Dragon Dilemma

by Mell Eight

  The warehouse had certainly been close to the border, but, according to Dane's mental map, it was still on his side.

  "It wasn't," Dane disagreed. "Jessica, Mercury came to me because I've made a name for myself in the business of helping people. I don't know if he even knew you existed, let alone where to find you for help. Besides, he had already taken care of the three labs in your territory. The fourth was in my territory, so it was only natural that he come to me for help finding and destroying that fourth lab."

  "It was not in your territory! It was in mine!" Henri insisted.

  Mercury jumped in. "Jessica, I didn't need the help of a territory leader to find the three labs I destroyed. I was told that getting your help required a tithe of money and a minimum of a year of indentured service to you in return for your aid. That wasn't a price I was willing to pay, so I did not bother wasting your time. When I chose to leave your territory to follow the scientists to their next lab, your jurisdiction over me ended. Even if I was once based in Chicago, in your territory, I am not beholden to you for the rest of my life. Henri, I can pull up maps and news articles on a computer if you would like. I can prove the warehouse was entirely in Dane's territory. He hasn't left his territory once in all the years I've known him."

  "If what Mercury and Dane are saying is true," William interjected thoughtfully, "and I'm not confirming whether I believe it is or not, then none of us have the right to have left our own territories to invade Dane's." He paused to look around the room.

  Mother looked totally disinterested in her chair at the far end of the table, as if she would rather be anywhere else. Since she had technically invited herself to the meeting, she could leave at any time. It was strange that she hadn't, which meant that for some reason she was actually interested in the proceedings. He couldn't fathom why, but then Dane didn't really want to delve into the mysteries of his mother's mind. He knew it was probably a dark and dismal place that would eat him alive the second he tried to understand it.

  Henri was also an unknown quantity. He was snarling to himself, his lips pulled up in a growl that threateningly revealed his pointed canine teeth. Dane couldn't understand why someone as smart and ruthless as Henri suddenly couldn't read a map.

  Dane didn't know Jessica as well as the other territory leaders. She was a human with access to some sort of power—he didn't know what—and she had come to power only seven years ago. He hadn't met her before today, although they had corresponded as neighboring territory leaders a number of times. She didn't feel threatening in any way. In fact, her jealously that Mercury hadn't gone to her for help made her seem petty. Dane had doubts she would last a full decade as leader.

  William's glance around the room ended at the same time Dane's did. Dane wished he could read William's mind to figure out what he had been searching for in that long glance, but mind reading wasn't one of Dane's powers.

  "Jessica, it seems to me that you had zero jurisdiction the moment Mercury stepped outside of your territory. Implying that he should have still come to you when the difficulty he was facing was inside of Dane's territory tells me that you were the one looking to overstep your boundaries. Henri, I do need to see a map to confirm, but I suspect that since Jessica's claims are invalid, yours might be as well. Who told you the destroyed warehouse was inside your territory?"

  "Get a map first," Henri replied with a low and dangerous-sounding growl in his voice, "before you start accusing me of gross incompetence."

  Dane nodded and stood. "I'll go grab a map and my computer where I've saved all the data I collected on the warehouse."

  He headed towards the door just as a loud crash sounded overhead. Giggling echoed from upstairs as Dane pushed the dining room door open.

  "It might take a few minutes to sort that out first," he grumbled. "I'll be back in a bit."

  Dane didn't want to leave Mercury and Nickel alone with the group, but he had already gotten up, so he might as well go police whatever his kits had broken this time. Besides, they were both more than capable of taking care of themselves. Dane headed upstairs. He didn't have to search for long before he found the scene of the crime. The giggling had vanished, as had the kits that caused the destruction, but the glass from the guest bathroom mirror in Dane and Mercury's wing of the house where all their guests would be staying was in glittering pieces on the hallway floor.

  "Does anyone know why the mirror is shattered?" Dane asked. He added a touch of magic to his voice, making it echo down the hall and all the way to the other wing of the house where he had a feeling the guilty kits were hiding. How they had gotten the mirror off the wall and into the hallway, and why they had bothered, was something he didn't think he really wanted to know.

