After a what felt like a long march, they entered a farm house, or so István guessed by the rough wooden furnishings and the stove-bed he saw when they removed the blindfold.
“What did you drag in this time, Smith?” a bored voice called in American English.
“A doctor, sir. He was looking at a sick lady in that little house in the woods, the one where smoke started come out yesterday.”
The soldier pushed István forward and handed his papers to a man in thick glasses. The man read over them, frowning.
“Nagy? That’s not German.”
István tried to remember the proper English words. “It is not. I am Hungarian, and I was sent west because of the need for doctors.”
“You speak English?”
“Very little. Less French, but fluent Hungarian, German, Italian, and Czech. I can curse in Russian and Croat,” István added on a whim.
“You know anything about a cave with art, paintings, sculptures, and books in it?”
The American sounded angry.
“No. I am from the mountains in Hungary, sent west.”
One of the younger men reached for István’s two cases and set them in front of the officer.
“He had these, sir. Medical bags.”
“Open them.”
István opened his medical case and the officer peered at the contents.
“Yes, that’s all medical supplies.” István took a deep breath, hesitating as the soldier grunted when he lifted the other box. “More medical things? Looks heavy.”
“It is.” István licked his lips, hands shaking. He had to take the risk, his heart told him to take the risk. Please be safe, please. “But it has more than just medicines in it.” Eyes full of tears, he opened the case one last time, revealing the crown. The Americans gasped. “It is the crown of St. Stephen, the royal regalia. I was asked to hide it in Switzerland if I could.”
“Damn. The major needs to see this.” The officer waved to an aid, who ran off, then returned with a bull-like man who stomped the wooden floor. “Major Huntsman, this doctor, Nagy, says he’s trying to get this to Switzerland.”
The major glanced at the crown, blinked, and stared.
“What is this? Was ist das?”
“The crown of St. Stephen, part of the royal regalia of Hungary, Major. It was smuggled out of Budapest, and I brought it west.”
Major Huntsman’s brown eyes grew hard. “You say this is genuine. The actual crown of St. Stephen.”
István thought quickly. Two-thirds truth is better, safer. He spoke slowly, in English.
“Yes, Major. It will not survive the Soviets. It almost did not survive the Nazis. It was hidden in 1939—supposedly? pretended?—destroyed to keep it out of the hands of Goering and Himmler.”
Huntsman pulled on a pair of gloves and lifted the crown, turning it left and right, then peered at the inside, and again at the stones.
“It’s heavy enough. And the gems look genuine.” He put it back and closed the box. “How’d you get it here?”
“Turn the latch ninety degrees, Major, and you’ll see part of the story.” Once the Americans saw the false sides, they relaxed and seemed more willing to believe. “As to the rest of the story, very carefully, with several scares.”
István provided a brief outline of the journey.
“I believe you,” Huntsman stated at last. “As chaotic as things seem to be, and since this isn’t one of the so-called treasures that nut Himmler is after, I can see something like this happening.” He waved a paw-like hand. “Sit, sit. Sergeant, get him something wet.”
“Thank you, Major.”
The Americans had as much paperwork as Germans, or so it seemed to István as they documented the crown.
“The Colonel will be happy that we found something, even if it’s not the exact art we’re supposed to be looking for,” the major reminded one of the others. After they finished, the major insisted that István eat something. Then he lit a cigarette and spoke to István in German. “Since you’re a civilian, I’m supposed to let you go. Unless you’re going to tell someone about us.”
As he spoke, his eyes shifted color for a tenth of an instant, from brown to slit-pupiled lavender and then back.
István allowed his own eyes to change, but otherwise pretended not to have noticed the major’s identity. He shook his head.
“I have no love for the brown-shirted bastards. I’m Hungarian, not German. I didn’t see you. I treated the woman who needed help, then went back to my rounds and will return east as soon as it is permitted.” He leaned his head back, looking at the smoke-dark wooden ceiling, then back down. “My people, the country folk in my practice, need me, Major.”
“You realize that Hungary is going to be liberated by the Soviets?”
Who doesn’t?
“I had feared as much, Major.” István sighed a little to himself. “All the more reason to go back and do what I can, since I suspect they will not be, hmm, that it will be a while before they have the resources and, ah, desire to assist the civilian population with certain matters, such as minor medical care.” He raised his right hand. “I swear on my honor that I never saw you, and that you are not here.”
“Very well.”
István felt a weight leave his heart. The Americans had the crown. They would not give it to the Soviet horde.
The Americans blindfolded him, led him through the woods once more, and left him in the forest not far from the woman’s tiny house. István heaved a sigh, shifted his bag on his shoulder, and started walking. He needed to get to the main village by sunset if he was going to have someplace besides a barn to sleep.
«You’re back!» He thought Marie Anna was going to fall over from surprise. And no wonder, given that six weeks and more had passed since he’d left the Matra. «We thought, that is, when you didn’t come home—» She raced down the path and almost knocked him off his feet, twirling her tail around him. «Your hair is all silver.»
