name is Istvan, I ride Wind Cephari, for Dun Keiba. It is a pleasure to meet you, how about that?"

"It's better," Ulla said, giving off a relieved chuckle and trying to suppress her fear. "I'm Ulla, of the ... well, I guess I'm of the Kosh Glenn Mob." She held out her own hand, wincing with his grip because her hand had been hurt. Instead of letting go of her hand, however, when Istvan noticed her injury he peered at it intently and reached around his belt for something.

"This hasn't been treated?" He asked, "it's a deep cut."

She couldn't pull her hand away, but she did gulp back a sob. "Why would they, I'm to be executed in the morning. Who would waste supplies on a --"

"What?" Istvan said, sharply, looking at her seriously. "I did not know that." He glanced around his shoulder, at the mostly-shut door and the guard standing next to it. With a strange look, disgust perhaps? Istvan patched her hand up quickly with a kit that most riders kept with them. His seemed to be a higher quality - her skills at bartering and appraisal told her that much. Her hand felt a bit better when he'd attended to it, but he did so in silence. Until, "I will be right back."

The door swung shut with a deep sound, and closed. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."

***

Istvan walked quickly with the guard, who protested in a gruff voice. "He's asleep, sir, and even though you're a rider and all, you can't just expect to come in here and-"

"I can," Istvan said, turning his odd eyes on the man, "and I am." Harshly, Istvan banged on the door to the local constable's quarters. Since this outpost was fit for invasion and Nex, the whole place was set between two walls and thick with castle-musk. It was not quite one in the morning, when Istvan had arrived.

Groggily, and angrily, the sheriff came from his quarters and stared blearily at Istvan. "Whad'dya'wan?"

"There is a prisoner being kept here who is to be executed in the morning?" Istvan said, keeping himself in check in the presence of a ranking local.

"O'course, o'course... Ulla, thief, murder, ransom, the lot." He nodded.

"She's to come with me, to Dun Keiba." Istvan said, "to become an Aspirant."

The sheriff had absolutely nothing on his face, his expression blank. Until he started laughing. "Haw - haw! I think... I think y've misheard me, she is a thief and a murderer. Y'can't take her, she's got to pay for her crime." His eyes grew cold. "The lad she killed would have been married in a fortnight, how d'ya think his fiancee will feel if she goes free?"

"Worse if he were killed by a Nex she might fight off on a Drak," Istvan muttered.

"What in the world gives you the impression that girl is good enough for a Drak to choose her?" The guard asked, sharply. "She's a mobber!"

"Cephari chose me," Istvan said darkly, tilting his head toward the guard and narrowing his eyes. "And you do not know what I have done or had done to me. I am in a far better position to understand what to see in a girl like her than you are, and I do believe that legally I've the right to demand her release to me."

"Well, legally or not, she's to be hanged in the morn'," the sheriff said, turning back to his quarters. "If a Drak chooses a pile of cold meat, that's it's business." His door slammed shut, and Istvan stood warily by it.

"I suppose you'll be off now," the guard said, smugly.

"No, actually I will not. I will be with Ulla for the time being. Don't worry about locking the door. She will not try to escape." Istvan said, moving past the man and into the dark cell hall again. The guard started after him, but then figured - why bother. As long as the hall was guarded from the rider trying to steal her away nothing could go wrong. Let them both wallow in her sorrows, he thought.

***

Ulla was surprised to see the glum expression on Istvan's face, when he came back into the room. "You didn't get me out," she said flatly. He shook his head.

"Not yet, no," Istvan told her, sitting down by the door, "But I have a plan, and in the morning we'll do something a bit more drastic."

Her hopes suddenly swelled again. He would ride off with her sure enough!

"Tell me about yourself, Ulla. Start with your childhood, I would like to hear your story from your side, if I may. I'm sure that the story I would get from your captors is a bit different."

Ulla nodded, and began to speak.