  Only after his voice had echoed back down the hall to him did he remember that he had guests who might not be as amused as Mercury to hear him scolding their kits. It was too late to be embarrassed about it, though. He could hear doors slowly opening down the hall and feet creeping across the carpet.

  "So, what happened with the mirror?" Dane asked, his voice back to a normal volume. Copper, Zinc, Chrome, 'Ron, and Alloy all slunk into view and then stopped a few feet away from him, as if they wanted the extra space for a good head start if they needed to make a run for it.

  ''We were finished cleaning the rooms," 'Ron began hesitantly, "and Zinc thought we ought to double check the bathroom, and Chrome thought the mirror looked smudgy, so Copper said we should clean it, and Alloy asked how." She paused guiltily, which told Dane all he needed to know about who had suggested they move the mirror instead of going to find some paper towels and cleaning spray to bring to the bathroom.

  "Are the beds all made and the rooms dusted and ready to go?" he asked, instead of continuing to let 'Ron hedge.

  The kits all nodded their heads looking eerily like living bobble heads.

  "Let's have a look." Dane led the way to the nearest bedroom. He was aware that he was keeping the territory leaders in his dining room waiting for him, but his kits came first. The mess downstairs was important—leaving Henri to stew was probably a very bad idea—yet his kits were what was really important in his life, not whether he had breached a territory leader's borders, especially since he was innocent. Mercury would explain what was going on if anyone left downstairs got impatient.

  Mercury had given Mother the room closest to their own in order to keep her as far away from the kits as possible. That room would be fine, as Mercury had supervised its cleaning earlier that day. Dane thought he would make sure Henri got the next room along the hall. He went into that one first and was impressed by what he saw. The bed was made with fresh sheets, the dresser and nightstand dusted and ready to go. He straightened a pillow, surreptitiously checking to see that there was a fitted sheet and top sheet underneath the comforter.

  The kits were all clustered in the doorway, watching him with wide eyes. Dane nodded to the room, satisfied with what they had been able to accomplish, and slid between the kits and back into the hallway. The next room along the hallway would be William's. Dane did the same check and then moved on to the last room in this wing of the house. It was closest to the sitting area that separated the two wings and Dane hoped Jessica didn't mind being close to the kits when they woke up in the morning and started making noise. All the rooms were ready to go, so the kits apparently hadn't gotten creative until the bathroom. Although he hadn't actually checked to see whether the beds were short-sheeted or not. Oh well.

  Dane walked back into the hallway and to the bathroom. Even that looked shiny and clean. The kits really had been trying so hard. Dane waved his hand for emphasis and a light breeze blew through the hallway. The pieces of glass glittered and then vanished. 'Ron ran to check and gasped in the bathroom doorway at the oval mirror hanging, unblemished, over the sink.

  "It's like we never broke it," she said with a wide grin. "Cool!"

  "Don't go breaking things just because I can fix them," Dane quickly warned before she got any ideas into he
r head. "I'll let you all off with a warning this time because you did such a great job getting the guest rooms ready. If you all do your chores tonight without complaining, I'll completely forget you broke the mirror and no one will lose their dessert privileges."

  The kits all nodded eagerly, this time looking like bobbleheads given a violent shake. Candy was serious business, as Dane well knew. They would behave for the rest of the night.

  Dane went into his office, the small room in between his and Mercury's and Mother's, to grab his computer and an old map he kept folded in the bottom of one of his filing cabinets. He returned to the hallway that was now devoid of kits and stopped. He did a mental count in his head, frowned, and turned towards Zinc. She was sprawled comfortably on one of the couches in the sitting area between the two wings of the house. Three miniature cyclones were dancing in a circle around her head.

  "Have you seen Lumie recently?" he asked. Lumie hadn't been with the rest of the kits and he should have been. He was the hardest of the kits to pin down, which meant it was doubly as important to make certain he was getting his chores done.

