by Viola Grace
The shop owner got a sketchbook and sat with her pencil poised. “Whenever you are ready, Miss.”
With a smile to the man who brought her a cup of tea, Trin got down into the details of what she was looking for. The woman got more excited, as did the folk in the shop.
Apraxa spoke softly to the men, and they immediately sprang into action, preparing a series of trays with an array of herbs and powders. They were drawing kettles of water, and Trin almost rubbed her hands together. Tea tasting was one of her favourite pastimes.
When she finished her description of what she wanted, the woman rose to her feet and left. “Huh, was it something I said?”
“No. She is going to work on the designs. Tomyo will assist us, along with Master Gwin.”
The trays of tea were being set out, the small tasting cups had the precise amount of the leaves required to bring the taste out. The master of the shop knelt across from her, and he smiled. “Thank you for coming to our shop today.”
She sat up straight and inclined her head. “Thank you for receiving me.”
“It is our pleasure. You are very quick.”
She chuckled. “It is practice. I do not like it when folks dangle my friends.”
Apraxa smiled. “I thank you for your reflexes. Did you get that dagger back?”
“My knife? No. He wore it out.”
“I will get you a new one.”
Trin nodded. “Thank you. Oh, any ideas where I should book a hotel while I am here?”
“You can stay with me. I have put a house in the back of the warehouse. It is comfy, and I have a rooftop garden. Oh, and several guestrooms for the brothers when they stop by.”
The tea master took the hot kettle from the younger man, and he poured water into every other cup before going back and covering the tea with a lid while it steeped.
“I would love to stay over. Now, I need to concentrate.”
Apraxa held her hands up in surrender, and Trin got to work. It was time to choose some new product to keep her small empire growing.
Baby gifts and then a nap were next on the list.
Chapter Eight
The house that Apraxa had built inside her warehouse was made of scorched wood on the exterior and a bright splash of colour as soon as the door was open.
“This is impressive.”
“Thank you. It took me and the guys a while to get it just right, but they are better at the interior decorating than they are at construction.”
Trin chuckled. “The diner is definitely well designed.”
“It really is. They are raking in tons of money for the family, and they are doing it legally. They might be invited to the New Year’s Eve gathering this year.” Apraxa led her into the house and up some stairs.
Light was streaming in from panels inside the walls, and it made everything inside bright and cheery.
“I can show you more after you rest, but you must be exhausted, so sleep comes first. Don’t worry about Ystine, I will take care of her.” Apraxa opened a door, and the guest room was exposed in all of its pale green, bamboo, and white glory. “The unit on the wall controls the light; there is an en suite to your left. I will see you when you wake up.”
Trin nodded. “Thanks. I could use a few hours’ rest.”
Apraxa inclined her head. “I will be working downstairs if you need anything.”
With another small nod, Trin was alone. She gave herself an assessing sniff and headed toward the shower. It was important that she not contaminate her bed with the scent of the road. She might be using it a second night.
She woke up in the same dimness she had set the light to before she went to sleep. The light was slightly redder but still bright.
“Wow, she is efficient.” Trin got up and grabbed her saddle bag from the end of the bed. Sometime during her nap, Apraxa had delivered her bags.
Her leathers were clean and neat, hanging from a hook on the exterior of the wardrobe. Trin decided to be a little less rugged, and she put on the tight leggings and one of the dresses that Mirbella liked to make for her.
Her hair had twisted slightly when she slept, but a bit of brushing straightened everything out in a few minutes. She followed the custom of the dragons and kept her hair in multiple clasps without braiding it. Her white hair offset the gem tones that Mirbella chose. Anything pale just washed her out.
She pulled on her boots, shook out her skirts, and concealed three blades in the corset pockets designed for easy access via nearly invisible slits in the dress.
Trin left her room and went in search of her host.
Apraxa was wearing a headset and pacing back and forth while speaking in a language that Trin could only recognize as vaguely Asian in origin.
Without missing a beat, Apraxa smiled at her, nodded, and moved to the kitchen to prepare a tray, all while chatting to the person on the other end of the signal.
Trin followed her to the dining room, and she settled down to eat the snack that Apraxa had prepared while her friend continued the negotiation for whatever it was she was speaking about.
The meat, cheese, and crackers told Trin that they were going out for a proper meal as soon as the call was over. A checking of her internal chronometer told her it was near six, so dinner was definitely in the cards.
She ate and drank her way through the tray and was nearly finished when Apraxa finished her call and removed the headset with a deep sigh.
“It doesn’t matter that this is the twenty-first century, some men just do not like taking orders from women, so I had to get the supplier to put his mother on the phone. She agreed to my terms immediately but then spent the rest of the hour alternately insulting and then praising her son.”
Trin smiled and offered Apraxa the last of the snacks. “She found out you were single.”