***

She'd been born in a small village near the sea, she told him, one populated with a number of retired riders, whose Draks had valiantly given their lives to stave off Nex attacks. But the village was small enough that there were very few other children her age, so she grew up among older kids to start. But that wasn't the worst part. A Mob had come through their village shortly after her fourth birthday, she remembered the day clearly. Her voice would go quiet when she found herself remembering her mother and father being killed.

Istvan was silent. He continued occasionally to give a soft question or two, who did what in the village? Did she know many people outside her family? Did she enjoy the sea?

Those things came out easily. Of course she knew and enjoyed the sea. Its power was what kept her coming back to it, later in life. Her village was small, she told him, so she knew everyone.

She knew everyone, and all but the children were killed one day. The Mob that took over the village simply put all the bodies in a mass grave, and took over things from there. They said it would make a great base of operations. The place was out in the middle of nowhere, but had three good roads and the sea to escape to if need be. Someone said there was a small island off the coast, which could be even better - but not all of the Mob members knew how to sail or swim properly, so they would remain on the mainland.

It was clear within a few years that this Mob would operate differently than those which were placed in other portions of the world. They were hardly as bloodthirsty as the others, they were well educated. They had different ideas about how to gather their goods. While they were hardly civil when it came to 'trading' (ie: they would rather steal than bargain), they were better about preserving lives than others. They told stories of other Mobs killing everyone younger than ten, some younger than six... Of course, they used these same stories to cow the younger children into obeying the elders.

The Kosh Glenn Mob became known as a sort of haven for rogues and outlaws. But eventually, as Ulla related, the preteens became teenagers, and they began to rebel against their 'parents'. The elders of the group had to find some way of getting them to behave, or become loyal again. This was when Ulla was around ten years old, and she watched as her older cousins were indoctrinated into the Mob's thief circle.

She could hardly wait to be by their side. The lives of thieves were intriguing, fascinating. All the while Ulla was growing up, she helped with chores around the Village, by bringing water, or helping haul firewood, since there were few younger children than herself, she was somewhat doted upon by the Mob elders. Without grandchildren or children themselves, they found a replacement in her. So she enjoyed a rather plush existence in the Mob, chores were nothing out of the ordinary, and no one was exempt from them anyway. But she wasn't made to dig or work the fields. The elders had other plans for her.

They first put a sword in her capable hands when she was eleven, but she didn't much care for the weapon. Though she learned how to use it, it wasn't one she felt comfortable with. It left her too exposed, and she was better at running than fighting. The fencers and weaponsmasters decided to hand her over to the thieves. There, she thrived. Her education in how to appraise goods was thorough, and usually meant that she sat in on bargaining table discussions. Sometimes she was allowed to help get people involved with the 'trading' in the first place, playing the role of a young waif. It did not hurt that she was a young waif.

In the meantime, while supply runs were raided, while the sedate village life got into a pattern... Ulla dreamed. She would dream of Draks and Knights, remembering the fanciful stories that were told around campfires, told by her parents and by the Mob elders as well. Their stories were a little different, but not by much.

Ulla's love of Draks could have proven fatal more than once, however. Her affinity for walking up to the right person at the right time nearly lost the Mob their village once, and it was the only time she was truly punished for a misdeed against the elders.

"I hadn't known," Ulla said in the darkness of pre-dawn, "a Drak and its knight had landed nearby, I think they just wanted to see about fish or something we could trade with them. But they thought that the old Villagers were still there. And I didn't really ... I wasn't sure what I should have told him. My foster father, Narak," she pulled in a breath - it was a mixture of anxiety and sadness - "he and his wife managed to get the Knight to leave. And I was ..."

Istvan watched Ulla's body language, and gently moved aside her vest, looking under it to her shoulder. There was a brand, a welted scar in the shape of a type of shark-tooth. He put the cloth back down - Ulla hadn't resisted.

"I can think of worse punishments," Istvan said, quietly. "But I don't want to go into them, either. We have a decent amount in common, Ulla. I want to promise you that I can get you out of here, but... I don't want to have to break that promise either."

She nodded, simply. There was nothing else to say about that.

"Tell me how you got to be here, though," Istvan asked, and she complied.

