Evalon pulled her head up away from the book in her lap at the sound of a knock on the door downstairs. There was the sound of feet moving quickly along the wooden floor and then of the door opening and happy voices that carried upstairs where Evalon was, sitting on her bed, surrounded by the books that Elen had helped her unpack earlier.

Evalon looked around her. She had lost track of time after she had delved into one of her books-- again. It had been late afternoon when she had started, but now the sky outside her window was streaked with orange and purple and some storm clouds were gathering up above, just beginning to drop their moisture on Mydalr in an evening shower.

"Evalon!" Aunt Mylane's voice called from below. "Clerkes are here! Come down and wash for dinner, please."

Though she sighed at having her reading interrupted, Evalon obediently slipped off her bed and made her way downstairs. She wasn't too thrilled with the idea of having guests over for dinner, but Elen and Grayse were friendly enough-- overly friendly if truth be told-- and she could only hope that Mr. Clerke was as cheerful.

When Evalon arrived in the living room she saw that her aunt had done some more unpacking since she had last come downstairs. The sofa was neatly in place in front of the coffee table and a large number of the old knick-knacks and decorative items that had been on display in their old house in Gisla were neatly organized on shelves and tables. Pictures hung on the walls and the waterclock dripped merrily. The place looked more like home than ever.

Evalon went into the dining room, where Aunt Mylane, Grayse, Elen, and who Evalon assumed was Elen's dad were all seated around the table. On the table itself sat many pots and pans, each steaming and emitting mouth-watering scents, like grilled pheasant and buttered mashed potatoes and pressure-cooked garlic with onion herring.

There were two empty chairs, and Evalon took the one between Elen and Grayse, the other being between Mylane and Elen's dad. Mr. Clerke had dull green eyes and a receding hairline the color of ash. He didn't look intimidating, but he was tall and very muscular, and just being in the same room as him made Evalon feel small. No, she felt much more comfortable between the man's wife and daughter.

"Is Hyron still working late?" Grayse asked, noting the remaining chair.

Mylane nodded. "Unfortunately. The office is working him double time to try to figure out..." She paused, and with a quick, meaningful glance at Evalon and Elen, she continued, "...their little problem."

It seemed an understanding had passed between the two women, and when Evalon glanced at Elen she could tell that she had not missed the significance of it either. Obviously, whatever Hyron was working on was something Mylane didn't want the two girls knowing, which led Evalon to believe that it was the feral dragons.

"Well, let's not just sit here with our tummies rumbling," Mylane said quickly in a change of subject. "Let's pray and everybody dig in."

So they all bowed their heads and said grace before noisily passing around dishes with many muttered thanks. When the salad bowl came to Evalon she passed it on to Grayse without dishing some onto her plate. She was just about to accept the dish of pressure-cooked garlic and onion herring from Elen when Grayse said from her other side, "You forgot your greens, darlin'," and proceeded to dish a large serving of spinach and lettuce onto Evalon's plate.

"Thanks," Evalon said through grit teeth.

Thankfully, Grayse didn't seem to pick up on the sarcasm. She just smiled, patted Evalon on the cheek and said, "You're welcome, darlin'."

As the meal continued Grayse, Elen's dad, and Mylane talked contently, catching up on each others' lives for the last dozen-or-so year since they had seen one another. At first, Evalon tried to pay attention, hoping she might hear something more about the wild dragons, but to no avail, The small talk didn't hold her interest long and her mind began to wander to her awaiting book upstairs...

"Evalon," Mylane said, bringing her out of her dazed musings. "Did you hear Grayse?"

Evalon turned deep pink with embarrassment at having been caught idle-minded. She mumbled something in the negative and Grayse repeated her question.

"How have you been adjusting to life in Mydalr?" Grayse asked, not sounding at all annoyed at Evalon's lapse in concentration.

Evalon shrugged. "Alright, I guess." When she spoke she addressed her untouched salad.

"Have you met lots of kids your age?" Grayse asked.

Evalon glanced at Elen next to her. "Uh, one or two. But Elen pointed out several of people."

