Olie the Boy

Olie peered over the shoulder of his father, a tall strapping man who did not complain about the heavy weight on his back and smiled. “What is that?” he would have pointed with his hands, except at the moment his father was holding onto his hands, making sure that he did not fall. Olie was twelve now, and while he was surely too big to be riding on the back of an old man, he was still immature in too many ways to count.

“A Western Glory.” He said, his voice a deep rumble. The flower was a violet one, a pale soft violet, the hue bruises become when they are left too long without ice. While the comparison was not a poetic one, it suited the purpose well enough for now. They had been imported from the Western Courts and were rare—the only reason the servant got to see one was because Chiaki, the daughter of the Sparrow Cloud household had been given a bush by the Crown Prince. Everyone had been a buzz about it…before, the flowers had only existed in the courts of the Imperial family, in the gardens and yet at the same time, everyone had swooned at the sheer romance of it all. “Do not touch it little one, thorns can prick you.” While for any other young boy this might have sounded like a dare, Olie only nodded, a obedient child as he smiled at his father.

“I won’t.” he promised. “Lady Chiaki must be important to own such beautiful flowers.” While the families status had indeed, risen due to the arrival of the flower bush, in reality it was only one woman who could claim ownership. A rather pretty young thing with a gentle air that did not suit the harsh life of politics.

The father smiled. Some people thought that Olie was a bit slow, a bit sullen but he knew that Olie was very perceptive. Sometimes it was a child’s perception of things, an understanding that did not make all the sense in the world—but at other times, he knew that it was just Olie, his son. The man had many sons, many daughters and sometimes his daughter Kika would tease him, saying that he and his wife could probably dominate the entirety of the Eastern Courts with their children. The man smiled, pride on his face as he thought of his daughter. She was the servant companion to Lady Chiaki, you know. If the Lady rose in status, so did his daughter.

As if echoing his thoughts, Olie tugged at his father’s ear and asked quietly. “When is Kika coming home?” Kika had accompanied her lady to the Dowager’s court to hear that verdict, but servants talked and they already knew what would happen. In fact, the mother was already packing, hoping to ease the burden that Kika would have to carry. Which reminded him. Placing his son gently on the front steps, the father leaned down until he was eye level and smiled.

“Olie.” He said gravely, and at the tone Olie focused all of his attention onto his father. He was a smart kid, like that. He knew when things were not to be messed with. “I have something very important to tell you.”

“Yes father?” he asked, with innocence but also with the naked trust a child could hold was he reared right.

“I need to send you on a private mission.”  He said these words, and young Olie’s eyes lit up as he suddenly smiled.

“What?” he asked, leaning forewords and the father smiled, ruffling his head.

“I need you to go and protect Kika, for me.” He said slowly, making sure his son understood. “Kika’s going to have to go away for awhile… I want you to go with her.”

For a moment, Olie paused. Not, because he did not understand the words but because he was trying to understand everything. “Go?” he asked almost quietly. “The Western courts will not like me.” It was the truth, and the father did not try to say otherwise—to do so would be to insult his son’s intelligence, and he was too proud of the young one to do something so crass.

“You’ll face trouble, Olie.” He said quietly, seriously. “Look at me.” Olie immediately obeyed, and tow identical pair of eyes stared at each other. “It is a dangerous mission.”

Olie smiled then. “I can handle danger.” He said, the way children did. “I’ll be a hero.” He whispered, and his father nodded, hiding his bemused expression. “I’ll protect Kika, father.” He said, sober as if this was the exchanging of blood vows, and nodded his head.

It was silly, for the father to feel so relieved at his young son’s word, to believe him because Olie was much younger than Kika. But he did. He felt a sense of freedom, and understanding and as he smiled, he nodded his head. “I know you will.” He said quietly, and got up, hiding the groan as he did so. He was not as young as he was, once. Crouching on the floor like that wasn’t good for his bones. “Now why don’t you go see if Nana has any more left over cake?”

Olie immediately brightened, and he ran off towards the direction of the kitchens, searching for the age old cook who had fed each and every one of the young Sparrows. The father watched his son run off, and smiled. Yes, he could trust this one.

That had been two months ago, and Olie looked up with wide eyes at the search rider who smiled, ever so patient. “What’s your name?” the search rider said kindly, and Olie backed away, bumping into something solid and warm.

‘Are you shy, little one?’ the creature asked, and Olie turned to see the top upper half of the body of a bay dragon peering at him from what seemed to be the edge of a pool. Olie did not want to show weakness, but he nodded anyways.

He nodded, and then he opened his mouth and whispered with wide, almost terrified eyes. “Don’t dragons eat people?”

The search dragon almost sniffed and muttered something about human flesh tasting sour, but it decided that the young boy wouldn’t appreciate his sense of humor. The search rider only laughed.

“Of course they don’t.” he said, and smiled. “What is your name. Surely, you can tell me your name?”

Olie looked up and over his shoulder to see Kika smiling at him encouragingly. “You can trust these people, Olie.” She said gently.

“My name is Olie.” He whispered, braver now because his sister clearly seemed to trust these people. “What’s yours?” he asked boldly, and blushed.

Kika smiled from behind him. “He’s just shy.” She explained, smiling as she watched the bay dragon swim against a wave. “But he’s honest, and good.”

The search rider smiled, an understanding smile at the protective note in her voice. “I’ll make sure he arrives safely at the bay.” He promised.

“The bay?” Olie looked up from between the two older people. “But Kika, I’m supposed to stay with you” the words did not escape as a whine, but a simple statement as he looked up over his shoulder. Still, his eyes were drawn by the care free behavior of the bay dragon, and he could not quite concentrate.

Kika laughed. “I’m going to stand myself.” She said lightly. “If I manage to bond.” She said. “If.” She stressed the word. “How will you protect me when I am in the skies, and you in the ground?” she ignored the fact that the bay dragons kept to the seas so they would be just as separated, and Olie never thought of things like that anyways.

Olie paused. “I should stay with you.” He said with a stubborn determination, and Kika shook her head, smiling.

“Go with the nice search rider, eh Olie? Do this for me.” Her smile was encouraging, gentle and Olie, whose heard had already some how run off with the bay dragon smiled.

“Alright.” He said. “But I’m doing it for you.”

Kika laughed, seeing the obvious desire in his eyes and ruffled his head as if he was a smile child. It was something everyone did, something his father did and for some reason he was comforted by this gesture. “Fine, fine.” She said, grinning. “Now go.”

Olie smiled back. Well, he would protect her still, in his own way….