***

The day was bright, but chilly, and the village was running quite low on basics. There had been a fire, and it was followed by a mud slide that had killed several of their people. It had also ruined the whole of their grain store, and slid over their single tailoring-weaving shop. They would need blankets and food, and the only way to get it was to start raiding again.

It had actually been more than a year since the village Mob had really assembled a raid. Ulla was sent because now at her age she was capable of organizing even better than the Mob-born young folks. And, at her age too, they respected her when she made a decision. She chose to split up the remaining raiders. There were twenty in all, so she sent six on a scouting journey first off. They came back to reveal there were several supply caravans either on their way to or from bigger villages and towns, but that they would take days to reach the right ambush location - if they passed through at all.

So Ulla took the other groups, putting eight and six into separate parties. One with the horses and Skirr, the other eight on foot. She went with those. The trek to this larger village took two hard-walking days, while the riders were sent to strategic locations along roads to warn of any arrivals.

But the village was much better defended than they'd remembered. In the past couple years, probably due to other Mob influences in the area, the village had fortified its store houses, and built a sturdy but short wall around the whole place. They would still have to climb over it, and be vulnerable while doing so.

The group waited until nightfall, but still there were fire pots and torches. Apparently the village had been raided recently, too, from the looks of the store house when they got there. Ulla posted two of the group as guards, and helped pick up goods - and noticed too late that there was a night watch on its wandering rounds.

When the call was raised, there were more than a dozen well-armed men and women of the local constabulary present. "Drop the goods and run!" Ulla insisted, but a number of her group wouldn't leave the goods behind. Slowed down, and bulky with bags of grain or furs, they were easily taken down. Two were killed, another, her cousin, wounded seriously.

It was when she saw her cousin go down, he was just almost over the barrier and on his way to the forest when he was clipped by a javelin in the leg, that Ulla snapped. Her training with her sword paid off, and she grappled with one of the guardsmen for his sword. She had only taken a dagger because they all knew they would be laden with items. The sword blade slashed into the air, and she found herself holding a bloody arm - the guard's body slumped to the ground moments later losing so much blood that no healer could save him.

And shortly, within two days, the raiding party had been put to trial. It was a rather abrupt thing. Those who were found with items on them were shown immediately to prison cells in a separate area. Ulla and one other raider much older than she had killed locals. Their punishment was to be swift indeed.

This was only two days before now. And now, time had run out.

The morning had come. Ulla was tired, her face pale. Istvan realized that she would be hungry - they would hardly waste food on a girl condemned to death, especially with winter coming on early. Eventually, Ulla had slept a little, perhaps an hour. Her sleep was fitful, pained.

Istvan watched over her and waited. He heard the guards, and woke her before they arrived. The door (which they had bolted shut, contrary to Istvan's warning) opened and the sheriff as well as two large armed guards came to the room. The guards as well as the sheriff were surprised to see Istvan there, but paid him little heed.

"She's to come with us, now." Said the sheriff.

"She will come outside, and we will talk further. She's not to be harmed while I'm here." Istvan said, holding his hand out to Ulla. She did not hesitate to take his hand. Protectively, he walked her out to the brightly lit courtyard. In the light of day Ulla looked to be more haggard than ever. Her clothing had been ripped in the fray, it was covered in blood on her sword arm and chest, and her hair was tangled with dirt and fabric fibers from the storehouse. Istvan made a vain attempt to remove some of the gunk on her.

She rolled her eyes, "everyone's watching," she said embarrassed.

"That is all right. Cephari?" He called to his Drak. The Wind, pale winged and cloud-colored body, came to his side. She was not a large drak, but she looked quite happy to be helping. "I want you to meet Ulla. Is this who you were speaking about?"

"Oh yesss," Cephari said, eagerly sniffing up and down Ulla's body and face. Ulla giggled, it was as though her face was going to crack if she smiled any more. It was a desperate smile on her lips. "Ssshe isss the one. I will take her."

"You can't take her anywhere!" one of the locals said. It was a broad-faced woman, who stomped up to them. "She killed my fiancee!"

