Drake Take
Do you trust your wishing star?
Just like every other girl, in every other village, in every other age, Tungel tended the way-drakes in her mother’s house. She was first among her friends to feed the drakes, as befits a holder’s daughter and a future holder-wife, but this was small comfort now that Shepherd hadn’t come.
Her belly contracted, squeezing out tears that trickled down her nose. Did Mother even see them? Did she care?
Tungel gripped the edge of her bench with one hand and the wooden table with the other. Across from her, Mother stood, chopping vegetables with short, quick downstrokes. As she turned to splash potatoes into the Paragon stew, her calm midwife-voice instructed, “Now, deep breaths. In.” She elongated the word for effect. Then she intoned, “Out,” and ex
