“Do you know anything about a dragon’s wings?”
That was not the question she’d expected. “They’re made of pretty feathers and allow you to fly. That is the extent of my knowledge.”
Rone didn’t look surprised by that answer. “Alright. I normally wouldn’t tell a human this, but most humans don’t have the—the intimate connections with a dragon that you do. So you need to know this. A dragon’s wings are not like a bird’s. Well, most birds. Birds normally have oil glands. Dragons have powder-down. It’s a kind of down feather, tucked in underneath the top feathers. When you touch it, it disintegrates into powder and cleans off grime. The problem is, without proper preening, the down can build up and cause problems. Ignored long enough, the feathers can become tangled and clumped, matting together.”
That description made Mei Li wince. Trying to fly with matted wings sounded distinctly unpleasant. “And this isn’t something a dragon can do for themselves? Preen, I mean?”
“Yes and no. We can reach certain areas, of course, easily. But the very back, near the spine, is hard to reach. You have to lift the primaries, secondaries, tertiaries, coverts, and alulas out of the way in order to reach the down. Do it wrong, you either break feathers or pull them out of alignment. Which, as you can imagine, isn’t pleasant.”
“Sounds painful, actually. So I take it dragons help each other preen?”
“We do, but it’s not a casual matter. It would be like asking someone to…” Rone broke off, frowning. “I’m not sure of the human equivalent. Shaving someone else’s beard? Combing someone’s hair? Something akin to that. This person must at least be a close friend, usually a family member.”
The word ‘family’ struck a chord in her and Mei Li sat up a little more, her lax attitude falling away completely. She suddenly had an idea of why exactly Rone brought this up. “Shunlei doesn’t allow people to preen his wings, does he?”
“For only knowing him a handful of days, you certainly understand him well.” Rone nodded in sour confirmation. “He does not, not until it’s absolutely necessary. And by necessary, I mean to the point of matting. Wings should be preened at least once a month. He goes sometimes a full year. I’ve done it for him many times but he doesn’t enjoy it. He bears with me and it’s sad to watch. Preening is very comforting and enjoyable.”
It didn’t take women’s intuition to guess the reason. “His wife used to do this for him, didn’t she?”
Rone looked away from her, to the far corner, her eyes fixated on the past. “I’ve never seen a love that strong, that it would last centuries without faltering. At the same time, I wish I’d been born early enough to meet her, and strangle her for doing this to him. A human mating with a dragon means the dragon is left alone. Alone to deal with the fallout of her absence. It’s not fair.”
Love rarely was. Still, Mei Li understood Rone’s frustration and sadness. Mei Li shook her head and tried to get them back on the original topic. “You think he’ll let me routinely preen him, then?”
“He allows you liberties no others have been permitted. I think if you offer, he’ll promptly accept. And I’m bringing this up for a reason, Mei Li. He keeps scratching his back against things. Walls. Chairs. People. When he’s doing that, he’s in a bad state, and itching. Not that he’ll admit it openly, the stubborn idiot. Just looking at his wings makes me wince.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask. The last time you helped him was…a year ago?”
The look on Rone’s face said it all.
“Right. How about you teach me how to do this? We’re stuck here for the rest of the day, anyway. We’ll nip out to buy things for the hatchling and then come back and I’ll sweet talk him into it.” Mei Li absolutely didn’t want Shunlei flying her about the world with matted, itchy wings. Just no.
“We’ll need a dowel for you.” Rone gestured toward the general area of the market in illustration. “Without a beak, you’ll need it to lift the feathers up so you can get to the down. We’ll find something while we’re out that will work.”
“Do I need anything else?”
“No. Just the dowel, your fingers, and a willing dragon. The last one might be the hardest.”
Mei Li laughed softly, more a puff of air. “Men can be so stubborn. No matter their species.”
“Understatement.” Rone splashed some water up on her shoulders and reluctantly pulled herself up to sit on the rim. “We shouldn’t linger. There’s too much to do and winter days are short.”
