by Multiple
I sat. “Thank you, your majesty.”
“I hear you’ve already had quite the adventure. Please accept my apologies for the Eros goblin. He will be punished and I have also talked to your guide, Jocyllen about his appalling disregard for your safety. Your skills are too important to the dragons to be risked so cavalierly.” Wyllven’s lips thinned in anger. “To think all could’ve been lost if you had been taken by the Eros goblin.”
“Taken? I thought it was more like being bitten by a mosquito.” A really horny one, but still just a mosquito.
The king shook his head. “No. The Eros goblins hunt pleasure and there is not much left of their prey when they are done. Without your friend’s help and Jocyllen’s late rescue you would’ve been dragged off to the Wastelands never to be seen again.”
I shivered at my narrow miss and wondered why Jocyllen had trivialized the whole thing. A few hours to wear off indeed. “Well, then I am grateful for the help, late or not.”
“Yes, I imagine you are. I, however, am displeased. This should’ve never happened, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” His mouth flattened into a grim line.
“How so?” asked Jacob.
“Someone is working against me, but I don’t know why. On the surface, my dragons seem happy. No one has spoken against me, yet now I find someone has stolen from the Sidhe’s treasury. A theft that puts us all in jeopardy.”
“You want me to find the thief and the gold,” I stated flatly. It was always good to confirm client expectations upfront so there was no confusion about what I was to do.
“Thieves, Ms. Parker,” the king corrected. “There is more than one and I already know where the gold is, I can smell it from here.” He raised his nose and sniffed the air, closing his eyes for a second. “Given enough time I can find it myself. What I need to know is who stole it and who conspires not just against me, but all dragons.”
“Is there anyone you suspect?” I asked. People and Sidhe alike, often had a sort of sixth sense about these things. I wanted to know what Zyllven thought, what his gut said as it might be more accurate than he realized.
He shook his head, light shimmering across his silver scales as he moved. “No and I have no magic to use that can help me identify the dragons behind this, not without involving the Sidhe and they don’t know the gold is gone yet. I’d like to keep it that way. What I need is a psychic. I need you.” His hands clenched, he pounded a fist on the armrest of his throne. “Who among my dragons would risk us all? We could all lose our homes and our lives because of this.”
Jacob shifted in his seat next to me. “Excuse me, but I’m confused. How is it you will all be punished for the crimes of just a few dragons?”
“You are not familiar with the Safe Harbor Treaty are you?” asked the king.
Jacob shook his head.
Wyllven steepled his long fingers and leaned back in his throne. “You have seen us in our original state, yes?” He paused and continued at our nod. “We have small hands and even smaller fingers. Our arms are little better than stumps.” He waggled his fingers at us. “Our dragon form is of very little use to us. We can fly and breathe fire, but we can’t do much else. We hoard gold using our hind legs, our arms are that useless. The Sidhe have a curse, ‘may you be a dragon in your next life’ because we have the intellect of an elf, but not the body. What good is a plan to build a home if you have not the hands to do the work? And we were surrounded by humans.” He snorted. “Humans who wanted nothing but to steal our gold and tan our skins. They hunted us, persecuted us, until we had no choice but to strike back.”
“The Dragon Wars,” I said referring to prehistory that only came to light since the Great Coming Out. Man had gone through many boom and bust cycles of primitive development before finally mastering the technology that got him to the Middle Ages and beyond. During that time, dragons had exterminated entire villages when they felt threatened by man.
“Yes. As time went on, it became apparent you humans were going to supersede your spears and develop new, more lethal weapons with which to hunt us. About the same time, one human, a psychic like yourself, had managed to sneak into Fairy and come back with the Sidhe crown.” He lifted the crown off his head and held it up. “This is a replica of the Sidhe crown, made of wood. The real crown is made of gold and is an object of much power and magic, whoever wears it will never see defeat. The Sidhe were terrified the thief would use the crown to raise an army to cross into Fairy and take it over, stealing Sidhe magic for their own use.”
