by Alma Boykin
“He, he, he grabbed her and took her like he takes my dam. And sometimes he hits her,” Cheeker admitted. He shouldn’t have been there, shouldn’t have spied on Zhaet so much! Now they were all going to be punished. He started peeping like a little junior, he was so scared.
«Rada, you’ve terrified both of them,» a gentle voice said into his head, although it was aimed at someone else. Zabet glared at her lord from the sleeping platform, obviously angry with Lord Ni Drako. Cheeker’s jaw trembled in surprise at the True-dragon’s bravery to criticize a noble.
The noble looked embarrassed. “You’re right, boss. I forgot myself,” and he turned back to Cheeker. “I’m sorry if I scared you, Cheeker, Brska. I get very angry when I hear that someone is hurting juniors, especially juniors under my watch. I’m not angry with you, Cheeker,” the foreign noble said. “If anything, I’m glad you’ve taken such good care of Brska and that you were willing to talk to me in front of witnesses. You’re a very brave junior,” and the noble patted Cheeker on the shoulder as he stood up, staggering a little as if his leg pained him. The noble went back to his seat, drumming his short claws on the table.
“Cheeker, I have a problem. By the law, your dam’s mate has the right to discipline you and your sister as he sees fit, without fear of punishment from the noble of the estate. Unless your dam comes to me herself, or I see him hitting you in public, I can’t chastise him as he deserves. And Cheeker, what he did to you and Brska is very, very wrong and he certainly deserves punishment.” Cheeker’s jaw dropped as he heard those words. Ni Drako continued, “The only way for me to be able to bring your dam’s mate to adjudication is to get specific permission from his Imperial Majesty, and he will not grant me that without special proof of Zhaet’s crimes.
“Here’s my difficulty, Cheeker,” and the noble got up again and began walking back and forth in the small room. “I can obtain that proof from your sister’s mind, even as damaged as it is. But to do so, she would have to relive each episode as I take it from her memory, so I can get all the details and facts correctly.” Ni Drako let Cheeker soak in what he had just said. “Do you think she could tolerate my doing that?”
Cheeker couldn’t fathom what Lord Ni Drako was talking about but he understood that it would hurt Brska. “No! No, don’t make her hurt again, please my lord!” Cheeker jumped to his feet as he begged. In his rush he knocked Brska off the bench and she tumbled to the floor, wailing with fear and surprise. The Healer and noble both dove for her and her brother stared as the noble picked her up, carried her over to the sleeping platform, and laid her down beside Zabet. At his nod the Healer rested her forefoot on the shaken junior, who soon quieted and fell asleep. Zabet draped her tail over Brska, shaking her head in sorrow as she did.
“Very well,” the noble sighed. He looked over at Zabet, answering something only he could hear. “Yes, it would be dangerous for me, since I don’t have a monitor to keep me from getting trapped in her emotions. But the need is great enough to justify the risk, don’t you think?” Zabet’s whiskers went stiff while her tail tip patted the sleeping platform. Ni Drako twitched at the silent response, conceding, “All right, it’s two against one. Back to the law codes it is.”
Ni Drako sat down and Cheeker settled back onto the bench as he watched Brska. “Cheeker, I have to notify your dam and her mate where you are and that you were hurt. But you are not going back to them yet. I need to speak with the headman of Taymi and learn more about Zhaet and your dam. Sheela,” and the servant got to her feet, “take Cheeker and get him and Brska robes and meal space. For the moment, I want them to stay with my guards and I’ll tell the sergeant what I want from him. Cheeker,” and the noble turned to him, “go with Sheela and do what she tells you. Brska won’t wake up until you get back so don’t worry about her. You will sleep and stay in the same quarters as my guards, so that no one will bother you and Brska. If you need anything, food, water, company, what have you, just ask for it.
“And Cheeker?” The noble locked eyes with him again, saying insistently, “None of this is your fault. You didn’t make Zhaet hurt you and Brska. You did what you could to protect her and from what I can tell, you’ve done more than the elders who should have been taking care of you.” Ni Drako had changed, from cold and scary to warm and caring, someone Cheeker could trust. “Now go with Sheela.”
