Day 187 (165th)

(Day 187 (165th): 21 days until wedding
Set's intense hunger woke me again. I know he wasn't any lighter, but carrying him was easier today. I didn't bother the servants and prepared Set's food. He waited patiently at the small table, even though his hunger was intense. He ate heartily but not hurriedly, taking his time with his food. Falcon mentally found me and told me to add some odd things in his food: burnt coals, ash, and flint. He said it would increase Set's fire breath and would cause him no harm. I found the items and mixed them with the second plate full. He did not pause or spit out the additions. He did not seem to notice them at all. When he was satiated, I hefted his bulk and took him out to the other dragons. A blue told me he was in charge of teaching Set his fire control. I handed Set over and found a seat. My sisters and friends joined me.
"Gavin and Mara have set a date for the wedding. They will be married the first day of fall, which is in three weeks. However, this is overshadowed by you girls selecting your non-human ancestral faiths over human ones. Many say you are betraying your humanity for the 'power' of your non-human kin," Kendar informed us.
"We are betraying nothing!" Lisa snapped, "We listened to human faith, dogma, and theology. Most of it is the same meat in different casings. The elfish way as I heard it is much purer, clearer, and less encumbered than any human path."
"Be calm," I implored, "they simply do not understand. I can feel the confusion in the city. We look one hundred percent human. They know our ancestry, yet find it hard to see us as mixed. They are tired of confusion and want simple answers. Give them a while. With other races slowly returning to Selvis, they will find their cut and dry world is muddier than they realize."
Lisa took some deep breaths and settled down. Kendar agreed that the people needed time. When Gavin and Mara arrived in the courtyard, we began discussing the wedding.
In the middle of speaking, I stopped. With power I didn't know I had, I moved all of us ten feet closer to the palace. Before the question could be asked, a spout of flame raced over the spot where we had been. We looked and saw Set's mouth leaking smoke between clenched teeth.
"I am so sorry! I was trying to go beside all of you. Is anyone hurt?" Set pleaded.
Aloud, I answered, "Apology accepted and no one is hurt. I would suggest finding a more open place to practice."
Everyone agreed. The blue and Set went out of sight.
After a brief awkward pause, we took up our conversation again. We agreed to reuse the dress with some alterations. The massive train had to go. It was alright for the grand show of the Baaloc wedding, but the real one could be scaled down. The stage had long been dismantled. We agreed to have tiered seating built outside the city and a tent city erected for the event. That would put less strain on the inns undergoing reconstruction. It would also give local and traveling merchants a fair of sorts to try to improve their business and Selvis as a whole. We had the guests sorted by means of travel and station. We suspected those close to Demagram and who dealt with dragon riders frequently would have no trouble arriving on dragon back. Wizards and others like Mattis would most likely "pop" in near the time of the wedding. The rest we believed would arrive in the normal fashion of carriages and horseback.
Around mid-day, a cluster of tradesmen were called and the seating plans designed. Their expertise was very helpful and they worked it out in an hour. Extra building materials taken from the remodeling of the city would make almost half of it. They left, talking about contacts and shipments and other things I really didn't understand.
Set returned, begging for food and proud of his newly learned control. He fell asleep on my foot as we took up the discussion of smoothing clerical feathers. Our cleric friend was very instrumental in finding a way that would do the most good. We penned an announcement to all the faiths with a clear explanation of our position.
Evening found us seven alone with Mara, reworking the dress to something tamer and manageable. The train lay in a heap in the corner, many of the ribbons were removed, and some of the lace was cut away. By nightfall, we had it going in the right direction.
Set popped into the room, a rather bushy tail hanging from his mouth. Mara shrieked and nearly tripped over her dress. I had Set go to a part of the room away from us and finish his food. We got Mara out of the dress before she ripped something. She apologized as she ran from the room. We felt sorry for her as we were trying not to laugh. I asked Set about his meal.
"I saw this rat up a tree. It did not run like the inside rats. Ocean-at-Dawn asked if I was hungry. I said yes. He said to get it. I blew fire at it, cooked it, and caught it before it hit the ground. Then, I saw how dark it was getting and blinked here."
I relayed his words to my sisters. We all laughed at how innocently he sounded about cooking a squirrel on the branch. As we got ready for bed, I explained to him the differences between rats and squirrels.
His only reply was, "Both tasty."
He curled up by my feet and we went to sleep.