Simon

I tugged on the cloak for what had to be the hundredth time. Enola had fused her scales into my once-trusty cloak, and now the extra weight caused it to keep settling awkwardly over my shoulders. She had also fused two scales together over the clasp of the cloak, and now that brushed against my neck at unpredictable times when I moved. The whole thing was annoying.

And on top of the scales, Enola had used another spell to make the whole garment pink. My once-drab cloak that blended into crowds was now the same bright, light-red color as the scales she had added. There was no chance that anyone would fail to notice me immediately, or forget about me after I had left.

The dragon said the cloak was also enchanted to keep me dry in the rain, as well as keep me cool during the midday heat. It was also softer than it had been before, and actually felt nice when it brushed against my arms.

But it was pink.

The soldiers had all treated me with the usual professional respect to my face as I had left Enola and Cess and sought out Captain Mason, but I caught hints of amused grins as I asked for directions, and I know I heard chuckles and laughs as soon as I was out of sight. I had known riders wore dragon scales, and that having to wear them would be part of being a rider... but I was also just as sure that Enola had done that on purpose, for no other reason but to annoy me. Even the comfort spells had probably just been done to make sure I had no excuse to take it off.

I sighed outside of the tent I had been told Captain Mason was using, preparing myself for the mockery I was certain waited for me. I had survived all the other soldiers I had met on the way. I could survive this meeting, too.

Besides. I was a rider now. Laughing at me meant not just ridiculing me, but also ridiculing Enola. Who was grumpy and temperamental even by dragon standards. Mason would do well to respect me, unless he wanted to risk offending her.

...though that 'threat' was meaningless, since I was almost certain Enola wanted him to be laughing at me.

I shook my head and folded back the tent flap. "Captain Mason?"

"Come in."

I slipped into the tent and took a quick look around the makeshift office. Mason was seated behind a simple desk and seemed to be engrossed in scribbling on a stack of papers. "Sorry to bother you – is this a good time?"

The older man nodded absently and waved towards one of the simple chairs inside the tent. "Certainly; have a seat. What can I do for you, Sim..." He finally looked up from his papers. I saw the exact moment his eyes landed on the pink scales of my cloak, and knew he was swallowing a laugh. "So. Not a rider, you say."

"It's only a recent development." I pulled the simple chair closer to Mason's desk and sat down in it, brushing at the itching clasp at my neck as I did.

"Oh, of course, of course." The smirk and knowing gleam in Mason's eyes mocked me.

"It is. It just happened earlier today."

"Yes, yes, as you say. Far be it from me to question the honor and word of a dragon rider." Mason continued to grin – and I swear I could feel a sense of smug satisfaction that felt like it came from Enola, even though she was back in the other tent with Cess. Mason sat back in his chair and continued to grin at me. "So, what can I do for you, Rider Simon?"

I sighed, even as I felt that vague smug sensation grow stronger. At least Enola was enjoying her fun. Hopefully it would make her easier to deal with later. "Mostly I've just come to say thank you. Enola and Cess are resting, but Enola wanted me to express her thanks for your help. Letting them stay here while Cess recovers, the food and water you're giving them, your healer's help. She appreciates it."

The smug feeling that I could only assume was coming through the rider bond vanished suddenly, and I fought to suppress a grin of my own. Enola hadn't said anything about thanking the soldiers, and I had a feeling I had properly shamed her and gotten a bit of revenge on her. I was sure it would have occurred to her at some point, but this way was more fun.

"Insufferable... You did that on purpose. But I am grateful; thank you for telling them." I heard Enola's voice whisper in my ear, and this time I couldn't hide the grin.

"-glad we could help." Mason continued, seemingly oblivious to Enola's whispers. "Cess helped save a lot of lives, both by finding the bandits before they could attack anyone else, and in the fighting itself. That naga sorcerer was a nasty surprise; a lot of soldiers would have been killed if Cess hadn't been there. It was the least we could do to help him; please let the dragons know they can remain here for as long as they need."

"Thank you. Again, we really appreciate it." I bit my lip as I tried to think through the right words to say next. Or rather, the right excuse to use next. I did not want Mason or anyone else wondering why Enola had lived in the crystal mine for decades, only to suddenly pack up and leave the second I became her rider.

I was still thinking when Mason reached down to one of the drawers behind the desk. "Actually, I have something to talk with you about. Or the dragons, anyway. I was going to wait to hear that Cess had woken up and was feeling better before disturbing them, but since I have an actual dragon rider here..." A much-too-smug smirk came over Mason's face as he leaned down and pulled something out of the drawer. "We recovered a few things from the bandits, and from the naga that was with them. Our healer pointed out a few items that were magical in nature. We really do owe Cess for his help – he kept the naga's attention through most of the fighting, and kept it from using spells on anyone else – so I thought I'd ask if the dragons had any thoughts on what to do with these."

Mason lifted a decent-sized sack from the drawer and upended it on the desk. A number of daggers clattered out of the bag, all of them engraved with the same nasty symbols I had seen on the weapons that Enola and Cess had been stabbed with. Mason shook the sack one last time, and a murky glass orb fell out of the sack. It clunked against the desk and rolled along it, before bumping up against one of the daggers and coming to a stop.

I felt an immediate sense of attention on me. The rider bond was still taking some getting used to – usually I just seemed to have a vague sense of what direction Enola was in, or the feel of my Wellspring magic flowing along the bond – but now I could sense something more. Not really any thoughts or feelings, but... an awareness. Whatever that orb was, it had Enola very interested.

The dragon's voice whispered in my ear again. "Tell the knight to put that orb on the ground."