Grayse smiled like Evalon had just told her she had met her best friend and future husband in one day. "That's wonderful! There are loads of nice people here."

Evalon was grateful that Grayse left the subject there and started up a new discussion about old times with Aunt Mylane. Not finding anything interesting enough to keep her attention in that conversation but not wanting to be caught daydreaming again, Evalon turned to Elen and decided to strike up a conversation with her.

"How did the slick ball game with Fin go?" she asked, referring to the game Elen had left for earlier that day.

Elen shrugged. "It didn't. Keaton didn't bother turning up."

"Fin must have been upset about that."

Elen laughed. "Just the opposite. He reckons Keaton was afraid of losing his reputation so he didn't show."

Evalon raised an eyebrow. "And what do you think?"

Elen's smile faded. "I think Fin needs to stop worrying about Keaton and start realizing he doesn't need to prove himself to anyone." She shrugged. "But since when does my cousin listen to me?"

After dinner and dessert, Grayse, Elen, and Elen's dad-- whose name was Aaron, Evalon learned-- bid them farewell and thanked Mylane once again for supper before departing for their own home. After to door had closed behind them, Evalon made herself useful and helped clear the table. Speaking over the clanking of dishes, Evalon told her aunt, "Dinner was brilliant."

Mylane smiled. "Thank you. Grayse Clerke is the best cook I know, so I always make an effort to make something delicious when she comes for a meal."

Evalon smiled. "Just a little friendly competition, eh?"

Aunt Mylane smiled back. "Something like that." She glanced at the waterclock in the living room. "Goodness, I didn't realize how late it was getting! Off to bed with you."

"Can't I stay up until Hyron gets home?" Evalon begged.

"That could be well passed midnight," Mylane said. "Come on, off you pop."

"Don't you want help finishing the cleaning up?" Evalon asked in an attempt to stay awake longer.

But Evalon was a terrible actress and her aunt saw right through her. "I'll take care of it. Goodnight, dear."

"Goodnight," she sighed. Slumping her shoulders in disappointment, Evalon obediently shuffled upstairs, changed into her pajamas, and crawled under her covers, listening to the rain drop softly on her window. She lit the candle on her side table and opened back to her page in her book. She was determined to speak to her uncle about the shocking state the dragons were being kept in, and if she needed to keep herself awake all night to do so, so be it.

For a while, her plan worked. Her book was interesting and intense, and it kept her mind active as she followed the thrilling tale of a young boy with an injured arm through a swordfight on a mountain of his ancestor's gold. But the candlelight in the dark room and the gentle sound of raindrops splattering against her window created a very comfortable atmosphere, and Evalon found herself nodding off over the pages of her book, where the hero had just miraculously survived a deadly poison injected in him by a monstrous and mysterious beast.

Evalon drifted through semiconsciousness, dreaming vividly that she was in the place of the hero in her book, facing monsters and dangerous enemies with her head held high; still feeling the fear but paying it no mind; being brave...

Evalon woke with a start. Her eyes wide, she looked around quickly at her dark room, trying to identify where she was. At first, she didn't recognize anything and she began to panic, but then she remembered that she now lived here and she began to calm down. As her eyes adjusted to the dark she tried to identify what had woken her so suddenly. Her candle was dark and the rain outside had intensified. A lightning strike outside illuminated the room briefly, and Evalon spotted where her book had fallen onto the ground. Gingerly, she picked it up and smoothed out the wrinkled pages. Could the book falling on the floor have woken her? Just as she had decided that, yes, it had been, she heard the sound of shuffling downstairs. She froze and strained to listen carefully. There it was again!

Her imagination dreaming up wild fantasies of burglars and treasure hunters coming to harm her, Evalon took and deep breath and assured her fanciful mind that it was probably just Mylane or Hyron in the kitchen.

Having calmed herself down, Evalon was about to turn over in her bed and go back to sleep when it hit her. Hyron! Uncle Hyron must be home! She could speak to him!

