by K. E. Young
"Not right?"
"Turned or being fed misinformation." Mero's voice was distracted. He was clearly thinking on something else.
"Eh. Not good. Farris won't like either option."
Mero's face twisted in distaste. "Farris can stuff it. I wasn't too keen on sending his son in the first place but Kris had contacts in the Marini court that were potentially invaluable and he has been loyal to us since we arrived. Or so it seemed at the time."
"Huh. Zaki has sent one of his infamous teas for you. Kendra gets a different one. Blue cup is hers. He says he'll be by soon to check your knee. I have good news. Borath is now the father of a girl child. Zaki says Lisca is fine but may need a few days to recover."
"Hah. Wonderful! I imagine Borath is a little upset. He boasted that his son would be bigger and stronger than anyone else's. I think my knee's condition will please Zaki. Kendra gave it a massage a while ago and it's feeling much better. I expected it to be stiffer and more swollen. Take a look."
Koris examined the knee. "I don't know if Borath was upset, but he fainted. I doubt he'll ever live it down. Huh. Maybe your knee wasn't that damaged."
"You won't convince me. I watched Kendra put the dislocated bones back in place. Besides, Zaki said it was bad enough that Tomba will have to place healing assists. The fact it's feeling better is all Kendra's doing."
"Well, you are biased."
"True."
I listened to them discuss options for who to send to Marin. I couldn't contribute since I didn't know enough, but since I was the one who had found the issue, I figured I had already contributed.
When they finished, I caught Mero's eye. "Now, what can I expect at the party?"
His smile became strained. "You can expect stuffy lords strutting around pretending they're important, ladies being decorative trying to catch the eye of any man powerful enough to provide her and her potential children the status she desires, too many servants, and not enough entertainment.
"I hate these things. On the plus side, you'll be there and I won't have to dance with any of those pretty, petty idiots. You'll get to meet the other resident dragonlords and Sebas. I think you'll like them. If you're lucky, Geran will drag you off to play Hamsat. I hope not though. If you abandon me, I'll be at the mercy of the idiots again. They simper!"
I snickered at his shudder. "By all means, we mustn't have that. If Geran wants to play I'll ask if the servants can bring a table so I don't have to abandon you."
Koris smirked. "I'm not sure Geran would accept that, but you could try."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "He will just have to accept that I will defend my chosen in his time of weakness and infirmity."
Koris busted out laughing at Mero's groan. "That one might work. I have to get back to my duties. I still have to make arrangements to have a place for Mero to sit in the festival hall." with that Koris left.
"What does Koris do anyway?" I asked.
"He is my House Master. He takes care of the household in general, keeps an eye on finances, managing duties and guard rotations, and leading practice sessions, that sort of thing. Don't discount him though. He isn't dragonkin but can hold his own with them. He may not be as skilled in hand-to-hand as I am, but he's even meaner than you are in a real fight."
Oh. Noted. "I'd wondered. He seemed to be your right hand man but isn't your adjutant."
"Nope. He's a smart man and could do the job well. Unfortunately, he's illiterate other than numbers and basic math. He says the letters skitter over the page and keep changing position. So far, it hasn't mattered. He has a son who handles the written tasks and acts as assistant for him and I review it once a week. Anis is his wife. When he retires, his son will take his place."
From what I understood, the skittering letters thing was typical of dyslexia. It said something about him, that he could hold that position with this kind of handicap. "I suspect a household means more here than it does in my previous world."
"Possibly. The households are a Drakkeni thing. Here, a 'household' is just close kin that live with you or servants employed in your home. In Drakken, it's a little different. Only Dragonlords will have a House. The household members support them in their endeavors and maintain their personal holdings or businesses. Servants, guardsmen, farmers, artisans, and clerks.
