Memory Bonds

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Udo asked. Funny, he almost didn’t sound sure of himself. “I was thinking-well, Aqua and I were thinking, there are plenty relaxation places for humans to pamper themselves. But nothing was set up for dragons.” Aqua nodded along.

Harmoni squinted around.

The desk up front had some brochures on it, too far away for Harmoni to make out, but there was also a large poster behind the desk. It had words too, but was mostly taken up by pictures.

“Many dragons can’t read,” Udo explained with a shrug, evidently following her gaze.

Right. Harmoni had just been staring out at the room without speaking for a while, with narrowed eyes at that.

“I’d still be interested in working here, if you were wondering,” she told him.

“If you’re sure?”

Harmoni turned to him. Never mind her, was he sure?

“Don’t get me wrong. I could use some help. But I’m not forcing you. There are other options.”

‘Not that I’ve seen,’ Harmoni thought. But she wasn’t about to point that out. “No. I’m sure.”

Udo shrugged. “OK. Let’s get everything sorted then.”

He led her into one of the doors behind them.

Aqua slithered out of the storage room they'd come from, and stayed in the main room, but was glaring at Harmoni as the door closed. Harmoni didn’t like the look. Having an angry dragon on the other side of the only door was making her nervous again.

She tried to swallow it down as Udo looked around the room. She needed to be focused on what was going on, but not nervous. That would make things worse.

They'd walked into some sort of office. It was a regular sized room with a regular sized desk and chair, clearly not made for a dragon to be in. Udo took a seat behind the desk. He had one of those spinning office chairs. Harmoni followed his lead and sat in the stationary chair in front of the desk. It was a little less fancy than Udo's, but not uncomfortable.

“Right then. If you could just write your name down here.”

Udo handed her a paper. Harmoni scrawled her name on it and he took it back.

“Huh. That's a surprise spelling,” he commented. He took the pen and started writing some things of his own. “How old are you?”

“I’m 29,” she guessed. At Udo’s expression she quickly elaborated. “That would be about fifteen in human years.”

Udo glanced at her ears, and Harmoni had to resist making sure they were completely covered with her hair. Maybe she should’ve lied and just said 15? But he or the dragon had surely noticed the ears before.

Udo was no longer looking at her though. He was writing. He took a minuet or two to finish, the both of them sitting in silence. Harmoni could try to read what was going on the paper. His hand writing was clean enough. But she couldn’t read upside down that well.

“OK. . .” Udo said, finishing up on something. “You’ll be working here Wednesday through Sunday. You’ll work either from 8 until noon or noon until 4, depending on what I need. Does that work for you?”

Well it wasn’t like she had anything else going on. If anything, that sounded like too little. But she nodded. If she needed to, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to ask for more hours after she’d started.

“OK. I have a guest room at my house you can stay at. I can add meals as well, but it would mean you’d barely be paid anything.”

“Woah, woah, wait,” Harmoni said, sitting bolt upright again. “That’s too much. That’s. . .”

Not to mention . . . well, it wasn’t Udo specifically. She trusted him as much as she trusted any of the people she’d tried to get an apprenticeship with, maybe even a bit more. But there was a difference between working with someone and living in their house.

“It’s not too much. You think I’m going to let you wander the desert like when I found you?” Udo asked. “I have a guest room that is magically enchanted to disappear and reappear as needed. I didn’t make it. It was just like that when I got the house. But the point is, it would be no effort to let you stay there. It has no negative effect on me whatsoever, and is only a positive for you.”

“But . . . why are you helping me?”

People didn’t just do that. Did they?

“Because I can,” Udo said, evidently thinking people did do that. They both stared at each other for a moment. “You don’t trust me.”

It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t a surprise revelation either. Udo sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“I’m not sure I can calm your concerns, but let’s try. What ulterior motive could I have? If I wanted you dead, or if I wanted to rob you, I could’ve done both while you were unconscious. If I wanted to ransom you back to your parents, we have already established that wouldn’t work. If you’re worried about something of a more . . . unsavory nature, several people in town could tell you how uninterested I am in anyone, much less that.”

He . . . had a point. She still couldn't understand why he'd do so much for her, but she couldn’t think of anything bad he could do that he couldn’t have already done. People who brought you back to consciousness were probably some of the most trustworthy people you could find. She just . . . was surprised, if that was really it.

“If it helps, there is one thing I would like you to do for this apprenticeship.”

Actually, that might help. She nodded. “What is it?”

“I’d like you to bond with a dragon.”

“What?”

“The dragons in town. The only ones who live with us have bonded with a rider. Well, that’s what they call us,” Udo added when he saw the funny look she was giving him. “It’s easier to bond with one when you’re younger. And working in a spa for dragons, it would certainly help to have one. Can you do that?”

Again, he was trying to give her choice, but Harmoni didn’t see how she had one. She could “bond” with a dragon, whatever that meant, and have someplace to work and stay. Or she could refuse and be back and square one. Those were the options, weren’t they?

“Am I bonding with a dragon right away?” she asked.

Udo shook his head. “It’s dark out.” The sun had been setting when they entered the office, but maybe it had disappeared by now. “We’ll go tomorrow. Or, if there’s a specific day you had in mind. . .”

“The day after tomorrow,” Harmoni said.

If she had a free day, she could ask someone about bonding with dragons. She could maybe even run away if she needed to. Though she hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

“Alright. The day after tomorrow,” Udo agreed. “Now, how about we iron out the rest of the paperwork.”

He showed her what he had so far. Harmoni’s name was at the top of the paper. Below was the schedule he’d told her about, and the pay he’d give her, with the note that a small amount would be taken out for her living arrangements.

“I could take out some for meals too, or you could arrange those on your own.”

“I’ll have one meal with you. Each day.”

That would guarantee she was getting something and hopefully leave her making some money. She had a feeling that would come in handy. For getting an outfit other than what she'd woken up in, for example. How many days had she been wearing that? Three days? Four?

Udo nodded and added it to the paper.

“Now, I know elves are vegetarian,” Udo said. Correct. Elves had a harder time digesting meat. The only thing they’d have were shellfish, or things like that. “Are you . . .?”

Harmoni couldn’t remember. Of course. “It’s better to play it safe.”

She wasn’t going to risk finally getting some food, only to throw it up.

Udo nodded. She was almost astounded that he was still willing to cook for her, if it meant going vegetarian once a day, but he’d already been so generous the shock was wearing off.

They discussed a little bit more. Like how often Harmoni should be paid, and if she had any other possessions they should grab. Harmoni said she wasn’t going to bring anything else with her, but she worded it vaguely, so it was possible did have possessions she simply wasn’t bringing. But overall, the rest was all pretty basic. They had the broad strokes down. They were just ironing out the details.

“Alright,” Udo said. He handed Harmoni a copy of the paper. It seemed he’d pressed hard enough to make two copies. “How about I show you the guest room?”

Yes, that sounded good. And then she could figure out just how big the catch was, to working here.