Féderyc Barret

The egg was beautiful: the same color of the dragon and scaled just as the hatchling would prove to be.  Growing up, Ivette had glimpsed illustrations of dragon eggs in snatches as they were passed around the court, but she had never been privileged to see a real one in person.  Such things were not for slaves.  The golden sunlight glinted off the oblong object like jewels in a crown and Ivette smiled, softly.  It was radiant than any robe or crown Valerian Vitalis had ever owned.

She sat still where she was, watching the procession of her fellows laying hands on it.  There was much to be seen in how each person approached it: some hesitant, a quick tap as though contact might scald them.  Others approached with reverence, reaching out gently to caress the shell as though it were a delicate relic.  Still others bit their lips, or twiddled fingers as they approached and bent over the egg, resting their hands on it for a prolonged period as if allowing the egg time to react.  Each reaction was unique to the individual and Ivette found it an intriguing study as she watched from her spot.  

Like the rest of the Resistance, she felt the tension when Ric approached, unconsciously leaning forward to focus on the event, unconsciously holding breath all in unison.  When nothing changed, Ivette found herself surprised.  It was obvious Ric Barret was destined for greater things…

Ivette turned to him with surprise when he spoke.  “Why do you say that?” she inquired, curiously, wondering what qualities might suggest this to him.  It was true that she liked the idea - she could think of little more glorious than the kind of trust and loyalty that must exist between dragon and rider, or more thrilling than the feeling of soaring through the air, high above all earthly cares, but who didn’t relish such notions?  Ivette wasn’t a slave, anymore, but she was confident that much was destined to be the greatest change she would ever know in her life.  

“That does sound nice, but…” she shook her head.  “I would be surprised,” she responded with a small laugh.  The knowledge that she had, in her small way, helped end slavery in her homeland was all the glory she needed.  “I was also surprised that it didn’t happen for you,” she admitted.  “I felt sure you were destined for something of the kind.  Perhaps there is another egg out there for you.”

“It’s only a feeling,” He said. Ric didn’t have visions of the past (or the future) as Avina did, but he did have his suspicions. When he tried to look into the future, it felt as though he had seen it all before - all possible variations of what could possibly happen - but only now he couldn’t remember it clearly. It was like waking up from a dream that you knew had been strange and vivid, but that you could no longer remember. 

Ric watched her closely, “You wonder what I see in you? Are you so blind to your own attributes, Ivette?” Ric asked, smiling, “You are both brave and kind - something you’ve proved time and time again - but, moreover, you are just and fair and, having been denied justice for much of your life, you want it for all people. Aragoth has given you a second chance at a life, at a home and you are ready to fight for her. You’ve proven that by being here, at all.” 

It would have been easier for her to have chosen a quieter life. And, even if she believed that Rowena should no longer be Queen, it would have been understandable if she had taken no part in it. She’d already seen more than her fair share of war. 

Of Dragon Riders Heraldry Series: House Barret

FÉDERYC “RIC” BARRET / thomas brodie-sangster

I mean tbh he’s one of the most easily forgettable figures in the south????  even tho he’s technically their leader????  Anyway, no one’d be surprised he doesn’t cross Ric’s mind much…including Loys.  HAHAHAHA yasssss I know that feel all too well like none of my characters really get with the program they’re just like, “lol is THAT what you thought?!”

Omg, but Rob does NOT like his nephew?? Like, I mean, he does on ~some level, but he probs uses Loys to rant and he's constantly frustrated by Ric b/c even though he's a scrawny kid who never does anything, he's smarter than he is and he's also a better swordsman (both things Rob will not admit to -- also not a huge accomplishment to be better than Rob in either of these areas but yeah) and he's taller to add insult to injury. Basically, i think rob was hoping that Ric would be a loser like Loys and think that he is the god that he is and basically he wanted Ric to be a lot like Loys (not that much of a loser, but you get the point). So yeah, if he's getting all of his Ric info from Rob, it's probs not good?? 

I think Ivette is v used to dealing with magic, esp since she’s living with the Moysaunts and Avina’s dreams probs wake them all up in the night alot, so I don’t think it’d esp phase her.  I also think there are aspects of it that she mistrusts bc I think her mom was sacrificed to whatever demon gods the Islanders worship (possibly THE demon??? s/o to Rochilda) but I don’t think she’d mistrust Avina or Ric as a result: I think she’d view them as ppl who have to bear this heavy burden and she knows how it can feel to be weighed down by things outside your control and so if anything, I think it might make her more protective of them?????  Bc Ivette wants to protect everyone?????  (Or at least everyone who deserves it - she def believes hardcore in justice and, like, if you chop off someone’s hand, you should have your hand chopped off; if take from someone, you should be taken from; if you kill, you deserve to be killed - she WAS raised on the Southern Isles and does kinda believe in an eye for an eye, I think, on some level?????  Or whatever ~suitable punishment, given whatever circumstances: people shouldn’t get away with things, basically.)

Hahaha, tbh I think Rob would be even more eager to hand Ric over if he knew b/c Ric has already taken too much of the spotlight away from Rob (#fail. Like he literally feels threatened by his little nephew who is ten years younger than him and I just ????? ???????? ???????? ? literALLY WILL NOT BE abLE to stop lauGHING when we watch got next time and Theon shows up. I mean obvi he's NOT Rob (thank god???) but his face is such a fail) 

Jojen Reed Appreciation Week: Day 1: Favorite quote(s)

I’m not sure what Ric would think of Loys tbh??? IDEK man Ric is v weird b/c what I had in mind for him is kinda gone b/c once I started him IC he just does his own thing and I’m like okay but this is not what we planned but Ric doesn’t care and ????

