The men were staring at Sofia, who had just opened her mouth as if she intended to blab to them about Ari.
Ari stood up hastily and dropped the scrubbing brush she'd been holding. It clattered on the deck, making both of the men turn to her. They barely looked at her, but the distraction had been enough so that Maria had time to grab Sofia and hold onto her tightly. Sofia closed her mouth.
"There's a war brewing, Savvas," the first man said.
"And you'd best decide whose side you'll fight for," Savvas said gruffly.
The Red Dragons glared at him, but they didn't go any further. They both pulled themselves onto the backs of their dragons and took off into the sky.
The suns were beating down on the harbour; a warm winter's day that was baking hot by midday when they finally docked. The cold clutches of winter didn't touch Zantiala, which was further to the Loth and privileged to receive warm balmy days all year round.
Ari stepped down the wooden plank and then turned back to help Jinni, who stepped down with trepidation. He was still weak, and he eyed the busy crowds of Zantiala with unease.
Pythos Savvas stepped down after Ari and was immediately greeted by children who screamed his name and gawked in wonder at his famous dragon, who was bathing in the water.
"Impossible to keep a low profile," Olatuja commented, before turning to help Maria down from the ship. Maria was leading Sofia.
"There are boarding houses being set up for water starrlings coming in from Lombardia," Savvas said. "We'll go there, get settled. Jinni can rest for a few days. Then we'll find a ship to take us to Singtsu."
Ari was frustrated at how long it would take,but he knew that Jinni would be able to recover from his infection quicker if he rested on the island for a few days. Plus, Ari wanted to see what preparation was being done in Zantiala for the war.
As Savvas led her and the other girls off the wharf, Ari noticed the ruined remains of a ship being dismantled. The sound of hammers against nails rang through the air.
"Lombardia's already been attacking ships?" Ari wondered aloud as she watched the workers repairing the damaged ship.
"Probably got caught in a cyclone," Olatuja said, because Savvas had been caught up in a flurry of children who were circling him and trying to grab a hold of him.
Ari stared at the ruined ship.
"A cyclone?"
"We're getting more and more of them," Olatuja said. "It's why so many people have been trying to immigrate to Lombardia. The Red and White Dragons don't care if you've just lost your house in a cyclone; they'll still cut off your finger if you don't pay your taxes. The people who lose everything here often need to flee to Lombardia to escape their debts to the warlords."
Ari had often wondered why so many Vastiens moved to Lombardia when they were treated so poorly there. But now she understood a little of what might drive someone to flee their own country to a new one, even if it meant experiencing hatred from Lombardians.
Up the hill was a tall boarding house with dragons stretched out to sunbake on the roof. Ari watched as Warrah the dragon immediately flew up to join the other dragons in the sun, while Jinni remained close to Ari's side as their group was greeted by the Vastiens who ran the boarding house.
There was a long table between orange trees, with small lanterns strung up on ropes between the trees. The table was already set with piles of dishes and jugs of red fruit juice. People called out greetings and hugged, while their dragons played among the fruit trees. There were women squatting in front of the coals of a fire pit, cooking fish, and there were men dishing out bowls of fragrant rice.
"Welcome to the Dancer's Grove, Ariane," Savvas said, patting her on the shoulder.
"This is your place?"
"I've worked very hard to set it up. It's a place for young water starrlings to train with me. We don't have any prestigious schools like yours, so this is the best we can do."
It was wonderful, but despite the happiness of the community before her, Ari couldn't help the wave of sadness that washed over her. She was reminded of the long dining room in the Winter House at the school, where Katja had organised a tribute to Bell's sister after her death. The whole grand hall had been full of laughter and chatter as everyone talked and drank in Bell's memory. Now, seeing the young starrlings in front of her, all eating and drinking, she realised just how much she missed her school. It had been her home.
Her sadness was compounded by the idea that everyone before her - laughing and greeting, serving food and drinking and shouting and teasing the dragons with filets of fish - were standing in the shadow of a war. War could last years. Everyone in front of her could die.
Maria told Ari to take a seat next to Sofia and then she plated up three plates of rice and seafood.
"You'll be in safe hands, here," Ari told Sofia. "The people here will look after you, and they'll help you find your father."
"When will I get to see my Mama again?" Sofia asked.
Sofia was so much younger than Bell had been, sweet and quiet where Bell had been loud and rebellious, and yet Ari felt a sisterly connection towards her, and a pang of sadness at the loss of her mother.
Ari smiled sadly. "Not anytime soon, I don't think."
Sofia ate her rice, but in a few moments she was swept up into Maria's vibrant conversation. Ari remained silent, watching the girls chattering away as if death and war and loss didn't loom over their heads.
Pythos and Olatuja landed in the seats next to Ari. Pythos's plate was piled so high with food that pieces of rice tumbled to the table as he put it down.
"We'll rest today, and then we're planning to spend tomorrow recruiting water starrlings in the city for a new mission," Savvas explained through a mouthful of food. "Do you want to join us? You'll be able to see the city."
"What kind of mission?"
"There are at least three camps of imprisoned water starrlings outside of New Hamilton," Olatuja said.
"If we can free the camps, we'll have more fighting power," Savvas said.
"The people will be free," Olatuja said firmly. "If they wish to fight, that's their choice."
"When Lombardia strikes its Garde upon this city, there will be those who fight and those who die. Whether they choose to fight or not won't matter when the might of Matthias Stone rains upon us."
