Chapter Two
M brak crossed his arms and scowled at Yorath. “You linked your mind to hers?”
Yorath smiled with a dazed expression in his eyes. “Of course. You saw her. She’s beautiful.”
“Very beautiful, with a mind that can track molecules in a star. She now knows every hair on your head, every cell, and the volume of air that you breathe. I would have warned you if you hadn’t been an ass.”
Yorath blinked. “She’s...”
“My accountant. I have another to take over when she goes, but her mind is glorious and terrifying.”
“Oh. She’s a collector.”
“No. She is merely aware. That is how she lived as a child alone on an uninhabited world. She could find food, water, prey. She knew where it all was.”
Yorath frowned. “How did you find her?”
“A mineral survey built a small structure as a base, but parts continued to go missing.”
“She was taking them.”
“She built herself a tiny structure that looked like their base. She made clothing her size out of stolen clothing. She took their dishes and their cups. She was trying to learn to be one of them.”
“But she lacked language.”
“She did. Her parents died before she had learned to speak, so no one spoke to her.”
“How did they capture her?”
“I had to call in assistance from a friend. He went and introduced himself and felt the crushing weight of her eager mind.” Mbrak chuckled. “She almost blanked him. His drake had to come to his aid.”
“She was brought here?”
“Yes. I introduced herself and the cousins who were here, and her education began. Knowledge comes easily, but social behaviours are the most difficult. Give her protocols, but don’t laugh at her. She really hates that. She spends her life not fitting in, and she knows it.”
“What is on that board she clutches?”
“Ask her. Once she has rested.”
“You are leaving her on her own after that?”
“She is near heat but not in it, and she is my blood. I have no choice but to leave her to her new situation.” Mbrak shrugged.
“But... you were going to give her to me.” Yorath frowned.
“I was. Now, she is a living drake on her own. You will have to court her and lure her off this station before she considers everyone on it as her possession.”
“You said she wasn’t one of those.”
“Not yet. She’s working toward that goal. Once she gains a foothold, she will guard her hoard with everything she has. That will include her mate.”
Mbrak nodded. “I will allow you to remain on the station for four days while you try to persuade her to come with you. If she does not go with you, she will be out on her own. I cannot allow another adult drake to reside on this station.”
Yorath frowned. “What if she will not have me?”
“Well, I would definitely untangle my mind from hers before she takes off. That might hurt.”
“What?”
“Well, as she said, you made contact with her first, so she is under no requirement to release you. You should work on that, but after you do, get uncoupled, she will cease speaking again. Communication is a social behaviour.”
“Oh, so when she was awkward in the simulation...”
“That is her trying to find the words or the right thing to do. What did she do, by the way?” Mbrak tilted his head.
“I had been trapped under rock, so she brushed me off, and when I mocked her for it, she started doing the same to my front. That is when I insulted her.”
“People like to be clean. She knows that. If you can give her examples of behaviour, she will mimic it.”
“So, imperial protocols?”
“Yes, but as we stated, if you laugh at her, she will leave. Her cousins were tolerant, but she is different. There is no doubt of it, and they were not always kind.”
“How did she remain stable until now?”
“She linked to one of her cousin’s injuries and has been using pain to keep her language operating. She knows the words, but arranging them so they won’t hurt people’s feelings is tricky.” He sighed. “She is blunt to a startling degree.”
“Her beast is gorgeous.” Yorath smiled slowly.
“I noticed, but she is also dangerous. Do not forget the mind behind the beast.”
“Protocols are stringent, and from what you are describing, she could work with those as long as she has the ability to cling to my mind.”
“You don’t mind that?”
“From a mate? No. I have waited to find a proper mate for centuries. Now, you have presented me with one, and while I am fumbling, I do see the potential.”
Mbrak chuckled. “Your beast is threatening to split you in half if you try and leave without her.”
He sighed ruefully. “Yes. That.”
Mbrak laughed. “Well, you have four days to find and court her.”
“Wait, what’s her name again?”
“Abil. Abilathara Wekennick.”
“Wait. Wekennick.” Understanding was dawning in his gaze.
“Yes. He was on the way to become your adviser.”
“The mathematician.”
“Her first language.”
“We were told they were dead on impact.”
“A child doesn’t have much more of a life sign than a small predator does.”
Yorath looked ill. “They assured me there were no survivors. Wait. She was coming to my court.”
“Correct.”
“Why didn’t you send her on?”
“She is my blood. My life. My responsibility and my duty. They didn’t find her until she was ten, and she was in no shape to deal with society.”
“No one was looking for her.”
“Correct. I believe that as his employer, that was your job.”
Yorath looked ill again. “We were assured there was no point.”
“Right. Well, hindsight is always illuminating.”
Mbrak walked back toward the heart of the station. He left Yorath to his situation. His drake would sort it quickly. Anything for a mate.