"I'm - I'm sorry that happened! My cousin was injured and I just... I don't know what came over me..." Ulla said, tears abruptly coming to her eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone! We didn't even come with weapons!"

"That doesn't matter, murderer!" The woman spat. "I'll see you hang." She turned on her heel and went to the Sheriff who seemed to agree with her.

"She's going to be strung up like her partner was yesterday," he said loudly, and the already-gathered crowd cheered.

"She is going with me to Dun Keiba," Istvan said, low, looking only at the sheriff.

"Not if I can kill her first," one of the guards asserted, putting his meaty hand on the hilt of his sword.

Istvan could probably have stopped him, and Ulla seemed numbed with fear. But instead, the Drak rider turned to Cephari.

"I need you to go get Rey. She will be able to help. Hurry." He said, and the Wind drak rose into the air. Her wings were beating so fast that Ulla wondered how they could move beside one another like that. Still curious, she watched as the drak portaled out to wherever this Rey person was.

And shortly - she found out. A Fire drak arrived with the Wind beside, a much bigger male. His rider was a brunette with a frown on her face. She stomped toward the gathering, and then saw Istvan.

"You got me up for what? It's not even breakfast time at Dun Keiba. Remember you're half a world away, right?" She said. She glanced at Ulla, and tilted her head. "This one's been judged?"

"I have found her, yes. She's to stand as an aspirant, but these ... good people feel that she needs to be hung for having killed a guard."

"Istvan?" Rey said.

"Rey?" He repeated. This would have been comical, if it weren't set in such a dire circumstance. "She's not innocent - but she did not mean to do it, and she wants to make amends. She'd make a good Knight."

Rey turned, then, and approached the sheriff. "As a Lawgiver I need to ask you for more time on this matter."

"Our court has already decided!" Called out someone from the crowd.

"This village does not have a Lawgiver attending," Rey said with some disdain. "You do not have either the capability or the legal right to determine a death sentance without consulting a Lawgiver."

"But you're his friend!" Said someone else. "You are biased!"

"I'm here as a Lawgiver," Rey said. She was going to be storming. Istvan nudged Ulla a bit, and his expression of impish delight piqued Ulla's interest. Rey was going off on the crowd, the sheriff and the ex-fiancee now. "I am in this position because I am capable of putting aside any personal issues and determining right or wrong. I am experienced at this, as I can assure you you lot are not. How many disputes of this nature have you decided, sheriff?" The dark-haired woman turned to the portly man and glowered at him.

Istvan whispered, "she's not a morning person," and Ulla reflexively gave a snorting laugh.

"You're wicked," she whispered.

"Better wicked than dead," Istvan said, and kept his light grip on her hand in his own.

Meanwhile, the discussion between Reynate and the local sheriff had quieted down. Rey turned, and approached Istvan and Ulla. "They have allowed me time to question you, and give a temporary reprieve in your sentance. I'll start with the others, though, just to keep them happy -" she glanced over her shoulder at the angry crowd, "and occupied."

With that settled, Istvan was allowed to lead Ulla to an outdoors kind of cage. It was fair that she remain a prisoner, at least until this was over. But also, Istvan managed to get the locals to give her supplies for a bath, and a bit of privacy while she did so. By the time she was finished, and her clothing had begun to dry in the warm noon sun, Reynate came to her.

She asked around the same questions as Istvan had, only she pried a bit more out of Ulla in specific forms. How close was she to her cousin? How long had she idolized him that way? When the Mob leaders found out about her group's failure what would happen?

To that question, which Istvan had never even thought of asking, Ulla had a startling statement. "They will kill me anyway. Because now I've been seen. We all have. The prisoners they are keeping for theft - attempted theft, we didn't exactly get away with anything did we?" Reynate lifted her eyebrow and tucked that away for future reference. "They're going to be killed on sight if they come back to Kosh Glenn. It's a law we have."

"It's hardly civil," Reynate said. "But it's your law."

"It's their law!" Ulla cried. "I wasn't born to them! I just wanted to protect my family! I don't have my parents any more, and now I won't even have Lannu! They'll kill him even if he recovers from the wound!"

