by Viola Grace
Apraxa chuckled. “Good. If you and Meadra are up for it, I would like to take you back to the market for some gift boxes that will fit the new line of ceramics and possibly gift tins for the tea.”
Meadra perked up. “Shopping? In public?”
Apraxa nodded. “Shopping, in public. The more you are in public, the less chance you will end up missing. We need folk around here to recognize you, and that means that you need to be seen.”
Trin looked away from her new treasure, and she smiled. “You can borrow some of my clothes. No one will recognize you.”
Apraxa clapped her hands. “Ah! We can go shopping. That will be fun.”
Meadra looked at both of them, and a tear ran down her cheek. She wiped it away, but they still lunged in and hugged her.
Trin said, “If you want to go back, you can go back, but if you want to stay out here, you have options.”
Meadra sniffed and nodded. “Yes. It has just been a wild day. Your flying was smooth, by the way.”
Trin laughed. “I have had to do drills to figure out how the wings and tail work together. She does most of the work, but I have to figure out where we are going and how high.”
Apraxa blinked. “That reminds me. How the hell can you be a diamond dragon? They are mythical, even for high-ranking dragons.”
Meadra straightened and nodded. “That is the point of the program. The diamond dragon can—in theory—control other dragons. This is the philosopher’s stone of dragons. They are said to be indestructible, enormous, and they have mastery of all around them.”
Trin looked to Apraxa, and she grinned. “It isn’t a flattering description, but I have been known to get my way on occasion.”
Apraxa snorted and cackled, turning a golden blue before slumping onto the couch. When she sobered, she agreed. “Once or twice.”
Trin was about to tuck Meadra into the room she had used previously when there was a familiar feeling in the air. She ran up to the roof and watched Brommin’s dragon form come in for a landing.
He settled on the roof, and his sharp head turned toward her, sniffing her and sending her robe flapping around her legs. Trin leaned into him and stroked his hard beak, turning into an embrace of the man himself when he transformed.
“Thank the scales you are safe.” He held her tight.
She leaned up and kissed him, holding his head as she greeted him properly. When she pulled back, she said, “What took you so long? Did you have to fight weather?”
“I had to fight my mother.”
Trin leaned back further. “What?”
“She wanted to come in my stead. She thought I would be less obvious than she was.”
Trin glanced over her shoulder where Apraxa and Meadra were staring at them. “Oh, yeah. You are barely visible at all.”
Brommin gave her a slow look. “There is quite a bit of you on display, so thank you for that.”
She looked down, blushed, and pulled her robe together. “It was your fault for the messy downdraft.”
He kissed her quickly, and then, he murmured, “Would you care to introduce me to the ladies staring at us?”
“Right. First things first. We have to put out the beacons. Don’t want any other dragons landing here and ruffling my robe.”
Brommin chuckled, and they moved to the corners of the roof, putting out the marking lights. When the roof was dark, and the only illumination was the city, they headed back into Apraxa’s hideaway and discussed the events and insane dragons of the day.
Chapter Eleven
Meadra was staring at Brommin with fascination, and Trin let it go on for three minutes before she snapped her fingers between them. “Knock it off, Meadra, or my dragon will express her displeasure. He is hers.”
Brommin sat on the couch next to Trin. “I don’t mind being stared at.”
Trin tapped him on the hand. “You are the first proper dragon that she has seen. I don’t want her imprinting on you.”
Meadra chuckled. “Not true. I saw you, and I have definitely memorized every part of you.”
Trin grinned. “Right. Brommin, what do you know about diamond dragons?”
He picked up her hand and kissed the back of her wrist. “I know I am holding onto the only one I—or anyone else in the capital—have ever seen. The alchemist finished her tests. It was the reason I was frantic to keep you from being captured.”
“Oh. That would explain it. So, what can you tell me about... well... me?” She turned her hand and cupped his cheek.
“The last recorded diamond was over two thousand five hundred years ago. She ruled a small kingdom on the African continent. When she chose to die, she shattered into pieces that seeded themselves in the ground with the curse of chaos lying with them.”
Trin blinked. “Wow. I don’t know if I like the exploding idea.”
“We have traced mentions of diamond dragons around the world. Where you find diamonds, you find the resting place of one of the rarest dragons we have ever heard of.”
She stroked his slightly stubbled cheek with her thumb and pulled her hand down to her lap. “Delightful.”
“Some folks associate diamonds with love and eternity. I suppose that it is because, throughout history, the diamonds have only ever given up life when they have no mate.”
Trin looked at him, and her dragon showed her a flash of their future together and her life after that with their children and their children. Life alone stretched on until it was time to let it go.
Brommin was holding her, and she focused on his features.
“Trin, what just happened?”
“I know why they would shatter.” She let the slow tears of loneliness fall down her cheeks.
He pulled her onto his lap and simply held her while the other two looked on.
Feeling hundreds of years in a moment took a lot out of her. She leaned her head against Brommin’s shoulder, and she sighed. “Apologies for that. Sometimes my dragon shows me things that I am not ready for.”