“Something like that. They are fox shifters and notoriously difficult to deal with. The humans in their area and over here won’t deal with them anymore, so I have to set the rules for outgoing transport and incoming goods.”
“How did you get tapped for that?”
“I took Asian dialects in school. I muddle them up occasionally, but usually, when I am speaking to them, my brain keeps up.”
Trin nodded.
Apraxa dropped into a seat next to her, and she smiled. “So, how long have you been a dragon?”
Trin blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“Your demeanour, your new martial skills—not that your blade skills were lacking—and your fashion sense. Oh, and your hair. I have heard that the hair can change during the first transformation.”
Trin debated admitting it, but something told her to just blurt it out. “Just about two months.”
“You are human. You are marked as a human. There was no magic in you.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Apparently, it was dormant. When another dragoness picked a fight, my dragon woke up. It was a really raucous baby shower.”
Apraxa’s eyes were wide. “You were that dragon? Wow. I read a short account of a new dragon appearing in the capital, but no one said who or how.”
“It takes a dragon to wake a dragon. If I hadn’t met that butt head, I would have remained a boring small businesswoman. My dragon has already picked her mate, and he is enthusiastic about the prospect. He’s also really hot.”
Apraxa laughed in surprise. “I never thought you would go for looks.”
“He’s more striking than handsome, is a librarian, and is on one of the control and recovery squads for the dragons. He is a good teacher. So is his mom.”
“You have a relationship with his mom?”
Trin wrinkled her nose again. “Yes. The details will have to remain vague, but her son comes by his fighting skills honestly.”
“I need to learn more about this. Dinner?”
“Sure. Name the place.”
“Give me a minute, and we will go. You are already dressed for it, but I look like a b
it of a slob.” Her host disappeared around a corner.
Trin got up and paced a little, following a set of spiral stairs up and toward the gusts of fresh sea air.
The view of the harbour was incredible. Ships that had a variety of propulsion techniques were making their way to the docks for unloading. This was where the east got all of their foreign goods. Everything travelled from this city, and it showed in the maze of roads, highways, and air travel that left the coast and headed inward and outward.
A pair of dragons was flying from the core to the interior with cargo in their claws. “Huh. I never thought of that.”
“The dragons that fly cargo are the lowest caste. They are usually muddy greys and browns.” Apraxa walked up to stand next to Trin, and she nodded toward an area where another set of dragons were loading off a high ridge. “They grab what their community has ordered and then drop off on the ridge to fly onward.”
“Why not just take off?”
Apraxa gave her a slow smile. “Most don’t have the strength. Do you?”
“No comment.”
Her sea dragon is laughing quietly. Can you hear it? Trin’s dragon whispered.
Trin cocked her head and listened with every part of her. She followed Apraxa down the steps and asked, “When did your dragon wake up?”
Apraxa paused at the bottom of the steps. “When my mother picked a fight at my twenty-first birthday. She grabbed me and hauled me into the ocean, and it was transform or die.”
“Why did she try to kill you?”
Apraxa shrugged. “She really didn’t. Her dragon could sense my dragon and wanted it out so that my mother’s failure to find a mate could be offset by her being a mother to a strong female.”
“It makes a difference?”
“Oh yeah. A daughter’s strength adds to the mother’s and raises her social position, at least in sea dragons.” Apraxa shrugged.
Her elegant gown was slightly more formal than Trin’s, but the shifting pattern of colour in it made it more eye-catching. “Come on, we have reservations, and our transport is waiting.”
“So, you have been a dragon all this time?”
They were walking out of the house and through the warehouse before she answered. “Yes. It doesn’t seem to be an issue.”
“Your family knows?”
Apraxa shook her head. “Lords no. My brothers are happy sharks, and they think I am a beloved half-sister. They just think I am a little more cunning than they are. My step-mom knows. It was something I needed to tell her, and it confirmed what she had guessed. It isn’t every shark that can raise a dragon with excellent business sense.”
Trin laughed. “I am guessing not.”
The long, sleek karros that was waiting for them was a deep grey.
“Are we going to a prom?”
Apraxa cackled. “The owner owes me a favour, and I want to get it off my ledger.”
Trin nodded, and they slid into the vehicle in turn. A moment later and they were on their way to the elegant and exotic heart of the city. Every species was represented, including some of the most exotic fey and the very common beaver shifters. Dragons ruled it all, but they knew the value in those around them. It was what kept them in charge across the new world. Power could come and go, but the idea of respect was eternal.
Trin enjoyed her dinner with Apraxa as they didn’t speak of their particular inner beings but rather enjoyed the high point in the restaurant reserved for the senator of the region.
Several men and women looked at them during dinner, but Trin was now used to being a bit of an attraction. She kept up her end of the conversation and laughed as loud as she liked. It wasn’t every day that she went out for a casual chat with the head of the import and export guilds of Breaker City.
Tomorrow would be for trade, but tonight, there were cocktails to be had.
