theatrically. “Close your eyes.”
Kalai did. He heard the soft sound of the tarp falling, felt Tauran’s hands on his shoulders when he moved to stand behind him. Tauran’s hot breath against Kalai’s neck made him shiver when he whispered, “Open.”
Kalai opened his eyes and drew in a breath.
The saddle was beautiful. No, beautiful wasn’t enough to describe it. Kalai moved forward, placing both hands on the smooth white leather. It was similar to a horse's saddle, but with shorter saddle flaps, shaped perfectly to fit in the space between Arrow’s neck and shoulders so it wouldn’t interfere with the motions of his wings. Along the skirt and saddle flaps ran delicate bands of silver stitched into the white leather, and along the back of the seat curled a beautiful pattern of swirls.
Kalai opened his mouth to speak, but a sudden tightness in his throat made him close it again. When he looked at Tauran, his vision was blurry.
Tauran pulled him against his broad chest, a hand at the back of Kalai’s ruffling his neatly combed hair.
Kalai wrapped his arms around him and buried his face in Tauran’s shirt. “I’m so... I can’t, I... Tau,” he croaked. “Thank you. I owe you so much.”
Tauran hushed him softly, stroking the back of his neck. “ You don’t owe me anything. I hope it fits.”
Kalai drew back. He sniffled and rubbed the corners of his eyes. “It’s so beautiful. Mighty dragons, I’m dying to try it.”
“We’ll start on the sixth floor,” Tauran said. “Once you’re used to it, we can move Arrow to the lowest nesting floor, if it’s still intact. It should give us enough vertical space for a bit of flight testing. And then, once you’re both comfortable with it, we can see about sneaking out of the city to practice in some open space.”
Kalai grinned up at him. He took Tauran’s face in both hands, stroking his thumb over a charming spread of freckles. “I’d really like to kiss you,” he said.
Tauran grinned back, the dimples in his cheeks having no business being so adorable. “I’d like it if you did.”
Letting go of Tauran’s face, Kalai wrapped his arms around his shoulders instead, pulling himself onto his toes. His belly did a flip when he let his lips hover in front of Tauran’s, his soft puffs of breath tickling Kalai’s lips.
Kalai gasped when Tauran took him by the waist and hoisted him up higher like he weighed nothing, closing the space between them. Kalai kissed him back, slow, deep and breathless.
* * *
In the short time since Tauran had last seen the sky recruits, their dragons had grown considerably.
“These two are flying already, and Jasper’s Flora seems close,” Roric said. They were on the lowest nesting floor of the Sunrise Tower, and while Tauran hadn’t exactly enjoyed scaling that many stairs, he found he was all right with the height, so long as he could trick his mind by staying far away from the windows and balconies.
“This female is older, isn’t she?” Tauran asked, approaching a fledgling with dark bottle green scales. “Shouldn’t she be flying, too?” Her recruit, a young woman, glanced at Tauran and flushed.
“Yeah, but she’s proving a little over-cautious and shy,” Roric said. “Catria thinks she’ll grow out of it, but Falka wants to see if pressuring her just a little will bring her out of her shell.”
Tauran sent a sympathetic thought to the assistants babysitting Leyra while he worked. She was as far from over-cautious as a baby dragon could get.
“No! Flora, stop!” Jasper’s voice echoed in the cavernous space.
Tauran looked away from the blushing recruit to the sight of Jasper trying to pry a wing strap from Flora’s jaws.
“Flora! You’ll break it!”
Tauran raised his hand to his lips and whistled sharply. Flora released the strap and shook her head, then cocked it at Tauran.
Tauran crossed the room to them. “She’s still rejecting the straps, huh?” He stroked Flora’s brown, speckled nose.
“I tried scolding her, but that just makes her act up worse.” Jasper sighed and hung his head. “And it makes me feel like a jerk.”
Tauran hummed, inspecting the strap running along Flora’s left wing, held in place by several metal cuffs along the limb. He had never seen a dragon trained like that. It certainly hadn’t been the way when Tauran had been a recruit. “How about this?” He stuck a hand into the pouch dangling from his hip and drew out a dried piece of silverhorn meat. Flora raised her head, rumbling