"What? Why?" I answered without thinking, which caused Mason to frown at me. I ignored him and looked back at the orb to try and understand why it had Enola so interested. Greenish 'leaves' seemed to decorate the bottom of the orb, and I recognized more engraved symbols like the ones on the daggers. One of them looked like the symbol on Enola's glove – the one that summoned the saddle to her – but the rest were strange and unfamiliar. And the longer I stared at the orb, the more I started to think I could see strange blue wisps floating around inside it.

"Because otherwise his desk is about to catch on fire." Enola's voice sounded frustrated. "The dagger stole some of Cess' magic and stored it in that orb. I am going to destroy it."

So that was why the dagger and the orb had that symbol on it. That explained everything – the dagger must have been meant to steal a dragon's magic and send it in that orb, so that something could be done with it later. That must have been why Enola and Cess had been attacked in the first place. An attempt to gain dragon magic, for some reason. "Will that give the magic back to-"

"Simon, if I have told you once, I have told you a thousand times – you talk too much!" Enola's voice cut me off mid-question. "This is not any business of the knight's, and it is rude to talk about it in front of him. Yes, destroying the orb should return what the dagger stole. Probably. Cess will still have plenty of magic even if it does not. Now hurry up and tell him to put it on the ground, before I destroy his desk along with it."

"Okay, okay!" I held up my hands, then looked back at Mason. "Enola doesn't like that orb thing. Can you put it on the ground?"

"Okay..." Mason was looking at me like he thought I was crazy, but he folded the sack up in his hand. He avoided touching the orb directly and used the cloth to nudge it forward. A second later the orb clunked to the ground, bouncing once before settling into the dirt.

And a second after that, it burst into flames.

"About time. I have to say, Simon, that if this is any sign of the kind of rider you are going to be, I am not impressed." Enola's whisper in my ear held a heavy amount of sarcasm, which took the sting out of her words – though her tone softened as she continued. "Make sure you bring the daggers back with you too – I will need to tell other dragons about what the naga tried to do here, and it would be helpful to be able to show them the weapons. And they are far too dangerous to leave with these knights."

Mason and I both stared at the orb as it slowly melted. I took a step back from the heat of the orb. "She really doesn't like that thing."

"I can see that."

"She also doesn't like those daggers – I'd like to take those with me too, if you don't mind."

"Of course." The captain unfolded the sack again and began scooping the daggers into it. "These things creep me out. The sooner we're rid of them, the better."

The soldier finished scooping the weapons up and passed me the sack. We watched the orb dissolve into a shapeless goo for another moment or two while I tried to think of a good excuse for the subject I wanted to bring up to Mason. By the time the flames had gone out, I had come up with what I hoped was a believable excuse. Especially since it had the added benefit of being true. "I need to talk to you about the arrangement with the crystals each month."

"Oh?" A frown came over Mason's face. He looked away from the melted slag and back to the papers on his desk, though I had the feeling he was suddenly intensely focused on me. "How so? Even as grateful as we are for Cess' help, I don't think I could talk the king into accepting any fewer each month. The mages are still clamoring for as many crystals as they can get."

"Nothing like that. But Cess' injury has caused Enola to rethink a few things. Her priorities are a little different now, and she wants to start a family with him." It was all Cess' fault. It certainly had nothing at all to do with the rider she took, or the incredible source of magical power he turned out to have. Nope, not at all. "She intends to go back to the dragon territories with him, instead of staying at Lakeshire."

Mason's frown grew. "Then the crystal mine..."

"She has a few things she needs to retrieve from it, but after that she has no further interest in it. The king and the mages can do whatever they want with it, and take all the crystals they would like. And I've already dug out most of the crystals for this month already, if you want to send somebody to pick them up." I hesitated a little, remembering how otherworldly the tunnels looked with the various crystals growing from the walls. For better or worse, that had been the first place like a home in my life. "Though I would recommend limiting how many crystals you take from the mine. Enola has mentioned on a few occasions that taking too many could cause new ones to stop growing. And... it's quite a sight to see down there. It would be a shame if that were destroyed."

Mason relaxed and leaned back in his chair. "Oh. I will let the king know and see what I can do. The mages will probably press for it to be stripped immediately, but... there isn't necessarily any reason for them to learn that things have changed. So long as sixty crystals come in each month, they should be happy, even if the 'recharged' crystals don't look quite like the ones they sent us." Mason frowned again in new thought, then shook his head and grinned. "That's an issue for another day though. Let Enola and Cess know we wish them the best of luck back in the dragon lands. They're welcome to visit – or help us hunt down bandits – any time they'd like."

I got a better grip on the sack of enchanted daggers, then turned to go. "I'll let them know. And again, thank you for all of your help. I should start getting back now though, in case Cess wakes up and needs more food."

"Right." Mason stood and held out his hand, and I shook it. "Good luck for you, too, Simon."

"Thanks." I nodded, then turned and slipped out of the tent.

I started back towards the tent with Enola and Cess, feeling a bit better. That hadn't been too bad. If this was what being a rider was like – working out arrangements with people on behalf of Enola and Cess, or bringing them food if they were hurt or sick – then I could manage that. I had already been doing that, after all. Being a rider might not be too bad.

Laughter broke out in the tent behind me. I was fairly certain I heard the phrase 'looked ridiculous' somewhere in the chuckling. And I definitely felt a smug sense of satisfaction through the still-unfamiliar rider bond.

I sighed and pulled my annoyingly pink cloak around me, gripped the bag of daggers tighter, and stomped off to the dragons.

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Author's note - more illustrations!

@Repeat932 did a follow up picture, which perfectly captures Simon's reaction to the hard work Enola went through to make his cloak look nice: