by Alma Boykin
The mammal cut him off. “If you know who I am, you know that I have little time to spare. Zhaet, I will be brief. Your mate’s juniors show potential and could go far. I want them attending the learning place as is manor law and apprenticed to service at the manor, for the usual contract price.”
Zhaet swirled his forefoot in negation. “Thank you, Lord Ni Drako, but I must refuse. These two are too much trouble to allow out of my sight. Their sire let them run wild and I’ve had to discipline them severely. Thank you for repairing the male, but I’ll take them back and I promise, they won’t disturb you or anyone again.” Cheeker knew that tone—Zhaet was making nice to Lord Mammal, just like he had made nice to their dam. And he was an elder so Lord Mammal would probably believe him.
“And you will send them to the learning place, as is required by manor law? I found no record of their presence there.” Now Ni Drako looked at the headman as well as Zhaet and the two males hesitated.
Zhaet sighed. “Cheeker caused so many problems that I didn’t want him making trouble with the other juniors. And the female, well, as you can see, she’s never been right in the head. Her sire was the same,” and the skinny Azdhag rumpled his tail. “There is only so much one can do with such bad material, my lord, so there’s no point wasting time sending her to the learning place.”
Lord Mammal considered his words as Cheeker hugged the dirt and Brska let go of the noble’s leg to cower beside her brother. “That is your final decision, Zhaet?” Ni Drako asked quietly. His ears lay flat against his head and Cheeker shook harder.
“It is, my lord. I’ll just take them back now, so you won’t have to deal with this troublesome pair any longer,” and Zhaet swaggered towards Cheeker. The guards stepped forward and stopped him before he came close.
The mammal’s silver-grey eyes flashed like steel as he said, “Very well. Then hear this: I claim the juniors for my personal service, as is my right.”
“And you,” he pointed at the headman, “are equally responsible for their lack of attendance at the learning place, and for tolerating the abuse these juniors suffered. Oh yes,” the noble informed the elders, meeting each pair of eyes, “I know what happened to these two juniors. And if it happens again, you will all suffer as much as they have.” The steel in his voice reinforced the threat. “And tell Shree that if she wishes protection, it is hers if she will just ask.”
He turned on his heel, telling his guards, “Thrash the rattail if he gets in the way. You two, come. You’re mine from now on,” the Daimyo of Singing Pines and Burnt Mountain ordered, and Cheeker and Brska did their best to keep up with their new owner’s rapid pace as the noble led them out of the settlement.
Behind them, Zhaet fumed and snarled but didn’t do anything until Rada and the juniors were out of sight. Then he spun around and slammed his fisted forefoot into Shree’s muzzle. “You stupid furbearer! This is all you fault.” He started to hit her again but a chorus of growls rose from the males gathered around him. “What? She’s my mate to discipline!” he complained.
“Yes, by law. But not by us! You brought Lord Ni Drako down on us, you fool!” the headman snapped. “If he’d wanted, he could have had all of us punished. That’s his right, you empty-headed rattail! If we see, hear, or even suspect you of hurting Shree or any young you might have, we’re going to take care of you before Lord Mammal can notice. You understand me?” The larger reptile bore down on Zhaet, who stood his ground until the headman’s talons raked Zhaet’s muzzle. He howled, sending Shree scuttling back into their dwelling as her mate fled away from the village. The watching guards made that sure he didn’t follow Rada and her charges and then they left as well.
Halfway back to Singing Pines manor house, Cheeker gathered his courage and asked quietly, “My lord, what do you want from us?” Despite everything he’d seen and heard so far, Cheeker remembered the stories about nobles and how they sold juniors to other manors, or had them working in the fields or as personal servants, or other worse things, the things even elders only whispered about.
As if reading his mind, the tall noble shook his head, sending his head-tail swaying. “You will stay with a family in Singing Pines village for the next season or so, until you and your sister have spent enough time at the learning place to be able to read and count at least. Then work will be found for you, depending on what your skills are. When the time comes, House Ni Drako will provide Brska with an appropriate mate-gift.” The noble slowed his pace, turning to look over his shoulder at the two juniors. “You will not see your dam’s current mate again unless you wish it, and he will be severely punished if he approaches you. Your dam may come visit you, if you want her to, but at Singing Pines manor with other adults around, not alone. And any adult who tries to hurt you will feel my wrath directly, because you are my property now.”