“Like the renegades,” I said.
“Exactly.” Wyllven put the crown back on his head. “This human was the first renegade. We dragons knew what had happened. We know where the portals are between worlds and one of our own saw this human leaving Fairy with the Sidhe crown. With the theft of the Sidhe crown, we saw a chance to change the status quo. We would much prefer to live in Fairy, but the Sidhe thought, and rightly so, that we would steal their gold. So they condemned us to make do in the human world where we were continually hunted. With the crown, however, we had a chance to change all that.”
“So, you found the thief and took the crown,” Jacob said.
“Correct. We can smell gold like sharks smell blood. We sniffed out the crown and snatched it. Harnessing its power, we negotiated the Safe Harbor Treaty with the Sidhe. They would grant us land and magic to change form so long as we never touched their gold. That was about a thousand centuries ago, and all that time we have abided by the terms of the treaty, even though it is difficult for us to deny our instincts to hunt gold.” He looked out the window, nostrils flared, sniffing. “Now it seems we have failed. If we don’t return the gold and find the thieves soon, we will be evicted, forced into the human world. One where we can’t shape shift and are trapped in our original form. A world that has passed laws forbidding us to enter. A place where, once again, we will once again become targets for humans.”
“So why steal the gold now?” I couldn’t fathom what could corrupt so many years of successful abstinence.
“I don’t know. At first I thought perhaps there was a movement to dethrone me. I would willingly step down. Administration is overrated.” He gave a wry smile. “Yet I can find no one who will openly challenge me. They assure me they are all pleased to have me as their king.”
“But clearly something is going on,” Jacob said.
Wyllven nodded. “Yes, which is why I asked for you, Miss Parker. Find which of my dragons has betrayed us and find them soon, or we will all be punished.”
I swallowed at the weight of the responsibility his words placed on my shoulders. This was no simple matter of finding lost gold. The fate of the dragons and humans alike rested on my abilities. I had seen how large the dragons were in their original form and estimated the population of Wyvrndell to be in the thousands. The thought of that many basketball-court-sized dragons set loose on the human world gave me chills. I hoped I was up to the challenge and could resolve the problem before it led to an eviction of dragons. “I will do my best to help you.”
“Thank you.” He inclined his head to me. ”I will have my son Zyllven escort you. I think you will like him better than Jocyllen. He should be here any minute.”
On cue, the door opened, and in came the shortest dragon I had seen thus far. Zyllven wasn’t much taller than the average NBA star with sage skin and a paunch that gave evidence of a healthy appetite. Where Jocyllen had been aloof and cold, Zyllven was friendly and effusive. He bustled into the room with a smile on his face, hand out to shake ours. “Welcome to Wyvrndell.”
“Thanks,” I said accepting his hand, and, instantly, I knew it was him. I was able to read him same as I had the zombie detective. It seemed the detective hadn’t been a fluke. I’d added another dimension to my abilities.
Just by touching the dragon prince, I knew Zyllven was behind the whole thing —his guilt ran through me like an electrical charge. Worse, he had no idea that I knew. He thought the mental wall he had er
ected in his mind was enough to keep me out. A lot of people think that, and don’t realize the only way to block a psychic is to be psychic. If you can’t tap into the flow and ebb of energy surrounding everything, you can’t shield yourself. Someone had given Zyllven some really bad advice about psychics.
Confused, I looked from father to son trying to reconcile the impressions I had formed so far with the hidden truths I was picking up and wished I could think of a way to touch King Wyllven without seeming rude.
“I’ll leave you in Zyllven’s care. The second you find something, come and find me.” Wyllven stood, and, setting his crown on the seat of his throne, came down from the dais to grasp my hand in his, a warm smile on his face.
I read him for the brief moment we touched and found no hint of the guilt present in his son. Whatever game was afoot, at least the king wasn’t in on it, which left me with the task of telling the king his son was betraying him.
