Chapter the First: Mary and Eliazar
Chapter the First: Mary and Eliazar
My heart has lost its wind now, broken like a dead sail
My love has drifted out to sea
My body has been claimed, soul has been shipped away
Can’t feel the sand between my toes…
We set the wrong course and headed due north
That’s where we went wrong
We were young and learning, steady hearts hate turning
That’s where we went wrong
~ The Hush Sound, “That’s Where We Went Wrong”
Mary Emmeline Beckett calmly and neatly wrote her full name in the cover of her new little diary, then sat back to admire the work. She added two underlines, a tilde on each side, and a small stylish flourish. There, that should do it. She bit on the end of her nail.
“Stop that,” Eliazar said in her ear. “It’s gross.”
Mary made a face, but still dropped her hand to her lap. Instead, she chewed on her lip. Eliazar, in his favorite form of a gold dragonlet, shuffled his feet and stretched his wings. Mary reached up to pat his neck.
“When’re we going home?” her dæmon complained. “We’ve been sitting out here for hours.”
“I know,” was all his human said in response. Eliazar looked at her, but said nothing else. He knew full well why she didn’t want to go home, and even if he wasn‘t her dæmon, he would know. “I want to stay out and enjoy the sunshine,” she answered anyway, even though it was cold outside.
“… I know.”
Winter was arriving fast to her city of Nicander this year, and the autumn had behaved more like a rainy season. This day had been a fairly nice one, though chilly, and Mary was going to take full advantage of the weather. This morning, she put on her new cold weather clothes -- a fine white double breasted coat (with warm brown gloves stuffed in the pockets), an orange knitted scarf, and calf high tan boots -- and took her allowance and Eliazar with her (as always, as they literally could not be too far apart) to walk to the antique stores a few blocks away to go shopping.
It was then she bought her new diary (with its cover of soft blue and pale green designs and pages of clean white), as well as a kestrel-feather quill, a bottle of blue ink, a rag doll with black hair, an orange tabby kitten stuffy, three cute dresses (two long and one short, in colors of pink, gold, and white), a small hot tea (chai), and a trinket (actually a whale tooth necklace pendant sans the necklace) for her older brother. Now all there was left for her to do was to walk back home, but…
“I want to stay out and enjoy the sunshine.”
“… I know.”
Girl and dæmon instead sat on the edge of a wooden bridge crossing a creek, her legs dangling over the edge, dragon dæmon in his habitual position on her right shoulder. They sat together for a long while, staring at the creek and its grassy banks and the sky, which was beginning to turn like the tree leaves to red and orange and gold.
“Elia?”
“Yeah?”
“… I don’t wanna go home.”
“I know, Mary, but it’s best that we do. Kieran and Lina are waiting for us.”
That’s kind of why… Mary began to think, but she cut the thought off and let it die. Elia nuzzled her cheek gently. She sighed, chewed on her lip, and then reached for the cap to her ink bottle without properly looking at it. She fumbled for it and, in fumbling, accidentally knocked it into the creek.
“Oh -- ”
Elia leapt from her shoulder after it, but the little thing stubbornly evaded his claws and fell into the water, and it was too far downstream by the time he spotted it again.
Mary stared at it so far down the creek. “Drat. Now what am I supposed to do?”
“There’s no way we’ll catch up with it, even if we ran.”
Mary looked at her ink bottle sadly. “Well…”
“We could just leave it here.”
“What?” She looked at Elia, startled. “What about the animals…?”
“I think a person will get it before an animal.” Eliazar settled on the bridge rail, tail swishing. “It’s fun to think about, isn’t it?”
She looked back at the ink bottle again, suddenly thoughtful. After a moment, she murmured, “I wonder who’ll find it, and what they’ll think.”
“Exactly.” Elia smiled. “So let’s leave it.”
“Okay.” Mary got to her feet, dusted off her skirt, and picked up her bags. “I guess… It’s time to go home.”