"Those in your household are the clan and family you choose even if they aren't of your blood and it is your responsibility to keep them safe and ensure their needs are met, even after they are too old to work. In return, you get people you can rely on absolutely. Members of a household have just as much stake in that house as Clan members have in the Clan and Family members have in the Family. It isn't always easy for them to juggle the responsibilities."
"Ah." It gave me something to think about. No wonder Mero's house members treated him like family. It also meant that his willingness to bring me into his household when I first arrived meant a lot more than I had thought. I assumed that some households were more desirable than others but that was a question I would ask at another time, after it had all sunk in, along with all the other questions I had.
"Back to expectations for the party… I've never been to a political reception and I don't know what's expected of me as your chosen."
"Well, that much is fairly simple. As my chosen, you will have an implied rank below my own, but above that of the lords and ladies of the court. Dragonlords rank higher than non-dragonlords since we're the ones in power here. Once we prove you are dragonkin, you go up to full rank and may even outrank me depending on your dragon. Because you're a Nakairu, they'll excuse you for missteps in protocol or subtle rudeness.
"The other dragonlords will welcome you, the lords may try to seduce you if I'm not there, and the ladies will be rude or even cruel. I've been a primary target of theirs due to my rank for some time now. That they're Ansoren and I'm Aria Atlani and can't give them children didn't seem to make much difference to them. They won't like that someone else got their target."
I laughed, "Hate to break it to you love, but it wasn't just your rank they had their eyes on." I kissed him soundly.
Things were just getting interesting when Zaki arrived. He examined the knee and looked pleased with the progress. "It looks much better than I expected it to, less stiffness and pain. Your massage and the ice packs seem to have worked well."
He glared at Mero. "Just because it is doing better than I expected does not mean you can walk on it, it's not capable of holding your weight. Keep off it and be very careful how you move it. It may not feel like it's too damaged right now, but the connective tissues are torn. They aren't strong enough in their current state to take your weight without ripping loose. If you feel any pain or instability at all, back off. Do not push it. You'll just make it worse. I know how you get… don't. Tomba will come by in the morning to encourage the torn tissues to reattach and speed the healing."
By then, there were only a little less than two hours before dinner and I needed to prepare. This was one night when the dragonlords wouldn't be taking dinner in the dining hall, but early in their rooms so they could prepare for the reception. The reception itself was to begin right after the normal dinner period.
I went back to my room with Anis and she drew me a bath. I soaked for a while then towel-dried and combed my hair. Coiling it so that the waves would behave when it finished drying, I took a much needed nap. Anis woke me about an hour later and helped me into my gown. Then a young woman from the court side helped me to dress my hair. She pulled the hair away from my face and braided it, leaving the rest to flow down the back. She then added the tiara and I put on the rest of the jewelry. My promise bracelet didn't go with either the dress or the pearl jewelry but I wore it anyway.
When I was ready, I walked down to Mero's rooms to share dinner with him. He was, as usual, in a velvet tunic, this time with loose embroidered black satiny pants rather than leather and the tunic was teal with gold and black embroidery and some beading. He wore the jeweled hair ties
and the boots were stiff and shiny, like riding boots, rather than the soft ones I was used to him wearing. Sure enough, he still smelled better than any man has a right to, even without cologne.
"Ah, I see I'm attending the reception with the most beautiful woman in the court. Sebas will be jealous."
If I had dimples, they would be showing. "Thank you. Fortunately, the bruises aren't as visible as I thought they might be."
"It wouldn't matter in the slightest if they were." He tugged me down for a smooch.
Dinner was waiting and we chatted amicably about our respective childhoods while we ate. I learned that his father was the one to teach him hand-to-hand combat, a skill that was a specialty of Clan Cassettis. I also learned that his relationship with his mother was more than a little rocky. Mero would have been disowned due to his mother's infidelity if he hadn't been the spitting image of his father. I suspected this was part of why Mero had a thing against the ladies. His father had died just as he officially reached manhood and he inherited his father's lands and fortune. He had also inherited the title of Clanlord. She had tried to get back into his life after that but he refused to let her.