Cheeker’s tail went limp with relief. Brska would be safe! And Zhaet would never beat him again. Brska sensed her brother’s happiness and chirped a little, bouncing as she trotted along. Then she tripped, tumbling tail over nose and starting to squeal with surprise. Before her brother could do anything, Lord Mammal scooped up the small female and draped her over his shoulders like a throat warmer, making a not-unpleasant humming sound as he did. Brska calmed down, chirped again, and seemed to relax as she stared around from her new viewpoint.
They’d almost reached Singing Pines when Lord Ni Drako stopped. He knelt and set Brska down. “Can’t be seen wearing a junior. Might scare someone,” he smiled, caressing Brska’s neck. She cheeped at him as he stood and started walking again. When they reached the front gate they could see a pair of strangers waiting with Steward Briisch. The stranger nudged his mate, who nodded at the approaching group. The three Azdhagi bowed as Ni Drako approached with his guards and the two juniors.
“Good afternoon, Steward. These are?” he asked, gesturing for the pair to stand.
“Farmer Klee and his mate Bees, Lord Ni Drako. They have room for two juniors and live near the learning place,” Steward Briish explained.
The noble smiled. “Thank you for coming. Has Healer Seelee spoken with you about these two?”
Klee’s spines flared a little as he said, “Yes, my lord. I don’t hold with beating juniors, neither does Bees, nor the rest of our people. We have room and plenty, my lord, and Bees knows a little herb healing.”
“Excellent, Farmer Klee!” The noble turned to Cheeker and dropped onto one knee. “Cheeker, these people are willing to take you and Brska into their home. Will you go with them, to live in Singing Pines village?”
Cheeker looked at the pair, at Brska, and at Lord Ni Drako. “Yes, my lord.”
Ni Drako got back to his feet. “Good. Klee, Bees, let the headman or Healer know if there is anything you need. Bundles of robes will be sent down later today, and anything else the juniors have collected. Thank you for taking them in,” the noble said.
“Thank you for trusting us and for letting us take them in, Lord Mammal,” Klee said. He walked up to where Cheeker and Brska stood, smiling at them. Brska made the question noise, pointing at the pair.
“We’re going with him to our new home, Brska,” Cheeker told her.
Brska looked at him, at the waiting pair, and made a funny sound Cheeker had never heard her utter before. Then she trotted over and rubbed against the darker green female, chirping happily. Lord Ni Drako turned and walked away as Bees draped her tail over Brska and the four reptiles bowed, then started down the path to the village.
Rada stopped and looked over her shoulder, watching them go, a small smile on her lips. Zabet came up and rose onto her hind legs, clasping her fore feet around Rada’s waist and draping her head over the Wanderer’s shoulder. «You get a happy ending, for once,» she observed softly.
“For once,” Rada agreed, caressing Zabet’s chin.
7: Like As Flowers Pass Away...
Drakon IV – 785 AGR (3685AD)
“Boss, do we have enough in the account to be able to do this?” Rada
asked plaintively. “If even two-thirds of the invited guests confirm, we’ll be hosting five of the Great Lords, plus fifteen of the inner court and their escorts.”
«Reeelaaaax,» the silvery-blue True-dragon yawned from her sprawl in the window seat. «We have more than enough, even if everyone accepts.» Zabet blinked her sapphire eyes sleepily. «We’ll pay off all our social obligations, have a fun evening with no one chasing you, and still come out ahead. As long as there’s not a late-season snow.» She rearranged the artful drape of her tail and drifted back into her nap.
Rada shot her “concubine” an oh yeah? glance and resumed studying the antique etiquette book. She and Zabet had decided to host a tree appreciation afternoon. It was Zabet’s idea. She’d been reading about ancient Earth customs and found something from the Islands of Nippon about people going to view blooming cherry trees. Since all that Rada knew about Nippon centered on their weaponry and honor codes, she told Zabet to see what else she could find. That, as it proved, was a mistake. The more the True-dragon read and saw, the more excited she got and the more ambitious her plans became. Finally Rada drew the line. “Boss, everything you’ve told me is that this is about simplicity and transience. Not about impressing your neighbors with how much stuff you can pile up around an otherwise lovely tree!”