Unfortunately true. Mei Li promised herself she’d come back tonight, after dinner, and soak properly. For now, she was burning daylight, and she might not have enough of it.
How long did it take to preen a dragon’s wings, anyway?
“Preen my wings?” Shunlei stared at Mei Li with a sort of stunned expression, a myriad of emotions warring over his face. Part of it was nostalgia, part surprise, his eyes wide with it, lips parted with words unvoiced.
Mei Li faltered, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. Had she offered something she shouldn’t have? Rone had said Shunlei’s wife once did this for him. Was she raking over the grave? “I realize it’s something only friends or family would do. I don’t mean to put you in an awkward spot, it’s just that Rone thought I should know how to do it, and she’s offered to teach me. If you’d prefer Rone’s help, I understand. She’ll have to teach me what to do, after all. It’s just, we’re both worried about the state of your wings—”
He shook his head, cutting her off. He cleared his throat, an odd smile curving up the corners of his mouth. “No. It’s fine if you want to.”
Mei Li’s unease abruptly fell away and she smiled at him. “Alright. I checked, and there’s a garden area behind the inn. I think it has enough space for you to stretch out in.”
Nodding mutely, he followed her lead, through the back door of the inn and into the ‘garden.’ It hardly looked such, barren as it was in winter, with even the water fountain in the far corner iced over. They’d need to hurry, in part because of the cold, in part because Dolan was watching the baby, and Mei Li didn’t have a lot of faith in his babysitting skills. Rone stood next to the back door, a smooth dowel in her hands made from a polished mahogany. It was thick at one end and as thin as a knitting needle on the other. Rone was unapologetically relieved to see both of them, and a borderline smirk played over her mouth.
Mei Li wished she wouldn’t smirk. It gave the wrong impression, that the two women were ganging up on Shunlei. She didn’t want Rone’s reaction to put his back up.
If Shunlei noticed his friend’s reaction, he chose to soundly ignore it. He just stepped clear and changed into his dragon form. Mei Li always wondered when she saw him in this form what he’d been like as a young dragon. Now, at full size, he was a very imposing figure—terrifying, if one didn’t know better. He was more elongated in the nose and body than most dragon’s she’d seen, sleekly muscled instead of bulky, but compact around the barrel. He’d not come through the centuries unmarked, as the tip of his tail was missing and a long, white scar stretched from chest to under one armpit.
Mei Li pulled her eyes away before she was caught staring. It was cold out here, cold enough and the icy bite of the air against her bare skin was unpleasant. Still, there was no other space large enough to offer.
A clatter behind them turned Mei Li’s head around. Ji Lin popped his head out and looked them over with a half-alarmed expression, as if the emotion was waiting in the wings, ready to pounce. “Masters, is there a problem? Can I aid you in any way?”
“No, no problem,” Mei Li assured him with a gentle smile. “Shunlei’s wings just need preening, that’s all.”
Jin Li dropped his chin, his nod of understanding carrying an air of growing horror. “Out here? Oh no, it’s far too cold to spend long out here! Come back in. I’ll clear the dining room for you. No one’s in the tap room, we’ll open the sliding doors, give you both rooms to stretch out.”
&nb
sp; “Thank you, Master Jin Li, but that’s too much trouble—”
“No trouble, no trouble,” Jin Li denied with a flap of the hands. “We’re dead at this hour of the day anyway. Too late for lunch, far too early for dinner. I can shove tables to the side, give you all the floor space. You’ll have three full hours before I’ll need to put things back in place.”
“Preening’s messy, though?” Mei Li said this because she honestly wasn’t sure, having never seen a dragon preen before. She would assume with the down/feathers/what-have-you that would be the case.
“We’ll put down sheets, too, make for easy cleanup,” Jin Li offered. “Please, Masters, come back in. I’d be a poor host if I left you out here.”
Shunlei gave the man a bob of the head. “Then I’ll accept your kind offer.”
Beaming, Jin Li darted back inside, calling for help to move the tables as he went.