  Zinc shrugged. "I'm sure he's around. He wouldn't sneak off to the dragon village when we have people visiting. Have you checked the dining room?"

  She had a good point. Dane thanked her before heading downstairs.

  The dining room was quiet when Dane stepped back inside. It didn't appear that anyone had continued where their argument had left off while he was gone. Small talk didn't feel right for the situation at hand either, so they had all simply sat in silence. Luckily, no one seemed upset that he had taken a few extra minutes to get his kits situated.

  Dane set the folded map and his computer down on the table in front of his chair, but instead of sitting down he followed Zinc's advice. He walked around Nickel and checked the empty chairs next to him. Henri and William were staring at Dane incredulously as he quietly stalked past them to check the rest of the empty chairs. Halfway along the table on Mercury's side, Dane saw a little foot peeking out from underneath one of the chairs. Dane bent down quickly, grabbed Lumie's ankle, and pulled.

  Lumie slid out from under the table easily and dangled from his ankle as Dane stood up without letting go. He let out a yawn around the thumb tucked in his mouth, totally unconcerned about the fact that he had been discovered and was hanging upside down.

  "Oh, Lumie," Mercury sighed. Dane could hear the suppressed laughter in his voice, but he doubted anyone else could.

  "Why are you in here?" Dane asked. He wasn't mad; he honestly should have expected something like this from Lumie after the stunt he had pulled jumping out from behind Henri at the front door. The problem was precedence. Dane and Mercury had told the kits to help out by getting the guest rooms ready, and instead of helping, Lumie had hidden under the dining-room table. If Lumie got away with skipping his chores once, he would feel like he could get away with it whenever he wanted. That was a damned slippery slope, particularly since Lumie was the kit involved.

  "Nickel's in here," Lumie whined. "Why can't I be too?"

  "Nickel is working while you're purposefully avoiding your chores," Dane explained. No one pouted quite like a six-year-old fire dragon being held upside down against his will. Lumie had the art of pouting down to a science, but Dane didn't let Lumie faze him.

  "Nickel's only been sitting there the entire time. That's not working," Lumie whined some more. He knew he was in trouble. He had allowed his concentration to wane, which was how Dane was able to find him when Lumie could have easily remained hidden, and now that he had been caught, he was going to have to face the consequences. Lumie absolutely did not like consequences.

  Mercury stood from his seat and walked over to Dane and Lumie. He reached out to grip Lumie under his arms and spun Lumie around until he was upright and cradled gently in Mercury's arms.

  "You haven't worked a day of your life, Lumie," Mercury sighed. "How would you know what Nickel's been up to?"

  "I haven't worked yet," Lumie grumbled under his breath. Nothing Lumie said could ever be taken lightly. Dane didn't know if he was supposed to have heard yet another of Lumie's cryptic pronouncements, so he ignored it. Mercury ignored Lumie too.

  "You made all the other kits do your portion of today's chores. If you want to have any candy tonight or for the rest of the week, you'll go apologize and you will help each kit with one of their chores to make up for skipping out on them."

  "But Daddy!" Lumie whined as Mercury walked to the door.

  "Get to it," Mercury said as he opened the door and deposited Lumie on the other side. He shut the door on Lumie and returned to his seat. Dane hurried back to his own chair and the waiting laptop and map.

  The room was quiet for a few more seconds while Dane opened up his laptop and hit the power button. The silence didn't last long, however.

  "Out of curiosity," William asked. "What do you mean that Nickel is working at the moment? He's clearly too young to be involved with this discussion. I'm honestly wondering why he's here at all."

  Dane focused on his computer instead of answering. Nickel was capable of handling himself and Dane was more than happy to leave him to it. Nickel turned his head slowly to look at William. He was smiling widely, giving the room his cold, cutest-little-serial killer grin that always sent a shiver of fear running down Dane's spine.

