Tessa’s POV:
I rejoined my family under the heat lamp later in the evening, picking the cooler end this time. The visit wound down as the sun approached the horizon.
When Maria yawned for the third time, Adeline kindly told her, “Why don’t you go to bed? You stayed up late last night, and it’s been a long day. Your father and Tessa will be here in the morning. They can even take you to school, if you want.”
“Yes, please. I’d like that,” Maria replied, getting to her feet. She gave her mother and father a hug before looking over at me. “Good night, Tessa. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Like usual, I gave the same soft whistle that I gave everyone who said good morning or good night to me.
Mom lifted her head as Maria went into the bathroom, telling me, “This might be the best time to break the news to Adeline. It isn’t wise to let Soranto try to keep something this important from his wife, even for a short time. He loves her very dearly, and it will tear him up inside.”
“Oh. I was going to ask him tomorrow when and how he wanted to tell her.”
“Since you plan to include her, I suggest doing it tonight. Preferably while Taureen and Aeria are here. Being able to talk with other handlers helps them cope with the surprise.”
I waited until Soranto finished speaking with Taureen and asked, “Are you alright with telling Adeline about me once Maria goes to sleep? Mom thinks it would be easier with Taureen and Aeria here in case she has questions.”
Soranto glanced at me and subtly nodded. His silent reply made my muscles relax in relief and tense in suspense at the same time.
Mom nudged me with her nose. “Don’t worry. Adeline cares about you. I barely knew Aeria when I spoke with her the first time. This will just give her a bigger support group.”
Soon enough, Maria went into her room and closed the door behind her. Time seemed to pass far too slowly as I waited for Soranto, Taureen, or Aeria to bring the conversation back to the topic of the dragonets.
“I did discover one other thing while in that hidden base,” Soranto said, becoming more serious. Recognizing my cue, I glided down to land on his shoulder pad.
“What did you discover?” Adeline asked, noticing her husband’s unusual solemnity.
“That Tessa is much, much smarter than I realized.”
After a second, she said, “I’m not sure I understand. We both know that she is very smart.”
I jumped down to Soranto’s knee and tilted my head cutely. “But did you know that I can talk?”
She blinked slowly as a stunned expression crossed her face. Her eyes flickered to Taureen and Aeria before moving back to Soranto and me, unsure of how to react with our company
“It’s okay,” I reassured her. “Taureen and Aeria know. Mom and Dad have talked to them for years.”
Taureen and Aeria nodded to emphasize my words.
“I wasn’t supposed to talk with Soranto for a while yet, but Mom gave me permission when I was in the Votak base. Since he knows, I also wanted to include you. It is a secret though. A big one. Only the other dragonet handlers know about it.”
Silence reigned for quite some time before she finally asked, “Dragonets? You mean fire lizards?”
“Yes. We tend to call ourselves dragonets, but fire lizards also works.”
“You mean, this entire time, you could understand us perfectly?”
“Some discussions were too complicated for me to make sense of, but I can understand many words in your language.”
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“All of the fire lizards are aware,” Taureen said, “but, for the most part, their instincts strongly influence their behavior. Not much will change now that you know, other than being able to talk with each other. She’ll still come looking for pets and treats.”
Her eyes drifted back to me.
I perked up my ear tufts. “I like pets and treats.”
A smile finally appeared on her face. “I bet you do. You probably had a lot of fun with your small tricks too.”
“Yep! I like it here with Soranto and you. Maria is fun too, but I’m leaving it up to you and Soranto if you want to include her in this secret.”
“May I ask why it is such a secret?”
“The wild ones in the park were trapped in cages when they were young, before the Kymari came,” I replied softly, watching anger flash in her eyes at the thought of someone caging us. “Had their captors known they were aware, they would have been killed. The thought of the Kymari finding out terrifies them.”
Adeline nodded slowly. “I can understand that, and I will respect that. As for including Maria in this, it’s something we’ll have to think about later.”
With a hop and a wingbeat, I landed on her knee, lifting my head to trill at her. Tentatively, she began petting me. I rubbed my head against her hand and thrummed to encourage her.
“Why did Tasha and Keegan push you off the shelf?”
Humor rang through my mindvoice as I replied, “When you were discussing what the dragonets needed in the park, Soranto looked over at me as if asking a question. I told him that if he kissed Mom, she might tell him.”
Mom snorted loudly from where she sat under the heat lamp, clearly conveying her opinion of my suggestion.
“I think I agree with Tasha,” Adeline replied with a chuckle. “If I can ask, what do you need in the park? Do you know?”
“As far as I know, nothing. The group that left and returned did that on purpose to trick their watchers. The Morning Song is needed though. We can go about a week without it before we begin to feel…unwell. It happened to Mom when her wing was broken.”
“Was your dance on the other planet similar to the mornings here?” She asked, taking the opportunity to ask every question they had just discussed.
“Kind of. I think it would have been closer if the planet had plants and things. It was really short and fast.”
“That was probably due to the size of the planet and how fast it was rotating,” Soranto commented. “It’s not something we can test now that we’re back, but I mentioned in my report that a world more like this one would probably be better. That one just happened to be nearby.”
I shrugged as best I could. “I don’t know. I just know what I felt, although your reasons make sense.”
Aeria’s gaze drifted to the window. “Is our backyard set up properly for your, er, Morning Song?”
“Yes. It’s great! The stump lets me see the sun as it rises. I also really like what you did with your living room. Even Mom was jealous.”
That comment had Taureen glancing at Mom, and I suspected that there would be a discussion about potential renovations later.
Soranto grinned. “I’m glad you liked it. Was there anything we missed or something you want us to change?”
“I can’t think of anything. It’s nice. I’m really happy here.”
“And our patrols? I’m fairly sure some of the fire lizards came out of the park because they wanted to hunt crawlers.”
“The patrols can get a bit boring, but it’s worth it if it keeps crawlers and sicora off the planet. Especially sicora. I really don’t like them.”
“If you ever want anything changed or if you want to do something different for a day, just let me know.”
“No worries there. Dirk says I have a big mouth, but considering he can eat faster than me, I think his must be bigger!”
“Hey!” Dirk exclaimed with an indignant squawk, only letting our family listen in. “Why did you drag me into this?”
I grinned at him. “Because I could.”
Soranto looked between me and the blue dragonet on the shelf before asking Taureen, “I assume hearing only half the conversation is normal?”
“Usually you won’t hear anything if they’re talking to each other. They have to intentionally include us. They rarely talk with other handlers unless they consider it important, although it isn’t uncommon for them to ask the handler’s companion to relay a message.”
“It’s only proper,” I told Soranto and Adeline. “Taureen and Aeria are Mom and Dad’s. I still speak with them because they were like parents to me. I think I only spoke with Alec twice, although I never talked directly with any of the other handlers.”
“Unless you have more questions,” Taureen said, “we’ll take our leave and let the three of you talk.”
“Thank you,” Adeline said, “although I think Tessa can probably answer any questions I have.”
“In that case, have a good evening,” Taureen said as he got to his feet. “I’m certain you’ll manage just fine, but feel free to reach out to Aeria or me.”
“Dinner is at our house tomorrow,” Aeria reminded them.
Adeline picked me up and cradled me in her arms. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Soranto also stood up as they walked Taureen and Aeria to the door. Neither of them even batted an eye as my family flew over to land on Taureen and Aeria’s shoulder pads without being called.
I snuggled into Adeline’s arms as my family left. Now that Soranto and Adeline knew, there were bound to be lots of interesting conversations I could join.