Chapter Nine
Ystine was waiting in line with the other vehicles that were getting ready to leave the city.
“Are we returning to the capital?”
“Not quite yet. We are driving escort on a shipment of construction supplies,” Trin murmured inside her helmet as the gate began to swing open.
“Why?”
Trin grinned. “Because the driver doesn’t want to go. It is a scary place, and he is freaked out at having to stay there overnight.”
“Where are we going?”
She glanced back at the truck behind her and nodded as she engaged Ystine’s motor. “The Delarm Valley.”
The velo didn’t ask her anything, merely rolled forward with traffic. Ystine didn’t care that they were going to the place where Trin’s existence had started. Well, it seemed likely that it was where her parents had come together. She wanted to know if there was anyone else. Family was an elusive focus for her, but unknown family could be the most fantastic and amazing gathering of beings ever created. Or, they could be complete assholes. Trin looked forward to finding out.
Two breaks and ten hours of driving later, she pulled up to the gate for the Delarm Valley. There was one road. Nothing else allowed entry to the town below.
The guard looked at her and tapped his head. She removed her helmet.
He turned white as a sheet and stepped back. “Why are you here?”
She blinked slowly. “I am driving escort for this shipment of materials from the city. The driver was nervous.”
The guard blinked and ran a hand through his sandy hair. “Can I see a manifest?”
She reached into the pocket inside her leather coat. “Here you go.”
He read through the list and swallowed nervously at awkward intervals. “Right. It looks like it is in order. Go down the road to the right. The Anders farm is on the right.”
She quirked a smile. “Anders farm?”
“Yes. You look like the youngest daughter.”
She nodded and looked to the driver, giving him a thumb’s up. His expression was relieved, and his engine rumbled as he switched gears. Trin put her helmet on and nodded to the gate guard as he lifted the bar that had blocked progress.
She noted the bands in the road and saw the small units on either side. This road wasn’t guarded by just a metal bar and a human. There was enough power accessible to toast her and Ystine into a smouldering pile, and it was right under her tires. She drove into the valley at a slow and sedate pace.
The valley was quite pretty, but her dragon was on alert. The place had the highest concentration of dragons outside the hub at the capital.
She followed the directions and drove slowly down the rough road to the farmhouse in the distance.
A small army was there to meet them when they arrived, and the men went to the rear of the truck while the women approached the driver and then Trin with lemonade.
She kept her head down but lifted her visor. “Thank you.”
She took the straw between her lips and tasted the beverage made from fresh lemons and honey. “It’s good.”
The women chuckled. One said, “Thomas said you were a woman.”
“He is correct.”
One of the skirts at the edge of her field of view swayed slightly. “Will you stay the night?”
She glanced behind her. “Is the driver getting the same invitation?”
The women murmured quietly, and the one who had spoken said, “No. Thomas said you looked like you were one of ours, so we wanted to find out.”
“What is your name?”
“Meadra. Meadra Anders. I am the next bride.”
Trin thought for a moment and then removed her helmet, turning to extend her hand toward the woman that looked like a slightly younger version of herself before the dragon bleached her.
“Trin Lem. Pleased to meet you.”
The women standing behind Meadra paled, and one of them screamed. The men came running to find out what the problem was.
Meadra smiled and extended her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Trin.”
An older man pulled Meadra away from the handshake. “Who are you, woman?”
She cocked her head. “My name is Trin Lem. I was born after my mother was torn to pieces by a dragon. Investigation leads me to believe that she once lived here.”
The man stared and looked at her as if he was trying to tear her apart with his gaze.
Trin got off Ystine, and when she heard the closure of the truck, she gave the driver a nod. She was fine. He could go.
The truck rumbled along and turned around in the yard. Trin was still standing in a relaxed manner while the Anders family stared at her.
When the truck left, she cocked her head at the patriarch. “I am assuming that you are the elder Anders?”
The man blinked and scowled. “Who was your mother?”
“I am not quite sure, but the name LeeHee has been brought up. Do you know her?”
The entire family gasped and stepped back.
Meadra blinked and looked at the elder. “She’s family, Father.”
Her grandfather glared at her while he gritted out, “She is a mistake. She is not part of the pattern.”
As she stared at him, his eyes flickered, and a muddy grey dragon gaze was looking at her. This is just getting weirder.
She didn’t answer her dragon. It was hiding deep inside to conceal all traces of power.
“So, you have met dragons before.”
Trin smiled slightly. “I live at the capital. The dragons there are distinctly in charge, but they also flick their eyes like that when they lose their tempers.”
He blinked and leaned back. “You consort with dragons?”
“Yes. I have a shop, and they are frequent customers. Consorting is a little off though.”
The men who looked to be in their forties and fifties were standing behind their father. Their wives slowly moved to be at their sides. Meadra was on her own.
Trin smiled brightly. “Are you my grandfather?”