“It is. I brought more supplies. The plains are no longer safe.” But he was home, in the mountains. István felt something shift, just at the edge of his mind, perhaps the Matra, perhaps the House. “But I am home to stay.”
The flowers of May bowed under the hand of the mountain wind, and the trees whispered and murmured to themselves.
“I am home.”
(Listed in chronological order from the perspective of Rada Ni Drako.)
Hubris: The Azdhagi Reborn
Book 1 of the Cat Among Dragons prequel series.
When the Azdhagi overreach the limits of their science, only a few individuals stand between them and chaos. Three interlinked disasters start a chain reaction of tragedy and triumph leading to the re-creation of Azdhag society.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Hubris-Azdhagi-Reborn-Alma-Boykin-ebook/dp/B00J8UCN9O
Renaissance: A Novel of Azdhag Survival
Book 2 of the Cat Among Dragons prequel series.
When the Empire calls, dare an Azdhag disobey? Two generations after the Great Relocation and the Azdhag Empire threatens to pull apart as Great Lords, colony residents, and Freetown inhabitants struggle to control their worlds. A ghost from the past forces the King-Emperor to send the Prince Imperial and a most reluctant Tartai of Tarkeela to the colony on Pokara. Trouble, madness, and carpentry await.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Renaissance-Azdhag-Survival-Alma-Boykin-ebook/dp/B01E0CKMX8
A Cat Among Dragons
Book 1 in the Cat Among Dragons series.
They started it. Rada Ni Drako just wanted to do her job, but her father’s people declared her a corrupt half-breed, one unfit to live. Now she’s on the run and in need of a new identity and a job. When she fled back in time to join an interstellar mercenary company, she did not anticipate becoming the Pet of House Nagali, becoming the student of a mysterious but very well connected Healer and diplomat, and fighting her way into power as the only sentient
mammal in the court of a reptilian empire. And falling flat on her face several times in the process.
This collection of short stories, the first in the Cat Among Dragons series, begins the saga of Rada Ni Drako and her odd assortment of allies. Join the adventure as Rada takes on her father’s people and tries to keep her head, and the rest of her, intact.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/A-Cat-Among-Dragons-ebook/dp/B00AMNB0N6
Hairballs
Short fiction from the Cat Among Dragons series.
Rada, Yori, and some of the other Scouts are unwinding from a mission when they hear that the Division is testing new battle armor. Yori gets the idea that someone needs to put the armor through its paces, and against Rada’s better judgment, Yori ropes her into the adventure.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Hairballs-Among-Dragons-Story-ebook/dp/B00B1DR544
Justice and Juniors
Book 2 in the Cat Among Dragons series.
A collection of short stories following the exploits of Rada Ni Drako in a universe full of danger, excitement, and strange alien species.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Justice-Juniors-Among-Dragons-ebook/dp/B00CA95AP4
A Double-Edged Wish
Book 3 in the Cat Among Dragons series.
Rada Ni Drako soars to a new height—a moment of carelessness brings her crashing down. Rada and her business partner Zabet survive a King-Emperor’s anger, a contract that leads to plague and discovery, and motherhood. But when inattention, famine, and a conspiracy from Earth’s future combine against her, Rada proves once again that there’s nothing so deadly as a cornered cat. Especially one who already lost her soul.
A Cat Among Dragons short story collection, including the novella Famine, Fortune, and Justice. 92,000 words.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Double-Edged-Among-Dragons-ebook/dp/B00FP46K96
Revolution from Above
Novella
It takes a mammal to save a planet. Caught away from her soldiers when mercenaries invade Drakon IV, Rada Ni Drako must find a way to reconquer the planet. Help comes from a strange quarter, but even that might not be enough when treason slithers into view. Lord Ni Drako needs all her wiles, luck, and dirty tricks just to survive. When a mammal fights a mammal, even dragons duck for cover.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Revolution-Above-Among-Dragons-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JRDA7SQ
Promises and Powers
Book 4: Short Stories in the Cat Among Dragons series.
Don’t threaten a HalfDragon’s family: he’ll change the world in order to protect them.
Alien invasions only exist in bad movies. Earth’s militaries know better. That knowledge forces Joschka Graf von Hohen-Drachenburg to make a choice. Will he remain in hiding, or will he risk losing everything in order to protect his family and House Drachenburg? His decision pulls Rada Ni Drako back into his life. She in turn receives an offer she probably should refuse, from a creature as old as Earth itself.
When the Cat and a HalfDragon join forces, everything changes.
A Cat Among Dragons short story four-pack. 24,000 words.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Promises-Powers-Cat-Among-Dragons-ebook/dp/B00IOV8L94/
A Touch of Power
Book 5: Short Stories in the Cat Among Dragons series.
So much for an “easy consulting job”! From wandering alien graduate students to a musician who plays more than just a guitar, Rada Ni Drako, or Rachel Na Gael as the humans call her, has her paws full of mischief. Her old friend Joschka von Hohen-Drachenburg isn’t helping, either. Rachel really should have read the fine print on this contract.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Touch-Power-Among-Dragons-Book-ebook/dp/B00KVP9SA2
Between Flood and Flame
Book 6: Short Stories in the Cat Among Dragons series.