* * * *
A bil smiled and did something that her cousins occasionally did for her. She booked a spa day and took a day off.
She never took one on her own.
Going to bed had been fun, and her mind felt settled when she got up.
She had her drake, and it was happy to be out with her at last.
The massage appointment would be first, so she headed to the spa and checked in. Her funds would cover it, and she warned the woman working on her that Mbrak might come by.
There was a grin, a nod, and then she got into it.
Abil sat and got a manicure after her pedicure. She had mint green nails with stars.
Mbrak showed up as the nails were being finished. “Hey, boss.”
“Grandfather.”
She looked at him. “Mr. Blue. Has his whatsitness left the station yet?”
“No. He has been looking for you.”
“I am getting my nails done.”
“How did you disappear to the sensors? I had to use financials to find you.”
“I learned hide and seek before I could walk.” She smirked and watched as the talons were finished.
A final hardening, and she was ready to go.
“Now, I am getting my hair fixed. It’s a little dry, and they are going to be nice to it before I lose the ability to explain myself again.”
“You think you are going to lose it?”
“He doesn’t think much of my intellect, but he likes my body. He will leave. His beast wants to visit, but I don’t know where I will be.”
Mbrak paused. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I can feel everything, and I am going to be possessive very soon. She’s eager to put down roots, and we studied the star charts nearby and have found some empty worlds where we can begin our lives together.”
Mbrak growled. “I wanted you protected.”
She smiled cheerfully. “I know, but as soon as he withdraws his link, I am going to go primal, and then, you need to get my ass out the airlock.”
“I don’t think he will.”
“I think so. He’s an emperor of a consortium of worlds; I am a very basic female. I am only good as a pet, and I will not be a pet. Well, not before I consume my handler.”
Mbrak nodded. “So, you are getting yourself pretty before you go?”
“Yes. One day to fix the things that have been bothering me.”
“You are leaving today? Your cousins will want to throw you a party.”
She snorted. “No, they won’t. They will exhale in relief. I am uncomfortable to be around, and I don’t want to make them uncomfortable anymore.”
“Did they say it?”
“No. I can feel it. The surface of their minds gets tense when I am there. They try and finish sentences for me and treat me like I am a child. I want to go back to where things are simple life and death, and my beast wants to build a house, and I know how to do it, so we have a project.”
They walked to the hair side of things, the groomers at work on a variety of clients.
Mbrak frowned. “I don’t want you to go.”
“I would rather your memory of me be me able to communicate freely and not clutching my clipboard for comfort and reminders.”
“I thought that it was cute, and I meant everything on that board.”
She smiled and settled in the chair when her stylist was ready. “I know, and I appreciate it, and when I find a proper mate and have little ones, I will bring them here to meet you if you don’t mind.”
Mbrak smiled. “You want a family?”
“I have problems with speaking and crowds. My uterus is fine. Yes, I have always wanted kids so that I can make an effort to teach them all the things I was missing when I grew up. Or my mate can, and I can just stay as a drake. They don’t need to talk and are good at defending.”
Mbrak paused. “You plan to live as your drake?”
“Yes, it will be less complicated.”
He sighed, and she settled in for the bonding treatment to protect her hair. He patted her hand. “Let me know before you go. Please.”
“Of course, boss.” She smiled and gripped his hand with hers before relaxing for possibly the last hair treatment of her life. After this, it was stars and scales.
* * * *
M brak called Yorath and then went to his quarters. “If you want her, you need to just fly back home with her today. She’s leaving the station and intends to lose herself in the stars.”
“Our connection. My connection.” Yorath sat up and dismissed the holograms of his advisers.
“Tenuous. It will fade as distance draws it thin, and it will snap. She had decided to live her life in her drake form on a world with no population. She and her drake are really happy to be connected again.”
“Of course. Wait. What do you mean again?” Yorath frowned.
“She and her beast had fused when I first saw her. It took years to tease them apart and convince the beast that she should remain in the background until summoned.”
“Which happened yesterday.”
“Correct. Now, they are planning a girls’ trip through the stars.”
Yorath snorted. “How do they know how to navigate?”
“Abil knows anything she studies. There is no learning or hesitation. She just absorbs it. That was the reason she survived on her own. The drake lent her claws, and she learned how to hunt and scavenge as soon as she mastered climbing.”
“Oh. So being alone is not her fear.”
“No, being surrounded and unable to communicate is. It happened several times before her language instruction began to take hold.” He sighed. “My other foundlings didn’t understand and were cruel. Styra was kind, but she had her own issues, and she is gone now as the wife of Yr-el.”
“Yes, that is what got my attention. If you were starting to release your charges, I wanted to make sure that I was on your list.”
Mbrak snorted. “Don’t you have enough females swooning over you?”
He laughed. “That wore off after a few hundred years. I have quarters for companions, but they will be dismissed the moment that I have a mate confirmed.”