“Let’s go.”
My heart has lost its wind now, broken like a dead sail
My love has drifted out to sea
My body has been claimed, soul has been shipped away
Can’t feel the sand between my toes…
We set the wrong course and headed due north
That’s where we went wrong
We were young and learning, steady hearts hate turning
That’s where we went wrong
~ The Hush Sound, “That’s Where We Went Wrong”
Mary Emmeline Beckett calmly and neatly wrote her full name in the cover of her new little diary, then sat back to admire the work. She added two underlines, a tilde on each side, and a small stylish flourish. There, that should do it. She bit on the end of her nail.
“Stop that,” Eliazar said in her ear. “It’s gross.”
Mary made a face, but still dropped her hand to her lap. Instead, she chewed on her lip. Eliazar, in his favorite form of a gold dragonlet, shuffled his feet and stretched his wings. Mary reached up to pat his neck.
“When’re we going home?” her dæmon complained. “We’ve been sitting out here for hours.”
“I know,” was all his human said in response. Eliazar looked at her, but said nothing else. He knew full well why she didn’t want to go home, and even if he wasn‘t her dæmon, he would know. “I want to stay out and enjoy the sunshine,” she answered anyway, even though it was cold outside.
“… I know.”
Winter was arriving fast to her city of Nicander this year, and the autumn had behaved more like a rainy season. This day had been a fairly nice one, though chilly, and Mary was going to take full advantage of the weather. This morning, she put on her new cold weather clothes -- a fine white double breasted coat (with warm brown gloves stuffed in the pockets), an orange knitted scarf, and calf high tan boots -- and took her allowance and Eliazar with her (as always, as they literally could not be too far apart) to walk to the antique stores a few blocks away to go shopping.
It was then she bought her new diary (with its cover of soft blue and pale green designs and pages of clean white), as well as a kestrel-feather quill, a bottle of blue ink, a rag doll with black hair, an orange tabby kitten stuffy, three cute dresses (two long and one short, in colors of pink, gold, and white), a small hot tea (chai), and a trinket (actually a whale tooth necklace pendant sans the necklace) for her older brother. Now all there was left for her to do was to walk back home, but…
“I want to stay out and enjoy the sunshine.”
“… I know.”
Girl and dæmon instead sat on the edge of a wooden bridge crossing a creek, her legs dangling over the edge, dragon dæmon in his habitual position on her right shoulder. They sat together for a long while, staring at the creek and its grassy banks and the sky, which was beginning to turn like the tree leaves to red and orange and gold.
“Elia?”
“Yeah?”
“… I don’t wanna go home.”
“I know, Mary, but it’s best that we do. Kieran and Lina are waiting for us.”
That’s kind of why… Mary began to think, but she cut the thought off and let it die. Elia nuzzled her cheek gently. She sighed, chewed on her lip, and then reached for the cap to her ink bottle without properly looking at it. She fumbled for it and, in fumbling, accidentally knocked it into the creek.
“Oh -- ”
Elia leapt from her shoulder after it, but the little thing stubbornly evaded his claws and fell into the water, and it was too far downstream by the time he spotted it again.
Mary stared at it so far down the creek. “Drat. Now what am I supposed to do?”
“There’s no way we’ll catch up with it, even if we ran.”
Mary looked at her ink bottle sadly. “Well…”
“We could just leave it here.”
“What?” She looked at Elia, startled. “What about the animals…?”
“I think a person will get it before an animal.” Eliazar settled on the bridge rail, tail swishing. “It’s fun to think about, isn’t it?”
She looked back at the ink bottle again, suddenly thoughtful. After a moment, she murmured, “I wonder who’ll find it, and what they’ll think.”
“Exactly.” Elia smiled. “So let’s leave it.”
“Okay.” Mary got to her feet, dusted off her skirt, and picked up her bags. “I guess… It’s time to go home.”
“Let’s go.”