Fortunately, I had the sense to ignore the king’s instructions to report back to him immediately. I wanted to investigate further before breaking the news to him. Things were never what they seemed in Fairy and I had to be sure I had all the details before I started accusing people.
*
Zyllven, for all that he was guilty, took his duty as our guide seriously. He gave us a thorough tour of Wyverndell’s center showing us the market, their alchemy lab, which turned out to be the brick building with smokestacks we had seen from the air, and a quick walkthrough of the adjacent residential area. He introduced us to every dragon we met as ‘special guests of the king’. I shook scaled hand after hand, constantly open to anything I might ‘feel’, but found no one else carrying the guilt Zyllven bore. Either he was careful to introduce us only to the innocent, or he was working alone.
I believed it was the former as Zyllven didn’t strike me as complex enough to be a good thief without help. Even now the anxiety over what he had done filled him, seeping out in a twitch under his eye and a tendency to laugh with nervous tension. I almost felt sorry for him as he was clearly in over his head.
Our tour ended with lunch at a restaurant featuring surprisingly modern decor with red vinyl booths and brown laminate table tops. The menu listed all the major fast food chain offerings. Quite a contrast to the tavern atmosphere I had expected.
Astonished, I looked at Zyllven over the menu. “I didn’t know you had all this here.”
He smiled. “Dragons love human food. Especially junk food. We import it daily.”
A waitress came to the table, notepad and pen at the ready and we each ordered our favorite variations of the hamburger and French fries over the swing music blaring from a nearby jukebox. Zyllven ordered three times as much food as we did. It was all I could do to hide a smile at the obvious delight with which he anticipated the meal. Once the waitress left, Zyllven excused himself to waddle off to the restroom.
Taking advantage of his absence, Jacob leaned over to me and whispered. “He seems pretty tightly wound.”
I nodded. “That’s because he stole the gold.”
Jacob gave me a look of disbelief. “What? Him? He doesn’t seem the type.”
“I know. There’s something more going on. He’s definitely the thief, I just don’t know why he did it.”
“Does he want to be king?”
“I don’t know yet, but that is a possible motive.” It would make sense if Zyllven’s theft was a power play for the throne. Isn’t that what princes did? Or was it just Shakespeare’s Othello?
Jacob shook his head. “And King Wyllven seems like such a nice guy, I don’t think he’ll take the news well.”
“I think he’ll make the right decision, no matter what it is, for his people.” Wyllven hadn’t struck me as the type to be blind to his children’s shortcomings. Or the type to shoot the messenger. At least I hoped not.
Zyllven returned then just as the waitress came with our meals giving Jacob and I no chance to talk further. We dove into our food and I found myself ravenous, my mouth watering as I unwrapped my hamburger. Considering how much running for my life I’d done that day, I wasn’t surprised at my body’s sudden hunger.
In between bites of his cheeseburger, Jacob asked, “Zyllven, where are your schools? I didn’t see any on our tour. Don’t your kids go to school?”
Zyllven set his triple cheeseburger down and looked at us with sad eyes. “We don’t have any.”
“No schools?” My eyes widened at the idea.
The dragon prince shook his head. “Or children. There have been no children born since we crossed over to Fairy.”
Jacob stopped mid-bite, an expression of surprise on his face. “May I ask why?”
“Of course, but I’m sorry to say I don’t have an answer. It’s actually a topic of special interest to me. One I’ve been studying for the last century,” Zyllven paused and leaned in closer to us, lowering his voice to a whisper. “I actually have a human biologist here running some experiments. Most dragons spend their lives studying alchemy to make gold, I work to make babies.”
I frowned. Well, this was an unexpected development. “I didn’t know you let human scientists work in Fairy.” As far as I knew, human scientists were banned from conducting experiments in Fairy. The Sidhe didn’t want their magic distilled into replicable science. Not only would it ruin their economy, but there was fear of what would happen if everyone had access to the same magic.
“We don’t, which is why I’m whispering. He’s technically here exploring business opportunities.”