Meadra stared. “It is a separate entity?”
Brommin answered. “Yes. The gemstone dragons have so much power that we require a secondary processing device. To control a shape so large would be impossible without more controlling power.”
Apraxa grinned. “Try swimming. Your body is going in half a dozen directions at the same time.”
Brommin looked surprised, and Trin realized she hadn’t made the proper introductions.
“Master archivist and retrieval team leader, Brommin Lefarge, this is my friend, Apraxa Tiburon, and my—uh—aunt, Meadra Anders.”
“Ladies, I would stand, but I am weighed down.” Brommin inclined his head.
Apraxa coughed. “Lefarge? As in Senator Lefarge?”
Brommin inclined his head again. “Just so.”
She looked to Trin. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“It didn’t come up.” She yawned. “Thanks for finding a shipment going to Delarm, by the way. I might have gotten in, but it would have looked a lot less spontaneous.”
Meadra blinked. “You knew what you would find?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Not exactly. I have the updated autopsy file. I know how old she was and what physical condition she was in when she died. I also know that neither she, nor anyone else from the Delarm Valley, appears on a census. There is no record, and that means they are hiding something.”
Meadra nodded, and then, she swayed.
Apraxa smacked herself in the forehead. “I am such a bad host. Come on, Meadra. I will put you in the room next to Trin.”
Meadra nodded and followed Apraxa with soft good nights to Trin and Brommin.
Trin tried to move off her intended’s lap, and he wrapped his arm around her.
“Tell me how many and what kind of dragons you saw today.”
She wrinkled her nose and told him how many, what colours, and where they were located. “Oh, and the one road in is wired to
electrocute something your dragon’s size. There was no way I was getting across it with my velo.”
“So, they don’t want folk escaping.”
“I am guessing that is the case. It is why Meadra needed help.”
Brommin nodded. “Is it weird that she is the precise image of your mother? Not close. It is exact.”
“I know. She said she was a clone, but I thought you needed a high-tech facility for that.”
His posture was suddenly rigid. “What do they grow in the valley? Trees, bushes? Are there a lot of hills?”
“No. It is very flat with only a small ridge of hills around the edge of the farmland.”
“What grows on the ridges?”
She thought about it. “Close-cropped grass.”
“Their facility is underground. I need to leave.”
Trin sighed and got to her feet. “Fine. Just one thing before you go—mmf!”
His kiss was quick, fiery, and promised the future that she had just seen. He murmured, “The senate needs to know.”
“I know. Go. I will stay in Breaker City until the ball. Visit if you can.” She stroked his cheek and watched him sprint up the steps for a jumping takeoff from the roof.
She heard him leave and felt it as well. When Apraxa returned, she was rather surprised to find him gone.
“What the hell? Did you tell him you weren’t going to put out?”
Trin was staring at the bookshelf. “No, he just saw that I haven’t shaved my legs in a decade and ran for it.”
“Funny. Where did he go?”
“He has to make a report to the senate and probably the more clandestine parts of the dragon council. They have to find out what is going on there.”
“At the valley?”
“Yes.”
Apraxa chuckled. “You don’t really think that they are making a super dragon over there, do you?”
Trin stared at her and then pointed to herself.
“Oh. Right. Damn. I am so used to thinking of you as a tea and coffee merchant. Deadly dragon doesn’t seem to fit.”
“I know. I think that right until I see my hair in the mirror, and then, I remember, and she laughs at me.”
Trin tightened the sash of her robe. “It has been an adjustment.”
“I will put away the samples, and if you are happy with them, we can swing by the shop tomorrow.”
“That sounds delightful. Thank you for everything.” Trin gave her a hug and paused. “You don’t think they can find us here? I flew with invisibility, didn’t touch the seer, and never mentioned this city. Hopefully, they don’t make their way here.”
“They might split their forces and cover Breaker City and the capital. You are not going anywhere alone for the foreseeable future.”
Trin pinched the bridge of her nose. “I had a feeling someone was going to say that.”
Trin gave a few brushes and tugs to the clothing that Meadra was wearing and had to pronounce it a creepily good fit.
“You know, considering that this was tailored for me, it is an exceptionally good fit.” Trin straightened and cocked her head. “The purple looks better on you than on me.”
Meadra was touching the chaste but flashy expanse of her collarbone. “I have never worn anything like this. Is it new?”
“It was a few weeks ago.”
Meadra touched it as if was made of gold. “I haven’t ever had any clothing that hadn’t seen five wearers before me. This fabric is so thick!”
Trin watched her aunt spin slowly and revelling in the simple joy of a dress with leggings and boots.
“You can spin later. Apraxa has found us another seamstress, so I can order a wardrobe for you.”
Meadra stopped and looked at her with wide eyes. “I don’t want you to spend all your money on me.”
“You won’t even make a dent. I have quite the nest egg.” She wrinkled her nose. “So to speak.”
“If you are sure... I wouldn’t mind a few new corsets. This one fits like a dream. There are weird lumps in it, though.”
