by Alma Boykin
“Brska, come here,” Rada ordered. The small female crept closer and laid her muzzle on the Lord Defender’s thigh. The mammal very gently stroked the yellow-gray reptile, not saying anything until Brska had stopped shaking. “Little one, we’ve been given a high honor by his Imperial Highness. But if you do not want to accompany me, I will go by myself.”
Brska shook her head from side to side, mimicking her lord. Then she made the question noise.
“You want to know what we will do?” At the reptile’s whistled affirmative, Rada told her, “Three of the songs we did in the garden, Brska. Nothing new. And then his Imperial Highness will tell you how well you did. If he needs to speak to me privately, I’ll send you back here. No one will touch you, no one will bother you,” she reassured the hesitant female.
At the specified time, Lord Ni Drako and his servant were ushered into the Prince Imperial’s presence. They bowed and Rada took the indicated seat and uncased her lap-harp. When Tzee-li motioned for them to begin, Rada plucked the opening chords to “My Soft’ning Sea,” a praise ballad from Guldast. Brska listened carefully before vocalizing a quiet harmony. The Azdhag grew more comfortable and “sang” louder on the second song.
Rada chose to end with an old Terran war song called “McCrimmon’s Lament.” Brska’s voice twined with the simple lament, then soared up in a fur-lifting keen over Rada’s voice and the harp. One of the humans in the Komets had told the other soldiers the legend of the banshee and Rada suspected that the banshee must have sounded like Brska did just then. Tzee-li hunched forward, fascinated by the sounds even if he didn’t understand the words. For that matter Rada herself didn’t know exactly what they meant, having learned the tune by rote from someone in a bar one night. Rada ended and let the chords die as Brska’s voice faded away.
“You have a most interesting—what would you call her, Lord Ni Drako?”
“A singer, Imperial Highness,” the mammal said as she set her harp aside. Brska eased as close as she could to her lord, obviously in awe of the crown prince. He in turn studied the small Azdhag closely.
“How many years has she, Ni Drako?”
“Twenty and five, Highness.” His tail twitched but the sandy-tan and pale gray reptile didn’t challenge the number. “She is Brska, Chee’s daughter, from an outlier settlement at Singing Pines.”
“Brska Chee’s daughter, do you have a mate?” he inquired.
The female looked to Rada, then took a deep breath and made the sound that served her as “no,” followed by a descending whistle meaning “royal great lord.” Rada interpreted for the prince.
His neck spines rose a little and his eyelids narrowed. “Has she any speech?”
“No, Imperial Highness. That part of her mind is tied to the memories of when she was abused. The mind healer says that when Brska shut off the memories in order to protect herself, she lost the ability to speak, although she understands speech and writing both.” Rada had linked with the healer in question and had seen the severed mental connections. It was fascinating, in a sad way.
Tzee-li’s tail thrashed and he made no effort to conceal his anger. “So Seekae spoke truly. And this happened on my honored sire’s estate?”
“Yes, Highness. The abuser is dead and never touched Brska or her brother after I took them as servants. And I, ah, took the liberty of telling every single junior that I encounter to go to the teacher or to come directly to me if anyone hurt them or tried to take them as an adult is taken. There has been one case since then and the creature was dealt with.” The ice in her tone left the crown prince in no doubt as to the malefactor’s fate.
“You overstep your authority, Ni Drako,” he warned and she didn’t deny the fact. “However, from what I see, there is no need for me to do ought besides say that from now on, you have the Crown’s permission to administer justice when the manor lord is away from the estates.”
She bowed from her seat. “Thank you, Imperial Highness. I shall not abuse the gift.” Beside her, Brska began bouncing a little and chittered. Rada laid a hand on the female’s back and she stilled. “Thank you,” Ni Drako said under her breath.
Tzee-li gestured dismissal. “Ni Drako, I wish to speak with you about the status of the Crown estates. Our servant may leave.” Brska gave her lord a reluctant look, then bowed very low, backed away, and departed without further comment or sound.