It really was the matter of a few minutes work to set the tables and cushions aside. Mei Li was glad to see that Shunlei appeared far more comfortable stretching out this time. There was just enough room, if he angled his wings right. They laid down sheets all around his wings in preparation. Settling on his belly, Shunlei curled his tail around his feet and chest, then let one wing out until it touched the tips of the wall. Mei Li eyed the wing and hoped that would be sufficient to give her the reach she needed. She’d have to shift him when it came time to work on the other.
Rone touched his feathers lightly as she explained patiently to a willing Mei Li, “Primaries, secondaries, tertiaries, coverts, alula.”
Mei Li repeated this absently under her breath, touching the same feathers.
“Now, what you need to do is take the dowel and lift the feathers like so—” Rone slipped the dowel with practiced ease under the coverts and lifted them gently. She immediately hissed out a curse. “Shunlei! Wind and stars, I swear you don’t have the sense of a pregnant fruit fly!”
Shunlei grimaced, casting her a dark look over his shoulder, but held his tongue. Mei Li knew practically nothing about this, but even she could see the terrible state of his feathers. The down feathers were matted and clumped together, a sickly grey color—not the ebony black the rest of his feathers were. Shunlei had definitely pushed off preening longer than was prudent.
“All those feathers need to go,” Rone stated with iron finality. “They’re going to crumble when you touch them. They’re supposed to. Have at it.”
Mei Li still felt a little trepidation as she grasped the first clump of down, using light fingers to touch the area. With the first handful of feathers, the down promptly crumbled to dust. Rone instructed her on how to splay her fingers so she could straighten the secondaries underneath, and coat them with the powder. Mei Li did so, pleased at the praise Rone heaped on her head, and went at the second handful with more confidence than the first. She felt like she took to it like a duck to water and eventually took the dowel from Rone.
Shunlei’s tension drained from his body, leaving him in a puddle on the floor. He certainly looked hypnotized, falling into a dreamy, half-aware state and barely moving as Rone showed Mei Li how to get to the alula and the coverts.
Mei Li got the hang of it, even the alula, which Rone told her was the tricky part. She had Shunlei extend the wing straight back and adjust as she worked around each angle, and did it all with minimal help. She even put her hand on the leading edge and pushed the wing to fold without prompting when finished.
Shunlei made a soft sound at that, a musical thrum of pure happiness.
Mei Li became more and more confident, scratching at the powder down, straightening feathers. She was more than satisfied at her work. Even she could tell the wings looked better, healthier, compared to when she started. Even if she wasn’t sure of her work, the reaction she got from the dragon said volumes. Shunlei was practically drooling.
This whole situation made her wonder, though. Shunlei had known Rone for centuries and they were very close friends. Why was he reluctant to have her help, but eager and willing to have Mei Li’s? It didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Not that it didn’t make her feel all tingly and special, because it did. It was just confusing as well.
Finally, she finished, closing his second wing. “Better?”
Shunlei thrummed at her before remembering she wouldn’t be able to decipher that. He woke up enough to form words. “Much,” he murmured sleepily. “Many thanks, Mei Li.”
She smiled and rubbed the soft spot on his nose, right below the ridge, and he melted even further, nuzzling into her stomach, his warm breath gusting over her. With him like this, he didn’t seem at all all-powerful. She had the oddest urge to poke him. Or maybe cuddle him. “You’re welcome. How often do you need this?”
“As often as you’d like,” Shunlei said dreamily.
Mei Li huffed at the non-answer. “Rone?”
“Once a month at minimum,” she said sternly. “Weekly, because it feels nice.”
That last statement had been a dig at him, Mei Li knew it, but Shunlei didn’t rise to the provocation. Friends ribbing at each other was how she saw it. Mei Li found it interesting he didn’t argue, despite his obvious half-asleep state. For a man who wouldn’t let people near his wings more often than necessary, he was certainly amiable at this once-a-week plan.
“Don’t go to sleep,” Rone admonished, poking him sharply in the side. “We’ve spent a good two hours here, we need to clear up the mess.”