The reptile grumbled, moped, drooped, and at last agreed. Since Lord Ni Drako’s estates lacked the appropriate flora, Zabet and Cheeker (Rada’s personal servant and more-or-less majordomo) had scouted the properties within a reasonable distance of the Palace-Capitol and found a small private park that boasted a stand of sleetoi trees. The owners of the park were quite happy to loan it out for two days in exchange for a “small token of appreciation,” and so Rada had sent out invitations to the twenty-five nobles to whom she owed social debts. The acceptances came back quickly and court gossip suggested that the novelty intrigued a number of the Azdhag lords. Moon viewing was a fairly common thing, especially around the vernal equinox. But taking an afternoon to stare at flowering trees? Unheard of!
Zabet and Cheeker’s digging into Azdhagi custom provided some fascinating information. The reptiles had gone flower viewing in the past, but the tradition died out shortly after the Great Relocation. Rada suspected that it was a casualty the hardships of that period, when the Azdhagi struggled to hold their Empire together while carving a new place on Drakon IV’s northern continent. Who had time to sit and think deep thoughts about flowers when people were starving? So now Rada skimmed the old “Book of the Courtier” to see how the event had once been. She didn’t want to recreate it, but perhaps some of the small details might be added to the variation from Nippon.
Someone warbled a little tune from Rada’s sleeping quarters and she looked up from her reading. Her body servant, the female called Brska, emerged from the semi-private space carrying a bundle of fabric. “Is that the new robe Lady Bilsoy threatened me with?” the Wanderer asked.
The low-slung, grey-yellow female trilled the sound that served for “yes, lord Mammal.” To Rada’s sorrow, her step-sire’s abuse had left Brska both undersized and speechless. She still couldn’t respond with words despite the best efforts of a mind specialist, so instead she trilled, whistled, and chirped. Twenty years after claiming Brska and her brother Cheeker as personal servants, Rada remained unable to find the little female a mate and so kept her as a body servant. At her master’s nod, the cheerful reptile unrolled a very dark blue dress embroidered with purple and white flowers. Brska chattered and gestured with a forefoot and her tail to the way the flowers grew thicker toward the bottom hem, as if falling to the ground.
The mammal got up from her desk and walked over to look at the garment. The cut was different from her usual attire and she frowned. “Hmmm, Zabet, I think Mistress Bilsoy got creative.” Rada and Brska disappeared back into the Lord Defender’s sleeping area. A few minutes later Rada emerged tugging at the dress.
«Oh, wow. It’s a good thing you’re the only humanoid on the planet,» Zabet giggled. To call the dress low cut would be a mild understatement. The dark fabric made the Wanderer’s pale skin even whiter. And the cut of the bodice? Well, it certainly emphasized what gave mammals their name. Zabet got up from her basking and strolled over, walking around her business partner. «Now, what you need is a pendant that hangs,» and she rose on her hind legs to tap Rada at the top of her cleavage, «right there. Do that, and the next treaty negotiation with any humanoid species will definitely be to the King-Emperor’s favor,» the True-dragon snickered. Rada blushed as Brska warbled her approval of the new dress.
“You two are...”
«Possessed of great discernment, a keen knowledge of fashion, and a highly developed senses of aesthetics?» Zabet suggested.
Rada’s black tail swished with irritation. “‘Useless’ was the word that came to mind. I can’t fight in this!”
«No, but wear it with tight black leather breeches and you won’t have to fight.» The reptile gave Rada a lascivious look, «unless you only want one male at a time.»
The mammal spun on her heel and fled back to the sleeping area, Brska in hot pursuit and whistling what probably translated as “don’t wrinkle it!” and “don’t snag the embroidery!” Zabet rolled on the floor of the main room, howling with laughter at having thoroughly embarrassed her friend.