  "I am here to make sure everyone stays civil," Nickel replied simply, but with enough of a growl in his voice to imply that he could back up what his smile promised with equal strength. It was a touch too theatrical for Dane's taste and he knew Nickel was hamming it up for the audience, but it was effective.

  William didn't respond, only nodded mutely. He didn't look afraid of Nickel, but it really wasn't possible to contradict Nickel after seeing that horrible smile. The room remained silent except for the chime as Dane's computer logged in to his secure wireless server. He quickly pulled up the relevant documents and activated the spell that would only let his visitors read those specific files. Dane passed the computer to Nickel, who passed it on to William since he was closest. William tilted the screen and started reading.

  Dane unfolded the map next. "The border between our two territories is here," Dane said to Henri as his finger traced the straight border through Maryland. It was just below the Mason-Dixon line, not many miles into Maryland, but far enough that Dane did have control of some of the Chesapeake Bay. The line Dane was drawing showed just how difficult it would be to discern the boundary from the ground. The northern border between Maryland and Pennsylvania, which the Mason-Dixon line followed, wasn't a straight east-west line. It went from southwest to northeast, but the territory lines were based on the land itself, not on the state's borders, and remained firmly east-west. That was why Dane had control of some of Maryland and only half of Delaware.

  "Here's the line on a better map," William agreed, tilting the computer screen so Henri could also see from a few seats away. "The address for the warehouse is here," he continued, tapping the dot Dane remembered adding to the map in question. He had made certain the warehouse was inside his territory before attacking it and had left that map on top of the open files for William to see.

  "But that's…" Henri closed his mouth sharply before whatever thought was on his tongue could escape. He glared at the computer screen, but didn't open his mouth again to refute Dane's proof. "You're supposed to inform me whenever your activities come close to our shared border," he finally finished petulantly. Dane had a feeling Henri would be pouting like Lumie if he thought he could get away with it.

  William frowned at Henri before Dane could formulate a response. "Now you're splitting hairs. I for one am quite disappointed. I was told there was irrefutable evidence that Dane was trying to take over two adjacent territories and that it was only a matter of time before he turned his attention to mine. My goal," he added with a glance at Dane, "was to bring your machinations to an immediate halt. We hoped the three affected territory leaders would be able to subdue you. It appea
rs that Henri, Jessica, and I have instead invaded your territory without appropriate provocation. We must discuss how our misconception occurred and what reparations we need to make."

  Dane nodded slowly in agreement, but he couldn't help wondering what was going on. Someone had incited all three territory leaders to leave their own territories and invade Dane's. That the duplicity had been uncovered was good—Dane really didn't want to fight against the combined strengths of William, Henri, and Jessica in order to keep hold of his territory and home—but the fact that the accusations had grown to the point the territory leaders felt they had to intervene was very worrying.

  Dane didn't care about reparations. Finding out what was going on was far more important, but Dane glanced over at Mercury only to see that Mercury was frowning down at his watch. Dane glanced at his computer as William returned it to him and the clock in the upper corner of the screen told him how late it was getting.

  "We definitely have some things to discuss," Dane agreed, "but if we don't start making dinner, the kits will literally start eating the furniture.

  Mercury nodded in agreement and pushed back his seat so he could stand.

  "It's fettuccini alfredo night," he said to the table. "It'll be ready in a half hour."

  Mercury left the room and could be heard calling for the kits to come help. Dane stood up as well.

  "There's going to be kits in here in a minute to set the table." And they wouldn't be shy about shoving the visitors out of the way to get their chores done as quickly as possible. It was a recipe for disaster. "How about we take a break until after dinner?"

  It took a few moments for everyone to stand and head out of the room. Dane called on his magic, letting it fizz through his fingers. Mother glanced sharply at him, but no one else noticed as the magic tapped a mark onto Henri, William, and Jessica's shoulders. Now he didn't have to have them watched while he was busy helping the kits and Mercury get dinner ready. He let his guests wander freely, aware that if they went anywhere suspicious he would know. Dane left them to it and hurried to Mercury's side in the kitchen.