Leaping out of bed, Evalon quickly and quietly made her way across the room, down the hall, descended the stairs, and sure enough found Uncle Hyron sitting at the table, looking wearily down at a file of papers set on the table, a mug of a warm, steaming drink in his hand. He did not look up when Evalon entered the room. Not wanting to startle him, Evalon quietly called his name.

"Uncle Hyron."

Hyron did not seem to have heard her. She tried again, louder this time.

"Uncle Hyron."

Hyron looked up quickly, startled, and the first thought that struck Evalon was how weary her uncle looked. His bright blue eyes always looked tired, but now they were streaked with red and the bags beneath his eyes now looked like bruises. His blond hair was even more disheveled than usual, like he had run his hands through it many times.

"Oh, Lonny," Hyron said when he saw it was her. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Evalon said quietly, blushing a bit. "What time is it?"

Hyron sighed, ran his fingers through his hair, and sat back in his chair. "Long passed the time for you to be in bed."

"You, too. You look like you haven't slept all week."

Hyron replied with a yawn so large that his hand couldn't cover it completely. Evalon couldn't help the little giggle that burst out of her.

Suddenly serious again, Evalon gathered up her courage and said shyly, "I've, uh, actually been wanting to t-talk to you about something. Something important," she added quickly. She was afraid that if she didn't stress how significant the topic was he might ask her to let it wait until later. But it couldn't wait until later. The longer she waited to tell him about what she saw at the Keep the longer the dragons had to suffer.

"Well, what is it, Lonny?"

Now that Evalon had her uncle's attention, now that the moment had come to describe the injustice the dragons were facing, she couldn't do it; the words wouldn't come. It was like the words that she had prepared were suddenly gone, disappeared into thin air. "Uh, I-I, uh..."

Hyron waited patiently for a while, but after a few moments of Evalon stuttering, he grew impatient. "Look, Evalon, it's late, and you should really get to bed-- we both should. We'll talk about this later." Groaning, he got to his feet and made his way through the living room and was about to open the door to his and Mylane's room when Evalon choked out,

"It's the dragons!"

Hyron froze and turned around to face her. "What about the dragons?"

"I-I-I saw them. I-I found a-a-a Keep when I went exploring." Evalon decided it was probably better if Hyron didn't know it was Elen who had shown her the Keep; goodness knew what trouble she could get into for that.

"And why is this so important?" Hyron asked wearily.

Her uncle's lack of concern caused a wave of anger to wash over Evalon and suddenly the words which would not come a moment ago came spilling out of her mouth. "Have you seen the conditions they're kept in? Kept in cages, chained inside those very same cages, only let out once a day if that, fed by men and women dressed head-to-toe in fire-proof suits like any one of them could be barbecued at any second--"

"I know about the Keep conditions," Hyron cut her off.

Evalon stared at her uncle. "Then why don't you do something about it? In all honesty, I think that's why the dragons are escaping and stirring up trouble. Imagine if the roles were--"

"How do you know about the escaped dragons?" Hyron asked sharply.

The realization that Evalon had let slip her knowledge of the feral dragons came crashing down on her. Thinking quickly she said, "Uh, um, Elen mentioned it. It's a small town; word gets around." There. Hyron couldn't possibly be mad at Elen now that Evalon had blamed Mydalr's size for the distribution of secret information.

Hyron sighed, but this sigh came from frustration, not exhaustion. "Look, Evalon, there's a lot more to the problem with the dragons then you think, so just leave it to the DCA to worry about them--"

"But it's the DCA that's doing this to them," Evalon said desperately. "Don't you see? If the dragons simply had better Keeping conditions--"

"It's none of your concern, Evalon," her uncle said in an uncharacteristically harsh bark that made Evalon shrink back. Seeing her reaction, Hyron let loose and deep breath. "Look," he said in a gentler tone, "the dragons are not your responsibility. Just leave this up to the adults."

"T-that's why I'm telling you," Evalon whispered, all her confidence gone. "Because you are an adult, and one that can do something about it."

"It's not that simple. You're just a child, you don't understand."

Evalon's anger returned in full force. "Then explain it to me. Because dragons being caged and chained and treated like dangerous monsters seems pretty simple to me."