Reynate sat back, and had to ponder this. Istvan held out his hand between the bars of the cell, and Ulla took it tightly. Rey stood up and walked around, finally she vanished around a corner.

"What will she do?" Ulla asked.

"The right thing." Istvan assured her. "But ... I don't know if that is going to be enough for this crowd. And, I don't know if it will help your friends."

"Ssshe will help," Fire Gwaelyn said, standing as their guard. He kept the curious and the angry away. No one dared throw anything at the prisoner either, not while the big Mi'ihen drak stood there. "Ssshe isss thinking to call other Lawgiversss. Thisss matter isss beyond jussst one."

Ulla showed no fear of the big Fire, even though he was scaring the pants off most of the locals. His long tail lashed about, keeping onlookers at a distance.

"May I touch him?" She asked Istvan.

"He's not mine to ask, ask him." He said. Gwaelyn turned his long furry neck toward the cage, and pressed up against it.

"You are curiousss. That isss good. Cephari told me you have Judged her. That isss good. Ssshe will make a good rider. Good Knight."

"If we keep her alive," Istvan said.

"You mussst trussst your friend," Gwaelyn said.

"You still don't like me very much do you, Gwaelyn?" Asked Istvan, to Ulla's surprise.

"I ... here is my Knight," said the drak, interrupting anything important he had to say.

Reynate called the group back together. Mainly the injured parties, those two families who had lost someone, and the sheriff.

"I have thought about this, and I've come to a decision that must be fair to everyone. Given that you did lose two men in this scuffle, there needs to be proper reparation for their working lives. And also, given that the raiders cannot return to their village," Rey glanced at Ulla, "they will reside here performing labor until their prison terms are expired. At that time, they will have to either leave here or find a new home."

"Kill em!"

"You have already murdered one man without the Lawgivers' consent," Rey spat, "and I'd remind you that this is a civilized world. You will have six strong workers in this village that you did not have before. They will be prisoners, but they will be treated in a kind and careful manner. Since you've already killed another man without calling upon a Lawgiver," Rey said, "you're going to have to forfeit the girl Ulla to the Judge's custody. She --"

The crowd broke into jeering and shouting, and threatened to become violent. Gwaelyn and Cephari both stepped in, and they backed up a bit. They remained simmering.

Rey continued. "She has expressed a clear regret and a clear wish to make good of the situation. By becoming a Knight she will be able to do so. And though it's not common for Lawgivers to determine such long-duration problems, I would charge her to become this village's defender if she is needed to help stave off Nex invasions. You have fighters capable of keeping away other Mobs, now."

The crowd slowly went from an angry state, to a more pondering one. Maybe she was right. Maybe ... if they had a Drak and Knight to call upon in dire need, they wouldn't be in such bad straits. And it was true, the raiders fought like banshees. They knew their local Mobs, as well.

Finally, though he was hard to convince, the sheriff pronounced the sentance "formally" (even though Rey's words were the final say, he was their version of a mouthpiece), and the other prisoners were brought outside. Ulla rushed to her cousin Lannu, and explained to him quickly what had happened. He was happy - for her, mostly, because she was off to become a Knight!

"Well, maybe," Ulla said. "I will still have to stand, and a drak might not choose me." She turned, and faced the woman whose fiancee had died at her hands. "I am truly sorry, miss. I know that I miss my parents and I would feel horribly if my husband to be was taken from me too. But I swear that if I don't pair with a Drak, I will come back here and I'll work for you and your family. I can't replace him, but I could try to at least ease the burden."

Though the woman was still simmering, she nodded once.

Rey swept by. "Well. That is that. I'll send some other Lawgivers and their trainees around to make sure that the conditions of this judgement are followed."

"Bu- You have my word," said the sheriff.

"I'll send other Lawgivers to make sure that the conditions are followed." Rey repeated, and this time Ulla caught on to Rey's temper. Istvan must have known her a long time, to be able to bring this woman in knowing that she'd become a wildfire of rage if things got out of hand. Handled delicately, though, Rey seemed to be exactly the right kind of Lawgiver.