Once the junior was safely out of earshot, Rada deepened Brska’s sleep into a Healing coma. She supported Seelee as the Healer did what she could for the little female’s body and mind. The effort left the mammal tired and very, very angry, her tail a bottle brush that thrashed against the backrest of the chair. “Healer Seelee, will being around the guards cause Brska any more problems?”
The light brown reptile considered the little junior, and shook her head. “I’m not a mind specialist, Lord Mammal, but no. Her problem seems focused on Zhaet, not on males in general, so being around the guards shouldn’t cause her any more trauma.”
“Thank you very much Healer Seelee. I appreciate all your work,” Rada said warmly, as Zabet nodded her agreement.
The Healer left and Rada stared at the little creature occupying the corner of her sleeping platform. “Boss, there are times when I hate being law abiding. I would dearly love to make Zhaet suffer just as much as he’s hurt these two juniors and there’s not a damn-all bloody thing I can do to him, besides warn him off.” Her claws dug into the surface of the table and she made herself relax her grip before she ripped a claw or ruined the finish.
«Wait, wait, I though child abuse was illegal!» Zabet protested. «It’s obvious that these two have been hurt, so why can’t you thrash the bastard like he deserves? And the dam that allowed it.»
“As I said, I’d dearly love to. But Cheeker and Brska can’t testify in an adjudication unless their sire and dam permit it. And five credits says Zhaet is beating his mate just like he abuses her offspring.” She nodded as Zabet groaned. “Precisely. Otherwise I will need adult witnesses, or to witness the beating myself, or to take Brska’s memories for evidence, all of which are flaming unlikely to happen.” Rada leaned her head back against the chair and sighed.
Zabet settled her chin on her forefeet, thinking hard. «I thought the manor lord has life and death rights over his people.»
“He does. But I’m not the manor lord, King-Emperor Shai-lak is. And he’s not going to grant me permission unless I have overwhelming evidence, because he doesn’t want to work that hard.” Rada snorted loudly, her opinion of her current overlord plain. “In some warped ways it would be easier if we were back three hundred years or so, when the peasants were the property of the lord, to be bought, sold and traded at will by him or his proxy, and when daimyos had more power. Then I could just...” The Wanderer’s eyes opened wide. “I wonder...” and she began typing, skimming through various parts of the law codes and her rights as daimyo. After a few minutes she tapped the screen, grinning evilly.
Zabet knew that look; it meant that someone or her wallet was about to hurt very badly. «OK, spill it, Pet. What did you find?» She got up carefully and slid off the platform to look over Rada’s shoulder at the computer screen.
The mammal reached up and scratched around her friend’s ears. “Weren’t you saying a while back that you’d like a page or assistant? Someone to hold things and be an extra pair of hands, or run little errands?”
«No, I didn’t,» and the light suddenly dawned. «Oh, that paragraph there?»
“Affirmative,” Rada nodded. “Per that, I can take them by force if needed and be perfectly within my rights.” She pursed her lips, moving her hand back to massage Zabet’s soft neck. “And I wager people are so shocked by my return that most won’t remember that I’m not truly the manor lord.”
The two foreigners shared a cold smile. Then the door opened and a clean and neatly clad Cheeker appeared, carrying a bundle of fabric and followed by Sergeant Keersh. “Little one says you wanted to speak to me, Lord Mammal?”
“Affirma
tive, Sergeant. Cheeker and his sister Brska need a safe place to stay where they won’t be bothered or disturbed. If you have room, I want them quartered near you and the men as a discouragement to someone.” Rada explained. Cheeker stared first at her and then at the big soldier behind him.
The sergeant looked the junior over and then saw the unconscious junior on the sleeping platform. His eyes narrowed with speculation and Cheeker sank closer to the ground. “Easy boy, I won’t bite you,” Keersh growled. “We’ve got just the spot, Lord Defender. It’s a cubby room off the common area, too small for an adult, but easy to block the door if need be, and it’s close to the necessary.”
“Sounds perfect, Keersh. Let me wake up the little one and you can get them sorted out. And start Cheeker on some basic dodges and defense moves,” the noble added. “His sister too, if she’s interested.” Then he went to the sleeping platform, laid his forefeet on Brska and closed his eyes. After a few moments, Brska twitched, yawned, and shook a little groggily. As she did, Lord Ni Drako stepped back so the first thing Brska would see was Cheeker. She chirped before scrambling off the platform to lean against her brother. Cheeker saw the noble exchange a glance with Keersh, who growled in the back of his throat.
