When she was small, Mihera did not know how crowded the lair was. Sure, everywhere she looked the other dragons were tripping over each other, but that was normal, right? All hatchlings had to crawl under their older siblings in order to get a glance at themselves in the reflecting pool, or share a sleeping ledge with three big sisters who snored. At least, that was what she thought until her older brothers and sisters started to leave.

'It's nothing personal, Mih'a," said Cereza as she packed her bags, 'it's just that we need space. It will be better around here once some of us go.'

'But where are you going?' Mihera asked. She liked being surrounded by big sisters and brothers. Why would they want space?

'To the 'singer, of course. Where else do dragons like us go? Not all of us can be as lucky as Calliope and end up in a bigger lair.'

'The Singer? Who is that?'

It was older brother Erlan who explained. He was packing too - he and Cereza and Vera were all going off together.

'The 'singer? You mean the Windsinger, don't mind 'Reza's abbreviations. He's the best, little sis! They say he's a god, our very own deity. Like a shiny green kite, with clouds of music everywhere he goes. He spends his days wandering the winds, and dragons like us can go and stay with him. Who knows, maybe you'll meet him someday too.'

Mihera was too small to follow her siblings when they left, but she never forgot their description of the mysterious Singer. It seemed that going off to join him was something of a trend among the younger dragons. All of those who could not seem to fit in at the Saurus Clan's lair either found new lairs or left to join him. Sometimes Mihera thought about it - she would like to see her siblings again - but she had younger siblings too now. She would miss them and her parents if she left and never came home.

Then one day, a shiny green kite of a dragon appeared at the entrance to the lair. And he brought music with him. It was not a cloud of music, precisely, but he had instruments and the deft claws to play them. Mihera was fascinated.

It took her a long time to approach him. She wanted to ask about her vanished siblings, but she found it hard to speak when his luminous green eyes were upon her. So instead she lurked nearby whenever he played, basking in the music that poured forth from his instruments and throat. The melodies played in her mind even when he was not near.

One night, she followed a thread of a tune into a part of the lair that was strangely uncrowded. She reached the end of an empty passage and found the green kite dragon waiting for her.

'What is your name, lovely one? I've seen you watching me.'

Mihera blushed to think that the green kite dragon had noticed her.
'I'm Mihera,' she said.

The green kite dragon smiled at her. 'Beautiful. A fitting name for one such as you. And I am Chanteuse. It means 'singer'. Fitting for my trade, of course.'

Singer? Then she was right. It really was him! She spared a last fleeting thought for her siblings, but then the singer's powerful charm swept her off her feet. It was a long time before she thought of much at all.

When she heard whispers of her mate spending time alone with other lady dragons, she dismissed them as hateful rumors. But the evidence grew, and she was hard pressed to find excuses for his behavior. Instead, she found ways to spend more time with him. When he offered to make her his apprentice, it was the proudest moment of her life. She poured herself into the music. She was not suited to all his instruments, but the little harp fit her claws well and complimented her voice. Soon she grew to love the music for its own sake, though it was not always enough to distract her from Chanteuse's growing distance. She was overjoyed about their first nest, but her smiling singer had little to say. Mihera did not know what she had done wrong.

Then she caught him cozying up to a Pearlcatcher, and she knew all the stories were true. That did not make it hurt any less.

'I thought you cared about me! About our children! How could you do this? The way they talked about you...I half-thought, for a while, that you were a god.' She was ashamed to admit that now. How could she have been so blind? He was nothing like the dragon her siblings had described with such ardor. He never had been.

He blinked. 'A god? I may be the best bard there ever was, but Windsinger save me, I'm no god.'

His words confirmed it. She was a fool.

She stared at him for a long while, eyes burning with rage and unshed tears. At last she whispered, 'No, you're not,' and walked away.

The hatchlings, though she loved them, withdrew from their mother's sorrow. One day she woke up and they had gone to serve the Windsinger. She hoped her older siblings would look out for them.

Mihera kept the harp. It was the one good thing to come of her first love, and she had no intention of giving it up.