"It's a lot more complicated than that. I'm too tired to discuss this right now, Evalon. Can we talk later?"

"Sure. When would you like to schedule that? When you finally decide to tell me that you work for the Dragon Control Association? Or maybe when you tell me what what exactly it is you do for the DCA? Or perhaps how you got injured in the line of duty?" Surprised at her own boldness, Evalon turned on her heel, raced upstairs, and firmly shut her door behind her before Hyron could form a reply.

"You said that?" Elen asked the next day, looking impressed.

Looking down, Evalon nodded. They were walking down the street together, sharing a small basket of flaky crescent-shaped rolls that Grayse had made fresh that morning between them. Evalon had explained to Elen about Hyron's employment with the DCA and how she had described to him the conditions of the Keep and how he had brushed off her concerns.

"Well, I got to admit, girl, I didn't think you had it in you," Elen said, a chuckle in her voice.

"To be honest, I didn't either," Evalon mumbled, taking a large bite out of her roll. She felt absolutely miserable, and her mood contrasted starkly with the weather. Seeming to have gotten all the moisture out last night, the sky was bright blue and the sun was bright as a tearagon dragon's scales. The ground was rather moist from the downpour and it took most of Evalon's concentration to not slip in the slick mud.

"Well, that's a good thing. You're starting to stand up for yourself; grow a backbone."

Evalon snorted. "Mmmph mmph ung mmmph."

Elen snorted. "What was that?"

Blushing, Evalon swallowed. "I'm not sure about that. It was just a moment of anger. I just... cracked."

"Everyone has a breaking point," Elen said wisely.

"I should have kept quiet," Evalon said, getting angry with herself. "I should have kept my mouth shut. Now Hyron will never want to speak to me again."

Elen threw back her head and laughed loudly, drawing a few questioning glances from the folks around doing business in the market. "Girl, you worry too much. Just because you spoke the truth doesn't mean your uncle will hate you. You planted the seed in his mind. Now it'll grow there, and sooner or later he'll do something about the dragons. I'm sure of it."

"You weren't there. You didn't hear him. He said, 'It's not that simple. You're just a child, you don't understand.' He called me a child! He treated me like a... like a..."

"Child?" Elen suggested with a gentle, teasing smile.

Feeling blush rise to her cheeks, Evalon stared hard at the mushy ground and nodded.

"Look," Elen said gently, "I'm sure your uncle won't hate you now. You spoke up! You stood up for the dragons! He should be proud."

"You should have seen his face," Evalon whispered. "He's already under so much stress at work... I shouldn't have said anything at all. What was I playing at, thinking he would actually listen to me?"

"He's your family. Of course you'd think he'd listen to you," Elen said reasonably.

"Dead wrong there, wasn't I?" Evalon grumbled.

"Just give him time," Elen told her. "I'm sure he'll come around. And if he doesn't, on the bright side, he's so busy at work that you don't have to worry about any awkward encounters with him." She laughed loudly at her own joke and Evalon couldn't help but join in.

"I guess there is that," she conceded, grabbing another roll; Grayse trully was a terrific baker.

"Did you see him this morning?"

Evalon shook her head. "He was gone when I left."

"I suppose it would be too much to hope he got an early start to discuss the Keep conditions with the DCA?"

"Far too much to hope," Evalon agreed.

"Did your aunt say anything about it?"

"I don't think she even knows," Evalon admitted. "It was pretty late when Hyron and I talked, and nothing she said this morning at breakfast indicated she knew what had happened."

"And there's no chance she could talk Hyron around?"

Evalon laughed humorlessly. "None. She hates dragons. If anything she'd insist the security on them be increased tenfold."

"Well, you spoke up; that's more than I've been able do," Elen said comfortingly.

Evalon chuckled. "I don't think you've ever had a problem with speaking up."

Elen opened her mouth in shock, which quickly turned into a smile. She playfully hit Evalon's hip with the basket of rolls she was carrying and started walking faster. Laughing, Evalon quickly caught up and matched her pace, laughing at Elen's attempt to maintain and scowl.