“Come along, young one. Let’s get you squared away and see what we can teach you,” Keersh said, turning and starting out the door.
“Go with the sergeant, Cheeker, and do whatever he tells you. Obey him as you would me,” Ni Drako ordered. Cheeker remembered enough to bow and then hurried after the sergeant, Brska at his side.
Later that afternoon, Ni Drako called the headman of Taymi settlement to let him know about the juniors and their condition. The grey-brown reptile had a puzzled expression on his face as he informed her, “Hunh, Lord Mammal. No one reported them missing. With all due respect, are you certain that’s who the two juniors are?”
Her tone would have chilled an entire gantak carcass as she informed him, “Yes. I am. And you will inform Zhaet and Shree that the juniors are currently at Singing Pines, and that I am interested in apprenticing both of them as manor servants. They could be useful, even as small as they are.”
“The juniors are at the manor, Cheeker’s broken tail is better, and you want them apprenticed,” the reptile repeated. “I’ll tell Zhaet this evening, my lord, and report back first thing tomorrow.” Rada didn’t care for his attitude but decided to hold her fire for the moment.
“That is correct. Ni Drako out.” She terminated the connection, then put the matter aside as she reviewed manor records. They contained harvest and planting, floods in the spring, matings, births, and deaths; the usual pattern of the years for normal people leading normal lives. Rada sighed a little to herself, wondering again what it would be like to have a settled existence, concerned with only the yearly round and the cycle of life and death. Well, the gods had ordained something else for her and that was that. There was some comfort in knowing that because she and the Defenders did their work, the normal people could live without knowing anything else, but it was cold comfort sometimes.
Zabet caught her “lord’s” mood that evening and asked Rada about it. “Oh, just my usual ‘what if,’ boss.”
The True-dragon started a smart-ass remark, then decided against it. Instead she stretched out beside her Pet and laid her head along Rada’s chest. The woman obliged by rubbing around Zabet’s ears and Zabet asked, «Why don’t you try settling down somewhere? You could do very comfortably as a healer and medic on one of the fringe worlds—they’re so desperate for personnel that no one will ask about your background and we could still do some business from time to time.»
“I don’t trust the Traders not to encourage some of the scum that floats around out there, boss. And I know too much of the universe to be content in one place for the next seven or eight centuries. It’s a good idea, silver dancer,” and Rada smiled at her “concubine,” “but I’m not ready for it yet. Besides, I’ve got my claws full here. In fact, I have a bad feeling that Shai-lak’s lassitude is going to set up Drakon IV for an invasion attempt.”
Zabet’s ears locked on her friend. «You turning prescient on me?»
Rada snorted. “Not a chance, thanks be. Ick, that’s one talent I have no desire to have. No, just the rumors and what the Imperials are seeing make me suspicious.”
«Lovely. Just let me know early enough to get my insurance on you updated before the rates go up, will you?» As Zabet had hoped, Rada made a rude noise, her bleak mood broken for the moment.
“It’s so nice to be loved,” the mammal observed before willing herself to sleep.
The response from Cheeker and Brska’s step-sire arrived the next morning. Rada settled the headset over her ears and took the headman’s call. He looked somewhere between irritated and smug as he informed the noble, “Lord Mammal, Zhaet says that he cannot dispense with the juniors’ labor. He apologizes that you’ve had to take care of them and promises that they won’t stray again.”
Rada had dealt with enough abusers of various species to read between the lines and she frowned, but only said, “I see. Very well, they will be returned tomorrow. Ni Drako out.” She unplugged her headset and logged out of the communications center, then went back to her office for a while before picking up a walking stick and sauntering down to where her guards were quartered, a plan forming in her mind as she went. On the way she tapped on Royal Steward Briish’s door. “A moment, if you please,” she asked.
“Of course, Lord Mammal,” he said as he rose to his feet. She ducked under the lintel and closed the door behind her.