What price justice, and who will pay? Rada Ni Drako returns to Drakon IV and rediscovers the joys of politics. She and her business partner, Zabet, prefer to live and let live, but a corrupt King-Emperor drives Rada to disobey a direct order. The results may bring down the government, if Rada survives.
A dying junior cries out for justice for a long-forgotten crime. And General Andrew Whitehead decides to solve two problems with one building. It’s just another uneventful decade (or two) for the Cat among the Dragons.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Between-Flood-Flame-Among-Dragons-ebook/dp/B00M20HW9S
A Cat at Bay
Book 7 in the Cat Among Dragons Series
When old enemies and allies collide, a Cat needs her Dragons.
Rada Ni Drako senses something amiss, or does she? Rada’s worlds seem to be spinning out of control after an encounter with a stasis-field scrambles her Gifts. A commanding officer who can’t bring herself to trust “the Alien”, strange doings in the depths of the Drachenburg, and a flare-up Rada’s centuries-old feud with Clan Blee on Drakon IV leave Rada wondering if age has finally caught up with her. Or does something far more dangerous than just the passing years gnaw on Rada? For old enemies lurk in the starry depths, watching, waiting, as patient as Time itself . . .
Rada’s foes are about to rediscover a deadly truth: nothing is as dangerous as a cat at bay.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Cat-Bay-Among-Dragons-Book-ebook/dp/B016LT2Y20
Shadows and Anguish
Book 8 in the Cat Among Dragons Series
Out of the embers wakes a fire. Out of the shadows comes an avenger.
After near death at the hands of her father’s enemies, Rada Ni Drako returns to her duties, her body healing and mind intact. Or is it? The new commanding officer of the 58th Regiment of Foot does not trust her and guards his own secrets. Her strongest allies now serve elsewhere. And new dangers threaten all that the Cat Among Dragons holds dear. From the coasts of Britain to the forests of Drakon IV and the depths of the Harz Mountains, Rada Ni Drako fights her shadows.
But the price of victory may be more than a Cat and a Dragon can bear.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Shadows-Anguish-Among-Dragons-Book-ebook/dp/B01HFORQGO
Clawing Back from Chaos
Book 9 in the Cat Among Dragons Series
When the Cat Breaks...
Storms rage inside Rada Ni Drako as a tempest swells around her. How can a born predator also Heal? How can she reconcile the demands of her faith with her true nature? When a vengeful officer pushes Rada over the edge, only a Dragon can pull her back from the abyss, and even he may be too late.
Around them, something moves, watching, gaining strength, nudging Earth’s potential just enough to open a gate for invasion. She and her allies will need all their cunning and courage to hunt down the long-hidden enemy, an enemy who longs for chaos. But first Rada must survive the chaos inside her.
Friendships tested, hearts tried, danger swirling ever closer—
Sometimes, it takes chaos to defeat chaos.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/dp/B0722Y9YYK
In Sheltering Talons
Book 10 in the Cat Among Dragons Series
Years, lightyears, and enemies... It’s enough to turn a cat grey.
After seven year-turns on Drakon IV, Rada Ni Drako needs a rest from her “vacation”. Facing down angry nobles, wildlife gone amok, blood feuds, and a few other minor upsets have taken their toll, as Rada finally admits. Her heart longs for Joschka and Ter-Tri.
Rada’s enemies have not forgotten her. Both the Traders and some humans on Ter-Tri want Rada for their own purposes. Rada and Joschka must thread their way through ambushes, bureaucracy, a House spat, and the trials and tribulations of ordinary life if the Cat and her Dragon are going to find some peace and quiet.
And then a werewolf appears.
Adventure, battles, weddings, paperwork, and the dreaded curry-loaf await!
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/dp/B07CQYDJJP
And more...
Keep up with all the latest books by Alma T C Boykin on her blog: AlmaTCBoykin.Wordpress.com
Elizabeth of Starland
Book 1 of the Colplatschki Chronicles.
Stubborn as a mule? No, stubborn AND her mule.
Colonial Plantation Ltd. abandoned ColPlat XI, writing the planet off as a tax loss after a series of severe Carrington-type events. Now, four hundred years later, Laurence V of Frankonia wants to write Elizabeth von Sarmas out of his kingdom, but like her Lander ancestors, Elizabeth refuses to roll over and die.
To survive, she needs to cross the continent, thread her way through a holy war, and find friends in the Eastern Empire—an impossible task for a sheltered gentlewoman. Or is it? Never underestimate a woman with a mission and a mule.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Starland-The-Colplatschki-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00HFEWKXY/
Elizabeth of Donatello Bend
Book 2 of the Colplatschki Chronicles
Elizabeth grows into her duties as colonel and lady of Donatello Bend, and makes a fateful enemy.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/dp/B00KKY2G1M
Elizabeth of Vindobona
Book 3 of the Colplatschki Chronicles
Against a Rising Tide Page 26