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The room was spacious enough, with a row of beds along one side and deep window shafts cut into the solid rock to let in light. Ponevi, after a brief inspection of the facilities, had dumped his things on the bed nearest the door and left (to, he said, reconnoiter). Ibanu wondered whether the Weira had been honest with the other lad as well... or did Pone not know he wasn't on Pernsey anymore? He didn't seem to care either way, and Ibanu didn't know the other boy well enough to guess. Still thinking, he chose a bed halfway to the far side of the room, and began to unpack, folding the rumpled clothes as neatly as he could and stacking them in the heavy wooden chest at the foot of his bunk, probably provided for this very purpose.
This place wasn't bad. It was a bit more relaxed then the Weir; but then, he had yet to meet any riders from the fighting wings. If they even had wings here... everything seemed so different. He hadn't seen many salamanders, or 'fire-lizards', as his foster mother had told him they were called here, since arriving... but then, that was normal for a norther Weir. The tiny dragons were not as fond of cold weather as their larger cousins were.
Rhiva. Thinking about mandies reminded him that he hadn't seen hide or talon of the little gold queen since going between on his way here. Where was she? Surely one of the big dragons would have given the little flit the coordinates... unless Seuth thought it best for her to stay behind. But why? Maybe she hadn't realized he was going on a trip... mandies were notoriously unreliable when it came to things like that. But they'd always return to their owners, no matter where they'd gone. Could it be that Rhiva couldn't find him here? Or maybe she'd arrived, but not been able to locate the exact room... he was just about to gt up and go look for her, maybe ask the Weira--Queenrider--if she knew, though of course someone that important was sure to be busy, when there was a knock on the door.
He trotted over and opened the heavy door cautiously. A gold blur whooshed past her ear and he ducked. "Rhiva!"
"Oh, so that's her name! Such a pretty creature." The young woman standing in the door was a bit shorter than him, and obviously quite a bit older. "I found her flying about my room. Did you know that she matches the curtains in there perfectly?"
"Um..."
"I'm a candidate here, too. I've always wanted to Impress a dragon! Where are you from?"
"Dasmalenra Weir. My foster mother is the Weira."
"Really? I have a friend, Oscar, Shy sent him to Dasmalenra and he didn't write for the longest time. I'm Istana, by the way. What's your name?"
"Ibanu, and this crazy mandie is Rhiva." He pointed to the small gold fire-lizard settled in his hair. "But you knew that."
"Nice to meet you, Ibanu! Ohh... I almost forgot. Rashani sent me to get you for lessons. It's your first day, so you aren't expected to know everything yet. We have, um, basic dragon anatomy? I think? It's somewhere..." She waved a hand in what was probably something like the right direction. "Anyway, I know where it is, so if you'll just hurry up and finish unpacking, I can take you there. Where's the other one?"
"Uhh... Ponevi? He left, said he wanted to look around." Ibanu carefully removed his mandie from his hair and curled her around his neck like a scarf. "I'm ready to go right now, I guess."
"Great! We can find your friend on the way. Now hurry!"
And for the second time that day, Ibanu found himself being dragged off into the Great Unknown at high speed.