The next morning, Cheeker and Brska were woken up just before sunrise. “Lord Mammal wants you to get a good breakfast,” Sheela informed them, leading the pair to where the manor servants ate. The juniors didn’t know what was happening, but Cheeker had learned that a full stomach was rare and so he ate despite his nerves. Brska followed his example, putting away enough soup, fruit, and greens that one of the servants suggested that she had a hollow tail and was storing the food there. The two juniors cleaned their cubby and folded away their bedding like the guards had showed them. Lord Ni Drako appeared just as they finished and bared his teeth in what Sergeant Keersh had explained was a smile. By now Cheeker had learned exactly who and what the daimyo was and he bowed very low to the Lord Defender when he arrived at the barracks.
Ni Drako gestured for the two juniors to rise, then knelt so he was just a little more than at eye level with Cheeker. “Zhaet does not want to let you be apprenticed on the manor, as I had hoped, so you and Brska will go back to Taymi this morning. However, my guards and I are going with you, and I promise that Zhaet will not hurt you, not today, not ever again if I have my way.” He stood back up before Cheeker could respond. “Ready sergeant?”
He nodded, “Yes, Lord Defender.” Ni Drako jerked his head, and the group began the four-kliq walk to Taymi settlement. Lord Ni Drako set a brisk pace and Brska had to trot to keep up, but she didn’t seem to mind. Three days of food had helped her a lot, Cheeker noticed, along with whatever the Healer and Lord Mammal had done to her. Cheeker still couldn’t believe that the Lord Defender would be interested in him and his sister and wondered what the noble wanted from them. It was a nice morning and Cheeker smiled as Brska stared with curiosity at the flowers and plants and the big soldiers walking around them. She seemed especially fascinated with the shiny, black-brown tail hanging down from the back of Lord Ni Drako’s head, and when they paused for a moment, she pointed and made the question sound. Cheeker rumpled his tail in a shrug; he’d never seen anything like it before.
When they came within a kliq of the settlement, Brska froze, then started trembling with fear. Ni Drako gave an order and one of the soldiers picked her up and put her on the back of a second soldier. “Cheeker, tell Brska that Zhaet will not touch her, and that no one will hurt her without hurting my soldiers and me first,” the mammal ordered.
“Brska, it’s all right. Lord Mammal’s going to make it right. Don’
t be scared,” Cheeker begged. Brska clung to the soldier’s carry harness, eyes shut tight but not peeping or wailing.
Cheeker caught an angry look in Lord Mammal’s eyes before the noble composed himself, returning to a cool and calm expression. But his tail remained very fluffy. Sergeant Keersh had warned Cheeker that if Lord Mammal’s tail got big and his ears went flat on his head, something bad was about to happen to someone. “He’s funny looking but a hell of a good soldier,” he had explained to Cheeker. “You don’t want to make him mad.” Cheeker looked around the edge of the settlement and wondered who Lord Mammal was mad at. He hoped it was Zhaet.
Ni Drako looked around and noticed that, despite his orders, neither the headman nor Zhaet were waiting. He bared his fangs. “Sergeant, please give my compliments to the headman and tell him that I want to see him and Zhaet, now.” The soldier winked at Cheeker as he hurried off and one of the other guards gave a knowing nod.
“Someone’s about to get their tail shredded,” he told Cheeker, as the other soldiers put Brska down on the ground. She hesitated a moment, then rushed forward and did her best to wrap around one of Lord Mammal’s legs. Cheeker was mortified and hurried to remove her but Lord Mammal stopped him.
“Leave her be, youngling. I won’t let anyone hurt her, or you,” the warrior repeated. He smiled as the headman, Zhaet, and a number of other settlement residents appeared, escorted by the big sergeant. Lord Mammal looked over the arrivals and said loudly, “I need to talk with Zhaet, Shree’s mate.”
A wiry green reptile stepped forward, a small and shy female at his side. He nodded, “I’m Zhaet. And you are?”
Uh oh, Cheeker sank to the ground and tried to hide in the dirt as the mammal bared his fangs again. “I’m Lord Defender Commander Rada Lord Ni Drako. You’ve probably heard of me.”
As Cheeker watched, the adults started getting nervous. The headman ducked and groveled apologetically. “Your pardon, Lord Ni Drako! We’ve not seen you for some time, and...”