A Gift for Jade
Jade had been listening for the sound of feet on the landing all day, and she was off and running as soon as she heard him return.
“Papa!” Her five year old legs propelled her into the hallway, and she skidded around the door a moment before her brother, Basalt, burst out of his room. At the sound of Jade’s voice, her father looked up and, as his magenta-scaled wings settled at his back, he grinned and spread his arms to catch her.
Jade squealed, beaming at the sight of her father. She beat her wings and leaped into a glide down the length of the hallway, barrelling straight into her father’s waiting embrace.Papa chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her tiny body and pressed a kiss into her hair.
“Good to see you too, my heart,” he murmured.
“I missed you, Papa. Where have you been? Why were you away so long? Did you bring me a present?” The words tumbled out of Jade’s mouth. Papa laughed aloud, as he set her down on the floor. Jade squirmed, wanting to prolong her father’s attention, but Papa patted her arm.
“Patience, my heart,” Papa said, turning his smile on her brother.
Jade pouted, and bounced up and down as she waited for Papa to hug Basalt, then give Mama a kiss.
“Did you bring me a present?” Jade asked again, slipping her small hand into Papa’s much larger one. Mama shushed her and ushered them all into the family room, situated at the centre of their home, dug into the Ingresston cliffs.
Jade bounced beside Papa, refusing to leave his side as they settled into the comfortable cushions spread out on the floor around the low table. She liked the feel of her hand; warm, safe and secure within his large, firm grip. She loved it when he came home.
“What did you bring me, Papa?” Jade asked, a broad smilespreading across her face. Papa always brought her something when he returned from his journeys across the Dragonverse.
“You’re so annoying,” Basalt interjected. Jade tore her eyes from Papa to poke her tongue out at him. Basalt made a face in return, but she turned her attention back to her father. Basalt was four years older than her, but she knew well enough that she liked Papa’s gifts as much as she did. “Tell us a story, Papa.”
Mama poured out the tea and set a cup in front of Papa, whose eyes twinkled as he smiled at her.
“No, present first!” Jade cried out, tugging at Papa’s arm. “What did you bring for me?”
Papa chuckled. “The present and the story go together, my heart.” He drew his hand gently out of Jade’s grasp and made a show of searching through the bag strapped across his chest. His eyes were wide when he looked back at Jade, no smile on his face now. “Oh dear. I think I must have lost it.”
Jade’s eyes widened to mirror his and her mouth formed an ‘o’. Papa had never lost her gift before.Then a smile broke out across his face. “Only joking. Here is it, my heart.” Papa handed her a small package, wrapped in fine, delicate paper.
Jade gasped and started to tear the paper from the package. It was light in her hands, but she didn’t pause to give that any thought as she ripped the wrappings. Distantly, she heard Papa talking—perhaps giving Basalt his gift too—but Jade had no attention to spare for anything but the package in front of her. In the flurry of ripping and tearing, the item slipped from the paper into her lap. For a moment, Jade staredat the empty wrapping paper, wondered if he’d tricked her. Had Papa brought her an empty gift?
Then Papa leaned over and plucked the item from her lap and held it up. From his fingers hung a fine chain, glinting gold in the candlelight that illuminated the room.
“See, my heart. A neck chain. And this…” Papa pointed to a small pendant that hung from it. “Do you know where I went, Jade?” Papa asked. Jade shook her head, but didn’t take her eyes off the pendant that hung from the chain. It was a made from a fine metal, pressed into the shape of a wing. It wasn’t like her own wings, though, she could tell that already. Unlike Taraqan wings, the bone struts that held the structure of the wings were straight, without any joints part way along. That meantthese wings didn’t fold.
“I was in Deena,” Papa continued,“negotiating a contract. One day, I was out with my interpreter, and I saw a sphinx just ambling along the road. Have you ever heard of a sphinx?”
Jade shook her head, looking up at his face.
“A sphinx is a beautiful creature—with the head of a person and the body of a lion. It has wings too., though I didn’t see it flying. The sphinx are beautiful creatures, and it’s very rare to see one. They keep to the desert, usually. The people of Deena worship the sphinx as messengers of the Dragon-Gods themselves. They believe the sphinx are prophetic.”
Jade nodded her head, though she wasn’t sure she understood what prophetic meant. Papa cupped the wing-pendant in the palm of his hand.
“My interpreter said it is very luckyto see a sphinx—a blessing. As I was watching it passing us,the sphinx looked straight at me. Straight into my eyes!I had the strangest sensation, as though the creature was looking right through me, and knew what I was thinking. Do you know what I was thinking?”
Jade shook her head.
“I was thinking about you, my heart. I was thinking about how much you’d like to see this beautiful creature.”
Jade’s eyes widened, the neck chain and pendant forgotten in the magic of Papa’s story. He always made her feel like she was right there with him when he told her stories of his travels in the Dragonverse.
“After that, my interpreter gave me this,” Papa glanced at the charm again. “It’s a representation of a sphinx-wing.” Jade looked down at the charm resting in her hand. It was beautifully made, the metal pressed in such fine detail that she could almost see the movement in it.
“In Deenan beliefs, the sphinx symbolises love, devotion and overcoming.” Papa slipped the chain over Jade’s head and the pendant came to rest against her chest. “You’re probably too young to understand this, my heart, but these are good principles to live by: Love your friends and family, be devoted to doing the right thing and pray for the strength to overcome the inevitable hardships of life. Live by these principles and they cannot lead you wrong.”
Jade blinked at her father. After a moment, she nodded, more to indicate that she’d heard him, rather than having understood what he’d said. Papa smiled down at her, and patted her on the shoulder.
“Anyway, the sphinx was a magnificent animal and I hope you get the chance to see it one day. I shall remember the experience as long as I live.” Papa trailed off, a distant look in his eye.
Jade slipped the pendant inside her shirt, the metal was cold where it lay against her skin.
“Thank you, Papa. It’s so precious. I’ll wear it next to my heart and remember it always.”
Her words seemed to bring her father back from wherever he’d gone. He chuckled again and leaned forward to kiss her forehead.
“Not as precious as you, my heart.”