Brska trotted back towards the Lord Defender’s quarters. Every servant in the Palace, be they part of the Imperial household or in service to a noble, had to learn the general layout of the sprawling complex. Lady Zabet had also shown Brska the back passages as well, the ones most people had forgotten completely. As a result, the small Azdhag made good time leaving the Imperial wing and soon crossed out of the less-frequented section of the complex’s corridors and into a passage leading to the wing that contained the Lord Defender’s quarters. However, as she rounded a corner, she found two male servants stopped in the hall, arguing about something and blocking her path. She turned to go back and take a different way but a third male appeared in the corridor. All her mental alarms went off and the female hunched down in a defensive crouch like Lord Mammal and Lady Zabet had taught her. The males advanced on her and she hissed a warning, but the males came closer. “This area is reserved for high ranks, sleekeek. That means no females,” the largest of the trio sneered. “Especially no slaves of mammals. You need a lesson in respect.”
One of the males grabbed for her. Brska sliced the back of his foreleg with her talons, darting forward as he recoiled. “Fewmets! This one’s got YEEEEE!” Brska slashed at the speaker’s muzzle, catching his nostrils and drawing more blood. Brska screamed, hoping to get someone’s attention, but no one came. The third male lunged forward and grabbed for the female’s tail as her first attacker tried to catch her foreleg. He snagged the sleeve of her robe and she twisted, tearing the fabric of the light garment as she dodged him. As he shook free of the cloth, Brska turned and in a desperate move she attacked the male behind her, aiming for his eyes. He shrieked and she didn’t stop to see what she’d done, instead darting between the two injured males and fleeing back the way she’d come, then diving into an old, disused hall that led outside.
She emerged in the courtyard of the military wing and ran as hard as she could for the Palace Guard barracks. The soldiers knew the Lord Defender’s personal servants at sight and the corporal on watch called in Lt. Kree as soon as he saw Brska’s disheveled and agitated state. The female whistled, cheeped, and hissed, and although Kree couldn’t tell exactly what she was trying to tell him, he understood that something not good had happened. The blood on her talons confirmed his suspicion. “Female, stay here,” he ordered her. “Sleer, get an evidence kit and take samples from her talons.” The Lord Defender had reintroduced genetic analysis as a form of criminal evidence and this seemed a good time to use it. “Kreeker, come with me.” Brska showed him where she’d been on a diagram of the Palace complex and the lieutenant backtracked her to find where she’d been attacked. There was still blood on the floor and the sleeve from her robe lay near the blood puddle.
The soldiers took samples from the evidence in the passageway and were finishing when a grey-clad male came around the corner with cleaning supplies. “Ah, Lieutenant, um,” he stammered, neck spines rising slightly.
“Do you know what happened here?” Keer demanded.
The servant flinched. “Some of the males had a little dispute, Lieutenant. Nothing major. You know how those things go. One of the seniors told me to clean it up, so I’ll just get started,” and he pulled a scrubber out of the bucket of acrid-smelling fluid.
The sergeant behind Keer snorted and thumped the floor with his tail. “Hard to imagine limp-spines fighting to draw blood.”
“What do you mean? It was some of the younger males, ah, or so I was told,” the grey-clad reptile said, trying to look confused. Keer smelled the smaller male’s growing fear and gave the sergeant a significant glance. The two large m
ales eased forward, while the other two soldiers blocked the servant’s line of retreat.
“Well, whoever left their fancy sleeve certainly dressed like a female,” the sergeant waved a bag with a piece of patterned cloth in it.
The civilian’s tail went limp. “Oh fewmets.”
Rada got back to her quarters about an hour and a half after she and Brska had reported to the Imperial chambers. Tzee-li had grilled her on the quality of game and the conditions on the hunting estates and then moved to other matters concerning the Lord Defender. She limped back to her chambers, opened the door, and barely got inside before Zabet jumped her. «Where’s Brska?»
“I sent her back an hour ago,” Rada said as she set down her harp case. “I take it she’s not here?”
«No, and Cheeker didn’t send her anywhere, and she’s not in her cubby!» The True-dragon’s talons clicked on the stone floor as she paced the public room. «Something’s wrong.»
Given recent events, Rada decided that overreaction was called for. She sat down at her work desk and flipped on the comm link to the barracks. “Barracks, Corporal Sleer on watch,” the duty reptile answered.