“Oh, I see.” I gave a slow nod. Zyllven was breaking all the rules it seemed.
“Would you like to meet him? You might find it interesting”
“Sure, that would be great,” I said. It wouldn’t hurt to rule the scientist out as an accomplice.
“There’s a joining tonight. We’ll be doing some measurements then.” Zyllven lined up a wide stack of French fries and wedged them all into his mouth at the same time. Impressive.
“What’s a joining?” I asked.
Zyllven held up a finger while he finished chewing. Swallowing, he said, “You would call it a wedding. There’ll be a lot of dragons there. You’ll be able to continue your investigation.”
I nodded my agreement. I wasn’t sure attending a wedding would explain why Zyllven, the crown prince of the dragons, would steal Sidhe gold and put all his people in jeopardy. Nor did I think I would come to understand why he was breaking both human and Sidhe laws conducting, of all things, fertility experiments, but I would give it the old psychic try.
Chapter Eleven
“Do you want to go to the king?” Jacob asked settling into one of the chairs by the fireplace. Zyllven had brought us back to our room after lunch and we had a few hours to come up with a strategy before he returned to escort us to the joining.
“No. Not yet. There have to be other dragons involved and I need to find them before I talk to the king.” I flopped onto the bed, rubbing a hand across my forehead in an attempt to ward off a headache. “I want to meet as many dragons as possible tonight. Then we’ll see about going to the king.”
“And then we tell the king his own son betrayed him. That’s cold.”
“I know.” Telling Wyllven about his son was not going to be fun.
Jacob yawned, stretching his arms over his head. “Do you mind if I lie down with you? I don’t seem to have a room.”
I smiled and patted the bed. “You always end up homeless somehow, don’t you?”
He laughed and came to lay down next to me, the bed shifting under his weight. “It would seem so. Maybe, I just like you.”
Jacob held out his arms and I snuggled up against him. “I think I like you too.”
He kissed me on the forehead. “One of these days I’ll stop finagling my way into your bed and take you out on a proper date.”
“That would be nice.”
“Yeah, it would.”
Silence fell between us. I drifted off to sleep, the sound of Jacob
’s heart thudding reassuringly in my ears. In my dreams, dragons soared into a midnight sky only to turn to gold and drop, lifeless to the ground.
*
The joining, or dragon wedding, took place in a large field outside of Wyvrndell just as the sun slipped past the horizon. From the crush of dragons in human form milling about, it seemed the whole village had turned out for the occasion. Zyllven escorted us with his usual cheerful smile, keeping up a nonstop stream of inane banter as we made our way to a wooden dais on the far end of the field, opposite the city walls.
“This is the king’s pavilion,” He indicated the dais with a sweep of his hand. “You can watch from here.”
“Will the king be joining us?” I asked walking over to a wood chair carved with what I recognized as Wyllven’s coat of arms; a shield depicting fire, gold in the form of coins, and a flying dragon. A few chairs over, sat a man with sparse brown hair and so thin he was all sharp angles. His fingers danced across the keys on the laptop in front of him, his knee bouncing up and down with nervous energy.
“No, all the dragons will be over there.” Zyllven pointed to where two dragons in their original form, one turquoise, the other crimson, stood side by side, their tails caressing each other in such a way that I had no doubt they were bride and groom. I’d never seen such an…erotic use of tails before. It made me blush.
“You’ll be able to see everything from here. Not to mention you can talk to my good friend, Randall. He’s the scientist who’s been working with me.” The dragon prince gestured to the lanky man.
Randall looked up at the mention of his name. “Oh, hello Prince Zyllven. Didn’t see you there.”
“Good even, Randall. I’ve brought Sofia and her associate, Jacob to keep you company. They’re doing some work for the king. All set for tonight?”
Randall hesitated, looking at us.
“It’s all right, I’ve told them what you’re doing,” Zyllven said. “I want you to explain everything to them for me, so they understand.”