“You do know what will happen if you bring her to your palace and there are still women who believe they have a claim to you?”
“I won’t hurt her feelings.”
Mbrak laughed. “No, she will murder all of those women in front of you. She will transform and bite them into pieces, attack you, and fly off. No concubines. No mate. Don’t mess with female drakes, Yorath.”
The other male blinked. “Right. I will go dismiss them now. Just in case.”
“Wise.”
“Where is she?”
“She is at a hair appointment. How much debris did she absorb?”
“There were some construction remains left in a cluster. She took it all in. A few tons.”
“Oh dear. Well, she’s going to be a large drake. That’s good if she wants to fly between stars.”
Yorath growled. “She isn’t going to fly. I am going to give her what she needs.”
“What is it that she needs?”
Yorath smiled slightly. “Her own person. I will be her anchor and invite her to link her mind to mine. She will be safe with me.”
Mbrak sighed. “Thank you. While I cannot come by and tear out your throat if you lie, I have friends who will do it for me.”
“Friends?”
Mbrak chuckled. “Friends. To me.”
Yorath nodded. “How do I find her?”
“Head for the spa. And know that she is going to leave here today, with or without you. First, send your concubines away, or nothing else will be possible.”
Yorath nodded and turned to his terminal, setting up a call. A sturdy-looking female flared up on the screen, and Mbrak left. Whether the emperor did or didn’t dismiss his females, Abil would know and react accordingly. Yorath had been warned.
The rest was up to those two.
* * * *
A bil looked at her hair and smiled. “It’s pretty.”
The stylist smiled. “It is. I had no idea you had curly hair.”
Thick waves surrounded her, and the mint green of her dragon was now in her hair. She had a sheen to her skin that wasn’t there before, and she felt pretty.
“Thank you. Next, a dress that I can wear out tonight.”
She chuckled and got up.
Yorath was standing in the doorway to the salon and was looking at her in wonder.
Abil smiled. “Did you want your hair done?” His hair was perfect.
“No, I am here to offer myself to you. May I escort you to your next stop?”
She smiled and walked over to him. “Very well. I am using your language skills, after all.”
He took her hand and wrapped it around his forearm. She had seen that move before in the simulations. He was being polite and gentlemanly.
“So, why do you need language?”
She chuckled. “Mbrak already told you. I grew up without human language or intervention.”
“Yes, but were you alone?”
“Yes and no. There were no other bipeds, but a drake that had been struck in the same storm that took us down was there. She was damaged and couldn’t shift to human, so the drake took care of me and helped me do things. She was my shelter and my companion, but we didn’t speak, and she taught me only to take what I needed from her mind.”
“Did she have a name?”
“No, but I called her Nanny. She helped me get the education modules working on the shuttle. She buried my family.”
“I see. What happened when you were found?”
“She let them take me and told me it was time, but then I had to work to find language after so long in silence.”
“Did you ever see her again?”
Abil shook her head. “No, but she said she would dance at my wedding, and I laughed because I could not imagine her dancing with people.”
“Oh, you are thinking of her as a drake.”
“Sort of. I have been looking for a drake with dragonfly wings, but I couldn’t find one in the histories.”
Yorath’s mind went quiet. “A drake with dragonfly wings?”
“They were all thin and made a buzzing noise when she was mad. She showed me the damage she had gotten from the meteor shower, and it had burned through her wings.”
“That was why she couldn’t shift. Her wings were damaged. To take on a human form then, she would have been close to helpless.”
“Oh, she had to remain a drake to protect me.”
“That is my guess. If I ever see her, I will ask her.”
“You think she will come back this way?”
“No, but she will come to your wedding.”
“What?”
“If she said it, she’ll do it. Drakes are very trustworthy. It is what makes us steady rulers.”
“Really? I thought you had shifty eyes.” She smiled.
He looked at her in astonishment. “You are making a joke?”
“Certainly. When I first met you, you were trapped by a rockslide. Not very dapper of you.”
“I asked Mbrak to turn my strength down so I could feel what a human would experience in those circumstances. I had no idea he was going to trap me under a rockslide.”
She sighed as they entered the main commerce area. “He did that so that we would meet.”
“I am sorry about what I said, but I was aroused and embarrassed.”
She scowled. “Aroused? By rocks?”
He chuckled. “No, Abil. By you. A lovely woman descended on cables and carefully removed my restraints. I never bothered going to the cavern after that.”
“Too bad. The cavern is wonderful, filled with crystals and light and colours that my drake has seen, but I have not.”
“Would you guide me?”
“What?”
“In the simulation. Would you guide me so I don’t get stuck again?”
“Oh. I had plans for tonight.”
He chuckled. “Humour me.”
“Well, I guess we could go now.”
“No, we are going to get you a dress.”
“Why?”
“Because I said we would. I keep my word.”
She looked at him and smiled. It was one of the things on Mbrak’s list. Surround yourself with people you can trust.