“Sleer, get Lt. Keer. My body servant did not return when she was supposed to.”
The reptile turned, motioning behind him, and Rada saw Brska moving to where the viewer could pick her up. “She’s here, Lord Mammal. A little worse for wear but she gave a lot better than she got, according to Sergeant Kreeker.” He sounded smug and as far as Rada could tell from the video image, Brska appeared to be all right.
“Very well. Send her to my quarters when someone has a moment, Corporal. Defender One out.” Rada sat back and unpinned her hair, then shook the braid loose. “You heard all that?”
«Yes. But how did she end up in the barracks?» Zabet’s whiskers twitched as she settled down next to her Pet. «She doesn’t have a mate in the Guard and she shouldn’t have gotten lost just coming back from the Imperial reserve.» The sapphire eyes turned stormy, «unless she ran there like we taught her to.»
“She’ll be here in a moment. Now, I’m getting out of this outfit! And then I’m going to have a word with Mistress Bilsoy about her idea of proper design.” Rada’s ears twitched as she got up from her seat.
«Don’t push too hard. She just rediscovered tissue gauze and sheer silks,» the reptile cautioned with a wink. «She might decide to try something light for summer.» Rada shuddered at the mental image Zabet’s words painted as she continued, «what’s the old Earth word for it? Negligee? After all, you’re the one always complaining about the summer heat,» and she laughed as Rada spluttered.
Someone scratched on the door and the wood and brass panel swung open. Two soldiers stood behind Brska, who walked in and bowed to her lord. The small reptile looked a little battered and her robe was torn, but she radiated satisfaction and a new confidence. One of the troopers made the noise that served as clearing the throat. “Lord Defender, your female injured three males.”
“I see. Under what circumstances?” Ni Drako replied, her tone as dry as the soldier’s. Brska swished her tail calmly.
“She was assaulted and defended herself.”
“Hmmm. Chee’s daughter, did you try to summon aid?”
Brska whistled an affirmative.
Rada crossed her arms on her chest. “Did you do any more damage than was necessary?”
The yellow-gray female shook her head and made the “no” sound.
“Very well.” The Lord Defender turned to the watching soldiers. “Thank you for escorting her back. You are dismissed and my apologies to Lieutenant Keer for my servant’s disrupting his rest.” And she flicked her tail in the gesture that served as a wink.
“Yes, Lord Mammal. You’re welcome, my lord, and I’ll give the lieutenant your message,” and he flicked his tail in turn as he turned to go. The door shut and Rada, Zabet and Brska all relaxed. Rada knelt beside her very tired servant.
“Well done Brska! Very good! I’m proud of you!” At her words the female gave a little moan and sank onto her belly, shaking with reaction to all the excitement. Zabet persuaded her to move onto a cushion and to take off her torn robe while Rada called another servant and sent him off for a light sedative. Soon Brska slept while her lord flicked claws and tried to smooth her bristling tail fur. “This has gone far enough,” she snarled quietly. “Two assaults in the same manner on my people. Reeschlee’s fried, boss.”
«Agreed.» Zabet’s tail thrashed with anger. «Servants are off limits — everybody agrees to that and abides by it. Especially since servants of the Imperial Household are untouchable.»
The mammal ran a hand through her hair and rubbed around her ears as she thought about her boss’s words. “Technically she is that, isn’t she? And Cheeker as well.” Through bared fangs the woman snarled, “Someone just ordered more trouble than they have credits to cover.” Just because Lord Ni Drako did not participate in the tail nipping, sniping, and feuds raging within the Imperial Court did not mean that she was unaware of how they were conducted. I will have to be very careful, she thought a little later as she lay on her sleeping platform. Careful and certain; so there’s no point in making accusations or even hinting that I might be contemplating revenge.
The Lord Defender had learned to be patient and she bided her time as Lt. Keer investigated the attack on her body servant. Cheeker wanted to find whoever it was and kill them but Rada ordered him to settle down, finally sending him back to Singing Pines along with Brska. The male servant from House Daeshlee who had taken a fancy to the small female had been released from his contract and moved to be with his distant cousins at Singing Pines and Rada hoped that the possible romance (if Azdhagi had such a thing) would distract Cheeker and Brska both.