Ulla only hoped that she could make the woman proud, as well as her Judge Istvan.

***

"Well I've found a place that is in need of Aspirants," Istvan said. It was two weeks after her freedom was gained, and Ulla had fleshed out a bit at Dun Keiba's harvest feasts. Since the place was literally on the other side of the world, and in a considerably different climate, she had to get used to sweating a bit and being altogether too warm in the night time.

"Where is it?" Ulla asked.

"It's a place that's new, and they have a wild nest of eggs. A couple locals are taking care of the eggs, but they will probably want to have a few people on hand in case the hatchlings decide to Pair." Istvan showed her a kind of 'help wanted' ad with an image of the draks they thought might hatch.

"Oh - they're... Wow! They are wonderful."

"It's called Castle Lanaara," Istvan said. "It's colder than here, you'll be happy to note."

"You don't much care for the cold, do you?" Ulla said, sliding up to Istvan and leaning on his shoulder. He snorted, and laughed a moment later.

"No, but if it'll keep you snuggled up to me that's nice..." He laughed and they set about packing the few things that Ulla still had on her person. It wasn't much, but then Istvan brought out a small package for her. "Here, I wanted you to have this. I found it on a flight recently. I won't be able to stay with you, if you Pair. But I'll be thinking of you. I hope this will remind you of me..."

He handed her an egg, warm and moving gently. "It's a fairy drak!" She exclaimed. "I've never even seen one! Where did it come from?"

"Castle DesCas, I was there yesterday and the keeper there said that this clutch was about ready to hatch. She wasn't far off, was she!"

The egg broke open and revealed a pale colored mini-drak, her wings were wet and plastered on her smoky skin. "It's a Wind," she said. "I will call her Freedom," Ulla cried again - but this time her tears were happy ones.

"Well, let's get her fed and get you off to Lanaara, shall we?" Istvan said. Shortly, they were on their way to the Wild Caverns, and to Lanaara's training facility!

***

Freedom flitted around the room chirping wildly, and Ulla woke with a start. She'd been napping, like many people were, in the warmth of a fire hearth and among the comfortable people of Lanaara. There was a horrible snowstorm outside, and Ulla liked the comfort of the fire... Until the wind fairy decided to ruin it.

But there were other people waking, rousing rapidly. "The eggs are hatching," someone said to her, since they noticed her confused look. That got everyone up.

The group was put into their warmer clothing, because it was always possible that the pairing might not occur until later. But eventually, everyone had hatched and their names chosen by their mother, as was traditional. The group of hatchlings were quite glad to see the Aspirants. Ulla's heart lept - they were lovely!

The first of them ran out from behind the Wind mother. She was a forest, who happily went right to Ulla. The first to Pair, she ignored her mother's protests: she was supposed to tell the humans or Pairs their name!

I am Sashna, you will be a great Knight! Where is Dun Keiba? Can we go there?

Ulla laughed with relief, "I think we can go there, but we'll have to let you grow up a bit!"

***

And grow she did. Ulla's sword arm got more of a workout by cleaning up after the drak. Then, the job of learning to fly, and then portal... It was hard, good work. Ulla felt confident now. She'd heard word that the village where her cousin was performing his civic duties had long forgotten that the men were prisoners, and one had even married a local girl. It didn't much look like she'd need to return there for anything more than a visit. Perhaps - she could take Lannu away?

"He isss sstill sserving hiss ssentance, yess?" Sashna said, reminding Ulla of her duties as well as his.

"Only for another year," Ulla said, "that's what Reynate said last time we met."

"I like her drak, he iss very handssome." Sashna said.

Ulla blushed furiously. "But Sashna, that's... well, she's a friend, and... and what about Istvan?"

"What about Isstvan? He likess her, but he likess her brother too. They make a good pair too."

Firmly embarrassed, Ulla gave a little chuckle and then settled on to her drak's back. They would be heading off to Dun Keiba to learn where they would be stationed. Perhaps as scouts, they did a great job at that. She had a good eye. And maybe as delivery folk - but who would trust a thief?