Almost the minute that Ari set her fork down, Warrah the dragon came up behind her and bumped his nose into her elbow.
Ari spun around and stared at the dragon.
"What do you want?" she said. "Haven't the kids given you enough fish?"
Pythos Savvas's white dragon stood up, stretching, and knocked into Warrah.
"He wants you to play," Savvas suggested.
"Play?" Ari asked. "Warrah, you're in Vastier. Look at all those other dragons! You don't need me anymore."
Warrah eyed her, those huge grey-blue eyes staring at her, conveying something she couldn't understand.
"He seems to have taken a liking to you, despite the fact you're not a water starrling," Olatuja said. "A strange creature."
"He doesn't have a starrling owner," Ari said. "I think he should find one."
"He's a free dragon," Savvas said. "Allow him his freedom."
"Where's your dragon?" Ari asked Olatuja suddenly.
"I don't have one," Olatuja responded with a shrug.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Ari said. "I don't have a wolf, either. I hope to get one one day."
Olatuja laughed. "I don't have a dragon because I'm not a water starrling."
Ari raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What are you then? Surely not a spring starrling?"
Savvas laughed. "Olatuja's an ord, Ariane."
"Not a drop of magical blood in me," Olatuja said lightly.
Ari was surprised. It was so rare for starrlings to marry ords, and yet here was Savvas, one of the most powerful and well-known water starrlings in the world, and he was married to an ord.
"Don't be so surprised, Ariane," Savvas said. "I married him for his looks, not his magic."
Olatuja punched his husband in the arm. "He married me for my brains, is what he meant."
"No," Savvas joked. "I only care about looks. I'm very shallow. Ask anyone."
"And you're still a part of the war team, even though you're an ord?" Ari asked dubiously.
"Ariane, this man single-handedly saved the princess's tiger's life on that ship. You watched it. That's as good a magic as anything I can do on the charging pitch," Savvas said.
Ari frowned. It wasn't, though. Magic was magic. Anyone could learn a skill, anyone could learn to reduce a fever and treat infection. But only those born with magic were starrlings. And it had always mattered. In Lombardia, only those with magic were eligible for anything. It was the way the world worked.
Savvas scoffed at Ari's expression, but Olatuja only smiled.
"I am not a starrling, it's true," he said. "But I intend to help the war effort in any way I can."
The wind picked up as Ari and Warrah found a space to play. Warrah shot jets of water into the air, and Ari fumbled in her attempts to turn the water into snow before it hit the ground. She failed more often than she succeeded, and when the wind picked up she noticed just wet her clothes were.
Jinni watched as they played. The tiger was getting a lot of attention from the others around them, most of whom would have never seen a fire tiger before.
The other young starrlings grew braver as they saw Warrah playing, and some of them even approached Jinni. Ari watched Jinni with concern, hoping he wouldn't lash out angrily at any of the water starrlings, but she was surprised to see he received strokes and pats from the water starrlings happily.
The wind was howling by the time the suns were setting. A church bell was ringing out somewhere up the hill. Ari realised that everyone was working to bring plates, as well as chairs and even the tables inside. She grabbed a chair and followed the others into the house.
"Storm's coming," one of the older ladies warned, as she pulled washing from a line strung between buildings. The wind was whipping the clothes, and the woman struggled to get it all in. "We might have to sleep in the basement."
Ari was surprised at this. "Are the storms that powerful?"
"Our roof hasn't caved in yet, but one of these days it might."
"Just be glad it's happening now, and not while we were on the ship," Maria said with a grin.
Ari found the other girls who had been on the ship with her, including Sofia, and they followed the directions to prepare for the storm. There was a lot of work to bring things inside. The house was tall, and each window had wooden shutters to close. Then they hauled mattresses from the bedrooms down the stairs and into the basement.
When Ari went back out into the courtyard, the sky was a dense grey with splotches of purple and even green. Someone was standing on a ladder, taking down the lanterns from the trees.
There was a kinnhouse for the dragons, and a few of the starrlings were ensuring the dragons were all safely inside. Ari found Jinni among the dragons and rubbed at his ears.
"Seems like it's going to be a long night, boy," she said. "You stay with Warrah and stay safe."
Jinni's ears were flat back on his head. He was scared. Ari felt guilty leaving him, but the basement was not big enough for the kinnlings. She crept down the stairs with the others.
The wind made strange sounds as the night wore on, getting caught and thrown around the buildings of the city and screaming loudly at every wrong turn and tight passageway.
Sofia cried as the sound of the storm raged above them, but Maria was the first to go to her and comfort her, leaving Ari lying alone, staring up at the damp ceiling. There was a bucket catching drops of water by her bed, but every so often she still felt a drip somewhere on her mattress, as the rain poured outside.
The night howled around them, and then at some stage she must have drifted off to sleep, and when she woke up the storm was over. Everyone around her was getting up and dragging the mattresses back upstairs.
Ari followed them up the stairs and around the house, checking that nothing was broken. They found one of the trees in the yard had fallen, but the rest of the orange trees had survived the gale.
Pythos Savvas was the first to go to the kinnhouse to release the dragons. He heaved open the door and his own dragon burst forth immediately and flew up to the roof. Ari stepped forward and greeted Warrah, who nudged at her impatiently.
"Where's Jinni?" Ari asked the dragon.
But the rest of the dragons were spilling forth from the kinnhouse and making their way into the sunshine. The house was emptied, and there was no tiger.
Jinni was gone.
...
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