Meanwhile, Lord Reeschlee basked in the heat of the mid-day sun and savored his success. The foreigner had sent away the little servant that made music, no doubt to protect her. Neither had her arrogant True-dragon concubine been seen in public since the attack, and Reeschlee preened even as he shuddered at the mental image of a reptile and mammal mating, especially two females! The noble was less satisfied with his servants, one of whom had lost an eye to the nasty little malformed female. Reeschlee had sent the three back to his estates that night so that the Palace Guard couldn’t track them by their injuries. Assuming that the female had managed to tell the guard that she’d injured someone, which Reeschlee considered unlikely, given how terrified his servants said she’d been, even fleeing the wrong direction in her panic. Still, he saw no point in taking chances. So now Ni Drako was on the defensive and her household was in disarray, and a lord who couldn’t protect his people lost a great deal of status. The brown and green reptile smiled, hissing with contentment. What next, he wondered? He ate a choice piece of new fruit from the tray beside him and laid his plans.
While Reeschlee plotted and Ni Drako oversaw a planning session for the new, centralized command center for the Defenders, Zabet rested her left hind foot in the talon painter’s special leg cradle and listened to the gossip flowing around her. Two other concubines and Lord Seekae’s most junior mate were also getting decorated and the stories flew fast and thick. Zabet surveyed her forefoot talons approvingly. She’d had them painted with the symbols for eight of the major currencies that she and Rada dealt with, each in a different color. Her talons were flatter than those of Azdhagi females and the artist had done a magnificent job. Then her ears pricked as she heard Kai-Seekae whisper “No. Really?”
Great Lord Zhi-king’s current favorite gestured, careful not to move her tail lest she smear the fresh paint. “Oh yes, Lady. Three of them! They must have done something really bad to get sent off in the middle of the night like that.”
The third female tittered and then frowned. “Considering who their lord is, all they probably did was snag a thread on one of his sashes.” She swished her tail, adding nastily, “There’s a reason no female will take him for the price he offers, the ramp-climber. Even the palace servants can�
�t stand him and he still wonders why he can’t obtain a free female!”
“He does seem, overdressed, at times,” Kai-Seekae said quietly. Zabet tried to remember what the junior-mate’s background was. Oh yes, she was a scholar, the daughter of a minor noble who had indulged her and let her study along with her brothers. The green-brown female had a quiet nature, not placid but calming, that people mistook for happy ignorance. Her tactful statement translated into “he pushes the limits of Palace conduct, the arrogant beast.” Which could only describe one reptile currently at Court, and Zabet almost jumped up and trotted for the door to tell Rada. Never, ever alienate the people who work for you, Zabet mused with glee. And don’t piss off the prostitutes and females, either!
Some of Zabet’s glee faded when she finally saw her “lord.” «Pet, what’s wrong?» The mammal lay on the sleeping platform, her head stabilized by two bolster pillows and Healer Tass in attendance.
“Two of the cadets ambushed me during practice. I beat both of them within an inch of their lives, but one slammed my head against the wall and cracked my skull,” a muffled voice replied.
“Lord Mammal, with all due respect, be quiet!” The Healer snapped, her tail thwaping the wooden platform with frustration. “Now relax and let me work on the bone.” As Zabet watched, Rada’s tail tip stopped moving and the woman went limp as she put herself into a trance. Zabet always found it unsettling to watch as the mammal sank into complete unconsciousness. Someone scratched on the main door and the True-dragon went to warn them off.
It was Lt. Keer. “How is Lord Mammal?” He asked, kicking the door shut with a hindfoot.
«A Healer is with Lord Ni Drako right now,» Zabet told him. «Is it an emergency?»
“No. Please inform Commander Lord Ni Drako that the injured cadets will recover, their lords have been notified, and there will be no repercussions from his discipline.” The Azdhag eased forward and added very quietly, “And three of Lord Reeschlee’s servants were seen by a Healer-in-training the night Lord Mammal’s servant was attacked.”