I got the feeling he was leaving out a lot, but there wasn't much I could do about it. You can't force someone to tell you what they don't want to.
Soon after we finished, two burlier warriors of the house came by and helped Mero into the carry chair. We trooped down to the festival hall amid more heckling from Mero's carters about how he was getting old and infirm. Mero held my hand the entire time.
Chapter 9
Day 6: 44th Day of Sanctuary, 3866
The festival hall was impressive. It was a huge octagonal room with a domed ceiling painted to resemble the evening sky through forest leaves and lit by what Mero informed me were mage lights. The effect wasn't quite natural but looked better than some you see in Las Vegas. It was overblown, but still pretty.
The pillars were of brown granite carved to look like tree trunks. A spread of metal branches and enamel leaves splayed from the pillars above head height. A passable artist had painted the walls with trees, bushes, and flowers to blend the leaf and branch painted ceiling with the tree trunk pillars. The floor was a moss green marble polished to a high shine. Overall, it gave the impression of a forest glade.
The flower shaped wine glasses pushed the whole affair into tacky territory. Wasn't that the purpose of that whole 'I am richer or more powerful or have a bigger dick than you' thing? Status.
A warrior helped Mero into a roomy chaise that looked out of place, the fruits of Koris' labors. Mero pulled me down and cuddled me close to his side then snagged a couple glasses of wine from a passing servant. He then spent the next few minutes pointing out assorted people and giving me tidbits of info about them, most of it funny and little of it public.
Overall, it was a very genteel gathering. It was very political, very polite, and very boring. If it hadn't been for Mero's whispered character assassinations it would have been deadly dull. At least, it was until the ladies showed up to console Mero on his injury.
They totally ignored me and babbled at Mero. I had thought he had to be exaggerating about their seeming lack of intelligence but sure enough, without exception, they seemed to have all the intelligence of a toy poodle and the manners of one too. It irritated me more than I expected it to. Now I knew why he wanted to avoid them. He didn't seem at all pleased at their attentions and grasped my hand hard.
The excitement came when their leader reached out to him. The moment her hand touched him my inner demon snapped in fury. Her shrieks when I slapped her hand away from his thigh were epic. I hadn't held back so the crack echoed across the room. It had to have smarted but you would think I had just beaten her with a baseball bat from the way she shrieked.
My harsh growl of, "Mine," shocked her into silence and she turned to Mero for sympathy. For his part, Mero was sitting very still with a stiff smile as he watched me, still clutching my hand hard. I told her to keep her hands off my Chosen.
At that point, she got a shocked expression, "What difference does that make? A man can pay attention to whomever he pleases. You aren't his wife yet and if you keep that attitude, you never will be. She scrabbled to back up when I growled though. I thought she was lucky I let her keep her teeth. If Mero had let go of my hand I think I would have anyway.
As if summoned, Geran appeared with a tall, slender man with black hair and eyes. Mero relaxed in relief and said, "Sebas, good to see you! I'm sorry I missed accepting your credentials this morning. As you can see, I had a problem."
Sebas chuckled. "You still do from what I just saw. What was that all about?"
Mero gave a slightly strained laugh of his own. "Court ladies taking liberties they shouldn't around my Chosen. May I introduce you? Sebas, this is my Chosen, Lady Kendra. Kendra, this is Sebas, the new Darthan ambassador, and a good friend of mine." His light banter distracted me from my fury enough that I calmed down.
Sebas' gaze was friendly and charming. Looking at him, I saw what Mero meant. His eyes caught my attention. Those eyes saw everything and the mind that went with them analyzed it all. This man was both careful and dangerous. He could be a good ally and a bad enemy. His voice was smooth as warm honey. "It is a pleasure to meet you. No doubt you are an extraordinary woman to catch Mero's interest."
