Tessa’s POV:

  I yawned as Soranto and Aeria continued walking along the streets. I had never thought I’d find the city boring, but the past three weeks had taught me otherwise.

  We had even traveled to some other cities just for a change of scenery. Our sessions in the training rooms ran smoothly, even the few times Soranto and I had gone in without Taureen or Aeria.

  I couldn’t wait until I could go on an actual spaceship and check them for real crawlers or sicora, but that was still at least a month away. The Elders were remaining firm about us being at least six months old before we could go on a real patrol.

  “When are you coming to the park?” Abby asked, interrupting my rambling thoughts. “You’re usually here by now.”

  “We’re on our way. Taureen, Mom, and Dirk will probably get there before I do. Why are you so excited?” Abby almost never contacted me during my working shift. We weren’t that much later than usual.

  “Uh, I’ll tell you when you get here.”

  It was a strange answer, but there was no point in pestering her for more details. Time practically crawled by until we finally reached the park.

  As expected, Taureen and his guards were already here, although I was surprised to see Dirk trying to steal something out of Tran’s pockets instead of cuddling with Abby in the forest. Their growing attachment wasn’t exactly a secret among the dragonets anymore.

  “I’m here!” I called out to Dirk. “Let’s go find Abby and Glen.”

  He looked up and whistled a welcome. I waited for him to catch up before we darted into the trees.

  “Where are you?” I asked Abby, letting Dirk overhear my question.

  “In the clearing with all the ferns.” She sent an image along just in case we were uncertain about where she was. Her voice was bland, with no underlying emotions—she must have been blocking them out of the mindlink.

  “What’s up with Abby?” I asked Dirk privately.

  “Maybe she will tell us when we get there.”

  I gave him an odd look; the worry under his mindvoice and his evasive answer made me suspect he knew what was bugging her. When we reached the clearing, Glen was lying on a branch as his sister paced below. The moment she saw us, she flew toward Dirk.

  “He agreed! He said yes!”

  Her excitement rang through her voice, leaving me thoroughly baffled. I banked around the green and blue dragonets who didn’t even seem to notice me. I landed beside Glen and gave the silver dragonet a questioning look. He grinned but didn’t explain, merely shifting his gaze back to Abby and an equally excited Dirk. I watched their aerial celebration in awkward silence for a few overly long minutes.

  I cleared my throat. “Uh, can I ask who said yes to what?”

  Abby froze mid-air with her ear tufts pinning back in embarrassment. Beside me, Glen tried to turn his snickering into a cough. I tilted my head, trying to figure out what I was missing. Dirk landed on a branch across from us, and Abby followed, looking somewhat flustered.

  When Abby didn’t start talking, Dirk began trying to explain, “Well, um, remember how I didn’t want to be alone, but I wanted to track crawlers?”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Yes,” I replied slowly, wondering if my guess was lining up with whatever was actually going on.

  “Dad gave me permission to join you guys as long as I think about it for a month!” Abby interrupted, practically bouncing in place.

  “Wow! I thought you had to wait until your first birthday. How did you talk him into that?”

  “I had to beg a lot, but he knows I’ve been thinking about it ever since you first visited the park. In the end, he just wants me to be happy. Tasha asked Taureen, and if I change my mind, I can always come back to the park.”

  “Of course,” Glen drawled, “Dad also knows it’ll take her several months to gather enough courage to even go near the streets, let alone leave the park.”

  Abby yanked an unripe fruit off the tree and threw it at her brother. He merely snickered as the hand-sized missile flew past his silver scales.

  “But at least he won’t object to her trying,” I interjected, trying to prevent the looming race and subsequent wrestling match. “Are you planning on following Taureen and Aeria, or are you considering another Kymari?”

  Abby replied, “For now, Taureen and Aeria since I’ll be able to talk with them while I figure out this house and city stuff. Dirk and I are still debating, but we both like Tran.”

  “Tran is always so calm,” Dirk said. “I’ve started hanging around him a bit more as a subtle hint. I don’t plan on doing much until Abby is comfortable among the Kymari though. We can go slowly. There isn’t any reason to rush things.”

  The green dragonet looked relieved and excited. “Just don’t mention it to anyone else. Dad is telling Keegan and Tasha, but Mia and a few others will become a pain in the rump the day they hear about it, and I’d prefer to delay that as long as possible.”

  “Consider my lips sealed,” I reassured her.

  She looked at Dirk. “What do you want to do for the rest of the day?”

  “Why don’t we go see if the Ply-Ball players have arrived? We can play with them for a while, wash up in the creek, and then go hang around the Kymari.”

  “Sure! Let’s go!” Abby said, promptly taking off and leaving the rest of us to catch up.

  Luck was with us, and the Ply-Ball group was already practicing. After so many weeks, Abby was just as daring as I was when it came to stealing the ball. Glen preferred to fly above and swoop in and intercept their passes.

  After an hour or so, Abby flopped down in the grass and panted. “Okay, I say we quit while we’re ahead.”

  I was also out of breath. “Fine by me, although the water is going to feel cold while I’m this warm.”

  “If it’s too cold for you to walk into, I can give you a push,” she offered.

  How thoughtful of her. With a goodbye whistle to the players, I followed her and Dirk to the creek. I made sure to stay well out of splashing range of the green dragonet as I slowly entered the cool water.

  Abby didn’t even try to splash me, likely distracted by our upcoming visit with the Kymari. We visited them every day, but now she knew she wanted to eventually follow us out of the park.

  She asked, “What are you going to try and stick in Soranto’s pockets this time?”

  “Nothing,” I replied, dipping my head under the water momentarily.

  “Nothing? That isn’t like you. He’s going to feel unloved.”

  I grinned at her. “Sometimes it is just nice to enjoy their company. Besides, he started threatening to replace his belt pouches with ones I can’t get into if I try to stick another caterpillar or grasshopper inside.”

  “I thought he wasn’t aware we were intelligent?”

  “That’s the beauty of it—he’s not.”

  “When do you plan to tell him?”

  “Mom made me promise to wait until he’s been my official handler for at least three months.”

  “When does he officially become your handler?”

  “I’m not sure. I think it’s when I completely move into his home, which won’t be for a while.”

  “You’ll probably manage that before I leave the park. It’s scary and exciting—and the combination of those two emotions shouldn’t be allowed to exist.”

  I snickered and rolled in the wet sand along the water’s edge, managing to get sand underneath my harness.

  Walking out of the water, Abby shook the water from her scales. “The suspense is killing me. Let’s go visit the Kymari. I just need to find a halfway decent flower to stick in Tran’s armor.”

  We took off, keeping our eyes open for flowers.