Sleeping Dragon forget stardust; you are iron

There is a moment Thuringwethil isn’t sure Eske will open up and a frown laces her lips. Even if her time with Eske has been limited since her birth and most often with Freyja, as she seeks a spot at the top with Drageda, the youngest dragon of all has always had a soft spot. In some ways, the girl reminds her of Gyda—especially when they were younger—and she knows the goufa will make them all proud. There are big things lined up for her too, even if they don’t know what they are just yet.

When the words spill from her mouth, Thuringwethil slowly nods her head once in encouragement. Always she tries to present herself as open should anyone need a helping hand and she is thankful Eske feels comfortable to express her feelings.

“Your parents are very important to Drageda and it is not a decision we made lightly,” she says though she isn’t exactly sure how much she knows. “They will gain support from Trigeda and make their own home between us. Once they have settled when winter ends, they will not be that far,” she adds. The travel will not be as far as Trigeda and a visit won’t be an impossible feat. They will succeed, just as the rest of them.

It is the talk of her siblings that give her a little more concern. The stranger they have with them, something she had not decided, hadn’t settled well with her. Wildfire had sprung it on her and as much as she wanted to turn the boy away, she found it difficult to say no. The anxiety of all the other dragons remain with her as much as it does with Eske. As involved as their parents were with the children, as much as the rest of them were involved, surprises her that they had managed to fail Thyri. Still, she knows she doesn’t have an answer good enough to excuse any of the problems the girl has.

“It is a test of their loyalty, Eske. If they betray us, they are not of Drageda. We do not have room for the weak,” she explains, though perhaps harsher than she’d meant. Freyja had been promising but her distraction as of late has been a concern and if something as simple as a boy is enough to turn her away, then the girl simply isn’t fit to lead her own branch one day. Thuringwethil will snatch the crown from the girl just as quickly as she’d given it to her.