In a separate wing of the Palace-capitol complex, Lord Reeschlee snarled at his servant. “Not that one you snip-tail! Incompetent, hair-covered...” his voice trailed off as the smaller reptile cringed away. “Leave it and be gone,” the Azdhag nobleman ordered, and his body servant slithered away in fear. The dark brown and pale green Azdhag considered hurling a piece of pottery after the useless commoner, then restrained himself. No, he decided, it was better just to let the creature simmer and worry. Reeschlee finished dressing himself and carefully adjusted the ties on his robe. They were just slightly wider than befitted his actual rank in the same way the material of his robe was finer than was strictly appropriate. Not so much that it would draw unfavorable attention from King-Emperor Li-zhrae or any of the Great Lords, but enough to let the other mid-ranked nobles know their place and his.
Reeschlee’s tail swished with annoyance as he stalked into his public chamber and saw the invitation lying on his worktable. It was from that damned mammal, the one that his sire and everyone else had hoped was dead. He’d been young when the female returned from wherever she’d vanished to and Reeschlee still could barely repress a shudder of disgust at the thought of the beast. The King-Emperor and Council might have declared Rada Ni Drako male, but Reeschlee had served with the Imperials and knew very well that Ni Drako was really female. And now she’d managed to upstage his last musical evening, even without having done more than send out invitations! He snorted his disgust and sat down on the bench, considering what to do.
Of course he couldn’t decline the invitation. It would be interpreted as a snub, which it would be, and although he despised her, Reeschlee did not care to offend the female’s allies. With great reluctance he drew out a clean sheet of stationary, opened his ornate ink jar, and dipped his talon, then wrote out the formal acceptance of Lord Ni Drako’s invitation. Well, at least his calligraphy was vastly better than the Lord Defender’s. The mammal couldn’t even write without using a stick, Reeschlee gloated. And she didn’t try to pretend that she could dance well, another important skill for a courtier. All she could do was fight, Reeschlee snorted as he wiped the excess ink off his talon with a scrap of embroidered fabric and then set the page aside to dry completely. So what to do about the mammal’s social event? Reeschlee skimmed through his computer messages and brooded. Then he had an idea.
Although she pretended to ignore them, Ni Drako obviously knew as well as Reeschlee himself did about the importance of informal rank at Court, the reptile thought. Her official position might be that of a low to mid-ranking noble, but she could gain social status if this tree-watching event succeeded. And that meant that someone else would decline in sta
tus. Reeschlee did not intend for it to be him.
Attack was out of the question, but sabotage promised opportunities. The noble’s yellow-brown eyes narrowed and he licked the tip of his muzzle, thinking hard. The invitation promised entertainment, including dances by Lord Ni Drako’s concubine. If something happened to her, it could force Ni Drako to cancel the event as well as hurting both the True-dragon and the mammal. Reeschlee bared his teeth, neck-spines rising with pleasant anticipation. It would serve the interlopers right, he decided. His lineage dated back before the Great Relocation and it was only right that someone from as old a House as his should be the one to finally put the foreign mammal in her proper place.
Two sixts later, Rada and Zabet went separate ways. Party or no, Rada flew out on a surprise inspection of the Defender base near Nightlast on the western coast. Zabet took advantage of her Pet’s absence to have the Lord Defender’s quarters cleaned from ceiling to floor tiles, the bedding aired, and lighter-colored textiles hung. Not that Rada will notice, the True-dragon sighed as she supervised Cheeker, Brska, and several Palace servants. She’s so oblivious to the finer things in life! However, Zabet was not. That the new decorations also advertised Zabet’s quiet import business was, of course, a trifling consideration. The silvery-blue reptile’s whiskers fluttered as she watched another servant clean and polish the iron and ceramic stove in the corner of the main public room of the Lord Defender’s quarters. Should she display some of the new ceramics over in the corner? No. Too fragile to be safe with all these soldiers around. Although she’d never say it aloud, the elegant True-dragon still didn’t trust her Pet’s troopers to mind their tails. Not that Rada’s much better.
An echoing sigh came from the mammal’s personal quarters and Brska stomped out, obviously irritated with something. «What’s wrong?» Zabet asked. The small female gave her lord’s concubine an unhappy look and pointed behind her with a forefoot. Zabet got up from the window seat and strolled into the sleeping area.