Trin grinned and went up to her aunt, lining up the invisible slits in the dress with the corset and removing the blades. “Sorry about that. I load the corsets after they have been cleaned.”
“You carry knives?”
Apraxa spoke from the doorway. “She does. Knows how to use them, too.”
Meadra cleared her throat. “Can I keep one?”
Trin blinked and nodded. “Sure. Hold still. It is harder to get them in when you are dressed. I don’t want to stick you.”
Meadra nodded, and Trin slid the easiest-to-access knife in place. Lower center front, next to the busk. The steel in it helped hold the knife motionless.
The next five minutes were spent showing Meadra how to withdraw the knife. They were a few minutes late heading out for brunch, but the diner had their table ready and waiting.
Apraxa’s brothers fawned over them and got Meadra anything she wanted. Trin was surprised by the effect she was having, but her dragon was accepting this as normal. It was only proper that someone with the genetics of Trin’s mother should be exhibiting the attraction characteristics of a dragoness reaching her first season.
Trin didn’t bother arguing that her mother hadn’t been a dragon, so it was doubtful that her aunt was. Explaining their relationship was difficult, so they had decided on introducing her as a cousin.
Apraxa sipped her tea and smiled. “It seems your cousin is very popular with my brothers. Does she know what a shark is?”
Trin shook her head. “I am fairly sure that she doesn’t. Damn. I should have thought of this.”
“What?”
Trin leaned forward and whispered, “I read my mom’s journal. Her fling wasn’t an accident or a whim of true love, she wanted out, and she thought that Lord Millet could take her away. She didn’t particularly want him, but she was willing to use sex to ensnare him.”
Apraxa whistled. “Wow. That is a tale as old as time.”
“When she confronted her father and mother, they ordered her to marry the seer anyway. They would simply dispose of the baby. They watched her day and night for the next seven months.”
Apraxa leaned forward and propped her chin on her hands. “Then what?”
Trin blinked and swallowed. “She didn’t run for herself, she didn’t run for Lord Millet, she ran for me. Every time I kicked, she knew I was bound to do things that she had never dreamed of.”
“How did she get out?”
Trin shrugged. “I don’t know. I only have the journal entry from the day before she ran. She went through a few plans, but I don’t know which one she actually carried out.”
“Of course. Did you meet your grandmother?”
The swish of skirts pulled up next to their table as Meadra rejoined them. “No. Her grandmother died having a baby at sixty-two years old.”
Apraxa blinked. “Why did she do that?”
Meadra arranged her skirts as she sat. “Because LeeHee was their obligation child. They had to have a daughter, so when she left, they had to have another. Maintaining the pattern was imperative. They would lose their standing in the community and in the project.”
Trin cocked her head. “Ah. That. I am pretty sure that that is going to require a chat with someone with high security clearance.”
“Right. I am just so excited to be able to speak in a regular conversation, I got carried away.”
Trin patted her hand. “Finish your breakfast and remember the fascinating methods of making coffee, and we will be out in the market where you can chat with anyone you want.”
Apraxa smirked. “I am going to be using your appeal to try and strike some bargains. Feel free to flirt at will.”
Meadra blinked, and then, she smiled slyly. “I will do what I can.”
Chapter Twelve
It was the first time Trin had ever had to hire a courier to take their packages back to Apraxa’s.
/> Four hours of shopping later, Trin was definitely up for a cocktail and a nice lunch by the inland lake.
Apraxa’s karros had been taken out of the warehouse for the journey into the depths of Breaker City, and it was only when Trin saw something that she recognized on a billboard that she flinched.
“Maybe we should just order in at your place.”
Apraxa grinned and turned toward a display of banners and billboards that made Trin’s cheeks heat. “But why? You look great in those ads.”
“They weren’t ads when I posed for them; they were just art photos with landscapes.”
Meadra stared and said, “Trin, that is you! Your hair is so much darker.”
Trin tried not to look at the images of her posing in fashion from history, from ancient Sumeria to modern day. The images had been sold and were now being used to advertise the Breaker City museum.
Apraxa laughed. “It is fine. It got you the money for the start-up, didn’t it? You and Brenner were able to open your first shops with it.”
“I know. I am just very happy that it is confined to Breaker City.”
“Yeah, you might want to check your royalty account. I am pretty sure that this campaign caught on.”
Trin groaned.
Apraxa pulled into the lot next to the museum and turned off the vehicle. “We are here. Come on, we have reservations in the teahouse within the arboretum.”
Trin got out and looked at her friend over the roof. “How do you get all of these reservations?”
Apraxa winked and didn’t answer.
Meadra was excited by everything she saw. A whole new world had literally opened up for her. Trin focused and used patience, giving Meadra the information she needed to understand the world she was presented with.
The nine vendors and dressmakers they had seen that morning and dubbed Meadra to be her sister, and Trin was fine with that. Family was hard to figure out.
Meadra walked with her and whispered, “Why did you buy so much baby stuff today? Are you pregnant?”
Trin snorted. “No. That would get me shunned. I am just picking out things for my goddaughter. Since this city is a trading hub, it is easy to send things to the capital from here.”