When Mama first told her that little Torin had been whisked away to High Reaches three turns ago, she was certain she had misheard. Even after what had happened at Havell Hold, Nikrys had a difficult time envisioning Thaniel's golden child voluntarily leaving the comforts of home. It seemed that he had not only left the Hold, but he had since Impressed! It was frankly inconceivable.
It didn't take her long to find him at all, the candidate who pointed her toward this particular rock flat so perky and hopeful that he made her feel old again. She quashed that insecurity rather firmly as soon as she noticed the direction of her thoughts. She was a Journeyman, for ******** sake. If this didn't work out, Ijira would be waiting.
And she wasn't old.
Nikrys smoothed a fold across her simple shift and sighed. She had been told to look for a pretty blue dragon, and now that Ingonth was in her sights, she agreed that description was more than fitting. His body was compact and his limbs stretched long, touched with a practiced grace that would have been lanky awkwardness in another. Even though his head loomed far above her, she could still see the golden cuff clasped around his left headknob, three shiny blue gems twinkling across its surface.
As she approached, one of the dragon's wings extended over his lounging rider, enveloping him in shade. The young man pushed up onto his elbows and peered at her, head canted slightly to one side. He was shirtless because... of course he was.
"Have we met?"
Nikrys glanced up at the blue, a smile in her voice. "Did you read my mind?"
"He said you were... I believe the phrase was dripping with nostalgia."
She snorted. "Dripping. Not quite, despite what you might be accustomed to around here. No, the last time we saw each other you were the one who was dripping, blubbering all over your pretty velvet doublet. 'Don't go! Who will play hide and seek with me and read to me and tell me I'm the most wonderful boy to ever exist!'"
"Nikrys?" He practically sprang to his feet, enveloping her in the tightest hug she'd received in a long while. It was all very... weyr-y. "It is you, isn't it?"
"Who else would it be?"
"It's not fair that you're so tall." He shook his head. "How did you get here?"
"On the back of a brown dragon."
"Why did you get here?"
Nikrys peered back up at Ingonth with a faint shrug. She had a handful of what she considered unconventional reasons for agreeing to candidacy. She wondered if the blue knew them all. "Curiosity, mostly. Why did you?"
She thought he might make a joke or put on airs like every other smarmy Lord Holder's son, but he instead replied with a biting swiftness, angry at a burden she didn't share.
"I had to get away from that... pit. Life is lovely now by comparison. Gorgeous." He paused, attention shifting inward as he spoke to his dragon. Nikrys felt like a voyeur. "But as Ingonth reminds me, I should probably visit Havell at some point. For closure, if nothing else. Or maybe to gloat." He grinned.
"You haven't been back at all?"
"Time got away from me."
"Ah." She had barely been a candidate for a week and could already understand the truth behind his words.
"But enough about work and duty," he said, backing away to grab his shirt. "Proper introductions are in order." As he continued, the blue lowered his head and daintily nosed at the crown of hers. "This is Ingonth. And I'm T'rin now."
Her nod was quite deep, but it failed to hide her smirk. "A pleasure to meet you."
"Funny. I do know a few more people you should meet, if you'd like to be acquainted with the best of the best."
The best of the best. She couldn't begin to guess who he considered worthy of that title. "Hm. After you. In exchange for your introductions, I'll regale you with the latest rumors out of Bitra."
T'rin made a face.
"Tales of Smithcraft Hall then?"
"Better. News of your uncles too. I used to think Kaerol was the coolest person I'd ever met."