I'll admit it. I weighed every word that came out of his mouth. After what Mero had said earlier, I thought I had better pay attention. I could picture him in a renaissance Italian court with ease, and I suspected he would have done well against the Medicis. He was someone to watch.
Despite this, there was something that made me comfortable with him. A kinship I couldn't explain. It was the same kind of feeling I got from Mero, Geran, Hanat, and the other dragonkin I had met.
Mero ignored my pensiveness although I could see Sebas took note. "Oh, she is. She is the only person who's been able to beat me in unarmed combat since I was young. I met her when we raided a Karthim encampment. She had been abducted, beaten and tied up such that I'm not sure I could have won my way free. Yet she took advantage of the distraction of our arrival, attacked and killed a guard with her feet, and stole his knife. She had almost finished freeing herself when I got to her. Then she took up arms and continued her attack on the Karthim until we routed them."
An amused voice interjected, "And when he was testing her other weapon skills she beat every single one of his house warriors, sometimes using weapons they weren't expecting. Including a bench as I recall. It was impressive. I still want some of my men to train with her. She's the most opportunistic fighter I've ever seen." Dantalion added. He had come up behind me at some point.
His arrival broke me from my musings. "Hey, brother!"
Dantalion leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "Good evening, sister. Been teaching the ladies how to be warriors?"
I snorted at the thought. "Now why would I waste my time doing that? I was just reminding them of boundaries. Someone let them out without leashes." I had calmed down, but I still didn't like them standing so close.
The ladies, who had remained to listen, looked offended and left in a huff. The men snickered although Geran tried to look repressive. "You're not making any friends with them that way."
Did he honestly think that was a possibility? My gaze was solemn as I responded. "My lord, they wouldn't have been my friends even if I had been nice to them. I'm not sure they understand the concept. They know ally, enemy, and tool but not much else. They may have professed friendship, but they wouldn't have meant it and I could never have trusted them." It was a lesson I had learned long ago. I recognized the type. They populated every high school and mall in America. "I'm better off making friends with the servants. They at least understand the word. They're more loyal and useful too."
Mero's tone was dry. "All too true, my love. That lot wouldn't have been any use to you anyway. They're low court. The only power they will ever have is in breeding the next generation of nobi
lity. "He brushes a few stray hairs away from my face, "Thank you for your defense. They've never gotten that grabby this early in the evening. Your presence must have made them desperate."
I looked at him askance. "I really have to wonder just what they've heard of recent events that they would even dare to try. Honestly, I wouldn't think anyone would be dumb enough to push boundaries with someone known to be violent. They can't be that stupid because they aren't drooling."
Mero chuckled. "You have a point. I'll ask Anis what she's heard from the servants on that side."
Sebas smoothly added, "I suspect that what rumor told them of Lady Kendra did not match what they saw here. That you chose so quickly argues a political alliance more than an emotional one. With a political wife, mistresses are commonplace, so their aspirations remained unchanged. Then there is the crown. From what I hear, there is nothing in the rumors linking your chosen to royalty, but it would reinforce their assumptions."
Mero was right. Sebas' delivery was slow, deliberate, and carefully phrased. His quiet tones were precise enough they could cut glass. It also told me not only that Dartha had spies in the Valleni court, but that he didn't mind that we knew. How else could he have been so quick to tap into the rumor mill? He had only just arrived.
On another note, it also told me I was right about the ladies wanting Mero for more than his position. Bitches.
"She comes by it honestly. She has greater lineage than most of the court… just not in this world. Wait till they get hold of the rumor that she may be a dragonlord too."
Geran looked interested, "Are you sure Mero? I had suspicions of it but female dragonkin…. The last one died hundreds of years ago."
"She kept up with me not only during the battle with the Karthim but during my fight with her. When we were testing her weapons skills, she beat every single one of my men. It wasn't just skill. She was too strong and too fast. Then there's her endurance. The weapons testing went on for over an hour. That time spent going full out with no real break or pause followed by my unarmed combat testing with only a few minutes break.