Oh. Right. Yes, of course they did. Mei Li looked at the dust, the discarded feathers all over the floor, and the general mess, and was suddenly very glad they had put sheets down first.
Shunlei shook himself from head to toe, dragging his mind back into a conscious state. He reverted to human form in order to help put the tables back in place, an act that scandalized their inn keeper, who considered such work beneath his guests. Ji Lin shooed them out of the dining room and, at loose ends, they retreated to the room.
Dolan sat cross-legged on the bed, a wind sprite in both hands. The ethereal creatures were wrapped around his fingers, their translucent wings beating in a slow movement. Their fine white hair whipped this way and that from wind of their own making. Each turned to track the newcomers’ movements and gave a respectful nod. Mei Li returned the gesture. They might look like children, and most wouldn’t take something the size of a man’s hand seriously, but she knew better than to judge anything by appearance. Besides, they were Dolan’s allies and likely here to give them answers. She owed them respect for that alone.
The hatchling, she saw in a glance, was still sound asleep and wedged between two pillows to keep her safely in the center of the bed. She didn’t even stir as Shunlei leaned over to check on her.
“She’s fine. I gave her another bottle while you three were preening,” Dolan informed him. “Sit, I’ve news.”
Not wishing to disrupt the hatchling, all three chose to sit on the edge of the opposite bed.
“The hatchling was indeed lost at Summer Wind Temple,” Dolan relayed. “My friend here carries a message from her parents.”
The sprite in his right hand spoke up with a voice so light her words could barely be discernable. “Greetings, Master Shunlei, esteemed ones. This child’s parents are Yu Yan and Bohai. They were caught in a summer storm two weeks ago and their wings were injured. The monks put them in a healing sleep to let them rest. The egg was in a hot spring to help regulate her. She went missing shortly after her placement. The monks are a thousand times apologetic for losing sight of her. Yu Yan and Bohai extend greetings and thanks for their daughter’s rescue and urgently request a location of where to meet to collect their child. I will carry such a message back to them.”
That was impressive. Most wind sprites only responded once a week to a magician’s call. Dolan must have negotiated well for her to be willing to continue.
“I think we should meet them at Tanguay,” Rone stated. “We’ll be there several days anyway, fixing th
e Walls. It should give them enough time to fly to us.”
“We can’t afford to stay still here and wait,” Mei Li agreed. “We can pass the baby along between the four of us and still get the work done, I think. It’s either that or we have someone come fetch her from us and have the parents meet her at Dragon’s Peak.”
A calculating look flashed over Shunlei’s face before he nodded. “Have Yu Yan and Bohai meet us in Tanguay. Assure the parents their child is well, but small and weak from being born prematurely. They’ll need to make preparations to safely take her home.”
The wind sprite nodded in understanding.
“You’re very kind to carry a message back for us,” Mei Li added. “Thank you both for carrying messages in this cold weather.”
The wind sprites moved to dance around her head in approval for her manners, giggling lightly as they did so. Then they were off, disappearing from the room as if they were mere figments of imagination.
“Well.” Rone clapped her hands together. “At least we know her parents are fine. Dolan, good work getting an answer so quickly.”
“I think they moved faster than normal to get out of the cold,” Dolan answered wryly. “But thank you. Alright, do we have everything we need in order to leave in the morning?”
“I’d like to test the confines of the traveling carrier.” Shunlei took in man, woman, and hatchling with a slight frown. “I’m not sure all three of you can fit for the day and half of flight we have left. If we need to make alternative arrangements, now is the time to decide.”
“Let’s test it out.” Dolan hopped off the bed and went to the room next door, presumably to fetch the carrier.
Mei Li fetched the hatchling, shifting her up to carefully slide both hands under her. The effort failed. She still woke up and fussed, not happy with the interruption to her slumber. “Shh, I know, it was mean of me to move you. And you dreaming so peacefully, too.”
The hatchling fussed louder, not happy to have left her cocoon and not shy about letting them know it.
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