The candlelight pooled upon thick castle walls and cast queer shadows upon the floor, upon their hands, their faces.  Sweeping a bow, Dezód recollected himself.  “You know my name, I think,” he said, as he rose.  His eyes were unsettling chocolate-and-emerald, not unlike his blotchy skin and now they were trained on Ric, like some mythic goblin come to devour children.  A smile stretched his mouth into curves that echoed backwards on his jaw, cast in stark relief by the candlelight.  “I have not yet come for you, however,” he observed, sinking imperiously into a chair.  “Consider this our first…” he rotated his wrist with a hint of his usual histrionics as he searched for an appropriate term.  “Chat.  You, y’see, are a true sorcerer, one of the few in this world.  Your kind only appears once or twice in the course of a thousand years and I cannot snatch you up.  You must either come to me of your own free will or be handed over by blood.  Magic has these nasty catches.”

Dezód peered at the boy for a moment, wondering if this truly was the close.  When Roran DeGrey plunged the blade of a Dragon Rider through Dezód’s blackened heart, would all reset?  Would Ric rise up to take his place?  Would Ric retire to the caves of the South as their kind was intended to and be some ineffable source of goodwill?  Or perhaps he would give in to Dezód’s trade and mimic him - maybe surpass him.

He needed a better look.  Raising his right arm, he carelessly waved it in a circular motion.  Suddenly, the room was filled with candles.  Small, white candles that wept wax like tears, massive red ones whose flames surged to singe the ceiling, creamy candles that sat in pool of their own discarded wax.  They littered every surface and lined the floor till the room was all brightness.  Dezód leaned closer, weird eyes narrowing against weird skin. 

For a thousand years, Dezód had watched every possible future unfold before him, manipulating here to unveil this fate and waving a hand there to unlock that future…but all he saw here was a blur.  The sorcerer felt something cold in his gut as if he’d swallowed a knife and it were slitting him up from within.  He ran through his course in his mind.  With untold futures, the possibilities were literally endless.  Roran might be Dezód’s doom, but surely he was not Ric’s.  If he channeled Ric’s power, he could still defeat the young Dragon Rider.  Perhaps he could send Ric up against him…Yet, Ric was still so very young and in need of years - if not generations - of training.  He could not possibly learn in time.  Dezód sat back in his seat.  Perhaps he could sacrifice the boy, consume his powers by drinking his blood.  Perhaps, then, he could wield the boy’s power, for himself, and gain another thousand years until the next young sorcerer appeared. 

But there was another possibility, still.  Dezód frowned softly.  For generations, Dezód had sought a worthy rival and he wondered if that potential was even now staring him in the eye.  Rowena had failed him, Roran was a sad excuse for a Dragon Rider even with a prophecy on his side, Safira had failed him, and Dmitrei, for all his cleverness, was no sorcerer.  This boy was all this and more and, so far in Dezód’s long life, was the only one who had shown enough promise to give him much hope of it.  Even now, Dezód could feel the power oozing off him in waves.  His lips curved upwards to picture such a future…but Dezód realized it could not be so.  Still, he felt the West was destined to meet the South and he knew he could not allow Roran and Ric to meet, as well: it would mean certain destruction, Dezód felt sure.

Sacrificing the boy seemed the best option.

And yet, Ric wondered if that was what he meant. Time didn't matter to someone who was immortal. How many thousands of years had Dezòd roamed the earth? And yet, Ric felt that there was something wrong. Something had changed for Dezòd, but what, he couldn't say. 

That Dezòd had predicted his own death, did not occur to Ric.

Ric did not know the way magic worked, not completely. He had grown up with only himself as a teacher for his father and his uncles knew nothing about it than the common folk typically did. He found what books he could on the subject, but there was little that had been helpful to him. What he had always needed was a master, a teacher ... but there wasn't anyone in Aragoth that he or his family had heard of, who used their abilities to better this world, rather than help tear it down. 

He did not know about the conditions magic had, but that, he supposed, accounted for his confidence in the face of this feared sorcerer. He had supposed that whatever Dezód had wanted of him, he would be able to take, freely. But Ric knew he would not come to him on his own accord: nor did he think anything in the world would convince his family to turn him over to Dezòd. He was less certain about Rob, but Rob did not know about what he could do, and likely never would. 

Rob only saw what he wanted to see. 

"The first of many," He said. He couldn't see the future clearly, but he knew that this was far from the last time he would see Dezód. Their futures were linked, somehow, in someway he couldn't quite make out. Perhaps it was as simple as them both possessing magic ... or perhaps it was something more ... 

Still, for everything that he knew about Dezòd, Ric would  be lying if he said he was not tempted by the words. He needed someone to help him. He did not have confidence in his own abilities, yet, nor did he know what they meant or how to control them. And for a moment, he wondered if having Dezòd as a teacher might be better for him (and everyone) than no one at all. 

And Dezòd was right about another thing: he could show him everything he had only been able to read about. His life had been a series of seclusions and he had dreamed of seeing the world, but until his abilities were under control, it was too dangerous to wander even too far from his home. 

But in the end, Ric knew that making any sort of deal with Dezòd would end poorly. Picking and choosing what you learned from the hands of a dark wizard was easier said than done. No, he would stay here and continue to teach himself, however long it took. 

"The world will still be there when I am able to see it, myself," Ric said. He did have a plan: he knew that he could, eventually, learn to control it and once he did that, he would seek the knowledge he wanted elsewhere. He was not the only person like him in existence: somewhere in Aragoth he would find someone who could truly help him. And if not, he would learn himself. Hadn't that been how he had learned most of the things he knew? 

Anyway, I don't think that Ric would say anything to anyone just yet b/c he's not sure about his own abilities and how right they are, etc. etc. and until he's sure, he's not going to accuse an innocent man of anything or place doubts where they are undeserved and yeah.